Off I go
Join me on the trail, both metaphorical and literal, as I blaze a way through my next phase of life, as a writer, as an activist, as a person of faith, as a traveler, and whatever else I prove to be.
Hiking with puppies
I hiked with puppies! Excited, yipping, furry balls of fun. Or so I thought. I was on a solo overnight backpacking trip in the Kelly section of the Lone Star Hiking Trail. The Kelly section is in the Sam Houston National Forest, roughly 90 miles north of my home in southeast Houston. My hike had taken me down a singletrack […]
Not quite woke but pissed as hell
Call me a snowflake. I own it. At some point in the latter days of the 2016 election, some right-wing Twitter users created an artificial identity divide, calling themselves “deplorables” and Trump critics “snowflakes.” If one is a snowflake simply by virtue of anger at injustice, watch me melt. On the evening of November 8, 2016, as commentators on CNN […]
How a Muslim cemetery became a battleground for America’s soul
Farmersville, Texas, lies about 35 miles northeast of Dallas — a few hours from my home in Houston. So when I read that the city council had scheduled a special town hall meeting to address opposition to a Muslim cemetery, I decided to take a road trip to attend the meeting.
A secular Christmas
In the living room of the house in which I grew up there was a wood-burning fireplace surrounded by white bricks. Every December it was the center of all things Christmas. The armchair that stood year-round to the right of the fireplace was moved to make room for the Christmas tree, usually a six-footer with the pine aroma of the holiday.
