Collage: the writer's experience of the natural world + bits of science + the voice of a child who wants to fly = an essay that pokes around into these questions:
What can we witness in the caldron of the creative process? What is given and what is made?
When searching for answers to questions that won’t leave us alone, E. O. Wilson, naturalist and expert on ants, encouraged his lab students to cut deep and travel far. This essay is a wild ride into the mystery of barrier islands, surfing off WindanSea Beach, kelp forests off the Coronados, New England's backyard birds, and the seasons of trees. The child observes, and the writer returns home to write about the journey.
My sincere thanks to nonfiction editor Dyan Neary for her clear and steely eye.
Here’s the link: https://www.southeastreview.org/vol-38-1. Upon arrival, scroll down to Creative Nonfiction. The essay’s in the middle box.
Art: Quint Buchholz “Ausflug”