I've Been Tagged!

inspirenordic tagged me with the ten questions below. Now, I must answer, then tag seven more people. Here we go...

1. What is your dream vacation?


Photo via Traveler Guide

I've wanted to go to southern Spain for a long time: Cordoba, Seville, the Alhambra and so forth. But if I could go anywhere in the world with time and money presenting no limits, I'd take my wife and daughter to Japan to show them my old haunts and perhaps explore some new areas of the country as well. Japan is central to who I am and it is only right that I should share it with the people most important to me.


Photo via BUGBOG


2. Are you spontaneous or do you like to plan ahead?

I'm definitely a planner and I believe in contingency plans, too.


3. Tell us one thing you want to do but don't dare do it.

I would love to go scuba diving again. I dove in the Philippines and Malaysia during my Asian adventures. Both my wife and daughter have asthmatic tendencies so it's not a hobby we'll ever be able to pursue as a family. No worries - hiking and birdwatching satisfy the same needs for me. They're cheaper, too.


Photo via Sea N' Sand Scuba


4. What's your biggest phobia?

I am afraid of heights. The most terrifying experience of my life was driving Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. No guard rails? Are you serious?!!! I still shudder when I think about it - and that was almost 20 years ago!


5. If you were stranded on a desert island-what three things would you want with you? (Not including your laptop or family)

a. a really good book - a very long one, preferably
b. a deck of cards
c. a Swiss army knife


6. Name three blessings in your life.

a. I am well-loved. In fact, I always have been. Mind you, it hasn't always felt that way. There have definitely been times when it felt as if everyone were against me. Junior high school comes to mind. But from my parents at the beginning to my wife and daughter now, I've always had people firmly in my corner. I've known plenty of love in between as well - often more than I deserved and certainly more than I fully appreciated.

b. I have always had enough. During my childhood, my family was not rich but we always had enough. In my adulthood, there have been times when we have been stretched thin. But we've always managed and we've always had enough. The first blessing has certainly helped with the second.

c. I live in a beautiful place. The first two blessings were largely accidents of birth. The third was a deliberate choice. Vermont takes my breath away on a regular basis. On a recent evening, as I was picking up my daughter from her after-school program, I happened to look up and to the east. The nearly full moon was shining above a mountain dusted with snow. With the sun setting behind me, the sky was a rich purple. It was one of those moments in a life when you know you're in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.


7. What was your nickname in High School?

For over two decades now, my brother-in-law has called me Scooter. I have no idea why. And yet, it is the only nickname anyone has ever given me that stuck. He first came into our lives when I was in high school so it qualifies.


Photo via Aveleyman


8. If you could meet the President of the United States, what would you say to him?

I believe very strongly in leaving both politics and religion out of my blog as much as possible. But given the opportunity, I would say this: "Mr. President, I am extremely proud that you are the first President of whom my daughter has had meaningful awareness."


9. If you could be any literary character, who would you be?

That's a hard one. I'm going to go with Huckleberry Finn. Huck enjoyed none of the blessings I described above, save the last. But is there a greater adventure of mind, body and spirit in American literature than his? I have always wondered what happened next for Huck. One could imagine his journey was just getting started.


Image via The Project Gutenberg


10. What is your favorite quote?

How long can my quote be? I've always been very fond of the baseball glove story in The Catcher in the Rye but that seems a bit cumbersome for this exercise. Most of my favorite quotes are from movies. The best of the best:

"Wouldn't you know, you'd have to be as rich as the Lords to live in a dump like this?" - Liz Imbrie, The Philadelphia Story


Photo via MovieActors.com


I am tagging the following people:

Mock
Grumpy Bulldog
Suze
Heather Murphy
Nicki Elson
Julie
Mark Koopmans