September 17, 1966 to present: My Annual Birthday Blog

Well, folks, another year has come and gone. I am now 44.

Last year I posted a timeline of sorts…a day in history kind of thing. What my life has been like over the past 40+ years. At first, I thought that to do the same thing again this year would be redundant.

But then, so what! I do like to repeat myself…if only to hear myself talk; and I am my own best audience, so let’s commence with this years story.

This year has been good. If you’ve followed me here on “Life as Russ”, you know that I’ve spent a good portion of my free time building stuff, like a chicken coop and a shed/workshop. We now have a dog, a cat, a puppy, 2 bunnies, 2 rats and 17 chickens…talk about a zoo!

We had another great vacation in Maine and I still work at SVE. The kids are in school at Waldorf and Tracy is now working all but full time there. I’ve rediscovered some old friends and made some new ones. Life is good, despite the economy.

 

Now let’s take a moment or two and see if there have been any great events in “A day in the Life” to reminisce over:

5 years ago: 2005/6 - 39 years old

My third winter at SVE and I think I have come into my own. We are super busy, even throughout the winter. I religiously work out and I’m probably physically in better shape now than in any time in my life (except maybe football, but I’m stronger now) Martinis are beginning to take a toll, though.

10 years ago: 2000/1 ~ 34 years old

The Biggest events this year? Well, there are four…

The world didn’t end at new years. All the hype about technology failing and plunging mankind into the dark ages was just that….hype….news for the Enquirer.

In February 2000, I broke my back, and the world did end, in a way. I was told I would be an old man from then on, never be able to lift heavy objects or do hard manual labor again… but I beat that rap.  (The last two technically are when I was 33 but they need repeating he he)

Tracy, Jeremiah & I sold our house in Stoddard and moved to Westmoreland in April 2001. She’s pregnant and I have a bum back, so our family does the lion’s share of the move.

Finally… Grace is born in August, 2001!

I’m working at Clough Harbor and Associates, running a very successful survey department and hoping to make Associate. I became licensed as a NH Wetland Scientist on this year, also.

Yup, 34 was a big year.

15 years ago: 1995/6 ~ 29 years old

Here is another big year, as far as life events go. Tracy & I got married! October 7, 1995 - We had the best wedding, at Saint James Church in Keene, a huge one with all the family and friends. We rode around town in my Grandfather's restored Packard. Our reception went all night and is still recalled as one of the best parties ever. We spent a week in Cancun, Mexico for our honeymoon, but both of us were a tad sick. Someday we’ll come back to Mexico in better shape!

We live in a an old, 1800’s one room school house that still has the chalkboards on the walls. It’s cool in the summer, and freezing in the winter, unless we have the woodstove going, then it’s warm enough to melt our candles.

20 years ago: 1990/1 ~ 24 years old

I’m beginning to see a theme, here. It’s 1990/1 and a few more life changing events take place.

I moved back from Boston at the beginning of the year and lived with Mom & Dad again for a couple months, getting my sh*% together. Then in April 1990, I go on a cross country road trip with my best friend Sam. We make all kinds of stops along the way, crashing at buddies houses, skiing in the Rockies, and goofing off in Carson City Nevada. We finally hit Cali and Sam decides to stay. I take a bus to Vegas, hitchhike to the Airport and fly back to Boston.

In May 1990, I move into “The Condo” with my friends Molly & Pete, into Sam’s vacated room. This is where “The Tribe” started. Room-mates, housemates, party crashers, FWB’s and girlfriends come and go, but Molly & I are there to the end….and still remain better than friends.

This is also when my survey career started. The same week that I moved into the condo, I got a call to start working at C.T. Male. Thanks to John Doughty and Roger Monsell. This put me where I am today. I spent the whole first summer working out of town in Lowell, Mass, surveying the city’s canal systems for the National Park Service. We helped make a National Park! We get cash each week for travel expenses, and my crew chief & I bunk up in a cheap motel and eat bologna sandwiches all summer so as to come home with a wad of cash in our pockets. The weekends are one big blurry party.

I’m kind of a Dead head and a hippie with a long blond braid and big red beard. My crew chief is very conservative and uptight. Ha ha

Grandma died this year.

In February I meet Tracy and by May, we are living together.

Summer of 1991, I start working on another National Park Service job, surveying what amounts to 18 miles of park corridor for the Appalachian Trail in Vermont. Bob, Bill, John, Bruce, Jeff and I spend the whole summer surveying and camping. “Howzit goen…Guden U”  ha ha.  One of the highlights of my career, to this day!

25 years ago: 1985/6 ~ 19 years old

I’m a sophomore at Keene State College, living in Carl Hall, on campus. I work two jobs and have a girlfriend off campus…so I rarely stay in my room. I’m majoring in Geography, but mostly I’m goofing off. College is wasted on the young and foolish. I have my first surveying class, and little do I know, at this time, what that impact will be.

30 years ago: 1980/1 ~ 14 years old

I graduate from Westmoreland Elementary school and become a freshman at Keene High school. It’s a huge step going from a class of 25 kids who grew up together to a class of 400 people that I barely know. I’m kind of lost. I love school and learning at first, but it soon becomes apparent that that is not cool…and I succumb to the need to fit in.

I joined the football team, without any more knowledge of football than the fact that it IS a sport… so obviously, I’m not very good. But the season progresses well and at least I play on all the special teams and make some good tackles, get in the best shape of my life (to date) and make some good friends.

So here again…another big year.

35 years ago: 1975/6 ~ 9 years old

I live at 94 Laurel Lane in Keene, NH and go to school at Jonathan Daniels, an open concept kind of school. I'm in Mrs. Gemmel’s 4th grade. I’m sure something big is going on, but other than being in love with Nancy Andrews, unrequited…I can’t seem to recall much.

Oh year…in June we move from Keene to Westmoreland, and then something huge happens in August ‘76… My sister Sarah is born!

40 years ago: 1970/1 ~ 4 years old

And finally…another big year and the last on the list… the world doesn’t revolve around me anymore! My brother Dan is born in September ‘70.

 

So looking back here, I’ve kind of blurred the lines between following the theme of a specific year (2000, 2005)  and what happened at the certain age that I was (which crosses over year boundaries)…but isn’t that how memory works. It’s all really a blur and most of it feels like yesterday, anyway. It does seem that for me the 5’s and 10’s happen to be big years. And now that I’ve filled the blanks, next year I’ll stick to the age theme.

…stay tuned…