A book fell into my lap yesterday, given to me by my good friend Sharon – “A Naturalist’s Guide to the Arctic.” Now, I realize I will not technically be in the Arctic during my upcoming employment at Katmai NP. But the author, one E.C. Pielou, a scientist and naturalist in her own right, surely voices my own sentiments as she writes in her preface:
“The vastness of Arctic North America is an inspiration to naturalists. It is the embodiment of remoteness and wildness. All the same, as travel becomes easier, the Arctic is becoming less inaccessible; and as naturalists become more numerous, more of them go there. An arctic trip is expensive, however, and travelers want to observe everything there is to observe. Birders don’t want to concentrate exclusively on birds, or plant-watchers on plants; to do so would amount to wasting a precious opportunity to absorb the whole arctic experience. There is much to see and savor, and it is well worth making a determined effort to miss nothing.”
