I'm not sure when or why I was first drawn to nature. I think that I found a comfort in the outdoors, that I couldn't get with human beings. In the outdoors, out in the woods and fields by myself (or with the dogs), I could be...just me. I could be, whatever I wanted to be in that moment, in the there and now, with no one to judge or censure.

Alone in the woods, I was free to dream, to explore, to satisfy all my curiosities, without anyone to say aye, yes or no. In the woods, I learned the genuine meaning of the words tranquility and serenity, in my teenage years. I needed no one to help me have a good time, I could have a good time all by myself. If I felt, in my home and school life, friendless--then, the minute I stepped foot in the wilder and wider world, I had all the universe as a friend; the sky and sun, stars and moon, wind and water and wood, all became my closest allies, a part of my very soul.

In the outdoor world, there was no pain, no fear, no loneliness. All those things seemed so small and petty to me, when I was standing in the cirlcle of life, a part of the ever-changing yet seemingly timeless universe.