Writer Gary Czerwinski has created a small inspirational gem with an artist's eye for the unique and a teacher's gift to share.

From the first yellow buds of spring forsythia to the last snowflakes of winter, Appreciating the Simple celebrates the often-overlooked common occurrences of everyday life.

These short reflections, rich in poetic prose and rooted in the American tradition of Thoreau, provide just the right amount of pause in our hectic lives to reacquaint us with a sense of hope and solitude in nature, home, garden and family.

A former award-winning English teacher from Indiana, Gary Czerwinski is a graduate of Purdue University. In 1996, he left his chosen field of study to begin life as an artist in southwest Michigan where he now resides.