Exploring Nature's Wildness In The City with Lyanda Lynn Haupt

MP3 Download

“There are times when our guarded separateness from the nonhuman world breaks down, and it’s a moment of grace.” It is through such grace-filled moments, that we rediscover our intimate connection with the natural world, whether we’re walking a remote forest path or watching the crows dance outside the kitchen window. Lyanda Lynn Haupt invites us to revisit that connection every day—through a simple awareness of the living world around us, and of the impact our households and our urban lives have on the nonhuman community in which we live. She explains that true ecology means not only appreciating and caring for the wild lands, but also cultivating a more conscious way of living wherever we find ourselves. She says, “When we think of nature as the pristine place we go to and then return from, the implication is that what we do when we get home doesn’t matter because we’re not in nature anymore. But we’re intimately involved in the more-than-human world at every moment. That can be enlivening and enchanting.” (hosted by Michael Toms)

Bio

Lyanda Lynn Haupt has created and directed educational programs for Seattle Audubon, worked in raptor rehabilitation in Vermont, and as a seabird researcher for the Fish and Wildlife Service in the remote tropical Pacific.

She is the author of numerous articles. Her books include:

• Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds (Sasquatch 2001)
• Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent (Little, Brown, 2006) 
• Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom from the Urban Wilderness (Little, Brown 2009)
• The Urban Bestiary: Encountering the Everyday Wild (Little, Brown, 2013)
• Mozart’s Starling (Little, Brown, 2017

To learn more about the work of Lyanda Lynn Haupt go to www.lyandalynnhaupt.com.

Topics Explored in This Dialogue

• The difference between wildlife and wild life
• How you can renew your connection to the natural world, no matter where you live
• Why crows are associated with death
• How crows hold funerals for other crows
• How you can let to of guilt and become a joyful ecologist

Host: Michael Toms      Interview Date: 10/6/2009      Program Number: 3322

Music Playlist

From Album: Journey Between
Artist: Baka Beyond
1998 Rykodisc #HNCD 1415

Opening Essay: Track 05 Cotu
Music Break 1: Track 04 Konti
Music Break 2: Track 06 Lands End
Music Break 3: Track 08 Queen of Ngorongoro