The Last Backpack?

  Was it my last backpack? Yes. No. Maybe. When reflecting on my hikes into the mountains, I confess to crafting them towards the dramatic. However, I mostly forgive myself for the forced metaphors, exaggerations, and romanticized tales. I do not lightly claim that many of the backpacks represented the best of my four decades […]

Why Hasn’t He Died Yet?

Far and away, the most comments at Hospice Matters were from those whose dying loved one didn’t die. They lingered. In 2016, I wrote Why Hasn’t He Died Yet? Responses from readers, many with heartfelt and anguished caregiving experiences, keep coming. That post, followed by a few sample comments, is posted here. Below is the […]

Come On In!

What did conservationist John Muir say? “John the Baptist was not more eager to get all of his fellow sinners into the Jordan River than I to baptize all of mine in the beauty of the mountains.”

Dad and Me: 10 Years Later

There is no known evidence of a Kodak moment to reinforce my mighty exploits. Whenever I’ve been asked about first childhood recollections, this is the one I confidently share.