I spend as much time as possible outdoors, and endeavor to savor the details. I was raised in Iowa and lived in Maryland for a number of years. I have called Orange County, California, my home for more than two decades. Hiking and fly-fishing are two favorite pastimes. I have traveled on foot and by canoe through the BWCAW and Northern Ontario. The Missouri National Recreational River was the outdoor playground of my youth. Fly-fishing has taken me to rivers and streams from Quebec to California, and from Georgia to Washington State and Alaska. Additionally, I have a PhD in Physiology, and tend to view Nature and the world through a scientific glass (tempered with a romantic heart).