A few forum members have been to my home here in rural Maryland, primarily for a jam session put together on another forum. We played lots of music on several top brand keyboards, ate lots of stuff fresh from the grill, and drank a fair amount of booze. Some of the ladies that attended marveled at the rock gardens on my property and asked who created and takes care of them. When I told them it was me, they were astonished - I guess because I'm a really old guy and probably shouldn't be doing strenuous work in hot weather. Here's some photos I shot today of a few of the gardens close to the house.















Those stone walls were also my creations as well. They were built before my back and lungs went to Hell, but I still do the other stuff.

Gary

That looks GREAT...any of it SMOKEABLE? (I'M KIDDING!)!

R.

Gary your style of living is A+. I love the pictures they remind me of my home in Long Island, N.Y.

The richest man is the one who turns what he is given into another success.
John C.

PS, I have given myself two more weeks; then I will be packing my equipment and putting it into the car. If the lifting is more than this body can handle I will take another direction towards contentment.

If weight is a problem just adjust your gear accordingly to suit your needs.....maybe a lighter arranger eg: Roland EA7 arranger and a Bose compact or LD Maui 5 speakers would certainly be a lightweight easy to carry rig for any job..

Russ, I have some giant, hardy, northern hibiscus growing next to the house that looks just like pot plants before they begin blooming. I had a sheriff's deputy come here for a visit one day and he just about crapped his pants when he saw them. He was just about positive they were pot plants, until I showed him the flower buds emerging.

John, there comes a time when the mind makes appointments the body cannot keep. you will know when that time arrives and make the right decision, just as I recently did. I dearly wish I were still able to be on stage, but I know it is no longer possible. I still play the keyboard at home, manage to record a few songs on the onboard recorder, which helps maintain what little sanity I have left in my aging brain.

All the best,

Gary

looks Great Gary hey I caught a 55lb white seabass a couple weekends ago got to send you as Picture .

Wow! 55 pounds is huge for that species. Looking forward to seeing it, Ron.

Gary

Nice Gary, real nice. Flowers are the second love of my life. If I had to give up music, that's the direction I would go in myself.

I'm wondering if people who love the beauty of music also naturally love the beauty of flowers? And other forms of beauty?

And........are we musicians hard-wired to "see" beauty where it doesn't even exist?

I love those pictures Gary, now i dont have green fingers as we say in Holland, but my lovely wife takes care of our garden..

Beautiful Gary

Gary, You're a man of many talents! Nice work!

Love the flowers. At 88 I no longer can do that sort of thing. I have been diagnosed with bladder cancer and have had two surgerys
to remove a tumor. Now it's a weekly jaunt to the urologist to
catherize and inject medicine into my bladder to kill the cancer
cells. Life comes with surprises both good and bad. Stay well and
don't stop playing music. God Bless, Lloyd

Lloyd, sorry to hear about the CA, however, it appears as if the docs seem to have things under control and going your way. Good luck old friend.

The gardens are a great outlet for me, and allow me to be creative, just the same as music. Unfortunately, winter arrives all too early in this part of the world, and most of the time I cannot afford to spend the winter in the Florida Keys, which is the most expensive vacation spot in the US. Consequently, that time of the year is often spent photographing wildlife, which I have an abundance of right here in my back yard. There are lots of whitetail deer, wild turkey, rabbits, squirrels, chipmonks, snakes and a huge variety of birds including American eagles, several species of hawks and owls, and of course song birds and woodpeckers. For the birds, I set up a feeder that is suspended from a shepherd's hook on my deck. The squirrels, being opportunistic creatures, were raiding the bird feeder in droves. I finally was able to defeat them by attaching an electric fence transformer to the shepherd's hook and a length of bare wire on the deck railing, thus creating a squirrel tazer. It doesn't kill them, but it sure gets their undivided attention.

Thanks again guys for the comments,

Gary

This beauty just opened this morning on a gnarly looking cactus plant in a hanging pot. The plant has 5 more buds that will be open in the next two to three weeks.

Gary

Gary, you are credit to the human race, is there anything you cannot do (dont answer that).
I'd love to have a beer with you and have a chat about everything.
Keep doing what you love and I hope you have a long long life.

Greetings from Dublin,
Ireland

Thanks Mockie, and I wish you were here to enjoy a day of sailing and tilt a couple beers as well. If you ever get to this part of the world, the beer's on me.

All the best,

Gary