This quote from Fahrenheit 451 really got my brain turning today as I keep working on refining my other project:
Don’t ask for guarantees. And don’t look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, knowing you were headed for shore.“
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Appreciation:
While my work day wasn’t the most exciting day ever it was very satisfying to work on a specific project to help move the team forward in a meaningful way. It was a bit tedious, but it really helped me get a better feel for the challenges being faced and helped see potential ways to help us all become more efficient. Nothing glorious, not my normal jam, but very satisfing nonetheless!
Presence:
Outdoor yoga at Mount La Crosse this evening was splendid! Getting outdoors to take an hour to chill while stretching and exercising was exactly what the doctor ordered after a day of driving to and from Eau Claire for work. The shift from usually being in the studio to getting outside and having nothing but the ski hills way out in the horizon shifted the practice more significantly than I would have imagined. Such a perfect way to wrap up a day!
Last week I had the privilege of joining the teacher’s meeting at Root Down Yoga. As we dove into a conversation about being present a teacher commented on something as simple as a sunset. “How many more of those will we have the opportunity to see in our lives?”
When one pauses to think about it, how many sunsets do we have left? Why don’t we slow down to soak up one of life’s beautiful moments more often?
Back when I was a kid I think my grandpa really understood the finite nature of life more so than most. When we would hang out with my grandparents for more than a week each summer he’d always seem to pause to watch the sunset.
One in particular I remember so vividly – a little for the jaw dropping sunset, but so much more from watching my grandfather’s awe and reverence for the setting sun. As he looked to it wistfully and watched it slowly melt into the horizon his face shown with gratitude, awe, and something else that I can only look back with my life experience to call “acceptance.” It was like he was seeing a much deeper and more insightful version of the same natural phenomena.
This evening after yoga I saw that my timing was just about right to run home, pick up Becky, and take in the sunset. Snapping pics, pausing to savor the view of an exemplary edition of the setting sun over the Mississippi River Valley.
Seeing that it is something be in awe of, the sheer beauty of the natural world.
Taking in the fact that to everything there is a cycle, a progression.
Understanding the impermanence of all things, the beauty created specifically from that fact.
One of my “Top 3 Start Doing” goals was reading more deeply rather than going very wide.
Over the past handful of years my focus has been on reading a set number of books and I’ve tended to let my mind and tastes wander a bit as progressed through the year. Whenever something caught my fancy I’d pick it up and give it a shot. This let to reading many books I otherwise wouldn’t have read, but it wasn’t conducive to deeper understanding. Occasionally one would really strike a chord and I’d read it again. Much more rarely I would stumble into a book which would re-read at least once per year.
This year I decided to do something a little different. I curated a list of twenty-five books that I committed to reading three times each in 2026. These were amongst my all time favorites, but largely focused on the ones I felt would help me grow most this year, the books that would help me work on closing the gap between who I currently am and who I’d like to grow into. For sure, there are some fiction mixed in – fiction allows a chance to reality test ideas in a sandbox, an opportunity to play and explore, a different view of the world focused through a very specific lens or paradigm.
Three of the books I’ve already consumed (or in the process of reading) for the third time have gotten better every single time I’ve read them. Fight Club, No Country for Old Men, and Fahrenheit 451 have gotten better with every single re-reading of them
Some books get smaller and less significant once you know the ending. These three keep getting bigger and more meaningful.
I wouldn’t necessarily call any of them perfect books. In fact, each has a few little quirks in the writing that annoy me every single time I read it. Somehow, I think that makes me love them more. The imperfections give them character. They feel less polished, perhaps, but more alive.
Beneath the plots are questions that don’t get resolved when you reach the final page. They’re questions humans have wrestled with for most of our existence: joy, acceptance, learning, freedom, intentionality, meaning, legacy.
Maybe that’s why knowing how these stories end doesn’t diminish them. Once I stop wondering what happens next, I have more room to notice what they’re actually saying.
The “me” who is re-reading them is not the same “me” who read them each of the last times. Life has changed since the last reading. My perspectives and paradigms and priorities have likely shifted just enough to provide a slightly new lens to view them through. Maybe the last reading helped me make a subtle change and I’m now ready to make another. Maybe I didn’t learn the lesson last time, and now I see it a little more clearly, with a little more urgency.
Regardless of the reasons, each of these books holds a gravitational pull on me. I’m grateful for the way they’ve pulled me into their orbit, and for how they continue to push and pull at the way I see myself and the world.
At this point, they’ve almost created a Three Body Problem in my brain!
Had a wonderful day with Becky at Pike’s Peak State Park in Iowa today! The sunrise was spectacular, the hiking fantastic, and all the local critters were super friendly!
I’d set a goal of hiking every single trail in the park and it was mission accomplished after 20+ miles. The effort was worth every drip of sweat, no question. Such a beautiful area, especially when you’re awake while it’s dark and on the trial well before sunrise. Throughout the first twenty miles Becky and I saw only eight other people, so chill in the woods.
Time together, time in nature, time without stress, time doing physical activity, time soaking up all that the world has to offer, and time shared with Becky. Life is good!
Some locations seem to have a magnetic pull on our souls. Maybe our souls are in just a little better alignment as a result of the place. Regardless the reason, I’m ecstatic to be camping in Pike’s Peak in Iowa.
It’s not the biggest, boldest, or most popular area, but every time I’ve been here I’ve created wonderful memories. Once alone, several times with various combinations of my family. Each time we invariably find ourselves alone in the woods, cresting the bluff ridges overlooking the confluence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers. First Nations people’s mounds are found woven into the terrain adding a layer of human history atop the geological. The woods are old and hearty, large trees to be found everywhere. Wildlife awaits in the woods, so many birds, deer, squirrels, and signs and tracks of others.
