So many stories to tell, so I will attempt to give the short version of the past fifty years. After graduation I went to work for one year at Tube Forgings of America, where I could see the pollution glitter in the interior air whenever the sun shone thru the skylight, then a year at Portland State. Pledged a fraternity, TKE, dropped out to join the Army. Got sent to Heidelberg, Germany where I drank a beer or two and got out 3 years later with my sanity still intact. My family had since moved to the San Francisco Bay Area so I went to live there and attended community college for 3 years then transferred to California College of Art where I got my BFA as a painting major. During the time in S.F. I crewed on a couple different sail boats during regatta season, even bought an old sailboat myself. My girlfriend at that time was involved in a car wreck which sent her Porsche to the shop for a few months. The car was ready the same time I got fired from my job so we took the car out for a road trip and ended up in Colorado where I stayed for the next 35 years, living first in Aspen and then moving down the valley where things were more affordable. Spent many good times skiing while working in the restaurant industry at night. Bought a hand-built Italian racing bicycle and rode every day up to at lease 11,000 feet for the thrill of the descent and to this day am amazed to have survived but I did stay in great shape. To this day I have a 33 inch waist. Made a small reputation as an artist and sold pieces from time to time. Got married to a gorgeous woman of Lakota ancestry, bought a house and had a son (John) who now lives her in Hilo, got divorced and became a single father. Spent time in Sedona, AZ before settling down back in CO. Bought another place to live, leased it out for a couple of years to live with a dozen or less folks in Denver living "A Course in Miracles" where I learned forgiveness. John and I then moved back home to our mountain home where I worked as a butler and property caretaker for a Florida couple looking after their 10,000-foot summer vacation home for the next decade. During that time I went on line and dialed in my desires for the perfect woman for me. That is where I met Lynne (the wife of my life) who was living in Spokane at that time. After about 3 or 4 months we met face to face in Tahoe and the following weekend she visited me in CO. From that weekend on we referred to each other as husband and wife. She didn't enjoy Colorado's dry atmosphere nor the cold so we started looking for a place to relocate. We decided upon Hawai'i and started visiting the big island with the intent to buy our next home. Had our honeymoon trip the year before we actually got married by the ocean in Onomea bay Hawai'i. Exchanged vows by giving rather than taking each other as the others spouse. Now, having been established in Hilo Lynne has her own financial software consulting business and bookkeeping service while I'm still a shiftless bum (retired). All thru this adventure I have seen many aspects of life displayed and examined and have found that the truly lasting values are those of the heart and not those of the mind. So it was a quest for enlightenment that drove practically all my decisions. Spent thousands of hours cross legged on a cushion looking at the inside of my eyelids following thoughts, the breath, concentrating on one point or an other and finally realized that truly all is one after all. We are in this world to gaze in wonder at the face of the Self. Wow what a trip it's been and what's next? I can truthfully say I am a contented man, there is much joy in life as well as suffering but from the place of bliss all is welcome. There appeared spontaneously a few years ago a background recurring thought like some mantra which puts out the message "thank you, thank you" which is the heart overflowing. Yea it's been a great life overall.
Oh, then was the trip I took with my mother (during the early '70's) to my ancestral home of Scotland where I met my genetic father. Strange thing, standing on the sidewalk waiting for ones father to appear, but that's another story. After meeting him I took his last name since it was on my birth certificate anyway - had been enrolled in school by my stepfather using his last name of Daugherty so I now go by the name of Young. Remember the historic Scottish character Robert the Bruce? Well I sometimes refer to myself as Iain the Young and use a moniker of "i y" or "i the y's" now.