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About Warren Augustus Neun Light

In my years I have raised cattle & poodles in Illinois; put up hay; taught mathematics; calibrated oscilloscopes in Hawaii; worked to create cosmic rays; detonated thermal nuclear devices in Nevada; calculated precise satellite orbits; worked to keep airplanes from colliding; and supported energy traders in Texas.
I have worked for the DOE, the DOD and the DOT.
As a founding member of the Birdseye Boys, I have backpacked extensively in the Grand Canyon, Zion Canyon, and the Spring Mountains of Nevada.
I have lived in 22 different postal locations - from Hawaii to New Jersey and from Florida to Oregon.
I am married to the same wonderful woman that I met in 1966. We have two boys, and three grand children.
Hunot House, St. Louis, Mo. I started out as a kid growing up in St. Louis in the fourties. By school age, I was selling newspapers on West Pine street. We lived in the Hunot House on West Pine, less that a block from St. Louis University. My first schooling was in the care of the nuns of St. Francis of Assisi Grade School (right next to the University).
In the summer, Pop would hitch a small, open trailer onto the back of the old Merc, and the family would go camping throughout rural Missouri - gypsy style. The stated goal was to visit every spring in Missouri.
Cabin in Door County, 1959 Later, we purchased forty acres of woods and wetlands in Door Co., Wisconsin. The tract had a nineteenth century trapper's log cabin nesteled in the spruce trees. Every Summer was our long trek from the St. Louis heat, taking old highway 66 towards our Wisconsin paradise. There were years when we would stay here for two months and more. Our little place in heaven was called Bonnie Dunes.
Nearby Beach "Big Sandy" beach on Lake Michigan. The trail from our log cabin was "paved" with sun-hot sand. As a kid, I would run bare-footed through the hot parts and stop in the shade to "cool my heels" - and toes! Long walks on the beach in the early morning were a special treat.
Home on Range Line Farm, Illinois In my thirteenth year, we moved to the family farm in Central Illinois where I put aside my city ways and began learning how to put up hay, drive a tractor, and become "self-reliant". I learned to raise horses, cattle, and French poodles. I eventually learned how to contract field work and hire laborers.
The North Forty in Winter Winter could be cold and harsh. One of my regular Wintertime chores was to punch holes in the ice with a heavy iron bar. This was to allow the animals access to water.
Saddle Up I bought a quarter-horse mare and Pop named her Texes. With a few neighbor boys and their horses, Texes and I would ride hard and rough over the prairie. Many times we would use a saddle. I learned to shoot, cut, and rope, from that saddle. (Texes didn't like the shooting.)
Cutting Loose Texes did like to play in the water. Sometimes we would swim together in the gravel quarry. Here, we are cutting up at the McLean County fair.
A Low-Budget Project As a founding member of the Twin City Amateur Astronomers, I began to learn about the Universe in which we live. Here, my home-made telescope is setup to show a partial eclipse of the sun.
After graduation, I began a three year period of teaching Mathematics.
Linda and Warren 1967 In 1967, Linda and I joined in holy matrimony. We've enjoyed making our marrage work for over thirty years now.
Warren in Dress Blues The war in Vietnam loomed heavily in those days. Eventially, I joined the Air Force. It took us to San Antonio (Lackland), Denver (Lowery), Albuquerque (Kirtland) and Honolulu (Hickam) -- but never to 'Nam. I was very fortunate.
Warren at PMEL My specialty was Precision Measurement Equipment, and this photo was taken of me in the PME Lab at Lowrey AFB near Denver.
Self Portrait I took this shot in our house trailer in Albuquerque.
Our first boy was born in an Army hospital in Sandía Base at Albuquerque. Our second boy was born in Tripler Naval Hospital overlooking Pearl Harbor. We lived in a little shack only a short walk from Eva Beach. Every week-end was a small vacation. I completed my four years in the Air Force while we were in Hawaii.
I found employment at Fermilab, near Chicago. Here I began to renew my Mathematics and Physics.
Warren Light in Zion NP While living in Las Vegas, I greatly expanded my hiking experience. Besides the nearby Mt. Charleston, there were Zion and Grand Canyon National Parks. This photo was taken on Horsethief Plateau, Zion N.P. I'm the good guy in the white hat.
On Hermit's Trail My first experience in the Grand Canyon was hiking the Hermit's Trail. It's a hard trail, and we had to pick our way through some rock falls that obliterated sections of the trail.
Enroute to Hance Creek We have a dry camp ahead for tonight. Must carry water -- at eight pounds per gallon.
Tonto East The trail thins here.

Activities that I enjoy

Linda and I are "empty nesters" now that both of our boys have set out on their own.

I have lived in all of these locations:

Maybe we've found a home in Houston. I got my boots 'n hat. Howdy, Y'all!

Gisors
Copyright © 1996-2006 Warren Neun Light    warren@neun.com