What does one say about oneself??? Since Rod & I met on the internet, thought I might go back to my email reply to his ad, which included some info about me.
Water lures me: from walking beside it, traveling on it by kayak (I have my own small one) to ocean liner, from swimming in it and looking at what's under it via snorkel or scuba. I live on the Sunshine Coast, just north of Vancouver, BC. Being a Gemini, I enjoy a casual country life, but like to get dressed up once in awhile for dinner and an evening on the town. I want a life with a little adventure and a lot of intimacy. I'm a widow who is interested in writing to someone for a bit before we take the plunge and meet. I am healthy, sensual, spiritual and loyal, and I value these qualities in a man. I believe in giving something back to this beautiful world that's been so generous to me, and I hope to share it again with a good man.
I'm happy now to be sharing my life again with a good man, Rod. All of my dreams are coming true, with traveling (and just hanging out) on land and sea, having the luxury of time to enjoy it all, and a great guy who has helped these dreams come true and shares them with me. I have written about my gratitude for the blessings of my life in the "Reflections section.
This project of making a website has brought out my creativity, most of which was somewhat dormant. Except for ones of me, I've taken most of the photos herein, and I've enjoyed bringing them together & doing the writing. I'm so grateful to Rod for his expertise in creating the website, with all the research and development involved. We've found this to be a very synergistic exercise, and have taken pleasure in the exchange of ideas and plans.
Here's me doing something I've loved to do since I was a child - swim.
Since Sandra showed her reply to my Match.com ad above I'll use the part of my ad describing myself here.
After many years of living aboard my sailboat and 9 years cruising the West Coast and Mexico I have recently made a huge change. Sold the boat, bought a little old fixer upper house in Bellingham and am thoroughly enjoying the space, the green, and the beautiful Pacific Northwest. A little about me personally: 160#, salt & pepper hair (mostly salt, with what is left), trim beard, blue eyes, and almost always a big smile. Some of my interests are: Photography, computers, classical music & jazz (listening), hiking (casual), gardening, exploring and anything to do with the water. I am happy, intelligent, attractive, really a nice guy, positive, and ready to share the rest of my life with a wonderful lady (You?) in a relationship that is based on love, integrity, respect and open, honest communications.
Well, the ad sure did work! At this time (Feb 06) Sandra and I have been together for almost three years and married for a year & a half. I have really married a "Wonderful Lady" . She is all I asked for and more and we are so far pretty successful in basing our relationship on the things I mentioned above. As you can see from all the photos and writing in our website we are also having a heck of a lot of fun. It is so wonderful sharing all these activities with Sandra.
Guess you are wondering what I did in my previous life - the workaday one. It's been so long now (I was lucky to bail out at 53) I tend to forget that part. I worked in the field of industrial control systems. It's a combination of electronics and computers to control various industrial processes.
I started out in field service engineering and after working for a manufacturer for four years started my own service company. Over the years I either owned or was a major partner in three different businesses. They evolved from a service company to the design and manufacture of custom control systems. At the most I had ten employees, but found that people management was not my forte, so my last business (11 years) was just me, with occasional temp help on large projects. I thoroughly enjoyed my work, but am very happy being 'retired'.
Since I was very young the water was a real draw for me. Here I am with my first boat and dog Popo. Sandra added the "Skipper in training", the boat name was actually 'Blue Mist' although I later painted her red.
Here is Nereid, my fourth boat, anchored comfortably in the Sea of Cortez. I spent several years cruising there and found it to be an incredible experience. Do wish I could have shared it with
Sandra!
Here I am at the upper helm of NiSa our Monk 34 trawler. The Pacific Northwest is an incredibly beautiful cruising area and Sandra, Buddy & I plan to see lots of it!
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I'm Buddy the dog (and you thought dogs didn't write?!!). I came into the world on 25 January 2005, and Sandra & Rod (I call them Mommy & Daddy) took me home when I was 7 weeks old.
We have lived in a motorhome & a boat since then, with a brief time in a house (what a lot of room!). I've kept life interesting for them while they trained me. Mommy & I failed our first obedience class, but she finally got with it and we passed the second one. They have litter-trained me & I'm pretty well behaved now, and so are Mommy & Daddy.
I let them know when they're not giving me enough attention, and they will cuddle me or throw something for me. They tell me that the whole purpose of their lives is to cater to me, feed me, run me, entertain me, clean up after me, etc. (Do you think they're kidding???)
My favourite things to do are watching for moo-cows when we're traveling, and chasing birds on the beach.
I like to cuddle with Daddy & Mommy when I'm dog-tired.
For lots of photos of me, check out Pets.
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My daughters, Sheila & Laurie, took up a major part of my life in the past, of course, and it's rewarding to see them turn into good women. (You can read more about them in "Sandra's family".) My work-life has been as a support person -- everything from a school secretary to an admin assistant at a cancer agency & for the president of a large construction company to a medical transcriptionist in a small town clinic. I've worked most of the time since I was 19, and am now delighted to be retired.
Hills and valleys, very high & very low, have epitomized my personal life, with times of joy & contentment, and some tragedy & pain. My sister Joan once gave me an apron that said "My life is a soap opera", which is a pithy way to put this. Because of this roller coaster ride, I especially appreciate the happy, peaceful life I have now, and I take it one day at a time.
After my first birthday, I had three seizures in the next month or so that scared Mommy & Daddy. I don't remember them later on & just go on with my happy, active life. The vet told them I have idiopathic epilepsy but they won't give me anything for it 'cause I'm so young. So they stand by to make sure I don't bang into anything & they speak softly to me until it's passed. But really, I'm quite fine when it's all over. Let's go to the Buddy Beach!!!
