A week or so ago I gave a Facebook update on my skin cancer surgery, that the margins were all clear and the cancer had not spread. In relief, I added, “God is good.” Then I thought of the many friends, some who love God deeply, who currently struggle with very serious cancers and other health issues. For some, death approaches and when is the only question. What about them? I had to add, “And, he would be just as good if the news had been bad, but I do rejoice.” That prompted more pondering, about God and trouble, about the reasons people enter into faith, about...
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Unexpected Consequences
The pic above of a debate trophy represents a hasty decision I made, one motivated by fear and done without knowledge, one that changed the course of my life. Here’s the backstory. Back in junior high, with knees knocking to produce more sound than my voice, I gave an oral report. It...
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image by Josh Garcia
Lamborghini Lessons
My first exposure to Lamborghinis came in college—my roommate Ron Stump brought a mag about it, and I got hooked on the Italian supercar. But I’d never even sat in one, until Sheila gifted me with 7 laps with Exotics Racing at the Fontana Speedway. In a Lambo Gallardo 550. The 550 proclaims the horsepower, it tops out at 200 mph, and scorches 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds. Naturally, I posted a pic and thoughts on Facebook, but the exhilaration transcends the day. Driving home in our slow Honda Accord, I realized the Lambo taught me some lessons. I learned…
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image from HotAir
Making God Smile
While working outside a few days ago, an older praise song came on Pandora, and one line echoed in my mind, a line based on the verse, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD” (Psalm 19:14). Then, during lunch we caught up on the news, with the riot in Charlottesville topping the list. Hateful and vile speech and actions abounded. I wonder if...
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Give a Little
Some of the best experiences of my life have come when I knew enough to compromise. A recent ride with Rich Klinsky, above at Michael’s Restaurant in Taos, provides an example. We go back a long time, growing up at the same church in Long Beach CA, and began riding together as soon as I got a bike 47 years ago. He rides a Harley, I a Honda, but we’re close. Honest. But…
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Free Dive
Sheila adores the beach, and would love to live there. A nice chair, some food and drink for snacking, and the day is great. But the water scared this girl who grew up in Kansas, so she stuck to the sand. Until we visited Kauai and booked a cruise to the Napali Coast. One that featured snorkeling. The captain found an isolated bay, and we geared up. Except for Sheila. That captain and I almost had to force her to try it, and she only agreed if I’d hold on to her. A tough job, but….
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Rio Lucio on Hwy 75
Letting Dreams Go
A trip of memories. A ride with a friend from high school days. Meeting in Taos, my home for two summers and then two years. Delighting in New Mexico sopapillas and stacked enchiladas. Memories of a dream I let go. And the question remains, why? The pic above shows where I stopped along the road in Rio Lucio...
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Let Thomas Alva Do the Work
25 years ago we put in a three foot high retaining wall with railroad ties to hold back a slope at the side of our house, and continued the wall in a single row at the bottom of a less steep slope at the front of the house. But even creosote-soaked ties rot after decades, and we replaced the retaining wall with landscape blocks, leaving the front layer of ties. However, the blocks and ties didn’t match, yet I didn’t want the extra work of removing and disposing of the ties, so I got some matching blocks to put over the ties from a neighbor (thanks Kurt!). Ice plant had grown over many of the ties, sometimes a foot high. More work to cut it back. So I got out my shovel to cut through it, then had an inspiration...
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