I’m not an expert at anything anymore. Before I retired I was an expert on all sorts of things, Dante, commas, Google Docs. No one needs my help or advice much anymore. I don’t need to bone up on any particular subject. I can drift through the rest of my life as a dilettante. Curiosity […]
A Different Drummer: Intermission
We’re taking a break from running around. We’re road weary. Our Montana excursion totaled 2,400 miles. If we had driven East we’d be in Syracuse. It’s time to stay home for a while, and tend to some chores. Even before the chores, we took time out for charitable work. We attended Whistlestock, a benefit concert […]
A Different Drummer: Returning from Montana
I took you all the way up to Montana last week for a chainsaw carving competition. I guess this week, I need to bring you back home. You can ride with us. Take a window seat. We hugged water all the way home. We did a big dogleg. After driving up in smoke, we wanted […]
A Different Drummer: Montana through the smoke
Sue and I and Bud and Sandy Donaldson, two of our retiree traveling companions, took a little 2,000-mile drive the other day. We popped up to Libby, Mont. for a few days to watch friends compete in the first annual Kootenai Country Montana Chainsaw Carving Competition. There is a loosely knit network of chainsaw carvers […]
A Different Drummer: Yes, it’s about fishing again
For the Labor Day weekend, I went fishing with the family in the mountains on the Carson. This would be my big skill test. I would be fishing alongside some experienced anglers. Chad, my woodsy son-in-law, like his father and brother, is a blue-blood dedicated lifelong fisherman with all the tackle and gear. He’s got […]
A Different Drummer: Leg two of seniors hiking in Yosemite
This story picks up in Yosemite on the banks of a lake in the Ten Lakes Region 6.5 miles from Tioga Pass Road. I was out there with Susan and fellow Benicia senior retirees Bud Donaldson, Carl Kittrell, and Deb Kittrell. That was the evening of our first full day of primitive living. We had […]
A Different Drummer: First leg of a Yosemite hike for the aged
Five of us in our 60s hiked the Yosemite backcountry and lived. I want to thank my hiking companions for their perseverance as I hiked with healed back injuries, a flat foot, and diastasis recti requiring me to wear a truss to hold in my gut in: my lovely wife Susan with her sciatica and […]
A Different Drummer: Hiking in preparation
A few of us in our 60s are intending a four-day hike to 9,700 feet in the Yosemite backcountry to reach Ten Lakes. It’s coming up soon. To build stamina, we and the Kittrells drove to Yosemite during the Detwiler Fire to take a couple practice hikes. We didn’t know about the fire, but a […]
A Different Drummer: Manhattan sidebars
Here are some highlights and observations made during our six-day exploration of Manhattan with our two curious, energetic grandsons. The boys get along with each other, big-brother to kid-brother style. Tyler, the alpha child, is in high school preparing for college. He has straight As and is focused on the exact sciences, though he loves […]
A Different Drummer: Our week in Manhattan
Susan and I just returned from a whirlwind six-day walking tour of Manhattan. We took our two eldest grandsons on an adventure. Smart as a Whip Tyler– age 15– and his kid brother, Theatrically Dramatic Jack– age 12– flew with us to Midtown Manhattan. Susan wanted the four of us to tour it together for […]