thoughts & observations

Can a person not hurt others…ever? Is it possible to always do the right, or at least avoid the wrong? Or failing that, can the hurt be kept to oneself? I try to be ‘nice’, but that doesn’t prevent darkness. Just as the foundations of a beautiful bridge has grime and rust, so does my…

A book published. Mission accomplished and proof of value in a perfect case-bound hardback with a bio photo in the back. It feels different from the way I imagined it. It’s not like winning a race, arms over head as the ribbon breaks across the chest. Nor does it feel like a completion…just somewhere farther…

I have climbed a few mountains – not tall enough for specialized gear and oxygen tanks, but climbing nonetheless. Growing up in Alaska, there were more than a few peaks to explore. Looking up at mountains from below, I imagine what it must be like on top, to sit on the knife’s edge and see…

For me, Memorial Day weekend and the start of summer this year was mostly wet. Was it a disappointment? Maybe. Rain delays disrupt the game and we are forced to wait it out. Summer days are supposed to overflow with sunshine. But do you remember delight as you jumped from puddle to puddle in rubber…

Eyes tend to follow the road, mesmerized by the dotted center line and straining to see around the bend. Usually the view to the left or right is just more streets, off-ramps, or buildings. Let’s get this over with. But in Alaska, when I managed to pull my gaze away from the yellow marks I…

The dark can be scary. There aren’t many brightly lit horror movies for a reason. How can I know if a threat might be hiding in the shadows? Better to stay in well lit spaces where I can always see what’s coming. Depression, the shadow world of our psyche, is just as frightening. Better to…

Creating something new is hard. Can I protect myself from those telling me it can’t be done? It hurts when they point out, rightly or wrongly, that I don’t have what it takes to see it through, that the obstacles are too great, that my skills, my plan, or my temperament is not up to…

A trick of the light, a shadow, a memory. It isn’t real. It’s distorted and backwards…a mystery. Why look at ghosts? Why look back when the future lies ahead? Good question. Perhaps finding truth requires more than a single perspective? I can’t see myself without a mirror. I can’t understand someone else without hearing thir…

It doesn’t happen often. Abundant noise can fragment signal. Meaning is hard to see when every screen is yelling out one more disturbing detail, another enticing sensation, and distractions built upon a haphazard foundation of what came before. But every once in a while, the sounds become a chord and the words penetrate. No more…

My family left Philadelphia to live in Alaska in 1970. Today I’m visiting Philly and for the moment sitting under a birch tree to admire it’s latest green outfit. Childhood memories painted this downtown in black and white, thick with grime, larger than a monster movie, darker than a noir crime story. But childhood memories…