History is not dead; it lives on the Geiger farm. The Model T that Alfred Geiger's father bought new in 1919 waits in the barn for the fall cane grinding, when the fifth generation of Geigers will ride in it. The 2,000-egg kerosene incubator, hand-cranked dough mixer, and 90-year-old cypress boats fill the sheep shed and chicken houses.

More than a biography, The Path to Now is a history book dating back to the Mayflower, centered around the lives of Al's family, with stories told as he heard them around the dinner table. It includes personal memories of Alfred Geiger's 85 years, from his relief work in Poland after World War II to farming the family land. Al shares his triumphs, fears, and heartaches: crosses burned on his family's dairy farm during the Civil Rights Movement, a double-first cousin murdered his parents in their sleep, and his daughter overdosed after years of battling with drugs.

Al tells stories of events before his memory as if he were an eyewitness. His father conducted the 1910 census on his bicycle. Uncle Francis donated land worth a million dollars to the Boy Scouts yet never owned a home or car. Quakers and Missionaries share his family tree with Civil War surgeons and conscientious objectors while physicists and schizophrenics add flavor to the adventures.