Events | Timeline

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Hindsight's sketchy, lighthearted listing of personally memorable events. An irregular timeline not regularly updated.

North Carolina USAFA CS-25 Reunion (2024). A generous suggestion, in late 2023, to renew friendships at an amazing North Carolina (Great Smoky Mountains) family cabin resulted in a mini-reunion of USAFA cadets 45 years after graduating. The eight of us hailed from Cadet Squadron 25 and, with partners in tow, made a beeline from north, south, east, and west to a beautiful mountaintop near the Nantahala River in May 2024. Coffee, cocktails, bourbon and brews, meals, games, whitewater rafting, grilling and a firepit nourished the close comaraderie of the gathering. We must do it again!

Portland (Maine) Return for Sally Saab (2023). Sally Saab got a new clutch assembly at New England Imports in South China (Maine), and Dennis enjoyed another trip to Portland, time with the newlyweds, a visit to Augusta, and a road trip home through a couple New York towns off the beaten path: Hobart Book Village and Narrowsburg (on the Deleware River).

Dantonio Wedding (Portland ME | 2023). Danielle and Antonio made it official in Portland, Maine! I was extremely honored, humbled, and more than a little nervous to voice a Mary Oliver poem during the wedding ceremony -- a day that included train rides and a reception tour of the bay by boat, both methods of transportation in memory of Danielle's father. I managed a little personal touring around Portland, especially on the extra day required to find a fix for Sally Saab's clutch failure that became apparent just as we were about to head home. But she got me to the wedding on her longest trip in quite some time and, probably like me, was in no hurry to leave. A second clutch failure in 38 years and about 285,000 miles isn't too bad, is it?

Leaf Peeping w/ Grady (2022). A quick sightseeing tour in Vermont and New Hampshire to enjoy fall colors. Leaf peeping diversions included Ben & Jerry's Waterbury factory, Smuggler's Notch Distillery, and the next day, coffee, book stores, and shopping in Brattleboro. Thank you, Grady, for prompting me to come along. 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨 Hopefully last-minute work responsibilities won't cut our time short on future trips.

Parsonsfield. 2014 thru 2022 became my Parsonsfield years. In the wee morning hours of January 30th, 2014, Folk Alley on the first-gen iPad at my pillow awakened me to their music. "Got Right Now", a hand-clapping, storytelling tune captured my heart and soul. I would soon discover that its lyrics were inspired by the mandolin player's Morgantown grandmother -- a incredible surprise since all the band boys hailed from New England. In February, their music energized me homeward on an over-ambitious cross-country skiing adventure. Mid-April 2014, we met for the first time at Purple Fiddle in Thomas, WV, somewhat of a second home for the boys who, for a short while, held the record for most live concerts as a band at The Fiddle. A delayed showtime at an August outdoor festival in Chillicothe, OH, gave us practically an entire day for lengthy chats. The boys lured me to their December Toronto opening performance as roving minstrels in The Heart of Robin Hood, a Broadway-ready theatrical production for which they wrote the music. I returned in March 2015 for several repeat performances. My Parsonsfield years began fairly innocently and lightly in 2014. But the bulk of 151 total shows were packed into the years 2015 thru 2019. And our shared experiences came to include camping, sightseeing sidetrips, holiday tours, mountain climbing, trail running, PRT rides, an untold number of coffee shops, band van driving, and lots of load-ins and load-outs (which they know I thoroughly lived for!). Show #100 lit up a Wednesday night, October 3rd, 2018, at Beachland Tavern with opening band Juvenile Characteristics, good friends with the boys. 2018 also included, finally, a Morgantown show at 123 Pleasant. 2019 found us spending a few winter days in Iceland aside from the year's shows -- a bachelor party trip. COVID in 2020 brought everything to a grinding halt as far as touring went. Parsonsfield emerged from the pandemic years with only its original two members (of the five-man band when we met). Little did I know at the time that between June 2021 and July 2022, we would be together for just 10 more shows. My heart forever belongs to you, Parsonsfield, together and apart. Unending love and best wishes, boys, for all your creative endeavors going forward.

Iceland (2019). My Parsonsfield years created many special memories. A trip to Iceland with the boys, for a 3-day bachelor party, may go down as one of my highest of highs. Thank you for including me, Chris. The unending love goes both ways! As a sidenote, Chris and Kathleen are now happy homeowners in Northampton MA, making local waves with their revitalization of two music venues: The Parlor Room and the historic Iron Horse Music Hall.

Montani Semper Liberi Redux and On the Road from Morgantown to La Hermandad: two writings quickly published in three days in April 2014. The former, a Dominion Post guest commentary, was published as "Joining union again". The latter, "On the Road from Morgantown to La Hermandad", was a blog post for Firsthand Coop, a labor of love for good friends and good coffee. October 2014 saw me writing an unexpectedly quick follow-up opinion letter to Montani when civil marriage equality arrived in West Virginia.

