Jun 26Member-onlyDispatches from Midlife (4): Father’s DayJia wakes up early, before 7, crying more than usual because she’s teething. Her first top tooth is coming in, a tic tac erupting through her gums. I try to remember how that feels, sore and itchy. Nothing to be done but ice and time. When I go into her…Essay5 min read
Jun 17Member-onlyDispatches from Midlife: (3) Betting it AllEven at my age, 42, I still have a lot of close friends who don’t have families, who never married, or who tried it and it didn’t work for them. They live on beaches, in foreign countries, with all the flexibility and freedom one man could have. They have all…Essay Writing4 min read
Jun 13Member-onlyDispatches from Midlife: (2) Gate closing panicVia Tim Urban There’s a German word for the feeling that more doors of opportunity close as we age — torschlusspanik — which the internet tells me is literally translated to “gate closing panic.” That’s what midlife feels like a lot of the time. The gates are coming down and…Midlife5 min read
Jun 6Member-onlyDispatches From Midlife: (1) Where I’m Calling FromThe first weekend we lived here — exactly one year ago this week — a tornado touched down about 15 miles south of town. We could see it clearly over the short corn in the field at the end of the street. Black. Twisting, biting at the land near the…Colorado5 min read
Nov 14, 2019Member-onlyRaicilla and Day of the Dead in Jalisco, MexicoA photo essay We went to Mexico to celebrate two of my childhood friends’ 40th birthdays. Four couples. We stayed south of Puerto Vallarta. Chilaquilles for breakfast, then boat rides to and from fishing villages with names like Mismaloya and Yelapa and Boca de Tomatlan.Mexico3 min read
Nov 13, 2019Member-onlyThe Quiet Nobility of Trade Publication JournalismI left mainstream journalism a little over three years ago. Since then I’ve worked as a reporter for a business-to-business (B2B) trade publication that operates a website and a magazine. We cover the cannabis industry but not for consumers. …Cannabis4 min read
Published in American West·Sep 12, 2019Member-onlyCattle Rows: The Farmer’s Son by John ConnellMy father and I would wake up in the middle of the cold western Nebraska winter night. Swaddle ourselves in sweatshirts and coveralls and work boots. …Agriculture3 min read
Jun 16, 2019Member-onlyA Regionalism Manifesto: The Landscape of Fiction WritingIf you travel today to the northern edge of Old Town in Fort Collins, Colorado, gone are the sugar beet fields and factories. The houses where families of Germans-from-Russia migrated to the United States at the turn of the 20th century to live and work remain, but the neighborhoods are…Environment17 min read
Published in American West·Dec 10, 2018Member-onlyRedefining the American West: A Conversation with Writer Adam GnadeAdam Gnade and I have known each other for almost 15 years now. We’ve worked on magazines together, traded manuscripts for editing help and co-wrote books. We’ve moved all over the world but throughout maintained a close correspondence. We come from different backgrounds. Adam’s from the seashore communities of San…Interview10 min read
Published in American West·Oct 28, 2018Member-onlyEnough to Just Swim: Huntington Beach, Joshua Tree and Shooting StarsIn early October I flew out from Denver to Santa Ana, California, to catch up with my wife Nammin. She had traveled out the week earlier to meet her mom, sister and nephew who flew in for a visit from Seoul. We decided to meet there because Southern California is…Travel7 min read
