My 500 Words

I really don't like grades. Only occasionally do they accurately indicate what they mean. I have reviewed various studies and abstracts that show no meaningful correlation between a grade point average and success some next level. Many kids who perform well in elementary school flounder once they hit junior high. Some students who struggled in junior high blossom once they hit high school. College can send the brightest for a loop. But even those who fail out of college can discover great success without a degree in hand. Another thing that drives me bonkers is politics. We elect these people to go to Washington or to our state capitals and we charge them with finding solutions to problems. Every two, four or six years these people keep coming back and telling us about all of the problems that they are going to fix if we'll just elect them again. Sometimes we get tired of the incumbent's song and dance and we elect the challenger. Then when his term is up he'll come ...

The cashier waited patiently as I filled out the check to pay for the groceries. I had almost completed the task when I looked up and sheepishly asked the date. When she told me what day it was I maintained my composure, wrote down the date, took my receipt and groceries and headed for my car. All the way across the parking lot, I could clearly hear the sound of my own voice asking me one very curious thing, "How could you forget your birthday?" Yes, it was my birthday and I knew it, but in that particular moment I simply forgot and had to ask about the one day that you would think I would never forget. I thought of this encounter during a class discussion about the holy purposes of the Sabbath Day. The translation of the Old Testament that I read says, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it....

The tingling sensation in my fingers got worse each day. In the morning, I could type letters and pleadings without a problem, but by the end of the day I only noticed the tension in my wrists and little feeling in the tips of my stiffened fingers. I would usually take two or three ibuprofen and they would take the edge off. When I found myself increasing the dosage to four pills I decided it was time to see a professional and I scheduled an appointment with an orthopedist. I already figured the problem was carpal tunnel syndrome and I just needed to confirm it. Several friends had used one particular doctor and gave him great recommendations. I consulted with my insurance provider and found that this doctor was in my network. If the waiting list was any indication, he must have been as good as my friends had said. It took almost four weeks before I could get an appointment. When the day came, I made my way to his office, feeling nervous about a likely surgery. Once I met with the...

Over the years I have made several changes that have helped me to become a much better and safer driver. I was like many teenage male drivers in my early years. I had an attitude that I needed to get wherever I was going first. If there was a car in front of me I felt a primal urge to get in front of that car. I congratulated myself with each pass and it made driving seem like a video game that never ends; because there is always a car in front of you. If the highways had been a loom I would have woven beautiful tapestries during those early years. I have also become better at leaving earlier and this has had several positive effects in my driving. I feel less stress when I drive so I slow down and pay attention. Just yesterday a car pulled in front of me. I mentioned to my son that I would have to slow down to observe the two-second rule. I was already creating extra space when it became clear that traffic was stopping in our lane because of backing from the next exit. Because I was...

My nephew was living in Hamburg, Germany during the fall of 2001 and I had an unexpected business trip to Frankfurt come up at the same time. My first meeting took place at the airport. That afternoon I met with opposing counsel in his office and confirmed my appointment for the following morning. I would have one week before the next meetings and planned to drive up to Hamburg and surprise my nephew. Part of the reason I planned the trip was to squeeze in some vacation time, bookended by some work. I checked out of my quaint hotel and as soon as my meeting ended I got into my car, double checked the map and headed north toward Hamburg. Other than a few miles from the airport to my hotel, I had never driven on the famed German autobahn. Only moments passed before I realized that German drivers had earned their reputation for high-powered vehicles and very fast driving. I also found them extraordinarily polite and helpful in their driving. But no matter how well trained they are acc...

My wallet decided to go missing and all efforts to retrace my steps and search in even the most unexpected places proved fruitless. I resigned myself to the fate that nobody seeks and everybody mocks; a trip to the Driver License Division. I was going to arrive near the end of the day and I felt certain that a long and dreadful wait to reprocess a less-than-one-year-old driver license was only going to add to the mountain of hassle that began with that missing wallet. I worried about new regulations and I wanted to make certain that I had all the proper documentation -- Birth Certificate, Passport, Social Security Card, utility bills and bank statements to prove residence. I just hoped they wouldn’t ask for two forms of ID when I wrote them a check because I also lost my credit cards, work and library cards. Their driver license was going to become my ID. As a precaution, I logged onto their website and found that I could fill out the form online and print it. I also learnt that I...

