VERO BEACH — The fragile relationship between nature and man echoes through the words and images in Nature Aware.
Being aware of nature starts when you look at an animal in the wild and you recognize its beauty. The progression into being truly Nature Aware is when you watch an animal in the wild and realize that it sees your beauty, too.
After a tragedy involving a nuisance animal shooting, author Rick Wood begins to open his eyes to truly see the natural world around him.
Collected from six years’ worth of experiences photographing wildlife in Washington State, mostly on and around Camano Island, Nature Aware is a personal narrative of growth and discovery.
The author takes readers along as he gets close to wild foxes, seals, orca, and many more incredible animals through anecdotes and photographs.
From rafting down a river lined with more than 150 American bald eagles to hiking in the mountains to find one of Washington’s most endangered rodents, Wood’s storytelling puts you right there, in the action.
More than 45 full-color photos help readers understand the majesty of the natural world.
Nature Aware is the author’s debut non-fiction book. Wood is a professional journalist, and his writing and photography have appeared in more than a dozen newspapers, several magazines, and major news media outlets online.
He currently resides in Florida and has dedicated his life to animal conservation and environmental education.
Nature Aware is available exclusively through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing ($4.99 for electronic download).
“The shooting of the bear profoundly affected me and the way I look at my place in coexistence with the natural world. Nature and wildlife aren’t sequestered from us through some line of demarcation. Even in our biggest cities, wild mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians thrive in the man-made environ, sometimes without notice or a second thought from the busy people who share an ecosystem with them.” Excerpt from Nature Aware.