Last month I traveled to Tom’s Place in the Sierra to celebrate the Centennial of Riters visiting Rock Creek. Back in 1925, Dad traveled up the washboard dirt road of 395, and 100 years later I drove my F150 the 300 miles up the paved highway. The fishing, while very good, didn’t match earlier years, but memories and retracing his steps again brought joy to my soul. Sleeping in the Ford’s bed found me tossing and turning, and looking out the window prompted…
Read MoreChill a Bit
Busyness has invaded our lives. Or, maybe we’ve opened the door, widely, in pursuit of wealth and success and leisure and affirmation of our worth. A news article recently wrote that 70% of all workers average less than 8 hours of sleep each night, and with that, productivity drops. Those of us in Southern California especially deal with busyness, but the problem touches all of America. I’m no exception—even in retirement I have 32 tasks on my “To Do” list. I doubt I’ll empty the list.
That’s part of the reason I like trout fishing—to get away from the congestion and bustle of city life, away from the internet (mostly anyway, but some sites have coverage). You can’t rush trout…
Read MoreOh God!
Growing up in church and Sunday School, I often heard “don’t take God’s name in vain,” which typically meant to not use God in swearing. So good Christians were careful, using “acceptable substitutions,” like “Gosh darn.” Pretty weak, but safe. Later, I learned that we missed it. Cursing fits within the command, but it goes deeper. We should not use God casually, without being aware of the respect and admiration and glory and transcendence that is innately in God. For instance, ever use the phrase “God told me…” or “God led me…,” without being 100% sure God was speaking instead of indigestion or your desires? That could be taking God’s name in vain, if he didn’t say what you thought. That kind of…
Read MoreOur Best Laid Plans
Spring and summer had been full of activities. A total knee replacement April 1, recovery in May. June brought a week at a timeshare in San Clemente. A bike trip with Rich in mid-July, with teaching at a writing conference at the end of that month. August had a lot of physical therapy and other appointments, then September featured a treasured trip to Idaho to see our grandkids. That just left early October for a fishing and camping trip to my beloved Rock Creek in the Sierras.
But I had some concerns. My new knee…
Read MoreMy Soul Also Rises
Three of our Gray Hogs group left Redding and traveled up I-5, intended to meet up with our fourth member, Jerry, near Salem, Oregon. The Central Valley heat had already risen, and the mountains leading to Mt. Shasta brought a welcome coolness to the air. As we reached the Crags and saw Shasta’s glory revealed in the distance, not only these words occurred to me, but I found my soul changing…
Read MoreAsk Clearly
A few weeks back, I flushed our toilet and turned away, only to hear someone whistling at me. Sheila was nowhere in sight, no one else was in the house, and I sure didn’t whistle at myself. Not too loud, and I kind of like receiving whistles, then Sheila mentioned it. Then came some YouTube research on how to fix it, which worked! No whistle. I kind of missed it, but within a few days it returned, got louder, and Sheila again mentioned it.
On our next errands trek, I dropped her off at her nails salon and headed to Home Depot. In the toilet section, a young mother with a four-year-old boy in the cart (must have been a sale on boys that week) asked me…
Read MoreAn Ephemeral Life
Mike Scott, a friend from high school daze, took this pic of a New Mexico sunrise, which I came to love. Sunrises and sunsets blend beauty and brevity so well. Their glory changes almost by the second—I’ve often called Sheila to see one, and in the 20 seconds before she gets there it’s changed, or gone.
That’s life—as slow as it seems to go looking ahead…
Read MorePaying Attention Pays Off
Our local Total Wine store occasionally does educational and tasting events, and not long ago we celebrated our Happy Hour at their “Napa and More” event, where we learned a lot about wine in California, and particularly the Napa/Sonoma area. Our host Joseph said California has 600,000 acres in vineyards, and if we were a nation, we’d rank #4 in wine production. Each wine region has an AVA name; California has over half of our nation’s. These nuggets came as he gave small tastings of various Napa area wineries to go with the food they furnished. Then Joseph added a twist—a question that yielded several gifts to the first person who answered correctly. He even made it multiple choice! Already interested, I began to pay more attention in hopes of another trivia question. Then the next quiz came:…
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