The common uncommon A forest journey

Biologist Heinrich (Racing the Clock) pays homage to Maine's boreal forests in this touching memoir. As climate change threatens earth, he argues that Maine, with its rich forests teeming with animal populations, is "a model of nature as it ought to be." The octogenarian author relates how he moved to Maine in 1952, at age 12, from Germany, and in 1980 built a log cabin on his family's farmland, where he pursued a career as a writer, teacher, and biologist. Among other memories, Heinrich reminisces about raising a wild Canadian gosling, hunting deer, and searching for invasive gypsy moths. He stresses the importance of living in synchronicity with nature and in observance of natural cycles. Noting how Maine's cold snaps and thaws prompt maple trees to yield their sap, he describes the process of making syrup ("I was kept busy... feeding the fire to sustain a billowing white steam cloud rising up above the froth of the boiling sap"). Likewise, he recounts planting 15 wild American chestnut seedlings, which at the time were nearly extinct, next to his cabin and then observing how insects and blue jays helped them pollinate. At last count, he found 1,300 offspring had spread through the forest. His empathy for nature effectively demonstrates the beauty of "belonging to something larger than ourselves." This is an eloquent account of a long life well spent in the woods. (Apr.)

Questions and answers about a small patch of land. Heinrich, a biologist whose books includeMind of the Raven (1999), has lived off and on for 65 years in a rustic cabin with an outhouse "a mere minutes' walk from the front door" in central Maine, on land that was once a farm but is now owned under an easement from the Forest Society of Maine. Unusual among biology professors--he was one at the University of Vermont--he hasn't confined himself to one narrow specialty, instead spending time observing and writing about squirrels, owls, trees, beetles, geese, moths, and the connections among all the beings that live in or around his cabin, including himself. Now in his 80s, he makes an elegant spokesperson for the value of sticking around in one place, noticing similarities and differences from year to year, or decade to decade. Sometimes, those are differences he made himself. In 1980, he planted 15 blight-resistant American chestnuts in an area where they had been killed off. Now, not only are two of those trees more than 60 feet tall, but he's counted 1,300 of their offspring spreading out a half mile in all directions. Heinrich is an engaging storyteller, hopping or meandering from one subject to the next in the course of a single chapter, so that you never know where you're going to end up, but you'll always learn something new and intriguing along the way. A born scientist, he often starts with a surprising observation, which leads to questions, which lead to more observations, and on and on. Quirky and thorough, he occupies himself tossing various insects into a spiderweb to see how the spider will react or analyzing the amount of fecal waste produced by a pair of nesting phoebes. Quietly fascinating rambles through a tiny territory. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.