I was born and raised on a goat farm in rural Massachusetts, the third child of eleven, and the only girl. Some of my strongest impressions are from those early days: milking goats, feeding chickens, harvesting honey, growing and canning our food. Life meant work, but also lessons that I carried to adulthood. The basics were cooking, canning, freezing, sewing, knitting, gardening, and most importantly, survival. Being the only girl among ten boys was a challenge to maintain a female identity. There were powerful moments; stomps through the forest were journeys, both inner and outer, developing in me a love and respect for nature, quiet, peace, and all life, great and small, animal, plant, or human.

This love and sanctuary I found in the outdoors carried through young adulthood. At 18 I hiked the Appalachian Trail alone from Maine to Georgia. At 19 I became an Outward Bound instructor teaching technical rock climbing in Colorado. Lured to a less trekked land, I kayaked around Alaska, then taught wilderness survival skills near Prince William Sound for the National Outdoor Leadership School.