Sorry folks, no birds today. This post is personal.
- Another apology for the quality of the following photos. I like to think I’m pretty skillful with a DSLR camera and big honkin’ lens but I’m a complete doofus with cell phones and it shows.
I first met Brooke Williams back in the mid 1980’s when I worked with his wife Terry Tempest Williams at the Utah Museum of Natural History. The three of us became good friends in part because we shared a passion for wilderness and wild critters and appreciated the importance of education in spreading the word and the passion. And we just liked each other’s company.
As the years passed both Terry and Brooke became acclaimed authors, educators and environmental activists, first moving to Castle Valley near Moab, Utah and now splitting their time between Castle Valley and Cambridge, Massachusetts where Terry teaches at Harvard. Brooke spent a significant portion of his conservation career with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) and now teaches at Colby College in Maine. So for many years we mostly lost touch with each other.
Then completely out of the blue in July of 2012 I ran into them again in the middle of the Montana wilderness where they, along with wilderness advocate and grizzly bear expert Doug Peacock and author and environmental activist Rick Bass, were involved in teaching graduate students for the University of Utah’s Environmental Humanities Institute. We had a joyous reunion on the porch of a rustic old cabin involving wine, lots of old stories and laughter. I’ve only seen Brooke and Terry once since then.
Until yesterday when I had a completely unexpected encounter with Brooke.
After spending the early part of the morning being completely bird-skunked at Farmington Bay WMA I decided on a whim to stop in and see my friend Billy Fenimore, manager of the nearby Eccles Wildlife Education Center. I could see the staff was busily preparing for some important event and I didn’t want to interfere so I was preparing to leave when Billy told me they were hosting the 29th annual Utah Society for Environmental Education Conference at the center which would begin at 9:30. Billy handed me a printed program for the conference and asked me to look it over in case there was anything scheduled I might be interested in attending. He also said that “breakfast” would be served and I was hungry so I looked it over.
Lo and behold, one of the keynote speakers was Brooke Williams and his presentation was scheduled for 11 AM.
Hell yes I stuck around!
This photo was taken in the Wildlife Center Auditorium at the beginning of the conference before Brooke’s presentation. Here we see only about a third of the participants, the rest of them are out of frame to the right. And yes, some of those bird prints on the walls are mine.
I love seeing the Wildlife Education Center being used like this. Besides teaching educators and other professionals in the state of the art auditorium they also have a classroom with attached wet lab so school kids on field trips can get “down and dirty” with real environmental science. The Wildlife Center hosts field trips galore from school districts all over the state and elsewhere. They have a staff that loves what they do and they’re very good at it. This retired biology and zoology teacher is duly impressed.
I knew Brooke would be busy with “meet and greet” and setting up his presentation when he walked in so selfishly I ambushed him outside in the parking lot.
We had another joyous reunion out there. Eventually he suggested we walk over to the far northwest corner of the lot so we had a better chance to catch up without interruption and so he could get a better view of the layout of the facility which was new to him. He follows my blog so he got a kick out of the fact that some of the photos I’ve posted to Feathered Photography were taken of birds perched in the greasewood bushes directly behind him.
He also enjoyed seeing the Great Blue Heron rookery hidden behind the greasewood in this photo and he spotted a Red-tailed Hawk perched on one of the heron nest platforms.
Two old friends enjoying each other’s company after a lapse of too many years. We jawboned and told old stories for about 20 minutes before he had to go inside for his presentation. I don’t do selfies but Brooke suggested it so he took this photo with my phone. I look like pretty goofy squinting into the sun but I went with it anyway.
And yes, I stayed until noon so I could hear Brooke’s entire presentation. As expected it was excellent.
My admiration for folks like Brooke and Terry Tempest Williams and their friends Tim DeChristopher and Doug Peacock runs deep. Each has knowingly and willingly paid a steep personal price for their convictions and they do it for the planet, for all of us and because it’s the right thing to do.
All four are on my short list of living environmental heroes.