The truth is, I used to know how to fly; and I wasn’t the only one. I remember soaring over my neighborhood and looking down at the houses and people below. It’s different than being in a plane because you can see all around you and see what’s up and down. You also have to be careful of birds and phone and electrical wires so it is best to fly over parks or empty fields. There was one summer day when everyone was out of school and we were playing tag in the park with no adults around. One older boy was super fast and no one could escape his tags; except for one girl. She did it by jumping into the air and hovering 10 feet above the ground. There is no laughter as rich and lilty as the laughter of a child who just escaped a tag and stayed just out of the reach of the older boy. That poor chaser was so agitated and upset because every time he jumped he would just come down. There was nothing he could do. As clear as the sunny day, I can see the older boy getting madder and madder ...

When I lived in Madrid I was struck by the number of luxury cars in the city. I saw Lamborghinis, Maseratis, BMWs and Mercedes Benz and all of the other high-end cars on the market. While I admired these shiny cars, there were certain things I would not have even seen had I been riding on my bicycle because I would have been moving too fast. But as a pedestrian I was surprised to note that all of these fancy cars had dings all over their front and rear bumpers. I couldn’t believe that these people could be so careless with these expensive machines. I grew up with two brothers who took tremendous pride in their restored ‘69 Camaros and they bristled at a speck of dirt on their cars. They would not have permitted a single ding to ruin their meticulously created paint jobs. They treated their cars with great care and the cars were a representation of who they were. I wasn’t sure what to do with the disconnect between these obviously expensive vehicles and the seeming inattention to fl...

Sometimes we want to change the rules in the middle of the game. When we do this, the question of unfairness comes into play. As a law student I discussed this phenomenon with my classmates and professors in the context of ex post facto laws. When a person commits an act that lawmakers believe should have been criminal they will then pass a law to make it so. Today, lawmakers try to stay up with drug creators so that distribution of dangerous substances can be punished, but unscrupulous and greedy manufacturers work to create products that lie outside of the current law. Tragedies strike and calls for another law, or perhaps stiffer penalties to existing laws, swell from the populace in a search for fairness. In one case, a terrorist was convicted in Spain for so many attacks that she received a sentence that theoretically would endure 3,828 years. She was part of ETA, a violent Basque separatist movement.  Spanish law did not allow anyone to actually serve such a sentence...

Randy went to college during the mid-1960s. His was a generation that pushed the limits of all things that were acceptable in a polite and orderly society. The university campus scene moved with a dynamic energy that was palpable everywhere you went. Traditional boundaries between professors and students evaporated like a light rain on a hot summer day. These young adults helped shape new social mores that created a broader space for self expression and fulfillment. While Randy enjoyed the freedoms of his generation and would take the lessons of a broader egalitarianism with him throughout his life, he was also an impoverished student. It isn't quite as easy to live the ideals you believe when your stomach rumbles and grumbles throughout the day. He had good friends who would help him out whenever he would ask, but his pride generally overruled his stomach and he would get by on bologna sandwiches and berries he could collect in the hills above campus. In the fall, orchards and ...

Kenny is two years older than I am. He was in the same school class as my older brother it seems that I always knew him. I suspect that he knew I was Jeff's brother, but the age difference meant that we never ran in the same circles. Years later he was finishing his third year of law school when I was starting my first. Having that common interest, we have come to know each other quite well, and I suppose that I now know Kenny better than my brother. I know him well enough to call him Kenny, instead of the more professional Kent. Kenny is the reason I am involved in my high school alumni association. He had the good sense and foresight to realize that a greater good could be accomplished by combining a little help from a lot of people. He recruited me to participate in the organizing meeting and I have been working with the group ever since. We participate in one traditional fundraiser every summer at our city's fair. We sell bottled water to the masses. We make some money a...

The book of Numbers in the Old Testament recounts an amazing miracle that saved many Israelites. The same story illustrates the stupidity and stubbornness that can afflict any or all of us. There came a particular occasion when the people complained to Moses about their awful predicament. The scriptures then tell us that the Lord sent fiery serpents, snakelike creatures that bit the people of Israel. The venom within the serpents was lethal and many people died. With their destruction at hand they regretted their earlier choice and asked what they should do. Moses went to the Lord in prayer and inquired how he could help his people. The answer came that he should construct a brass serpent. The promise was that anyone who should look upon the brass serpent would live. So that as many people as possible could see the serpent, Moses attached it to a pole and lifted it up so that all could be saved. There are no quotations in my bible for what Moses said, but in my mind I can hear him s...

