While in San Diego two years back to celebrate our anniversary, Sheila twisted wrong and broke a vertebra. The pain pretty much immobilized her, even getting out of bed caused too much pain, so she lived on the living room couch. The surprise arrived when Allie, our cat of 12 years, never left her side. She sensed something was wrong, and stayed on Sheila’s lap or snuggled up against her. I suspected Allie would continue that, but once Sheila healed, Allie went back to her normal cat ways. But about two weeks ago…
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Strange Goals
Early on a cold and rainy morning, Rich and I rode our bikes from Stewart, British Columbia over the bridge into the thriving metropolis of Hyder, Alaska. Population 87 in 2010. An American city who uses Canadian money and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for law enforcement. “Alaska’s Friendliest Ghost Town,” as locals call it. But then, we saw no locals. One nice feature: travelers need no passports to go from Canada to Alaska…only to return…
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image from Harry How, Getty Images
Kobe Lessons
Laker fans first became aware of him when the team traded All Star center Vlade Divac for the right to draft this high school kid as the 13th pick in 1996. I must admit, as much as I admired his basketball skills and drive to excel, his brashness and perceived arrogance put me off. But…
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image from Kevin Wing
Friendly Fire
Rich began riding bikes a few years before me, on a Honda 350. I soon bought a similar one, then Rich moved up to a larger ride, the Harley Super Glide. Yeah, a few decades back. We’d rag on each other’s bikes—Rich defending Harleys, me defending Hondas. Once his wife thought we were ready to break out the fists, but it was a friendly rivalry. Much like the comparison in the pic above of a Harley and a Honda. So when he T-boned me in Blythe, CA, it was accidental, right? We’d…
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Painting by Leilani Strong Smith
Desert Oasis
The bad news arrived in Grants NM, nighttime. Appropriate. In the midst of a two-week bike trip with friends, Jerry and I received word that key family friends and church members had passed. Totally separate events and people, but we each had to abort the ride. The next AM we left Mick and Tom behind and headed the over 700 miles to SoCal across the desert, with temps nearing 118. Beaten by the heat, we stopped for gas in Needles, after 455 miles, with 270 left. I remember …
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image from stevenaitchison.co.uk
What Child is This: A Reconciler
Christmas “split time” in a sense—we date our years from Jesus’ birth. It sparked a worldwide faith. At the core of those changes, we find a Jesus who entered the world to be a reconciler. To bring often radically people together. That had to begin with…
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Check It ALL Out
Last week, Welk Resorts “gifted” us with two free nights—IF we submitted to a one-hour sales presentation. Sheila’s highlight: hitting the shops along El Paseo in Palm Desert on our last day. Yeah, she succumbed to temptation. My highlight: spending those two hours ambling from art gallery to gallery. In the Elena Bulatova Fine Art Gallery, I turned a corner and saw a unique pic of Marilyn Monroe—a crush from my junior high days. I stepped to the center of the painting, and it became…
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image from DeMarcoto
Mean People Suck--But Kindness Works
Not long ago while driving on a traffic-engorged freeway, a red Honda Civic cut in front of me so close I had to slam on my brakes to keep my F150 from ramming him. Yeah, likely lost a number of miles of tread with the skid. And I got close enough to read the sticker on his window: “Mean People Suck.” Honestly, the humor of the hypocrisy mellowed my madness somewhat. Somewhat. About then…
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