In this book Doris Grumbach examines her seventy-first year. The author, a novelist and book critic, finds that keeping a journal "thins my skin," helping her "to feel open to everything." Grumbach writes about a trip to Mayan ruins in the Yucatan, the delights of living in Maine, her experiences of church-going, and the responses to her last autobiographical work. She manages to vividly convey her enjoyment of reading and her appreciation of Charles Dickens and Willa Cather. The book ends with a charming meditation on home which celebrates the pleasures of dwelling fully in a place.