Our place in this world

Autumn...the days between late September through late November is my favorite time of year in the mid-west U.S.  I love how the trees change color from shades of green to all manner of yellow, orange, red, and brown before losing their leaves for winter.  I love the rustling sound the leaves make, the chill in the air, the frost in the morning, fires, jackets, the harvesting of crops, and of course pumpkins.  I also love time-honored family traditions, and for me, the tradition that speaks the loudest is upland bird hunting. My father has been taking my brother and me bobwhite quail hunting since we were very small.  I can still remember being so little that I wasn't strong enough to carry a shotgun but I would still walk along with him.  My first memories of seeing quail were north of our farm in a thicket.  The dogs pointed and my dad told me to get in there and flush them out.  I crawled on my hands and knees under the thicket and shouted that I could see the birds.  And he sh

This past weekend I walked my oldest daughter down the aisle and gave her away to the love of her life.  The rehearsal, the ceremony, the reception, the weather, the family and friends that attended, it all was as it should have been...perfect. As I look back on my life, on my 30 years with Stacey, on my career, on my daughters, I can't help but ask "Why"?  Why have I been so blessed?  Why me?  There are so many needy people, deserving people, people with real needs but yet I have been blessed.  I recognize and appreciate that I have been blessed with parents that love me and are still with us, with family, with a wife that is an amazing rock, with daughters that are good hearted women, with health, with an income to provide for it all, with happiness, with friends, with great coworkers, with the ability to sit and type this.  The list is long and I could go on, and on, and on.  I see and hear of people that are hurting, that have real needs, that are trying to figure o

Back to the January adventure search...Chile, Peru, and Bolivia all look amazing, but Chile being the furthest south would offer an opportunity to see the Patagonian region of South America while still enjoying several beaches.  Airfare to each will be more than I was hoping but it's a once in a lifetime trip, so I'm willing to bite the bullet. The Andes mountain range, the Pacific beaches, the Chilean people, all seem amazing.  Have you ever been to Chile?  If so, any thoughts? The research continues...

During our research to find a country to visit during the month of January, we have turned our attention to South America, specifically to Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile.  All three are rated by the U.S. State Department as being very safe, as safe in fact as the U.S., Ireland, and Australia.  Additionally, all three countries speak Spanish, a requirement from Stacey as she also speaks Spanish.  All have a diverse topography like North America with beautiful beaches, mountains, and plains.  All have a rich culture to explore and learn about.  And all seem exciting as we've never visited South America. After doing some research, however, I'm beginning to lean towards Argentina.  I've learned that Argentina is home to some great beef, and great wine - two of my favorites.  Also, Stacey and I like to dance and the tango is supposed to be popular there.  And did I mention that they have great wing shooting in Argentina?  Yes, that may be swaying me just a bit as I grew up hunt

It was the summer of 1988.  I had just graduated high school and was planning to attend Missouri Valley College in the fall on a football scholarship.  I was dating a couple of girls, neither one too seriously as I knew I would be moving on soon.  It was then that my good friend Tony and his girlfriend set me up on a blind date with Stacey.  I had never met or even seen a picture of Stacey before, but I had seen her brother...I hoped she didn't look like him.  (No offense Rich) So late in the day on June 8, 1988, Tony and his girlfriend came to the gym where I was working out, told me they were taking me to meet this girl, Stacey, and that I needed to go now.  Keep in mind, I was working out so I'm certain I didn't look or smell very well.  They loaded me up and took me to her house and dropped me off.  Stacey came down and met me--we talked for more than an hour before Tony came back and picked me up.  I truly believe it was love at first sight.  I was eager to get back

I had my first real "adult" job before I graduated college.  I had been on the Walmart Management Training Program for months while finishing my degree.  As soon as I graduated, they relocated me to Wyoming and I finally got an adult salary as well.  I thought I was swimming in money and my appetite for things was about to be quenched.  I rented a nice place to live, bought a TV, furnishings, an expensive mountain bike, and a new vehicle.  I thought I had finally arrived at the age of 22. A few years later my wife, Stacey, and I would be young marrieds with a young family, a nice big home, two new vehicles, a motorcycle, furnishings, etc.  We had it all.  Or should I say, the bank loaned on it all.  I was pretty full of myself and decided to quit my job and start my own business.  That was right before Y2K - big mistake.  Right after Y2K much of the IT market I had been serving dried up.  Two of my largest customers filed bankruptcy owing me tens of thousands of dollars.  S

