Early each morning my grandfather left the house to meet the delivery man at the store. Greeting the delivery man by name, he was the first one to lay eyes on the inventory - brand new Hot Wheels. Years of his life were spent hunting...
"It's a lost cause," I thought to myself as I looked out the window. Having been neglected for two years, my once beautiful vegetable garden was now a tangled mess of ankle-deep grasses, weeds, and thorns. Every time I looked at it, all I could see was my...
Eight bags lined the hallway outside my four daughters' bedrooms. Tired of living in a constant state of clutter, the girls decided to clean out their closet and purge some clothes. Before they could discern what should stay and what should go, they covered every...
The trail began as a flat dirt path surrounded by green grass, wide enough to walk beside a friend. Gradually it shifted. Rocks replaced dirt and the grass disappeared as the trail narrowed and pushed deeper into the woods, steeper with each step. Stepping over logs and clinging...
Scattered all over the table and spilling onto the floor, our gear for tomorrow's backpacking adventure filled our dining room. Afraid we would forget something essential, we checked our list meticulously. Hiking gear, food, fuel, first aid, rain gear, cook stove, tents - all accounted for. Earlier...
The rain began pattering our tent before the sun came up. Yesterday, we hiked a few miles up a steep trail and were blessed with a beautiful view of the valley from the mountain peak. The mid-July weather had been perfect--sunny, not too hot, not too...
"Well, it's a Monday!" is a phrase often heard to describe an otherwise difficult start to the day or week. Whether you've said this yourself or been the bystander as someone else begins to lament over their morning woes, the way we frame our week...
A brisk walk in the morning takes me down the same beaten path. The faster I walk the faster I can get out of the heat and on to the real business of the day. Only five more minutes. Only a quarter of a mile left....
"That's hard with 20/20 hindsight," my husband texted me as I finished processing the "what-ifs" of a past loss with him. "It's unhealthy and unproductive to dwell in the past," his text continued. "It can't change anything." If only we could have 20/20 vision in the present,...