“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” –Soren Kierkegaard It all began with a short ride through a sultry Tennessee woodland, close to home. And it ended about four years later, sitting on a bench in the North Carolina mountains, after an exhilarating day climbing granite peaks and roaring down […]

Sometimes we don’t choose our friends: they choose us. I never invited Cornflower into my lap, or heart. She came on her own. And she changed me. She was, as I often told her, a very pretty girl. She had subtle concentric markings on an elegant grey coat, a lovely and expressive face, a taut and […]

From my earliest memories, my father was a calm and wise presence, a man of principle and integrity. When I think of those qualities, he can’t help but be my archetype. Dad knew what was right, and would put his shoulder to the wheel, without regard for whether it was “cool” or not. He operated […]