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In this deeply introspective collection of essays, Quinn applies her scientific knowledge to local wildlife phenomena that have inspired her to reflect on spiritual and evolutionary questions. In the title essay, one of the standouts, the author investigates the life cycle of giant ichneumon (parasitic) wasps while pondering the existence of God in relation to evolution and natural selection, questioning how either may serve the possibility or assurance of an afterlife. In “Enskyment” she focuses on the vultures that roost near her church while considering the relevancy of religious teachings and practices. Throughout, Quinn’s parallel explorations are uniformly thought-provoking, effectively connecting often unrelated themes—though “Metamorphic,” her study of rock formations in relation to the expansiveness of human sexuality, doesn’t quite hold up to the rest. Though not interconnected initially, the final few essays loosely track the author’s experiences leading up to the adoption of her son, a process that “seemed at times rather cold-blooded. Mechanical. Deliberate. Too conscious.” Quinn demonstrates a graceful prose style, and her lyrical sense of discovery and wonder may draw comparison to writers like Annie Dillard. “There is much we cannot see, in the ecosystem and in ourselves,” she writes. “Perhaps when we look both outward and inward, we need to use only the coarse focus and increase our field of view, because what at first appears blurry may be actually the truest version of a thing. We are more than the amalgam of genes and memes we imagine ourselves to be; we have pigeonholed the soldiers in the nature-nurture squabble too narrowly….We have been thinking of ourselves as persons, when we are more like the land. I see the pond; therefore, I see the muskrat. And the snapping turtle. And me.”

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