Hiking
My wife Jeri and I really enjoy hiking and camping. We spent years living out in Arizona, where the hiking and camping were great but there's little water! This was followed by some years in the Westchester/Poughkeepsie area of New York. When presented with an opportunity to move to Boca Raton, we put away our winter clothes and got into scuba diving. When Don Boyd invited me up to RIT to look at possibilities here, we quickly decided that this was the place for us. We find that Rochester provides a very rich palette of choices for hiking, and we are enjoying exploring new areas as often as we can. Life in Rochester has brought a wide variety of rich new hobbies and interests. We have taken up cross country skiing for the winter, and intend to develop better kayaking skills during the summer. We enjoy taking our dogs to Mendon Ponds, where they have been experiencing lots of wildlife that they had not seen before.
In the immediate vicinity of our house in Pittsford, we have 3 (!!!) types of squirrels - grey, black, and white. We see fox at all seasons in the woods behind the house, falcons and red-tailed hawks overhead, and the family of deer that live there make occasional appearances when the dogs are quiet. Pittsford and Rochester are truly a wonderful place to live, both for the people and the nature!
We have both become involved with Ganondagan and the local Iroquois community. As a Mohawk, coming to Rochester has been a return to my ancestral land (albeit at the other end of the state!) The Iroquois community is warm and welcoming. Our son Jordan is a Native Interpreter at Ganondagan, and Jeri and I have recently been nominated to the Board of Friends of Ganondagan.
In 2008 we had an opportunity to join the RIT community in Rochester, NY, and are actually very happy back up in an area that has four seasons. We have most recently become involved with improvisational theater. You can learn more about the troupe at VIP Improv.