The Cedar Life
Living for the Long Run
Archives
Trees Falling I have been sitting with this idea I came across in the book Something You Once Knew, by Joshua Luke Smith. We have all heard the question asked: “If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” It’s not a question I have spent a great deal of time with over the years, but this latest encounter provoked some… Read More
Broken Bits I had a bad moment with my oldest son recently. I will spare you the details, but the essence of it is this: he asked me for something that should be readily available for a 10 year old boy from his father. I withheld it for no good reason that I can think of and then moments (seconds) later when my 5 year old daughter asked for the same thing,… Read More
Life on the Road Earlier this summer, I had the opportunity to take a couple of weeks away with my family. After our successful drive to the Yukon last year, we decided to do another road trip this year, travelling south with the Oregon Coast as our target destination. Our trip was bookended with visits with family (thankfully with indoor accommodation), but the bulk of the middle leg of our trip consisted… Read More
The Best Laid Plans My family had a logistically complicated morning recently. On the best of school days, ‘controlled chaos’ might be the most appropriate way to describe getting three kids 10 and under ready for school, while keeping a wild three year old at bay and tending to our 7-month old who is, thankfully, usually happy to come along for the ride. This particular morning was not one of the ‘best… Read More
Parking Lot Trials I once got into a minor altercation with another parent at an organization where I do some volunteering. It related to parking of all things. On this particular day, I took issue with a particular practice that some drivers have that irritates me and I decided to confront this parent about it. After a brief discussion, I realized that I was not going to win the argument and decided… Read More
On my 40th birthday, which occurred a couple of months ago, a friend of mine took me out for lunch. As we waited for our order to arrive, he asked me if turning 40 felt like just another day or a marker to pause and reflect on a completed decade. After thinking about it for a couple of seconds, I answered: yes. As much as I love celebrating birthdays (and sharing a… Read More
Some Trips are Colder than Others This past Christmas, Santa gifted me a copy of Colin O’Brady’s The Impossible First. The book documents the author’s quest to become the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unsupported. Woven into the story is the journey it took to get there and the challenges he faced that fed his drive to do something that no human had ever done. The book is a compelling… Read More
After a few months away, I am back this week. My wife and I welcomed our fifth child in November, a healthy baby girl, and my life has been rather busy(er) since, but I am excited to be writing again and plan on publishing more regularly moving forward. There will be more long form content coming soon. For now, here are Three Things for this week. 1. Finding Adventure Colin O’Brady is… Read More
1. Painting with a New Palette – In August, someone sent me a YouTube video in which Bishop Robert Barron is interviewing actor Shia Labeouf regarding his conversion to Catholicism. This followed his preparation for playing St Padre Pio in a film on the great saint’s life. Admittedly, I hadn’t really been tracking with Shia’s life developments in recent years, but after learning a little bit, it’s safe to say he’s not… Read More
From a busy October, August seems like a year ago. Our summer holiday this year was a departure from our normal time away. Stemming from an unplanned ‘win’ at a school silent auction, we made the decision to take a road trip from our home in Metro Vancouver up to the Yukon, a journey that took two weeks and covered more than 6,200 kilometers. Some (many) might question the sanity of such… Read More
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