My Favorite Retreat Settings in 1978 (I was 12)

10. In our pull-behind camper sitting in our gravel driveway. It was cozy, damp, and had three beds.

9. Shooting basketball alone in my neighbors sloped-narrow-much in need of resurfacing driveway. The ball sometimes would bounce high off the rim and hit the house just below their bathroom window.

8. Riding the Brown Bomber, my 10-speed that could top out 20 mph downhill, no hands!

7. Dad building out back, full of random tools, wood, and other adult stuff that I dared not bother.

6. Our large Maple tree in the backyard. It was really full and very colorful in the Fall.

5. On our rooftop. Yes, I literally climbed up the 20 foot CB tower beside our house and stepped out in faith onto the slick, terribly angled shingles. I loved watching the Hot Air Balloon Race from there. I spied on my brother and sister from there too!

4. Me and my buddies made a cave-like clubhouse with blackberry bushes and other types of twigs and branches. It was like we left civilization when we were in there.

3. My neighbor Tony Lawson's clubhouse that his dad built for him. Here we held concerts, secret meetings, and other boy stuff.

2. The Railroad Tracks. One day, I walked all the way to the bypass from our house using the tracks! It was a long way and I still dream of that journey that my bf Adam Rowe and I took on many other Saturdays.

1. Roger Beam's pine tree. This was the thickest, tallest tree on the street (so it seemed). No one ever knew when I was up there retreating and being alone.