¿Like nothing else in the newspaper, [Renkl¿s columns] burst with awareness of the things of nature. . . . All is written with an open, joyful, yet steady voice of wonder.¿¿Philadelphia Inquirer

IntroductionFlora & FaunaHawk. Lizard. Mole. Human.The Flower That Came Back from the DeadThe Eagles of Reelfoot LakeThe Real Aliens in Our BackyardMake America Graze AgainThe Misunderstood, Maligned RattlesnakeMaking Way for MonarchsThe Call of the American LotusPolitics & ReligionA Monument the Old South Would Like to IgnoreThe Final Battleground in the Fight for SuffrageThe Hits Keep Coming for the Red-State PoorA Slow-Motion Coup in TennesseeWe’re All Addicts HereThere Is a Middle Ground on GunsAn American TragedyThe Passion of Southern ChristiansChristians Need a New Right-to-Life MovementShame and Salvation in the American SouthGoing to Church with Jimmy CarterSocial JusticeWhat Is America to Me?ICE Came to Take Their Neighbor. They Said No.Christmas Isn’t Coming to Death RowAn Act of Mercy in TennesseeAn Open Letter to My Fellow White ChristiansLooking Our Racist History in the EyeMiddle Passage to Mass IncarcerationIn Memphis, Journalism Can Still Bring JusticeAn Open Letter to John LewisReading the New SouthThese Kids Are Done Waiting for ChangeEnvironmentAmerica’s Killer LawnsDangerous WatersMore Trees, Happier PeopleI Have a Cure for the Dog Days of SummerThe Case against Doing NothingThe Fox in the StrollerDeath of a CatA 150,000-Bird Orchestra in the SkyFamily & CommunityWaking Up to HistoryWhy I Wear Five Wedding RingsDemolition BluesThe Gift of Shared GriefRemembrance of Recipes PastAll the Empty Seats at the TableWhat It Means to Be #NashvilleStrongThe Night the Lights Went OutThe Story of the Surly Santa and the Christmas MiracleTrue Love in the Age of CoronavirusArts & CultureKeep America’s Roadside WeirdCountry Music as Melting PotJohn Prine: American OracleSo Long to Music City’s Favorite Soap Opera“Beauty Herself Is Black”The Day the Music DiedAfter War, Three Chords and the TruthProud Graduate of State U.What Is a Southern Writer, Anyway?Graceland, At LastAcknowledgments