So who am I?  I am a retired teacher of 36 years that never really wanted to be a teacher.  But it worked for me.  And it has now given me a livable retirement.  Without discussing my work as my identity, I would just say I am a good person that likes to be outside.  I enjoy puttering in my yard and in my shop.  I like PBS, Downton Abbey, John Wayne movies, Beaver Cleaver, and Tom Selleck in Blue Bloods.  I enjoy my family–siblings, my nieces and nephews, and their families.  I like to write.  I like my recliner.  I like dirt, beautiful sunsets, and the smell of sawdust.  My cultural food is potatoes:  I like them boiled, fried, mashed, as hash browns, baked, in potato salad, and raw with salt.  I love the fact that you can grow them for cheap.  I love my friends, my homies, they know who they are.  They are kind and good-hearted, and we laugh sometimes until the gut hurts!   I also like a good discussion for discussion’s sake, not one that anyone is going to hold you to later.

My man is Mr. LJ.  We are different in several ways, but alike where it matters most, politics and religion.  Those are the two biggies.  We delve into both topics almost daily.  He respects me, I respect him.  And he makes me laugh!  He is as competitive as I am, and we can compete over just about anything!  We fight it out on the card table these days. We use to have great ping pong tournaments in the garage, played Horse when I had a hoop.  As for dominoes, I just have no luck.  It’s his game.  Anyway, I love him, he is very good to me, and I love being with him.

I don’t like people with issues, people that argue over stupid stuff, and who are self centered.  I do like people that can appreciate big ideas, or even little ideas that are fresh.  Keep whiners away from me!

Private pleasures:  Sitting in my yard on a pleasant day after mowing the grass, smelling the fresh mown lawn and a hint of gasoline.  Or in my garage, taking a break from a project, relaxing in a cedar chair I made myself, surrounded by the waif of sawdust.  Both made better by a diet pepsi and a small bag of regular potato chips.

I’d love to figure out how to camp again. . .with a camper or a tent and cot, or a small RV.  I crave a campfire in the trees, a book at the beach, sand in my sleeping bag, and s’mores.  It gets harder as you get older.  How can I make it happen?  I do have a fire pit in my yard.  That helps a little.

Now retired, I have one guiding principle.  I plan to keep right on living whatever plan it is that God has for me, and with whatever people he places in my life.