Raising Herefords and growing pumpkins in California, I had early visions of living on a cattle ranch and singing in the moonlight, but hungry people and need for food production replaced pipe dreams. Through outstanding mycology professors, I discovered the intricacy and beauty of the fungi and wanted to become a plant pathologist. Later we learned that bacteria multiplied much faster than eukaryots and were wonderful chemical factories with great potential for changing the world. Working mostly in Hawaii and southern Argentina, adventures often consist of devising ways to make things work.