Show Notes
Welcome to The Wild Spectacle Podcast, a flash-cast series with host Janisse Ray about ongoing and meaningful participation in a world that matters.
Episode #9 | Gary Grossman | Swimming with Fishes
Gary is a scholar and multi-dimensional creator from Athens, Georgia. Gary recently retired as distinguished research professor of animal ecology at the University of Georgia, with most of his work in the area of fisheries. His graphic memoir is My Life in Fish: One Scientist’s Journey. He is a poet, musician, and a lover of sustainable writing pens.
Highlights
2:10—Gary chooses his place on my wild chart.
3:15—He donned a mask and snorkel and stuck his head in a California stream.
3:50—“It was an eye-opening experience.”
4:00—Deer Creek in the Sacramento Valley.
4:20—Gary speaks of the high biodiversity of the southern U.S.
4:30—Salamanders in Appalachia.
4:40—The number of fish species he would see in Appalachia.
5:18—He defines a microhabitat in stream ecology.
6:12—Streams in the West are typically quite clear.
6:45—Why humans are fascinated by fish.
7:00—There are more fish species than all other species vertebrates combined.
7:28—The strangeness of fish.
8:18—Riffle sculpin & tule perch & rainbow trout & more
8:58—Why, if you walk up to a stream, the fish scatter.
9:15—But if you’re in the water, you’re like a log.
9:55—As if Gary was seeing reality for the first time.
10:40—Nature in Athens, Georgia.
11:05—He speaks of mindfulness and being in the moment. I’ve linked a Substack on mindfulness.
12:25—Gary offers his tips on how we might rewild ourselves. In ecology, Rewilding is Restoring.
13:00—Place yourself in habitats where there are things to see.
13:10—The restoration of peregrine falcons. Here’s a live cam of peregrine chicks in Rhode Island.
13:40—The practice of studying nature.
14:20—The two books from which Gary learned how to forage.
“Think about epiphany. Think about change. Think about the moments that make your face burn, your fingers tingle. Wild Spectacle is about those shocks, encounters that shift the way we see the world and ourselves in it…If the water we drink is maybe older than the sun, then ancient magic pounds inside our skins, too. So speak it. Tell it forth. Cry aloud and call it back home.”
-Joni Tevis, author of The Wet Collection and The World is On Fire
Thank You
Thank you for listening.
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Janisse Ray’s book Wild Spectacle: Seeking Wonders in a World Beyond Humans inspired the podcast. If you’d like a copy of the book, visit your favorite bookstore or library. Or you may order a signed copy here.
Find Janisse on Facebook at “Janisse Ray, Author” and on Instagram @janisseray_writer.
Thanks to Axletree for their beautiful music, “Clothe the Fields with Plenty,” an orchestral piece inspired by a traditional Hampshire folk song, “The Painful Plough,” from Axletree’s project “Music from a Hampshire Farm.” Thanks to the Free Music Archive.
We’re eager for new voices on the show, so if you’d like to come on and tell a story, be in touch.
Go See Some Nature
If we’re going to make a dent in changing our world, we have to understand what kind of amazements it contains. So many people begin to work on behalf of the planet because they see a natural phenomenon, large or small, that infuses them with admiration and wonder. So get out in nature. Take a friend with you. Especially a child. Go see a wild phenomenon. Amaze yourself. Connect yourself. Let’s get wild!
Ep #9 | Gary Grossman | Swimming with Fishes