Carl's Web Gallery

Growing Up

As a kid I was fortunate to have had parents who loved to camp and enjoy the outdoors. Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of camping in New Hampshire's "Moose Brook State Park" and spending days climbing many of the peaks in the White Mountain range. This led to a life that was filled with outdoor adventure that continues to this day.

Traveling was also prevelant in my growing up. I was born in Boston and grew up in the Lexington and Reading suburbs (pretty small towns back then).

When I was a freshman in high school we moved to Rye, New York and I spent that first year at a private school (not the best year of my life). Then it was on to senior high for a couple years in Port Chester, NY before the family moved to Japan (nope, Dad was not in the service - he worked for Gulf Oil at the time).

There I finished my junior year and all my senior at the American School in Japan. Although an English speaking school and accredited for colleges in the US, it was a completely international school in its student body make up. The education I received went far beyond classroom and text books.

 

Adult Years

After graduating high school in Japan I moved to Madison, WI (my home now for more than 40 years). Here I eventually settled into a career with the State that lasted more than 37 years - all of it in Information Technology.

It was here, in the 1970s that I was first introduced to canoeing by my Aunts and in 1977 took my first overnight canoe trip with a group of friends. That first trip down the St. Croix River in northern Wisconsin led to over 25 years of canoeing Wisconsin's rivers and lakes and the lakes of Northern Minnesota and Ontario, Canada.

 

 

The years spent canoeing, many times with my long-time canoeing partner, Frank, and often times solo, was a time of personal growth and introspection. Some of what I learned and grew to understand is reflected in the journals, diaries and essays included in this site.

It was here in Madison, in 1992, I began to come to terms with my sexual orientation. While not easy, the process of coming out and accepting myself for who I am has resulted in some of the happiest times of my life - so far.

 

Retirement

In early 2003 I made the decision to retire from my job with the State of Wisconsin. I had just returned home from my first ever cruise - and an all-gay one at that. It just seemed like there would be more adventures if I started a new chapter in my life.

So, in May of 2003 I left and have never looked back. I have traveled extensively in the years since with a couple trips to Europe and my first ever trip to South America.

In addition, I continue to canoe, camp and hike and have planned a couple road trips (including returns to Lake Superior's North Shore and the Black Hills of South Dakota).

It's another phase of life that still brings on new adventures and opens new horizons.

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