Dear 2019, I have a confession. I wince when I look at the American flag. It horrifies me to admit this. I think somewhere down deep, I’ve buried the thought that the flag of my country has been hijacked by a sector of the population that doesn’t represent anything that I was raised to believe in. […]
His name was Lon and his hands were trembling as he looked down at the words written on the crinkled piece of faded yellow college ruled notebook paper that he was tightly gripping. “I’ve never read this poem in public,” he quietly said, his voice shaking. Lon Hall is a cowboy poet from Montana. He’s […]
I found myself in a Hollywood tattoo parlor six days after four airplanes were hijacked, two crashing into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and one in a Pennsylvania field. During the devastating chaos that first week following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, nothing made sense. Nothing, […]
Sunflowers are quite possibly the world’s cheeriest flower. With their large vibrant yellow petals, they look much like a bright smiling sun. Feeling blue? Then perhaps you should consider standing in a field of ½ million sunflowers. It’s like injecting yourself with an oversized dose of optimism. You can do just that at Sunflower Days […]
I believe the Universe is constantly sending us signs. Signs to guide us, and signs to help us understand. All too often however, we have so much noise with the activity of our everyday lives that we don’t see those signs. That’s one of the reasons I love road tripping so much – the stillness of […]
Working as a filmmaker and writer, and having insatiable wanderlust, I’m pretty blessed that I am able to work from anywhere. There is no better way to escape the Texas August triple digits than to work from my parents’ rural Wisconsin lake house. This will be the fifth consecutive summer that I’ve managed to pull […]
It’s only when we allow ourselves to be lost that we can really truly find ourselves. I figured that basic truth out by accident. When Yoda and I first left on our five month road trip, hitting the open road was an act of desperation. I was running away from my broken life. I was […]
The quintessential American vacation is a road trip. There is no better way to explore the country’s dramatic and varied landscapes, breathtaking vistas, quaint small towns, and regional subcultures than by loading up the car and hitting the open road. However, the unpredictability of weather in the winter months often puts a crimp in road […]
 “V,†a lovely former co-worker whom I worked with for over a decade, recently sent me a private message on Facebook. Both of us have since moved on from our previously employer. In V’s case, she saw an opportunity and embraced change by quitting her job for a better one. In my case, I was […]
Everybody hurts. Everybody has had moments of deep despair. The trick to breathing through the inevitable emotions that go hand-in-hand with being a human being is to remember that just as the sun sets each night, it always will rise again tomorrow. I have a friend named Cendra Hicks. Cendra is 47 years old, has cerebral […]