This Summery needs a bit of updating; my 'stream of consciousness' approach that night can use some serious editing. Evolving and unsaid insight and clarity on my side, should be reflected, shining through all this verbiage, oui ? And photos too!! It's all coming soon !! Until then...

OK, this should be easy, a summary of who I am. Well, um..I
don't know !! Perhaps a touch of Alice in Wonderland here.
First memory of self..maybe 1 1/2 years old (?), on the beach at Coney Island (yes, NYC born), breathing in the Atlantic ocean..it filling every space in my being ..every live, dead or otherwise organism in that ocean now dwelt within me and I with them.
Moving on..stream of consciousness style..
I'm a very easy going, caring person; wasn't so much at first, but working with kids for so long...realizing what's truly important ...it's a 'transferable skill set'.
Hiking up Strawberry Canyon a few times a week, surfing the coast, wandering the countryside and back streets in the cities of other countries, eating at outdoor cafe/restaurants and watching the world go by, the sun and moon going up and down, the meetings..partings of kindred souls on their journeys. All filled with wonder.
" I don't believe in....., I just believe in you, Yoko" Thank you J.L.
My kindergarten teacher, Mrs.Rosenberg, said I was on my way to becoming a gang leader.
I'm a red diaper baby, on my father's side.
All my young life, I'd been told," Just wait 'till you're in the army." I was a 'draft counselor' for SDS.
I really like 'Annie's Song', J.D., even though when I lived in Denver, most ridiculed him.
Was a painter..commercial artist in NY, until 23. Spent part of a summer in a big farmhouse, on Ile d' Orleans, an island west of Quebec, covered with farms and second growth trees and a bakery down the road..with my girlfriend and 8 or so total strangers. Saw 1/3 of a rainbow that almost filled the entire sky. Decided it was time to leave NYC.
Was a visiting scholar, of sorts, in Mexico (something to do with ancient astronomy and the number system); in Guatemala was imprisoned..collateral damage.
Wait !!! This is too much. Is this who/what my self is ?
Not to distant from those blind guys describing an elephant, no ?
It's complicated. And then, not so.
Oh, those 'Questions'..Looking them over, compared to someone else, what was I thinking !! Should have filled in more of the 'explain' boxes.

Recently returned from two months of travel; saw family in New York, stepdaughter and kids in France, and surfing in Sri Lanka, then seeing the Taj Mahal (something I've wanted to do since I was 10). At the moment, trying to learn 'Wild Horses' on the guitar. Rewiring the basement. Tomorrow, may drive down to Pacifica to go surfing. Those are the small things. After retiring last year (taught middle school, before that elementary, before that co-taught Sculpture 1 at SF State), friends said to wait a year before jumping into something new. Well, the year is up and getting more involved in land use issues and conservation (world wide) is next on the menu.

More than good, really, at gardening, rebuilding/repairing older houses, listening..seeing..understanding(?). Appreciating the beauty in the world..and the humor in it all. And after a long time, I'm really good at counting my blessings.

On a recent trip..."Your eyes...you're Japanese", "Your body shape and face..you're from South America", " Your hair (gray, long and unruly), you're a teacher." "The way you move your hands when you speak..you're a visual artist."

Too many favorites to call them favorites. Last books read..Middlemarch, Lolita, Life of Pie, Gravity's Rainbow, Interpreter of Maladies, God of Small Things. Movies..Felini, all those other European directors, animated film festivals, so much from the last , what, 90 years ! We don't do horror films though. Food..fine dining is a small, maybe 'ethnic' restaurant, with great tasting, healthy food; best part of traveling is discovering the local food. I cook, but the results may vary. Music..Greatest hits of the last 5 or 6 hundred years..traditional music from Asia, the whole world really. At the moment, Jack Johnson is on the CD player; under that CD cover is Tito Puente , Iris Dement, and Bach's Goldberg Variations/ Version for String Trio.

Good friends and their conversation..music..awaking with a loved one..the ocean (I surf).. walks in unknown places early in the morning..really good french vanilla ice cream on really good apple pie..

Those small every day things that seem never to get done. Then, during quiet moments, reflecting on what has, is, going on in my life, which usually leads to the "bigger picture"...the state of everyone else and the world and the hows and whys of it all.

I'm doing what I'd do on any other night..going out for the usual reasons, or stay at home and catch up with personal commitments and fun things.

I own a TV and sometimes watch it.

..any of this is of interest to you and you'd like to get a cup of something somewhere with someone you've never met. Emails are fun and interesting, but yea, actually talking with someone is the real thing.
...you need a co-conspirator
...you'll trade French lessons for surfing lessons
..you believe I really need to, or at least should meet you