My thanks to the CMF

The *CMF was the catalyst that changed our life a few months ago. Now I have to say thanks. We are happy here. The kids love this place. An excellent library is a short four block walk. Books on preloaded i-pods--all you need are earbuds. A huge selection that boggles the mind.

Our most extraordinary friends live five houses away on our nearly traffic free street. Our house is the upper half of a huge victorian. It has exceptionally tall ceilings. It is open and filled with light most of the day.

We travel mostly by bicycle. Toly learned to bike well enough to travel three miles his first day sans training wheels. The farmers market (during winter) has a mind boggling selection of cheap, fresh produce.

Homeschooling with funding from the state to afford the multitude of classes available within a short bike ride. One of the best fencing academies in the bay area just six blocks away. Kassi has a weekly art class that is of a standard that adult students might hope for.

To top it all off, I have my dream job. They treat me so well that I have to regularly pinch myself. I get to do exactly what I like all day long. I feel good about making a difference in the world--installing solar. The systems are large and exhilarating to work on. The last job I worked had five inch diameter pipe. The collectors were six stories up from the mechanical room.

We are going to work with a new product. It uses tracking concentrated solar electricity integrating hot water dissipation and thermal capture of the heat. A hybrid system suited exactly for my skill set. Plus I have been tentatively assigned a huge radiant heating system in the queue. I am in my hay-day of interesting, taxing and enjoyable work.

We are off to bike around the island today. Our island is like a small town completely separated from, yet in the middle of the big city. It is completely flat and filled with old victorian houses, tons of stained glass windows. It is the perfect place to live with a family in the S.F. bay area.

So, thank you *CMF wherever you are. This life change, that I resisted, is an incredible blessing. We are happy here, although we might be happy anywhere, probably not this happy..

*Crazy Mother F'er

bike to the beach

This beach is biking distance from our house.

The kids love it.

Such a different world from Missouri

Moats and sand castles

Just a few blocks away

These waves are never big.


We are on an island in the S.F. bay.

It is still salty and a little wavy.

It reminds me of Lake Michigan.




Nothing scary about this body of water.

Rome had to be nekkid

many shells were collected

Kassi found a crab claw


There even was a para glider.