Cross-country skiing (Feb 2014) on Deckers Creek Trail. A long day trip from Morgantown to Masontown and back (about 22 miles), via tired old legs, far-from-perfect balance, a water bottle too soon emptied, near-frozen Power Bars burning rather than providing energy, and cross-country skis that hadn't been out of the closet to taste snow since leaving Colorado in 1992. But thanks to the (life-saving) music of Parsonsfield, it was indeed another "Almost Heaven" experience.

Returned to my roots in 2013 -- roots being family and Morgantown. The ship set sail, actually, in late summer 2012, with casual interest in Morgantown homes and affectionate family prodding. By Thanksgiving, I had closed on the fairytale-like third, "just right" home. All details except signing the papers were crazily conducted from Dallas. I returned to my Dallas condo after Thanksgiving not knowing what to do with it. Keep it as a second home, become a landlord, or sell? We tested the market in late January 2013. Boom. We were under contract in 3 days. I felt as if the Phaeakians were whisking me home! We closed in 30 days. I was not ready to move. But it happened. Now, somewhat like Odysseus who was 20 years away (for me, nearly 38 years), this long-lost journeyman must reacquaint, reconnoiter, and rebalance.

Seneca Rocks (2012). A little day trip to Seneca Rocks with my brother and his wife. A nice, short hike. A grand view. Wonderful weather. Since I was contemplating moving back home, getting reacquainted with "Almost Heaven" seemed appropriate. Perhaps it was also a bit of salesmanship by the family, too.

St. John's College Santa Fe continues to be a lovely, if not exactly annual, summer destination. After two "introductory" weeks in Summer Classics (one each in 2003 and 2004), the next four years consisted of eight-week summer semesters enroute to a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts (2005-2008), a Great Books program. Segments: Literature; History; Math and Science; Politics and Society. 2009 marked a return for the optional fifth segment (Philosophy and Theology) but was sadly cut short. Summer 2010 found me reading Cervantes and Homer and working on a master's essay, its oral presentation occurring in April 2011. Summer 2011 saw a return engagement with Philosophy and Theology, and summer 2012 a Husserl precept and Ancient Greek self-study. A four-week engagement with the Greek Institute in summer 2013 was followed by four weeks of supplementary research and writing on Homer's epics. 2017 marked a return to Summer Classics for, yet again, Homer's Odyssey (Brann/Greer), then Quantum Entanglement in 2019 (LeCuyer/Pesic), and Tolstoy's Resurrection (via Zoom) in 2022 (LeCuyer/Townsend).

Dallas White Rock Marathon (2004). Marathon number three. Probably the last. Training is time consuming -- and the knees and feet do not enjoy lengthy runs anymore. Time to cut back and balance life a little more.

2004 - Colorado backpacking. Colorado in July, once again. Solo. Nine fourteeners. Six days. Tiring. Exhilarating. Shavano, Tabeguache, Missouri, Oxford, Belford, Quandary, Grays, Torreys, Bierstadt.

St. John's College Santa Fe Summer Classics (2004). Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching, tutors, seminars, dialogue. A week with interesting wayfarers, mountains, and thunderstorms. The other 51 weeks almost pale in comparison.

2003 - Colorado backpacking. Colorado in July. Two friends. One tent. Six fourteeners. Five days. One canyon. One narrow-gauge railroad. Incredible. "For everything else, there's MasterCard." Redcloud, Sunshine, Handies, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Chicago Basin, Eolus, Sunlight, Windom.

St. John's College Santa Fe Summer Classics (2003). An intense, exhilarating, incredible way to study the classics. For SMU Master of Liberal Arts students, it is also a great way to earn a one-hour credit. I chose seminars on (1) Emerson essays and (2) Tolstoy short stories. Taken together, the two seminars resulted in a lot of connections between them -- and with other fountains of wisdom.

2003 - San Diego Marathon. What can I say? It's all about the training. San Diego was marathon number two. Chicago Marathon (2001) was the first and would have been the last but for 26 seconds. (Also, it was almost cancelled because of 9/11.) The big question: Will there be marathon number three?

2002 - SMU at Oxford. War and Diplomacy course for SMU Master of Liberal Arts students at Oxford, University College ("Univ"), with side trips to London, Belgium, and France visiting battlefields, cemeteries, museums, and monuments.

2002 - SMU at St. Gregory's Abbey. SMU Master of Liberal Arts students studying the Rule of Saint Benedict at St. Gregory's Abbey: getting quiet, reflecting, and practicing Lectio Divina.

Back in the cockpit. Got a chance to go flying with a friend in his Piper Cherokee in April of 2002. We took a little trip to Lake Texoma for lunch. Nice! Back in the cockpit after 14 years. Thanks, Mike!

USAFA Cadet Drum and Bugle Corps (1975-1979). All the football games -- home and away. Noon meal formations. Saturday morning parades. Some highlights: the 50th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (November 25, 1976), leading off the 90th Tournament of Roses Parade (January 1, 1979), and a recording session at the iconic Capitol Records Building/Tower in Hollywood. Interesting note: we "graduated" from tri-toms to quint-toms after Macy's.