Little Star in the Fog   I noticed this cactus asterisk (I’m assuming it’s a cactus) on my mountain biking trail yesterday,  the day after someone was airlifted out of a ravine down below. With the helicopter swirling above and the ambulance and fire truck perched at the top of the hill, my husband John…

  Twist   I love the art of story. In my opinion, the best story is one that includes a twist you never saw coming. Jen’s Dodge Demon story, for one.* I bet Jen’s parents did not see that coming. I think the story of Jesus is truly the most dramatic, most theatrically delicious, greatest…

  Head’s Up     While I was climbing Pacific Park on my bike today, someone threw a rock at me and nailed me right in the head.   For real.   Deliberately.   They had quite the throwing arm with pinpoint accuracy.   Let me back the bike up for a minute and explain….

Chains   You teach people how to treat you.   I’m not sure who said it first—Dr. Phil, Oprah, or Tony Gaskins in this fleshed out version: “You teach people how to treat you by what you allow, what you stop, and what you reinforce.” In my own experience, I have sometimes allowed unacceptable behavior…

    One Hundred   Even when I was a kid, I thought of the afterlife a lot. I think it’s safe to say, I always assumed that one exists. Even though that’s true for me, I routinely get caught up in the here and now. Like, every day. Most minutes, I’d say. This gets…

Hot Tubs By Swimming Pools   “You look at places on the earth, where to be born there would be like being born into hell because from the time you’re an infant being born, there’s not enough food, there’s abuse and torture and maybe warfare and we look at spots on the earth where it’s…

Hey guys, I’ve taken a breather from my book since my launch three weeks or so ago but I’m using today to get back into book mode a little bit. I’m following up with anyone I think may have read my book or gifted my book to friends. If you read my book or know…

  Indistinct Chatter In The Little Love That Could, I write about my aversion to small talk. I hate it. Loathe. So I thought of small talk when I noticed the “indistinct chatter” phrase in the subtitles of a film recently. One of my favorite reviews of my previous book, I Punched Myself in the…

The Butterflies and the Bloom Soon I will celebrate my grandson’s first trip around the sun. After that, I will celebrate my own trip another time around the sun. The number is not germane here. (It’s been a few.) Yesterday, before sunrise, my husband John and I took a twisty-turny-twisty-turny drive through picturesque Ortega Highway…

YOU GUYS! I woke up this morning, checked my stats and I’m in Amazon’s Top 100 Bestsellers (Kindle) in ALL THREE of my categories and I’m sure it’s because of all the support I’ve been getting from you! Thank you so much! https://amzn.to/2XWYYZ0 Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32 in Humor Essays #59 in Spiritual Self-Help #67 in Christian…