Amy Dourson
A decade ago, Amy Dourson’s favorite tree species was the Sycamore because, frankly, its peeling white bark was the only tree she could reliably (or even semi-reliably) identify. Similarly, she completely overlooked the lack of healthy tree-culture in the city parks and small arboretums she frequented in Cincinnati (where she worked at the Children’s hospital as a genetics research assistant), in Dayton (where she graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Biology and concentrations in Women’s Studies and Developmental Biology) or in Yellow Springs, Ohio (where she owned and operated a small organic farm named “Radical Roots” and was a strawbale home builder).
It was not until a blind-date introduction to her now husband, Aaron Dourson, and her subsequent first trip down to the gorge, that she began to see the wonder of it all. A wonder of trees, birds, mosses, rocks, leaves, sticks, water, worms…the wild and round and unimaginably intricate lacing of “the alive” with “all that supports life.” These…and a sense of true quiet and calm…are the lessons the forest demonstrated for her.
Now, eight years into her gorge-licious-life, amy co-owns and operates Red River Gorgeous, a wilderness cabin and treehouse rental company, which gladly offers everything from outhouses to solar panels. She is a founding member of the community-based planning organization Red River Gorge United, and tests her editorial prowess as assistant editor for the international academic journal “Violence Against Women.” But most dear to her heart, and most intimately tied to her daily waverings and sensibilities surrounding patience, love and brute perseverance, she also tows an unchartered line between un-schooling (as beautifully described by Ben Hewitt in his book Homegrown), homeschooling, and letting the forest school their three children: Finn (b. 2013), Teagan (’16) and Leland (’19).
