I was born in Casper, Wyoming, August 18, 1950, 09:23pm. I grew up off and on in Wyoming and North Dakota until my family moved to the Puget Sound area of Washington State in 1961.  I was raised in a multicultural environment of Native Americans (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara), Germans from Russia and Scandinavians. Once I moved West away from that culture, I took my cowboy boots off and never put them back on. I knew I was gay when I was 10, discussed it with my father briefly at the age of fourteen, then joined the military after high school to claim my masculinity. I was always attracted to the masculine and never really drawn to the feminine and the military gave me the opportunity to develop my own masculinity and be completely surrounded by it. In spite of being gay, I got along well in the military and was promoted to the same rank as Sergeant (E-5) within nineteen months.

I spent an extended tour in Vietnam between 1969 and 1971 and left the military to start college at The Evergreen State College in Olympia WA in early 1972. There I met a woman who became my best friend and eventually my wife and mother of my two children. I wasn’t hiding my sexuality as much as I was experiencing as much of life as possible. It was the early to mid 1970s and everything was possible in America. I thought I could have it all. I could be a hippie, a college student, a husband, a father, an astrologer…whatever I wanted, I just had to reach out and take it.  Life tends to balance things out, however, and as we left the 70s and moved into the 80s, my experimentation with life had to end as well.  Events and circumstances clarified my life for me and I discovered a number of things about myself:  One, I needed to move on and complete my life exploring my relationships with men in spite of the fact AIDS was becoming an epidemic. Two, I wanted to be a teacher, and hopefully an out gay teacher.  Three, I wanted to return to the university to get a graduate degree in German.  Four, I wanted to continue my astrology studies and practice.  Five, I had no fear of any of this.

By 1986, I had made all the changes necessary to complete my goals. I had my teacher’s certification and a full-time position by 1980 in Edmonds WA. I was open and honest with my wife about my sexuality and started dating men again in 1983. It took three years to tie up all the loose ends from the previous decade and I moved out in 1986, started grad school in 1988 and had my first real gay relationship beginning in 1988 as well.

I moved to Portland OR in 1990 with my partner, although that relationship ended in 1995 after seven years. I taught at Chemeketa College in Salem and Portland State University, but took a job teaching again in public school in Vancouver WA beginning in January of 1992. I spent 21 years in the Vancouver School District and retired July 1, 2013.

Final comments:  I am now married. I met my husband on August 4, 1996 at 12:22am  in Lincoln NE. We have been together ever since. We were legally married on May 4, 2013, 01:08pm, and live in Portland OR.  I still practice astrology, mostly mundane and astro-history. I have published a couple short stories over the years and an anthology of five stories about my experiences in Vietnam. I have a wonderful life, family and spouse and I am looking forward to the freedom of no longer working. This blog is meant for me to write, express myself, share my thoughts and stay mentally active in my retirement.

I hope you enjoy this site and its contents. Please feel free to comment on any of its content.