Date men and women from United States / Alabama / Greenville, 59 year old

Date a man from Greenville, United States. I enjoy/participate in quite a few recreational sports/activities: fly fishing,biking (road and mtn.),hiking,snorkeling,skiing,snow shoeing,kayaking,tennis,gardening, birding, photography are the main ones. I enjoy reading, but mostly nonfiction ( especially periodicals).
I have a masters degree in field biology and ecology; I am somewhat academic..but not in a snobbish way.It's just that I enjoy understanding nature and how it operates. I would be thought of as spiritual, not religious. I guess one would consider nature my religion...so to say. Most would consider me progressive on many political issues. However, I have a number of friends that are anything but that...which often makes for spirited conversations.
I enjoy certain kinds of TV (sports, HBO mini series, news, John Stewart and others of his ilk plus movies of various types).Quality(but sometimes dark or offbeat) humor is a major part of who I am. I love to be playful and tease those I care about. It's really a compliment if I tease you. I would never intentionally be hurtful in teasing and being sarcastic; but, it is something to consider. I am loyal to a fault and am disappointed if I don't receive the same. Mostly however, my family and friends have been there for me...especially most recently.
I count my strengths as: being able to achieve personal goals; maintaining a network of close friends; managing my finances; having good health and fitness; being energetic and engaging; and, intelligent/critical thinker. My weakness include/but are not limited to: the tendency to become impatient and to interrupt; expecting others to reach higher than they might want to; being slightly tardy to social events (we're talking minutes..not hours)and, the tendency to not consider my audience (when speaking) as completely as one should. The latter trait has me either in trouble, just getting out of it, or about to step into it again. Any woman that is easily embarrassed would find it uncomfortable to be around me. Some of my friends say that I enjoy confrontation; that's not how it is. I will deal with confrontational situations, but don't particularly thrive on them. In fact, they are usually bruising; but, I guess I just don't let it show. Because of this attribute, many times I have been called on 'to do the dirty work'.....especially by those who don't have the stomach for it. Like most personality traits, it's definitely a double edged sword. I'm the guy people come to 'geter done' but then feathers usually get ruffled in the process...and I'm in trouble again. I'm thankful my friends have been quite forgiving over the years...and that I still have them as friends.
I live just to the left of nowhere, thus travel is definitely going to be part of the process for me. If there is good reason for us to meet...very little will stop it from happening; but, If you want a conveniently located guy, I'm probably not going to work out for you. I own a beautiful home on 20 acres in a gorgeous valley of the Northern Sierras....w/ 4 distinct seasons. I travel a fair amount but consider myself to be somewhat of a homebody. I have a strong sense of belonging, mostly to a place.
A woman with some or all of the following traits would rate high with me: affectionate (physically,sexually and emotionally...definitely a touchy/feely type); attractive (to me); somewhat athletic; the more intelligent the better (even if this doesn't include a lot of education); someone who has a strong intellectual curiosity and enjoys staying well informed; emotionally strong and relaxed enough to deal with all the baggage I carry (mentioned in above paragraphs); falls deeply and completely in love (and not easily out of love...in other words: makes a real commitment to make a relationship work [ They all take that kind of effort but you will need to recognize this and work to make it good and strong]);..and, with a great sense of humor. The last mentioned trait is probably most important.