Category Archives: Inspiration

Thumb Rockets

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

January 7, 2026- “Let me show you a trick that your granddaughter will think is the stupidest thing she ever saw”, the new friend from McKinney said over lunch at a local deli. He proceeded to have me wrap a piece of paper around my thumb, and twist it to make a little “hat” for the thumb. He’s right; I think Hana would roll her eyes at that part, when she is about eight or nine. He then had me make an OK sign with my other thumb and forefinger, put it around my wrapped thumb and pull the thumb out of the paper, but in such a way that it made the paper go up and out- a thumb rocket.

D is an interesting man who has not had an easy life. That puts him in good company with a number of people I’ve known over the years. The difference is, he’s made mostly good choices, from the time he was a child. Growing up in the north of this Metroplex, when it was a long ways from being a Metroplex, he’s seen it all happen. Still, as I watched, the farmer in him caught a small rat by the tail and disposed if it in a way that a man who has plowed through hard knocks for eight decades would do without batting an eyelash. (No, that was NOT in the deli).

Time with a good ole boy is spent in a way similar to how time is spent with a First Nations person, a nomad of the Negev, or a campesino anywhere in the Southwest or Mexico. The watch stays hidden, because schedules don’t matter. D told stories of his childhood and his large family. A lot of his experiences mirror those of my male elders. Farm life is a great connector. After the nearly ninety-minute lunch, I drove around the area a bit, to ponder all that I had heard.

I will see D., and other local Baha’is, on a regular basis, so perhaps I will earn other “tricks” that will make my granddaughter alternately giggle and groan.

A Little Bottle

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

January 4, 2026- It was my turn to feed Hana her “lunch” bottle of pumped milk. The focus is in developing her posture and promoting good digestion, so I supported her in an upright position. At the halfway point, she let up and we walked around a bit, while I burped her and told her about all the good things that will be outside, when she gets old enough to go out in a stroller, and afterward. A few minutes later, we sat back down and she finished the bottle.

She has started to look around, especially trying to find her maternal grandmother, who has been the strongest presence in her life, besides her parents. Of course, at two weeks, she can see mostly large figures and bright colours. The voices, though, are what are the easiest to identify. Those little eyes, though, have started to search.

I will be an increasing presence in Hana’s life, especially after Halmoni goes back to Korea, at month’s end. There are other things to do in the interim, mostly getting my vehicle registered in Texas and changing my driver’s license to the Lone Star state as well. Planet Fitness is a mile from here, so I just have to convince them to accept the same e-mail that I used at the Prescott club. It seems silly to have to have a special e-mail, solely for a gym membership, but technology can be ludicrous at times. Other aspects-Red Cross, Farmers Market, American Legion and the Baha’i Center, will need to be visited this week. The bank, the VA and chiropractic will round things off.

The little girl, and her little bottle, will be the most important parts of my life, for months to come.

Time to Stay Put

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

January 3, 2026- It is a fine thing,sobremesa, the practice of sititng at the dinner table after a meal and having deep conversation. I’ve missed that, for the most part, over the past several years, only spending time in such a manner when with friends at restaurants. Now, this promises to be a nightly occurrence.

This evening’s talk touched briefly on the implications for the military, and its reserves, of today’s action in Venezuela, and possible other drastic moves in the weeks and months ahead. It also affects my intended visit to the Philippines. That is now postponed, indefinitely. My family’s sensibilities and the wider world’s instability have converged. There is, quite frankly, too much that is new: Hana, the house and her parents returning to work-albeit from home. I would be neither comfortable nor present being away from any of it.

There will again be a time when I will feel good about traveling, especially with family, domestically, and even going abroad, a few years hence. Now, though, my sense of adventure and equilibrium are focused on helping close to home and ensuring that a precious little girl gets off to a good start in life.

There is a lot one learns about oneself only when going through a novel situation.

Day Two in Plano

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

January 2, 2026- Hana cried in the night and got the care she needed. I was exhausted from the long day of unloading and carrying boxes/bags upstairs, so I deferred to everyone else in the house. At 6:30, the little girl was fast asleep but I was up and so prepared to go with Aram and return the Penske truck. No fuss, no muss, the move was in the rear view mirror-pun intended.

