Arts & Culture

  • How Ice Cream Saved the World and Then Ruined It

    I was born into a grand culinary experiment—one that began in the hardscrabble kitchens of the Great Depression and evolved through American ingenuity into a postwar paradise of processed food. In those lean years, dietitians emerged as unlikely heroes. While… Continue reading

    How Ice Cream Saved the World and Then Ruined It
  • Save the Dancer

    A well-meaning friend once told me to dance like no one is watching. It didn’t take. I dance like people are watching. I was dancing at a wedding recently, (Apache, Jump on it) and it occurred to me that no… Continue reading

    Save the Dancer
  • Digging Daily Dirt: A Garden Story

    I’ve always wanted to be a famous writer, not prolific like John Grisham, but rather famously obscure, like J.D. Salinger, only with less baggage and regrets. Being famous seems like a lot of trouble. Fortunately, like most people, I’m famously… Continue reading

    Digging Daily Dirt: A Garden Story
  • Kitchen of Grace

    People ask me, “What are you doing in Denver?” I tell them I’m helping Karen Taylor and Tammy Ross cook 700 meals for our youth group from Bartlesville, with very little refrigerator space which means I’m on a first name… Continue reading

    Kitchen of Grace
  • Singing with Al Green

    Karen and I were driving through Wisconsin farmland a couple of years ago, and I was overcome by pastoral splendor although it may have been too many cheese curds. I began singing America the Beautiful, like Ray Charles, because after all,… Continue reading

    Singing with Al Green
  • The Singing Stream

    I have two brothers. My brother the doctor has spent some time in jail. But he got better…more on that later. The younger is a preacher who has written several books. I have always wanted to write a novel. I’ve… Continue reading

    The Singing Stream
  • Doodling with Snoopy

    My wife travels with me and my golf partner, Shawn Barker…not because she loves golf. She simply loves the surroundings and the time spent wandering places like Flagstaff and Monterey and Santa Rosa. After a yoga session in Santa Rosa… Continue reading

    Doodling with Snoopy
  • Midnight Confession

    Word.   Word is a strange word…the longer you stare at it, the odder it becomes. Stranger still is the moment you hear correct words in a song after many years of singing the wrong words. Karen was making a… Continue reading

    Midnight Confession
  • Colorado Travelogue: Red Bank

    I tagged along with Karen to a yoga studio in Denver on our vacation. On the mat next to Karen is a woman who lives in Connecticut, although she grew up in Red Bank, NJ. Karen grew up in New… Continue reading

    Colorado Travelogue: Red Bank