Musings
The Big Dipper
It has been a rough few weeks for my family, so I want to tell you a story. When I was young, we used to go to a place called Spring Lake Amusement Park. The park is gone now. It wasn’t in great shape when we went there, but it was still a magical place. There…
Read MoreJust The Facts Ma’am
Actually, Jack Webb’s ‘Joe Friday’ character (in the popular 50’s TV series “Dragnet”) typically used the phrase “All we want are the facts, ma’am” (and sometimes “All we know are the facts ma’am”) when questioning women in the course of police investigations. Dragnet was acclaimed for its attention to detail and realistic portrayal of the…
Read MoreA Fork In The Road
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. In the poem “The Road Not Taken” (1916), Robert Frost is confronted with two paths in the woods that appear similar, and he chooses to walk down one (maybe the more challenging),…
Read MoreKing of the Forest
What makes a King out of a slave? Courage. What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage. What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage. That is courage according to the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz.…
Read MoreAll You Need Is Love
John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Beatles were most likely wrong about many things, but when they wrote these lyrics to “All You Need Is Love,” they got it right. There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung Nothing you can say, but you can…
Read MoreToxic Avenger
I am a huge fan of lists—if they are lists of things that need to get done. It gives me great satisfaction to cross things off as they are completed. I am not a fan of lists that give “x” steps to “y.” Steps you should take, things to avoid, habits to make—lists that tend…
Read MoreIn God We Trust
“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend -them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors. They purchased them for us with toil, and danger, and expense of treasure and blood,…
Read MoreThe Simple Genius of Enjoyment
In 1915, Albert Einstein was living in Berlin and working on his theory of general relativity while his estranged wife tended his two sons in Vienna. In a short note to his 11-year-old son Hans, we see Einstein in a less familiar light—that of a caring father who uses forceful simplicity to offer young Hans…
Read MoreHungry Ghosts
Sitting in view of a spectacular mountain, sipping coffee, I find my mind wandering to things I want. How is that possible? How could I be dissatisfied in this moment, in this place? Let me share some thoughts inspired by Jessica Semaan’s article “The Hungry Ghost and Always Wanting More.” Buddhists often leave food on…
Read MoreRocky Mountain High
I write this sitting at the dining room table in a house on the side of the mountain in Breckenridge. We are on vacation. Rest. Relaxation. Family time. This is the fifth year we have driven to Colorado with my parents to spend a week in the mountains. My father likes the cool temps and the…
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