What a beautiful place just to sit down and relax, Four Corners, Arizona.
AN ARTIST�S VIEW OF HIS WORLD.
Why do artists paint the way they do? Is it because of the way they see their world? Is it because of their past experiences? Are they really expressing how they feel about life in general? Most likely.
Then again it might be their mother�s doing. She is the one who might have said, �One should never generalize.�
Cassie does like her tea parties.
The Taoist thought of the day:
Simplicity. The basis for our reality and our existence is elemental and uncomplicated. Human beings create a lot of trouble for themselves by making everything more complex than they need to be. If we learn to simplify our lives, we can experience a profound satisfaction that is infinitely more meaningful than the rewards of the material world.
I got this sports car just before I spent the summer in Russia and to help finance the trip I sold it.
That might have been a mistake for shortly afterward as a classic model it was worth 5 times my selling price.
We decided to camp out at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
It was good exercise and the experience was excellent.
The Globe Theater.
Next I became a manager of a 65 room hotel in downtown Tucson and began a vice president of a newly formed corporation called New Era Development Corporation in addition to teaching school every day. After a year of buying and managing properties for the corporation, we decided to send our older daughter on a European trip sponsored by Quakers. Then we went over to Europe ourselves to meet her at the end of summer in Amsterdam. We would see the Europe I always enjoyed but this time we used Eur-rail passes.
First was London where I bought another sword for my collection.
When we found Linda in Amsterdam there were many students who were selling thing they had purchased during the summer before their money ran out. Now they needed to sell a few things and this leather jacket from Spain was a good buy for me.
A toy tank?
We toured the museum and appreciated how they saved their World War II equipment.
We went to Czechoslovakia to possibly catch up to our daughter.
She never got there for the Quaker's microbus hit a hay wagon in Romania.
I did want to ski the Alps in August snow.
Zermatt Swizerland was the place to do it. One must take a train up the mountains to that village for they allow no cars only horses and sleighs on their city streets.
After getting back from Europe, it wasn't long before I decided to part company with my partner in the New Era Corporation. Shortly after that another split took place.
Not looking very happy here. I was asked to take away what I could pack into my Volkswagon beatle and make arrangements for a divorce.
May three children stood by and was shocked by it all.
It wasn't long before I found new love
who provided a lovely foothills mansion with swimming pool, guesthouse, and nine acres to play upon.
My humor improved with a new significant other who actually enjoyed what I had to offer.
What a difference a change of bed-partners makes in one's life. I certainly looked happier.
My new significant other actually bought me a present.
It was quit revealing.
rather daring swimsuit.
So we were living together and it was exciting enough for me to make her an offer. If she would buy the airline tickets, I would spring for renting a car and paying for all hotels and rooms. We left Amsterdam after renting a car for England. This was an English castle.
What we needed was a picnic basket that would fit her XKE-Jaguar trunk.
We found one in a classy London department store.
I had been to Europe twice before and missed seeing the
beaches that occupied us on D Day in WWII.
We wanted to do
the Mediterranean area of Spain. This was a beach in the Costa Brava area. One of the best paintings I did was done her at this beach.
I had always heard about the wild horses of the Camague Swamps of southern
France. We didn't find any galloping wild horses but did find a great place for a picnic with our newly purchased picnic basket.We did hit St. Mark's Square in Venice. When we arrived back from Europe, I was quite happy to be home again.
My Mustang convertible came in handy driving out to the East Coast
for that is where my children were taken.
My X-wife half the cash my X-partner paid me for my share of our corporation and went on an extensive vacation to the countries of Southeast Asia and found herself a husband who was also traveling from the U.S. She sold the house I gave her and moved the contents to a new house in Maryland.
When I visited my children I got to sit in my old favorite chair and look at all the treasures that we had collected in 17 years of marriage and shed a tear or two.
I did miss my children.
My new companion had a great lawn facing Tucson down below.
I could use that lawn for great exercise.
We made a great pair on the ski slopes.
We skied both Vail and Breckenridge.
My deer hunting buddy was a fellow teacher.
We did camp out and hunt down by Patagonia, Arizona.
After living together for some months, we got back from Europe and got married.
To celebrate I decided to add something to the value of her real estate by building her a tennis court worth at least $18,000.
With my son Mark, I show him the finished court.
Interestingly enough, being married took all of the excitement out of our living together for my partner. It wasn't long after I finished the court that she asked for a divorce. We had an agreement when we got married that if either of us wanted out there would be no argument. I kept the agreement and went to the nearest stationery story and bought the paperwork for $2.95 and filled them out. That was the cheapest divorce I've ever heard of. Fortunately one of my tenets moved out of one of my houses and I moved back in. It was a three bedroom and the one I first bought on my GI Bill back in 1960.
So now I was newly divorced.
This time I made a vow to stay a bachelor for at least three years. As it worked out, I remained single for over twelve years. Being a profession bachelor is not that easy. Of course it is an interesting time for it was the 70s when single women were interested in being liberal and expressive with their loving activities.
The sixties had their hippies.
I was a little behind the times.
My students had fathers working in copper mines.
This meant they had access to lots of tourquise rocks. They gave me coffee cans of these rocks and I got them tumbled and turned them into necklaces. The woman in the picture was the wife of Gil Cuverous, my roommate all the way across Russia back in 1968.
My best friend in high school was Steve. This was 20 years later. His wife Janice was my old girlfriend.
She looked very good to me.
One of my favorite girlfriends was an avid fan of hiking the nearby
canyons and finding good swimming holes where she and I lost our clothes.
Nothing like
wearing fancy shirts. It went with being an artist.
My girl-friends were all desert enthusists. We loved the wilds.
When one lands in Hawaii and friends meet them at the airport, they are covered with flowers. Then when they leave the airport they discover the islands are known for their blossoming landscape.
This was in a place called Hanalei. Then we visited the big island and found a great park.
Beatrice wanted to take me on a tour of the islands.
This was along the beach where they filmed some of
South Pacific
.
Yes, this was the summer my Hawaiian lover wanted to show me what Hawaii was all about. Things happened at the top of this canyon that strangely disturbed me. I was sure I had lived a different life-time in this area and died here rather violently.
Can you imagine a young lad like this being a falconer?
Randy Burcham brought this bird over for me to see. At the time of my first divorce back a couple of years I used his father's couch to sleep upon until I could find someone to have me as a room mate.
During this time my mother used to come down from Michigan during the winter and stay in Tucson with me. ">
She saw how well I was doing with real estate and encouraged me to buy a better home in the foothills. Eventually I did what she wanted and was glad for inflation was gripping the country.
The years 1977 and '78 were very productive years for me. I decided to sign my name on as many mortgages as I could possible afford and just buy rental houses and a new Foothills townhouse for myself. It would have to overlook the north end of Tucson for that was where the more prosperous people were building and moving. I wasn't surprised to find prices going up at over a thousand a month. By 1980 I wanted a more expensive townhouse with even a better view of the lights of Tucson when they would come on in the evening. Would it happen?
In 1979 I was still waiting for the builders to complete my newer townhouse.
It is hard being patient.
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