New Yorkers Grant and his girlfriend Mariah decided on a whim to buy an old plantation house in the Mississippi Delta. This is their journey of discovery to a remote, isolated strip of land, three miles beyond the tiny community of Pluto. They learn to hunt, grow their own food, and fend off alligators, snakes, and varmints galore. They befriend an array of unforgettable local characters, capture the rich, extraordinary culture of the Delta, and delve deeply into the Delta's lingering racial tensions. As the nomadic Grant learns to settle down, he falls not just for his girlfriend but for the beguiling place they now call home.

First landing -- Serpents in the garden -- Joseph Brake -- Wing shooter -- The oncologist's hitmen -- Field trip -- Elephant in the room -- Deer season -- 92 in the shade -- Po monkeys -- Death row valentine -- Separate and unequal -- Rites of spring -- Holmes County miracle -- Morgan Freeman and the meaning of life -- Election Day -- Grabbing smoke -- You send me.