Pushing Pamela   The last four hills on the West Ridge Trail leading to the “Top of the World” (Laguna Beach) are the hardest. I should say, the last “middle two” of those four are the hardest. So #3 and #2 are real beasts. #4 is no biggie and #1 is also a relative peace-a-pie, … Read more

The Call of the Wild   I hop on my mountain bike and my suburbia becomes my “Animal Planet’s Wild Kingdom.”   It’s my call of the wild. Queue Rainforest Café sound effects.   Today it was a pack of bobcats. I saw three bobcats, but to be fair, I only saw the tail end … Read more

Want Need     It was like déjà vu reading Jeffrey Tacklind’s book, The Winding Path of Transformation on my Delta Flight to Portland last week. I was transported back to 2008 Haiti, a few months after the massive earthquake, when I read Kahil Gibran’s The Prophet. In Gibran’s passage, “Joy and Sorrow,” I was … Read more

  It’s In the Water   My toddler grandson, Brooks, has a unique way of giving me a kiss. His technique is hard to describe, exactly, and it can vary slightly but the constant is that my face is sopping wet afterward, covered in his sweet slobber water. It’s very intimate.   For the record, … Read more

Should We Have to Explain Ourselves?   I’m gonna say yes and no. For me personally, no in many contexts but in others, yes because of 1 Peter 3:15. I saw this meme this morning and was reminded of a few days ago when I was on the first section of the trail that’s paved—the … Read more

  Me Good?   I had pulled off the side of the trail and was straddling my bike looking down at my phone when a speedy mountain biker descending the hill saw me at the bottom and asked, “You good?”   I wanted to say, “I’m trying.”   Instead, I answered, “Yes, I am, thank … Read more

Using Our Arms   “Top of the World” is this planet-shaped, 360-degree hill in Laguna Beach and my target when I hop on my bike at the trailhead down below—it’s my happy place. I pedal my way all the way up 1,516 feet, spend a few moments there and then pedal down whence I came. … Read more

I Read the End of the Book   If you read the ending of the book, The Little Love That Could, you know what a bunny tail can mean. Today: It was a foggy early a.m. and I had just arrived at the trailhead and was removing my bike from the rack on the back … Read more

Jungle Love   It’s the wedding season. Love is in the air. A while back, I came across what I think is one of the best pieces of marital advice and I’ve given it to my own children. If you’re getting married this summer, or know of someone getting married and need to write something … Read more