(written Monday, August 11, 2025)
Ohi’a lehua honey
The sweetest, creamiest honey
Brings brightness to my soul
Patient boys,
First day of “school”,
A long walk home
Watch out for bears
Package at the doorstep
Ohi’a lehua honey order!
Add a little bread and butter
Nourishment after car trouble galore
A batterly AND alternator?!
Oh me, oh my!
The heavy jar
Laden with golden joy
Bright red, wispy flower
Symbol of resilience
Refreshing
Life is Sailing
A place of life exploration, sailing journeys, and piece of thought
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(written Sunday, August 10, 2025)
A husband, faithful and true, blesses the heart and soul of his wife. The person she was, the person she has become, and the person she will be are all linked to this man. May he hold her heart tenderly, for much affection it contains, they of which is love. So spend time, intention and focused habit, in cultivating this love. Connect with her, share laughter with her, secure eye contact with her, debate with her, serve with her. May the “with” be what binds the two, no matter what life brings, for “with” each other the burden becomes more bearable and the joys multiply. God at the center, husband and wife with each other side by side. And may she, in turn, bless the heart and soul of her husband.
-
(written Friday, August 8, 2025)
Cushy carpet under tired toes
After a day filled with fellowship.
Via phone, text, in-person, and video call
I am grateful for friends both of many years and a few days. -
(written Thursday, August 7, 2025)
Wooden planks one after the other
“Caw, caw”
Fish Flesh fixed on hooks
Flung to the waves in hopes of catching
Fleshy fish for fillet.
An excited, “Look, Mom!”
Black shape beneath the waves. Peer down below.
Sting ray? “No, manta ray.”
For the sting lies close to the ocean’s floor.
All the way to the end we walk
Quickly to see is that a person in the water?!
Ah, no, just a pelican
Bobbing in its happy place
Drifting with the current
Past the pier and the boats
As content as can be.
“I could stay here all day,” begs my son,
His siblings quite ansy to leave.
Sister hangs back in the shade,
Nervous above metal grates and ocean waves.
“Caw, caw.”
“Oh, this crow of the sea,” say I.
Seagulls gathering, ringing their calls.
“You should write about them,”
My sea-life-loving son beams.
Well, my son, I did,
And I wish I was forever with you
Out on that pier with crows of the sea. -
(written July 30, 2025)
Simple threads
Slipping by
Transitions, changes,
Will it end?
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(written July 29, 2025)
Tired. Exhausted. Is it the working all day unpacking? Something about cardboard smells? Maybe I need more sleep. Or just fresh air.
My brother said it seems like my family and I have been moving for forever…
Why, yes. Yes, it does.
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(written Monday, August 4, 2025)
Kids learn tough lessons… like, always aim a throw below the shoulders, especially when you are a few feet away.
Or… own up to what you did. Apologize. Ask if they are okay. Try to make it right.
Or… a good friend walks with his friend home when they are hurt. Stay with them when they hurt.
Or… be brave enough to follow up in that friendship and give them the space to work through what happened.
Tough life lessons worth remembering for us all.
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Disappointment transformed into conversation.
A chance to connect and discover beautiful skills of another.
Mosaics of glass, shells, mortar, and metal.
People fellowshipping together. -
(written Tuesday, August 5, 2025)
It’s about deep pressure hugs when he is clearly cracking emotionally.
It’s about cleaning up messes I didn’t make and teaching them to clean up after themselves.
It’s about loving her and encouraging her to follow her dreams even after she’s been nasty when driven by fear.
It’s about instruction but moreso guidance and love.
It’s about the soft butterfly kisses from sweet little lashes.
It’s about giggles and tickles.
It’s about having people who pull me away from interests and into their lives.
It’s about seeing gifts develop in others and finding ways to promote their growth.
It’s about showing them my needs too so they can learn to care for adults who care for them.
It’s about growing in marriage.
It’s about playtime and mealtime and vacation time and rest time and workout time and sunset time.
It’s about noticing the colors of the sunset with many eyes.
What is parenting about? It’s about them and us together, apart, growing, and going.
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(from Sunday, August 3, 2025)
Looming clouds covered the sky
Loading give away items into the van
Glorious hymns, sung in full gusto
Streamed across the neighborhood road
A blue Corvette
Perched upon blocks
"There is a Fountain" song a-singing,
Blessing the grease work on rear axle
Who knew we'd find a kindred soul?!
Familiar names exchanged from afar
We had trod the same path
To hear heaven's word
Now on the same street we live!
Friendship, perhaps, begun by
A blue Corvette
And hymn.
Leader
Will you lead through the fire?
What when the fire dies?
Who are you leading and do you know your why?
Do you promote yourself above others?
Or do you look and see others, weaving talents together to yield a cloth of multiplied strength?
Deceptive is the idea that the best leader is one most skilled in his craft (be it flying a plane, designing technology, etc).
Perhaps leading others is a skill in itself.
Look just below the highest performing worker… for the one who watches, observes, encourages, challenges the team to grow.
Can an intrinsically skilled leader of people lead in multiple contexts, regardless of his/her specific job training?
Leader, lead people and know why you lead.
Life is Sailing 