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 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…
Read MoreChanging Our Past?
My Lambo drive changed me, increasing my love of speed, and I couldn’t help but wonder: if I had tried this when younger, could I have made it in sports car racing? I passed a younger guy in a more powerful car on the track. My dad held the Cannonball Run championship. Yeah, the train had left the station, 71 was to old to end retirement. But 50 years earlier…Ever wonder the same?
Read MoreDon't Trust Your Experiences
For about four years, one night each week I’d head east from Oxnard to Newbury Park on Potrero Road, the old Conejo Grade, much was steep and winding with fine curves…ideal for my Mustang ragtop. Returning uphill at 10 PM, Potrero had no traffic at all, and I could let the Mustang be the sports car Ford designed. When approaching a curve, I let off the gas to decrease my speed…braking while turning doesn’t give you optimal control. No one ever caught or passed me on that road, and I felt pretty confident about my cornering, until…
Read MoreTrust Yourself
Exotics Racing started with some classroom tips on driving our beasts, including that another car would be on the course with us and we could pass or be passed, cornering, paddle shifting, and how a trained instructor would sit side by side telling me what to do…or not do. All was new, and I checked out the competition, who would be fastest? All were younger, by far. This would be my first ride in a true supercar, on a 1.8-mile track with 8 turns. I had dreamed of driving a Lambo for decades, but felt quite intimidated. Certainly didn’t want to embarrass myself.
They told us…
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