Pay Attention To The Man(or Woman) Behind the Curtain

That man or woman behind the curtain, is in fact, you. Or me. Or your uncle Frank or brother Steve. The wizard is behind the curtain according to Dorothy and her farm hands-turned scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly lion friends. But as Glenda the good witch shared with Dorothy at the end of The Wizard […]

A Week In The Woods, Back To Work

Last week we spent in Brown County, Indiana, away from our jobs and everyday grinds and just hung out with our adult kids. We ate, we played pool, we walked a trail, we perused crafty shops, we laughed a lot, and we thoroughly enjoyed each others company. It was the vacation we’d been working towards […]

cemetery walks and the melancholia of life

It was a busy day at work yesterday. It’s been busy all week, and my absence from here shows. Between the nonstop flow at work and then walking after work, by the time I get home and get dinner cooked I’m just ready to melt into the couch and watch a couple episodes of something […]

“I’ve fallen(but I was able to get up with a little help)

Early last Thursday morning I woke up at 3:30am because I had to go to the bathroom. Those fellas over the age of 50 out there should know this feeling well. A side effect of all these BP meds I take is that I get dizzy and lightheaded if I get up too quickly, even […]

I feel like I lost a winter

These months are cruising by. We’re already heading into the last bit of June and I feel like I was in a haze during the winter of 2025/2026. The halfway point of 2026 is just a couple weeks away and I’m feeling like someone accidently hit the fast forward button on time’s remote control. A […]

Am I Straight Edge Now?(For Your Health)

Last week I had my usual weekly phone call from the nurse from the Heart Failure Center to check in and see how I was doing. At my first cardiologist appointment the nurse said they wanted me to be a part of the Remote Health Check Program where they send me a scale and blood […]

Just a Check-in

Hi ho, everyone. Popping in here to say howdy do and that things have been going well. Last weekend we went down to Indianapolis to visit with our son and his girlfriend. Hadn’t seen my son since he came to see me in the hospital, so it was good to see him fluid-less and not […]

I lost a quarter of the man I used to be…

It’s a crazy thing to lose lots of weight over the course of a few months, or even a couple years. You look back at old photos of yourself and think, “Wow. I never realized how big I was.” You gradually collect boxes of clothes you can’t wear anymore and replace them with a size […]

In The Rearview

Three weeks ago today I’d been in the hospital for a couple days, being deflated of excess fluids and attempting to get my blood pressure into normal range as opposed to abnormal range. I knew I needed to be there and I wanted to be there. This was definitely one of those scared straight moments […]

Closer To My Heart

It has officially been one week since I returned home from a 6 day, 5 night stay in Parkview Regional Med Center for a deadly high blood pressure. A combo of ignorance on my part and a healthy dose of work-related stress brought me to a staggeringly 220/180 BP. That’s stroke alley right there, and […]