This is a great thread to get to know our cyber friends!
So, here I am, in a nutshell. Because I spent 38 years of my life in the theatre, designing sets and costumes, history and all the arts have always been more than interests or hobbies, they were my life. Since I retired, I haven't stayed too far away from those areas. I edit and design the newsletter and do all the graphic work for The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, where I'm also a Trustee. I also design art jewelry.
My volunteer work for Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue fulfills the side of me that loves animals and wants to help them as much as possible.
I'm not an outdoors person, but I love to work in my garden. Reading, especially history and biographies, is also something I've always done.
Travel has also been a very large part of my life. I lived as a student in Paris and spent almost a year, on and off, in London. I've been to all the countries in Western Europe plus Findland and Russia. There is still one place where I would love to go: China.
The trade-off for all these activities was that I didn't have a dog. I thought it was unfair to keep a dog in an apartment in New York and Chicago. But, ever since I moved to Connecticut and bought a house, 25 years ago, I always had my faithful companions by my side and was very lucky to have some of my wonderful graduate students staying with the dogs when I needed to go away.