Wintering

Through one winter, Diana Kappel-Smith searched for life in the woods and hills of New England, eager to learn where the rich and bountiful life of summer goes and how it manages to cope. Wintering is both an account of a personal journey and a gifted naturalist’s chronicle of the season. It is powerful and always intriguing–a celebration of the tenacity of life, its resiliency and resurgence…

The author traveled deep into the Vermont hills, eager to understand better how the natural world survives the bitter cold and darkness. She is perceptive and ever questioning as she investigates what becomes of plants, insects, fish, woodchucks, and squirrels. Along the way, she also discovers that the season brings a wintering of the human spirit as well, and her handling of her own emotions and reactions during the winter is as fascinating as her reports on the natural world.