Along with photography, another favorite hobby of mine is reading.  Once in a while a book comes along and blows the reader away.  One of those books for me is Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard: part biography, part memoir, part 30+ years of intense research data, but mostly what came through the most to me was the author's fierce love of the forest, her immense respect for the complex beings that live there, and their direct impact on the health of the planet.  Simply, we need healthy trees.

I grew up playing in the woods, and the forest is where I go to recharge my batteries.  I freely admit that I was a tree hugger before it was the cool thing to do.  Suzanne Simard's lovely wordsmithing has taught me to focus even more closely at the precious lives silently growing in my own back yard.

Once upon a time, I could play in the woods and not imagine taking any of it home with me.  Beauty was everywhere, and while I loved it, I took nature for granted.  That's what you do when you grow up in a beautiful part of the world.  

Over the years, I started noticing incredible details every time I stepped outside.  The contours of a flower's petal.  Iridescent feathers of a hummingbird.  Bright green leaves in spring.  Perfect mirror images in a calm river.  Branches after a snowstorm that looked dipped in marshmallow fluff.  The impossible color palate of a sunset or a rainbow.  A wild animal curiously looking me in the eye before running away.  Sunlight sparkling at the top of a waterfall.  The fragile perfection of a plant or butterfly that will only live for one week.  Rocks that are shaped like hearts...  Digital photography made it so much easier to focus on sharing that amazing wild world with family and friends who were unable to join me for forays into the woods.  I didn't have to find a thousand words if I had a photo to show.

In time, those friends and family encouraged me to do more with my photos.  So, here I am.  I'll try to post to this blog when the muse strikes.  

(Note: stopping to take a photo is a great excuse when you have to catch your breath while climbing a 4,000 footer and don't want to admit you're out of shape!)