OUTDOORS ON FOOT

Beginning with a look at different animals' feet, Arnosky then attempts to wander off in two directions at once, observing the world and its creatures on the one hand and ""your"" feet and footgear on the other--without much sense of purpose anywhere. First, ""barefoot walking is a way to really feel the world"" (gooey mud, still water, firm sand). So far so good, but autumn has you sitting on a rock and observing wildlife in your playshoes; in winter you make tracks and snowballs, pick up snow, and follow your footprints home; and in spring (wearing boots) you look for earthworms after a rain, or (clad perhaps in rubber waders) for frogs in the swamp. (Presumably, all of you live near beaches, woods, and swamps.) Arnosky's initial idea has possibilities but instead of shaping it up he barges off--on a trail that ends up nowhere.