I grew up at a summer camp and for the majority of my life ate all of my summer meals alongside the operations staff members. In an effort to lower expenses and manage food costs, certain meal items were up-cycled from one dish to another. Last night’s taco meat, might become a part of tomorrow’s marinara sauce. Now most of the time this was a great way to keep waste down and not force counselors to have the “starving kids in Africa” talk with their students during each meal. But every now and again, something went dreadfully awry.

Not all of the up-cycled items were served to the kids, some were especially created or held back for the staff. One of those special items was milk.

If you grew up in the 1980s, I am positive you remember the fascination with milk. It seemed that every school cafeteria would offer red or blue milk at a discounted rate of $0.10, or if you were in a...

I feel like I am growing in my understanding of the Portland culture. It has been weeks since I have used an umbrella, I have grown a beard, I am increasingly snobbish in my taste for locally sourced ingredients, I cut down my own Christmas tree, & I even walked by three trash cans yesterday with a water bottle looking to recycle it. But there are two element of Portland culture that I am completely perplexed by…

Waiting.
&

Waiting.

(Notice my use of the ampersand… totally Portland.)

Waiting for a table is uncommonly common.

In a town that has a reputation for rain (& not using umbrellas), it strikes me odd that so many restaurants incorporate a TSA-style reservation system. The number of sidewalks that have been transformed into hostess stations is comical. Thank you Screen Door, Tasty & Sons, Salt-n-Straw, Pok Pok, Apizza Scholls, Tin Shed, the list goes on & on… Believe me, I...

I grew up in the Sierra Nevada mountains, near Yosemite National Park. All of the adjectives that come to mind are 100% true. It is an incredible place. it is also incredibly far away from any major cities (and no, Fresno does not count as a major city). We used to call San Francisco “The City” because it was only 4 hours away.

As a young boy, my favorite baseball team was the Los Angeles Dodgers, however because we were so far away from Chavez Ravine, there was never a convenient opportunity for us to go see a game, until Mr. Flanagan happened. Mr. Flanagan was the head coach for our rival Little League team, the Oakhurst Oaks. The Oaks beat us for the Mountain Area Little League Championship every year. Mr. Flanagan however was from Los Angeles and our families struck up a relationship as Dodger fans… we came to find out laster that he also had a share of a season ticket...

We have a little can on the shelf above our dryer to collect the “treasures” that our boys have left in their pockets. It is quite an eclectic collection. A button here, a quarter there, a lego person’s head, and lots of bandaids (we have a different little can for these). The only thing worse than cleaning bandaids out of the dryer is cleaning them out of a swimming pool. The shinny waterproof ones are fine, but the breathable bandaids have the texture of wet deli meat. (I’ll take a quarter pound of wet bandaid and some smoked gouda…)

• insert gross out shiver here

A couple of nights ago, my wife and I were next to our laundry room and something was clunking around in the dryer. It seemed big. The thump was loud. So loud that I did a quick check to make sure it wasn’t my cell phone. Then it occurred to me… I don’t typically hear my dryer. There is usually a very constant...

My oldest son is entering the uncharted waters of middle school. While this is not new territory for some, it is for his parents. So, after having just begun to get our hands around the prepubescent phase of life, we are preparing ourselves to be subjected to a surge of hormonal decision making.

Our parenting philosophy to this point has been shaped by Sun Tzu’s Art of War, primarily his mandate to “appear strong, when you are weak”.

Ok. Not really.

Actually, we have always encouraged our boys to recognize that life is based on decisions or choices. I cannot tell you how many times I have said, “You chose this punishment, when you ___________ to me/your brother/your mom.” In an attempt to help them recognize that they have the power of decision, regardless of the circumstance.

Relational elements such as grace, joy, hope, and love can be easily confused as emotions...

After relocating to Oregon this spring, I encountered at phrase that I was not familiar with. Ok. I actually encountered many phrases and ideas that were previously unknown to me… Many involved ice-cream flavors that incorporated savory elements like bone marrow or bacon. Thank you Salt -n- Straw. However, my favorite new phrase is associated with Oregon’s high speed transportation lanes (also known as a freeway).

Did you know that you can actually tell that you are from Oregon if you call the freeway or highway an “interstate”? Or if you pronounce the letter I in the description of said freeway/interstate/highway.

I have found that I have the gift of interpretation to discern where people are from by their freeway/interstate/highway terminology.

You are from the California’s Bay Area, if, instead of pronouncing the letter I before the freeway/interstate/highway number, you...