Fall Talks and Walks
And Some Natural Jokes
Happy last week of Summer to everyone. With the cool of Autumn in the air, I thought I’d send out a list of my upcoming public events. It’d be great to meet readers of my newsletter, so don’t be shy, come on out and say hello. As they say, next week, I’ll be back to my normally scheduled programming with something fun, exciting, and new!
September 14 - 7pm - Bellingham - Chuckanut Radio Hour – In an event co-sponsored by Village Books and the North Cascades Institute, the wonderful Erica Bauemeister and I will be chatting about my book Homewaters.
September 17 - Seattle Times - Check out the Pacific NW Magazine for an excerpt from Spirit Whales and Sloth Tales: Fossils in Washington State.
September 18 - 6pm - University Bookstore - I will be teamed with local authors and Seattle aficionados Harriet Baskas and Susanna Ryan. We’ll be talking about interesting, unusual, and totally cool places in the city.
September 19 – 7pm - McMenamin’s At Anderson School, Bothell – I will be talking about Homewaters, this time, all by myself. What’s great is if I am boring, at least there’s beer on tap!
September 27 – 6pm - Ivar’s Salmon House – I will be talking about the Ship Canal, the history of Lake Union, and perhaps a bit about Dale Chihuly’s Boathouse, next door to the Salmon House. Once again, if I am boring, at least there’s good food and drink to be had.
September 28 – 7pm - Bellevue Botanical Garden - Eastside Audubon – I will be talking about what Seattle looked like botanically in 1850 and what clues remain to put together that story.
September 30 – 10am - Northwest Geological Society – I will be leading my tour of the Denny Regrade walk for this gang of geologists.
October 15 – 2pm - Field Trip Society – I will be leading my favorite urban walk, Who’s Watching You, where we’ll look at carved and terra cotta faces and figures on downtown Seattle buildings.
November 8 – 7pm - Burke Museum – Wow, this is big. It’ll be the book launch for Spirit Whales and Sloth Tales: Fossils of Washington State, the book I co-authored with Dr. Elizabeth Nesbitt. Covering more than 500 million years of history, we discuss the major fossils of the state from pollen to ammonites to mammoths to spirit whales. The illustrations and photos alone are enough reason to buy the book. I will send out more information when it’s available.
November 11 and 12 – Port Townsend – Quimper Geology and the Port Townsend Marine Science Center - Liz Nesbitt and I will be in town for two days of events. I will send out more information when it’s available.
December 9 – 11am - Stanwood Library – I will be up north talking about Homewaters as part of their Winter 2023 Author series. I will send out more information when it’s available.
I will probably add more events and will note them in future newsletters. I also post information on my Walks/Talks website page.
And, because I realized I didn’t have enough to merit a newsletter, or perhaps even a snicker, here’s some natural history jokes.
What do you call someone who studies birds of prey?
Have you ever seen a gulp?
What’s the scientific name of a wise-cracking tree?
Answers/groans
An ornitheologist.
They are slightly bigger than a swallow.
Fraxinus sapiens (Fraxinus is the genus of ash trees and sapiens means smart.)
Please let me know if you actually have any good natural history jokes.
But, but... don't you mean someone who studies birds of pray?
What’s the difference between a marine biologist and a dog?
One tags whales, and the other wags tails.