Unpopular opinion: You don’t need a ‘New You‘ this January. We’re told every January 1st that we need to reinvent ourselves from scratch. What if this year isn’t about starting over, but about leaning in? I’m talking about perseverance over perfection.
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Dad passed away fifteen years ago on June 25th, 2010. I think of him often and smile at our times together, and the stories he told of his life. I am eternally grateful for the gifts he passed on to me. I could also cry, thinking of the questions I never asked him, and never thought to ask while he was alive.
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73 year old Veteran Bruce Bair hiked over 280 miles from Durham, NC to Washington DC where he hand-delivered letters to the office of Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC). The reason? Tillis refuses to host Town halls back home in North Carolina. Bruce spent a night in our home along the way. Some think his superpower is his physical stamina. They are wrong. His superpower is that he gives a d@mn.
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Strange as it may seem, bushhogging gives me both a sense of Zen and a feeling of accomplishment. It took me years to reach that point, and I was happy to relive it again last week. As a bonus, I had an ongoing interaction with a persistent crow, who turned out to be pretty smart.
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It’s not a requirement to like your brothers-in-law, but it’s a good thing when it happens. I have been blessed with three GREAT brothers-in-law – Shawn, Don, and Jack. In my book, requirement one for any B-I-L is to love and care for your wife and family. All three do/did that and so much more.
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A little dark humor. When I have stress dreams, they often take place at West Point. It is usually some version of a final exam coming up, and I haven’t studied or been to class all semester (yes, I know that could not happen at West Point, but it is a dream after all).
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The coffee cup is old and has chips and a crack in it. It was a gift from my buddy Tim Stouffer in 1980 when he visited us in Germany, while returning from a trip to Russia. I think he bought it in a train station somewhere. Tim passed away a little over a year ago, and I’ve thought about whether I should continue using the mug, or put it on a shelf somewhere.
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The Nat’s pitchers and catchers reported for spring training last week on February 12th. I’m excited, but also a bit sad. My old friend, Bill Wagner, passed away last September. He was the owner of the season ticket group I belong to and there will be a hole in my heart on Opening Day.
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I received my Top Secret (TS), Special Compartmentalized Information (SCI) clearance in 1989. I was an Army Captain at the time. Before receiving the clearance, I did not know what work I would actually do in my new job. When I was cleared into the program, the first thing Gene, my new boss, asked was “How do you feel about Nuclear War?”
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I was a cookbook junkie for a couple of decades. The last few years, I’ve kept my addiction in check. I try and take it one meal at a time, which has worked … so far. Of course, I continue collecting online recipes and recipes from friends like a fiend.
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Live Life Exuberantly 