For more than thirty years Jim Gilbert has been observing the changing Minnesota seasons with the accuracy of a trained biologist and the rapt attention of a poet, while also keeping in touch with events in remote corners of the state through friendships developed during his weekly WCCO Radio call-in program. Now Jim shares the fruits of this experience with us in a series of brief essays and remarks focused on each passing week of the year. The wide range of topics include: the song of the chickadee; animal tracking the snow; the northern lights; apple-blossom time; ice-out on Lake Minnetonka; fireflies; tapping maple trees; barn swallows nest building; the honey bee's cleansing flight; and cricket frogs. Jim puts each event in perspective, explains why, when, and how it occurs, and notes variations in its timing, so that we feel the drama of nature's progress through the seasons as never before. Berry-picking, butterfly migrations, corn tassling, and rime frost are just a few of the events that make up the story of a Minnesota year, and that story has never been told with such charm and insight as Jim Gilbert tells it here. With more than 150 full-color photographs, suggestions for family outdoor activities, and much more. - Back cover.