Bluemanredland, 77

Blue Man in Deep Red Southwest Virginia.. ..So mostly I keep my head down. No bumper stickers, no yard signs. I didn't
realize how important politics can be in a relationship until I married my Republican wife. Thank God I got away from her before she went tea party.

My name is Tom. I'm 65 years old and semi-retired. I'm divorced from my former wife. I have a daughter, 18, who lives with her mom. Unfortunately, she thinks like her too.

I'm retired from a government job in Washington DC, where I lived most of my life. I'm now self-employed shuttling Appalachian Trail hikers. The trail is nearby and I know a lot about it. Mostly, I drive the hikers to places in the middle of nowhere, where the trail crosses a road.

My primary interest in life has always been trains. Trains are probably in my DNA. I've traveled extensively by train to 44 US states, six Canadian provinces, Mexico, Britain and western Europe. I also have model trains at home. Republicans don't like trains, especially Amtrak, and that's one reason I'm a Democrat.

My other passion is hiking. I'm especially fond of (some might say obsessed with) the Smoky Mountains in TN and NC. Plus I live in an area with vast tracts of national forest land. This hobby has made me a rabid tree-hugger. I was getting letters to the editor published when I was 18 years old, opposing road projects. I've been known to drive 250 miles one way to attend hearings on road projects.

I like country music and oldies from the 50s, 60s and early 70s.

I also like to travel, read, dabble in fiction writing (ask me about my 450-page novel LOL), go to movies, dine out and use the Internet (I do too much of that!).