Sponge Cake   I woke up from a dream this morning. In the dream, I was standing in front of a congregation at church, telling people all the things I have to be thankful for that have happened in my life lately. At face value, all the things I mentioned could be evaluated as “meh,”…

Six-Pack of Deer   I single-handedly started a new hashtag. It’s #thankfulforthelittlethingsseries.   I, for one, need to remember the creature comforts; the little things I take for granted, some of these are flat-out miracles. (I’d love to get you in on the ground floor of this revolutionary act.)   So yesterday, I had just…

  Eyes Wide Shut   When I was a child, I used to do that thing that many little ones do—I’d put my hands over my eyes because I thought if I couldn’t see you, you couldn’t see me.   This past September, I crossed paths with a bobcat on a mountain biking trail and…

Gratitude   What’s a human called who generally lives from a place of thankfulness, regardless of varying circumstances? A gratidude. Gratitude shows up in all sorts of places and ways. I snapped this photo of a woman’s beautiful shoulder in church. As I listened from my pew with a view, I couldn’t help but feel…

  Get Elbows Deep in Sheep Cheese   My cousin/cugina, Amaya, and I went on an Italian adventure we dubbed, “Two Broads Go Abroad.” For over two months we traveled all around Italia. One day we did a group wine-and-cheese tour of Tuscany. One of our stops was a Pecorino farm. During a cheese-making demonstration,…

Is the Sky Falling?     I’m not sure about that, but the world seems to be on fire. At least from what I can see.     I just saw something I posted on Facebook after the 2016 Nice truck attack—when a man drove a 19-ton cargo truck intentionally into the crowds celebrating Bastille…

Ay–yi–yi   Sometimes I read a scene in the Bible and I can just see Jesus holding his head and saying, ay-yi-yi. He may have just heard one of his disciples say something completely off and he’s like, dude, for real? Have we not covered this? I imagine what He thinks/says/feels when He sees the…

Going to the Maul   I did a search on “Bear spray” today because I wanted a picture to go with this post. I don’t recommend searching for bear spray because those images are linked to mauling victim photos. Don’t do it. I almost lost my lunch.   I’ve been very troubled by the news…

    Bobcat Don’t-Wait     On Tuesday of this week I encountered a mountain lion (it may have been a bobcat) on my mountain biking trail.   This has always been a fear of mine.   The next day I skipped my routine and opted for an alternative, the Thousand Steps stair workout in Laguna….

Bejesus   Three days ago I blogged an entire (short) piece* about risk and adventure, which includes quotes like “Your life begins at the end of your comfort zone,” and “Do one thing every day that scares you.” You get the gist. Easy to write, not so easy to do.   The next day I…