The heavens opened with a gift that sent almost all of us on the Kenai roads off the road. “Rainbow!” I yelped to Keesha and swerved off to the side of the road. “Wow. A full, double rainbow! Two of them!” Every car on the road stopped to gape open-jawed at the beauty before us. Read the rest of this entry »

Life was great in the 90’s. Wonderful longtime partner. Beautifully remodeled house designed by a world-class architect.  Successful business ventures for me and and my partner. Money rolling in. Political involvement. Making a difference in human rights. Great family and friends. Can’t get much better than that – the American dream in action.

But the universe, or whatever you want to call the force that permeates all, had other ideas. That force clobbered me and knocked me awake. And life was never the same after that. Read the rest of this entry »

You want to know how to experience something so moving that it makes the bottom of your heart shiver? I can tell you. Read the rest of this entry »

I almost skipped the Dempster Highway and headed for the Homer, Alaska. My heart and my body wanted a rest, to sit near the ocean and stop driving. But when I arrived a few kilometers outside Dawson City, Yukon, my hands turned the wheel and I veered north. The road quickly degenerated from blacktop to rough pavement, to a gravel, rock slate mix that rose many feet above the permafrost. Took concentration and dedicated purpose to drive that road.

Eagle Plains is an oasis at the halfway point. There’s a service station, a hotel with a lounge and a helipad. Inside the service station is a mountain of tires travelers need to repair the tires the Dempster ate. Tents and RVs cluster around a dusty lot on the north end, housing those who haven’t given in to the lure of a soft bed after jolting along the rocky highway. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently I watched the movie Invictus for the second time. It’s the story of how Nelson Mandela actively supported the South African Springboks rugby team in the early years of his presidency. He knew the power a winning team to bring people together. That winning the world cup could help to bind the wounds of a bleeding nation.

More importantly, Mandela knew that forgiveness was more powerful than any vindictive action or long carried resentment.

The last post I wrote was about the complexity of loss. It was about commitment and the anchors that ground us in life and what happens when we lose those. What you don’t know is that I deleted much of the original writing, stripping out words I decided were best suited for my eyes only. Read the rest of this entry »