Male

54

First of all, you should know I'm a bit Goofy, and I earned that nickname as a kid by simply being me. I am a single, alternative Hippy, back to the land type guy living alone in a very rural area of the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia, near Roanoke. I have 29 very secluded acres and a very old house which I heat with wood. I am friendly and open-minded. I am also gay. I was married ages ago (how that came about is a separate story). I have two grown sons and three little grand kids in the area. I am out to many, many people in the area. I live a fairly healthy, sane and drama-free life. I am spiritual, and can be strangely psychic at times. I have never smoked cigarettes. I have acted locally in many plays and done a lot of backstage work as well. I have sung in Community Chorus, bass. Last Winter (2008) I earned my scuba diving certification while in Hawaii. I did a lot of small boat sailing when I was a teenager. I love the peace and quiet of my hidden homestead, but I also enjoy visiting big cities as well as remote mountaintops. I can snow ski a little and the same for water skiing. I love to dance. I love to laugh and movies can bring me to tears easily at times. I am interested in making friends of all kinds, Young and Old, Male and Female, Gay and Straight. I love snow, I want to do some backpacking in the Four Corners area of the SW.
I have done a lot of different things in Virginia over the years to make a living...farm work, Bookmoble driver, care provider for mentally challenged adults, potter, Batik clothing artist, Restaurant owner, house painter, graphic art, fork lift driver and crane rigger, several different craft businesses, waiter, dishwasher, yard work, construction, driving a bread truck, and there's bound to be a few things I have forgotten!
There are bears, bobcats and mountain lions in the area, poisonous snakes and coyotes too. Deer are common and regularly graze in my yard and in general are very accepting of my presence....and they get in the garden too sometimes.
My house was originally built as a one room school house built in 1880, and is in fairly rough shape. It became a residence about 1910. I was married in grand Hippy fashion in the front yard in 1975 with family, friends, goats and chickens as witness. Did not live here for many years after that and then bought it and moved in by myself in 1999. It had ceased to be a hippy commune about 1980.

I believe it was deep meditation at a very young age which brought me to live close to Nature, and soon after I was of age and free to go I came to these mountains and this little homestead. I was 18 and it was Autumn of 1973.

February 17, 2009...correcting my Tribe name...When I was about twelve I read a book about a boy who was shipwrecked on the coast and raised by the Delaware Indians, that made a life-long impact. As one result I began calling myself 'Intheforest', who was the primary character in that book. So I have used that name in various places online these days. Not sure why I started out on this site choosing StevieJoe as my name, but I'd like to correct that now. All my friends and family know me as Steve or Stephen.