SkylarkMountain's profile

View all favorite photos

Hometown

Rochester, New York

Places I've been

I was born and raised in the Rochester, New York area. Mostly in the small town of Spencerport on the Erie Canal. Between colleges I lived briefly in Minneapolis, Minn. After eventually graduating college I moved to Los Angeles, California, where I met and married my first husband. We moved to Hilo, Hawaii, then after 6 years and two babies moved to Honolulu, where he returned to medical school. After his graduation we moved to Florida where we lived in several different locations over 19 years. Now I've found a piece of heaven with my second husband on a 44 acre piece of mountain in the southwestern tip of Virginia. North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia are all within an hour our less.

More about me

I always thought I'd be an artist, and attended Rochester Institute of Technology Art School for one year. After leaving and taking a one year hiatus I returned to college at SUNY at Brockport. I didn't think I wanted to be a teacher, but I could commute and it was an education.

Of course I ended up teaching on and off for a number of years. There was no certification for Special Education at the time, just a willingness to try it, and it was a good, but difficult match. Back then I could have as many as 28 emotionally and intellectually needy children at a time, and no free lunch hour. It was a high burn out career with lots of lessons and rewards.

Eventually I bought a day care and operated it for 19 years. It had a capacity of 130 preschoolers and our staff usually ran about 16-18 caring workers.

After selling the school I joined my second husband in a non-profit center he had started at Christopher Newport University in Newport News. I learned computer graphic design and web development, but my job eventually became working with small businesses to help them begin e-commerce. It involved one-on-one consulting, giving seminars and establishing e-business villages. It was exciting and extremely challenging.

Now I am fully retired and trying to get back to arts and crafts. I also love my gardens, my dog, my cat and three pet goats. My husband and I comment every day on how lucky we are to be here and together at this time in life. Our mailbox is a mile away from our house and we can't see the road or they us. The vistas are magnificent and our neighbors are friendly. Lately we have even gotten involved with the volunteer fire department as board members and bingo volunteers. No more large challenges, but lots of camaraderie.

 

 

 

Activities

gardening, computers, computer graphic design, web development, knitting, sewing, decorating, crafts

Favorite Quotes

Life is hard by the yard. By the inch life's a cinch.

Favorite Animals

goats!

More "About"