This is my # 4 son Peter and it's his birthday today. He always celebrates the day the same way; a friend drives him to the base of a pre-selected mountain and he heads off and up on his own for several days and he is later picked up at the starting point.
Not bad a for a kid who had his first asthma attack before he was a week old.
Pete chose a simple life style not always understood by others: he lives well below the poverty level, doesn't owe money, drives a bike instead of a car and given the opportunity, will figuratively grab your lapels to warn you of the ecological savaging of the planet.
He is knowledgeable and speaks from study and experience.
His lungs benefit from the clean mountain air and he learned a long time ago how to live with and by himself.
He takes beautiful movies of his adventures with nature. I'm not crazy about the idea of him being close enough to film a grizzly fishing, but I do know he is careful and I hope the grizzly minds his manners when they're in the same area.
He was pretty young when he decided to be a musician for all his life and this was his official start, on a Christmas long ago.
He refused lessons and has been self-taught all these years.
Drums are still in his life but he has branched out and can play most instruments.
He takes public transit to most of his his gigs, lugging along his guitar or mandolin or keyboard, but he has to work out a compromise when larger equipment is called for.
His family love and appreciate him as he is, but still, what if something goes wrong during one of those hikes? We persuaded him to carry a G.P.S. tracker he calls "Zippy," and Zip tells us several times a day where he is hiking and if he gets into trouble there is an emergency button to push and his exact location is sent to the appropriate help.
So birthday boy, breath the clean mountain air and come back as always ready to fight for the planet you love and respect.
