My sister-in-law Kathie and her husband live a couple of hours away from us in Western Massachusetts. So, my wife and I occasionally get together with them for a hike someplace inbetween. Such was the case last weekend when we met at Purgatory Chasm State Reservation, a place that, while certainly not paradise, is not hellish either. (Oh, I guess that makes sense then.) In addition to the woods and trails that you would expect to find, it is also filled with interestingly named, natural rock formations, such as “Devil’s Corn Crib,” […] Click to read more…

(Listen to this post, here.) You’ll be pleased to learn that I was not entirely idle over the holidays. Thanks to a “beer brewing kit” given to me by my children, I joined the ranks of other home-based craftspeople and voluntarily spent an entire afternoon attempting to create a more expensive, lower quality version of a product that is readily available in any number of retail locations. I will spare you too many of the specifics, other than to say that beer brewing is a not uncomplicated process. Indeed, over […] Click to read more…

(Listen to this post, here.) As is often the case with this kind of thing, the opportunity arrived without warning. Here’s what happened… It was last month and we were visiting our daughter, Emily, in Portland, Oregon. I was standing at the front counter of the Next Adventure store, attempting to make a purchase. In one hand, I held a jacket that my wife wanted. In the other, I held a tie-dye T-shirt. I said to the young man behind the counter: “The guy in the discount department in the […] Click to read more…