For award-winning science writer Margie Pitlak, exploring the unique nature of the
Maine coast opens a door to deeper ties and insights. Watching a striped monarch
caterpillar transform into a chartreuse pendant dabbed with gold, she realizes the limits of
life and what passes between generations. She explores the violent geologic collisions
that thrust up and fractured Maine's mountains; digs into the latest scientific thinking on
how animals navigate; reflects on the dizzy dance of plankton under the microscope and
the dogfish heart that continued to beat while held in the palm of her hand. She looks at
moose, fox, fishers, and the tides as well, and shares a chapter about cleaning up the
Maine coast by kayak. These facets of the natural world speak a hidden language that is
translated by scientific knowledge and reflection. Nature begins to speak about the nature
of life.
