Minister Of Mocha

It’s been said that confidence is something that goes up by stairs and comes down in an elevator. Working my steps proves this theory out. Day after day I work to put one foot in front of the next. Slowly, ever so slowly, I make and even see some progress. Then comes a trip up…

Video Assistant Referee: it’s the bane of many soccer matches on any given day. Look, I get that many, if not most (all?) of you don’t really care about soccer, but trust me, I’m going somewhere here. My team in the English Premier League is Arsenal (for now, but that’s a whole different kettle of…

Today is my first Monday back after 5 beautiful weeks in Hawaii. That’s not to say that Ridgecrest isn’t beautiful, it’s just not Hawaii beautiful. Today in Ridgecrest just happened to be gorgeous. Most spring days are. My plan today was to take my friend over to a house and bust out a concrete slab…

Tomorrow is gonna be a tough one. We leave Hawaii after five weeks on the island. Five weeks with our kids. Five weeks with our grandsons (albeit only three with Camden since he’s just 19 days old today!). It’s not going to be easy to board the plane and fly home. Yet that’s what has…

A friend said something to me the other day that was pretty thought provoking. They said that we are the average of our 5 closest friends. That really got me to thinking about who those friends are. I also thought a lot about who they have been. That group has changed tremendously over time, yet…

I recently heard about the eagle and the crow. It is said that the only bird that dares peck the eagle is the crow. All other birds are afraid of the powerful eagle, but the crow will land on the eagle’s back and peck at its neck. Apparently the eagle does not fight back. Instead…

Spending time in (on?) the island of Hawaii is a wonderful thing. I’ve been here in the past so this trip is not so much about “getting out” or “doing things” as our previous visits have been. It’s kind of a good thing too, because in our almost two week stay now, we have rarely…

I’m sitting in Hilo and thinking about rain. The annual rainfall here is around 143 inches. That’s about 20 times what we get at home in the desert. It’s crazy. Yesterday I watched a sudden deluge create a pond at the back patio of my daughter’s house. Then literally minutes later the rain subsided and…

Im always looking for ways to “rise up”. This week I’ve got one of my faves. We are flying to Hawaii for the upcoming birth of our newest grandson! Of course, going to Hawaii is great in and of itself, but it’s even better seeing family. Each night my 6 year old grandson Luc asks…

In recovery we talk about sobriety birthdays and belly button birthdays. Today happens to be my belly button birthday. 53 years and I still don’t have most of it figured out! Sometimes, especially in the isolated world of today, it can feel a bit lonely. Sometimes I feel somewhat insignificant because I’m not in the…