My name is Eric, I’m a 43 year old single father living in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Colorado Springs in Summer

 

I’ve lived in this town since May of 2003, after growing up in Hampton, Virginia from about 1969. I was born in Oslo, Norway in 1968, and my Dad was then stationed at Langley AFB, where he retired. I spent many long hot summers out in the tropics of Southeastern Virginia

My Cousin and I, 1970


It was not all super humid and hot though, every 5 or 10 years, we’d see a little snow…

Mom and I, Blizzard of ’80


…that was a fun year.

Anyway, growing up I had a decent childhood, with all the normal things that normal boys experience. Riding bikes with friends, exploring the woods near the house (which my parents didn’t like at all) staying out until the streetlights came on, etc. etc. etc. It was a lot of fun, and since I was so young, I was not really bothered by the heat of the summer and just went with it.

I guess the climate really started getting to me after I learned how to mow the lawn. From that point on, summer became a real drag. I started noticing the staggering amount of stinging insects that inhabit that region, and learned that those stings hurt….bad. We had a dog growing up…infested with fleas and ticks, poor thing. He died when he was only 9 years old, very sad.

 

Me in 1982


Middle school and high school is where the suck began. 1980 – 1986 were horrible years. I did really bad in school, I had very few friends, and as far as relationships go…well…let’s not get into that. I have very few “good” memories of these years. I decided maybe a change of scenery would fix things up, so I joined the US Air Force…hoping that maybe the service would be more to my liking from a social awkwardness point of view.

I was, of course, wrong. The Air Force was just high school with a uniform and more important duties. It was full of social cliques and idiotic people. I fit in no where and just wanted out. I spent my entire tour at Tyndall AFB in Panama City Florida (not as hot as Virginia, but just as many bugs). It was a hole…nothing to do really (I’m not a beach person) except sit at home and listen to my shortwave set for hours on end. The squadron I was assigned to was full of sycophantic people who cared little for each other, it was all about getting ahead. This, of course is no different than civilian life, but it I thought the military was a team and acted as a team. Wrong, think again.

I left the AF in 1990. From 1990 to 1994 I can’t really remember. I was either drunk or drugged and made so many stupid mistakes that I pay for them to this very day.

I did get married in 1994 to a pre-made family, having another child in 1996.

Sean, Me, Richie, Michele and Pearl


We lasted 10 years, it was hard, it was fun, then it was hard again. I think I was not really mature enough to have a family so young, which probably was the root cause of it ending.

I was working for Symantec in 2002 when I got a call from a friend who had moved to Colorado the previous year. There was a job opening with his company, and if I got the job the company would move us at their expense. I talked to the family and everyone (well, except Pearl…whe was a teenager then afterall) thought it might be a good idea.

I got the job and moved here in May of 2003 with the family due out in August for the new school year.

Me on Pike’s Peak 2003


After a few months of arguing (after I leased a 3500 sq. ft. house) the family did not come. Only the two boys came, and started school in August. It was October before I realized this was going no where, and I filed for divorce. The divorce was finalized in May of 2004, with Richie staying with me here (he was 7 at the time and had already set down roots.)

Since living here, I picked up bike riding, hiking, and just loving the “no bugs and no humidity” climate. It’s a fantastic place to live, even the winters are relatively mild compared to the rest of the state.

 

Me on a ride


My political and religious views have changed many times over the years. I’m now a solid liberal, I was once a rabid right winger, but I outgrew that…especially when I woke up to the gross injustice in our current system.

I’m also an atheist now, after going through many flavors of christianity. The latest was Catholic….I converted in 1996 and was in and out for quite some time. I really tried, I did, to believe…in some cases even hearing the voice of this god when I prayed. I learned that the voice was probably just myself trying to make me feel better. I finally awoke to the absurdity that is religion and belief in a higher power. I’ll write a de-conversion story one day I suppose.

That’s me I guess. These are supposed to be the good years, but every morning I wake up saying “crap, another day.”