Planes, Trains, and Pigeons

Throughout our childhood, my brother cultivated his prodigious intellect and curiosity into many hobbies, almost all of which I piggybacked on as a casual player, concentrating as much on the subject at hand as an (undiagnosed) ADD kid could. Truthfully, even if I could set still for ten minutes, I just didn’t have the kind of mind that could bear down into the subjects like Terry could. Off the top of my head, I will list in chronological order, the interests Terry pursued over our childhood, and beyond: Revel brand plastic model car and plane building, (with lots of attention to hand painted detail), HO model train sets, with homemade lichen trees and cars and buildings, rock and mineral collecting, with the collection neatly arranged on a plywood top in a shed in our Paramount, Ca. backyard, pigeon raising, (I’m amazed he got that one through the parent gauntlet), photography, including developing his own film in a darkroom built in our shared bedroom closet, Heathkit brand owner built stereo kits, I’m not sure if he built one or more, but I’m pretty sure he took one to college in Berkeley, and it was through that magic machine that I first heard Jimi Hendrix, Terry had raved about him, and Purple Haze lived up to my brother’s hype. As we move into Terry’s adult life, I can recall Timber Frame house building, his biggest and most ambitious project (just ask Susan), winemaking, beermaking, wine grape growing, pickling, pizza making, and always an abiding love of 60’s rock, with a detailed memory of obscure Bay Area bands…like Blue Cheer and Moby Grape. I recall he was tickled by the name of the band “Jesus Christ and the Pineapples”, but I couldn’t find them in a quick google search…but…who cares? That band name made him grin. I’m disappointed my brilliant and talented brother never got into custom leather shoecraft, because, if he had, I could be looking at my feet right now and thinking warm heartedly of him. But that’s okay, bro, you managed all those hobbies while working full time, helping to raise three boys, and doing lots of cooking and auto maintenance. Oh, and you introduced me to mountain biking, which I did stick with and love even today. Now that I’ve written this, I’m not surprised my dear brother was a bit worn out by his 70’s. Anyway, Terry was always confident in his own direction, and I’m going to go with the notion that something in him decided it was time to travel on. So long brother, and thanks for letting your little brother tag along.

Joe B.