Welcome to my little corner of the internet. I built this site back in 1997 as a simple collection of outdoor, science, weather, and travel links, but over the years it has grown into a personal archive of stories, photos, field work, conservation projects, road trips, paddling adventures, music, family memories, and the lessons I have learned from spending most of my life outside.
Life is short! Get outside. Stay curious. Always be quick to share what you've learned, and always offer a helping hand. And never forget the Golden Rule!!!
A Life Built Around Curiosity
I'm a retired U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic Technician and field biologist, a lifelong outdoor junkie, a serious paddler, mountain climber and hiker, worldwide traveler, photographer, conservation volunteer, and someone who still believes that one of the best ways to live a good life is to keep learning, keep moving, and keep paying attention to the natural world. I've spent decades hiking mountains, paddling rivers and mangrove tunnels, exploring wetlands, taking graduate courses, chasing sunsets, volunteering, and trying to help other people discover the same joy I have always found outdoors.
This website is definitely not a polished travel blog, and it was never meant to be. It is more like a field notebook, family photo album, memoir, science project, and long-running personal scrapbook all mixed together. Some pages are very old, some are slowly being rebuilt, some still have many broken links from the early internet. Some are now becoming full memoir chapters. That is part of the history of the site. It has been growing since January 1997, which means it has followed me through almost three decades of adventures, work, relationships, road trips, conservation projects, and especially, endless learning. This website was originally built by hand in 1997 using Netscape Composer, believe it or not, and after many years online, is finally being thoroughly updated during the summer of 2026. Please excuse the temporary dust, mess, typos and broken links while I continue renovating and expanding it.
How Did I Get Here?
Like most lives, mine only makes sense when you look backward. The outdoor adventures, field science, travel, conservation work, volunteering, teaching, and love of water all grew out of earlier experiences that kept pointing me toward the same basic truth: I am happiest when I am outside, learning something new, sharing it with others, and staying connected to the natural world.
Adventures That Shaped Me
Many of the biggest turning points in my life came from choosing experiences over possessions. Bare Hill Pond taught me how much I loved living close to water. The 1987 road trip showed me that a lifetime could be built around curiosity and wild places. Hostels introduced me to a whole world of long-term travelers and friendships. My work with USGS, watershed groups, and the Smithsonian helped turn outdoor curiosity into field science. Florida paddling, Gulf sunsets, and volunteer work continue that same thread today.
For much of my life, free time meant asking whether I should hike, paddle, bike, fish, climb, ski, skate, or just wander around outside looking for something interesting. In New England, I spent years climbing mountains, backpacking, ice climbing, whitewater kayaking, exploring wetlands, and living close to lakes and forests. In Florida, my outdoor life shifted toward sea kayaking, mangrove tunnels, barrier islands, storms, tides, Gulf sunsets, and helping other paddlers discover local waters safely.
Rock climbing, ice climbing, the Tetons, desert towers, New England ice, and a younger version of me who thought sleeping in the dirt was part of the fun.
Travel has probably been one of the greatest teachers in my life. It helped me understand other cultures, appreciate the opportunities I had, and see how much of life depends on attitude, curiosity, kindness, and the willingness to go. When I travel, I have usually been drawn less to places built around wealthy Americans or Western tourists and more to places where independent travelers like me can blend in a bit, meet local people, learn something about the culture, and experience daily life instead of simply hanging around with other tourists. I have always loved the kind of travel where you meet people in hostels, share rides, learn from strangers, take buses across borders, and come home seeing your own world a little differently.
I have always been fascinated by the everyday science of the natural world: wetlands, beavers, vernal pools, amphibians, lichens, mushrooms, macroinvertebrates, tides, storms, clouds, moonrises, and sunsets. I took meteorology and oceanography courses because weather is not just background scenery when you spend much of your life outside. It controls the day, especially on the water, and it also provides some of the best free entertainment on the planet.
Weather
Weather, Radar, and Storm Watching, radar, storms, clouds, Gulf Coast lightning, and the morning ritual of deciding whether the day is safe for paddling.
As a pantheist, these are some of the moments that inspire me most. Sunsets, moonrises, moonsets, equinoxes, solstices, changing seasons, storms, wildlife, and everything else that nature gives us for free are what I truly celebrate. The greatest shows on Earth don't require tickets—they simply ask us to slow down, look up, and pay attention.
My professional life grew naturally from the same curiosity that had me turning over rocks in streams and exploring wetlands as a younger person. I worked for the U.S. Geological Survey for 21 years as a Hydrologic Technician and field biologist, with field work involving rivers, floods, streamflow, water quality, hydroacoustics, FEMA high-water marks, flood mapping, mentoring, and plenty of long days in tough conditions. Before and during that career, I also worked with watershed groups, studied aquatic macroinvertebrates, taught stream monitoring, and kept coming back to the idea that good science begins with careful observation.
