I really belong on the West coast, but won't make it there for at least a few more years, probably to the Bellingham, WA area. I would love to live in an intentional community or household of several adults (and their kids if any) helping each other through life, working together to make life better for each other instead of in competition with each other.
I love the outdoors and adventure, having raised 3 children alone for 20 year's. With the exception of the youngest whom I lost 7 years ago, they are now very open minded and responsible young men, good citizens, and I'm very proud of them. While I am OK being alone, it is often more fun to have a partner in crime and I think we all dream of growing old with somebody. Now that my children are gone, and nursing school is finished, I often find myself with more time than I know what do with
I love new experiences, whether we are talking traveling or other and I am thoroughly enjoying my 2nd childhood as I build my 2nd career. I am very versatile and enjoy Free Hugs (look it up on Youtube) as much as welding.
I have been very active in disaster relief as a volunteer communicator (ham radio operator) and have worked every major storm to hit FL since the 2004 hurricane season. In addition, I spent two days on a rooftop in New Orleans helping evacuate a hospital followed by another week in coastal Mississippi. I am currently a member of a federal medical disaster response team, all of these things leading directly to me returning to school and becoming a nurse. Losing my youngest halfway through nursing school didn't stop me; I decided that finishing school and living life well was the best way to honor him. I won't lie, I still have my moments of grief, but they are relatively few and far between and I accept, experience, and process them as gracefully and fully as possible before moving on. I don't see myself as a bereaved parent.
A few years ago, the kids and I did a 3-month bicycle ride from Queens, NY to Rapid City, and I'm working on planning a 3-month Australian walkabout in another year or so. In the meantime, I'm pretty heavily involved in hosting couchsurfers and traveling more locally; [couchsurfing.com] has 100+ personal references from people that I've hosted or been hosted by.
I love contra dancing and can't wait to get back to taking Yoga now that school is over. While I will probably not go "off the grid", I think that the more food we produce ourselves, the greener and healthier we can live....and more cheaply to boot. Journeytoforever.org is my friend.
I don't really watch much TV, I'd really rather be doing something outside, but I will download a movie from time to time...anything from an action movie or documentary to a girlie flick. I also like downloading videos from www.twoknottyboys.com and learning new tricks to keep things interesting. If I do see or hear of a TV show I like (Firefly, The 100, and Dexter are my favorites), I just download the whole series and make a party out of it. My latest thing is post-apocalyptic conventions. Think Mad Max Con, including all the costumes and cars. Look up Wasteland Weekend Special Kind of Crazy on Youtube if this intrigues you. When I’m not raiding the wastes, I like to sail, ride my bike (motor and pedal), work on my old house, whatever it takes to stay busy.
I'm pretty omnivorous. I look for foods that I haven't tried yet in restaurants and have been known to tell the waiter in a Vietnamese restaurant to surprise me. I like to make my own sushi or invent other new dishes but can in no way be called "a chef". I used to keep a vegetarian kitchen by voluntary agreement with my Hare Krishnan roommate, but never let that stand between me and a good steak, some fried chicken, or seafood.
Several religion tests said I was wiccan but my beliefs lean much more toward traditional Native American beliefs. I'm comfortable in pagan and drum circles.