In 23 Woodcock in 22 Years, Jeff Wilkerson interweaves his twin passions of astrophysics and game hunting. Stories of how we understand the universe mesh with stories of time in the field, and in doing so capture the uncanny phenomenon of the passage of time: everything evolves around us while we expect our world to remain unchanged.
As Wilkerson’s thoughts soar to the stars that produced the chemical elements that form us and all the land and its creatures, simple reflections on going afield to harvest a woodcock for a special holiday meal ground him. What emerges is a love story for a bird, the land, and all of creation from atomic nuclei to the farthest reaches of the universe, and a reminder to acknowledge the gentle flow of time while cherishing the everyday existence around us.
“In the annals of American upland bird hunting literature there is no book quite like this one. Wilkerson achieves a significant feat in linking the mystery and allure of a tiny feathered migratory gamebird with the infinitely larger starscape of the universe. Connecting the philosophical and astronomical dots is what this intriguing sporting book is all about.”—Robert DeMott, editor, Afield: American Writers on Bird Dogs
“As inviting as a walk through his beloved upper-midwestern woods, Jeff Wilkerson’s 23 Woodcock in 22 Years is a lovely meditation on the interconnectedness of life on earth to (and through) the cosmos, the body, the seasons, and beyond.”—Amy Weldon, author, Eldorado, Iowa: A Novel