Some of the most meaningful work I ever did involved using field data to understand real places: the Ipswich River, New England urban land-use gradient streams, flood-damaged communities, Florida storm impacts, and the Amazon rainforest during a Smithsonian expedition. The tools changed over the years, but the basic approach stayed the same — get outside, look closely, measure carefully, learn something useful, and share it.
Conservation and Community
One of the great privileges of my life has been working with other people who care about land, water, wildlife, and community. In Massachusetts, I served as Conservation Commission chair, helped create stronger local wetlands protections, and co-founded the Ashburnham Conservation Trust, which helped preserve thousands of acres of land. In Florida, that same desire to help has continued through paddling groups, shoreline cleanups, storm recovery, conservation conversations, and lifelong volunteer work with watershed associations, Audubon, land trusts, habitat restoration projects, invasive species removal, veterans programs, Lighthouse for the Blind, environmental education, and a dozen other conservation and community efforts.
The older I get, the more I believe that a good life is not just about the places we go, but about what we protect, what we share, and who we help along the way.
Important People in My Life
No life story is really just about one person. So many of my best adventures, biggest lessons, and most meaningful memories are tied to family, partners, friends, travel companions, paddling friends, climbing partners, conservation people, coworkers, volunteers, and the people who showed up at just the right time. This section is meant to become a doorway into those individual stories as I build out more of the website.
Family
Family is where so many of the oldest stories begin: camping trips, lakes, boats, holidays, old photos, kids growing up around the water, and the people who helped shape the earliest chapters of my life.
Alan — family adventures, boats, and Bare Hill Pond memories.
Different relationships shaped different chapters of my life. Some were built around early married life, road trips, family, lakes, and work; others around New England adventures, Florida paddling, music, travel, and the continuing search for a life that feels active, curious, and shared.
Marty — early married years, the honeymoon trip, Bare Hill Pond, road trips, and many adventures from that chapter of my life.
Bernie — Massachusetts years, outdoor adventures, family life, and another important chapter.
Carol — an important relationship and friendship chapter in my life.
Cindy — another meaningful relationship chapter and part of my longer life story.
Kym — my current partner and the person I now share so many Florida adventures, paddles, sunsets, music, and everyday moments with.
Travel Companions and Outdoor Friends
Some people enter your life for a week, a road trip, a hostel stay, a trail, a river, or one unforgettable adventure, and somehow they stay part of the story forever. Travel has a way of creating friendships quickly because everyone is a little more open, curious, and willing to say yes.
Heike — one of the travel friends connected to the Central America and Costa Rica stories.
Julie — travel, hiking, friendship, New England, Florida, and old adventure memories.
Hostel Friends — the larger cast of travelers, friends, and temporary adventure partners met along the way.
Dan — hiking, music, friendship, and many old New England memories.
Paddling Friends — people met through rivers, rescues, mangrove tunnels, Gulf Coast paddles, and shared time on the water.
Climbing Friends — partners from rock, ice, mountains, road trips, and the old days of sleeping cheap so we could climb more.
Professional Mentors and Field People
My work life was shaped by people who loved field work, science, rivers, streams, floods, wetlands, insects, maps, and the kind of practical knowledge you only get by spending time outside. These are the coworkers, mentors, teachers, scientists, technicians, and field people who helped turn curiosity into a career.
USGS coworkers and mentors — the field people, scientists, hydrologists, and technicians who shaped my professional life.
Aquatic insect mentors — the teachers, agency scientists, and watershed people who helped me understand stream health through macroinvertebrates.
Smithsonian rainforest team — the scientists and field crews connected to the Amazon biodiversity assessment.
Watershed association people — the volunteers and professionals who taught me how local stream work can become real science and real conservation.
Conservation and Volunteer People
Another huge part of my life has been shaped by people who simply show up: people at Conservation Commission meetings, land trust volunteers, Audubon folks, watershed groups, habitat restoration projects, invasive species removals, storm recovery projects, paddling groups, and community efforts that depend on people doing the work because they care.
Conservation friends — people from watershed associations, Audubon, land trusts, habitat restoration projects, invasive species work, and local conservation efforts.
Some people do not fit neatly into any one category. They might have been teachers, friends, strangers, hostel companions, coworkers, trip partners, paddlers, musicians, or people I only knew briefly. But sometimes one conversation, one invitation, one trip, or one example can change the direction of your life.
Teachers and mentors — the people who helped me discover ecology, field biology, science, and lifelong learning.
Music friends — festival people, campfire musicians, and the people who made the soundtrack richer.
Friends who changed the path — a future page for the people whose timing, kindness, or adventurous spirit helped shape where my life went next.
Photos, Stories, and Family Archives
Photography has always been part of how I remember a place. Some photos are from long road trips, some are from family gatherings, some are from field work, and some are just simple records of a good sunset, a dog in a kayak, a storm cloud, a mountain view, or friends around a campfire. Many of the older pages still have that early-web charm, and I am slowly rebuilding them into better story pages while keeping the history intact.
