I’ve lived in the mountains of western North Carolina for almost forty years, the major portion of my life. Before that I was in South Carolina and Kentucky, but definitely not in the mountains. This is where I hope to spend the remainder of my life, here in what I think of as paradise. My working life (not really a career) was widely varied, including periods as a social worker, house painter, furniture factory worker, low-income housing rehabilitation specialist, and map/travel store owner. Now I’m retired, which is the best occupation of all. I can’t say that I’m not working, because much of the time I’m working harder than ever at construction and re-construction projects on our house, developing and maintaining a fairly large scale fruit and vegetable garden, and keeping up with the myriad maintenance needs of this homestead. There are also many other interests which draw my attention: photography, nature, art, architecture, design, philosophy (my college major), writing, and more; if one can have too many interests, I probably fall into that category. I expect to touch on all these areas in this blog. Please join me.