My interest in natural history began in the 1980s through the Audubon Naturalist Society in the Washington, DC, area. Somehow I was able to develop sufficient plant identification skills to leave my relatively high-paying (but tedious) job as a Federal bureaucrat for a low-paying one as a field botanist with the Virginia Natural Heritage Program. No regrets! In this capacity I searched for rare plant populations throughout Virginia and made recommendations for their protection and management. It was a 19-year adventure that included falling off a cliff and breaking a few things. Since retirement, I have become passionate about insects, starting with butterflies, moving on to all Lepidoptera, and now anything with six (or even eight) legs. I have identified over 550 moth species in my urban yard in Richmond, VA, which are posted on the Butterflies and Moths of North America website.