Casting Aside the Unnecessary Drama and Toxicity in Your Life At first, this is going to read like a New Year’s resolution, but it’s actually going to be surprisingly easy for people to implement. No; I’m not talking about making New Year’s resolutions; New Year’s resolutions are made to be…

On Christmas vs. the Culture of Christmas, and Finding the True Meaning in “Non-traditional” Places “The mountains were his masters. They rimmed in life. They were the cup of reality, beyond growth, beyond struggle and death. They were his absolute unity in the midst of eternal change.” …

For my Teammates “We are stronger in the broken places.” -Ernest Hemingway I still have the helmet from 1989–90. For reasons I’ve written about before, I’ve wanted to get rid of it many times. …

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…