r, Patrick Stevens, teacher and naturalist through his ramblings in each of the distinct seasons of the Minnesota year. He begins his journey in winter, the longest season, dealing with dying plants, frost, frozen lakes, major snowfalls, animal tracks and habitat, moving on to spring and the welcomed rebirth of the area with both wild and domesticated plants bursting forth in the splendor and energy of living. Summer is his joyous time bringing in the long days and longer rambles in the sweetness and light of warmth. Stevens ends the year in autumn moving toward the inevitable death of all that lives, but not without appreciation of the process and glory of that season. All those whose breath has been snatched away by any particular seasonal beauty--stepping out the back door to the full sweet air on a certain May morning, for instance--will resonate to Stevens's shart and telling observations on nature and its changes throughout the year.