READERS GUIDE

Questions and Topics for Discussion

1. “Out over the fireweed two hummingbirds joust in mid-air. The water is grey-green silk, the colour of bay leaves. The wind has dropped and there are no bugs. Mountains across the way are banded in light and shadow, and in the shade the timber looks like animal fur, plush and dark.”
Travelling alone allows the author to observe closely the environment around her. What other advantages are there?

2. Getting out there and roaming the country increases the author’s awareness of the natural environment and makes her care about the outdoors, but she is concerned that travelling in the wilderness is intrusive, even destructive. How did you feel about this?

3. “To go into these last places, to go alone or to go with the companion I have found, long after I was content to have no companion, is all I’ll ever need.”
To what extent is this book about learning to be alone, and finding freedom?