Category: Daily Life

June 16, 2014 In the “Golden Ticket,” I told you about my continuing quest for the perfect sleep while backpacking. (That was two blogs back and needs to be read first to make any sense of this one.) My air mattress has to be light enough to pack for several days or weeks. Maybe even months—who knows? But it also has to be comfortable and, most importantly, wide enough for both my elbows. The fact is, I never did actually use my new birthday Klymit Static V sleeping pad. Shortly after trying it out on …

June 5, 2014 You may have thought your Memorial Day festivities were great. Maybe even exciting. See if you still think so after you read about mine. Now, you’re probably thinking I’m going to wow you with a tale of some exotic and dangerous hike or a family reunion with a long-lost relative. OK—so it wasn’t that exciting, but . . . We spent the holiday with my father-in-law in Xenia. I kicked the day off with The Grillin’. It’s big stuff when a guy gets to do anything with propane. Bonnie and her dad …

December 23, 2013 My brain reached its saturation point fifteen years ago; unfortunately, it was about five years before my retirement date. Lesson plans, parent activities in the evenings, organizing the yearly Mary Ingles Festival in town—my plate was piled so high that I couldn’t keep track of everything in the heap. So I did what Bonnie does to maintain her sanity: I made a to-do list. I recoiled at the idea at first. It seemed much more adventurous just to deal with life as it happened. But I could see that I couldn’t put …

August 22, 2013 I had a lot to reflect on as I hung up the phone after a difficult, but enlightening, conversation with a good friend recently. To protect his privacy, I’ll refer to him as Job. The name seems to fit in regards to events transpiring in his life this summer. For example, a few weeks ago three police officers approached him in a city park for questioning. Two ladies observing people in the park had made a false, and obviously ridiculous, accusation against him. After the police questioned all parties, including members of …