It was 4:15 pm, and I had napped for about a half hour longer than I planned, and had about 15 minutes to get Joel ready, the appropriate stuff together, and google the directions  for a swim meet in Dinuba, which was about 45 minutes south towards the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. All day [...]

The seamless gray that dominates the Fresno sky this time of year has withdrawn to reveal the brilliant face of the Sun, which hopefully is a good omen for my forthcoming trip this weekend to Aptos: a little city on the coast near Santa Cruz. The last time my family and I attempted to make [...]

As the chill of night withdrew under the morning sun, and bird songs began to fill the air, I looked at the tent wall and saw the silhouette  of an evergreen. This sight was justification for the previous night’s battle with mosquitoes as my family and I set up camp. We were at Princess Meadows, [...]

All day long I had been thinking about seeing the cyclists in the Tour of California, but not being a fan of crowds, and knowing I would have to negotiate responsibilities, make adjustments in my schedule, and juggle a few things made it seem more trouble than it was worth. And yet, I couldn’t let [...]

The day is Sunday, the place is Saint Mary’s Anglican Church, the who is primarily me, the what is an event wherein I am confronted on two fronts with an aspect of my behavior that I need to change, and the why I cannot say for sure, but taking a shot in the dark I [...]

Joel has embraced the dark side. It’s somewhat of a pain with him telekinetically snagging the remote out of my hand all the time, or getting me to say stuff like, “Sure Joel, you can stay up as late as you want, and here, why don’t you eat this ice cream I just dished up [...]

A little over three weeks prior to her due date, Camila Rose Velez was born early evening Wednesday, weighing in at a mere 5 pounds and 15 ounces. She is my fourth child and she is a reality that is difficult for me process. I look at her and I know she is my daughter, [...]

My youngest son, Joel, suffers from overconfidence and a lack of healthy caution, which has resulted in him being more banged up and bruised in four years than his brother and sister have been in their combined 16 years. For this reason, I often don’t play along with him when he makes statements like, “you [...]

A few days ago I walked out into the living room and found my daughter, Elena, very upset and crying. I immediately went into inquisition mode and asked, “Did Ethan do something?” and “Did you hurt yourself?” Both inquiries recieved a head shaking “no”. Upon further investigation, however, I found that my profound, little existentialist [...]