I grew up on the headwaters of the Musconetcong River-Lake Hopatcong- where my love of the outdoors and being on the water was fostered by my parents who from an early age encouraged me to get outside and explore the world around me.
I always had some type of watercraft that carried my friends and I on adventures exploring the some what wild shores of the lake. At first it was makeshift boats of old truck inner tubes and a piece of plywood with some beat up canoe paddles and maybe a beach towel we would hold up to catch the wind to propel us onward. I moved on to canoes and then my own kayak as a teenager. I would hop in my kayak before school and glide across the smooth water of New Jersey's largest lake just as the sun was rising above the eastern shore. The reflection off the water mirrored the peace of the day as a great blue heron effortlessly flew just above me, the only sound was the quietness of its wings flapping. Sitting in the beauty of the lake I knew it would be a good day.
Having moments like this at such an early age taught me that connecting to the natural world around me was an important part of who I am. It brings balance to my life. 40 plus years later I am still having profound moments on the water and with each stroke of my paddle a clarity and inner peace is met.
Now more than ever it is super important that we all find time to reconnect with what brings us that balance and inner peace. For me it is getting on the water in my kayak and continually learning about the waters and environment around me. I do this by volunteering for my local watershed groups and leading guided paddles to show folks what an amazing world we live in. For the last 10 years I have been documenting every paddle trip of mine through video and photos at first it was for me but then I began getting such strong responses from folks who watched a video or saw an image of mine that inspired them to get out on the water for the first time or go and hike a certain area in the watershed. Having that shared experience is something that we all have in common. The more of us who continue to have those shared experiences in our wild and open spaces the more we appreciate them and work to preserve them for future generations to come.