Who Am I, Why Am I Writing?

December 8, 1998

Good question.

Who am I, and just what has prompted me to place my words out on the web for all to see?

Maybe to see if anyone is interested?

Is this talk radio. . . with no one listening?

I hope to encourage

cause reflection

share the ride.

Sometimes I have lots of questions, and I will post them, not expecting that there is an "answer" but that there may just be more questions.

Sometimes I might just write to remember. I hope it is a nice private and safe place to share my thoughts.

I exhibit extremes . . . in action, thought and mood.

I will avoid labels about myself.

Generally I have two speeds . . . Mach3 and dead stop. . .

I know the edge of life... my mind records all the details of the moments which choose to possess me - and from time to time I will share them here.

And just what is it that possesses me?

Music

Feeling the roar of a F-16 screaming overhead at an air show...

The reeds in a lake as the first rays of sun pierce the steam rising on a cold October morning...

Fall Colors

Downhill skiing - especially in the Rockies

Flying at night

Jumping giant surf in a wave runner

Standing on mountain tops.

Roller blading along the lake shore

The wind - and the sun.

Sharing one of those moments with a child... who also "knows" the moment... (age 5 - while jumping waves in Lake Michigan) "Dad, this is too much fun to be real"

Kids...

Mine are priceless... So why are 15 year olds on the street who say.. "I have not one single good memory from my childhood" (Heard one morning on TV show at the gym)....alone and on the street...

Tell a kid you love them today.

I have also known moments of despair - but those I may choose to share sparingly.

And the name? Why the name?

I am a pilot. I flew airplanes by myself before my parents would allow me to take the car out alone. Often times I go out to the airport at night, and I practice, and sometimes I just climb and climb and climb just to watch the stars.

Come with me, and I'll share the ride.

Update - 9 years later

The flying is over now, did it for almost 40 years, and it just got too expensive.

Besides, flying from here to there is not all that exciting.

I may take up hang gliding, check out this entry to see where and why.

Although the airplane is gone, the harley that took its place fills in quite nicely.

I still like going fast, on the motorcycle, in a convertable winding across the highest passes in the country or on skis. I started to ski late in life, in my forties actually. I ski with a gps, and I probably shouldn't.

It tells me how fast I go, and last year on a great slope in Telluride I hit my current record, 59.6 mph. The very next day, on simple slope in Durango going slow, I fell and broke my thumb.

In the Winter of 2004 my wife got a great job that ended up moving us to New Mexico. I think I may have been one of the last to sell my house in Michigan. I love living in a place where the sun is almost always shining and where there are mountains to hike in my backyard.

I get bored easy and I need challenges.

On December 14, 2007 I graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law, two years and four months after moving to New Mexico. I guess you could say I am a professional student and an academic late bloomer. I was not known for academic prowess in high school, but something clicked in my senior year and now here we are with the JD being my third post graduate degree.

The next big change happened three years ago when grandchildren came upon the scene. They have been great. Fortunately for me, my job for the last three years has enabled me to travel to see them about 60 times a year. I always travel with a camera in tow, just in case.

If you are reading this thanks for the visit. Lots of people come here looking for things like quotes about nature, or writing or the like. But as you might figure out if you stop by the galleries, I like taking photographs.

A-Basin - March 2007, one of my favorite places to ski.

The Night Sky Rider