Children have questions

“A prudent question is one half of wisdom.” ~ Francis Bacon Each morning, I drive my six year old to school, and we use it as “ask Papa questions” time.  My oldest is really smart (as most first-borns seem to be), and she is asking the hard questions. Earlier this week, she asked me how…

Signposts – what were you about to say?

“The trouble with our age is that it is all signpost and no destination” ~ Louis Kronenberger I took this pic and ran it through some filters on my phone.  I found these signposts, sans sign, kinda cool.  Someone wanted to say something big here, something you could see from the highway – were they…

Water towers

“You can milk a cow the wrong way once and still be a farmer, but vote the wrong way on a water tower and you can be in trouble” ~ John F. Kennedy On my drive in through the country, there are tons of interesting old structures, including water towers.  Many people may not know,…

Pastoral landscapes

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls. ~ Mother Teresa…

Why we love California

“Growing up in northern California has had a big influence on my love and respect for the outdoors. When I lived in Oakland, we would think nothing of driving to Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz one day and then driving to the foothills of the Sierras the next day.”  ~ Tom Hanks Where was…

The miracles of cotton and denim

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ~ Jesus (Matthew 6:25) This pic is not particularly inspiring, but it evokes in…

Art in everyday life

“What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us.” ~ Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way After weeks of…

Knowing how to use the three sea shells

“How’s that damn three seashell thing work?” ~ Sylvester Stallone as John Spartan in Demolition Man I am always thinking about how to do things smarter and easier.  When things irritate me, I think, “how can I avoid this irritation?”  That’s why, for instance, I created a whole series of ranting articles on my Pet…

Thoughtful design in everyday things

Design is intelligence made visible.  ~ Alina Wheeler I have the opportunity to look at this lock a few times a day, and I noticed a few intriguing things about it. First, it employs one-way screws – you can screw them in, but you can’t take them out!  Well, not without special methods, like using…

Like a patient farmer

Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. ~ James 7:5 I previously passed this picturesque tilled field, and now, almost two weeks later, no…

It was a dark and stormy night

Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the night.  ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Well, at least dark.  This is just an end of the day pic on my street.  The moon looks nice up top.  I am a night…

Storms and the beauty of clouds

Clouds and darkness surround us, yet Heaven is just, and the day of triumph will surely come, when justice and truth will be vindicated.  ~ Mary Todd Lincoln I love living in California, mostly because of the dry, warm weather.  But during the winter, we get lots of rain, and with the rain, sometimes we…

What IS God’s Problem?

My hope in writing the book is certainly not to encourage readers to become agnostic, the path that I took. It is instead to help people think, both about this biggest of all possible questions and about the historically and culturally significant religious responses to it that can be found in the most important book…

The value of (LOL)Cats

“I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.” ~ Jean Cocteau (1889 – 1963) French poet I am a “cat person” – I mean, I like all animals, including dogs, but I wouldn’t live with other animals.  Dogs are for people who like to play and…

Home cooking makes a house a home

“A house is a home when it shelters the body and comforts the soul.” ~ Phillip Moffitt, Buddhist Teacher from Spirit Rock Church One of the things I love about being married, and my wife in particular, is that the house is often filled with the yummy smells of home cooking.  Whether it’s home made…

Still demanding more out of my cell phone

From cell phones to computers, quality is improving and costs are shrinking as companies fight to offer the public the best product at the best price. But this philosophy is sadly missing from our health-care insurance system. ~ Arizona Congressman John Shadegg (R) I like my Motorola Droid, I really do.  But it has some…

My caffeine addiction

Coffee, the finest organic suspension ever devised.  ~Star Trek: Voyager I admit it – I love my morning coffee.  I’ve quit caffeine before, but I always go back.  Why?  Not enough sleep, the love of the creamy sugary boost, the smell, the taste. This cup is what I have in my car every morning.  So…

I hate dirty jobs – actually, most manual labor

“I’m going to cross this off the list and never come back here again.” ~ Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs I hate manual labor.  I am not really built for it mentally.  Don’t get me wrong, I can do it, but I don’t get the same kind of satisfaction others seem to.  And when I…

Simple things make children happy

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple eauty of nature….

Tule Fog season

Truth is the torch that gleams through the fog without dispelling it. ~ Claude Adrien Helvétius (French Philosopher) What is Tule Fog (prounounced “TOO-lee”)?  It’s the thick, daily fog we get in the mornings in the Great Central Valley of California (and it is great, as in large), every winter from about Thanksgiving to Valentine’s…