August 26 is my birthday. I turned 46 this year. Funny, half the time I feel like I’m 29 and the other half I feel like I’m 46. Some reflections:
- Changeups ~ it’s time to change things up. I’ve felt my productivity taking hits at the locations I work at and blame this on knowing too many people at these locations. I get sucked into conversations that are eating my time. In addition, my home office needs a renewal; its become staid and too familiar.
- Nomad ~ I’ve realized how much of a nomadic influence my ancestry has upon me. As byproduct of wayfarers, explorers and adventurers, its now apparent that embracing the nomad in me is necessary. In conversation with my Dad this week, I stated that in the early days of this country, I would have been one of those men that migrated from Boston or Virginia westward, opening the Cumberland Gap, or exploring the West before the great migration from St. Louis.
- Grit ~ The influence of my great great uncle Lewis Kingman has grown the past few years. Lewis surveyed the Sante Fe Railroad, driving hard-bitten railroad gangs across the Southwest, leading protracted gun-battles against the Nez Perce, Pancho Villa and the Mexican Army and another big-name railroad. Eventually, a whistle stop on the Sante Fe was named after him (Kingman, Arizona). I find I am constantly looking back to him, and to earlier ancestors that came to this continent from Britain and Europe ten generations ago, for determined spunk, grit and strength against any competition.
- Bachelorhood ~ My comfortableness with remaining a bachelor has deepened. I’m finding that even though the occasional woman turns my head (and I can contemplate the notion of relating to her long-term), it’s much easier for me to stay focused on just being with myself. As much as I’d like to understand the fairer specie at a depth most men won’t reach, I find myself consistently confounded by them. It’s better for me to simply admire the beauty and complexity of women from a distance.
- Daughters ~ I miss Grace and Ellie constantly. Enough said.
30 Day Bucket List
- Quit smoking.
- Go camping in Puget Sound and ride a ferry.
- Write personal letters to my closest friends with pen and paper.
- Read a new history book.
- Attend Spanish meetups every week for a month.
Five Year Bucket List
- Take my daughters to Alaska to volunteer at the Iditarod Sled Dog Race in a remote village
- Spend two weeks on the Oregon coast with my daughters
- Travel in a sleeper car by rail across the US with my daughters, taking several days in Glacier National Park to hike
- Thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail as a fundraiser for Share Our Strength
- Find a good used Ford F-350, convert it to vegetable oil, put a camper (with shower) on it and explore the Southwest, Canada and the Deep South
- Run the Hardrock 100
- Run the Boston Marathon
- Learn and fight in mixed martial arts
- Learn parkour
- Learn blacksmithing
- Create artful handmade paper dressing screens with black iron frames.
Those lists haven’t changed much over the last couple years. Still plugging away, one foot in front of the other.