When the first shot rang out it didn't even register. If my colleague hadn't asked when the gun sounded the second time I wouldn't noticed. It was shortly after 5 pm and the courthouse was nearly empty. A few of us were still around finishing up some work assignments. I had stepped out of my office to discuss an issue with another attorney in his office next door. Once he said he thought they were gunshots we had to make a decision. Do we stay in the office or do we try and run out of the building? His door had a lock and all of the windows were covered so we decided to hunker down. As we sat in his office we didn't make a sound. I moved the sofa in front of the door to try and gain some sense of security. When we hid behind his desk we found a problem. His standing desk's front panel doesn't extend to the floor. If the shooter opened the door he would see us but we wouldn't even know it. The only weapon I could find was a stapler and I wasn't sure ho...

The time for the annual talent show had come and the ward leaders asked us missionaries if we would perform a talent. Of course we agreed and we made sure to invite all of the friends we were teaching to attend a fun and relaxing event and they could see us in a social instead of a formal teaching context. Although most of us were barely twenty years old, the nature of teaching and preaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ tends to make one appear older than you really are. Faith, Repentance, Baptism and the Holy Ghost tend to inspire reverence rather than frivolity and a ward party presents the best excuse to let down our guard and have some fun. But we jumped the gun when we accepted the invitation because we didn't actually have a talent that we were ready to share. We knew that there would be singing, flamenco dancing, comedy acts and a puppet show. One ward member did hilarious impressions of movie stars and of course we would see a display of magic and card tricks. We tho...

It's a good thing I don't wager on sports. In recent days several teams that I fully expected to win, came up on the short end of the score. The Spanish National team had convinced me that they would play a competitive game, control the ball with precision and rapid passing and pull out another win against the very capable Orange. Of course the Spaniards single penalty kick goal pales in comparison to the five tremendous strikes and headers that became the final tally for the Netherlands. On the other side of the soccer story, the United States successfully undersold their chances and worked out a physical victory over Ghana. But predicting soccer matches, since I really don't know that much about the worldwide game, would just be a guess anyway. Perhaps I would have better luck with something like basketball and the NBA championships. Once the Spurs and Heat finalized their Conference Championships I considered the two teams and their respective strengths -- I'm not...

As the dad, I feel an almost primal need to protect my home and family. It is very important that they are safe and that their needs are met. Much of what I do and how I spend my time is to make sure that we have the resources we need to be able to have a place to live, get the places we need to go and generally live a comfortable life. Even though I grew up in a household that didn't lock the doors at night, I have come to adopt my wife's standard and feel the extra sense of security from the locked doors and windows. But it is no secret that I'm the biggest scaredy cat of the bunch. The list of things that frighten me is longer than wait since the last Cubs championship; and since we're still waiting for next year my list is probably endless. When I encounter a spider the very insides of my skin shivers and shutters. As my body decides whether to flee or fight, I do neither. The fight or flight reactions are actually two of three responses to danger, the third is f...

A week in the mountains disrupted my regular routine, but it didn't take long to find another. Morning came when the birds began to chirp, and sunlight illuminated my tent. We had a flag ceremony and devotional thought every morning before breakfast. Without a morning newspaper I had no crossword or comics to peruse and no information about the major political, social and economic issues of the day. Instead, I talked with friends, old and new and learned something about my neighbors and myself at a slower but more meaningful pace. Early morning hikes were followed by a lunch that the food committee handled and the activity committee arranged for crafts and camping skills certifications. They were even wise enough to schedule downtime that allowed me to read, ponder and pray. The pace at the camp was slow enough that I could look for opportunities to help others. I gathered and chopped wood as needed for campfires and used what muscles I had as needed. I had taken my digital SLR ...

Four years ago I was driving somewhere in Montana, when I learned that Spain had just won the World Cup. Missing the game as I drove from southern Alberta was eating at me and there were no radio stations that were broadcasting the match. I paused every thirty miles or so, to check the score on my Blackberry and I suppose some people on the Iberian peninsula heard my screams of joy blend with their own once the final was complete and the championship in hand. The Netherlands fell just short of the coveted trophy after a very hard fought match. Had Spain lost the game they would have focussed on plays that fans generally recognize as dirty from the Clockwork Orange squad. While it is true that the Orange can play a precision game, their success often comes from periodic flashes of surprise that throw an opponent off. Routine and consistency lead players to expect certain responses to very specific actions and set up the very opportunities to counter and score. In a game like soccer...

