I never realized tuning a guitar had such complicated principles behind it! Of course, my tonal ability ranks with a paramecium, or likely lower, but this site, one that described how the right tension is set for a guitar string, based on the type of guitar, the style of playing, the diameter of the string, the amplitude of vibration and more, amazed me with the technical details. To summarize it, though, the correct and appropriate tension on a string allows beautiful music to be played by an excellent guitarist. But proper tuning requires…
Read MoreInvading Space
We checked into our timeshare in Sedona last July, got settled in, then headed to happy hour at our favorite place, Enchantment Resort, with an awesome view of a red stratified sandstone cliff. In the cool freshness of the next morning, I got up well before Sheila and carried my coffee and a cinnamon raisin bagel to our patio, sitting back and checking out our surroundings, only to see these two trees who had invaded each other’s space. Maybe twenty feet away and one third enmeshed in one another. A juniper on the left, likely a camphor on the right. Two different species, yet connected. They had grown into one another’s space and…
Read MoreListen to Your Body
Well-meaning friends and family warned me of the pain and difficulties that follow a total knee replacement, and I took them to heart. Desiring to regain a functional knee, I committed to doing the physical therapy, to keep ahead of the pain with drugs, and to not push too much. Two hours after surgery, they had me strolling to the bathroom with a walker for support and balance. I would continue to rely on that walker. Until I didn’t. Just four to five days after my April 1 surgery, I pushed the walker ahead of me from my living room recliner to the kitchen sink, grabbed a travel cup to get water to hydrate, then moved to the spigot at the refrigerator.
Then, to my total and unplanned surprise, I noticed…
Read MoreThe Fallen Cross
This week, the cross outside our church fell. Not because of a storm, not because someone hit it—but because the wood at the foundation had slowly rotted away. On the surface, it still looked like a strong symbol of faith. But underneath, it was decaying—and eventually, that hidden weakness brought it down.
That’s a picture of cultural Christianity. It can look like faith on the outside…
Read MoreHow Far Will You Follow?
When we moved back to our hometown of Temecula some years back, we enjoyed savoring the flavors of local churches. Some pretty large, some pretty small, some in the middle, but the message at Oakstone Community Church caused me to think. Quite a bit. The text began with 2 Timothy 1:1, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God…” but then the pastor pointed out the difference from Paul’s first letter to Timothy, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the command of God…”
A change of just one word, but…
Read MoreA Nevada Mesa
Historians delight in their mantra, “The only absolute is change.” Ya gotta admit, change has become omnipresent, and fast. Ever think about analyzing if progress is progress? Let’s do that.
Read MoreNeed a Savior?
Upon deciding on a total knee replacement, the amount of details to prepare for it astounded me: exercises, medications, getting a driver for two 45 mile trips to the Kaiser hospital in Riverside and other appointments and activities—no driving while taking oxycodone. And the horror stories arrived—incredible, unimaginable pain for months.
So I began strategizing, and got it organized. Even the rehab equipment. I planned the yard work that needed to be done before the surgery, including mowing our lawn the day before they chiseled my knee out. Then spring arrived, and I soon realized…
Read MoreCars Differ: So Do We
After my seven laps in the Lamborghini at Exotics Racing, we pulled into the pits, and we debriefed, and I asked Megan about her favorite car at the track. Immediately she smiled, “The Porsche GT3.”
I asked why, and she replied, “It’s a driver’s car. I feel more at home in it.” That led me to research some of their differences.
The Lambo slightly edges…
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