May 4, 1998
Northwest writer and illustrator Stewart takes readers on a guided tour as she buys land and builds her dream home on a remote island off the Washington coast. The writing is often merely serviceable, and much in the vein of a private diary, but it's redeemed by her knowledge of the area and about the world around her. There are many details about the numerous locals who become friends and help along the way: the builder; the architect; the dowser who tells her where to dig the well ("Ted says he has had the ability to dowse for around fifty years, but it was only nine years ago that he `put out a shingle' "); the identifier of moss; the friend who brings feathers to toss in the air that are caught by swallows building their own nests. As she settles in, Stewart surveys every inch of the natural world within a 30-foot radius of her home, from the families of bats and deer to the varying patterns of wildlife from season to season. She also serves as an informal guide to the island as she learns the ways and patterns of local life, punctuated by the ferry schedule. An intensely personal story, Stewart's experience will ring true to those intimately familiar with this part of the world and gives a window in for all who are not.