The Early Years

The Early Years were the mid to late 70's, when I was adjusting to life outside the rehab center. I'm not sure why I included these pictures except that I recently collected these from long-time friends.

Here's a news flash.... anything that has wheels will roll, and anything that is designed to tip (like a wheelchair), will tip. Therefore, never take a wheelchair out on a raft. But if you do, make sure you go with very good friends like Bruce and Dan.

I've always loved boating and exploring. Here I am with my friend Bruce exploring some Florida mangrove. Bruce and I ended up traveling in many countries on many types of boats ranging from dug out canoes to a Chinese Junk.

Sometimes we played a little too hard and weren't quite careful enough. This picture was taken in the Florida Keys after the tide came in.

I loved diving off diving boards actually, I was throne off diving boards.

This was a rather peaceful place..I believe it was Dolphine Island, off the coast of Alabama.

Here's a cold weather photo of me at Five Islands. Maine

Here's Bruce trying to dig us out of some Guatemala mud. The truck on the right is a German half-track used by the Guatemalan fire department. They pulled us out of the mud.

I am embarrassed to say I was one of the culprits responsible for this bounty taken from the Florida Keys. This was my first snorkeling experience and I had no knowledge of diving protocol except what I saw on TV. On TV I saw Jacque Cousteau collect all sorts of things from the sea; at the time I didn't realize how terribly wrong that was. When I learned to scuba dive, I learned from enlightened instructors that it is never acceptable to take anything from the ocean floor.