Today marks the opening of the World Cup and I don't know any scores. If I am lucky I will make this post before midnight but the thoughts of this day and week remain so abundantly rich that a cogent narrative escapes each kernel of an idea. I seem unable to find a beginning that wouldn't take days to relate until I reached a natural end. Should I start with the girl who sprained her ankle at the midway point of our 6.3 mile five-mile-hike? If I do, is the story her persistence and endurance to finish the hike even though it took twice the time to descend or her friend who stayed with her with unquestioning devotion?  The fact that I gave her a piggy-back ride for 3/4 of a mile becomes a footnote to the courage of this young teen. Should I tell the story of how simple exercises when practiced away from the hustle and bustle of city life turns kids who were strangers into best friends forever? And how could I convey the strength of sisterhood after a lifetime of living in a ...

The telephone pole in the middle of the mountains not only seemed out of place, but ominous. On this hot June day, 60-70 girls approached the pole through a man made clearing. You could see the scarred earth from the hewn trees and shrubs. As they got closer they could see that this was no ordinary pole. There were metal steps and handholds screwed into the wood allowing a person to ascend 25 feet into the air. At the top, these young women discovered a high wire test as part of a challenge course that had been developed to build unity and trust. Each girl put on a helmet and a harness and one by one they climbed the telephone pole until they reached the high wire. To make sure they were safe, a team of adults managed a belaying system so that even when a girl slipped she did not fall to the ground. Most of these girls, in fact the vast majority, climbed the pole and crossed the high wire with amazing skill and confidence. But some struggled and had to persevere through fear and un...

I think it's fair to say that my wife hates camping. She would rather endure a boring lecture on the development and advances in packing peanut technology than set up a tent and sit around a campfire. And I haven't even mentioned the dirt. To be fair, she loves nature. She finds beauty in the colors of leaves, the strength of mountains and the seeming creative power of erosion by water, heat, and wind. She simply prefers to enjoy this beauty from the comfort of her own home via pictures, photographs or video. If she has to be in the country you will likely find her in a lodge overlooking the wonders around her. I confess to giving her a bad time about her aversion to camping and letting her know that the Springhill Suites really doesn't count. I have always believed that camping requires a tent, cooking over a fire, hiking, and telling stories under the sky. Because it is always better to have a happy wife, I have done more camping at Springhill Suites than Crystal Ho...

Almost a decade ago I was evaluating investment opportunities and I considered several storage unit facilities. At least two companies passed all of the economic factors that I use to determine whether to purchase a stock and each of them had a very favorable valuation suggesting both short term capital gains and long term growth. For reasons that remain somewhat cloudy, I never actually pulled the trigger and I have never owned storage unit companies in my portfolio. (In the interest of full disclosure, I likely own some interest in these companies as part of at least one of the mutual funds that I hold as part of employer sponsored 401k plans.) A travel with some regularity along a road that leads me past several storage unit locations. Once in a while I will reflect on that choice because at least one of the companies not only met my expectations but has vastly exceeded them. I remain committed to a philosophy that once and assessment has been made you either make the decision to...

The stillness and quiet of an early morning home persuaded me to leave the comfort of my cozy bed. In this comfortable state of quiet consideration I remembered that my daughter had wanted to attend the church service of a friend who will be leaving for a two-year missionary assignment this Wednesday. Unfortunately, she was feeling under the weather and opted to stay home and recover. But my son and other daughter both wanted to attend, and we did. The result of this choice is by the end of the afternoon we had attended two worship services and I felt spiritually renewed and energized by the insights and inspiration shared by word, music and deed. As a family we limit our Sunday activities and strive to focus our thoughts on a spiritual plane. There were three events that competed with this sacred desire. The French Open, The Tony Awards, and the final episode of Cosmos. Unbelievably, I had completely forgotten that Rafael Nadal was playing for, and ultimately won his 9th championsh...

Games begins long before the opening whistle. As fans  await the start of play they amplify the energy that the players bring to the arena. Before play begins everyone fidgets with nervous energy. Home crowds hope to see competitive competition as long as their team ends up on top. But they know that there is no guarantee to the outcome. Players will do their best to prevail and will focus on each moment to improve the chance of a winning performance. The ability to give constant and concentrated attention to a specific motion or object, while ignoring the myriad of distractions from fans, defensive misdirections, fatigue and pressure, comes from repeated and dedicated practice. Effective practice combines a mix of basic skill development and refinement until play becomes an exercise of muscle memory rather than a planned and plotted execution of plays. The more a coach can more closely create a game-like environment during practice the more likely that a team will flourish inst...

