My interest in the heavens was sparked by a late night trip to the outhouse.
I was about ten and spending the summer at my grandparent’s home in one of the outports of Newfoundland. Electricity was relatively new and nobody left lights on after bedtime; it was dark. But despite the lack of light and no moon, I could see my way. Looking up to see why I was stunned. The Milky Way stretched completely across the sky and I could even see my shadow by it’s light. I had never seen anything like it. And, sadly, due to increasing light pollution, I rarely have again.
But I have never forgotten that night.
Life moved on. I studied Zoology and Marine Biology at university, taught for 15 years at the post-secondary level, studied some Engineering and wound up as a consulting Professional Biologist. Along the way I helped found three startup companies, wrote a lot of papers and filed a lot of patents.
Somehow, I found time for astronomy. I built several telescopes, all Newtonians, and tried my hand at astrophotography, using film and guiding by hand. You haven’t really lived until you’ve spent an hour glued to the eyepiece, guiding at -35 degrees C!
Life got really crazy during the last startup and astronomy had to take a backseat. Quite literally crazy as I was diagnosed with Bipolar Type II disorder. Sometimes life is trying to tell you something. And so was my doctor. It was time to take a step away from a manic lifestyle.
I have always been good at reinventing myself when needed. So when my wife gave me a violin for Christmas, to try to rekindle my interest in music, I decided to figure out how it worked. I read everything I could lay my hands on, built several instruments and started studying acoustics. I invented a new type of tonal adjuster and started yet another business making them. I was asked to join the board of the Violin Society of America, eventually becoming it’s Secretary.
As my wife likes to say: “I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.”
Just recently I have had to give up working with wood due to health problems with some types of toxic dust. I have also developed a neurological problem called ataxia which affects my gait and fine motor control.
Lemons again, but paraphrasing Thomas Edison, “It’s time to make lemonade.”
Or do astronomy!
I have a workshop full of tools and I know how to design and build things. So the old passion is rekindled and I am off on another chapter of this lifelong adventure.