Reading this book made me happy to be alive. These essays are like short prayers that remind me to stop and look and notice all the wonders that exist in the world. Doyle’s grace and excitement overflows in his writing no matter the subject, and he is not self-indulgent or overly intellectual. His writing is outward looking and tender. Doyle was a writer who seemed to live with both arms flung open, ready to embrace the world with his attention and wonder.

I wish I could quote the whole book in my review because it is filled with lovely sentences and scenes to savor and savor again. But I will go with half a quote from “The Moment,” because I think it encompasses the purpose of the book:

“We have so many delicious moments in life, and they rush past so hurriedly, in such a mist and blur, that we should pause sometimes, I think, and choose one, and stroll back to it, just for a few minutes…”

Each essay is just this sort of pause to recall and remember these moments, to have them again, to love and laugh and be thankful for them and to share the joy of stories with others. ( )

Oregon writer Brian Doyle died at age 60, in 2017; way to young. We had met him at a bookstore, and he autographed this book for us "With laughter and prayers" and a little sketch of himself. He was such a nice man, and also a very good writer.

This book is a collection of short essays, mostly about nature, animals and children. It was nice to read and to remember what an amazing world we live in. Here is a paragraph:

"I work at a university perched on a high bluff over the Willamette River. Across the river is a line of velvet hills punctuated by soaring hawks; below the campus is the sinuous gleam of the river, a highway for creaking flotillas of great blue herons. The campus itself is a village of many species: students, professors, employees, cars, insects, trees, birds. Students and birds are the most exuberant. The students chirp, preen, molt, congregate in gaggles and flocks, perform bizarre courtship dances. The birds study insects, analyze traffic patterns, edit lawns, flutter through classrooms. Some birds live in residence halls; others commute to the university. I have seen nests in eaves, nests in pipes, nests in windows. " ( )