Last Saturday, the sun gleamed brightly off the snow, beckoning me to step outside for a brief hike. At the same time, the wind chimes hanging on the back patio played furiously in the blustering wind. To go, or not to go. That was the question. I needed the exercise,…
Living a little under a mile from the church where I serve as pastor, I often walk to the office in the morning to get some exercise. I’ve discovered that listening to an audiobook along the way makes the walk shorter and less routine. There are, after all, only so…
A recent first for us, in between a couple of conferences, my wife and I spent a few days in Gulf Shores, Alabama. As the name implies, the town is right on the Gulf of Mexico a few miles west of the Florida-Alabama border. We’ve been to the gulf before,…
For many, the exciting anticipation of seeing the peak of Mt. Denali (or Mt. McKinley) ends in disappointment. At an elevation of 20, 310 feet, Denali is the tallest mountain on the North American continent. And of all the mountains on the planet, Denali ranks but third in prominence and…
A gardener I am not. Not even a hobbyist gardener. More like a dabbler. Several years ago, I read somewhere that pastors ought to have a garden. I can’t remember why, but surely the writer gave a bunch of good reasons—enough, at least, to convince me it was a good…
Nineteen years ago this month, my better half and I had the wonderful opportunity to go on a two-week Alaskan land and sea tour—and it cost us next to nothing! I should also mention that Chris and I were co-hosts on this cruise-tour with another couple. Our presence was expected….
For plenty of hikers, the unusual rock was a destination. Honestly, it wasn’t even on our radar screen. On our recent trip to Devil’s Lake State Park in Wisconsin, we spent a full day hiking. The plan was head out from our campsite along the Ice Age Trail, which follows…
A couple of weeks after returning from our trip to the Southwest, visiting Zion National Park and more, I came across a YouTube video of a guy hiking a remote trail in Zion. It intrigued me because I hadn’t seen that particular trail before, so I settled in for a…
As a boy growing up in the 60s, like a whole bunch of us in that era, I was fascinated with the space program. Anything NASA was doing captured my attention and imagination. Of course, I wanted to be an astronaut, or an FBI agent. But mostly an astronaut. So…
This past Christmas, my daughter and grandson gave me a wonderful book suitable for the coffee table (do people still have those?). Unforgettable Journeys: Slow Down and See the World features over 200 journeys from all over the world. The book is divided into five sections based on mode of…
