If a video or a post brings you even a microsecond of relief from the drama of every day life, do NOT dare sneak a peek at the attached comments. It would seem that people are so happy to wallow in their own misery that they cannot resist dragging everyone else into the quagmire of their own self loathing. There is a classic line in the movie Last of the Mohicans; "Magua's heart is twisted;…

My dad has began his final withdrawal, this time inside himself. In the beginning of the process some years ago, it was a bit hard not to be resentful; after all, how could he NOT remember who I am? I, who for years was the most important thing in his universe? And how is it fair, just when I think that that we have finished raising our own children, somewhere along the way we have…

They say you can't go back, and if you do, it will never be the same; most of the time that's true, but on those rare occasions... There is a large rocky out-cropping west of town that shows on some maps as "West Pinnacle", but we locals always called it Rattlesnake Ridge. Back in the day, it was a wild and desolate place, a narrow spine of rock rising high above the surrounding hills, snaking…

Last night was our 10th annual pilgrimage to the opening ceremonies of the Special Olympics, and Charlie's first. In case you're wondering what this entails, we roll into town en masse, creating a gauntlet of hundreds of motorcycles leading into the stadium. The athletes and their sponsors/coaches/families then line up in their respective chapters and file into the stadium while the riders rev their engines, high-fiving and encouraging the athletes all the way. It's not…

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could" I awoke before sunrise gasping for air, my gills flexing for oxygen like a fish out of water; what was this devilry all about? How could it be possible to be having a panic attack while camping somewhere as invigorating as the Rocky Mountains? True,…