logo  PAIR O' HERMITS - Nancy L. Mills and David M. Perkins

Interests and Activities

Biking on BridgeMaking Music on the Porch
Our shared interests and activities include:
Nancy also enjoys: And any spare time Dave has he spends:


More on Reading: We each usually have a couple of books on the go and we enjoy sharing books by reading aloud in the evenings. We also like poetry and our often-read poets include Emily Dickinson, Edna St.Vincent Millay, Robert Frost, and William Wordsworth, among others. To see what we've been reading lately, visit our News and Photographs page.

More on Music: We've always enjoying listening to music and Dave is an old (okay, former!) trumpet player. We like classical music, opera (especially Verdi and Puccini) and some popular music. Our move to WV has introduced us to a new kind of music which we call "mountain music", a combination of traditional Appalachian music, bluegrass and Celtic or Scottish and Irish music. Think "The Chieftains". Favorite local groups include the Appalachian Celtic Consort and Poteen. This music has created new interests in playing instruments. Nancy is learning the dulcimer and Dave has taken up the Irish whistle. More on Bicycling: One problem with WV is that it is hilly, very hilly! So we like to load up our bicycles and go to the Greenbrier River Trail, a lovely level trail built on an abandoned railroad bed along the Greenbrier River. We've done a few sections on short day rides with the ambition to eventually cover the entire 77-mile length.

More on Canoeing: We acquired an Old Town canoe, the 16-foot Appalachian model, which we named Wild Mountain Thyme (after a song). We're enjoying paddling on Moncove Lake, Bluestone Lake and River and sections of the Greenbrier River. So far, we're concentrating on quiet waters although West Virginia is well known for outstanding white water rafting, kayaking and canoeing. We are fortunate because the beautiful Greenbrier River flows by at the foot of our mountain. There are no dams on this river for its entire 150 mile length from its headwaters on Shaver's Mountain to its junction with the New River near Hinton, WV. Most of this length can be run in an open canoe with various degrees of skill required. For a great picture of this river and its valley near where we live visit the site of the Friends of the Lower Greenbrier.

More on Dog Training: As with canoe construction technology, everything has changed in the world of dog training (and animal training in general) during the past thirty years while I wasn't looking. When I was training Thor (my Great Dane) 30 years ago I used an AKC book on dog obedience, which was the authoritative source. Now there is not only a proliferation of books on dog training and dog behavior modification, but almost innumerable websites devoted to these and related topics. There seem to be several different schools of thought, often disagreeing sharply with each other, and each one sure that they and only they have all the right answers. I have referred to the following books listed in no particular order: Dog Care and Training, American Kennel Club, 2nd edition, 2002; How to be Your Dog's Best Friend, The Monks of New Skete, revised 2002; The Dog Listener, Jan Fennell, Harper Resource, 2000; The Dog Whisperer, Paul Owens and Norma Eckroate, Adams Media Corp., 1999; How to Get Your Dog To Do What You Want, Warren Eckstein and Andrea Eckstein, Ballantine Books, 1994. I have visited, and sometimes studied, many websites including American Kennel Club, Association of Pet Dog Trainers, Service Dog Training (such as "seeing-eye dogs"), and a number of sites on Reward-Based Training, plus many others. I have used 4 different collars: a flat collar, a slip collar ("choke-chain"), prong collar and Halti collar. The good news is that Elmo is becoming a well-behaved dog while under my control. The bad news is that there is still a long way to go before Elmo's behavior is absolutely reliable on or off lead. But there is no doubt that this project is both absorbing and very satisfying. I believe that Elmo understands about 35 different commands (strict positive behaviorists would call these requests). For some of these, e.g. SIT or HEEL, he responds reliably even with distractions; for others, e.g. QUIET or CARRY, his response is still uncertain. A short summary of these commands as a PDF file is given in Elmo's Words. You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. For a free download click HERE.

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