Personal Information
(meant for family and friends,and especially for grandchildren some day)
Landscaping has been my main hobby. Most of the labor I do it myself, my yards having been both a gym replacement and a sculptor's studio. I do it at large scale using heavy machinery and small scale, with a shovel and a pick. Love the smell of dirt, freshly planted flowers and trees. I planted more than 70 trees in my life, beginning with two 3-trunked palms in Arizona in '84; they are now dominating their entire neighborhood.
Travel means different things to different people. To me it means cultural and sensory immersion. I tended to linger in the same place for many days; and I like chaos and surprise, not much planning. I usually had a little translation book with me, even if the local language was deemed difficult. I was surprised to find out that Japanese is very easy to pick up, because of its flat non-tonal pronunciation.