In her lifetime, Kathrin Rudland has always analyzed any new or unfamiliar place in an effort to know who or what lives there in the present or lived there in the past. She looks not only at the ordinary people and their everyday lives but also at the natural world that surrounds these people. She is curious about the long, continuous journey of generation by generation and how areas have changed. From her quiet home in Illinois and through far-reaching travels across the Arctic, the Far East, Africa, and Europe, the past speaks to the author in countless ways. Her poems reflect not merely a love of history but an intuitive, almost unconscious understanding of the deep resonance of how life once was. Her poems challenge readers to reflect on how we carry moments that still echo in ourselves. The past is not an isolated moment in time, but a lasting legacy of resilience and wisdom that helps us to shape our daily aspirations and identities. The past is within us, and this collection focuses on reverence for the natural world and the passing of time.