I started out very early in life with a born-in passion for the great outdoors. My mother was conceived at the top of Mt. Whitney" herself an avid climber who then inspired the spirit of the wilderness into everyone she met. I spent most of those wonder years in early San Jose before artificial trees of silicon displaced cherry plum and walnut orchards of phenomenal size. Those fragrant and stately giants from another time proved to be the perfect candidates for honing climbing skills and constructing sturdy tree forts continually built inner self confidence by pushing me to new heights. My brother and I would spend all day in the woods nothing more than imagination as our friend. Year after year we spent 6 wks. in the summer exploring every last piece of wilderness we could find in 14 Western states and Canadian provinces as well. Lasting impressions solidly etched into small and flexible tree trunks eventually grew strong and wide and tall as adults. Escapades of joy into the mountains and forests are something I practice to this day. Rejuvenation in some form is nearly always the result.
I spent almost 40 years immersed in a system of civilized chaos" where I spent a lot of time building and repairing petroleum dinosaurs as a full time mechanic. As I watched vehicle after vehicle leave the shop and go back to the world spewing noxious fumes and supporting a petroleum chokehold on our lives I knew there had to be a way to cut the cord. It took every bit of fortitude and faith I had to make the leap of abandoning the mechanical mindset and embracing the spirit of creativity I could nurture on my land in Idaho. I look back now with pride and joy on that decision. It took almost 3 years of isolation and reflection to absorb the teachings of the land"" to see the possibilities and the pleasures of working with it. The PDC course I took online in 2014 with Geoff Lawton cemented the whole process into one holistic design that included an eco-tourism cottage industry based on a living classroom format for community education and awareness.