Friendly, secure, curious about nearly everything, career helicopter pilot specializing in fighting fire. Make me laugh and you are most of the way there. I am semi-retired, I work during the fire season and play/travel and hang out with my daughter the rest of the year. I've done the really hard things in my career and now I"m just cruising enjoying myself. What I do is like the best e-ticket ride at Disney.

I'm good with my hands and I like fixing things, usually things that I broke... I don't mind making new and interesting mistakes instead of the old same ones... Mark Twain said it best, I think, "Travel is the enemy of ignorance." I tend to travel when I can and put myself in strange new environments just for the learning of it. I speak enough Russian to travel independently and so far I haven't gotten into too much trouble. I like thinking about the universe when it was about the size of a grapefruit and getting bigger fast. I like looking at stars and marveling at how stardust became us. I let people be who they will be. I often relate better to dogs and cats than some sorts of people. Somewhat conservative in personal habit ( I have an idea of what works for me) but am very liberal in outlook. I understand that change is inevitable but progress isn't. I like cooking together and a nice glass of red wine and some playful close contact as a reward.

I have a daughter who is the center of my particular universe and I'm putting her through university; love pets especially dogs and cats. I am very active, hiking, running, skiing, rock climbing, I workout 5 days a week as a matter of health, not obsession; I enjoy kayaking, sailing (I live aboard a sailboat part of the year), traveling, fly fishing for dumb trout, telemark skiing in the backcountry....I have been to the Kirov for ballet and the Musorgsky for opera and symphony and want more....I enjoy junior symphony a lot. It's nice to see young talent at work.

I am a very good listener and am not judgmental. I am calm in a crisis and work to defuse conflict, often with humor. I seek to understand; but if I don't understand I seek to accept. I'm not religious: However I try to follow these six words derived from a pre-cursor to Christianity: Think right, Say right, Do right. Really, isn't that the core of all of it,

Looking for brains, a sense of humor that appreciates the many absurdities in this life, an absence of dramatic impulses, good communication skills, not afraid of intimacy and who is secure enough to understand the very deep value of companionable silence and all that it implies about the people who share it. I do not mind if you have children but I do not want anymore of my own. If having children is your dream then I am not for you.

I'd like to develop a friendship with a like minded woman who shares at least some interests and who will bring other experiences/opinions/interests to the table. Learning new things is the best fun of all. You should like learning as well. My situation allows me to spend a good part of each year outside the US as I only work 4-6 months each year. This may be useful if you do not wish to relocate because I just might and am seriously considering doing so. Since January of last year (2011) I have spent four and a half months traveling in Ukraine and I love the people and the country. And the food is wonderful! I am currently in Ukraine and will be so for the next six weeks taking an intensive course in Russian.

English: I am advanced in every skill
Russian: I can read and write with a dictionary but can't speak