I come from a long line of Italian gardeners, but for several years I’ve been exploring the healing properties of reconnecting with the natural world or “rewilding” and the unmistakable relief from stress and other emotional maladies experienced by such simple activities as bird watching, gardening or simply looking out the window at the trees.  After many years as an environmental specialist, guilty of aiding and abetting land developers who doze and pave pristine habitats in the name of economic development, I turned to restoration ecology. I take particular pleasure in designing backyard wildlife habitats for urban gardens.  On my own small property in Ewing, certified as an Advanced Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation, I enjoy the company of a variety of critters and birds that I know have traveled some distance to arrive at my feeders and sing in my trees! I’ve found this “mind/nature” connection to be very therapeutic!  In the words of Thoreau, “In wildness is the preservation of the world…”