Do you knock on wood?

Yes.

And if you find a penny? Do you pick it up?

Only if it is heads up.

What is your most treasured comfort meal?

My mom’s lumpia and fried rice with mangoes (chilled, sliced) from their backyard for dessert.

What is a species you feel is frequently misunderstood?

Fireflies. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t think they are pleasing. AND YET they will spray their lawns, rake up and blow away every last leaf, and scrape their lawns down to the quick, and fireflies NEED leaf litter and undisturbed fields and lawns to burrow in and lay eggs for next season.

In what environment do you feel most at home?

Anywhere I can step outside and see starlight, shooting stars, fireflies.

My favorite tree is ________.

At the moment it’s a black birch. Honestly? I feel like I have a new favorite tree every month. For now, there is a birch in southern Ohio in Hocking Hills State Park that has grown around an erratic (giant glacier boulder) in the middle of a dense forest. Like the roots and branches have draped all around it like a midwestern cousin of a banyan. Ross (Gay) and I were hiking there last year and it literally stopped us in our tracks. We kept circling it, mouths agape at how healthy and strong it was. A survivor.

Nature would be better without ______.

ChatGPT/data centers/AI (duh).

What is something you’re looking forward to?

In our quest to see every National Park, my family tries to make it to at least one a year. Earlier this summer we went to Acadia and in a few weeks, we’ll be hiking the Rocky Mountain National Park and can’t wait for that time to be with our sons.

What was your last memorable animal encounter?

Just last month, after about three or four days in a row with no firefly sightings, I was in our backyard at twilight and sighed out loud at my husband. When he said What’s wrong, I said, I think firefly season is over. And within the next two minutes a firefly floated right in front of our faces and lit himself up. If Dustin wasn’t there I would have said it was a dream.

Read more about fireflies in Night Owl, Aimee’s latest poetry collection.

If you could, regardless of the local climate, reach out of your kitchen window and pluck a fruit from a tree, bush, or plant, what would it be?

A handful of fresh lychees.

If you could make pancakes with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

I wish I could make one more tiny pancake for my beloved geriatric chihuahua, Haiku, who passed away a couple years ago. For ten years, he’d always be at my feet, patiently waiting for his single pancake the size of a silver dollar.

Can you make any convincing birdcalls?

Several. I do a pretty mean yellow warbler. But my cardinal call is probably the most convincing, according to other cardinals.

Would you rather be lost in space or lost at sea?

Lost at sea.

What are some of your favorite words?

Nebula, Crepuscule. Diaphanous. Debonair. Jackfruit. The first time my eldest named the color yellow, he would pronounce it Lell-o, with such glee and confidence.

What’s the wildest thing you’ve witnessed or experienced in nature

Seeing the remains of a bison who had walked too close to the edge of the boiling hot Prismatic Springs (the famous rainbow hot spring) where it collapsed and died. When we visited Yellowstone last year, its tracks and the remaining dark lump in the springs was still visible…and traumatic to see.

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

In a Dark Sky Park.

Who are some of your heroes or heroines, real or fictional?

My parents and all immigrants, and librarians, and art teachers.

Who is a character from literature or film with whom you intensely identify? 

What other people say are Felicity from television and Amelie from the movie. I don’t know how much I agree, but both have giant eyes and are often quietly observing and I can’t argue with that, so who knows.

What is something new you’ve done recently?

Swam in the darkest edges of a cenote underground.

Would you rather drink a piña colada or get caught in the rain?

Happy to do either, only if there is a cenote nearby.

It’s late afternoon on a summer Saturday, you’re sitting with your feet in a cool creek and someone hands you the perfect beverage. What is it?

French martini. or a French 75. Or freshly squeezed orange juice from my parents’ orange trees.

Are you optimistic about the future?

Absolutely.

What is a smell that makes you stop in your tracks?

Sun-ripened tomatoes.

Which of your book subjects or characters haunts you the most?

Any time I write about the deep sea.

When you enter a bookstore, where do you head first?

The science section.

You have twenty-four hours suspended from time. Where and how do you spend them?

First: a solid 8+ hours of sleep in my bed. Then—breakfast tacos poolside, napping outside, swimming with my family, eating locally sourced food and all the chips and guac I can handle. More naps (outside), no mosquitoes, my parents on the deck napping or reading magazines. 80s yacht rock in the background lightly playing. Ice cold lemonade all day. A bowl of peaches or cherries nearby. Tiny dog at my side.

Where did you grow up?

Suburbs of Phoenix and Dayton, Ohio, rural Iowa and Kansas, and western New York—I bounced around a lot.

What song or album reminds you of high school?

Pictures of You, by The Cure

What did an average Friday night look like for you as a teenager? 

My senior year of high school—if there was a home football game, I was dressed in the Bucky Beaver mascot costume, dancing and running the sidelines of the football field, ha ha. Otherwise, I was most likely at home, practicing my lines for a Saturday Speech and Debate tournament.

If authors had walk-up songs like professional baseball players do, what would yours be?

I’ve actually had the good and pleasing fortune to have this happen more than a few times. Once I was at a reading with the legend Anne Carson, who was seated right next to me. After the third or so time the song started up again, she looked around and muttered to me/herself—Why are they playing this forsaken song?! And I was like–Huh! That’s a good question! Meanwhile, I was dying inside from laughter and fear of angering such an icon, but ALSO so pleased that my hosts just had this on repeat before our joint reading started. The song?  Xanadu, by Olivia Newton-John.

Okay, and if you are in a situation where you simply must sing karaoke, what’s your song?

“Magic” by Olivia Newton-John.

You’re in a deserted island situation for an unknown period of time. You get three items and one book. What do you bring?

A coconut tree, a sturdy tent, a boat, and D’aulaires Book of Greek Myths. 

What would you like to be most remembered for? 

That I helped grow two young men who made this planet a kinder, better place. Someone who laughed easy and made you laugh easy. Wonderment.

What flower would you want pinned to your breast after you die?

A sprig of the bluest delphinium.

If you could come back as any organism, who or what would you be?

A cross between a manta ray and a Japanese macaque from Koshima island who washes sweet potatoes. Or a luna moth with a smile.