“The Stockings Were Hung, On The Wall With A Nail…”

Now that I’m nearly 50-years old I can say Christmas doesn’t really do it for me anymore. I’m not religious, so that’s a big mark against the true reason for the season. But really, it’s a just a big hassle; expectations, expensive, the clutter of the decorations all thru the house, and Christmas songs. I […]

Exile On Meh Street

The week before Thanksgiving is usually a time of the year I love. Lots of dark overcast days, the temps drop, and the thought of having a four-day weekend coming up helped me push through those final, few work days. And in year’s past I would typically take the whole week off. Take a whole […]

Kids Are Dating, Hermit Culture, Other Land Mines

It’s a weird feeling having all your kids dating. It’s one of the big transitions in the parent/child dynamic. All my children are in it now, with my youngest having started to date someone at school. I do feel lucky in that none of them started dating until they were either out of school or […]

I’m Just Not Cool Anymore

I think there’s a pretty cool argument to make that I was, in fact, never cool. I wouldn’t put up a fight in that argument. But when you’re a dad and for almost two decades you -raise, nurture, intentionally play the clown for a laugh, build blanket forts in the living room, watch Disney cartoons […]

Scenes From A Dilapidated AMC Theater

My oldest asked me last Friday if I wanted to go a see a movie with her. It was Bodies Bodies Bodies, a new A24 horror/comedy that I didn’t really have any interest in seeing. To me, the previews screamed “You’re too old to enjoy this!” I love most everything A24 puts out, so I […]

Just A Reminder

You’re never too old or young to find a passion. Whatever it is, it’s always going to be waiting for you to find it. Sure, you need to put in a little leg work in order to find what that passion is, but once you do you’re going to find this existence that much better. […]

The Last Parade(and other musings, insights, and anxieties)

This past Saturday my wife and I attended the last local parade that we will feel obligated to attend because we have a child performing in it. It was the Pierceton Days parade, and our 17-year old was marching with the Warsaw High School Marching Band playing the school fight song(which sounds like a lot […]

Plants And Chairs And Trees And People Forming As One

I was off work the last week. No trips to the beach or cabin in the woods, not that kind of time off. I spent the first four days in the hot Midwest sun taking apart the play set that my dad, father-in-law, and I put together in May of 2005 for our kids. It […]

Empathy Lives In The Gray Area : Some Thoughts On Roe V Wade

The first time my wife and I became pregnant was April of 1998. We’d been trying to get pregnant for a year with no luck, but then it happened. We were ecstatic. We got married just two years prior, had built a house, both were gainfully employed, and were a pretty good aunt and uncle […]

No Commencement For Old Dogs Or Men

On Sunday May 22, 2022 my wife and I, along with our oldest’s significant other, sat on the lawn of the Depauw University campus and watched as our daughter graduated with a Liberal Arts degree(with concentration in English Lit) from this small school in the middle of nowhere in Central Indiana. I can’t really say […]