• No my friend.

    Beth and Cory could not decide which house they wanted to play at this weekend. Cory said, “can I play at your house Beth?” Beth replied, “can I play at your house Cory?” This went back and forth about as you would expect for a conversation between a five year old and a four year old. Finally, an exasperated Beth took Cory by the shoulder, lovingly shook him and said, “Cory, your house is bigger!” How can you argue with that.

  • Wallowing in nostalgia.

    Say you and some of your friends are hiking through the Hillsborough River Watershed region. Now imagine that you are in the rear and you hear something behind you. You look back and see the largest wild pig you have ever seen. Of course you have never seen a wild pig, so that may not be saying much. Picture yourself turning around and announcing to your hiking partners, in as calm a voice as you can muster, “guys, there is a large wild pig right behind us.” Knowing that your partners come from the same sheltered, suburban, urban sprawl upbringing that you had, what do you suppose their reaction would be? Well, I had the opportunity to find out. Our fearless leader calmly instructed us not to run, but the pig must not have heard him. One of two things happened; either we ran faster, or the pig wasn’t all that interested in us. After we returned to the camp site much sooner than anticipated, my wife announced that she had to go to the bathroom. Eerily, my friend and I were on exactly the same page. “Still?”, we replied.

  • Exposing yourself.

    I am a glutton for punishment, especially if I am the one doing the punishing. I’ve been thinking about some of the friends I’ve had over the years, taking a trip for one down memory lane. I’ve thought a lot about the things I’ve done wrong in those relationships. I tell myself that no one is perfect, but is that sufficient excuse? I guess it depends on what it is that you’ve done wrong. I’m not going to get into a discussion of the specifics here, but I will say that while I’m on the fence – I’m leaning towards the less favorable side. Over the last five years or so I’ve actually reached out and offered my apologies to some of these old friends. I just sent one out in the mail the other day. It has always given me a rush of relief to put it in the mail. Now I just have to make sure I don’t have to send anymore letters.