Our fate changes almost daily. New roads, new pathways open up to us, but sometimes selecting a path that could well be inconsequential makes the largest difference in your life. Your marriage partner, the friends you make, the city or even the neighborhood where you live, the organizations you join, the movements you support, or […]
Westside Story – 8 Themes Part III
If you missed Westside Story – 8 Themes Part I or Westside Story – 8 Themes Part II, please click my LINKS for a second chance to catch up. THEME #7 – MORAL COMPASS At this point, with $200 cash stuffed into my bulging wallet, I faced an interesting dilemma. A total stranger, a Black […]
Sharing, Blade Runner, and More
Last night I started watching the latest and greatest re-cut of Blade Runner, a science fiction masterpiece from 1982. Peg and I first saw the film with friends Kathy and Jim Whitacre at the Parkland Theater. The only other time I recall seeing a film there was on a date during my senior year at […]
Westside Story – 8 Themes, Part II
If you missed Westside Story – 8 Themes Part I, please click my LINK and you will be taken back in time. THEME #5 – BLACK GENEROSITY IN THE MILD FORM While downloading my last WinCo Foods shopping cart into the back of the Nourish Pierce County Food Bank truck, a Black male approached and […]
Letter: A Coronavirus Fish (and golf) Story
For fear of being caught – not the fish, but himself – he didn’t invite his fishing buddy to go with him. Traffic was light but enough cars were on the road that his blended in with the rest. Chances of being stopped and having to explain where he was going were minimal. But even […]
Westside Story – 8 Themes Part I
THEME #1 – VOLUNTEERING: On January 13, 2020, Ben Sclair, published a Food Bank article in our community paper, The Suburban Times, titled, Volunteer Drivers Urgently Needed. While I have no time to volunteer, I decided to make time because becoming a volunteer Food Bank driver would be a perfect behind-the-scenes way for me to help hungry people. During my […]
Social Distancing Smooth Sailing – Lakewood Playhouse is Cruising Along with Stranded
How would you like an hour and 15 minutes of free local entertainment? Lakewood Playhouse has it for you to enjoy. Theaters always need funding. Local ticket prices are extremely modest for live entertainment. Although theaters have many volunteers, they also have paid staff who do the behind the scene tasks that keep the theater […]
Vet Clinic; Apr20
New resources for military veterans. As virus spreads, VA gets set to back up taxed US hospitalshttps://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/03/19/as-virus-spreads-va-gets-set-to-back-up-taxed-us-hospitals/ “Pay for Success” helps Veterans with PTSD find and keep meaningful jobshttps://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/71991/pay-success-program-helps-veterans-ptsd-find-keep-meaningful-jobs/ Creative writing program helps Veterans with PTSDhttps://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/72589/creative-writing-program-helps-veterans-ptsd/ Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is helping Veterans with chronic painhttps://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/72297/cognitive-behavioral-therapy-helping-veterans-chronic-pain/ What a combat veteran taught me about handling stresshttps://www.militarytimes.com/opinion/commentary/2020/01/09/what-a-combat-veteran-taught-me-about-handling-stress/ VFW […]
Across the Fence: More than a Cathedral
The other day, on Easter Sunday, while I was sitting at home instead of in church listening to a service, I found myself reflecting which church in my life had featured as most important. Was it the one I went to Sunday school and was a shepherd kid in a nativity play? Was it the […]