Only a few of Morgan’s paintings have left his possession over the years. He says he’s always been a little self-conscious about his work

“If someone likes a painting of mine, it really boosts my ego,” he said. “Although I worry about their ability to see good paintings.”

Morgan also is a bit of a writer and he has sheafs of neatly hand-written prose and poems reflecting on himself.

“I’d like to live long enough to write something fairly short, to the point, of what I think is possible to happen to the world,” he said, adding that he’s worried about environmental and climate changes that are threatening to distort the landscapes he paints.

“This may sound way out of my abilities, no doubt it is. ... Being a geographer has a lot of burden on it. I’m quite ignorant when it comes to the world. But certain aspects of the world and its people I know very well, and I worry about it.”

Morgan, who never learned to type, said he’s concerned many people are losing purpose in the technology-filled world.

“I’m happy to see young folks with a cause; looking forward to something is a complete necessity,” he said. “I try to practice that. To have something that I’m looking forward to, to accomplish something, to paint something, you’ve got to have something to look forward to. When you begin to not have something to look forward, what’s the purpose. There’s got to be purpose in your life.”

When he takes a moment to reflect on his life, the good, the bad, the best moments and the nightmares, Morgan says it’s all part of who he is.

“I’ve had a very interesting life,” he said, looking from the warm light of his living room to the cool blue light of a setting winter sun outside. “And I thank God every day for it.”