Podcast #13 · Jenny Golding & George Bumann · Choosing To Live Deliberately

“Jenny Golding is a writer, musician, mom, and educator. She loves long rambles in the woods, writing songs, singing harmony, cross-country skiing, and adventuring in the wilderness with George and little George. After 20 years working for nonprofits in conservation and education, she now writes about Yellowstone and natural history topics from her home in Gardiner, Montana, and has published over 40 e-news and print articles for local nonprofits and other digital and print publications.”

“George Bumann can draw, sculpt, and teach about all aspects of Yellowstone. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in wildlife ecology and has spent thousands of hours studying the animals of Yellowstone and interpreting them through art, lectures and courses. It is this intimate, daily knowledge of wildlife, natural history, and animal communication which infuses truth and meaning into his artwork. His art and writing have appeared in popular and scientific publications, and his sculptures can be found in public and private collections throughout the United States and around the globe.”

We spent the most magical day roaming Yellowstone National Park while interviewing Jenny and George for our Podcast. We had almost 3 hours of audio! It was rather tough editing down to just 1 hour of the best gems from the day, but here they are:

• Jenny’s background, how she developed her love of nature and why Yellowstone National Park (~02:10)
• George’s background, growing up in dairy country and early influences (~05:30)
• George’s identity crisis and finding his purpose (~09:26)
• A description of Yellowstone National Park and how it came to be (~11:30)
• George’s sculpture and how he uses art to communicate feelings and emotions about nature (~15:25)
• George’s TED talk and his process as an artist (out in the field vs in the studio) (~20:40)
• An intro to Jenny and George’s website “A Yellowstone Life” (~28:10)
• The content you can find at A Yellowstone Life including wild conversations and how it can help you understand what’s happening in your own backyard (~30:00)
• Living more deliberately and opting for quality of life (~35:00)
• Parenting in the wilderness and giving little George choices (~37:45)
• A handful of George and Jenny’s animal stories and favorite things about living near such a wild place (~39:15)
• Jenny’s favorite animal sounds that George can imitate (~45:00)
• How George started out imitating animal sounds and how the skill can be used for education (~45:50)
• George’s epic wolf howl (~51:10)
• Appreciating the little things, building a connection to a place and the importance of awareness and understanding (~00:51:45)
• Finding parallels in nature and animals as intelligent, sentient beings and part of our community (~00:57:15)
• Little George’s favorite adventure in Yellowstone (~01:00:25)