I was raised in the Amish tradition, spent most of my childhood in the rolling hills of Western New York's Chautauqua area, enjoyed a decade in tropical Costa Rica, and currently enjoy gardening, pets, Contra dancing, extreme hiking and chopping wood. Renee and the kids and I tend to our 8-acre woods/meadow along with many squawking, crowing, honking, barking, chirping, chattering, quacking creatures. I'm an electrician by trade, with a bit of Mennonite hospitality in my DNA, and a lot of Henry David Thoreau in my spirit.