The last lines of your essay reminded me of that study that came out a couple of years back (I think) that showed a wide range of animals were shifting their behavior to become more nocturnal, to avoid us humans and our loud activity. I like the idea of re-meeting some of our old daytime friends, now after dark. I like even better the idea of quieting down during the day to make some space for those who like it less noisy. :)
I suspect many of the animals we grew up considering nocturnal were not always so. As I mention in the book, a ranger once told me our beavers only became nocturnal when European trappers showed up. I don’t know if that’s true, but it tells a truth
I wonder where the full Moon gets its many names. As a kid, I remember hearing of the harvest moon, of course. But over the past few decades, it seems like I hear a zany new name once every 28 days. "Super Double Blood Wolf Moon," or something much like it, was one particularly verbose example. Who is the Moon's publicist? I'd love to know.
Glad to hear you had a good turnout for the San Antonio appearance. A friend of mine attended and thoroughly enjoyed it. If you're up for a road trip, can I suggest the Boulder Bookstore in Colorado?
Paul, I am pretty sure the Moon's publicity department is the folks at the Old Farmer's Almanac, who come up with all those ever-more-epic names, only to be outdone by TV meteorologists trying to draw the eyeballs. And I met your friend—she was delightful to speak with after the signing, and made the connection.
I'm constantly amazed by the amount of work authors have to do in order to promote their books. Book tours must be both energising and energy-sapping. I'm so glad you can meet your public in this very personal and special way. Good luck with it and wishing you lots of sales!
Also, got your book, have another day and a half to read and then flying to England to get my son set up for school and will only bring my ereader, so will have to finish it when I come back. Digging it early on, of course.
Wow, what a beautiful photo! And thanks for checking out the book, Derryl—I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it so far. Wishing you a safe and enjoyable trip to England—sounds fun.
That juxtaposition of the full moon with the city lights is one that always makes me stop. I live in rural Michigan and my nearest “big cities” aren’t too big, but I see that same contrast of natural and artificial light. The moon wins every time.
Also. The release date and delivery of my copy of A Natural History of Empty Lots coincided with my birthday, so thank you for the birthday gift. I just started my read and am finding to be a book that is getting a lot of marginalia. (That’s a good thing.)
The last lines of your essay reminded me of that study that came out a couple of years back (I think) that showed a wide range of animals were shifting their behavior to become more nocturnal, to avoid us humans and our loud activity. I like the idea of re-meeting some of our old daytime friends, now after dark. I like even better the idea of quieting down during the day to make some space for those who like it less noisy. :)
I suspect many of the animals we grew up considering nocturnal were not always so. As I mention in the book, a ranger once told me our beavers only became nocturnal when European trappers showed up. I don’t know if that’s true, but it tells a truth
I wonder where the full Moon gets its many names. As a kid, I remember hearing of the harvest moon, of course. But over the past few decades, it seems like I hear a zany new name once every 28 days. "Super Double Blood Wolf Moon," or something much like it, was one particularly verbose example. Who is the Moon's publicist? I'd love to know.
Glad to hear you had a good turnout for the San Antonio appearance. A friend of mine attended and thoroughly enjoyed it. If you're up for a road trip, can I suggest the Boulder Bookstore in Colorado?
Paul, I am pretty sure the Moon's publicity department is the folks at the Old Farmer's Almanac, who come up with all those ever-more-epic names, only to be outdone by TV meteorologists trying to draw the eyeballs. And I met your friend—she was delightful to speak with after the signing, and made the connection.
I'd love to get to Boulder!
I'm constantly amazed by the amount of work authors have to do in order to promote their books. Book tours must be both energising and energy-sapping. I'm so glad you can meet your public in this very personal and special way. Good luck with it and wishing you lots of sales!
It’s a lot! Thank you so much 🙏
There's an astrophotographer on Xitter who posted an amazing photo the other day of Saturn being occluded by the Moon. https://x.com/AJamesMcCarthy/status/1837219848478412935
Also, got your book, have another day and a half to read and then flying to England to get my son set up for school and will only bring my ereader, so will have to finish it when I come back. Digging it early on, of course.
Wow, what a beautiful photo! And thanks for checking out the book, Derryl—I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it so far. Wishing you a safe and enjoyable trip to England—sounds fun.
That juxtaposition of the full moon with the city lights is one that always makes me stop. I live in rural Michigan and my nearest “big cities” aren’t too big, but I see that same contrast of natural and artificial light. The moon wins every time.
Also. The release date and delivery of my copy of A Natural History of Empty Lots coincided with my birthday, so thank you for the birthday gift. I just started my read and am finding to be a book that is getting a lot of marginalia. (That’s a good thing.)
Thank you so much! I'm delighted you are enjoying the book so far. And we definitely can't compete with the moon, but we sure do try...