Born and raised where the Great Plains rise up to meet the Rocky Mountains, I, like most other young Montanans, felt the need to escape from Montana’s ruralness and reach out to a wider world. Twenty years of living and working across the U.S. gave me a wealth of experience, but found me searching for a way home. I missed the colors and textures, the shapes of the land. I missed the ties to family and generational ties to a place.
Returning to Montana required me to utilize my academic background in the humanities, knowledge of the land, teaching experience, knowledge of community-based action, love of the traditional arts, cross-cultural communication skills…in addition to the ability to wear multiple hats at the same time! It has been a rich journey.
I live with my family on the ranch where I grew up (www.birdcreekranch.com). The landscape in which we move and work provides us with both hard times and good, but most of all it gives us the gift of way of knowing.