New state, same natural disaster.

I thought I escaped wildfires when I moved out to Colorado with my family in March from Southern California. It seemed like there were catastrophic fires every year there. Sometimes, they’d get close enough that we’d have ash falling on our car. In 1993, I remember seeing the Laguna Fire creep over the mountains from where I went to school in Mission Viejo.

I never worried. I trusted firefighters. I just “knew” that everything would be fine. All that changed with the Santiago Fire in 2007. In hindsight, the fires that hit Southern California in 2007 are a blur. I know the worst was down in the San Diego area. I know there was the Santiago Fire up by us. I don’t remember if there were any others. I’ll never forget our experience, though.

It started as a fairly standard fire. That sounds bad, but in California, you get used to things like fires and earthquakes. There’s smoke in the sky. There’s news broadcasts. Everybody panics … well, except for me. I never worried about anything. [Read more…]

Well, almost wordless. Can’t believe I became a dad 11 years ago today. Can’t believe how fast these years go by.

He likes roller coasters, so I took the day off of work today and we’re going to an amusement park down in Denver. Hope you have a good Wednesday, but it won’t be as good as ours.

So I’m going to be almost wordless, but I’m going to throw in a few words because the subject deserves it. The pictures are of my brother. It’s his birthday today, so I’m throwing in some pictures of him while wishing him a happy birthday. 36!

A few things about him:

– He’s cheated death a few times and I’m grateful he’s still around. Ridiculous car accident, extracted with jaws of life. Face down with a gun to his head in an armed robbery. God’s been taking care of him.

– He’s fiercely loyal to the family and is a great uncle to my kids. I know if something happened to me tomorrow, he’d make sure Tiff and the kids are taken care of as long as he lives.

– He has a super, super, super, super soft spot for Jack (my 8-1/2-year old, severely autistic son, if you’ve never been here before). He was very supportive of what I tried to accomplish in 2010.

– Everybody who walks this earth has their flaws and imperfections. I do, you do, he does. But he’s a good person and I’m proud to call him my brother.

That’s all for today … have a great Wednesday.

Now that it’s two days after Father’s Day, it’s getting kind of late to post a Father’s Day blog. But it’s only kind of late and it’s my blog, so I guess I’ll write it anyways.

For the first few years I was a parent, I used to get really upset on Father’s Day. I didn’t feel like I deserved any recognition because I didn’t feel like I was a good enough dad. It was always bittersweet opening cards and gifts because I felt like while the things my wife did came from the heart, I was still an undeserving recipient. [Read more…]