Ron
A great story Ron. Cheers to old friends 😁
Yup. Cheers!
Enjoyed all the photos, but liked the two birds of a feather in the last the best!!!👍❤️👏🤘✌️😍
Birds of a feather indeed, Patty.
Hi Ron,
We were so pleased to read your latest post – old friends, particularly of this calibre, getting together is always a delight. We recently visited the Eccles Centre and met Billy and were hugely impressed, so it was nice to see it in use and with your images in the background. You will be pleased to learn that the names Peacock, Williams, and Bass, and their work are well known here ‘down under’.
Must close as the Paradise Riflebirds are displaying in the adjacent rain forest.
Best wishes,
Gary & Robyn
“You will be pleased to learn that the names Peacock, Williams, and Bass, and their work are well known here ‘down under’”
I surely am pleased, Gary. And Billy is a gem. I spent some more time with him this morning.
Based on your comment I did some quick research on the Paradise Riflebird. Lucky you!
Gary, after I posted my previous reply to your comment a connection clicked in my mind. A few weeks ago Billy told me that “someone” from Australia had been to the Wildlife Education Center, had seen my bird prints hanging in the auditorium and mentioned that they followed my blog. Billy gave me your card which is in front of me as I type this.
I wish we had been able to connect while you were here.
Love the post. I’m so glad you could meet up with your friend again. Breakfast and a chat. Can’t beat that.
Thank you, Jean.
What an awesome post, Ron! Not only do I love the little peek into your personal life, but it is so encouraging to know there are some amazing environmental warriors out there who are unwavering in their convictions. The give hope and a fine example to the generations to come.
Thank you for sharing.
Thanks very much, Shelley.
Ron, thank you for the great story and photo of you and Brooke. It is so wonderful that you were able to see him again and catch up. It is great that you have come to meet so many talented and dedicated people in your Photography pursuits. Thanks for sharing your story.
Yes, I’ve been lucky in knowing folks like them. Thanks, Alice.
What a fun surprise. Glad you enjoyed it.
Me too, Arwen. Thanks.
WOW!! I just LOVE serendipity and with close friends AND The Great Out There (not to mention breakfast and a redtail, too), what could be better?! I’m filled with joy for you!!
When the photo of the center unfolded on my computer, I knew several of those photos were yours. I can’t explain it, but your work has an outrageously beautiful signature that draws you into the magnificence of the subject, despite your annoying nit picking. LOL!! And what a delight to have such a wonderful place for making education happen. One of the joys of my life is making education happen, and while I’m not doing what I probably need to do here, I delight in spreading environmental/conservation realities!
And NO you do NOT look like a dumbass! Quit being so critical of yourself!! STOP it right this second!!! You’ll treasure that selfie for years to come, so get over your critical self, dammit! 😉
“You’ll treasure that selfie for years to come”
You’re sure right about that, Laura. Thank you.
COOL! 🙂 How wonderful for this meeting to “just happen”……. Amazing how that works sometimes! I’m with you on cell phone cameras ARGH! 😉 You’ve talked of them and this center before…….
Yes I have, Judy. Over the years that place (the original much smaller facility was called the Farmington Bay Nature Center) has played an important role in my development as a bird photographer. I’ve taught photography classes there and the manager of the original facility, Justina Bernstein, was and is a dear friend.
Always fun to run into old friends especially one as interesting as Mr. Williams. Can tell by the tone of your post here how much you enjoyed it. And you are a lot better with the cell phone photos than this 81 year old would have been. In the center where the lecture was, are any of those bird photos on the wall yours?
Ha, I’ll admit it. Brooke had to help me figure out how to take these photos with my own phone. Part of my “excuse” is that the sun was so bright I could barely see my screen.
Yes, eight of the bird prints on the walls of the auditorium are mine. Others were taken by Joe Ford and John Blumenkamp.
“Thumbs UP!” How Kewl ! Yes, IT was a “Good DaY!”
🙂
Thanks, CJ. Yes, what a great way to end a morning that didn’t start out well at all.