Table of Contents
Introduction 1
1 A Florida River at Night: The Incredible Lightness of Being 11
2 Wading through the Walt Whitman of Habitats: Scrub and Sandhill 16
3 Me and Buddy and the Speed of Light on a Florida Lake 29
4 Los Roques: Realizing the Timeless Promise of the Unknown 34
5 Spring Hunting in the Native Terrain: A Topography of Wholeness 43
6 Alph the Sacred River: What Will Become of It? 56
7 Emotional Ecotones: From the Windowsill to the Amazon 63
8 Wild Hogs, Bears, and Ancient Acorn Memories in the Landscape 69
9 A Journey of Turtle Eggs, 'Dillos, and So Much More 77
10 Laherinto de las Doce Leguas: A Cuban Labyrinth of Many Choices 82
11 Rooting Like a Hawg in the Understory of Wild 98
12 An Early-Morning Paddle: Upstream with the Comforting Grain 103
13 Saba: A Precipice in a Lonely Turquoise Sea 110
14 Inside a Stained Glass Window, Looking Out 119
15 A Landscape That Remembers 125
16 Producing In Marjorie's Wake: Navigating the Territory between the Hero's Journey and a Floating Opera 129
17 Nurse Sharks in Heat Make an Awful Lot of Noise 149
18 When Blackbirds Glow Scarlet, Just for Now 153
19 Laudonnière Meets the Shrimp Lady: Why Is It So? 157
20 Swimming with the Dragons in the Karst 162
21 Inside the Indian Shore: Treading the Line between Past and Present with Puc Puggy 170
22 A Jungle Tram: The Stirrings of Wildness in the Modern Soul 175
23 Woodland Park: Keeping a Promise "Where, the Mound-Builders Lived" 182
24 Sacred Caves That Hold Fast to Their Secrets: Diving with the Gods 190
25 On Getting to Know the River in Flood 200
26 Riding the Food Chain to the Bottom of the Sea 205
27 Welcome to Our Tropical Winterland 213
28 Steamboats Meet Solastalgia Head-On 218
Epilogue: Keeping Heart Is Far More Important Than Keeping Score 223
Acknowledgments 228
