March Program Night with Author David B. Williams
Written by John Spilker
A raccoon stops in David B. Williams’s backyard, digs through a pile of bark chips under a Douglas fir, pulls out a mole and eats it. His wife watches from the porch.
A captivated crowd at March Program Night as David B. Williams brings Seattle's wild side to life
“It’s so much fun to watch,” Williams’ wife said of the incident.
This is what he means when he calls Seattle wild.
Williams was the guest speaker for Eastside Audubon Society’s March Program Night on March 26 at the Redmond Senior & Community Center, where board members Lori Danielson and Claire Waltman moderated a conversation about his newest book, Wild in Seattle: Stories at the Crossroads of People and Nature. The book draws from his free weekly Substack, The Street Smart Naturalist. At its core, it suggests the city is not separate from nature. It never was.
A 150-year-old western red cedar in the Wedgwood neighborhood holds Indigenous cultural modifications and records a changing atmosphere, when CO₂ sat at 288 parts per million. It’s 420 now.
“When we cut down the tree,” Williams read aloud, “we severed many links that have helped bind together this place we call Seattle.”
He removed most of his lawn years ago. He doesn’t use bird feeders—the seed draws rats. He leaves dead wood in a pile and watches what comes.
Paying attention, he said, is the whole practice.
"Seattle's Wild Side: An Evening with David B. Williams" — March Program Night