Luci Shaw is a poet, lecturer, and Writer in Residence at Regent College, Vancover. In 2013, she received the tenth annual Denise Levertov Award for Christian Writing from Seattle Pacific University and Image. The title of her new book says it all: here you will find essays and poems which provide "field notes" from Shaw's spiritual journey. At 84, she still agrees with Annie Dillard who admonished writers to become lively and creative witnesses of life: "We are here to notice each thing so each thing gets noticed and Creation need not play to an empty house." Shaw says this advice has taken root in her consciousness.

Shaw's curiosity is unleashed in a reflective journal, poetry, essays, photography, and gardening. Like many people her age, she is very aware of the weakness and debilitation that can come with increasing age. You will see older people looking for elevators in stores and theatres: the strain of using stairs is often too painful for the knees. You will notice more and more elders in wheelchairs or scooter-chairs and using walkers. Shaw describes her physical challenges, the scars on her body, and a close encounter with cancer. Then she adds:

"My own pains and difficulties and the resultant healing have been instructive; they come in handy when I meet someone with the same problems and can genuinely sympathize (a word that links same and pathos). And prayer for whatever needs healing in me becomes a springboard for me to pray for individuals worldwide who need the same curative touch from God."

Shaw claims to be an Episcopalian because of mystery. The older she gets the more at peace she becomes with "not knowing." It is so liberating to let God be God and not to have Him imprisoned in our dogmas or rational thought. In the closing chapter of this memoir, Shaw recounts the unique mix of anxiety and adventure as she moves from one house to another. She monitors her feelings of loss — saying goodbye to the place where she lived for 15 years and saying hello to the new place where the house faces west, the direction of sunsets. We can already picture Shaw marveling at the beauty of this exquisite natural phenomenon.