Introduction

This, like most blogs I suspect, is starting without much purpose, other than a desire to leave a mark or record.

The subtitle of the Blog is a super-brief summary of the last 45 years of my life. As a 55 year old suddenly child-free long-married middle class guy, still searching for what I wanna be when I grow up, the idea of blogging seemed a normal progression.

It begins here at Ham Lake, our remote (to most urban types) northern Minnesota second residence. We built this place in 2000. This "place" is a three bedroom lake home (long and relatively narrow, 30 x 50), one and a half story, full walk out basement. We're 100 feet from the lake, on the east side, so the sunsets are fantastic. Although this time of year there is precious little sun. The arc of the sun's path is so far south that it never gets more than about 45 degrees above the horizon.

My wife and I are here for the Christmas holiday. Our oldest son, Andy, is in the Navy. Our other son, Peter, is with his girlfriend for Christmas. Imagine that - he'd rather be with his girlfriend than his parents!