About Me

I was born and raised in Seattle, WA and grew up fishing and hiking the backcountry near my home. Most of my childhood memories are of fishing Puget Sound for salmon and searun cutthroat, or plying the glacier fed streams of Western Washington for steelhead. Time spent in the wild nurtured in me a sense of place in the natural world. I learned as a child that the natural world is not merely a backdrop for my own life. It is the creation of the same God who created me. The reflection of His image. As such, I have a connection with it that goes beyond mere fun or usefulness. I have a place in the natural world and it has a place in me. I am also a landscape photographer. My image gallery, which is at www.scottchurchimages.com reveals my love for the Creation better than any words I could write here.

To me, passion is a necessary ingredient in any search for truth. Though it can, and often does, cloud judgement it remains the only lens through which the true value of things can be seen--the eyes of the heart, without which we will never truly understand what we were created for. I believe that this passion must work together with reason and I try to bring both to my work. It is also fundamental to my whole view of things that truth is not fragile and will survive any honest inquiry. I believe that no investigation into the matters we all care about can ever stand unless it take into account all available evidence, so I strive to expose myself to all inputs, even hostile ones. I may or may not give space to arguments I consider to be vicious, inflammatory or based on unusually poor scholarship (you won't find much here from conspiracy theory groups or bombastic talk show hosts), but I will expose myself even to inputs like these and think about them before preparing any content for my site. Those who are on solid ground need not fear being examined and need not hide from any sources that do not support their conclusions. I have to assume that if I ever feel compelled to run away from an honest and thoughtful challenge, there will be a reason why--and it won't bode well for my beliefs.

I live in Issaquah, WA (a suburb of Seattle) near my daughter Claire Lan Du (adopted by my former wife and I from Sichuan Province in China and 11 years old as of this writing). I grew up and attended grade school 30 minutes from where I now live--which adds to my sense of place in this region. I attended the University of Washington, in Seattle, receiving a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering (1980) and a Masters in Applied Physics (1988). After working 20 years in the aerospace industry, I moved into computer networking. I am currently a Software and I.T. Operations Engineer. This is what I do when I'm not out with my camera or a fly rod. The name "Sabalo Images" comes from the Spanish name for the tarpon. The tarpon (megalops atlanticus) is the largest member of the herring family of fishes and is native to shallow temperate habitats in the Atlantic and Carribean. It is my favorite fly rod gamefish, and in my opinion, one of the finest high points of God's creation. Those who have done battle with one on light tackle will understand why I would adopt it's name as a symbol for my celebration of God's finest work.

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