Rick and Kathy Ryan

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Rick and Kathy Ryan, and their daughter Summer were good friends of our family when I was growing up in Hammond, Louisiana. My Dad took them out canoeing for the first time, and we did a lot of bicycle rides with them. Shortly after I joined the Navy in 1980 Rick and Kathy moved to [...] Read more »

Fern Stanton Makes the Best Winter Hats

It got cold in Bend last month, and I realized that I wanted a nice winter hat. Inspired by my friend Brianna’s beautiful bearskin fur hat I began searching for something, distinctive. I found Fern Stanton near Lake Tahoe. Her hats are amazing! They’re custom made with wonderful faux fur, and they look great. I [...] Read more »

The Charles Schulz Philosophy.

My friend Deno sent this to me in an email and I think it’s worth posting here. Deno thanks for sharing an awesome lesson. The Charles Schulz Philosophy The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip. You don’t have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder on them. [...] Read more »

Kayaking on the Deschutes River

Last weekend my niece Joanna Ridgeway came to town for a visit, and we went kayaking on the Deschutes River. No white water on this trip, just a pleasant paddle upstream from Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe Shop to the Bill Healy bridge. This section of the Deschutes is backed up by a low damn [...] Read more »

Bend Farmers Market

It’s June and the Farmers Market is here. Every Wednesday in Drake Park a ton of local growers assemble to sell their produce to the locals of Bend, Oregon. This takes place half a block away from my apartment, and I’ve been looking forward to it since arriving in Bend in January. The supermarkets already [...] Read more »

2008 Year of the Nomad

I’ve been a nomad this year. Three months in Malibu, two in Ashland, one in Arkansas, one month in Louisiana, and five months in Texas. Then there was the month I spent traveling from Oregon to Arkansas… The year has been filled with wonderful adventure, a bit of disappointment, new insights, and longing dreams. Of [...] Read more »

Over the hills and far away.

I was in Louisiana for awhile to visit my Mom. She had a stay in the hospital just before our big family reunion in June, and I though it would be a good idea to go home for a little while. It’s hot down here in the summertime, hot, humid, and sticky. It was good [...] Read more »

Thunderclouds in Hammond

Hammond, Louisiana sits in the middle of South East Louisiana in beautiful farm country. The terrain is not so exquisite as some place I’ve visited before like here or here, or here. The recreation opportunities don’t look like this. But sometimes the awesomeness of the sky makes up for it. Summer time in South East [...] Read more »