A couple of weeks ago we took our grandsons hiking. It was an arduous task for some of us and I was pretty sure that the youngest was going to “swear off” hiking forever. Guess what? We’re going hiking again today! Yes, he wants to go back with us. Now, keep in mind that today’s…

I got up before the rooster this morning. My mom’s car had a safety recall so I drove her to the nearest dealer to have them take a look. The nearest dealer is about 90 miles from us so the 7 am appointment meant an early departure from Ridgecrest, and also from my slumber. As…

How often have I said “I can’t…”? Probably way more than even I think! This weekend we had a lot of time with “I can’t” when we took our grandsons hiking in the Sierras. Our oldest grandson is a kid with boundless energy. His younger brother is a bit more laid back. These character traits…

My grandson recently discovered Snap Chat. He’s 5. They have crazy effects. That should tell you most of what you need to know! He loves to make funny faces and send them to Papa, because “Papa is funny”. It’s good to have a “thing” and with Luc, my “thing” is being funny. Now he wants…

I did something new yesterday: I made some barbecue sauce for the first time. My friend Dan makes his own sauce and on our last night at his house he wanted to have me make some of my own. It sounded like fun, so I was all in. Dan had me start with his base…

This morning has me thinking about the time it takes for change to happen. In my own recovery it took years to get me to where I am. That being said, I also need to add that I most certainly have not arrived as yet! As I read the morning headlines I see a mountain…

I’ve felt this way for years, but this week has really reenforced it: family does not need DNA. Let me explain. We are still traveling and in the past 3 days we’ve been with three different parts of our family. We spent a few days in Utah with our youngest daughter and her family. It…

You can file this under best laid plans of mice and men… On our trip across this beautiful land yesterday we encountered some snags. Go figure! We had taken a side trip to visit “Carhenge” (read more about it here) which was awesome. We then proceeded to drive through the Nebraska and Wyoming night toward…

Back in the 80’s there was a schmaltzy love song called Islands in the Stream. It was a duet by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. At the time of it’s release I was an avowed Ozzy Osbourne fan, so these two country icons were not going to be in my playlist. Today I am more…