The Olympia "procession of the species" originated about 12 years ago to celebrate the natural world and to respond in a proactive way to attacks on the Endangered Species Act. Several hundred people--from school groups to white-haired elders--paraded through downtown Olympia yesterday, having donned elaborate costumes, masks, and pushing or pulling floats of polar bears, deep sea fish, a rhinosaurus and other animals. One life sized hammerhead shark was on wheels with a young girl sitting in the middle. There were also groups of humans portraying wolves, bees, flowers, black flies, salmon, raccoons, butterflies, various birds, peacocks, sasquatches, a unique rock man, and a host of other species and elements. A lively street dance completed the celebration.
The procession struck me as an attempt to restore tribalism and earth-oriented ceremonialism and celebration to western culture, filling a void that had largely been absent for centuries. And by the large participation in the parade and the thousands who watched, it was apparent that the procession was embraced by the community. Inspired by Olympia, other communities have been trying their own processions of the species. Doing the book program afterwards at Orca Books with a small but receptive audience seemed like a fitting end to an eventful day.
Today, we ventured to a coastal wildlife refuge and watched thousands of sandpipers, plovers, dunlins and other birds feed and move across exposed mud flats, seemingly like one organism. Many birdwatchers and photographers were clearly enjoying the spectacle, and so did we.
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Hi Doug. I'm Craig Oare, the guy working at Orca Books in Olympia when you gave your talk there. I just finished your book, and it's absolutely great. I will promote it in the store for sure. I'm glad you enjoyed our species parade. I missed it for the first time ever, as I was recovering from hernia surgery. In fact, working at your event was my first time back in the store for several weeks. I was amused to read about your encounter with Ramblin' Jack in California. As someone who I suspect pays attention to coincidences, you might be interested to know that right across the street from Orca ( your next stop after meeting him) is Ramblin' Jack's restaurant, named after himself. He's not involved with the business, but he has played there.
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