Hard as it is for me to believe, but I retired almost 20 years ago! When I retired I was doing three jobs and still spending two weeks each month with my elderly father. It was just too much. I had no idea what I would do. I had no creative side to indulge, in fact used to say that I had no right brain, and it would be a great autopsy for Dr. Hanaway, our neuroanatomist.

I tried some photography and got a thrill out of it. People told me I had real talent, but of course I did not believe them. I had no idea what I was doing. But, it is a learnable skill. The more that I did it, the better I got. I did not even have a passport until I was 53, but now I have been on every continent but Antarctica and I have a very expensive addiction. I love to travel and shoot photos. When I “nail a shot,” I am high for several days, just as if I had taken drugs. Then when I share the photo, I get it all over again. I have had a show once a year on the first Sunday of May for the last seven years in Coos Bay, Oregon, where I practiced. I totally love sharing the photos again with neighbors and friends. At the end of the show, anything that we do not sell is offered for free to the local nursing homes, so once again I get the thrill.

My next trip (my fourth) is to Alaska to photograph bears catching salmon. We sit in the river on rocks and are right there with the bears. It takes a hike of a few miles to get there, but well worth it. After that, I’m headed to Africa to show it to my daughter, my favorite travel companion. At age 38, she is already a great photographer, so sometimes I can learn something new. She will go home and I will go on to Vietnam to shoot with friends there. Please feel free to look at the photos on my website. Please feel free to stop by the page or email me. I am living in Los Angeles three blocks from where I lived in grad school, so stop by!