Stories from the ridgeline
Reflections on fatherhood, faith, healing, leadership, adventure, and the spaces between expectation and reality.
May 22, 2026
We were driving home from an unsuccessful shopping trip, my daughter and I, carrying the small disappointment of an errand that did not give us what we hoped it would. It was one of those ordinary moments that somehow becomes more than ordinary while you are still inside it. We had gone looking for something […]
May 14, 2026
There is a kind of person who stops on the trail after conflict and looks back. Not because they are weak. Not because they are guilty of everything. Not because they enjoy pain. But because something in them wants to walk honestly. They want to know if they stepped carelessly. They want to know if […]
May 12, 2026
There is a trail most of us are taught to respect: the marked one. The one with blazes painted on trees. The one with mileage signs, switchbacks, elevation gain, and a known destination. The one that tells us where we are going before we ever take the first step. There is comfort in that kind […]
May 10, 2026
There’s something both sobering and seductive about unfolding a trail map before a climb. At first glance, all you see are lines. Contour marks.Elevation gains.Switchbacks.Distance.Warnings. Sometimes, those lines alone are enough to make you question whether the journey is worth it. The terrain may appear too steep.The route too long.The climb too demanding. From the […]
April 29, 2026
Life, much like chess, is not a game of chance. Not random ones; but intentional, weight-bearing decisions designed to protect what matters most. Every move carries consequences. Every sacrifice tells a story. Every mistake, if we are willing to reflect, becomes part of our education. Recently, I asked my students to write about a mistake […]
February 20, 2026
The Choice Some journeys look perfect on paper. Wide. Well-marked. Affordable. Efficient. They promise predictable footing and a gentle grade. No technical scrambles. No exposure. No risk of sudden storms rolling over the ridgeline. And yet, when your boots finally touch the dirt, something in your body hesitates. Your breathing is shallow.Your shoulders don’t drop.The […]
February 2, 2026
Some days, when someone tells me they want me to be happy, I have to pause. Not because I don’t appreciate the sentiment, but because the word doesn’t quite fit the terrain I’m walking. Happiness feels like a summit word.Joy, maybe.Relief, perhaps. But happiness assumes ease, or at least resolution. There are seasons of life; […]
January 30, 2026
The Question Some questions don’t feel like questions at all.They feel like a pause in the trail. The kind where you stop mid-stride; not because you’re tired, but because the ground beneath you just changed. A co-worker asked me one of those questions recently:What is the between passion and compassion? At first, it sounded like […]
January 18, 2026
Deep Questions Yesterday in my sixth-grade English class, we were talking about emotions. Not the tidy, laminated-chart versions that live on classroom walls and get trotted out during advisory periods; but the real ones. Anxiety. Fear. The feelings that arrive without asking, settle into the body, and refuse to leave quietly. The kind that tighten […]
January 11, 2026
Some stories don’t stay where you leave them. They don’t fade when the chapter ends or quiet down when the trail curves away from the past. They linger; like fog in a low valley, like footsteps you swear you hear long after the campsite has gone still. I’ve started to believe that ghost stories aren’t […]