Tomorrow my intent is to hike all the miles of trails in the park, starting pre-sunrise so we’re atop the ridge as the sun starts to poke out. No worries of time, only enjoyment and the sensation of being lost in nature.
Preparing by sleeping in the camper van makes it all the more awesome.
This is where my soul so easily finds solace, where presence is plentiful, and my heart erupts with joy.
Releasing a dream into nature to see it received well by wonderful people I respect greatly. Taking in the moment in which it grows from little dream seedling into something so much bigger.
Seeing the results of 20 years of work and learning grow into something bigger than ever expected.
Pausing with gratitude for all of the hard work behind while looking forward to the hard work ahead.
Living fully into purpose and brightening lives.
Releasing the dream So much joy, a soul so full More dreams coming soon
Wowza, talk about one of those days in which all a guy can do is step back and say, “did that all really just happen?”
The most normal part of the day was the morning run with Becky. From there everything went in it’s own crazy direction. Honestly, the exact twists and turns themselves aren’t as relevant to this post as the nonstop rollercoaster of the day.
Throughout the day I somehow maintained a level of calm, collectedness, and stayed in the moment. Largely productive, I was able to still get pretty much everything accomplished, albeit in unexpected ways!
As I wrapped up the night everything slowly calmed and has gone back to normal. Plenty of time to focus on the next steps of my project, big day for it tomorrow! The calm maintained inspite of the crazy really helped me get into my groove this evening for the last practice run.
Two days of work, an evening of a test run, and then it’s off to camping for Becky and I! So looking forward to the bonus chill time in the woods with Becky, I’m already jonesing to hit the road!
Ha! This one really was all over the place – pretty fitting for the day! Might as well keep rolling with it 🙂
Fun little side note, I also had a few moments of pause to enjoy the wildlife right outside my office window today too!
Okay – so what am I grateful for today? Creating calm in the chaos, remembering to pause and recalibrate rather than reacting.
Step back. See the terrain. Choose my path. Mission accomplished today!
Something that really jumped out to me today was how much I appreciate the moments in which I know Dad is laughing his butt off as I experience the same things that I did to him three decades ago! Each time I’m doing something with the boys and one of those moments happen when I get frustrated or shake my head, I can’t help but pause and smile as I remember doing my own version of the frustrating behavior to him.
“Just you wait, Mikey. I can’t wait for the day when your kids do this to you. I will sit back and laugh and laugh and laugh.“
Pete Kreiling
When it’s my time and I’m hanging out with Dad, I can’t wait to dive I to the stories and share them all with him – AND – know he’ll share more from me than I remember!
Part of the circle of life as a parent, re-living the same experiences but from a different perspective and possibly “re-branded,” as Gavin would say.
Many groans, smiles, and laughs as a dad today for sure!
My theme for this year really helped power me through the run this morning and yoga this evening. After pounding the trails on Saturday my legs were quite stiff this morning. I really wanted almost nothing more than to chill in bed, go back to sleep, and let my legs rest. Instead I read my 2026 theme, Fortitudine Vincimus (by endurance, we conquer), got my butt out of bed, and hit the pavement with Becky. Within a couple of miles my legs had loosened right up! Same for yoga – eveything loosened up and felt better as the practice went on.
Appreciation:
I almost forgot how everything seems to almost flow towards us when we start to focus on that which is most important to us. The more we remember to focus on what we want to do with our lives the more we see the opportunities to make it happen. For sure, not some crazy magic creating things, rather, when we get our minds in tune we more easily see all of the possibilities we’ve been surrounded by but just never took the time to notice.
Presence:
That moment in which you realize one dream is just about to happen while simultaneously another takes root. One of those moments in which all one can do is pause, zoom out, and appreciate the moment. While the realization and the start of the dream are wonderful, the most joy in the moment was found in realizing how much I’d been enjoying the path leading to today!
Whew – that was a full Sunday! It started with some quiet time out in the woods with Becky, we went for a hike and enjoyed listening to the birds singing away atop the ridge. Is there any better start to a Sunday? Getting outside, spending time with Becky, taking in all the sights and sounds and scents of the outdoors?
We came back home, work on a couple of projects, and headed off to church. An old friend of ours was there and we spent time catching up with him. Throughout the ride home we talked, joked, and relaxed with Gavin. Many comments about how he is only a few weeks from moving out, and that this was likely the last mass he will be joining us for until Thanksgiving break, possibly Christmas. He spent time getting ready for shopping for meals for their upcoming backpacking trip, it was fun hearing him go through the entire process of figuring out exactly what was needed and which store they should go to for the best prices. Fun getting bonus time with him!
There was only a little adulting to get done so we knocked that out quickly. The project I’ve been working on has a large milestone coming up on Thursday night, super excited to get that all wrapped up! So many hours put towards that today, many new lessons learned, new skills being honed, and so much time getting lost in the flow of creating. One of my favorite types of project for sure! In so many ways it seems like I’ve been building towards this over the past twenty years, it feels incredibly rewarding to be getting closer to setting it free.
Becky and I had a great time catching up with Dominic! One more week of work, one more week of class, and then he’s off for a month of adventure! Catching up with him is always fun, even more so as he’s getting ready for travel. Looking forward to seeing him for a few minutes late on Thursday after he gets home and I return from my project.
More time working on the project, more pieces coming together. Now off to an early bed to start the week fresh!
Thankful for Forty 