life in the woods...

Fall 2026 Is Here!

The new fall season officially begins today at 8:04 PM EST!

We had a great Summer Send-Off, yesterday, and I’m looking forward to a new season filled with spookiness, thankfulness, and holiday cheer.

View fullsize Straight out of a horror film, a small parasitic Braconid wasp pierced this tomato hornworm and laid eggs inside of it. Here, the wasp larvae, which have eaten the inside of the caterpillar, have crawled out and spun tiny cocoons all over its body. Y
View fullsize A tomato hornworm feasts in the garden. #hornworm #tomatohornworm #nature #caterpillar #summer
View fullsize A Great Blue Heron flies past, moving to a new hunting location, at Turkey Creek near Buckhorn Reservoir. #heron #wildlife #nature #buckhornreservoir #turkeycreek
View fullsize An egret moves through the tall grasses of Buckhorn Reservoir near Turkey Creek. #buckhornreservoir #turkeycreek #northcarolina #egret #nature
View fullsize A cormorant takes flight with a piece of grass in its mouth. Maybe it’s a tool for checking wind direction? 😉 #cormorant #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #buckhornreservoir #zen
View fullsize This summer, I developed a new appreciation for the color green. The forests, here, are so lush that the place looks like a monochrome photograph, only not in black and white, but in green and blackish-browns. #monochrome #green #greenery #nature #
View fullsize We’ve been on this planet from 200 to 300 thousand years, while the trees have been here from 350 to 390 million years. They call her Mother Nature for a reason. #trees #forest #wood #ki #zen
View fullsize A foreshadow of fall. This morning, I saw this leaf on my walk through the pine grove. Fall is in the air, and in the trees. #fall #autumn #leaves #change #zen
View fullsize Greenery is the scenery during summer in North Carolina. #greenery #moss #medocmountainstatepark #northcarolina #zen
View fullsize The remnants of an old tree remain standing in the forest, reminding me of life’s impermanence and the beauty that comes with decay. #medocmountainstatepark #northcarolina #wabisabi #impermanence #nature
View fullsize Mushrooms and moss grow at the base of an old tree inside the forest of Medoc Mountain State Park. #northcarolina #medocmountainstatepark #halifaxcountync #moss #greenery
View fullsize Little Fishing Creek at Medoc Mountain State Park. #medocmountainstatepark #naturephotography #littlefishingcreek #northcarolina #halifaxcountync
View fullsize A Sunday afternoon shower helped cool things down a bit. #gratitude #mimosa #forestrain #greenery #northcarolina
View fullsize Recent rainfalls flooded portions of the forest near the Spanish Moss Trail at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park, providing an opportunity for a unique photograph. #cliffsoftheneusestatepark #northcarolina #nature #greenery #zen
View fullsize Nature’s Cubicle #nature #northcarolinaphotographer #cliffsontheneuse #summer #greenery
View fullsize Roots. #nature #northcarolina #trees #cliffsoftheneusestatepark #zen

Inspiration

Take 20 minutes to watch this short documentary to see what nature has to offer those who are willing to listen.

We are all born into this world utterly helpless and dependent. Nature shows us a path to self-reliance which can strengthen us, making us both better individuals and stronger contributors to society.

This is my personal journal about living deep in the woods.

LEaving The City

In February of 2022, I loaded up my car, family, and four dogs and drove out of Austin, Texas…

Into the Woods

…and arrived a few days later at a small dirt road in rural north carolina.

This began my journey into the woods.