Deep in the Mt. Hood Wilderness, miles from the nearest road, we came upon a pile of sticks heaped inside an unused fire ring. On top of the pile,...

I’m home from a 70-mile trek on the Pacific Crest Trail—outstanding in so many ways, number one being the time to do it (I live in a position of...

John Muir famously said, “The mountains are calling and I must go.” Gandhi offered this advice: “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” I’m taking both to...

You’d think that after 47 years of marriage, Debbie and I would know all that there is to know about each other. (Maybe, at times, a bit too much...

My grandson Griffin—age 5 and in my humble opinion the most wonderful grandson of all time—gave me a Thomas the Train for my birthday. On its side is printed...

When I read a novel, I know that I’m engaged in a vicarious experience—I get to witness from a safe distance as the characters are challenged. When the going...

If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time (too much?) thinking about the future: planning, projecting, then revising those plans and projections. Do it enough, and you...

I’m pecking away on a picture book manuscript— paring it down, and down, and down. Pretty soon it will have a negative word count, which is blank pages and...

Improbably doesn’t necessarily mean impossible. Maintain balance. Go for your dreams!

I’ve been thinking, and writing, a lot about what it means to be a man. Popular culture sends many messages, often mixed and contradictory. A rite of passage that...