Underwater, Eyes Open

“What is a river? Maybe that’s simple: one plus one, water plus motion. And you: your brain is 70 percent water, your blood is 80 percent water, and your lungs are 90 percent water. But you, perhaps, are your journey...”

Underwater, Eyes Open by author and aquatic ecologist Jacqueline Haskins, is a collection of thought-provoking, lyric, humorous essays about rivers, relationships, and what it means to be human within the natural world. After working more than 20 years in, on, and under fresh water, Haskins still loves to put on a snorkel mask and stick her face into an icy mountain stream. “It’ll be the next big eco-tourism boom,” she says, “I’m convinced.”

Probing, profound, and ultimately healing, infused by enchantment with nature, this collection flows from Glacier Bay to garbage villages; from surviving an Alaskan brown bear to raising a non-sexist son to why we kill; from species extinction and climate change to whether a kitchen is the heart of a house. Bringing a light touch to deep subjects, Haskins explores what it means to love a place, and what it means to be human within the natural world. She contemplates home and homelessness on our blue marble planet... and invites you to plunge in, eyes open, underwater.

Watch for the upcoming release of Underwater, Eyes Open.