Mal: A Pictorial Autobiography
If the objective of this selfie challenge is to tell you a little about myself, limiting my photo selection to just eight images made it… well, a challenge.
As I say in my introductory article for Mal’s World…
Around town I’m known as Steve Ford, but in the blog-o-sphere I’m known as MalamuteMan, or simply Mal.
“What’s the deal with Malamutes?”, you ask. I’ve always had a strong affinity for wolves, and Malamutes are about the closest thing to a wolf you’ll find in a domestic dog. The two photos above are of me and my first dog, Saudi, a Malamute / German Shepard mix. In the image on the left (c. 1973) we are sitting on top of Ord Mountain in the Mojave desert… Saudi is only a couple of months old. On the right, Saudi and I are having a “howl-in” outside my tipi situated on a piece of land I bought on South Whidbey Island… That was only a day or so before Saudi died (c. 1985).
On the left is me on a trike in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (c. 1953-ish). I had a little trouble with that vehicle as I could only just barely reach the peddle at the top of it’s stroke. I was born in Dhahran, and lived there until I was almost six (my dad was a geologist for Aramco Oil). On the right is me in the Sumner (WA) Triton Triathlon (c. 1982).
On the left is me doing my best Cub Scout salute in Manila, The Philippines (c. 1959). After leaving Dhahran, I lived in Manila for about three years. On the right is a photo taken by my first girlfriend (c. 1974). We were sitting in my tipi which was set up in my back yard in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle. See if you can guess what that thing in the lower right corner of the image is.
On the left is me (c. 1998-ish) holding Kibo, my second dog, a purebred Malamute. There is a great story that goes with Kibo, but I just hit my eight photo limit, so that story will have to go in another chapter. On the right is me hiking in the Italian Dolomites (c. 2009). I only included that image because it is somewhat contemporary. While there is nothing terribly noteworthy in this image, the hike in the Dolomiti was absolutely spectacular, and if you’re interested, I have a good general description here, and a very detailed document with instructions, maps, and pretty much everything you would need to replicate what we did, here.
So in summary, this chapter touches on some of the places I’ve lived, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, the Mojave desert, and the Pacific Northwest.
