Behind the Curtain

Drew McLellan recently posted a photo that captures something less “formal” about himself, based on the meme started by David Airey, encouraging bloggers to let others see more of the “face behind the blog.”

As one who grew up in New England, my default setting is to generally have a curtain between my professional and personal lives. But I feel a little Toto pulling at the curtain, so what the hey - it is, after all, the Share Economy…

Right now, outside of work, a whole bunch of my time and effort goes into being a husband and father, as well as maintaining/improving our home. The other 16.5 minutes of “me” time per week goes to…well, let’s hope I can resurrect those hobbies some day in the future!

Here are my two “middle” sons (#3 & 4 out of 5) on a recent father/son retreat:

Most mornings, my Fiver hops up into my lap at precisely 7 am for a “Big Kitty” story with Dad, who has generally been up already for 1-2 hours but looks pretty bedraggled still:

The boys get their looks from the Lovely and Talented Queen, whose mother will be glad to tell you where she got HER looks from!

We’ve spent the last 7 years slowly and steadily improving our little Eden in North Jersey. We’re amateurs, but we enjoy creating an English garden feel, and I have particularly enjoyed building stone walls.

Someday, I hope to find more time to take scenic pictures. Two of these shots were from a glorious morning heading to the hospital the day after our fifth son was born; the other from a recent visit to a lake that had a bit too much rain to process!

My dream is to eventually live with my bride on a lake in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, in a house big enough to accommodate a steady stream of visitors (and, Lord willing, a large number of grandchildren - eventually!)

So, that’s a peek behind the StickyFigure curtain here in Boonton, NJ. What about you?