Early in my coaching career, before a game against a team that was clearly better than us, I gave the speech. The amped-up one. We believe in ourselves. We want it more. Tomorrow is “our day dammit!” We were down five before the first quarter ended. I remember standing there watching it unravel and feeling…

A late summer night. August, 1990. The southerly breeze was still warm deep into the evening. In the hazy dark distance, navigational buoys blinked their soft greens and reds. The band was cranking. We’d been dancing and stargazing by the seawall. Somewhere in the drift of that evening, as Molly’s ride was leaving, I climbed…

Last night I went fishing with my good friend Mike. We’ve known each other for thirty years — a friendship forged when we coached against each other, deepened when we both ended up across Buzzards Bay from one another. That was ten years ago when I moved to Marion. We’ve been enjoying each other’s company…

When I started down the mindfulness path, Alan Watts’ name came up a lot, so I started reading him. It also helped connect the dots to one of my favorite Van Morrison songs – Alan Watts blues. I got curious. Lately, I’ve been listening to the “Being in the Way” podcast that Watts’ son Mark…

Two Stories About Steve Carey I eulogized my teacher and mentor Steve Carey in December. His wife Lee told two stories that day. I want to share them here, because they belong to more than just that chapel. The first is from his Tabor years. Steve had just arrived at a faculty meeting. A list…

A note: Written during playoff season — NHL, NBA, NCAA and ISL lacrosse — when mistakes are most costly, and how players and coaches respond to them most revealing. Publishing on a Saturday morning because it’s game day! The pass sails wide and out of bounds. Your head drops. Now your opponent is on the…

I took this picture some years ago. To me, it has always captured what motherhood is all about. I sometimes post it on this day. It honors so much of what is good, what is real. A field on an island in Maine. Summer. Two small children bent toward the earth, learning to find blueberries.…

The harbor fills without effort. Without agenda. Without questioning itself. It holds what comes. Then it recedes. Not fully — something always remains. A stillness at the bottom. A pool that never quite empties. Twice a day. Every day. The moon pulls. When it’s near, the tide rises higher. So do we. The heart, at…

Christopher D. “Flash” Burner 6/16/62 – 3/3/2026 On April 25th, I stood up at Western Reserve Academy and said goodbye to my closest friend, Chris “Flash” Burner. I’m sharing it here because he deserves to be known — and because I am so grateful to have had him in my life. Friendship is everything. Flash…

Van Morrison came on while I was driving to work. I know – shocker. One of those songs that finds you in the shuffle. And I got to thinking. The song that started it – © Van Morrison Words have edges. Definitions. They do their best work in the middle of things — describing, explaining,…