I found Yoda.

People have inquired as to where I found inspiration to write the novel "A Long Paddle Home." 

I often reply by simply saying the ideas within the story just appeared as I was writing. 

That is not the whole answer. 

I have wandered the forests for as long as I my memory serves. I have read thousands of messages written within the fabric of the landscape. 

From the silence of a mist enshrouded coniferous forest, to the banshee like wail of the wind as it bends trees to impossible angles during a thunder storm, I have witnessed nature as she weaves her stories into a mosaic which is too vast to comprehend. 

On day while laying on the ground inspecting an ant colony, the feeling of being watched forced me to  look to my right, sitting quietly on a leaf was the little fellow you see in the photo. 

I called him Yoda. 

The ideas for the story came from many such encounters. I have learned that to really feel the forest, one must slow down, lay down and look around. 

You are being watched. 

Once you are able to remove yourself from your own internal dialog, you will be able to absorb the lessons which the land chooses to teach you. 

I believe that little tree frog helped me to find the creature witch roams through the pages of "A Long Paddle Home."