I’ve never thought much about my own bucket list. I guess when I was in my 20s I thought I would live forever. I’ve gotten so down over the last several years I’ve forgotten about the important things in life (the important things to me anyway). I can still do these things. I have done them before. It’s just time to let go and get them…

The tree in my front yard is dying. It was once a good tree; beautiful with climbing ivy and thick shady boughs. Every year when spring came it bloomed little white petals, joining the local dogwood understory, that lines the concrete paths of our urban dungeon. Every year it gave me comfort to see it regain its vitality. This…

One of my favorite things about Tolkien is how he describes a typical Hobbit. They are amiable, brave, stout, hardworking, ritualistic, yet complacent, cranky, boring, non-imaginative little creatures, who never do anything inappropriate like take adventures. Their chief goals in life are to eat, reproduce, and pass on heirlooms to their children. Anything outside of…