1. In "To Smell," Swain says that when he was a teen-ager, he and friends would "bicycle in the dark with no flashlight"; he used his sense of smell for navigation. Have you ever used a sense other than sight to find your way someplace? How did you do it?

2. Swain suggests many ways a person can experience the wonders of nature without going far from home. Can you apply any of his suggestions to where you live?

3. In "The Onion Braider," Swain describes a man's love for growing onions. This seemingly simple activity seems to have large implications for Swain. What is the point Swain wishes to make?

4. Horse chestnuts do not grow everywhere. Is there something you have gathered that could substitute for horse chestnuts? (For the present writer, it is acorns.)

5. What do you learn about the lives of hermit crabs from...