May 9, 2026

“I don’t know the answer to nothin’ about a blessed thing.”  That’s what Mac Sledge, played by my favorite actor of all time, Robert Duvall, said near the end of Tender Mercies, after his daughter was killed in an automobile accident. He’s overwhelmed because he has been blessed with love and simple beauties, and then hurt to […]

October 12, 2025

Find a Door. Open It. Begin. My youngest son, Dawson, has started interviewing for jobs. He finishes his masters in computer science in May, and both of us think it would be wonderful for him to leave with a job in hand. There are a gazillion different ways to use a computer science degree. Dawson […]

April 5, 2025

Examining my fears as our child enters this unique job market You never stop being a parent. My dad still worries about me, tells me to be careful on long trips, and generally tells me to do my best not to be an idiot. I’ve made it 63 years in spite of, or perhaps because […]

November 22, 2022

Kudos to all of the school districts who now have no school during the week of Thanksgiving. If the worst travel day of the year is the day before Thanksgiving, then let’s give people options. Once again – progressive schools are leading the way. Take the whole week, and let families leave when they want […]

November 18, 2021

He’s a little taller, and his sense of humor has gotten even better. Of course, that’s coming from me, a dad who feels threatened that both of his sons will be taller than he, and a humorist of whom my friend Merlin says, “Mike, you know not everyone gets your sense of humor.” Disirregardless*, it’s […]

August 18, 2021

That was it. Dawson gave each of us a long and hard hug, picked up the last bit of dorm room essentials from our double Target run, turned around, and walked off to his dorm in the Colorado School of Mines. Oredigger Camp – his three-day orientation – starts tomorrow. He is fired up and […]