Last time, I wrote about starting to climb late in life. At 58, I started going to the climbing gym. Alone, I’d wander around looking for odd-numbered groups of climbers, and I’d timidly offer, “Need a belay?” And some of them did! Thus began a very eclectic collection of new friends — and a new life.

But there’s more to life than climbing, so this blog isn’t about climbing — it’s about life. The reading here will be eclectic. And it won’t be chronological, either. Life — or at least what’s important in life — never is. 

My life has caromed from one passion to another, and another. Foreign languages have always been a major influence — French began at age 2, Italian at about 4 or 5, Greek at 6. All the ‘old’ people in my family when I was a kid spoke only Polish. My university degrees are all in languages.

Music entered my life at the start, in many forms, and through all the ups and downs of life, my piano has often been my main solace. That will always be true, I think. (Do you use a musical instrument to stay sane? If not, what’s your key?) Other instruments got added to the mix over the years. Conducting an orchestra filled a great chunk of my life for years, too, and I miss that enormously. So I guess it’ll appear here, too.

As will traveling, and running, and painting….Probably others, too. It’s been a wild ride so far, and I hope you’ll enjoy coming along on the journey — and add your own voice and your own experience to the adventure!