The day before we left on vacation three weeks ago, I tried getting my truck inspected. The NC DMV said it was due in July, so I made the short trip from my house over to the place I’ve had it inspected it for years. When I pulled into the station, which is little more than a one-room shack with two vehicle bays attached, I was greeted by a short white man in his late 20s who had the face…
Money doesn’t matter. The car you drive doesn’t matter. Your trust fund doesn’t matter. How cute or smart you think your kids are doesn’t matter. Who your father is doesn’t matter. Your age doesn’t matter. Whether you go to church doesn’t matter. Your tattoos and piercings don’t matter. The college you attended doesn’t matter. How much you accomplish before 9 am doesn’t matter. Your rank and title don’t matter. The concert you saw last week doesn’t matter. Scooping news doesn’t…
What is it about vacation that draws me into a state of melancholy? Is it knowing that the best part is the anticipation – when we talk about the things we’re going to do around the breakfast table months in advance? Is it keeping one eye on the calendar the whole time no matter how long we are gone? Is it understanding that nothing lasts forever? Is it the fear of facing personal shortcomings that keep me from spending time…
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there are no coincidences. Yes, it’s cliche. And I know you probably believe in randomness and chaos. I don’t blame you. It’s not easy walking around thinking that every moment and each encounter is significant. But for me, it is. That is, when I’m paying attention it is. When I get wrapped up in the world of others, I tend to think like others – and don’t see the wood for the…
Vacation. In America, most of us get a couple of weeks a year to unwind, see new sights and recharge. We’re an industrious lot. Two weeks is all we need to be highly productive workers for the other fifty. Europeans, however, get something like six months off a year. They’re not American though, and so they don’t get it. To make a mark in this world means keeping your nose to the grindstone. Ben Franklin said so. Recharging is for…
I grew up in the future back in the late 60’s and early 70’s. We lived along the east coast of Florida from Cocoa Beach to Jacksonville. With NASA firing rockets into space and Disney being erected down in the middle of orange groves, it was a magical time. As a boy, I remember watching grainy images of the Apollo missions lifting off from Cape Canaveral on television, and then rushing outside to actually see them rise into the sky…
