WHO IS . . .
The Algarve Owl?
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WHO IS . . . |
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The Algarve Owl? |
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The young owl
According to my aunts, I’ve been asking questions since I could talk: I was known to my family as ‘the professor’, wanting to know ‘what?’ and ‘how’ things worked, for example. So it could be that my quest for truth is an inherent part of me. I was always a bit of a loner at school, preferring to observe than to participate, all the time I see now, trying to make sense of . . . well, reality!
Learning to think
With a solid education at a 'good school' (MSC Brackley) and respected university (Bangor, Wales, then called UCNW) my brain was further encouraged to analyse and reason, to store facts and to absorb knowledge. So much so, that when I did leave college I joined Mensa!
However, all was not not totally left-brain: at uni I found I enjoyed singing and acting: folk clubs and Gilbert & Sullivan:and so I started to explore feelings and emotions . . . and to express myself. Is this not why most of us go away to college: to feel some freedom and start to be ourselves?
Tigger & Pooh
When I eventually stopped living with my parents (at the tender age of 29!) I became known (it's a long story) as ‘Tigger’ . . . and I explored my freedom a bit more. . . and became a Morris dancer and panto performer. The Tao of Pooh became a firm favourite as I began looking for wisdom rather than facts and figures.
Something more
In 1987 a couple of things happened which shocked me out of my rational mind and content, if rather lonely, bachelor existence: the girl I fancied and was chasing after at the time, told me to 'piss off' . . literally. I was so stunned I started to realise that, well, perhaps there was something wrong with me. I'd started my real quest: for truth.
I also found that I could dowse: I could divine broken bones, water . . . even a bug in an early computer programme! And so began an exploration of all things psychic, spiritual, mythical and New Age. I began asking more serious questions, like 'who am I?' and 'what am I?' . . . and making a conscious effort to 'sort myself out' . . . to find really love in my life. I knew now that logic . . . and things we're taught, don't have all the answers.
In parallel with all this I was employed by Plessey (later GEC-Marconi) at their research lab near Towcester exploring what makes electronic things reliable and how to integrate Quality Management systems into useful tools for Health & Safety and Environmental control (for example). Such topics took me to conferences and standards meetings around the world. All great experiences and wonderful ways to expand the mind. (See here for my CV)
Flying the roost
Until this time I'd always thought I'd continue to live in the Northamptonshire villages I'd been brought up in, with their lovely pubs and canals to walk along, for the rest of my life. But what did I know?
In 2002 I met Liz and we, as new couples often do, gave each other our terms of affection: I became ‘The Owl’. Thus, when we moved to the Algarve in 2005 I became The Owl of the Algarve. Indeed our first stay in this wonderful part of Portugal was at a Quinta de Coruja – Owl cottage:
And so my unique combination of genes and upbringing, Leo nature and probably a few other inherent factors, have brought me where I am today.
In many ways I'm just an ordinary bloke. What might make me different is that, for some reason, I never got quite so caught up in the 'normal' things of childhood (like football!) or of becoming a family man. Instead I gave myself time to step back . . . and see the world (and myself) for what we are. It is this broader and deeper perspective on life that The Algarve Owl relies on in his work. So if you're feeling that perhaps you've been missing something or that there's more to (your) life (or work), I may well be able to help you. I look forward to doing so.
