Jerry Dennis is an award-winning nature writer who calls Traverse City, Michigan, home. His essays and stories have appeared in The New York Times, Smithsonian, Audubon, National Geographic Traveler, and Gray’s Sporting Journal, among other periodicals. He has written over a dozen books, including The Windward Shore: A Winter on the Great Lakes; The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas; and Canoeing Michigan Rivers: A Comprehensive Guide to 45 Rivers, now in its 3rd edition.

"Such a treasure Jerry Dennis is, whose work in words gives us such generous glimpses of the illuminated world, his singular pilgrimage. Part Thoreau, part Hemingway, Dennis is naturalist, voyageur, conservationist and curator, equal measures purveyor and patron saint. He encounters Northern Michigan as the theologian considers mystery—as a life’s work, with a ‘ground sense’ born of total immersion. We are lucky to have his elegant field notes."—Thomas Lynch, Poet & Author

• Introduction 1SpringLoon Song 7Spring Arrives 10Water, Water 12The Color of Steelhead 15A Random Act 17An April Shower 19Opening Days 22Night Watch on The Malabar 26The Overlooked Forest 28Drenched in Color 31From a Hilltop, Looking Back 33Yellowthroats and Agates 37The Night Country 40Rivers and Time 43A Bountiful Weekend 45The Dawn Chorus 48SummerSummer and Slow Time 53Getting Lost 55Island Song 57The Wind on the Beach 67Sandblasted 72Our Bay Life 74The Rules of Cottage Living 76Sparks in the Sky 79Ways of Seeing Sleeping Beat 81Shorewalking 84Creek Music 92Boys of Summer 95A Spur of the Moment Kind of Day 97Surprised by Beauty 100In the Upper Country 102Making Trail 104August Explorations 106Making Memories 108Summer Work and High Water 110AutumnThe Fringe of Autumn 115The Many Autumns 117A Riot of Colors, with Violins 122The Autumn Trail 124A Round River 126River Rush 129Bird Camp Memories 132Two-Trackin' 140The Restless Season 143A November Wind 145WinterWinter Roads 149Winter and White Space 151The Quiet Hours 153Ken Scott's Ice Caves 156Star Matter 160Winter Time 163Waxwings in Winter 165My Lost Lake 167Real Winter 169Visitors 171Season of Snow and Books 173Acknowledgments 177

Jerry Dennis is an award-winning nature writer who calls Traverse City, Michigan, home. His essays and stories have appeared in The New York Times, Smithsonian, Audubon, National Geographic Traveler, and Gray’s Sporting Journal, among other periodicals. He has written over a dozen books, including The Windward Shore: A Winter on the Great Lakes; The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas; and Canoeing Michigan Rivers: A Comprehensive Guide to 45 Rivers, now in its 3rd edition.

"Such a treasure Jerry Dennis is, whose work in words gives us such generous glimpses of the illuminated world, his singular pilgrimage. Part Thoreau, part Hemingway, Dennis is naturalist, voyageur, conservationist and curator, equal measures purveyor and patron saint. He encounters Northern Michigan as the theologian considers mystery—as a life’s work, with a ‘ground sense’ born of total immersion. We are lucky to have his elegant field notes."—Thomas Lynch, Poet & Author

• Introduction 1SpringLoon Song 7Spring Arrives 10Water, Water 12The Color of Steelhead 15A Random Act 17An April Shower 19Opening Days 22Night Watch on The Malabar 26The Overlooked Forest 28Drenched in Color 31From a Hilltop, Looking Back 33Yellowthroats and Agates 37The Night Country 40Rivers and Time 43A Bountiful Weekend 45The Dawn Chorus 48SummerSummer and Slow Time 53Getting Lost 55Island Song 57The Wind on the Beach 67Sandblasted 72Our Bay Life 74The Rules of Cottage Living 76Sparks in the Sky 79Ways of Seeing Sleeping Beat 81Shorewalking 84Creek Music 92Boys of Summer 95A Spur of the Moment Kind of Day 97Surprised by Beauty 100In the Upper Country 102Making Trail 104August Explorations 106Making Memories 108Summer Work and High Water 110AutumnThe Fringe of Autumn 115The Many Autumns 117A Riot of Colors, with Violins 122The Autumn Trail 124A Round River 126River Rush 129Bird Camp Memories 132Two-Trackin' 140The Restless Season 143A November Wind 145WinterWinter Roads 149Winter and White Space 151The Quiet Hours 153Ken Scott's Ice Caves 156Star Matter 160Winter Time 163Waxwings in Winter 165My Lost Lake 167Real Winter 169Visitors 171Season of Snow and Books 173Acknowledgments 177

Jerry Dennis is an award-winning nature writer who calls Traverse City, Michigan, home. His essays and stories have appeared in The New York Times, Smithsonian, Audubon, National Geographic Traveler, and Gray’s Sporting Journal, among other periodicals. He has written over a dozen books, including The Windward Shore: A Winter on the Great Lakes; The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas; and Canoeing Michigan Rivers: A Comprehensive Guide to 45 Rivers, now in its 3rd edition.

"Such a treasure Jerry Dennis is, whose work in words gives us such generous glimpses of the illuminated world, his singular pilgrimage. Part Thoreau, part Hemingway, Dennis is naturalist, voyageur, conservationist and curator, equal measures purveyor and patron saint. He encounters Northern Michigan as the theologian considers mystery—as a life’s work, with a ‘ground sense’ born of total immersion. We are lucky to have his elegant field notes."—Thomas Lynch, Poet & Author

• Introduction 1SpringLoon Song 7Spring Arrives 10Water, Water 12The Color of Steelhead 15A Random Act 17An April Shower 19Opening Days 22Night Watch on The Malabar 26The Overlooked Forest 28Drenched in Color 31From a Hilltop, Looking Back 33Yellowthroats and Agates 37The Night Country 40Rivers and Time 43A Bountiful Weekend 45The Dawn Chorus 48SummerSummer and Slow Time 53Getting Lost 55Island Song 57The Wind on the Beach 67Sandblasted 72Our Bay Life 74The Rules of Cottage Living 76Sparks in the Sky 79Ways of Seeing Sleeping Beat 81Shorewalking 84Creek Music 92Boys of Summer 95A Spur of the Moment Kind of Day 97Surprised by Beauty 100In the Upper Country 102Making Trail 104August Explorations 106Making Memories 108Summer Work and High Water 110AutumnThe Fringe of Autumn 115The Many Autumns 117A Riot of Colors, with Violins 122The Autumn Trail 124A Round River 126River Rush 129Bird Camp Memories 132Two-Trackin' 140The Restless Season 143A November Wind 145WinterWinter Roads 149Winter and White Space 151The Quiet Hours 153Ken Scott's Ice Caves 156Star Matter 160Winter Time 163Waxwings in Winter 165My Lost Lake 167Real Winter 169Visitors 171Season of Snow and Books 173Acknowledgments 177