Category Archives: impediments

Fire Blankets and Urban Walking

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Posted by on in children, Community, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

January 12, 2026- My order of three fire suppression blankets came today. These blankets offer considerable protection in the event of a house fire, so we have one on each floor and a third in the laundry room, next to the garage. They are easier to use than a fire extinguisher, though hopefully we won’t need to use them at all.

I spent a good part of this afternoon in the nearby city of McKinney, which is our county seat, and the location of a KIA dealership. I first caught a Lyft to downtown, not being sure just how far it was, or how difficult it might be to get there from the dealer. Finding the main bookstore closed, I walked around the interesting downtown, and settled in at Collective Coffee, which reminds me, favourably, of Prescott’s Wild Iris or Century Lounge. I can see myself frequenting Collective, when in McKinney on one errand or another.

After indulging in a latte and slice of coffee cake, I checked the distance back to the dealership. It was 1.5 miles, mostly along a pleasant residential street, so I made the walk. The houses are largely of Victorian vintage, many with turrets. There are a few businesses in midtown, but the mini-malls wait until closer to U.S. 75. I am accustomed to navigating walking paths near major thoroughfares, though, and this area has crosswalks that allow for safe passage over highway approaches, just shy of the actual on-ramps. I was back at the dealership in less than a half-hour.

The service department caught up with a few recalls and gave me a schedule for maintenance. It’s good to be at a KIA dealer, after four years of winging it.

Back home, all were glad to see me. Hana relaxed her head on my shoulder and let out a big sigh, as I helped her into sleep mode tonight. Grandpa will not let her down.

Wondering about Clouds

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Family, Hiking and Nature, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual

January 9, 2026- In my early evening time with Hana, she was gazing up at the clouds and the tree in our front yard. The big upper windows allow plenty of room for a child to look up and out, especially when wrapped in the safety of loving arms. I told her about how clouds give trees life-giving water, just like we are feeding her life-giving milk. She continued to look at the scene outside. Her pre-lingual brain is, no doubt, saving images, with repeat observation and hearing similar words with regard to what she sees.

I wonder, too, about clouds, though of a different kind. The mental clouds we use to “shield” ourselves from the reality of things outside or even from our own shadow selves-misgivings, shrill self-condemnation, lack of impulse control, can be useful in the sense of giving time to process those negative elements and let them flow out. Held on too tightly, they can be energy-sapping and unnecessarily limiting.

That is the wisdom of nature: Clouds come, drop their load of rain or snow, and move along-so long as we,in our rush to make a profit or craving to hold onto ideas that have lost their efficacy, do not continue with policies and behaviours that interrupt the water cycle. Nature ebbs and flows well enough on its own. We have the choice of learning to flow with it, as many ancient cultures did, or of acting in arrogance and trying to supersede the natural rhythm.

Drawn to the Light

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Family, impediments, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

January 8, 2026- Hana and I had an hour of just the two of us, this evening. The rest of the family went to an Asian market, so grandmother could select foods with which to properly make some Korean dishes, which she’s wanted to fix since coming here.

Our darling girl took in her surroundings, as she does most of the time that she’s awake and not feeding. She watched me carefully, as I told her about the world being a largely beautiful place and that there will be many good things in her life, as well as challenging things. I told her that I would be there for her for as long as I am intended. After watching me for several minutes, she began to focus on the light in the next room. Perhaps her departed grandmother made her presence known, or maybe it was just the light to which her eyes were drawn.

It is well that we are more drawn to light than darkness. The latter is something that is best faced and illuminated. While it can be fascinating, darkness is the dearth of light. Those things that are constructive and regenerative are what most merit our attention. As my granddaughter, with no understanding of language, as yet, develops her ways of communicating, eventually including language skills, I sense that her orientation will be towards proactivity and clarity. She already knows that while sometimes crying and fussing are necessary to get her needs met, there are also plenty of times when we attend to her calmer body language.

May she always turn to the light.

The Penske Chronicles, Day 7

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

January 1, 2026, Plano- Yes, I am at new Home Base. Purposefully driving from Memphis, TX, by memory, I got here in time to go with Aram and unload the moving van at a storage facility in the area. That turned out to be an adventure in itself.

First, we went to one of the company’s many facilities in the Plano area, and got my account completed, with the help of an agent, over Facetime. However, it turned out to be the wrong facility. The correct one was not far away, though, and by taking 10 loads, we were able to get all that was not immediately necessary to the house, into the storage unit.

The rest is now in the house and the moving van can finally be returned tomorrow morning. I am now 90% settled, and the residency part will be accomplished over the next three or four business days. That, however, is a chronicle of a different sort.

