Date men and women from United States / Arizona / Flagstaff, 74 year old

Date people from United States. I'm a retired music professor, symphony conductor and pianist, now a nationally certified professional dog trainer and all-around animal lover; hiker, camper, cocktail pianist, writer, carpenter, tinkerer, pilot (ret.), classic movie collector and computer programmer. I love transporting rescued dogs to new homes. Lately I've been helping train and rehabilitate two heartbreaking horses. I'm taking horseback riding lessons and falling in love with every horse I see.
I am:
independent
creative
eccentric
curmudgeonly
irreverent
open
self motivating
generous
critical thinker
articulate
ethical
obsessive
literate
reveling roisterer at Burning Man
couch potato watching classic movies at home
impetuous
sentimental
judgmental
soft-hearted
reliable
casual
intense
low brow
high brow
not cool
eclectic
spontaneous
flexible
stubborn
sardonic
idealistic
analytical
funny
Things I love: my children and grandchildren; dogs and horses; scintillating company; alone time; my computer; hiking in the mountains, in the woods or on the beach; reading great detective writers; classical music, jazz, country, The Great American Song Book; NPR; Esalen; studying and learning; playing cocktail piano; classic movies; TV (mystery, drama, comedy, PBS or news); travel; touching and being touched; discussing current events; good grammar; quiet evenings at home; fine (or not so fine) red wines.
Sorry, I’m not interested in golf, watching sports (except tennis and the Olympics), dog shows, Kim Kardashian (whoever that is), reality TV, shopping, rock and roll, rap, fishing, hunting.
Pet peeves: people who say "like;" ideologues left or right; smug ignorance; dressing up; macho men and timid women; “ladies” and “gentlemen”; being manipulated or pushed; misplaced apostrophe's; guns; rodeos, horse racing and bullfights; the gratuitous cruelty of Cesar Millan (the so-called "Dog Whisperer”), superficial cocktail party chitchat; political correctness, conformity, convention, prudishness, propriety.
Favorite quotes:
"Nothing is worth more than this day" (Goethe), "My idea of good poetry is any dog doing anything" ( J Allen Boone), "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" (Emerson);
“Go for long walks, indulge in hot baths, question your assumptions, be kind to yourself, live for the moment, loosen up, scream, curse the world, count your blessings, just let go, just be.” (Carol Shields);
“I yam what I yam.” (Popeye).
At my core: In the nineties I used to sleep in a tent in Dog Town at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, with a variety of dogs wandering in and out all night, sometimes to share my sleeping bag. My favorite job there was poop scooping because I could work for fifteen minutes and play with a pack of dogs for thirty. I came to love and learn from those magnificent, natural, in-the-moment, sweet, trusting, accepting, faithful, sometimes fear-aggressive, sometimes confident, always pure and innocent creatures. Between dogs and nature I found a religion that mattered to me: a connection to the earth and to eternity. I have been rescuing abused and abandoned dogs ever since.
My ideal match? Warm, eccentric, spontaneous, concerned for all animals but can’t live without dogs, devoted to animal rescue, honest, open, sexy, free-spirited, informal, kind, keen intellect and graduate degree in an academic subject, music knowledge/performance experience, critical thinker, generous, hooked on TCM, cultivated and colorful writer and speaker, curious, bold and playful, quick, offbeat, whacky, ribald sense of humor, originality, passion, competence, sensuality, tolerance for my foibles, love of travel, a trim body for vigorous mountain hikes, a lively sense of adventure.
Most important: If you had to decide whom to pull into a life raft, me or your dog, I hope that would be an agonizing decision. If so, perhaps we should talk.