When from our better selves we have
too long
Been parted by the hurrying world, and droop,
Sick of its business, of its pleasures tired,
How gracious, how benign is Solitude!
How potent a mere image of her sway!
Most potent when impressed upon the mind
With an appropriate human centre -- Hermit
Deep in the bosom of the wilderness:
And so, after years of living in many different places, we find
our
better selves in the wilderness of West Virginia, each of us enjoying
solitude and quiet. And lucky enough to find in each other the sharing
of these and other pleasures: hence a "Pair o' Hermits".
About Nancy:
Born in Iowa on a
Friday the 13th (my older brother
still claims it was
the unluckiest day of his life!), I've lived in Iowa, California (2
different times -- 3 different places), Arizona (2 different times -- 2
different places), Washington,
Oregon, Colorado, Pennsylvania and now West Virginia. While living on
our boat Summer School, Dave and I also lived in New Jersey, Maryland,
North
Carolina and Florida. And visited many other places. Yes, I come from a
family of gypsies! My brother, Mike, and his wife, Kathy,
currently
live in Kansas. (My wonderful mother, Jeanne
Weber Mills, died in
December 2004, followed by my beloved father, Ivan Glen Mills, in
December 2008.) I attended college
in Arizona (Arizona State University:
BSE in Engineering Science and
MSE in Industrial Engineering) and Oregon (Oregon State University: MBA
and PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering). I worked as an
industrial engineer for a variety of different companies, from
aerospace to financial to utility. I was a faculty member at OSU, the
University of Southern Colorado (now Colorado State
University -
Pueblo) and Lafayette College
in Easton, PA. When Dave retired h
e
made retirement look so good that I
"got tired". So I resigned my professional
position and we became "boat
bums." That was one of the best decisions we ever made! Now I'm
enjoying life in a log home shared with Dave on top of Muddy Creek
Mountain, Greenbrier County, West
Virginia. Contact Nancy.
About Dave:
Born near
Philadelphia, I earned electrical
engineering degrees at Pennsylvania
State University and Princeton
University. After five years as a research engineer at RCA
Laboratories, I pursued a college teaching career first at Northern
College in Kirkland
Lake, Ontario, Canada, for 12 years, and then at the University of
Southern
Colorado from which I retired
in 1995 after 17 years of service. My 12 years in Canada were
fundamental to my growth and development. My children, Kathleen, Frank
and John were, essentially, raised there. I developed the perspective
and understanding that derives from living in another country. And I
was able to enjoy the small towns and wilderness of Northern Ontario as I
developed
life-long interests in wilderness canoeing and the sport of ice hockey.
My move to Pueblo, Colorado, began
my most productive professional years in the teaching of electronic
engineering technology at the
University of Southern Colorado with emphasis on small computer
applications. It
was during these years that I met Nancy and began my life-changing
experience with boat living on the east coast. It was also during these
years that my son Frank left this life at the age of 27, and I was
diagnosed with chronic
lymphocytic leukemia. I believe that the boating life
described in my memoir, Lessons from Summer School,
helped me overcome personal tragedy and survive leukemia for
much longer than expected. I continue to enjoy life in West Virginia.
Contact Dave.
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PAIR O'
HERMITS - Nancy L. Mills and David M. Perkins