Bring on the waterfalls and trails!
Waterfalls and trails are among the things I love the most. I am an avid outdoors enthusiast and I have always felt more at home under an open sky full of stars, with no roof over my head.
I am an amateur photographer and videographer. Likewise, I have always felt much more comfortable behind the lens, than in front of it.
This is mostly a nature enthusiast and travel website and blog. I like to write about the beauty I find along the trails and waterfalls I explore. Sometimes I find interesting things right in my own backyard!
As you navigate this website, you can click on most pictures to reveal a larger full-size picture. (Just not this one!)
Aviation and Aerospace Engineering
I am also an avid aviation enthusiast and work in the aviation field, so this will most definitely be a recurring subject.
I have loved aviation since I was a young child. My dad used to always take me out to the airports near our home at night and we would watch the planes coming in. He would explain to me how it all worked, aerodynamics, Bernoulli principle.
To this day, it is one of the few things that can still get my pulse racing. When I watch the ground literally fall away… It’s as if every care in this world, every worry and concern, it’s all terrestrial. When I’m taking off, literally watching the ground fall away, it’s as if every care and concern I have is left there, on the ground. Up there, I’m free… it’s just me.
It will all be there when I come down again. But up there is the one place I’m truly free.
The fact is, I am interested in every field of science there is. And as such, you may see posts on anything from entomology to high energy theoretical particle physics. I like to keep up with space science and all things quantum, including new discoveries and research at CERN in Switzerland.
For more about the fascinating work being done, please visit CERN.
My grandfather worked at the Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, which was the largest particle accelerator in existence until the large hadron collider was built at CERN and became operational in September of 2008.
He had some wild and intriguing stories of some then-top-secret projects he was involved with that spurred my imagination as a child, but later grew into a avid enthusiasm, almost compulsion, to learn more about the fascinating things I had heard about.
My dad and all my uncles on his side of the family were engineers. Having it on both sides of the family, perhaps this is the reason I am always driven to understand how things work. It’s never been enough for me to just accept an answer. I have to know the whole concept, how you arrived at the answer, what you can do with that answer, where you can go with it. Even as a kid, I was always taking everything apart, and putting it back together again.
Who am I kidding? I still do!
Science and Applied Mathematics
Physics, chemistry, biology, … science touches every aspect of our lives. From the mixture that is your coffee in the morning to the elements that make up the air that sustains your life, science is everywhere, even if you aren’t particularly interested in it. And mathematics binds it all together. Mathematics truly is the universal language.
Nothing is truly random, from the curvature angle of snail’s shell when it grows, to the patterns of the wind across the sand dunes of the Kalahari. Everything is organized so precisely!
Science Center & Aquarium
Before I moved where I am now, I had my dream job, working at a Science Center and aquarium. I was able to work hands-on with exotic animals, everything from alligators and Burmese pythons to baby bobcats and raccoons.
I was able to do speak to people about what I love, and do live demonstrations on many different fields of science within the center as well as doing festivals and outreach programs. From teaching children how to identify characteristics of reptiles, to teaching aerodynamics or principles of gyroscopes in Segway stabilization technology to older groups, it was a job that I never, EVER took for granted.
I could not WAIT to get to work every day! I will never forget that feeling.
I also became an assistant aquarist, where I was able to take care of the aquarium animals which included fish, seahorses, crustaceans, sting rays, sharks, etc. I was even able to do live shark and sting ray feedings for the public, which was always a lot of fun with the kids.
They were just starting to train me on running the Planetarium when I left. That was one of the best experiences of all!
One thing I learned is that while you never knew what you might walk into, there was never, EVER a dull day working at the Science Center. Between the funny antics of the animals and the interesting things that happened with guests or with the kids, it was the most rewarding job I ever had in my life. Some things you had to see to believe! I always said, I could write a book about it, and one day I will. I’ve actually started one.
I plan on writing here a lot about the Science Center and some of the experiences I had on the job. There were some interesting ones.
In any case, I am in the process of moving some things around from another website I have had for a much longer time, along with writing new posts here. Like most people, I stay pretty busy as well. Please bear with me through this transitional phase.
Although I don’t update that site very often, for more photographs in a gallery-style photos-only setting, you can visit ofwaterfallsandtrails.com.
