This is a vividly drawn memoir about the spiritual meaning of place. The author, stricken with an environmental illness which made her allergic to many foods and modern day pollutants, moved to an Amish rural settlement in Iowa. She purchased a one-room schoolhouse for her home and began to grow her own crops. The Amish accepted her need for solitude and saluted her self- reliance.

Swander's new life of simplicity unfurled amidst setbacks which didn't seem to faze her — a tornado, floods, a plague of locusts, and a drought. The message is clear: when you are at home spiritually, troubles and setbacks can be accepted as part of the natural landscape.