I guess I have taken that privilege for granted. I am so privileged that I hope you can understand how I might have missed this one. As a young adult I was criticized for spending so much time in my room. Building model airplanes/rockets, reading or playing my saxophone. When I would leave my room it was often to wander outside by myself or with one of my friends or my brother. We did not spend much time in groups.

I would get lost in the woods or sit by the shore of the lake. I never longed for the city I loved solitude. Sometimes I would drive to an open field and park, sit on the hood of the car and gaze up at the stars or clouds. I feel sad for the city kids who never have climbed to the top of remote mountain and look out at the world. I always wondered why poor people stay in the cities. It is much worse being poor in a city than being poor in the woods. In the woods almost everyone is poor. You could not see what you were missing, well until the age of the internet and cable TV.

My family was not wealthy, my Dad’s disability caused him to move back to rural Maine to live a less stressful if less financially rewarding life. It probably was the best thing that could have happened to me.

How was that good for me? It gave me a balance, a centeredness that let me pursue my interest in Aerospace without the need to climb the corporate ladder just to love the good jobs and put of with the bad ones.

Counting my privileges, I will add time to myself to the list. Male, White, Cis, Het, middle class, rural, college educated, smart, polite, attractive (maybe), mobile.

Sorry, I am just rambling.

TEK