I was filled, as I had been once standing at the presipice of the Grand Cayon, with an overwhelming illustration of my insignificance. From this perspective, I was now able to truly appreciate the value of Nature: its diversity, randomness, and a magical allure.Rambling through the bush has granted me astonishing insights to an amazing world: beaver dams, bird nests, and spider webs built by living creatures and engineered to the highest possible standards, with an efficiency and simplicity that humans could never achieve. Some of the other joys of the woods include the smells, sounds, and sights of the forest, such as the unexpected joy of stumbling across a beautiful wildfllower in full bloom, sighting a truly wild animal, or more exciting yet, the realization that a wild creature has spotted you. I cam to the world of building rustic furniture completely by accident. While wroking as a newspaper photographer, I chanced upon a bent willow chair at a botanical garden where I had been sent to take some pictures of a new butterfly exhibit. I thought the chair was curious; I had never seen anything like it. I took a few pictures of the chairand then thought no more about it. Several years later I discovered a friend was making furniture in the same style. She taught me how to make the basic chair, and from there my hobby turned into an obsession and a livelihood. I never planned to change careers;the joy and satisfaction of building things are a lot like the creativity of taking photographs, but I felt drawn to explore the woods. The more involved I got, the further into the woods I ventured. There, I found the most complex, diverse, and aweinspiring network of creatures and plants in a world that I knew existed, but hadn't bothered to explore in the way I approached life, and in that change I found a place between the raw materials provided by the Earth and the world we humans have fashioned. I simplified my life and work, and unwittingly found that by opening my eyes and mind to the possibilities inherent in Nature, each dayhas the potential to become a unique experience, full of learning.