“The Fool’s Errand” ***Author’s note: Here is a small fiction project I have been working on for fun. I will post portions of the story during 2018, so stay tuned. Below is part one.*** Chapter one: The Deserter’s Dying Declaration Tim Meyer woke up an hour before the late winter sun’s first rays. Fifty miles, he thought. Just fifty miles. Almost every morning the thought woke him. He and the other men in the militia finally obtained the information they needed. They had the answer. Finally, he thought, at long last we have it. Now the fifty miles. After months of pain and agony, they might end the fighting. Stop this awful bloodshed, he thought. Tim kissed his sleeping wife and left the bedroom. Opening a door to the outside, he retrieved a jug from the snow filled with frozen coffee. Throwing another log into the stove, he warmed the coffee and drank it. No cream like . . . before, he thought, but still: hot coffee. In between sips, he thought of the other guys in the militia. Does it wake them up early too? he wondered. Does the fifty miles consume them? And, for the thousandth time he…Continue reading The Fool’s Errand–Part One, Chapters One and Two
Month: January 2018
Photos from walks
Here are a few of my favorite “recent” photos that I’ve captured on my walks:
Profiles in courage: Fr. Ben Morin, S.J. (Lieutenant U.S. Army)
It’s late December 1941–the first fortnight of the U.S.’s involvement in the Second World War. You’re a 21-year old tank platoon commander. Just four weeks earlier, you and your men arrived in the Philippines. When you arrived, complacency ruled. American military members concerned themselves more with nightlife and parties than fighting the Japanese. Now a short month later, you’re at war. The Japanese have landed and are bearing down on your position as American and Filipino forces withdraw all around. Your whole tank company unit is running out of fuel. Someone needs to stop–or at least slow down–the advancing Japanese to facilitate the withdrawal. Your commanding officer informs higher echelon commanders that his company will pool its remaining fuel and that you will be taking your platoon of five tanks into the Japanese force’s teeth to buy the main body more time. Such was the position Ben Morin of Maywood, Illinois found himself in on December 22, 1941. A child of the Great Depression, Morin enlisted in the Army as a high school senior in 1938. By late ’41, he had been selected as an officer and given command his platoon. On December 22 of that year, Morin’s tank platoon…Continue reading Profiles in courage: Fr. Ben Morin, S.J. (Lieutenant U.S. Army)
Here we go…!
Well, there it is: my wife is just over 13 weeks pregnant. I’ve been wanting to shout it out to everyone I see all day, everyday! “Pregnant,” I want to shout. “With a baby!” “I’m going to be a dad!” “I’m going to be a dad!” It’s hard to express the happiness this news brings to one’s life. It’s a blessing from God. We received this great news less than a month after our wedding. Already looking back on it I am so glad we were open to pregnancy right away. I wouldn’t have it any other way. The perfect time for this baby isn’t next year. The perfect time for this baby isn’t when we are “set” in our career or “secure” money-wise. No. The perfect time for this baby is now. It’s amazing how this news puts life into perspective. Priorities formerly in flux have settled down and are now set in stone. This is our family This is us versus the world. I cannot wait to meet this baby. I cannot wait to see it grow up. My little brother had a good story: for years, he told us, he’s seen friends and acquaintances announce that they would be uncles or aunts…Continue reading Here we go…!
Walking outside in the winter: a recipe for a healthier you?
I love walking. Because I “retired” from running in 2012 I had to find a replacement. I tried walking and loved it. As Forrest Gump might say: from then on . . . I. was. walking. The mental and physical benefits I get from walking are second only to my weightlifting and require way less energy. My left knee and lower back don’t allow me to run for distance any longer. After I got out of the Marine Corps, the negatives outweighed the positives for running. It wasn’t worth it. And I hated it by the time I was done in the Marines. But I still need some sort of cardiovascular workout for heart health and weight control. So for a couple years I’ve walked. I try to make at least ten miles per week. Extrapolated over a whole year, that’d be over 500 miles. But I never walked in the winter. Once the weather dropped below freezing, I focused on weightlifting and saved walking for summer and—primarily—Minnesota’s best season; fall. This year, my life changed a lot. I gained not only a wife but also a husky. And huskies need exercise. So I committed to continuing my…Continue reading Walking outside in the winter: a recipe for a healthier you?
2017 reading list
With no further delay, here’s my 2017 reading list. Fiction and biographies dominate the list this year. At my job, I read a lot of dense legal materials, and reading is an escape for me. So lately, I’ve really liked to focus on stories. Biographies are the more “acceptable” forms of storytelling (some people think that reading fiction is a waste), but sometimes biographies are more dramatic and spellbinding than fiction. After all, truth is stranger than fiction. Note this list is in order of how much I enjoyed them. Individual experiences may vary: Independent People–Haldor Laxness (a classic for my all-time great list; simply stunning although a bit slow on the uptake) Clouds of Glory–Michael Korda (in a year where Americans tore down, defaced, and desecrated statues of Confederates all across the nation, this book solidified Robert E. Lee in my mind as, however flawed, one of the finest men out nation has ever produced) Gates of Fire–Steven Pressfield (a classic story of the Spartan 300 as told to Xerxes; a must-read for lower level leaders in the trenches with their subordinates) Napoleon: A Life–Andrew Roberts (a wonderful, informing read–highly recommended for the Napoleonic newbie) The Martian–Andy Weir (a good…Continue reading 2017 reading list