I’m a Montana boy who had to leave home to have his career, which ran its musical course back east for 35 years. My heart and head were always here in Montana, however, and finally, in 2005, I was able to retire and go back to my home in the mountains.
Had nine terrific years in Montana, which you can read about in the “archives” section of my new blog. Then I met this fantastic lady, and everything changed again. I now live with her on an island north of Seattle, and have never been happier.
It has been easy to make Montana a summer vacation destination again. The first seven years I was home were wonderful… I bought a snowmobile, then another one. I bought a kayak, then another one. I picked up a used 4-wheeler, then an old camper trailer, and spent those first 7 years outdoors all the time… in Montana heaven.
But a funny thing happened in those 7 years… I got older. In that 7th year, I started running out of steam. Getting truckloads of wood with the chainsaw, then offloading it in the yard and chopping it all up into woodstove-size chunks began to wear me out. Digging snowmobiles out of snowdrifts began to wear me out. The incredibly long Montana winters (Nov. to June, usually) definitely wore me out, and by the middle of my 69th year I was finally over my love of life in Montana.
Spending more time with my lady love in Seattle kept feeling better and better, until finally I moved with her, in the summer of 2014, into a little cottage on Whidbey Island. The winters are mild, the summers are sunny and cool, and it’s just right for us. The island life is great, and worth sharing in a blog from time to time. Most of my friends and readers are younger than I, so they get a glance at retired life in the Pacific Northwest through my eyes. Naturally, I’m happy to share.