Bill Johnson:  

2012 (2022 update below) Right after graduation I went into the Navy - smartest thing I’ve ever done! What a hoot that was!! I had no idea what I wanted to do after high school and figured a four-year stint would give me a chance to figure it out. I learned a lot of things in the Navy, not least of which what true, honest friendship is. I’m pleased beyond description to have maintained a couple of those friendships all these years later. After being honorably discharged I still had no clue what I wanted to do. I worked at a ski area for a winter before wandering into a job working a graveyard shift as a security guard for the Coast Guard in downtown Seattle, going to school at GRCC during the day. Ironically, it was Jim Miller’s dad who helped me get that job, and, as it turns out, set me on the path to where I am today (but that’s another story). Anyway, after about 2½ years of that, I took a job with the Forest Service working in fire management on the Mt. Hood Natl. Forest. Another screamin’ good time!! Then in 1982 I took a leave of absence from the FS and joined the Peace Corps, serving on the island of Montserrat in the Eastern Caribbean. After successfully completing my tour with the Peace Corps, I went back to work for the FS on the Mt. Hood where I continued to work in fire until my knee gave out. It killed me to get out of fire - I loved that work and that life, but just couldn’t do it anymore. So, in 1990 I transferred to the FS regional ecology program in Bend Oregon. I got to keep my fingers in fire, but began working with it from a different perspective, participating in various fire related studies across Central Oregon. But I always maintained contact with the fire community, and in 2002 went back “home” to fire management as a Sub-Regional Fire Planner. Now, I have to say that shortly after transferring to Bend, I began contra dancing. And while that may sound like a ho-hum sort of thing, it really opened up a whole new world/circle of friends for me. I have soooo much fun contra dancing! And so it was that in 2007 at a dance camp east of Eugene I met the woman who would finally become my wife - we were married about 18 months ago. She broke my ribs at that dance, but again, that’s another story. Anyway, we did the long-distance thing (she worked for the state of Oregon in Salem) until six months after we got married. You know, I love my life! It’s been one big, evolving adventure since I got out of high school. Another of those big evolutions rolled around early in 2009 when I was diagnosed with lymphoma. Now, that’s not the kind of adventure we seek or wish for others, but it’s an adventure none the less. Without going into details, all things considered, I consider myself extraordinarily fortunate. Today, the most noticeable sign that I had that adventure is that my hair didn’t come back the way it was before the chemo. Phbbtttt – that’s nothin’!! And so here we are. My wife retired from her job last summer, sold her house and moved to Bend only to be uprooted again six months later when I transferred to Boise, Idaho. I’m gonna tell you, my wife and I both met at the right time in our lives. Once again, the adage “timing is everything” strikes home. Anyway, after all that time working for the FS I took a job with the Dept. of Interior’s Office of Wildland Fire (OWF). In looking back at jobs I’ve had and organizations I’ve worked for, I have to say this is quite different from anything I’ve ever experienced or been exposed to, forcing me to look at the world from a very different perspective. Soooooo - I’ve had a great life. And while the only person from high school I’ve kept in touch with is Steve Hunt (aka in some circles as Captain Bizarre), I’m looking forward to our 40-year reunion. I look at it as something of a base line and hope everybody has done well and is as happy with their life as I am. Spring 2022 And so, ten...Expand for more