Date:         Thu, 21 Apr 2005 12:50:24 -0400
Reply-To:     samc <samc@SURFGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         samc <samc@SURFGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: Vanagon stalling problem
Comments: To: Taobythesea@aol.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

When I turned 50, and realized I had been a full time single parent for a couple of decades and that my two sons really had taken my advice (dammit) and truly appeared to have outgrown me, I decided to not revert to work-aholism and decide what to do with myself as I grew up once again.   So, turned my private mental health counseling practice over to a couple of colleagues, withdrew a couple of thousand dollars, and took off in the Westy vowing to hang my legs over the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Ran out of funds, worked for a time as a consultant/stress management trainer at Colorado Springs to get ahead, then headed south to kick back, drink some tequila with former navy shipmates in the Canal Zone, the headed to north to Alaska to do the same with some others of the same background who work on the North Slope.  Wound my way back to Colorado and hung out for a couple of months before heading back to what I call "The West Coast of New England."  Now, I'm failing competently at retirement as the President of a small community cable television station and the administration manager for a solo medical practice my wife owns-yearning for Belize, Bonaire and Cozumel and warm water diving ...

My thought about such simple idiocy as mid-life walk-abouts is that it was important for me to do as a time for re-defining the fellow I am, have been and want to be ... Nothing particularly profound ... just feeling that life is one helluva hoot and, as my grandmother who raised me said a few time... "Life is good, give it back and make the best use of it."

Hope this isn't more than you wanted to know ... Just sort of fun to describe the process ... wsith but one additional thought: You've got to be willing to not depend on someone for company all the time, take it when it comes, but spend time just laying around, contemplating you navel, and checking out to make sure you're not going nuts once in awhile ...

SamC
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Taobythesea@aol.com 
  To: samc@SURFGLOBAL.NET ; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM 
  Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2005 11:46 AM
  Subject: Re: Vanagon stalling problem


  Sam,
  That mid-life walkabout sounds great!  Now what age does that occur?
  james in Houston, Tx.