James Maurie Halm retired from his chemical research activities when he moved to the Blue Ridge Mountains to pursue his avocation of creative writing. His major interest is poetry, and he has published in both chemistry and poetry. His training and experience in science has cast his world in the web of beauty and order. He writes of elegance and poignancy in the human condition. A decade after his wife passed away, James met Dorothy (Doti), a widowed mountain flower of Western, North Carolina.The match went from curiosity to impressiveness to heartfelt respect. James relates, “We learned a lot from each other and after several years, a romance evolved which escalated into a grand adventure. We were, and continue to be, blessed with each other’s companionship. The strikes of beauty and wonder in this human association were like lightning strikes to command poetic thunder. I hope you hear these cascades throughout this book of poetry.”