My Roots

I'm glad to meet you! I shall tell you a bit about myself, beginning at the beginning.

As a child my love for nature was pretty noticeable. I might have been voted the person least likely to move to the big city of Chicago. I  spent several years literally refusing to wear shoes. I must have been well known for my menagerie, because neighbors would call me when they found creatures. I have had a crow, skunk, red-tailed hawk, pheasants, very fancy pigeons, a wide variety of snakes, lizards, turtles, salamanders, frogs, toads, a parrot, a boa, all the plants and flowers that my neighbors would give me. I spent time in the swamps & woods.

However, I was also interested in music and art. I was church organist by the fourth grade, by the sixth grade I was accompanying high school students, and in high school I was pianist for the orchestra where I also played solo each year, including the Grieg Piano Concerto. I majored in music-piano, organ, literature, in college, earned my BA in Steven's point, WI., & MA in River Forest, IL, & ended up teaching music in Chicago, where I lived until Jan 97.

I spent my entire professional career in Chicago, right in there in Chicago's toughest schools,. which I wouldn't have traded for anything, but which I wouldn't want to repeat, either. I believe the toughest kids need the most love, but when you have 150 or 200 of them, it's just a little much. I also believe that a lot of the proposed solutions to tough kids are part of the problem, but I always found enough to keep going. The last three years, however, really were more than body & mind could endure -mostly administration. Of course, daily riots didn't help. I think the last year was enough stress to bring on a full blown case of Still's disease.

At the same time, Chicago was passing an early retirement package (to save money, of course) & did I take it! Since then, my life has been the life of Riley!  My concern and interest in Still's disease has been the source for a site on it.  Be welcome to visit the site!

My Chicago home was in beautiful Link to Chicago Building and area  ,  Link to Picture  Lincoln park, over looking the lake, from the 31st floor, where I spend my share of time on the computer, trying to get all the latest gadgets working. I also love listening to classical music & reading. At this moment I have 20 birds - European goldfinches (pictured) red canaries, Peking robin, green singer, goldfinch mule, and have had gray singers, a black siskin mule, strawberry finches, Java sparrows. . .

January 1997 - back to the woods, in Rib Mountain, Wisconsin.  Perfect place to retire.  Mountains, streams, lakes, woods, swamps, all in walking (if I could walk) or scooting distance.  My scooter brings all this stuff right to the door!  Rib Mountain is right out my window.    Room for birds, snakes, pigeons, turtles,.  Couldn't be better!

 

 

 

2626 Satellite Shot.  You can see people on the chairs.

  Daily Driegon walks.  You can see the North Pond 

see if this link might take you directly to the Microsoft map

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=44.929815~-89.661079&style=h&lvl=17#JmZhdmU9MQ==

1997 Move to Wausau, WI,  Rib Mountain (goto site start)  Or, goto More topics:


Also, If you are interested in birds or snakes, I have written an article on European goldfinches which seems to have proven successful, as so little literature has been written on them. Finchworld is a premier site for finches. http://www.finchworld.com/Eurogold.html

For snakes as pets, there are a lot of resources here. Also, newsgroups, etc. There is a lot of info to be found on reptiles, which seem to have become quite fashionable since I was a kid. http://www.kingsnake.com/forum/corn/


A Very nice site on Rib Mountain, but difficult to read. Lots of very nice pictures, though. http://mthwww.uwc.edu/wwwmahes/courses/geog/ribmtn/rib.htm