Certain dangers accompany the commute to work on a bicycle when you share the road with automobiles. The basic laws of physics confirm that if a car or truck makes contact with me, I will bear the brunt of that encounter and the likelihood of a positive outcome seems negligible, at best. But my decision to commute came about gradually, only after I became confident in the willingness of my fellow travelers to help me arrive to work safely. While they still occur, near misses are few and far between and because I try to ride defensively for me and the cars around, I seldom feel overly stressed during my ride. Occasionally I'll experience a near miss that makes me reflect and reassess the risks I run by cycling. Today that suggestion came courtesy of a semi truck that I fortunately predicted would not stay in his lane and I adjusted my path well enough in advance to make the situation much less of a close call. I was in in the outside left hand turn lane and this semi decided to t...

All the desks were made the same. Every student had to enter from the left side opening and you did your work on the right side of the desk. When my small first grade frame slid into the seat, I twisted and turned because I used my left hand to color and write. After a few minutes of practicing my letters the teacher appeared over my shoulder and had me sit up straight. I protested because there was no way I could reach the right side of the desk with my left hand if I was sitting straight. "Don't worry, Brent," she said with a smile. "You aren't supposed to write with your left hand anyway. That's just wrong." I tried to control the pencil without much luck and quickly became frustrated as I tried to get the hang of it. "I can't," I said. She calmly replied, "It's okay, I've taught many young boys and girls to write the right way." She smiled as she had redirected another misguided student from a path of sinister l...

I looked up and saw the man in the moon and he was looking back at me. His gaze was steady and calm. His luminescent aura in the nighttime sky caused a gentle peace to permeate my being. I thought about this earth and how it must look from that privileged vantage point. I have seen the pictures from space missions, satellites and telescopes that show the earth as a blue dot or a brilliant cloud covered orb. While beautiful and awe inspiring, those photos lack a personal connection like the one I felt with the man in the moon and sensing that he was watching over us all, not just looking, but watching. I wondered what he sees and what he knows. Does the man in the moon observe from on high and monitor life on a global scale? He might measure the oceans and the polar ice caps. He could watch as violent storms form and batter a helpless earth. Of course he could watch the seasons come and go with the snowy blanket of winter, the greens of spring and summer and the myriad colors of autu...

It didn't take long to come up with a name for my eldest daughter. I really wanted to honor her mother but wasn't as keen on having two people in the same house using the same name. We quickly settled on using my wife's middle name, Naomi. When my oldest son was born my wife chose his name during her delivery, the result of a tender and spiritual birthing experience. Adam is as solid a name as there is. I like to say it was good enough for God's first man on earth, so why not for my son? Well, with two classic biblical names I have to admit I felt some pressure to continue the trend when my wife gave birth to our third child. We considered several names and my wife suggested a beautiful first name and my own mother's unique middle name as a second name. I wasn't sold on the two and asked my wife to consider a desire that I had since before I was married. For many years there was one name that I wanted to give a daughter but I wasn't sure I would get the c...

I woke up to the news that Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias had announced his abdication of the Spanish throne to his son Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y de Grecia. This sudden announcement caught everyone by surprise. The very laws of the constitutional monarchy lacked procedural rules to govern how an abdication occurs and the process for crowning a new sovereign. In a tremendous show of political necessity the Spanish parliament was able to draft and enact the necessary legislation in one day. When I arrived in Spain in 1985 I got my first taste of royalty when I exchange $100 of American dollars into Spanish pesetas. While our bills had faces of Washington, Lincoln, Hamilton and Franklin every single bill denomination carried the face of the king. These were the days before the European Community that came to become the present European Union. Spain was working very hard amongst the international community to reclaim a lon...

Jimmy had everything you could ever want. Photographs from around the world dotted his bedroom walls and provided proof of all of the fantastic sites he had been. He had posed with statues that guarded the entrances to world-class art museums. Views from the summits of the tallest mountains placed him at the top of the world. The images of colorful and exotic animals from every continent but Antarctica displayed the wonders and beauty of this expansive orb. Jimmy really had it all. Tommy had never sent a text, played an app or used a cell phone to make a simple phone call. He had used the computers at school and the library, but none of his friends had cell phones. When he logged onto the internet his time was limited so he didn't even travel vicariously to the places that Jimmy went in reality. When Tommy finished his classes he would return to a sparsely furnished home and three younger siblings to tend. When he had the chance he would mow a lawn and do simple yard work to earn...