Friday, February 15, 2008

Introduction

I am an outdoor educator from the Loess Hills of Iowa. I teach people of all ages natural history by relating it to cultural history. I have found that by teaching people how to use elements of nature with bushcraft/woodcraft skills they tend to be more respectful of our natural resources.

I have learned a lot of what I know from my father and grandfather who kept me out of the house and in the woods growing up (I could never thank them enough for that). I have learned from other teachers along the way, and through A LOT of trial and error. I have worked in the natural resources field since 2001. I worked as a farm hand, in a wire harness factory, in a major sporting goods warehouse, as a restaurant manager, as a wilderness ranger, a park aide, and a naturalist.

Al those jobs are pretty varied, but I learned a lot from each of them that I use when teaching bushcraft courses. The most important thing they have taught me is to be adaptable. My philosophy on bushcraft and life can be summed up with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt.

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."-T.R.

My hope is that as I learn new skills, and perfect old ones, I will be able to record and share them on this site. So please keep checking back, and feel free to contact me with questions, comments, or advice!

6 comments:

Owen said...

Looks like the makings of a good blog, I look forward to reading your posts! I'll put a link to your on my page also.

Fenlander said...

I wish you every success with this blog, it's certainly a very promising start. And thanks for the link to mine, I shall of course reciprocate.

Good luck

Kevin

Anonymous said...

Thanks to both of you. As corny as it sounds your blogs have been a great inspiration!

Pablo said...

Hi there.
Nice to see blogs like this getting started. Best of luck. I'll check back often and thanks for linking me to your blog. I'll add you to my blogroll as well.
All the best
Pablo
www.woodlife.co.uk

deepcovemoon said...

Greetings from British Columbia:

I enjoy your blog - but just wondering: You mention you are from Northeast Iowa, and living near the Loess Hills. Are not the Loess Hills in Southwest Iowa? I am sure it is me....just have to ask!

Anonymous said...

When I started my blog I lived in the northern Loess Hills, but I have since move to northeast Iowa. You sure know your IA geography!