An afternoon stroll with a photographer in Nevada City, California proved to be an adventure for me. The afternoon was planned; no agenda, no time crunch, only the expectancy of gathering ideas for future art and preserving them with photographs. I discovered early on that two artists were looking differently at things. Tiffany Dawson, a photographer looked at everything in lines, details, texture and in architectural design, I as an artist saw color and flair in series, themes and stories. As…

Is that crazy or not? Sometimes only trouble can get us to where we need to be. It could be there is no other way to move us along, to learn what we need to learn in order to be in that place we’ve been called to live. I am big on knowing my purpose. I still don’t have a real handle on the bigger picture. It’s that place where I can find my completion, my satisfaction. And in that place, it brings different challenges, different problems and different trouble that, perhaps, others might not have…

“Let us go on.” Paul sounded like a heretic when he explained to the Hebrews that they needed to go on. Some resisted. Why? Because people are too comfortable in the way it is. Change brings fear — fear we might become an oddity — so we stay in a safe place. To paraphrase Paul, “You’ve laid the foundation, now it’s time to break out of your comfortable traditions of following the law and move in the Spirit of Jesus.” He was unearthing the very ground his people had walked on for 2,000 years. He …

Over the years, my Sweet Al received phone calls from his brother. The gruff and impatient voice was always about sending Al on an errand. “Go down to my house, clear the snow, open the gate and turn on the heat, my ex is coming to Pagosa for the weekend.” Nothing was too much to ask Al to do. “Al, I left my diamond ring in a hotel in Gallup, go get it.” Never please or thank you. My Sweet Al dropped everything and drove to Gallup, N.M., found his brother’s ring and even a girlfriend left behind…

Two brothers. Woe to anyone who comes between them. A phone call can change everything and brings reality into the bigger picture. We waited for the call. We were told a day or two. We had time to ponder on the life of David Warren Slade, what we knew and didn’t know. Al’s brother’s son called and said the family planned to have a small memorial for David. They would make a toast. Prepare to say a few words. I told my Sweet Al, “Be ready to say something about your brother. Tell me what you’ll …

An excerpt from "George's New Home." When the horse named George and his owner, Mickey, left the circus for the last time, George hung his head low. First, he had to leave his friend Lenny, the huge draft horse, whose awkwardness and funny talk kept George's spirits up no matter what. Though he loved short, feisty Mickey, life wouldn't be the same without reckless Lenny. Now, all his high leaps and jumping on his hind legs were a thing of the past, nothing more than memories. His swayback had be…