In a last few years Rob has become an avid nature photographer. I am a great admirer of his sense of wonder and constant learning new skills. When we just got married, 11 years ago, and he was still in the Air Force, Rob would come home from work and before changing from military uniform, practice his French horn for an hour. At that time he was good enough to play Brahms horn trio. About 7 years ago he decided to learn to dive, by now he is a Dive Master who can teach others and has dove literally around the world in the most bizarre places; the Solomon Islands among others… I do not even know where they are located on the map. Photography is Rob’s latest passion. It started with underwater and slowly progressed ashore. His favorite places to photograph are the Bosque National Wildlife Refuge and Yellowstone.
While visiting a bear refuge in Bozeman, Montana we seriously had to listen to a professional ranger teach us how to behave in the company of different bears. It turned out if a brown bear will want to make your acquaintance you should lie down on your tummy and lock your hands behind your neck. So if you are lucky the brown bear only with bite off a part of your butt, leaving the rest of you intact. As far as black bears go, you should make a lot of noise to scare them away, in the best case scenario…Since the Yellowstone trip I am constantly aware of the remote possibility encountering a bear in every national park we visit. This newly acquired knowledge adds another layer to my already existing basic fear of falling down from the edge of the countless mountains we hike. Just in case I survive the fall, a bear would finish me off.