The natural world has always played a large roll in my life. As a child I explored the woods and swamp in my backyard as well as tromping in the mountains and splashing in the ocean on family vacations. This interest in nature culminated in several years of backpacking thousands of miles along the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and many other paths.

But I did not truly begin to learn how to understand and appreciate what I was experiencing until I started working as a ranger/naturalist for the Green Mountain Club. Working in one backcountry location for six months at a time showed me the immense and magical complexity that is nature. More importantly it reminded me what was so special about all the amazing journeys I had already taken. It was not the distances I traveled or the heights I achieved that I most remember from those travels. It was the moments when I stopped to look, listen and feel the things that surrounded me at that moment. 

And then it finally sunk in to my thick skull. We do not need to travel far and wide to exotic locations to experience the wonders of nature. In fact we are far more likely to find them by stopping wherever we are and looking around instead of busily marching by them to some other place. It has become far more rewarding for me to spend time, however brief, with the individual mountains, streams, plants and animals then it was to spend all my days marching by thousands of them until they blurred into one abstract picture that I simplistically labeled "nature". The wonder in nature lies in all the parts that make up the whole. That all these countless parts blend together and support each other to create the beautiful landscapes around us, is pure magic. The lesson that we are a part of this landscape and can join in the magic simply by listening, sharing and experiencing instead of ignoring, hording and manipulating has been natures greatest gift to me.

For short stories and experiences in the natural world try the Vignettes pages.

For some of my evolving thoughts on the need to preserve nature check out the Conservation page.

Natural History Tidbits contains facts and stories about the plants, animals and other natural phenomena that make up our world.