This short book is just packed with word pictures of the natural world; with simple facts about bees and coyotes and apples (or figs); with bits of history, word origins and geology. And much to my delight, it is centered around all of those things as they exist (or once did) in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, a place I love and recognize. It wanders a bit, or sometimes feels as though it's wandering, but ultimately everything fits together in a personal way. I think it is absolutely brilliant, and belongs on the shelf with Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and High Tide in Tucson and everything John McPhee and Stephen Jay Gould wrote.
