title: Following the Water: A Hydromancer's Notebook
author:  David M. Carroll 
description: In this sensuous nature journal, MacArthur genius award winner Carroll (<I>The Year of the Turtle</I>) follows the inhabitants of his local New Hampshire wetlands through a season of turtle life from March thaw, when the turtles wake from hibernation, to November, when ice puts them back to sleep, along the way celebrating such personal holy days as the Return of the Red-winged Blackbird. Wearing camouflage and waders, he meets wildlife on its own terms. At the sudden appearance of a red doe, he wonders, to have those senses&mdash;would I trade my thinking, dreaming, imagining mind for them for one full day... would I ever want to come back? He watches a thirsty turtle hatchling encountering water for the first time: he extends his neck full length, immerses his head, closes his eyes and drinks for 21 minutes. Accompanied by Carroll's own exquisite drawings, this poetic recording of his season of loving observation is subdued by Carroll's dread of habitat destruction and nostalgia for a boyhood when I entered waters that, if not alive themselves, were so filled with light and life that my binding with them was as much metaphysical as physical. <I>(Aug.)</I> <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  This book is dedicated to the other half of my soul  
  My traveling companion for eternity  
  My co-parent, best friend, dream-come-true  
  And general all around favorite person  
  The heartless lout  
  Who scratches out some of my favorite dialogue  
  Deletes whole passages I worked very hard on  
  Believes “yeah, it’s fine,” to be the ultimate compliment  
  And keeps it Real  
  Without whom none of these books would exist  
  To Bill  
  with love  
  throughout Time
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Acknowledgments
  
  Many thanks to the usual suspects, the fine folks at Tor, especially Jim Minz
  and Jodi Rosoff, and the great Tom Doherty. And to Richard Curtis, as always.
  
  Sincere appreciation to the Henry Mercer Museum and Tile Foundry, the
  Comparative Literature Department of SMU, the International Maritime Museum
  and the chiefs and clan mothers of the Onondaga Nation.
  
  Thanks to Glynn Gomes for the hydrogeological review.
  
  My deepest gratitude to Aidan Rose, MJ Urist, Rebecc