CURRENT MISSION
To get out of town, quickly, before my lawn mower misses me!

ABOUT ME

Reliable, funny, smart or smart-ass. Shy-stupid at first, but I get around to the funny part when I get to know you. I can be intelligent if I'm awake, but I must have a couple of cups of coffee first. I can be creative, especially if camping out, surviving with just dirt and a ball of twine. I don't get lost--I'm like a homing pigeon.

I do like backpacking, swimming, and I like driving. I enjoy driving fast, and walking slow. I guess I just enjoy traveling, and don't care what mode of travel I use. It's all in the journey, really. I've been told I'm holding up the group (I've usually been the leader) because I've got to get the photo just right. I've led trips of all sorts all around the US, from wilderness, to bluegrass, to organizational training, and gastronomy, many times for the local and national Sierra Club.

I just like to go. And I don't get lost. I said that, didn't I? I like reading maps, but don't like GPS as much. Paper maps don't need batteries or lie to you (usually). And they can't fail you in the coming zombie apocalypse.
https://www.insuranks.com/zombie-apocalypse-preparedness?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=wired&utm_mailing=WIR_PaywallSubs_031723_StevenLevy&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&utm_content=WIR_PaywallSubs_031723_StevenLevy&bxid=5cec28393f92a45b30f3e0cf&cndid=56994891&esrc=AUTO_PRINT&mbid=CRMWIR092120&utm_term=WIR_PaywallSubs_Active

I enjoy a good beer or bottle of wine with friends. I enjoy reading anything, but my favorites are Sci Fi, classics, and books about the apocalypse. Because I can survive in the dirt with just a ball of twine. And my e-reader.

PHILOSOPHY

1. Always buy lemonade. As it pertains to kid's roadside stands, economics, liberty, and fair trade.
2. Success is just failure repeated until it works.
3. "Activism is the rent I pay for living on this planet." -- Alice Walker

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

If I can't travel, I'm willing to host guests, and play tour-guide for our city and state. Especially enjoy hearing the story of their life's journey. I've surfed a little, and hosted and attended activities.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

THIS part is overly long, and you may want to skip over it...

Surfed for two days for an event, just to have fun and meet other surfers. Great time.
-Hosted two surfers from the Netherlands. They were driving down US Route 66, Chicago to LA. I'm jealous.
-another walking across the USA for ST.Jude's Children's Hospital. He's walked from LA to Florida to Maine, so if Mario comes out your way, please offer your couch.
-Three performing artists opening a show here for the inauguration of a new art center.
-One surfer from Nigeria coming to Tulsa for some more surgical training in his last year of med school
-Another getting certified to train tri-athletes. The certification was taking place here because Tulsa is a very athletic sort of place.
-One who never came out of his room. In two days. What's the purpose of traveling in that case?
-A lady traveling for three months for the absorption of world experience, personalities, philosophies, and to get away from the cold north. :)
-Chris from China, here to show us compressed natural gas systems for transportation.
-Two surfers from Australia here just to chase storms. They got Moore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Moore_tornado) than they bargained for.
-Two musicians in town for a short gig.
-Three more musicians from Paris
-A fun young woman from the left coast, who enjoys festivals, and found the Center of the Universe in Tulsa, then continued traveling around the world.
...many more interesting friends...

Interests

Incredible scenery that can only be viewed after walking for a few days in the ---. Fill in the blank. Before my work took me away, I led backpacking trips to some of that scenery, and volunteered for the Sierra Club. I'm retired now, and want to get back out of town. While I'm in town, I garden, read, practice Yoga, cook and work on my house. And spend too much time on facebook.

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: SciFi,
classic literature.
"Sometimes a Great Notion"
"The Good Earth"
Muir's"Wilderness Essays"
"The Art of War"

Recent movies: The Walk, The Best Exotic Goldenrod Hotel, The Intouchables, Chasing Ice, Lincoln, Cloud Atlas, The Big Lebowski

Music of just about any kind. Grew up with jazz, blues, and R and R while playing classical clarinet, and marching in the band. But I like a little bit of country, even a little metal. Can't see what's in hip hop or rap, but I'm coming around. And if you think it's good hip hop or rap, I'd better be able to dance to it or understand the words.

Keep your romance novels and movies, something had better be exploding in it to keep my attention. But I cried in Love Story, so does that make me complex?

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I ran the Olympic torch when the summer trials were held in Oklahoma. I guess my leg of the run was about 1/8th of a mile. That torch gets really heavy while you're holding it over your head and running uphill.

Driving and exploring Oklahoma back roads: On an overcast day, I saw a shaft of light beaming down through the clouds, perfectly spot-lighting an enormous buck deer in an otherwise dark meadow. As if a Bierstadt painting had come to life.

On a trip to Yosemite Valley, we stopped to take a look around King's Canyon Nat'l. Park. We were standing beneath the world's largest living organisms, the giant Sequoia's, and I felt like I was in a great cathedral. It was truly spiritual, and of course I hugged a tree.

I watched a large, black raven circling overhead, then wheel and dive straight down into the Grand Canyon. It dove down and dove down, with its wings folded tightly, gravity taking it, not varying its course, becoming invisibly tiny, and vanished in the depths. I had not planned on hiking down to the bottom until that moment. Within two hours, we had obtained a hiking permit, a large can of pork and beans, and one spoon, and the four of us hiked down to the river and back in two days. We had one backpack and four sleeping bags, and a little water between us. I'd never been so tired or hungry. Or happy.

Teach, Learn, Share

Exactly.

What I Can Share with Hosts

If you want to discover Art Deco architecture, Tulsa is the place, since we have a nationally pre-eminent collection of Art Deco buildings. We are also the center of Route 66, and the home of Cyrus Avery, the "father of Route 66", and they have a great history here. I can give you a tour and history of Art Deco or Route 66, or show you the parks and walks, or good places to dine. Look up "Center of the Universe", and I can take you there.

Countries I’ve Visited

France, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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