I haven't bothered with Friendica for a few months because I don't have a lot of connections here and it didn't seem that active. Giving it another try. Basically, Friendica, Pixelfed, Bluesky and Mammoth haven't lived up to the hype for me. I still keep going back to Facebook because that's where everyone else I communicate with is.

Anyway, yesterday I hiked 4 miles up the canyon near my house, gaining about 3,400 ft in elevation. I reached alpine meadows on sunset, then hiked back down, mainly by the light of my headlamp. I took my wife's old Canon EOS 500D DSLR and took these shots. I love the way the setting sun lights up the aspen and dry, yellow grass. The hazy shadows of mountain ranges in the distance at sunset is something I never tire of looking at.

It's not just a job, it's a fucking adventure.

Clint Eastwood's character wasn't talking about mineral exploration geophysics. But he should have!

Here's me (wearing the keffiya) in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, training a local operator on EM data acquisition with an antiquated GDP-32 multi-function receiver. Probably one of the toughest jobs I've ever done. Six weeks is a long time to spend out there, particularly eating the local food. I got sick, frozen, nearly stranded by a navigationally-challenged driver and dodgy 4WD, rode a camel, ate lots of horse meat, drank fermented camel milk and Mongolian vodka (quite good, actually), did a lot of hiking, had the bus ride from Hell between the Chinese border and Ulaan Baatar via Dalanzadgad, and experienced the culture.

#midlifeadventure

We got back from a 1 week trip to Morocco last night, flying out of Tangier. This photo is from the Saadian Tombs in Marrakesh. Islamic art is wonderful!

This was our first trip to Morocco. We'll be back. The architecture and decorative arts are beautiful. The food is wholesome and tasty. The hospitality of the people is warm. The landscapes are varied - from the Sahara to the Atlas Mountains to the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts. At no time did we feel threatened, though you can definitely find trouble here if you are unwise. People selling stuff in the souks can be a bit over the top, but it's easy to deal with and they are generally more polite than sellers in other places we've visited. Just go. It's a great place for an adventure.

#midlifeadventure #morocco #travel

Natalie and I spend our weekends exploring the region around our place in Belgium. We've been living here since August 2024, temporarily leaving our home in Utah while Natalie works for the US government. Now our kids are semi-independent, it's our time to have an adventure. #midlife #midlifecareershift #midlifeadventure

The ruins of the Abbey of Villers-de-Ville (from 1197 CE), a site of the Cistercian Order, are spectacular. Well worth spending a morning exploring.
#Belgium #history #cistercian #villers #abbey #ruins #12thcentury

I turned 57 in November. With our kids all graduated from college and moving onto the next stages of their lives, it was time for Natalie and I to go on a new adventure. So we'd moved from Utah to Belgium in August. Natalie has taken a new job as high school teacher for US DoD on a military base here. I'm figuring out my next move, after finishing a job as COO of a lithium exploration company. I think that your 50's is often a major turning point. People are approaching the end of their careers, kids are off their hands, age is starting to catch up with some and maybe it's time to re-focus on wellness, both physical and mental. I'd be interested in communicating with others who are making some big changes late in life.

A bit of explanation about my profile photo: I'm riding a Bactrian camel in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. I was running a geophysical survey for a Korean mining company in the mountains and we needed to do a supply run to the nearest town. We stopped in the desert for a pee break and an old man who was herding goats nearby rode over on this camel. In Asia, there seems to be a game I'll call Make The White Guy Ride The Camel. If there's a camel and a white guy, he's going to ride that animal.

Natalie and I traveled from our place in Belgium to Abruzzo in October 2024. We spent a few days in the countryside there before heading to Rome. This photo was taken at sunset at Rocca Calascio.

#travel #castle #Abruzzo

A bit of black powder shooting fun in the desert in Utah. #pewpewpew

This was such a fun hike. My objective was to do a Summits On The Air "activation" - setting up a portable HF radio station and contacting at least four other hams. It was also a great outing with Natalie, who had undergone brain surgery a few months before. The views from Delano Peak are spectacular.