Riverwoods

Is Texas ready? That's a question.

I'm in River Woods, Illinois, which is a suburb 45 minutes north of Chicago.

I was born and raised in Chicago.

So I've been out in the burbs for a long time and, uh, have great community around me.

Another decades-long commitment, though, has been volunteering to lead environmental education programs.

In 1991, at a co-worker's urging, Diane visited Ryerson Conservation Area in Riverwoods.

There, she met Mark Hurley, a longtime environmental educator of ours who retired this past summer, 2026.

He quickly became a mentor.