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Greg Burch's Places and Pastimes

"Dionysius the Elder, being asked whether he was at leisure, replied, `God forbid that it should ever befall me!'" -- Plutarch, Life of Dionysius

In no particular order . . . .

READING. I don't have nearly enough time to do as much reading as I'd like. For a list of interesting books I've read lately, click here.

MUSIC. I also don't have nearly enough time to listen to music. But for what there is of music in my life, click here.

Theater. Anthea and I enjoy live theater. We have season tickets to Houston's best, The Alley Theater.

BACKPACKING. There's nothing like putting everything you need on your back and moving out into the wild on your own power. Despite having congenitally bad ankles and knees, I make at least one week-long trip a year. The older I get, the lighter my pack gets!

CARS I love cars. Click here for my car page.

THE WEST Jim Morrison said it best: "The West is the best." I love the desert and the mountains. The spiritual center of my universe is somewhere in the mountains of New Mexico. My friend Joel turned me on to the Gila Wilderness in western New Mexico. The Gila is pretty far away from everywhere (the closest town is Silver City), which is probably one reason it is still so nice. Slightly closer to the beaten track, but just as great, is Santa Fe.

LONDON Over the last few years I've been going back and forth to London a lot. It is the spiritual opposite of "the West" for me. Without a doubt, London is the easiest city in the world to be a traveller in. Favorite pub: East India Arms. Favorite place: National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

LATIN AMERICA In the last decade I have become increasingly oriented toward Latin America, exploring both my personal "roots" (my "Hispanic half" from my mother) and the sources of Hispanic culture that are the most dynamic and increasingly important influence on U.S. civilization. Cibercentro has a great web of resources and links relating to Latin America.

  • Mexico I have traveled to Mexico many times on business and for pleasure. Some day I hope to have a full "Mexico Web site" of my own with my thoughts about and experiences in Mexico. For now, all I can say is that Mexico is ... a whole 'nuther world right next door.
  • Costa Rica Called "the Switzerland of Latin America", Costa Rica is fascinating as a contrast to almost everywhere and everything else in the region. I've only been there once, on a trip in 1993 with my wife, Michael Dougan and his then-girlfriend. With a higher literacy rate than the U.S., a vigorous and highly succesful program of rain forest preservation (including a high degree of private involvement), no military and a longer history of stable democratic government than most countries in Europe, Costa Rica is a flat-out wonderful place. I plan to return there soon, hopefully some time in 1997

FITNESS As part of the general wave of change making up what I call "The Mother of All Mid-Life Crises", I began paying more attention to personal fitness in 1994. My goal has been to get to the gym every morning during the week (laying off on weekends) and I probably actually average 3 times a week in pursuing this goal. My gym regime consists of alternating weight workouts with aerobic exercise on stairclimbers and inclined treadmills. This has paid off in better stamina for my favorite sports of backpacking and scuba.

GUNS My friend Vern Tuck rekindled my interest in firearms, that dates back to my childhood. I enjoy shooting and hunting, especially dove hunting and waterfowling. Simply put, I believe that free and responsible people should be able to keep and bear arms and that for the most part hunters are responsible conservationists who these days represent a net benefit to the environment. It seems there aren't any mild opinions on this subject and there's a lot of dangerous foolishness on the fringes of opinion in both directions in this area, so I'll just leave it at that.

ARCHITECTURE & WOODWORKING I love to build things, especially things I've designed. In the last few years, I've built a greenhouse, a gate and a multi-level deck, all of my design and all built single-handedly, in our back yard. As I get older, my patience has almost grown to the point where I can execute some of my more ambitious projects. I want to build my own mountain place with an observatory. If you ask me about the ideas I have for it, I will tell you about them. You have been warned.

SCUBA. I've gotten increasingly interested in SCUBA diving over the last couple of years. On our trip to Cozumel in May of 1997 I finally got certified as a PADI "Open Water Diver". I took lessons at a dive shop called "Scuba Du" which, despite the corny name, has very professional instructors and well-maintained equipment. (On two previous trips to Cozumel I'd done "suicide dives" -- a half hour orientation on the beach and a 45 minute dive to around 30 feet. Diving like this is really stupid: You ought to get real training first. But I couldn't resist the experience.) I understand how Arthur Clarke has made the connection between space flight and SCUBA diving: The feeling of weightlessness, the experience of a totally different environment and the merging of human exploration and technology all have similar aspects. Somehow, SCUBA also "maps" psychologically onto the experience of backpacking: You strap a lot of gear on and use muscle power to go into a different environment, you depend on your judgment, skill, knowledge and luck to get you into and out of the experience, etc. SCUBA is also neat simply because you get to play with a bunch of really cool toys. Here are some good SCUBA links:

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time

-- T.S. Eliot

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