Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

1 When the body is rendered useless, the mind still runs like a bloodhound along well-worn trails of neurons, tracking the echoing questions: the confused family of whys, whats, and whens.

2 I had been moved to a studio apartment, where I could receive the care I needed. My own farmhouse was closed up. I did not know if or when I'd ever make it home again. I had to close my eyes and remember the early spring there.

3 The snail continued to explore the sides of the pot and the dish beneath, and I was amazed by its leisurely pace. I wondered if it would wander off during the night. But when I woke the next morning, the snail was back up in the pot, tucked into its shell, asleep beneath a violet leaf.

4 I was not at home in the white studio apartment where I was staying. I was far from the things that delighted me, the wild woods that sustained me, and the social network that enriched me.