A sense of time, a sense of place.

A lifetime of watching, listening, and studying has led me to appreciate how truly important it is for us to be a part of community. As ever, I've also come to realize the eternal truth: the more we know, the more we discover we don't know. Learning is a never-ending project.

While learning is its own reward, it is never an end in itself. It becomes truly valuable when we share it with others, in service. And this in turn offers more opportunities to learn.

This has been my life, for decades now.

As grand as it sounds, the Colorado Institute for Historical Geography is really a quite simple thing. It's my vehicle and my platform for continuing to learn about community, and my vehicle for using those learnings to serve my neighbors, my friends, my world.

I formed the organization many years ago. It provides a framework for me to organize, plan, and think about the complex fields of history and geography, in the midst of countless discoveries and distractions. As an independent scholar, a means of focussing my energies has allowed me to pursue goals that often take years to unfold. My wide and deep curiosities can be a curse as well as a blessing.

And using the non-profit business model is a reminder that my world is about true service, divorced from the forces of the marketplace. I relish the freedom.