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Ode to My Naturalist · Street Smart Naturalist

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Greetings,
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: this is David B.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Williams and the podcast of my newsletter,
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  SPEAKER_01: The Street Smart Naturalist,
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  SPEAKER_01: Explorations of the Urban Kind.
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  Every week I share my observations and adventures with the
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  human and natural world
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  SPEAKER_01: around Seattle,
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  SPEAKER_01: Puget Sound,
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  SPEAKER_01: and the Pacific Northwest.
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  SPEAKER_01: Today's episode is extra special because I have a wonderful guest,
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  SPEAKER_01: my wife,
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  SPEAKER_01: who kindly agreed to write and narrate this week.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: To learn more about my work, please go to my website, geologywriter.com.
• 0:31
  You will also find a link to my Substack newsletter and my
• 0:34
  previous four years of newsletters,
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  SPEAKER_01: as well as images tied to this week's episode.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks again for joining me on this adventure,
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: and welcome to Podcast 19 of the Street Smart Naturalist,
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: Ode to My Naturalist,
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  SPEAKER_01: April 10,
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  SPEAKER_01: 2025.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Hello from Marjorie, the wife, often referred to in David's writing.
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  SPEAKER_00: In honor of David's birthday week,
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  I offered to write a newsletter and give readers some insight
• 1:03
  into the man behind
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  SPEAKER_00: the street smart naturalist.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Back to normal next week.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Someone recently said to me, gosh, David must be fun to live with.
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  This was during a walk when he spotted a hawk perched on a rock
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  cliff 75 feet above us.
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  SPEAKER_00: The rest of us barely saw the rock, much less the bird.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yes, living with a supernaturalist is fun.
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  SPEAKER_00: He expands my world beyond my literal myopic range.
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  SPEAKER_00: The bird spotting knack is most notable.
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  Whether at highway speeds,
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  on a walk,
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  or on a beach,
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  you can count on David to notice a bird.
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  SPEAKER_00: In the car,
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  he will often just say a number to indicate that he is adding
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  this one to the count
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  SPEAKER_00: of how many red-tailed hawks he has seen that day.
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  SPEAKER_00: On a walk,
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  SPEAKER_00: I am usually busy watching where I put my feet,
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  SPEAKER_00: fiddling with a contact lens,
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  or catching my breath while David merrily saunters with his
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  eyes to the sky.
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  SPEAKER_00: His visual acuity also works well in wilder spots,
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  such as the time we were hiking on Mount Baker and he saw a
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  marmot several hundred
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  SPEAKER_00: feet away in the middle of a field of boulders.
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  SPEAKER_00: When I am out with him,
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  SPEAKER_00: it is remarkable when I spot something first and often merits a hearty,
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  SPEAKER_00: nice work from him.
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  Actually,
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  it's remarkable even if I spot something that David is pointing to.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: One aspect of David is that he retains only certain information.
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  SPEAKER_00: The facts that stick in his brain include rock names and ages,
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  SPEAKER_00: desert plant names,
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  SPEAKER_00: vital statistics about the Denny Reed grade,
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  SPEAKER_00: sports trivia from the 1970s,
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  SPEAKER_00: highlights of bike races,
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  SPEAKER_00: our anniversary date,
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  SPEAKER_00: and many embarrassing stories about friends.
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  SPEAKER_00: He is also not embarrassed about poking fun at himself.
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  SPEAKER_00: Facts that do not stick include names and uses of medicines,
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  SPEAKER_00: where to place commas,
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  SPEAKER_00: names of musicians and artists,
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  SPEAKER_00: and distinguishing features of different types of shoes and clothing.
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  SPEAKER_00: To me, this illustrates the beauty and diversity of paying attention.
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  SPEAKER_00: We notice what we care about, what we have learned to name.
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  SPEAKER_00: My friend Catherine put it eloquently.
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  Until you learn to see something,
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  it is invisible or exists in a mass of sameness.
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  SPEAKER_00: Once you can give a name or make another connection,
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  SPEAKER_00: you can notice and pick your item out of the crowd.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you have been reading David's newsletter,
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  you know he is curious about many things and loves to find out
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  more about those things.
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  SPEAKER_00: Writing the newsletter has sharpened his noticing.
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  SPEAKER_00: Gotta have some content every week, so gotta look for ideas.
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  SPEAKER_00: The everyday and the unusual are equally viable topics.
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  You may recall the joys of repeat travel or the March 20th CSI
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  crime scene investigation,
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  SPEAKER_00: the everyday and the unusual,
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  SPEAKER_00: both probed for connections and answers.
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  SPEAKER_00: As I am often present at the events that lead to newsletters,
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  I can tell you of David's genuine excitement at seeing dead
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  animals and sympathy
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: for their plight as he moved them off the road to rest in peace.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Again,
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  SPEAKER_00: I was minding my own business,
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  SPEAKER_00: trying not to trip,
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  SPEAKER_00: and then got swept into the curiosity about the events.
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  SPEAKER_00: Luckily, I would rather talk about spiders than many other topics.
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  SPEAKER_00: An insight into his process.
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  There is no notebook of pre-written newsletters automated to
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  drop at 5.59am every Thursday.
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  SPEAKER_00: That is really him,
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  writing something new every week and being ready to push send
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  at dawn every Thursday.
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  SPEAKER_00: Actually, I'm just guessing it's dawn.
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  SPEAKER_00: I am asleep at that hour.
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  SPEAKER_00: One last example on the art of paying attention.
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  SPEAKER_00: We were walking on a trail in the desert a few weeks ago.
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  David looked down and spotted a sewing needle among the cactus
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  debris on the side
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  SPEAKER_00: of a trail,
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  SPEAKER_00: literally finding a needle in a needle stack,
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  SPEAKER_00: as my brother remarked.
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  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, super naturalist, super fun.
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  SPEAKER_01: Wow, Marjorie, thanks.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: Once again,
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  SPEAKER_01: this is David B.
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  SPEAKER_01: Williams,
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  author and voice of the Street Smart Naturalist Explorations of
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  the Urban Kind,
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  a weekly newsletter and podcast focusing on the human and
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  natural world around Seattle,
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  SPEAKER_01: Puget Sound,
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  SPEAKER_01: and the Pacific Northwest.
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  SPEAKER_01: If you'd like more details about my books,
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  SPEAKER_01: walks,
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: and talks,
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  SPEAKER_01: and a link to sign up for our newsletter and podcast,
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: check out my website,
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: geologywriter.com.
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  And don't forget to slow down,
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  pay attention,
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  and enjoy the world around you.