Eventually I would like this homepage to work almost like a trailhead, where a visitor can pick a photo and wander into a part of my life. These panels are placeholders for now, and I can replace the background images later with some of my best photos from paddling, mountains, travel, science, conservation, and music.
This timeline gives visitors a simple way to understand how the pieces of this website fit together. It is not meant to include everything, but it does show the long thread that runs through so many of my stories: water, woods, mountains, travel, field science, conservation, volunteering, and trying to live fully while we have the chance.
Florida childhood: Camping in the Florida Keys and Everglades helped start a lifelong comfort with wild places, water, weather, fishing, boats, and long family road trips.
Lancaster, Massachusetts: Growing up around woods, streams, family, work, school, and the early outdoor experiences that eventually pulled me toward ecology and field biology.
Bare Hill Pond: The family camp became one of the great turning points in my life, with fishing, boats, winter ice, houseboats, Island View Store, and the beginning of a much deeper connection to living on the water.
College and changing direction: I eventually moved away from electronics and toward ecology, field biology, aquatic insects, wetlands, and the kind of science that happens outdoors with boots in the mud.
Early road trips: Prince Edward Island, the 1987 road trip, the 1990 trip, and the 1992 climbing tour taught me that travel, hostels, public lands, and simple living could shape an entire life.
Central and South America: Long trips through Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Peru, Ecuador, the Galapagos, and the Amazon expanded my view of the world and helped me understand how lucky we are.
USGS years: For 21 years I worked as a Hydrologic Technician and field biologist with USGS, doing field work on rivers, streams, floods, water quality, hydroacoustics, and floodplains across New England and Florida.
Conservation and community: Conservation Commission work, the Ashburnham Conservation Trust, watershed groups, storm recovery, paddling groups, cleanups, and lifelong volunteering became another major thread in my life.
Florida Gulf Coast: These days much of my outdoor life revolves around kayaking, mangroves, beaches, tides, sunsets, weather, Buddyboy, Kym, and helping other people get outside safely.
Recent and Rebuilt Pages
I am slowly turning many of the old pages into fuller stories, with better photos, captions, navigation, and the kind of background that explains why these places and experiences mattered. These are some of the pages I have been working on or plan to build next.
A future page about another important water place in my life.
The Ideas That Tie This Whole Site Together
After all these years, the pages on this website are really connected by a few simple ideas. I did not sit down in 1997 with some grand plan to build a memoir, a travel journal, a science archive, and a conservation record. I just kept following the things that mattered to me, and eventually the pattern became pretty clear.
Curiosity: Turn over the rock, read the map, follow the trail, look up the insect, ask the question, and keep learning.
Nature: Spend enough time outside that wild places stop feeling like scenery and start feeling like home.
Travel: Go somewhere different, meet people unlike yourself, and come home with a wider view of the world.
Science: Pay close attention, collect good information, and let the natural world teach you what is really going on.
Health: Keep moving, keep walking, keep paddling, keep using your body, and do not wait until someday.
Volunteering: Help protect the places you love and help people who might need a hand getting there.
Gratitude: Notice how lucky we are, especially when we have the freedom, health, and opportunity to live a full life.
Why I Keep This Website
I keep this website because life is short, memories matter, and stories are worth saving. I also keep it because I hope some part of it encourages someone else to spend a little less time sitting indoors and a little more time exploring this amazing planet. Go hiking. Paddle a quiet river. Travel somewhere different. Volunteer. Learn a new plant, bird, insect, cloud, or tide. Take care of your body. Be kind to people who have had harder lives than yours. Choose experiences over things whenever you can.
That philosophy has taken me farther than any map ever could. It has led me to mountains, rainforests, rivers, deserts, hostels, hot springs, islands, floodplains, conservation meetings, volunteer projects, and friendships I never would have found by staying home and watching television. I do not think everyone has to live the same way I have, but I do think most of us would be happier if we spent more time outside, paid more attention, and waited less for someday.
Start Wandering Here
The site still has a lot of old-fashioned link energy, and I am not ashamed of that. It started as a link page, after all. Here are some of the main places to begin.
This website has been around since 1997, so some outside links may be dead, redirected, or wandering around the digital wilderness. I am slowly updating the pages, but I also like preserving some of the old-web character because it shows where the site came from.
Important Legal-ish Disclaimer
These pages are mostly for fun, education, memory, and encouragement. The views expressed here are mine. Websites change, links die, facts evolve, and old photos sometimes have old captions that I am still improving. You may freely link to this site, but please do not copy my photos or stories for profit. Reader assumes full responsibility for any sudden desire to go hiking, paddling, traveling, volunteering, identifying insects, watching sunsets, or otherwise living a more interesting life.