The dust storm bore down like something out of the Sahara. Before being swallowed up, I turned my head toward the clear skies in which logging truck was headed at breakneck speed along gravel road, and had the brilliant idea of following. Serendipity’s nudge shortened my bike ride from 13 miles to 7.5. I’d no … More After laboring these 18 years it’s time for a walk
Prognosticating, 18 years ago, I saw this day coming as a lumbering freight train. Impossible to stop. Inbound with a load of depression to feather our nest. Outbound with all our kids. Always in the distant future, I didn’t think about it much… Twindom overwhelmed us for centuries, it seemed. From day 1, we felt … More How to make a decision
Harvest day was too damp and cold for Shawna to pack adjacent to the walk-in cooler, forcing me to make a hundred+ back and forth trips. On each journey, hauling cut microgreens in large totes (back-and-forth three times for every stem), I paused to appreciate the tulips. Both coming and going. Before this, I hadn’t … More Simple Beauty Carries You
We sat across the table from perhaps the most stunningly attractive woman in the room. Campus Day organizers programmed virtually every minute of the day, so the four of us had just 10 minutes to eat and connect. I focused on protein. Thrisha’s father, an immigrant from India, reached out to us. Rapturously, I erupted … More A first swing home run.
Each of us brought unique handicaps to the situation. Any of these, individually, might have derailed the hike to this mountain lake before it even began. I don’t believe either of us, by ourselves, could have completed this hike. Inscrutably, our individual impediments coalesced into collective success. Our goal was reached because of these weaknesses, … More Montana. The problem is the solution.
Rolling out of bed, safely at home, after driving the better part of a day straight-through from southwest Montana, is remarkably disorienting. The sun set as our land yacht sailed eastward through North Dakota. The sky was huge and limitless the last time I saw it. The largest cumulus nimbus clouds I’ve ever seen failed … More The Morning After
Most fathers, particularly those who grew up in less than ideal circumstances, want their kids to enjoy an ideal childhood. In short, we wish to provide all those things we didn’t have. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, and we have just 362 days of parenting children remaining, it’s that I’m only human and fall … More The Penultimate Father’s Day
A wood-fired cabin, blanketed in fluffy snow and nestled along the Canadian border, beats the beach any day of the week. This has long been my ideal vacation spot. Now, for the first time, I was able to share the experience with my family. The cabin, built in 1928, is roughly the same vintage as … More The best farmer vacay ever
As we neared the firing of the cannon marking the end of summer, discontent bubbled up inside me like a witch’s brew in a red hot cauldron, threatening to boil over at any moment. With school set to resume tomorrow, our usual quota for adventure was woefully short. We completely failed to camp together as … More Making it happen after failing so miserably
When the problem is larger than you are—your experience, skillset, wisdom, or imagination—the best course of action is to do nothing. Simply wait. My seven-year journey has demonstrated this again and again. Unlike Frodo’s course, our family’s quest has carried us away from the fires of Mordor, and all that corporate disfigurement, toward a sustainable … More Arriving at a solution vs imposing one
Ed's Big Adventure 