The Best Nature has to Offer

A small but enthusiastic audience joined us last night to hear local author and naturalist James L. Davis talk about the creation of his book The Northwest Nature Guide and to hear about some of the best nature-viewing opportunities in the Northwest. The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Vancouver Island, and the Columbia River Gorge were some of the highlighted places. We also heard an amusing passage from the book about pelagic birding off the coast of Oregon. (Pelagic, from the Greek word for "open sea," as opposed to shore birds.) We now have signed copies of The Northwest Nature Guide at Broadway Books -- what a great gift for both visitors to the Northwest and Northwesterners keen to explore all that nature has to offer us.

In his book Last Child in the Woods, author Richard Louv talks about nature-deficit disorder afflicting our children, and James -- being a teacher himself -- talked about the challenging of keeping younger people connected to nature. What great family outings could be created using this book as a guide! James' knowledge of the natural world around us and his passion and enthusiasm for sharing it with others shone brightly. What a great night!