The book is a hybrid of autobiography, poems (in both English and the Ethiopian vernacular, Amharic), and a collection of articles on Ethiopian medicinal plants. The bulk of the book is on my childhood and adult experiences while growing up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and later during my academic life in the USA. Keeping a diary was uncommon, especially when I was growing up; therefore, I had to rely on my memory to reconstruct events from various periods of my life. Although I had a predisposition to language both in the colloquial and literary sense, I didn’t try my hands on this aspect early in life.

In a previous and current book, I wanted to experiment with poetry pieces which capture my feelings about Nature and other experiences. In addition, apart from writing in mainstream scientific academic journals, I used to pen popular articles on medicinal plants and share them on social media platforms and among discussion groups. A sampling of those articles is also included in this book.
The book is divided into four main parts. Part 1 focuses on my upbringing and is sprinkled with the most memorable life events, at least to me. This part covers my traditional and early modern school years and extends a little into my college years. It also discusses the latter part of my life in the USA as a doctoral student in the early 80’s and a post-doctoral researcher in the early 90’s.

Part 2 delves into poetic eruptions written in the Ethiopian vernacular Amharic, that were drawn from sentimental experiences, be it from just observing Nature or reading and hearing about important events both in Ethiopia and elsewhere. The same poetic lava flows into Part 3 with a similar genre but penned in English. The last part of the book, Part 4, is a collection of selected articles that I wrote at various times in newspapers, on social media, and for discussion groups. They focus mainly on Ethiopian medicinal plants.

This author believes that there are certain sections that may appeal to interested readers. Some readers may relate to the stories told in the book. Those who are inclined to poetry may share similar sentiments expressed in the poems. Other readers who are science-minded can also extract some information from the book.

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