Outskirts Press, INC.

“I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my guide and my refuge.” —Baha’i Prayers

Richard Young’s mother used to say that when you had a problem, it was time to “put on your thinking cap.” Even when you’re just living your life, following daily habits and routines, something often happens to mess things up. Then you either give up and suffer or think of alternatives. Sometimes the alternatives are better anyway! Put on Your Thinking Cap follows Richard as he goes from working the night shift at a pea cannery in high school to studying music in Germany as a young college student from Oregon with only a few coins in his pocket—a city where he knew no one and barely spoke German—to a full university-sponsored European tour, and eventually becoming a music teacher. This memoir is filled with one man’s activities, all accompanied by life’s difficulties—but all of them became adventures!