Our lives are incredibly rich because our experiences, conversations, and thoughts take place in many different layers. I like the visual image of an onion, which is composed of concentric layers. As we dive deeper in the onion we encounter new layers. What are the...

For 14 years I was a firefighter in Genesee Fire Rescue. The last 2 years I served as Fire Chief. In that role I was responsible for the safety and wellbeing of our firefighters and the public. Given the risks involved in firefighting, this responsibility weighted...

The Dutch movie De Beentjes van Sint-Hildegard—translated as The Marriage Escape—is about control. It is about a middle-aged couple where the wife is extremely controlling. This runs in the family. There is a scene early in the movie where the wife and her mother—a...

Do you remember the time when you were learning to ride a bicycle? If you were like me, you probably went through a process of falling and swerving while desperately trying to maintain your balance. And then one moment you probably discovered that you did not need to...

I recently spent an afternoon with my granddaughters, ages 5 and 7. We first went to the playground where they played and made friends. I watched them, read a book, talked to parents, and consoled the girls after they hurt themselves. We then went to an ice cream...

December 17 was a stressful day. The hernia surgery that I had that day was rescheduled to an earlier check-in time at 5 AM. The surgeon was concerned that the powerful storm that would move in later that day would cause a power failure, and she wanted her team to be...

On a morning run I encountered a heron standing on a log with its wing spread. This behavior is uncommon for a heron, this posture is akin to the behavior of cormorants who spend much time with their wings spread after they have been diving for fish. This heron was...

We were visiting friends in Australia. I enjoyed the landscape with Eucalyptus trees and groups of kangaroos and took the photo below from the backseat during a drive where you can see a vegetation that is very different than it is in the United States. Before you...

Close to my home in Eugene is a scene that stopped me in my tracks. On Columbia street there are railroad tracks of the tram that used to run there. In the middle of the tracks is a huge utility pole. The scene is funny because of its absurdity. The presence of the...

It was a bitter cold Colorado day, one of those days where you want to bundle up inside and watch the winter weather from behind thick glass. There was only one problem: I had committed myself to a run with my running buddy. Reluctantly I put on several layers of warm...