Preface -- A scholar of worms -- Shaping up for the hunt -- A bit about my writing life -- Big -- $7,000 TV historical extravaganza -- Wild life in a room with a view -- Risk assessment -- The forty-pound brown trout -- Bear hunters -- A lake too far -- The chicken chronicles -- Secret athlete -- The McManus principles -- Basic lying made easy -- A chainsaw kind of guy -- The lady who kept things -- September song -- The longest march -- The stalk -- The horse in my garage -- The tent -- To smoke a steelhead -- The teachings of Rancid Crabtree -- Christmas shopping -- Who ate my Shakespeare? -- Romantic moments -- The canoe -- The writing of "The green box" -- A routine fishing trip -- The brown pelican -- Canoodled -- Christmas over easy -- Dog people -- Finding my roots -- The longest three miles -- Scrabble's powers of observation -- The dark and other dangers.