A collection of essays follows the author as she contemplates the pleasure of artistic labor; her boundless curiosity for the flora and fauna that surround her; and the responsibility she has inherited from the great thinkers and writers of the past.

Section one.Upstream -- My friend Walt Whitman -- Staying alive -- Of power and time. -- Section two. Blue pastures -- The ponds -- Sister Turtle. -- Section three. Emerson : an introduction -- The bright eyes of Eleonora : Poe's dream of recapturing the impossible -- Some thoughts on Whitman -- Wordsworth's mountain. -- Section four. Swoon -- Bird -- Owls -- Two short ones: Who cometh here? ; Ropes -- Winter hours -- Building the house. -- Section five. Provincetown. -- Acknowledgments.