In Defense of Bridges.
I don’t think I really knew what a bridge was until I was learning the guitar and my friend Mike would give me the lyrics to songs he was teaching me in long hand with his very neatly written “Verse” and “Chorus” and “Bridge.” In a song, a bridge is usually a section that provides […]
Chocolate Tasting — and 8 flavors of anger.
In 1929, at the age of 13, Roald Dahl attended Repton School, a prestigious boys’ boarding school in Derbyshire, England. It was during his time at Repton that the Cadbury company sent sample chocolate bars to the school for the boys to taste and evaluate. “It was a tradition that Cadbury’s, the great chocolate manufacturers, […]
Robert Frost – and 7 things that make decisions feel harder.
I have more than once in this space told you of my love for the book (and movie — and now musical!) The Outsiders. And part of what I love about it is the poem Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost. When I read it in the ’80s, it was my first introduction to […]
Graduation Season – and other spaces.
For many (many!) years, Memorial Day weekend was super stressful for me. It was usually the final push before high school graduation. Graduation – at least back then – was always the first week in June. And my whole job was graduation – making sure every last kid who could walk, did. There were parents […]
A little thank you – and something new.
In 2018, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania set out to understand how social norms shift – how real change happens, not just in theory, but in groups of people living real lives. They designed an experiment where participants were asked to label a simple image. But midway through the task, a small group of […]
The Deck We Don’t Use.
The deck we don’t use. Last year we redid our deck. It had been built with basic builder’s grade wood – nothing fancy, and never meant to last. It didn’t hold paint well, it needed constant maintenance, and no matter how many times we power-washed or re-stained, it still looked tired. So we made a […]
Olly Olly Oxen Nope (the fish follow-up!)
Exactly a year ago, I wrote about a childhood game of hide and seek – and about a belief I wanted to let go of: “I can’t change.” To make it tangible (and a little silly), I gave myself a goal:Learn to like seafood. More specifically: become the kind of person who doesn’t automatically say […]
Elisha Otis and building some safety.
According to Mark Crawford, writing for The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Elisha Graves Otis was born in 1811, the youngest of six children. At age 20, Otis made a rough living as a wagon driver and carpenter – work that proved too demanding for his health to sustain for long. At age 27, he […]
A little more out loud.
For some reason, this year, Easter has been a tricky season for me. I don’t hide from all of you that I am a Christian. But I also don’t put it front and center – especially in my work life. In my background in public education, it was a no-no to mix church and […]
Yellow Brick and Red Utah Sandstone.
Photo by Jacob Barlow A few Sundays ago, I sat quietly in a red sandstone tabernacle built in 1909. The pews curve in the balcony and behind the pulpit sits a huge pipe organ. The woodwork is intricate and warm. It wasn’t my first time in that building – but it was the first time […]
