Thomas Kenneth James Haase

I was raised on a small farm in rural Missouri. There was over eighty acres of woods and a creek that ran through the middle of the farm. Spring, Summer and Fall I would fall asleep to the sounds of the animals and insects that lived in those woods. In my mind as a youth each sound would become a character and I would fall asleep making up stories about what they were doing.

My brother John and I would often lay out in the front yard and stare up at the night sky. We could see the milky way and all the millions of dots of light that filled the night sky. The farm was a place where a young man could dream. Then when I was thirteen my dad was transferred to Oklahoma City.

Now the sounds I had always known were replaced with cars and people. Even though we lived in a suburb, none of the sounds I had always known were there at night. The sounds of the forest had been replaced by cars and people. Music drifting through the air from an open window, or a passing car. The night sky was just black, the light from the nearby city being too bright for the stars to shine. The stories I made up at night as I slept became darker.

When I was seventeen, I got the opportunity to go and live and work on a pineapple farm in Maui, Hawaii. I had never seen the ocean before this trip and now it was all around me. It was an amazing experience the first time I glanced over while working and saw whales swimming in the ocean. When I wasn’t working, I got to spend time snorkeling and learning about the world that existed under the surface.

When I left Hawaii and went home to Oklahoma, I found that I was very restless. I went to the family farm outside of Pierce City, Missouri. Returning to the farm was hard to do at this point in my life, I found I was still restless. I decided to hitchhike from Joplin, Missouri to Boulder Colorado. I met a few interesting people on that trip. I eventually found my way back to Missouri, but now I was an adult and life costs money. I began to seek employment. I had a few different jobs working construction, then I worked in a cheese plant in southwest Missouri for a year. During this time, I was often thinking about getting a better education.

I decided to go to college and applied for scholarships. I earned a scholarship for college that took me to East Texas. That scholarship helped me to earn a Bachelor of Science in Theatre from Texas A &M University-Commerce and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of North Texas. I now live in El Paso, Texas where I teach theatre at a local high school and film appreciation at the local community college.

My time spent as an educator has been very fulfilling. I have also in my spare time tried out skydiving, logged a few hours of pilot lessons, spent six years coaching wrestling and found that I really like scuba diving. I am now a PADI certified Divemaster which allows me to help with beginning scuba classes. I find myself floating underwater imagining stories for the different sights and sounds that I experience.

I often hear people talk about fear. They say they have never known fear. I remember the first time I was afraid. I was collecting eggs on the farm I was six and my parents would let me drag around this old machete wherever I went. When I stepped into the hen house a huge black snake reared its head up out of one of the nests. I was so frightened I must have cut that snake into thirty pieces before I stopped chopping.

I was embarrassed to tell my father I had been afraid when I saw the snake. He told me everyone is afraid at some point, it’s what you do when you’re afraid that matters. I think those became words to live by for me.

When I can I travel and have had the opportunity of visiting England, Spain and Japan. These chance to see other communities and cultures are great experiences that I grow from. When I can’t travel I still fall asleep dreaming, and travel in my thoughts.