 |
My name is Vern and I am the LOUD Family Dad. I love this new adventure our family is on. I will admit I was a bit scared stepping into the new lifestyle. But I have always enjoyed extending the boundaries of my comfort zone and normality for me is based on my system of measurements not everyone else's.
Hobbies I enjoy:
Lepidoptera- I have collected butterflies and moths since is was about 12. I have been to Brazil for a 2 week excursion to collect research specimens. I have collected in every state we have lived in and now I collect in every place we stop at. I am a member of the Utah Lepidopterists Society (ULS).
My family has helped as collected butterfly eggs or caterpillars and raise them through their life stages and document the timelines and food plants for research material. There have been times that my very patient wife's entire kitchen was overtaken by my rearing projects.. She is pretty awesome. Many Thanks go out to Richard for his help with the introduction and continued support and knowledge base in this work and also to Todd Stout with the ULS who took me under his wing when I first got there and taught me his rearing techniques and favorite collecting spots. That is like a fisherman divulging his favorite secret fishing hole, basically a way cool thing for him to do. Also to all the other guys at the ULS for their support way above and beyond.
This hobby provides a source of income for our fulltiming adventure. WingDecor shop
Fencing- I have been fencing most of my life. My main weapon is foil but I enjoy sabre. I was taught my Dr. Richard E. Howard ACFA Head Coach Moniteur D' Escrime. I eventual opened up my own fencing salle in American Fork, Utah at the recreation center. It was awesome and I met some amazing people doing that.
Ships in Bottles and model ships- As a junior in High School I opened up a shop at the local mall selling ship-in-bottles that me and my friends/employees built all the previous year. It was so cool. I still enjoy making them now with my kids. It is a neat experience to watch their excitement as they complete their first ship in a bottle. I am currently preparing some of my original series ships-in-bottles designs for sale as kits so you can build them at home.
My ship designs can be seen at this museum. Richard Howard created the designs from those used by his Grandfather and allowed me to use them in my business. He built a series for himself and they are now housed in the Amarillo College Museum of Natural History.