Nature has always been an important part of my life.  Growing up, I could go to the woods, as close as across the street, and I could find peace and solitude, my center and my God.

 I had the fortune to grow up near the mountains of Virginia, one of the most beautiful places in the world.  But as I grew up, I watched more and more buildings go up.   Where I could once walk all day without ever seeing a paved road became office buildings and malls.  When I was 12 I went camping in an area where the nearest store was 10 miles away.  When I was 35, that area was suburbia with housing developments and convenience stores on every corner.  When I was 15 I played a small part in saving a piece of land from developers that I will always know as Burling Tract.  Today it is known as Scott’s Run Nature Preserve and is one of the few unspoiled pieces of land on the Potomac River a stones throw from Washington D.C.  That is still one of my proudest achievements.    

 All in all, though, I am a quiet person.  I don’t play the role of activist well.  I can barely read the all too true stories of impending loss in the nature magazines today.  But I can do something.  I can record the beauty and possibly inspire those who can fight.  I can be a quiet background support with my art.  This also gives me a selfish reason to walk in the woods today, where I still can find peace and serenity.