I have done a lot of interesting things since age 58

[Shutterbug]

I posted a list of things I have done since age 58 on the Baltimore Jack thread. I didn't intend to high jack that thread. I am starting this thread to respond to some of the comments.

There is interest in one of the items -- I observed a pod of Orcas from my backyard in Gig Harbor, WA. There were some responses about the Orcas in Puget Sound.

There are several "resident pods" of Orcas in Puget Sound. People keep close watch over them. Every Orca in the resident pods has a number. They tend to stay in the northern part of Puget Sound -- north of Seattle.

In addition to the resident pods, there are frequently "transient Pods" of Orcas that visit Puget Sound. They are not as well known and they sometimes visit the southern parts of Puget Sound. The pod that came right up to my home was a transient pod. There were seven orcas in the pod. I stood in my back yard and took a lot of pictures. Unfortunately, a guy in a boat saw them and drove his boat right through the middle of where they were feeding. That is a felony.

Here are pictures.

[egilbe]

I'm not 58, yet, but I did some interesting things in my younger years. Top of the list is probably sitting in a hot tub with some Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders drinking Dom Perignon champagne when I was in the Army. The story goes rapidly downhill from there. Spending the same night (or what was left of it) in El Paso county jail was a low point.

Being shot at by smugglers when I was hunting in the desert outside El Paso

Being called Gilligan by the villagers in Panama when I was working with a crew to rebuild their school.

pissing in the Panama Canal from the back of an LST while my buddy held me by the belt loops so I wouldn't fall in.

Being amazed by the machete skills of a 12 year-old villager while he was hacking into a coconut so we could drink the milk.

Wrecking my first car playing Dukes of Hazard on a dirt road with my cousin

Watching the birth of my children and cutting the umbilical cords.

shooting my first deer.

shooting my last deer and it was most memorable not for the deer, but lying on my back in the woods waiting for sunrise and legal hunting time and watching an owl fly onto the branch in the tree above me. I watched that owl for quite awhile before I stood up and there stood an 8point buck. My father, my brother and myself all tagged deer that opening day before noon-time. That was the last year the three of us really hunted together. I stopped hunting altogether after I got divorced the following year and my father remarried and moved to Florida and died there.

watching the Red Sox finally win a World Series and the Patrioots followed up with a Super Bowl win.

Climbing Katahdin in the rain and fog, the first time and experiencing my first trail magic in a ride back to the other side of the mountain.

my first 4k'er, Saddleback

[Water Rat]

Nice shots of the Orcas! :) Such a treat to get to have them make a pass by Gig Harbor! :) I had the honor of seeing them many, many times up in the San Juans and even once from Tacoma.

Shutterbug - I hope you did not take my comment of not wanting to hijack the other thread as being in any way directed at you! My comment was an apology to those who read my response (Orca information only) to another poster. As my response included nothing that could directly add to Baltimore Jack's thread, I wanted to apologize in advance. I feel your list and reflections fit in beautifully with remembrances of Baltimore Jack. I took your list and your words of wisdom as a reminder that life is short and is for living. That absolutely fits in with how Baltimore Jack lived his life. My apologies if you in any way thought that was directed at you!

[English Stu]

After my walk on the GR5 -400mls from Geneva to Nice -I walked directly onto the beach, hiking gear poles and all, stripped off and went into the sea. I had promised myself the swim for a few days. I was surrounded by sunbathers many topless.

[-Rush-]

That list was epic. Congrats. I'd love to add much of that to my list!

[rickb]

Great list.

I bet the one you don't share with the world is even better-- you know, the one you are having your attorney release after you have been gone 10 or 20 years.

Mine now includes 6,000 posts on Whiteblaze.

[rocketsocks]

I sure enjoyed reading that shutterbug, you sure have traveled. I googled a few of those places for a quicky internet getaway, thanks for the itenerary, very interesting indeed.