A Retelling ren·​e·​gade | “re-ni-gād” Renegade. Noun. A person who deserts and betrays an organization, country, or set of principles. A person who abandons a religion or set of beliefs; an apostate. A person who behaves in a rebelliously nonconformist manner. Renegade: Adjective. Having treacherously changed allegiance. Having deserted a…

A place on earth like Heaven must be — Wild, untamed, yet orderly. Mountains, valleys, rivers, streams, Hundred-foot evergreens in teams In the middle of nowhere, it seems. In the freezing alpine cascades, Exhilarated and free, Surrounded by towers of Cypress and Sequoia Standing watch over their domain — We…

On a cold, late October Saturday last year, I was doing a long run through the back trails of a military base in far eastern North Carolina, set along the Atlantic Ocean. It was unseasonably cold for that time of year. And the sky, typically clear on a crisp day…

I left the town of Oak Ridge in October, 1997, and although I have been back a few times since, I’ve never returned, at least not spiritually or emotionally. There were many reasons for it. …

Jack Armstrong was a retired Marine Corps Colonel. But he wasn’t what you would think based on your unconscious biases. He had confused and perplexed a lot of folks who came in contact with him for most of his adult and professional life. …

Rock-strewn coastline Boulders here and there, Navigate the rocky bottom - Sarsens everywhere. Frigid, stabbing water Hits my exposed skin Bodysuit barely helping, Board scrapes stone again. Struggling to paddle out - Watch the exposed crowns, Of underwater boulders Everywhere around. Hard to read the current, Twisting and unfair; Waves…

Although studies show the numbers of players, spectators, and watchers are steadily declining, we cannot dismiss the possibility that football will continue to survive in some form; not in spite of its violence, but precisely because of it. “The game, the game: here we go again. All glory to it…

Learning to Leverage the Normal and the Good When Back Among the Denizens of D.C. “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” -Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz. What’s it like to live in the Washington, DC, area? I don’t mean to visit. Indeed, everyone should visit the nation’s…

The Second Chapter An ode of sorts to an area and the friends we have there. As my time out here is almost complete, I feel like I need to say something memorable to mark it. Whether I have it in me or not is another matter. After all, when…