Minister Of Mocha

Last week we took a short road trip out of town for our daughter’s birthday. Because of a winter storm, a major highway between Los Angeles and the rest of Northern California was shut down, so traffic was diverted to other highways. The one we were on went from typical light traffic, to jam packed.…

I had to delay heading to Starbucks this morning. I was waiting for a team of workers to come and install solar panels on my roof. We have wanted to do it for some time and finally decided to pull the trigger and make it happen. It reminds me of getting into the recovery lifestyle:…

I spent most of this past Saturday awake. The alarm was set for 1:24 am and I don’t hit snooze. I have a friend who was making a trip to Texas to surprise a friend. I was his Uber driver for the day. Getting to LAX at 4 am required an early departure from Ridgecrest.…

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of going to see a band for the first time. The band’s main lyricist is known for pouring his emotions out in song. If he feels good, you know it. If he feels sad you know it. If he feels angry, you definitely know it! There…

At the time of this post we are sitting once more on the eve of the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack. 80 years have gone by. According to statistics that’s basically a lifetime for most Americans. There are some who remember that day, but there are a tremendous number more who do not. As I read…

Yesterday was a long day of driving. We left Klamath Falls, Oregon for our home in Southern California around 9 am. It wasn’t quite the 8am start I had hoped for, but it was still early enough to get home at a reasonable time. When we left a week ago, I had all kinds of…

It’s Thanksgiving week here in America. Cranberries, potatoes, pumpkin pie, turkey….all of it will be changing the aroma of homes across the country. Oh yeah, and bratwurst… My daughter is hosting us at her house for her first Thanksgiving in her new house. We are all very excited to go celebrate. The only thing is…

I made a FaceTime call to my kids this weekend. I was just calling to chat with my daughter and son in law. I figured we could talk about soccer, or maybe the way that our Steelers let us down. Nothing important, basically just checking in and killing some time while I waited for my…

Friday was one of those days that I don’t necessarily relish. I could see in advance that things were not going to be pleasant for a bit. I even knew in advance and agreed to set some of the conditions that allowed for the unpleasantness. Yet still, with all this “foreknowledge”, I stormed into the…

Wait a minute…isn’t today November first? Yes. Yes it is. Last night we spent Halloween in Hawaii with our kids and grandkids. It was interesting. Usually I think of Halloween as the point at which the weather gets cold in Ridgecrest and last night I sat in shorts and a T-shirt at night. Hawaii…am I…