The hot March winds buffet the jet as we thunder skyward, shattering the quiet of the dry tropical forest below and spewing hot gases of ancient sea life. I crane my head and say a silent goodbye to the Huatulco landscape that has become a second home to me. We’ve already rocketed higher than the Cerro Huatulco; the dry course of the Arroyo Todos Santos slips by in an instant and then we’re banking towards the coast, a wide wide turn over the tierra natal of my partner and generations of her family. Goodbye for now, my loved ones, que Dios los cuide.

This story is a journey through the personal and the geopolitical in this critical time: a journey that seeks, as always, to strengthen our connection with the earth. Through bittersweet goodbyes, a tense international border crossing, and an unstable political landscape, this is my personal story of finding a positive way forward. It’s a journey towards the pileated woodpeckers, marking the beginning of this uncertain spring by immersing us in a cottonwood gallery forest where the woodpeckers are excavating their nest. I hope that you find something meaningful in it as you listen, just as I did as I was producing it.

As usual, I’ve included lots of natural sounds that I recorded: a song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) serenading the spring, the pileated woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) calling and excavating, a northern flicker (Colaptes auratus), a red-naped sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis), a flock of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). And the distinctly not-so-natural sound of a jet taking off.

As always, I depend on the support of my listeners to continue doing this work. Please share these podcasts, leave a rating, and, if you’re able, support me through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wildwithnature. Thank you!!!

You can find the written, illustrated version of this story here: https://wildwithnature.com/2025/04/01/journey-to-the-pileated-woodpeckers/