Gary.......there are two people I find really interesting in this room, and you're one of them. The other person I already told (you both write engaging, elaborate huge volumes when you post).

I've read your posts over the years and am very impressed with everything you've done, every role you've played, every situation you've found yourself in, every transition you've made, how you find time to do your boating, you learned how to type even, and I'll bet you have good posture too.

Seriously, to someone like you (and the other member), I ask this question.

How do you feel MENTALLY and EMOTIONALLY now that everything is behind you and I'm sure you have many memories?

(P.S. my first choice was to be a psychologist, not a musician....you can see where these questions come from.)

Mark

Regardless of what changes you make in your life, the only time "everything is behind you" is when you are in the pine box... Other than that, every day brings the opportunity for a new adventure ...

Many believe it isn't over even then. Much to the contrary.

Mark, thanks for the compliments. From my perspective, not everything is behind me. Yes, I have done more things in my 76 years than the vast majority of people ever dream of doing. I am well aware that life is very, very short, and I'm going to cram every bit of living into each and every minute that I possibly can.

I've always had a can do attitude. I look at challenges with just one thing in mind - I can do that! Granted, there have been a few defeats along the way, but overall, very few. Like Don Mason always says, I've made hundreds of dollars playing music, and I guess that's a fairly good achievement for a guy who is self taught and cannot read a note.

As for the posture, until recently, it was pretty good. Now, with five herniated discs in my spine, I have difficulty standing and walking distances more than a couple hundred yards. I now use a cane to walk from the marina parking lot to the slip where the boat is docked, but once I get on the boat, the cane is not needed, and much of the horrendous pain goes away.

Now, though I am in the twilight years of my life, there are still things I have not yet done. I just looked out the kitchen door at a clear, blue sky and the leaves on the tree tops are rustling - might be a good day to sail. A beautiful, male hummingbird just landed on the feeder, fattening up for it's several thousand mile trip south in a few more weeks. I wish I could follow him with the sailboat, and I fully intended to do so next month, but alas, my wife of 54 years is in poor health and I can no longer leave her alone for months at a time. So, now I just sail for a week long trip at most, and get a friend to stay with her while I'm gone.

So, Mark, I guess my approach to life is a bit different than many others on this forum. I've got some nasty health problems at this stage of the game, but there are some things that I just need to do before I take the dirt nap in the not too distant future. And, with any kind of luck, I'll get to do many of them. Next week, I hope to drive to my son's home and go wet wading and fly fishing for smallmouth bass in the Monacacy River behind his home. The following week, I'll be sailing down Chesapeake Bay to the mouth of the bay, then make a left turn and sail up the Atlantic Coast to Cape May, New Jersey, make another left turn, sail up Delaware Bay to the C&D Canal, then back to the Chesapeake's upper reaches and home, a trip of about 600 miles. I'll be doing this single handed - no one else on the boat. Should be fun. Never did that in a sailboat, so it's on my bucket list.

All the best,

Gary

Well, I drove to the boat, about a 45 minute drive, the wind was blowing NW at about 15 MPH, perfect for sailing, but unfortunately, the tide at the marina was so low I couldn't even get on the boat, let alone get out of my slip - the boat was sitting on the bottom and even this old man can't seem to drag 15,500-pounds though the mud with a mooring line.

Here's a short video of last week's trip, which was a three day trip down to Annapolis, Maryland and back to Perryville, Maryland, which is where I keep the boat. It was extremely hot, about 98 in the shade and the flies were everywhere. These are called stable flies, which can really inflict a lot of pain on a person when then bite. Feels more like a bee sting than a fly bite.



Something else I failed to mention in the above post. One of the great joys of my life is being able to help others. This was the primary reason I worked in the medical field for the first 15 years of my married life. I continued to provide help to others when I became a freelance outdoor writer, teaching others, via my newspaper and magazine columns, how and where to catch fish using a variety of fishing tackle and techniques that I had learned over the decades.

When I became heavily involved in arranger keyboards, I did my best to learn the operating systems of each and every keyboard I owned. Later, I was able to share that knowledge with others on this and a few other arranger keyboard forums. And for this, I am eternally grateful to individuals such as Nigel and Joe Waters for providing us with a vehicle that allows to share our knowledge and experiences with others.

All the best,

Gary