Back at the house, my day was spent unloading Sportage and putting things away. Change of address was sent to financial institutions and a few vendors. The main point of the day, in fact the past two days, is how well my son and I work together, as men equal in stature. This is the realization of my fatherhood-and seeing him take on fatherhood of his own with clarity and commitment is even more heartening.

He has long been a doer-the Navy brought that out in him, and to see him as a homesteader, confidently taking on each task that presents itself, from snuggling his squalling daughter into comfort and peace, to putting together furniture,paying careful attention to detail, is breathtaking. I am here to help when he calls for it, or at least when it is obvious that one man can’t be expected to lift, carry or push something into place. That was a lesson I learned from my father, so long ago. Back then, the brothers-in-law backed each other up and were on hand for everything from re-tiling a roof or painting the peaks of a two-or-three storey house to getting a car started on a cold, clear January night.

Women never moved away from that camaraderie. Men did. It’s nice to see it back.

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 6

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

December 31, 2025, Memphis, TX- I woke this morning, no longer being an actual resident of Arizona-for the first time since March 1, 1992. It does not feel strange, or saddening, or melancholic. Most likely, it’s all the circumstances of this move. Being a grandfather is an amazing feeling-as those who have arrived here before me know all too well.

After a light breakfast at Red Roof Inn, I checked the bed of the moving van and found nothing amiss, after yesterday’s drive from Prescott to Gallup. I drove to Grants, bought some ice for the two coolers, and again found nothing out of order. My chock-a-block packing job is working-keeping everything low to the floor saves items toppling onto one another.

A lunch and refueling stop in Moriarty brought a satisfying meal served by a cheerful young lady named Hope. Her demeanour contrasted with that of the dour, petulant gas counter clerk, but one can’t have all sweetness and light.

The rest of the drive across New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle was serene, and I arrived here, in a town named for a mistaken address. A letter intended for Memphis, TN was sent to Texas. When a clergyman living in the area saw it, he decided to recommend that the locality actually be named Memphis. The idea was accepted, enthusiastically by a majority of the residents, and Memphis, Texas was born.

So, I am seeing 2025 out the door, in this quiet little namesake of a musical powerhouse. Rock Inn Cafe, where I had dinner this evening, was showing a montage of New Year’s Eve music fests-including New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, which gave the establishment its name. There were few people in the restaurant, but the food was good. I will likely go back there tomorrow, for breakfast, before heading off to the Metroplex and Home Base.

Happy New Year, Asia, Oceania, Australia, Africa, Europe, South America and the eastern third of North America! We will all catch up with you, shortly.

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 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.

Home Base for the Holiday

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

December 25, 2025, Plano- Hana and her parents came through the door at 1:35 p.m., after a long and careful discharge process. She was fast asleep, and stayed that way until it was time for her 3 p.m. feeding (Every three hours is the newborn’s lot). I had pretty much tended to the business of the house for three days, to the relief of exhausted Mom and Dad. They worked out the home routine, while I prepared dinner. Hana slept on and showed signs of dreaming. I wonder what a newborn’s dreams are like.

Although we do not celebrate Christmas, with gifts and such, the Divine saw fit to give us the sweetest gift of all, a young person who already shows glimmerings of personality and tells us when she wants to eat and when she has had enough. I would wager nearly every baby tries to show who s(he) is, and those who pay attention are the best friends a child could ever want. Our little girl simply stops nursing when she is full-smart idea.

To me, the celebration of Christ’s Message at this cusp of Solstice is a celebration of hope, as the Northern Hemisphere slowly regains its light. Nowhere should people be more hopeful than in a new family, settling into a new house, with a new configuration. Nowhere is the well of love greater, than in this home on a cul-de-sac, in a working class neighbourhood in a thriving suburb of Dallas.

Tomorrow I head back to Prescott, finish up clearing out my old apartment and do whatever I need to do to dispose of furniture that no one seems to want back there. Today, though, was Home Base for the holiday.

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!