First and foremost, I wanted to be a pilot; specifically, a Naval Aviator. Well, one trip too many on the ski slopes put an end to that. Ripped my ACL to shreds and couldn’t get in. But I became a pilot anyway; I hold Airplane and Helicopter ratings. It would be nice to do it as a job, though.
I also wanted to be an Oceanographer. In elementary school we would take field trips to The Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Since I lived in San Diego, there were also occasional outings with my family or friends to Sea World. I loved the Jaques Cousteau documentaries! Of course, I never did become an oceanographer; but I did get my PADI and NAUI certifications. Now that I’m living in an area with awesome marine environments, I may have to get back into it. (And I’ll have to look into a drysuit!)
Geology has always been fascinating. I remember when I was in kindergarten, and I was looking at a world map. I saw that South America and Africa seemed as if they would fit together, and hypthesized that they did at one time and somehow drifted apart. This was before they taught about plate techtonics in school. When I finally did hear about plate techtonics, I said to myself “Aha! I was right!”
I learned to fly over the Mojave Desert. I think most people are familiar with that region as a place they have to drive through to get to Las Vegas. I’ve heard people complain that it’s a boring drive. Humbug! It’s a beautiful drive! And a beautiful flight, from just a few thousand feet in the air. Viewed from aloft, you can see the patters of the flow of water. (I always found it amusing, from my God’s Eye View, to see houses built in flood plains. What are they thinking?) You can see mountains of rock being revealed as the sand is washed or blown away from them. You can see for miles, and miles, and miles, and miles.
On the ground you can see more detail. People think the desert is all brown, but it has wonderful colours. The rocks are brown, grey, red, black, white, yellow… many variations! There’s the green of the sparse grasses and the sage, or the yellow of the same. Flowers bloom purple or yellow or white or red. Dry lake beds shine bright in the sun, and the sky is blue, blue, blue. And people say it’s dull! Oh, to be able to study that environment!
Filmmaking. It’s hot or cold, hard, dirty work with long days and little (if any) pay. I’ve roasted in New Orleans summers, and I’ve been chilled on winter mornings at the beach (Okay, it’s not that cold at the beach; but it’s still a little brisk) and been frozen on pre-dawn mornings in the High Desert Winters. When you flip the switch on the camera as the cinematographer and hear the film running, or you get a heartfelt “thank you” when you’re working as a grip, it’s a gratifying thing. You get the film back from processing, and see it for the first time, and you think about how you’re going to put it all together. You laugh at some of the shots, and you remember amusing things or problems that happened during others. Your house fills up with equipment. I absolutely love filmmaking.
So I wanted to be a pilot, oceanographer, geologist and filmmaker. I’ve achieved a couple of those things, although not professionally (except for occasional pay for filmmaking). But I still have lots of time to pursue everything before I grow up!
So how about you?