Travel
I’ve been to some beautiful landscapes in the last few years around the United States and in Europe. I have an affinity for the west coast of the United States, especially the Pacific Northwest. While I grew up in southern California, northern California is more to my taste… the more “civilized” side. Oregon, Washington state, and into Vancouver, British Columbia… these are the areas I love the most.
I like variety… I like having both the mountains AND the beach! Along the coast, you have a more temperate climate and seasons, but without the extremes. All the rushing rivers, and deep forests, the ever-changing scenery and vistas are amazing!
That being said, I travel all over. I have lived in NC. I was born in Chicago and love the Windy City with its beautiful shoreline and miles of trails within the city (for a visit!). Montrose Harbor, Buckingham fountain and the Museum campus are just a few of my favorite haunts. I probably have some of the fondest memories at the Field Museum. Adler is a favorite for obvious reasons, as is the Shedd. I used to love standing outside the aquarium building at night looking out over the twinkling lights on the water and listening to the haunting calls of the belugas.
I will also be adding a lot of new entries on travel to Germany, Denmark, Belgium and mostly Norway, and other places in the weeks and months to come. I have both photography and video to share, including some drone footage.
Having Norwegian in my background, I have always been interested in the culture and landscape of Norway. I can certainly feel the Norwegian blood… haha! I have always been comfortable at much cooler temperatures than others. I truly suffer in heat.
In Norway, attempting to summit one peak after repeatedly being held back due to weather, rain and snow flurries, 28mph winds, and dense fog, I sat on the hillside taking cover in a dense patch of dwarf birch and juniper, wondering to myself if living in the way-too-far-south latitudes had taken any edge off me at all. After about twenty minutes of howling winds and pelting rain and blustering flurries, I got my answer, as a smile just started to contort my face involuntarily! Bundled up with nothing more than a long sleeve thin shirt and a dependable high-vis waterproof rain jacket (good ol’ Helly Hansen), rain dripping off my chin and snowflakes catching in my eyelashes, I loved it. I loved every second of it!
I will definitely be writing more about travel in general, but I have a feeling, Norway will be a topic I come back to often. It is by far the most beautiful country on the planet, in my opinion.
One place I fell in love with the most while in Norway was Sundal. There were so many beautiful places…. the tundra flats, the mesmerizing peaks of Loen, the beauty of the river in Stryn… but Sundal… Sundal was like a fairytale land. The emerald green of the mountains, the turquoise water, the mist and cloudscape moving in all directions enshrouding the razor peaks and spilling into the fjords…. it was just otherworldy. I nicknamed it the Kindgom of Sundal.
Background
A passion for science, wildlife, and nature was instilled in me at an early age by my father. By teaching me a healthy respect for everything in nature, but never a loathsome fear, he opened my eyes to a whole other world that many never see.
I learned to love all creatures great and small, even the creepy, crawly, slithering ones that most people pass over. I am deeply grateful for the legacy my father passed on to me.
My father would take me on excursions deep within the Redwood forests of California, walking among the giant ferns and towering sequoia trees. Another favorite destination was the High Sierras, traversing crystal blue lakes and granite peaks along winding trails and hidden waterfalls.
We would find an old log, and we would just sit there silently, taking it all in. After about twenty minutes, the whole forest would come alive around us: birds singing, squirrels scurrying, snakes slithering. Sometimes we would see fox, raccoon, deer.
There are so many images burned into my mind’s eye. One touch, one smell, just the feel to the air on a certain day, can bring it all rushing back. I will never forget those magic moments, deep within that enchanted Redwood forest.
A wise person once told me that the eyes are the window to the soul. This and many other words sincerely spoken have proved true and have stayed with me through thick and thin. Like the unwavering beacon of a lighthouse, they have guided me, stayed with me as the one constant in my life, ever-present.
Life doesn’t always turn out as we plan. But I think it’s important to remember. Move forward, but always hold on to the good. Never let that go. We learn in everything we do.
I choose to look for the good in everything, to fill my eyes with as much beauty as they can behold each and every day.
Whether you travel to the ends of the world and back, or just in your own backyard, one thing always remains true.
Beauty is all around us. You just have to stop and look.
Never stop looking…
… Always wander…
“Until we meet again…”
