HardScrabbleLifestyle

About

45,M, Boise, Idaho.

Welcome to my world: I’m a professional in the great American Beer Industry. I’m also a full time thrill junkie, an amateur photographer, a part time fisherman, an occasional pilot & a motorcycle enthusiast. I fancy myself to be a decent chef, a lover of fine cars, european & japanese motorcycles. I love old aircraft, feminine beauty, & rustic architecture. Within 10 seconds of meeting you I can tell if we will get along, or not.

For one reason or another, I've always taken more chances and done things the hard way in life. When I was young, maybe 5 years of age, I walked out of grade school because I saw so much bullshit. I'd had it with conforming at an early age. I'd walked out of that school by myself and began the 2 miles walk home alone. I hated that place. It was choking the living shit out me - and I recognized it at an early age. This was actually the second time I had walked out of school. I’d done it years earlier in Kindergarden. So while in fourth grade - I’d repeat it. I grabbed my stuff and left. It wasn’t until I was much older that I would realize the significance of these early life events.

Those days were my many early revolts against common society. At that age, I could never possibly recognize what it meant, or how much conflict it would eventually create in my life. I had rejected what I saw around me. Little did I know, I would spend the rest of my life trying to fit into the world around me, as if I was trying to fit into a wet wool jacket that had shrunk in the wash. All the while rejecting it, fighting it, struggling to accept the confines while needing it's protection and limited comfort.

I grew older and the conflicts and challenges grew larger. Prior to high school, I despised most of the kids and adults around me. I started to grow angry. I wasn’t showing it, but there was a lot of conflict growing inside me. By the time I’d hit high school, the promises for a better life were being hammered into our young minds. Make more money, buy more stuff. It was all a bunch of fucking lies and I knew it. But, I found it impossible to extricate myself from that environment. It's taken the bulk of my adult life to learn some key lessons and I’m finally smarter.

I grew up in the suburbs of a large metro area, rife with materialism and consumerism. An area very cold in winter and flatter than hammered horseshit. I hated that place, it was a land devoid of energy, character and spirit. 40 years later -I live simply in the Intermountain West, a part of the country that can be a hard place to eek out a living. It's soulful here. I love the outdoors, nature, endless expanses of forest and sharing the adventure with my family. I like the hardscrabble life and it's difficulty. I like doing things the hard way. I like learning every step of the way - and sometimes, I've got to make mistakes to enjoy it. It’s real here - not fake.

I've made many bargains along the way. I guess you could say to some degree - I've sold out. But, it wasn't without some cost. I've burned almost every bridge I've built. I've told almost every boss I've had to go fuck themselves - including father and myself. Somehow, ego defiantly bruised, clearly hungover, I stood like a soldier, chest thrust forward, objective clear in mind, determined to play nice and earn a living. I wrestled my ego and stuffed it back into a little corner. I was much stronger and pissed off in a subdued way. I came back to the hardscrabble world and asked for another plate of hot steaming shit. I was as if the only way I could survive was to have that IV in my arm. As much as I hated the conflict that raged inside me, I needed it.

Anecdotally, I touched the hot stove - and I got burned, repeatedly. I rode my bicycle too fast - fell and bled. I certainly haven't outgrown my seemingly non-stop need to push the limits of anything and go too fast at everything. Now as an adult, I sometimes ride my motorcycle and drive my SUV too fast. Not too fast for me granted, just too fast for the cops.

I have an unquenchable need to explore the endless spaces and opportunities around me. I must experience everything. My life is filled with irony. I love my home, but I love to travel. I have to keep consuming that which I do not know. I still like going too fast - and touching the hot stove from time to time. It hurts, but everything in life hurts at one point. I’ve just grown to accept it. Many people, mostly adults - envy my lifestyle. Envy gradually turns to dislike when they realize that they don’t have the balls to live life to the fullest. They are afraid and insecure. I find it hard to maintain many friends because of my lifestyle.

In this way of life you've got to expect you're gonna get fired for standing up for yourself and what you believe in - even if you know you're wrong. You've got to expect you're gonna fight from time to time. You've got to like pain, and a lot of it. Pain in ways you never thought possible.

This is a collection of visual imagery that expresses my lifestyle - which may appeal to the type of person who prefers to experience life & do things the hardscrabble, difficult, rewarding and exciting way - by choice. I've found most if this online, and added some of my own photos. I hope you enjoy this visual expression of my interests and joys. I prefer the visual medium versus text and words.

Blogroll

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Search

Colophon

This tumblelog is powered by Tumblr and was designed by Bill Israel.