Tennis ball fuzz. Spaghetti strings of yarn. Puffs of wool flying out of the old machinery that look like angels, snow, and poodles. Mrs. Marchelletta is a poet of the old woolen mills of Maine and Rupa Marya catches that poetry so well. As a country, we heard about NAFTA coming and about NAFTA being here, but we rarely hear about after NAFTA. This heartwrenching, heartwarming piece is about after NAFTA on a personal basis from the viewpoint of the Marchelletta family. My only question in this otherwise perfect, soundrich piece is where does the wool come from that the Marchelletta mill uses? I ask this because we have a flock of Suffolk sheep on our acreage here in southwest Oklahoma and I just wondered where the wool came from that was used for the tennis balls.
Summary: In the wake of NAFTA, a family of woolen mill workers in Maine salvages their livelihoods by returning the industry of yarn-making to the home.
Review of A Family Yarn
Deborah Astley
Posted on May 16, 2005 at 12:23 PM
Tennis ball fuzz. Spaghetti strings of yarn. Puffs of wool flying out of the old machinery that look like angels, snow, and poodles. Mrs. Marchelletta is a poet of the old woolen mills of Maine and Rupa Marya catches that poetry so well. As a country, we heard about NAFTA coming and about NAFTA being here, but we rarely hear about after NAFTA. This heartwrenching, heartwarming piece is about after NAFTA on a personal basis from the viewpoint of the Marchelletta family. My only question in this otherwise perfect, soundrich piece is where does the wool come from that the Marchelletta mill uses? I ask this because we have a flock of Suffolk sheep on our acreage here in southwest Oklahoma and I just wondered where the wool came from that was used for the tennis balls.