Something that I have always tried to do, and that was drilled into me by my last boss, was to always assume everyone has positive intentions.  At least for me, this is especially hard to do in the day and age where everyone communicates over texts, email, or social media.  We lose out on tone, body language, annunciation, etc.  I hope that most of the time I still assume positive intent. Ashamedly, I must admit that recently something got to me.  Someone commented on a post that my youngest daughter made on Facebook.  The response appeared aggressive and unnecessary.  Without much thought, I jumped in.  Now, after cooling off, I feel guilty about my comment.  I don't know this young man, his circumstances, or why he thought it necessary to respond the way he did.  But my response was not one that I'm proud of and definitely one that did not assume positive intent on his part. During my freshman year at college, I made a friend whose name was David.  David and I became frie

Garth Brooks, the famous country music singer, has a song titled "The Dance".  In the lyrics, he talks about losing the love of his life, his heartbreak, and pain.  But in the end, the dance was so good, that he's glad he had it in spite of the pain. I can honestly say that while Stacey and I have had our share of pain, as well as our share of blessing, I wouldn't change anything.  I have enjoyed the dance. Perhaps not as much as I should have at times, instead choosing to focus on the challenges and the day to day grind of our lives, but I have enjoyed it. Contentment is not something we, as Americans, talk about.  It's not something you see in movies or see advertised on TV.  It's a weird term that we don't even use often, and when it is used it's almost foreign.  In fact, we work hard to instill discontentment in our jobs.  We are told we have to be better than last year, make more than last year, be more efficient than last year, more cost-effe

Legacy, as defined by Merriam-Webster... 1 :  a gift by will especially of money or other personal property:   bequest 2 :   something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past the  legacy  of the ancient philosophers 3 :  a candidate for membership in an org anization (such as a school or fraternal order) who is given special status because of a familial relationship to a member Recently, I've written about all of the change tha t has been happen ing in the lives of my wife and I.  With all that is going on, I've begun this quest and have been writing here trying to work it out...trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do come January.  But through this, it has occurred to me "What do I want my legacy to be?".  On my deathbed, what will matter?  What do I want my children, grandchildren, friends, family, etc. to remember about me?  What do I want to be said at my funeral?  What legacy am I leaving

This morning on my drive to work I listened to the DC Talk album "Free at Last" from 1992.  It was a fun throwback that had me rapping and bopping all the way to the office.  The song that really made me think was "Luv is a verb".  If you haven't heard it, it's worth pulling up on the internet with its lyrics. The song got me to thinking...I know I love my wife, my daughters, my family, etc.  Most often I will even verbalize it.  But, do I act on those feelings and choices?  Do I make a conscious effort to "show" my love in a way that is meaningful to them? I encourage all of us, to make time to say the words but to also show our loved ones how much they mean to us.  Life is short and none of us are promised tomorrow.  And after all, "love is a word that requires some action".

Throughout my life, I have seen and heard many people (myself included) who wanted to do this, or wish they were doing that but just had never taken that first step, or never had the "willpower" or follow through to make it happen.  It could be something related to their job, starting a blog, dieting, exercise, etc.  Well, I'm here today to give you some encouragement.  It's never too late to get started and you can do it!! My daughter shared with me recently that "success is a series of mundane, simple, everyday steps".  It doesn't matter what success is, you have to define that for yourself, but if you don't do the mundane, simple, everyday steps, you will not move forward.  The great news...you can do these steps. So, my challenge to you is to define what you want to do.  Define what success looks like to you .  Then, plan your work.  If you know where you want to end up, and you know where you are starting, all that is left to do is to develo

As a young man, I was always active playing three sports and general roughhousing with my friends.  I also often worked on the farms that surrounded our home.  Even through college I played two sports early on, practiced martial arts, and lifted weights as I wanted muscles to impress this young girl who would one day become my wife. Then I graduated college, got a desk job, got married, had kids, and my metabolism slowed.  My exercise ceased, and my eating habits remained unchanged.  Anyway, long story short, I put on several unwanted pounds of body fat.  Luckily I am 6'3" and was told that I "carry my weight well." Unfortunately, I didn't feel good physically or emotionally, and over the years had to buy larger and larger clothes. Fast forward 25 years and my weight has been a bit of a battle.  At one point I weighed nearly 260lbs before I took up running and dropped to 225lbs.  However, my eating habits had not changed.  So, over the past 8 years, I've