We have been driving in fog all morning, but the fog is lifting now. The little seaside villages are 1 one by one. "There is my grandmother's house," I say,2 across the bay to a shabby old house.

    I am in Nova Scotia on a pilgrimage (朝圣) with Lise, my granddaughter, seeking roots for her, retracing (追溯)3 memory for me. Lise was one of the mobile children,4 from house to house in childhood. She longs for a sense of 5 , and so we have come to Nova Scotia where my husband and I were born and where our ancestors 6for 200 years.

    We soon 7 by the house and I tell her what it was like here, the memories8back, swift as the tide (潮水).

Suddenly, I long to walk again in the 9where I was once so glorious a child. It still 10a member of the family, but has not been lived in for a while. We cannot go into the house, but I can still walk11the rooms in memory. Here, my mother 12 in her bedroom window and wrote in her diary. I can still see the enthusiastic family 13 into and out of the house. I could never have enough of being 14 them. However, that was long after those childhood days. Lise 15 attentively as I talk and then says, " So this is where I 16 ; where I belong. "

She has17her roots. To know where I come from is one of the great longings of the human 18. To be rooted is "to have an origin". We need 19 origin. Looking backward, we discover what is unique in us; learn the20 of "I". We must all go home again—in reality or memory.

    One autumn morning, I spotted a pair of wild geese on our pond. The beautiful sight caught me by 1 because I'd never seen geese there before. Thinking they would soon leave, I 2 the chance to get close to them. I wondered where they came from and why they had chosen our pond.

    The next morning, the geese were still my 3 I walked round to the mailbox, showing them I meant no harm4I couldn't resist getting a 5 look. I hid behind some trees and 6 the handsome pair quietly through the branches. I was surprised to see they were staring at me, too!

    As days passed, I started 7 to them on my trips to the mailbox. They craned （伸长） their necks and raised their heads 8 but seemed to realize I was their friend. By then, my curiosity about 9 they were staying so long at the pond changed to10. As they were feeding in the grass the other day, I discovered the reason for their 11the male had a broken left wing. He couldn't 12 and his faithful mate wouldn't leave him behind. I asked a biologist what to do. He explained that sometimes a13 wing will heal by itself and suggested letting nature take its course.

    On the first day of November, I was working in the neighborhood of the geese with my tractor. As I bent to fasten a chain from the tractor, I 14some movement from the corner of my eye. Both geese were running towards the pond. Their wings were 15 like crazy, struggling for take off. Gradually, they flew over the pond. They16 enough altitude to fly past a neighbor's house, and then circled back towards me, flying no more than 50 feet over my head as if to say goodbye. Then they were out of my17.

    The season's first snowflakes fell the very next day. The birds must have 18 that winter was coming, and it was time to go. I became fond of them during their 19 visit to our pond, and now I miss them. I'll never forget their 20 to each other.

    A little boy was visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot (弹弓) to play with out in the woods. He 1 in the woods, but he could never hit anything. Getting a little2, he headed back for dinner. As he was 3 back he saw Grandma's pet 4. Just out of impulse (冲动), he let the slingshot 5, hit the duck right in the head and killed it. He was shocked and 6.

    In a panic, he hid the7duck in the wood pile, only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said 8.After lunch the next day Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the 9." But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he10to help in the kitchen." Then she11to him, "Remember the duck?" So Johnny washed the dishes. Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing. Before they left, Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I12Sally to help me make supper," Sally just smiled and said, "Well, you needn't worry about it13Johnny told me he wanted to help." She whispered again, "Remember the duck?" So Sally went 14 and Johnny stayed to help. After several days of doing both his15and Sally's, he finally couldn't 16 it any longer. He came to Grandma and admitted that he had 17 the duck.

    Grandma squatted down(蹲下), gave him a 18 , and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the 19 thing, but because I love you. I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a 20 of you. If you make a mistake, just be brave to admit to it and promise not to make it again. In that way, everyone will forgive you."

    My head was so full of digital noise that my brain was about to explode. As a writer, I was 1 to admit my love of books had been replaced by a brain that simply could not sit 2. So, this year I 3 to return to books before the Internet broke my brain.

    My goal was 52 books. It seemed like an impossible 4. A 400-page book will take the 5 person around eight hours to read. Finding the time to read was a challenge but I 6it anyway. I treated my mind like a misbehaving child who needs some rules laid down. Then I read for an hour or two at a time without 7 each day. It was something I hadn't done in years.

    In The Distracted Mind, Larry Rosen says that the more we 8spending time away from our electronic devices, the 9and more focused we become. And this is what I found. Again, I would 10 bring myself back to the page, 11 the urge to reach for that screen. I took inspiration from a book On Quiet, in which the author 12 how buying a safe（保险箱）to lock away her family devices for long periods had opened up a space to reflect.

    For me, finding that quiet time 13 finding time just to read. It was a  14  moment between me and my book when I ordinarily would have reached for my15. I read on the tram, in bed at night and on lunch 16.

    With my re-gained 17 for books, I created a space 18 I could press pause and find inspiration, knowledge and 19. In our fast-paced world, reading for the sake of reading is not selfish but a powerful way to 20 and be ourselves.

    It was an extraordinarily busy time of year. I felt some 1 to head straight home after a long meeting. So I headed to the 2 nearby for some therapeutic (治疗性的)hiking. As I reached the top and admired the view, my unclear mind 3. Re-energized, I knew that I could deal with the     4 that waited for me upon my 5. When I arrived back in the office the next day, I was full of energy, and finished my work 6.

    It was almost 20 years ago that I learned how 7 it is for me to carve out time to escape to the wild. I had finished my Ph.D.8 soil and water conservation in Honduras, but I wasn't sure what 9 I wanted to have. So, I decided to act on a dream I had been nursing for a few years,10 my mom showed me a magazine article about a man who had 11 around America. I figured that I could 12 cycling with research for a book on American agriculture while I worked out my next career step.

    So I did it. During the cycling 13, I found the clearness I needed to 14 my next career move. Talking with farmers I met along the way, I learned that their biggest 15 was selling their produce. I decided to broaden my 16 from land management to improving farmers' access to markets. My 17 interest led to working for a nongovernmental organization and I did eventually 18 a book on. American agriculture.

    The 19 is to find your source of inspiration and make good use of it. For me, I always get nourishment(营养)from being 20 in the outdoors.

    What is intelligence anyway? When I was in the army I1 an intelligence test that all soldiers took, and, against2 of 100, scored 160.

    I had an auto-repair man once, who, on these intelligence tests, could not3 have scored more than 80. 4, when anything went wrong with my car I hurried to him and he always 5it.

    Well, then, suppose my auto-repair man6 questions for some intelligence tests. By every one of them I'd prove myself a7. In a world where I have to work with my8. I'd do poorly.

    Consider my auto-repair man9. He had a habit of telling10. One time he said, "Doc, a deaf-and-dumb man11some nails. Having entered a store, he put two fingers together on the counter and made 12 movements with the other hand. The clerk brought him a hammer. He13 his head and pointed to the two fingers he was hammering. The clerk14 him some nails. He picked out the right size and left. Well, Doc, the15 man who came in was blind. He wanted scissors (剪刀). 16 do you suppose he asked for them?" I lifted my right hand and made scissoring movements with my first two fingers. He burst out laughing and said, "Why, you fool, he used his 17 and asked for them. I've been18 that on all my customers today, but I knew 19 I'd catch you." "Why is that?" I asked. "Because you are so goddamned educated, Doc. I knew you couldn't be very 20."

    And I have an uneasy feeling he had something there.