One of my favorite things to do when I was a kid was to hide from everyone else and read. I spent a lot of time like that, sometimes under the piano, sometimes in the basement behind my dad’s workbench, and sometimes in the woods in a fort my best friend Vicki and I made. I liked all kinds of books, but especially Nancy Drew mysteries and biographies of famous people.

I liked to write a lot in elementary school, but I really grew to love it in high school. When the teacher said the words “term paper” and everyone else groaned, I would think, all ri-ight!  (Does that make me a dork?) Anyway, I remember one paper in particular that I wrote—my interpretation of all the lyrics in The Who's rock opera, Tommy. Man. I thought I was deep. Here are two shots of me in high school. On the left, very deep. On the right, not so much...

Then I got married and had four daughters and several different jobs and writing got lost under toys, laundry, a boss or two and a lot of years. I still wrote letters to out-of-town family and friends, but peace and quiet were at a premium in a house with four kids. I couldn’t just crawl under the piano anymore. Moms don’t do that. (And besides, our piano was now an upright, not a baby grand. I’d have to be Flat Stanley to fit under it.)

Now things are semi-quiet again, except when the UPS truck goes by and the dogs go nuts. That’s Luke and Zeke in the shot below. They look ornery, don’t they? They are, a little. But mostly, they're good boys.

I have lots of hobbies. Check me out below, crossing the finish line in a half-marathon—I’m the one in the pink hat. I also love SCUBA diving (and underwater photography), biking, amateur astronomy, and gardening. And as if that's not enough, I 've just taken up drawing. I've posted one sketch below and hope I'll add more soon.