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2,000 Miles, One Dog, and Zero Regrets (Except for All of It)
by a guy who should’ve known better, but somehow keeps saying yes anyway Just before Thanksgiving, my girlfriend visited me in Richmond, VA and convinced me to spend the holiday with her in Houston — or as I prefer to call it, hell with excellent barbecue. One minute I was enjoying the crisp Virginia air,…
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A Feast, a Republic, and the Promise of Freedom
Thanksgiving. The word alone conjures images of bountiful feasts, warm hearths, and the collective sigh of a nation pausing to reflect on its blessings. It all began with a little ship named The Mayflower, braving the icy Atlantic in search of freedom—a freedom so profound that the very act of its pursuit planted the seeds…
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Three Days around Geysers: Steam, Fire, and Mordor- Yellowstone Adventure Pt- 3
By a guy who once nearly lost his eyebrows to a campfire and still thinks a Montana burger could feed Belgium. The last Airbnb move we did was to the west of Yellowstone National Park, but still in Idaho. Forty-five minutes to the gate. And that’s American forty-five minutes too— meaning it’s actually forty-five minutes,…
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Racism and the Weight of History
A meditation on hate, memory, and the long road back to each other. There are a lot of things we inherit from the human condition—curiosity, love, wonder, even a bit of mischief. But hate… hate is learned. Passed down like some poisonous heirloom, tucked into the corners of the soul where fear makes its home.…
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Where have all the cowboys gone – Yellowstone adventure Pt- 1
By someone who still can’t figure out why GPS devices always die the moment you need them most. A couple of days ago we landed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, ready for some sort of frontier adventure. And as far as airport views go, Jackson Hole has got to be one of the most fascinating in…
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The America They Fought For
You look at what’s going on these days, and you have to wonder — not in some tired political way, but deep down, where the real questions live, like— how would the Roosevelts see all this? Theodore — a Republican — who fought for the Square Deal, stood up for fairness when it would’ve been…
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The Salad Bowl, Mad Cows, and Algebra: Notes from a Salinas Interlude
By someone who kept showing up, and somehow became part of the scenery. During those foggy interludes when life had decided to dropkick me in the face, I found myself back in California—specifically, Salinas. I’d gone there not for the scenery, which is mostly lettuce and a worrying amount of dust, but because it was…
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“Do You Remember?”
By someone who still believes in mornings and the echo of old speeches. Do you remember? Back in October 1962, a young American president from Massachusetts stood his ground against a Soviet titan playing with fire 90 miles off our coast. John F. Kennedy — a Democrat — didn’t blink. He showed them what American…
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Of Bridges, an Ark and Pontoon Boats: An American Story- A trip back to Indy Part-2
By Me, unfortunately. Still in West Virginia—because apparently, I enjoy humidity and odd signage—we decided to go see the New River Gorge Bridge. This is, for those unfamiliar, a giant piece of civil engineering slapped across a massive canyon like a suspension bridge built by someone showing off at a high school reunion. But before…
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Into the Appalachian Twilight: A Story of Excitement, Panic, and A Bad GPS- A trip back to Indy Part-1
By a man who just wanted to visit his sister but apparently signed up for West Virginia’s “Worst Roads and Existential Crises” tour. Years ago, I used to drive from Virginia to Indiana once a week. Like clockwork. Didn’t even need directions. Just coffee, an audiobook, and the vague hope that the car wouldn’t explode.…
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Superman, Storms, and the Death of Common Sense
by someone who just wanted a quiet life, a decent sandwich, and a planet that hadn’t completely lost the plot. So here I am, staring at a blank screen, attempting to string together a story, something, anything— but all I can think about is how worryingly uninspired I feel these days. Not because life has…
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Georgie: The Housemate Who Never Blinks
Living with Georgie is always having company—even when you didn’t ask for it. Not the spooky, lurking-in-the-shadows kind of company, but a small, fluffy dog with trust issues who seems convinced the world might fall apart if he’s not glued to your side. A little dramatic? Absolutely. He’s got the emotional range of a Broadway…
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Where the Past Walks Beside Us on Independence Day
Today as the sun comes up over in Richmond, Virginia— I find myself thinking about this city and its past. Richmond is not afraid to show its history. It carries it right out in the open, where you can see it, feel it, with the scars laid bare. It’s not hidden or polished. It’s in…
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Richmond is Melting and So Am I
By a man who thought Virginia summers were supposed to be charming and full of fireflies, not the actual fires of hell. It is currently 102°F in Richmond, Virginia. That’s not a heatwave—that’s the sun filing a restraining order against us for getting too close. The weather app isn’t even pretending anymore. It just says…
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A Promise Worth Keeping
We are Americans. Did we forget? We were the ones who stepped in when others couldn’t. We stood up for the small and the voiceless. We gave hope when the world went dark. We didn’t always get it right— truth is, we messed up more than once. But falling short was never the goal. Our…
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The Hunters Return: A Memorial Day Reflection
America is having a bit of trouble with her image these days. Like a teenager whose going through some changes — hormones swirling, emotions swinging wild like a kite on a particularly windy day. She’s not bad, mind you, in a phase. Just confused, maybe. Awkward. Kicking out at the world, not because she’s cruel…
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The Wild, the Weird, and the Wonderfully West Virginian
January 2013. I rolled into Lewisburg, West Virginia, at precisely 8 PM after a long but admittedly beautiful drive from Pennsylvania. It was the kind of drive that makes you feel like you’re in an advert for winter tires—curving roads, mountains, light snow, and just enough loneliness to feel dramatic but not suicidal. First impressions?…
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Flying: The Sky’s the Limit, Sanity Optional
Flying used to be glamorous. I’m talking about the golden age—suits, silk ties, champagne served by flight attendants with teeth so perfect they could light up a runway. It was the Concorde, it was Pan Am, it was James Bond having a Vodka Martini “shaken, not stirred”. Now? It’s not travel. It’s airborne livestock logistics.…
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Spring’s First Breath
And what a morning! One of those rare ones that feels like it’s been waiting all winter just to unfold right in front of you. If I had the voice for it, I’d throw my head back and sing—something grand, something worthy of the world stretching its arms after a long, cold sleep. Hard to…
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The Freedom to Disagree
It’s a strange thing, isn’t it? How people can look up at the same sky and see different things. One man looks up and sees a vast, endless blue, a reminder of possibilities. Another sees the storm clouds rolling in, a warning. And yet, there’s always that third person—the one who insists the sky is…
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Winter in Richmond, VA
Well, here we are in Richmond, where winter’s cruel sense of humor is on full display. For weeks, we’ve waited, begged, and stared at the heavens like expectant children hoping Santa would drop a dusting of white magic upon our otherwise dreary January. And finally, yesterday, it happened—the glorious arrival of snow. Not just any…
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