On Sunday, August 28, 1988 I went with my parents and brother to an airshow at Ramstein Airbase near Kaiserslautern, Germany. The event was called "Flugtag '88". I didn't know it at the time, but this random Sunday would be a formative one that would
Author's Note: Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals mentioned in these stories. I was wrong. I had made a mistake a few years ago and was now being called out for it by a guy in Switzerland on a random
What happens to the leaves after they turn red and golden and fall away? What happens to the singing birds when they can't sing any longer? What happens to their quick wings?... ~ Mary Oliver, "Roses, Late Summer" Sunday morning, September 6, 2026, 9:51am: I began
All good things must come to an end. ~ English proverb When I was a child, in middle school perhaps, I remember reading L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The copy I had was a hard cover, oversized book with illustrations throughout. As I recall, I got
This past week I had the unique privilege of taking a road trip with my daughter back to Fort Collins, Colorado for her junior year of college. Our journey took two days through six states... roughly 19 hours of driving. As I went to bed the night before our departure,
Face to Face with Deceit I had been taken advantage of... deceived. Anger came, but I discovered sorrow and grief just below the anger. From a certain point of view, this person — this friend of mine — was gone. A stranger now stood in their place. I felt small and naive
In the spring of 2024, my daughter Molly graduated from high school. In August of that same year, she went off to college to attend Colorado State University. The last time I saw her was at a high tea that her mom had put together. All of the immediate family
When my daughter was maybe ten years old or so, she asked me to get her a typewriter. I did what any other dad might do: I found one on Craigslist, rendezvoused with the seller on some random street across town, exchanged what I think was $50 or so for
For the past few months, I've had the distinct privilege of playing on a coed, rec league softball team. As it so happens, I've been serving as the team's primary pitcher over the course of the last several weeks. Not to say that I&
I've been meeting with a group of guys for a beer just about every Monday evening for the past several years. We meet, chat for a bit about nothing in particular, and then we all go our separate ways to tackle our respective weeks. There's a
Several weeks ago, during a brief quiet moment in the office, my co-worker Austin turned to me and asked, "What do you think of the name Lance?" I think the initial thought that ran through my mind as the words of that question landed in my ears
I used to take delight in capturing photographs of majestic mountains, juxtaposed against a foreground of evergreen trees with a backdrop of deep blue skies. I would take hikes in the North Cascades in the summertime, intent on capturing the unique beauty I am afforded only a few hours from