Happy 2026, one and all!

The Penske Chronicles, Day 5

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Family, impediments, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

December 30, 2025- Everything happens according to a blend of the needs and wants of those involved. I had a lot of downtime today, but while I waited for the DAV furniture crew, necessary calls to utilities were made, and I cleaned out the long-ignored storage shed in the carport. Lesson learned: Don’t let stuff from ten or fifteen years ago just sit, unattended. Most of it was in fairly good condition. Some was given to my dear friend, Melissa. Other items were happily claimed by my landlord, and a few things went to recycling or to the landfill.

The cleaning lady came on time and worked in the back, as it was cleared out. The furniture to be donated to Disabled American Veterans sat in the front room with me, while waiting for the movers to pick up. Melissa came in mid-afternoon, selected what she could use, and as she was ready to leave, lo and behold-there were Mo and Grant, ready to roll out the items the DAV could sell, and graciously take the other items to the dump-for a slight fee. Robert and I took care of the rest.

I had to forego both lunch with my hiking buddy and Feast at two Baha’i friends’ home, but this clear-out is done. I do not feel any wistfulness or sadness, leaving Prescott. Life is going forward, and I with it. The most precious beings in my life wait in Plano, my new Home Base and the place where I will settle by the end of this week. 2025 is coming to a close, but first, I will get to Gallup for the night.

The Penske Chronicles, Day 3

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Posted by on in American Legion, children, collaborating, impediments, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

December 28, 2025- The loading started, this afternoon, with storage unit items up against the cab wall and house/garage items towards the gate. I will make an effort to reserve a storage unit, tomorrow morning, for Thursday evening or Friday drop-off, before I have to return the truck. Pictures and other wall ornaments came down; most were bubble-wrapped and boxed. Unexpired non-perishable food was also either boxed or bagged. These all go in the truck tomorrow morning. The house will really look empty, save for furniture, by tomorrow night.

It has been a successful, but exhausting day. That’s alright, my family is also engaged in exhausting work. We are going to build a strong Home Base, for our little one, and for each other.

The day started with my first effort to use my new debit card. FYI: If you have a digital debit account and have activated it, the physical card also has to be activated, separately. This I know now, for any future such transactions. It was a one-time annoyance to not be able to join my American Legion Post mates for one final breakfast. Theodore’s, near the market where I bought a couple of toiletries, was a perfect substitute, though I ate solo.

I did get one last Sunday paper and enjoyed working through about half of the LA Times Crossword. That paper will help wrap cups and what few other table items I will keep. The paper should end with Tuesday’s delivery. Then again, everything else about my Prescott residence ends Tuesday.

The Texas Era will take shape, and the second half of my Seventies will have one main focus: To be an anchor for this family of three.

The Penske Chronicles, Day 2

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, Community, Family, impediments, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

December 27, 2025- It sits across the street, like a monument to the end of an era. There it will receive its load, over the next few days, as my Prescott home is dismantled. It will “watch” silently, as furniture collectors come and go; as a cleaning crew arrives to remove twelve years of my footprint.

This Penske and I made it to the former Home Base I around 8:30, this evening. There was no one around, and as I collected a small amount of mail & newspapers, the night remained silent. Only the heater interrupted the stillness, providing its comfort with an occasional clanging and blowing.

The day started out much differently. Almara Inn’s housekeepers, a spirited team of three women, were on the job and bantering, not long after I got myself together. One of them, seeing no vehicle in front of the room, thought I had left and was delighted by the prospect of finishing early. I didn’t dampen her spirits by much, though, as I was out by 9:30.

Breakfast at Del’s was a quiet delight. The house was full, and my meal, ample. Two families were among the crowd, quietly keeping conversation. Two little girls, one clutching a doll, made me think of our Hana. It doesn’t take much to bring her top of mind. That will probably be so, for the rest of my life.

The road west was fairly uneventful. I was reminded, at a fuel stop in Albuquerque, to avoid tight spaces with this rig. No harm done, though, and I was able to gas up there, and again in Holbrook. I stopped for lunch at Dancing Eagle, in Laguna, and opted for the casino snack bar, over the busier full service restaurant. The small crew at the snack bar was working just as hard, and prepared a decent chicken quesadilla.

The storm that had ravaged southern California, earlier this week, made its presence known as I went through Flagstaff. It was no where near as fierce as it had been, though, and by the time I reached the Sedona junction, there was no sign of precipitation. The sizeable group of travelers kept in order, and we all made it safely downhill.

