TOOLS – The Gerber Gator 18″ Machete

My property is just about 17 acres of mostly wooded land. I purchased it to create a private playground for my family, so I spend a lot of my time cutting trails for walking, biking, and making fairways for my disc golf course. No tool has been used more on my property than my Gerber […]

VIRTUES – Comfort is not a Virtue

Early in my fire department career, an officer told our fire academy something that stuck with me for over a decade. He informed us “Fellas, this job ain’t comfortable – you will be hot, you will be cold, you will be tired, you will be hungry, but none of these things matter. You must complete […]

SKILLS – The Art of Having Difficult Conversations (Part 1 – Formal Conflict Management)

Conflict is a natural part of life. From birth, we are all in constant conflict with the world around us. As a baby, when we have a need, we cry loudly so that hopefully a parent or caretaker will hear us, decipher our shrieks, and translate them into giving us what we want or need. […]

FATHERHOOD – Put Down Your Phone and Pay Attention

Early on in my fatherhood experience, I decided one of my top priorities would be to ensure that Bryce (my son) had as many opportunities as possible to experience life outside of TV screens, computer screens, and cell phone screens. I want him to have an array of memorable experiences learning from me, working outside, […]

SKILLS – How To Stop A Running Toilet

This year, over Thanksgiving break I found myself staying up in northern Virginia at my In-Laws house. It is a huge three story house within a subdivision with proximity to any shop or restaurant you can imagine. This closeness is in contrast to where we live which has a 40-minute drive to the closest Walmart […]

VIRTUE: Contentment Over Happiness

There is an interesting dichotomy in the world today. On one side of the coin, everyone appears to be continually living at such a fast pace, rushing everywhere, to and fro. Sometimes, I feel like people want to be busy, not for the sake of needing to get things done, but just to be busy, […]

TOOLS: The Leatherman PST – The Original Multi-Tool

Multi-tools come in all shapes and sizes, but they all have one thing in common – you should never leave home without one. Though there are many brands, types, sizes, and shapes of them, when I think of multi-tool, the first one I think of is my everyday carry (EDC) multi-tool, the original Leatherman, also known […]

SKILLS: How To Control Bleeding

Everybody bleeds, but for some reason, the mere sight of blood makes most people queasy and can even make a grown man light headed and send them to the ground. Blood is the vehicle that transports oxygen and nutrients to cells all over our body. It also transports out biological waste products created by our […]

FATHERHOOD: The Value of a Stern “No.”

“No” is one of the most common, yet least used words in the English language today. This may be a symptom of the over-sensitive culture we live in, where we have this idea that simply saying “no” to someone else does unrepairable damage to that person’s feelings. This is an absolute myth. A good stern […]