A HABIT OF SEEING

A collection of short essays reflecting on the surprising majesty of the natural world that surrounds us.

Debut author Sura Jeselsohn routinely marvels at the hidden wonders of the natural environment, spectacles that can be enjoyed without the fuss of exotic travel. In a series of brief essays that originally appeared in the Riverdale Press in her regular column, “Green Scene,” the author recounts adventures big and small in encountering the ecological gems hiding in plain sight: “It always amazes me what you do not see when your eye is not sensitized.” Jeselsohn takes the reader on a guided tour of these barely concealed delights, many of which she finds around her home in Riverdale, New York: She goes beachcombing on Coney Island, searches for fossils in nearby streams, and explains how midtown Manhattan can be seen as a “geological opportunity.” She also makes grander excursions, too, to Israel, Uganda, London, and the Red Sea, among others. The book is organized thematically; for example, there are sections that collect essays on marine biology, plants, insects, and birds, and a few others. As the collection’s title suggests, she returns repeatedly to the notion of noticing and enjoying the natural beauty accessible to all with the patience to look for it—all that is “happening beneath the radar”: “I have always thought that I was reasonably aware of the natural world around me; yet as I am repeatedly reminded, a whole lot goes on out there, right under my nose, that I’m completely unaware of.” She vividly describes her often fascinating findings, like the “extraordinary structural complexity and surprising coloration” of flowers. Jeselsohn writes with great clarity and informal unpretentiousness; her expertise is undeniable, but she expresses it without a hint of professional arrogance. In fact, quite the contrary, she infectiously invites the reader to share the experiences she believes are open to all, given a heightened attentiveness. And while there is a more urgent lesson that lurks beneath her explorations—that nature is precious and we “ignore it at our peril”—this is not a work of activism but a quietly inviting paean to the infinite beauty of the Earth.

A lucidly informative tour of the natural world’s astonishing complexity, cheerfully conveyed.