Once off I-17, there was scant traffic, and on up to Prescott we went-the last time I will make that trip as a resident. Three more days, and this soon-to-be Texan will carry Arizona in heart, only returning as a visitor, now and then-just as I do to Massachusetts and Maine.

The Penske Chronicles, Day 1

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Posted by on in Assistance, impediments, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

December 26, 2025, Tucumcari- I admit it, driving a large vehicle, with limited and convex mirrors, through a busy Metropolitan area kind of frightens me. Nonetheless, my present task, for the next seven days, involves driving this Penske moving van from Plano to Prescott and back. I was taught to face my fears and find a way to get difficult things done. I credit both my father and my Army drill instructors for this.

After Aram dropped me at the rental office, this morning, I spent an hour with the flustered agency clerk, working through the AI-generated snap price increase-which was reversed by calling the main office. The clerk was more than a bit irritated by the increase, and felt vindicated when the area director restored the price than he and I had agreed on, over the phone.

So, I set out onto a busy US Highway 75, holding still for three vehicles to my left, who were trying to exit the highway, then merging onto the thoroughfare and letting my phone’s GPS guide me through the rest of the Metroplex portion of the journey-about 50 miles. There was no further hassle.

First stop was for lunch, at a Pilot Truckstop, in the small village of Justin, best known for its cowboy boots outlet. I have no need for such boots, so after lunch and fueling the truck, I headed up the Northwest Passage. Another fuel stop in Childress was followed by dinner and picking up a few items at the Buccee’s, in Amarillo.

It was still light out, so I enjoyed the sunset and headed onward to the Mesalands. Almara Inn proved a perfect stop for the night, with a spacious area for the Penske to rest the night as well. Best of all, it’s right next to Del’s Diner, where I had dinner the last time here, and plan to enjoy breakfast there tomorrow. I might very well get all the way to Prescott by tomorrow night, adding an extra day for boxing up remaining items and loading the truck, ahead of Tuesday’s furniture pick-up and deep cleaning by a hired crew.

It has always paid to face my fears.

The Midnight Clear

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

December 24, 2025, Plano- Before the exterminators left yesterday, they said that if there were any vermin in the attic or in the eaves, I would hear them, as there was no insulation in the house, overnight. I didn’t even hear crickets, so I guess that means it was a midnight clear-of rodents.

Hana reportedly slept well, getting up for her 3 a.m. feeding, which was dutifully supplied by bottle. The breast pump’s inventor deserves the Nobel Prize for Peace, in my book. Mothers have to shoulder an enormous burden, as it is. My son, knowing how important natural milk is, has stayed at his wife’s and daughter’s sides for the past three days and is holding his own.

I am likewise keeping the home fire burning. Speaking of which, while the workmen were funneling new insulation into the attic and eaves, our smoke alarm would occasionally go off. It would stop on its own, after a few minutes. I kept watch and noticed only that smoke was coming up from the outside barrel, where the attendant was mixing the insulation material. With the front door remaining open, for circulation, the smoke would occasionally waft in. No harm was done, though, and a few hours after they left, I turned our HVAC thermostats back on “Heat” mode,

Culling our endless supply of cardboard consumed my afternoon, then I visited H Mart, a Korean grocery store, about five miles away, replenishing a few items that Yunhee will welcome, upon the family’s return, tomorrow morning. It’ll follow another midnight clear.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Best Laid Plans

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Family, impediments, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

December 23,2025, Plano- My plan was to stay the morning at the house, then head over to the hospital. That evaporated in ten seconds, when the workman uttered a simple phrase: “This’ll be an all day job.” “This” was the reason I was staying here-preparation for replacement of the home’s insulation. That means removing all old insulation, which, I noticed takes eight hours. I will say that I, being the resident who house sat, had the better deal, compared to the workman who spent his day in the attic. I turned off the heat, but at 73F outside, he has to get some enjoyment out of this line of work, to endure eight hours (minus a 20-minute lunch break) in a cramped space.

I was also considering heading to the hospital tomorrow morning-until the same guy mentioned he would infuse the house with new insulation, bright and early. Well, it may be warm outside now, but winter is sure to come and we don’t want to put the basic necessities off, just for the holiday. Hana, for one, does not seem to like being cold. She expresses her sentiments quite well, when her swaddle is being changed.Once she’s clad again, all is well.

I managed to get some constructive work done today: Filling three yard bags with leaves, unpacking all the boxes from last weekend’s jaunt and setting up my clothes closet, then running necessaries out to the hospital, after the workers left for the day. Sometimes, the best laid plans give way to even better things. I ended the day by rocking Hana for about fifteen minutes, and she was content.