My Other Side of Life   

Yes, that's me on the left when I was about five years old.  And that's sort of me on the right.  Okay, so I don't hoola-hoop (not since the latter 60s, anyway).  However, I do find that I often juggle too many things at one time (who doesn't?).  Some are exciting and others are, well, less than exciting.  Since you've decided to click on this page, I'll assume you're a little curious about the person you've had to listen to since the outset of this (or any other) semester.  With this in mind, I'd like to take only a few seconds of your time to briefly describe what I often do outside of the other stuff you may have clicked on when you visited my home page.  If you feel you've already learned too much about me, please click on this underlined "Yikes!" to return safely to my home page.   

... You still here?

I like to spend as much time as I can outdoors with my sons, Joshua and Jaden.  If we're not playing in the back yard, we stroll through area parks and hike in nearby hills and mountains.   Because of my love for nature, I've tried to build an aquatic ecosystem in our backyard.  Below is a photo of the pond and small waterfall that I built in the Summer of 1995.   The Ashford flowering pear tree near its center was dedicated to my father who died in 1989.  



          


The lower pond is butterfly shaped and contains koi, shabunkin, and many aquatic plants.  Local inhabitants have found their way to the pond, too.  We have a leopard frog family that hibernates under the stones during the winter.  Also, there is a family of chipmunks that have tunnels throughout the pond.  "Chippy," as Josh named him when the pond was built, used to be seen scurrying about between the Spring and late Fall months.  Now his grandchildren rule tunnels throughout the pond and onto locations around the yard.  A winter photo of the pond shown on the right, shows no signs of life for months to come.  Bring on the spring time! 

I also enjoy hiking and bike riding with my boys, arranging flowers, trees and shrubs around the house, backyard cookouts, playing the drums, listening to classical, new age, and early (mid-1960s to mid-1980s) rock music, maintaining our 72 gallon salt water aquarium (see photos below), and keeping up with the latest computer technologies.  Oh, and I collect shot glasses from all over the world.