I've tried in this little book to tell the more unusual adventures in which I've personally been involved. I've selfishly neglected to tell more about my wonderful family, except where they may have taken part in these happenings. I'm sure those who have taken part will have different versions. I would have liked to see more of our grandchildren, especially lovely Melissa, and Jake, Ben and Darren, all of whom I love dearly as well as Dave and Steve.

I've had a number of good fly fishing trips with son-in-law Ed Zak, DVM, for trout and Atlantic salmon, and he keeps me lavishly supplied with his beautiful hand-tied trout flies.

I haven't written about my youngest sister Marilyn nor my daughter Margaret, for the tears flow too fast.

No attempt has been made to point out the mistakes, lack of foresight and poor judgement that were responsible for some of these adventures - they are all too obvious - and, as grandson Steven once said in a moment of stress - "Well Gramma, nobody's perfect!" Fortunately, they did not lead to many real catastrophes. For what it's worth, my philosophy in life is "BE AN OPTIMIST, DO THE BEST YOU CAN, BE HONEST AND TRUST OTHERS TO DO THE SAME."