Nature at Night: Nightlife Beyond the Glare of Civilization

Two sides make a whole. Ying and yang, ocean and land, sea and sky, day and night.

Nature at Night

When the daytime world goes quiet, there is another world that pulses, crawls, flies, prowls, glows, migrates, and generally thrives at night. When you look or listen closely enough, you can see it and hear it.

Nighttime is our constant companion that swings around once a day to remind us that the Earth moves in cycles, to which all life on the planet is uniquely adapted–day and night.

We brave the night in forced light and noise. Whistling in the dark. Stepping away from the glare of civilization, into the night, author Charles Hood reveals this enigmatic, alluring, vaguely frightening world in his new book, Nature at Night: Discover the World That Comes Alive After Dark.

Charles Hood describes himself as a “raging generalist.” He proves his point in his life as a prolific naturalist, writer, poet, photographer, and adventurer. He finds beauty and fascination in forgotten, unseen, or unwanted places. His writing and photography allow his readers to share in the adventure and broaden their perspective of what constitutes the “natural” world. Yosemite is marvelous, but nature is right outside.

Based in Southern California and now in his 60s (welcome to the club), Hood’s wide-ranging career has taken him from factory floors to ski slopes, from college classrooms to remote wildlife habitats around the world. He has recently retired, holds the title of Professor Emeritus, and calls the Mojave Desert home, where he is surrounded by his beloved books, dogs, kayaks, and mountain bikes.

With Gratitude and Humor

Hood brings a practical, gratitude-based optimism to his worldview.

“ I just wanna remind everybody,” he tells me, “you don’t need to solve it yourself. Just be happy today. Just live a good life today. And the rest of the world will sort itself out. And the things that you can’t change, you can’t change, you know? So just have a radius of 50 meters and make that your happy place and be a good human in that 50-meter space, and congratulate yourself at the end of the day.”

Given the times and circumstances we find ourselves in, it can be hard to “just be happy.” But I take his point. We find something to fight for when we can see and appreciate what we have.

Hood’s description of nature at night, his philosophy, and his good humor are well worth a listen!