Thanks for stopping by.

I’m Fred Mackaman, a retired baby-boomer with too much time on my hands.  Sitting around one day thinking about this and that, one thing led to another and I decided to create a website to spew forth my considerable wit and wisdom.  So here we go.  What could possibly go wrong?

I split my time between Minneapolis, Minnesota and the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota (in Reno Gulch — imagine that).  Occasional journeys elsewhere, with hopes of more to come.

Are we defined by our work — or our former work?  No, but that’s as good a place as any to get a sense of another person’s place in the gene pool.  I’m an educator and a performer.  I’ve done both professionally (37 years teaching high school and middle school, lots of stage time in the theater).  I’m retired from teaching but have a fantastic job as a paraprofessional in a big high school here in the Twin Cities.  I still act and do other freelance speaking/announcing gigs.

And look, ma — I’m a writer.  I must be, because I have a website and these words were actually written by me.  Astonishing.

Full disclosure:  while I get a kick from talking about my website, you’re right — it’s basically a blog.  Not basically, definitely.  But the word blog makes me think of recipes, weight loss tips, political rants, all that wacky stuff that comprises the blogosphere.  So as long as I’m paying for it, I’m going to dress it up the way I like.

 

Why is it called Reno Gulch? —

Reno Gulch is a real place in the Black Hills of South Dakota.   It’s also a danged catchy, easy-to-spell and easy-to-remember name, if I do say so myself.  And imagine my excitement when I discovered no one else had registered the domain name.  Now it’s mine (evil laughter) and I extend my thanks and apologies to all my fine neighbors in Reno Gulch for having appropriated the name and turned it into a dot-com.

Most of the photos on this site are my own shots taken around Minneapolis and in Reno Gulch.  It will be rare that the photos have anything to do with the articles that you read here, but they show you a little of the world I see when I’m out for a walk.  I hope that’s okay.

Thanks for reading.  Feel free to add a comment, question, or suggestion.

Thanks for reading.  Do more real stuff.

Fred

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