Although I had planned to get up for a Glacier sunrise, the night before I had told Aden we would not get up and go stupidly early. I did want to get going early enough to make sure we could spend the day on the St. Mary side of the park. Not too much sleeping in for him, but also wanted him well-rested. We picked Grinnell Glacier as our hike for the day and the rest we would figure out when we got there.

With some last-minute shuffling of the trip, I was able to get us a spot at…

Day 3. We pulled into the Great State of Montana out of Idaho Falls.

Montana for me is sort of a dream. Big and wide open. Not densely populated. Thanks to some great books by my friend John (Jack) B. Wright https://www.amazon.com/Montana-Ghost-Dance-Essays-Land/dp/0292791208, I am reminded every time I come to Montana of its constant history of extraction and exploitation of its resources. These days places like Bozeman, Butte, and Missoula are seeing upticks in transplants evading all sorts of places for a piece of the west. …

The drive on AZ 202 was freeing. The past month had been a grind despite having had a few days already in San Diego with my family. I was still bound up and I was missing my son. Maybe I have it too good and don’t recognize that. Certainly, many thousands are worse off.

It was after 5 am. I felt like I had taken off from the QT in Chandler/Gilbert like I was on the run. Always on the run.

Finally on the highway and heading out towards Wickenberg [where I knew we would finally be out on some…

Last Friday, we pulled back into Chandler, AZ from our road trip in a rented RV. We hurried back into life; I had a flight to Kansas City on Sunday (barely 36 hours after the return) and Aden had to get ready for a camp.

This is not about a Dad’s sacrifice of time with his son to earn enough to have any time with his son https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8R_Pp6EcM4. Rather this is a celebration of the time we had.

Back in the summer of 2020 [Remember that one. COVD and riots and all kinds of other divisive stuff?] Aden asked me…

Was the saddest, most terrifying and freeing day and time of my life.

I was ashamed, scared, nervous, and relieved.

I knew not where to go and at the same time felt I could go wherever without judgment.

The main thing I still struggle with is not the why.

It’s what does he think about me?

Proud? Judgmental for mistakes I’ve made? Would he be critical of opportunities I missed? Would he be happy I’ve pushed on the world a little and as he used say “shot all the angels”?

I struggle with what type of relationship could have been…

Problem is. Any time. Is not a thing.

Ever had a friend say. Anytime. When you suggest a casual meet up, dinner, hike….

Does anytime ever happen?

No.

Nice to think we could really come by unannounced, on our own whim and crash whatever is happening with them. How well does that work out, outside of a beer commercial?

I think what anytime is, is a lazy way of saying, you have to take the next step because I won’t.

No one frankly is spontaneous enough for it.

Is it an asshole move to say anytime? I’m starting to think it is. It’s a hollow commitment. It is no commitment. It just gives the air or open and spontaneous.

Let me add to the list of things to stop doing.

My time is valuable. So is yours. So it has to be A time going forward.

I was preparing to take my son to our first NBA game since last February. Our Phoenix Suns (2 in the west) v. the Utah Jazz (1). Big excitement.

I attempt to download our tickets, and my Ticketmaster App tells me that it believes I am a bot. WTF? And so no download for you.

The was some plug-in running in the background on my phone that was disabling JAVA. No idea what it was. I removed much, cleared histories, etc. Nothing.

Finally, I just reset the damn phone and whipped out all data.

What I got back was basically…

Today I’m in Dallas. This is my 12th trip of the year going by plane somewhere.

I’ve been back in the air and on the road since last July when I got a call from a client in the Denver area. Pre-pandemic I was on the road 50 weeks a year roughly.

The start of the pandemic intersected with my planned (at least to me, not necessarily my former employer) departure and opening/launching of my business. A company called Revival Development Services.

Initially I had plenty of stuff to keep me busy along with the cash and credit one sensibly…