Two days ago, I flew home from a week-long business trip to Belgium. Today, it’s 2:00 AM, and I’m wide awake listening to a thunderstorm pass by and eating a piece of chocolate I purchased while on the other side of the Atlantic. Jet Lag sucks!
While I was in Belgium to work, we did have a few opportunities to see the sights, including on the 30 minute drive from where we were staying out in the country to where the meetings were being held . The Belgian countryside is beautiful. Even though it was February and below freezing most … Read the rest
As with any of my stories based in reality, it is true and accurate only to the extent that my memory is correct. This is an account of things as I remember them.
Vica Nationals
When I was in High School, I had a rather patient, kind, and understanding electronics teacher named Ralph Dammann who went out of his way to give me opportunities to explore that subject and “color outside the lines” that conventional educational programs draw. He allowed me to skip other classes to work on projects, supported me as I cooked up various new things, and was … Read the rest
Middle of nowhere, not a soul is in sight,
I'm alone far from help in a terrible fright,
Marooned yesterday and all through the night.
Weakened and failing, dealt a heavy hard blow,
Then a thumping and rumbling rattling low,
Creeps through the quiet and steadily grows.
Now the feet of a giant appear overhead,
With a deafening roar beating down latent dread,
Tells me help is at hand, and safety ahead.
The jolly green giant called out to assist,
Searching the morn' that frost's icy lips kissed,
Pararescueman watching ensures nothing's missed.
He sees me and motions to show
I was on a flight home recently after an involuntary extension of a business trip, and happened to be seated next to an aspiring author who felt like striking up a conversation. As we talked, he talked about how he had begun writing to deal with the loss of his mother. That revelation led us down a series of wandering paths, along which it came out that I also write as a form of self prescribed therapy. He asked if I had published anything, and seemed shocked when I told him no (other than scholarly/profesional journals) and that I wasn’t … Read the rest
As with any of my stories based in reality, it is true and accurate only to the extent that my memory is correct. This is an account of things as I remember them.
Spring Break
Many years ago I felt a strong desire to break free of school and work in order to spend some time tooling around Southern Utah. I had time off, a small pickup truck, and enough money to pay for gas and any incidental expenses that happened to arise, so I made plans to take a bunch of back-roads through the red-rock country. While I might … Read the rest
As with any of my stories, this is true and accurate only to the extent that my memory is correct. This is an account of things as I remember them.
Lightning Strikes and Skinny Dipping
From as far back as I can remember, I have loved opportunities to escape civilization and make my way into the wilderness. Growing up in Utah, there were plenty of opportunities to do so, ranging from the High Uintah wilderness area a few hours east to some of the emptiest high desert on the continent to the west and south. As a kid, my mother’s … Read the rest
Earlier this week I had the misfortune to have a meeting in the Washington D.C. area that required me to be physically present. There was a blizzard in the forecast, but travel arrangements were made that should have allowed our small party to escape the region before the storm hit. Unfortunately, our return flights connected through a city that was affected by the storm almost a full day before the D.C. area, and our morning flight was canceled. Attempts to re-route my travel through another city before the storm arrived were only partially successful. My travel companions got out before … Read the rest
Far north of the sun on the sands of a beach
A hulk lies half buried on land
Who knows what it carried when last leaving port
Now it's holds carry water and sand
Abandoned in place when the sea broke it's back
For decades it's been here and will
Forever remain 'till the steel rots away
Ground to dust in nature's great mill
Searingly cold, I am chilled to the bone
Crystalline ice coats the ground
Darkness paints over the bluest of skies
Snow muffles the loudest of sounds
Rational beings are tucked in warm holes
To hibernate is natures great plan
But standing here now, knee deep in new snow
I marvel at a brazen lone man
He stands there alone, protecting the globe
Keeps watch with a resolute stance
A sentinel silent, a witness as well
He begs us to not miss our chance
