First Paragraph

In the beginning here there was nothing. No Thompson seedless vines, no plums or peaches. The nectarines outside the window did not yet even exist as a species. There was no house. No wells, pumps, or pipelines. No roads, no town, no neighbors. In 1878 there was no gas, propane, or electricity here, no power other than wind, horse, and muscle.

- From Fields Without Dreams: Defending the Agrarian Idea by Victor Davis Hanson