Yesterday was the first day of Lent, a time when Christians often make an attempt to “give something up” for forty days in order to induce some reflection on the sacrifice of Christ.  As Christians, we are not the only faith that gives things up from time to time in order to focus ourselves on sacrifice and to return to what is truly important. Following...

Two weekends ago I was fortunate enough to visit the 9-11 memorial at the site of the World Trade Center.  It is hard to believe that is has been more than ten years since that horrible day in our country’s history.  I was joined on the tour by two of my children, my oldest daughter, Lindsay and my youngest child, Jack.  Jack was only 2 1/2 on 9-11-01 so I...

It has been over two months since I have written a blog post.  Much has happened since my last post at the end of November.  I am returning from a long break from blogging and the reason for the long break from blogging is that I have also returned from a long break from full time work. I retired from my full time corporate job in late 2007 to take some time off to...

I am ashamed to admit that I participated in this past week’s Black Friday ritual, not because I wanted to but because my children asked me to.  I think this possibly makes me a bad parent except that we discussed what we learned from the experience and perhaps that will change their perspectives for the future. We are a consumer driven society.  Last night...

Thanksgiving has come a long way from that first feast of November 1621.  The original Thanksgiving was a celebration of the first successful corn harvest for the colonists of Plymouth.  A feast that would not have been possible had the Native Americans not taught the colonists how to cultivate corn.  Back then growing a sufficient amount of food to survive was...

Veteran’s Day we set aside to remember all those who serve or have served our country. Without the courage and sacrifice of our Vets we would not continue to enjoy the freedoms that we have in this country. Really, we should be showing our gratitude and giving thanks to our Vets every day of the year not just on Veteran’s Day. Often the true sacrifice...

Today we spent our second day in Santa Fe taking in the art, culture and cuisine of the area. In today’s fast and cheap economy it is a rare treat to spend time in a city with much focus on the old ways and support for a local artisan community. We started the morning by returning to Oleaceae ...

Last night in our final class of Channeling Aristotle we discussed the role of a person as citizen. Aristotle felt this role trumped all others. Our professor asked us “What is the first freedom”? Our class gave no strong response. His answer – The freedom to govern yourself. We the People. We govern ourselves. We choose. We get what WE choose. ...

7 Billion……… Person # 7 billion was born sometime yesterday on this earth. We were just at 1 Billion in 1804. It took about 1800 years to reach that first Billion. 100 years later in 1900 the population was 1.6 Billion. And now in 2011 it is 7 Billion. That is a daunting number which will rise to 9 Billion in the next 35 years. ...

Stewardship -the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving Everywhere I hear and see finger pointing about who is responsible for this problem or that problem – global warming, the economy, loss of the moral compass, hunger, poverty. You name it, everyone is looking for someone or something to blame. As I...