Noticing

by Kai Potter

Beyond the summer pleasures of the outermost end of Cape Cod is a long quiet season that fewer know. Wellfleet naturalist and artist Kai Potter takes readers deep into the woods, heaths, and dunes of this place we thought we knew so well and shows us things we hadn’t noticed before.

Full of memories of mossy paths and winter light, these essays reveal a surprising truth: the closer you look, the bigger the world gets. Nature does not narrow when you focus in — it expands. You don’t run out of questions. And few things stay ordinary for long.

Praise from Robert Finch: “Cape Cod has long provided fertile ground for writers, but especially for observers of the natural world.… Until recently, I had wondered if this rich tradition had run its course. But when I discovered Kai Potter’s essays in the Provincetown Independent, I realized that the tradition was alive and well.”

This debut book from Provincetown Independent Books is a collection of essays originally published in the pages of the Provincetown Independent.

137 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2024

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book captures the magic of Cape Cod so perfectly for me. Not the food, drive-in, flea market and other touristy parts which have their own magic and nostalgia, but the undeniable connection with nature that one has when visiting here. Having gone to Wellfleet every year in the last thirty eight I am always and on each visit brought to humble admiration at the stark beauty and fragility of the place. It is a feast for the senses unlike any other. The sound and smells carried on the wind, the certain sunlight, somehow different than sun in other places, the bird songs and the ever present crashing - rolling of waves echoing across the dune to your wooded cabin affirm again and again: you’re in the presence of a unique ecosystem, raw and unfiltered. Kai Potter writes beautiful thoughts and insights into a place that is alive and in flux at all times. Each year upon returning you’ll notice the beaches have changed from winter storms, trees gone and even houses lost to encroaching dunes. This book confirms all that Cape magic and reminds its reader to be more present, slow down, connect and appreciate in the present. We are in motion on shifting sands no more strongly felt than here on that bent arm we call the Cape.

[Falon Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of essays that gently guide you through the small yet immense wonders of Cape Cod during the off season.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is the most beautiful book I have read this year or in ages. Kai's prose are so breathtakingly beautiful and when I finished all the essays, I felt I had just emerged from a walk in the woods of Wellfleet with the author beside me. Talk about painting a picture with words. Thanks for your stunning book. I will be buying more to give as gifts and look forward to reading more from you in the near future. Whether you love nature, Cape Cod, Wellfleet, beautiful prose or just noticing the world around you, this is the book for you.