Category Archives: Holidays

Holidays

Happy New Year

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2026 is less the four hours away (where I live). I’m at home enjoying the evening with my family and committing myself to stay up until midnight. It’s really unusual for me to stay up that late and I’ve made myself a coffee to help get through the next several hours (while watching some football).

2025 was a bit of a slog in the latter months. But there were also some cool moments over the course of the year. I can look back at moments like seeing endless numbers of wildlife together with my wife and son in Yellowstone, evening neighborhood walks with my family, making the bucket list hike to Lake Solitude in Grand Teton, learning martial arts over the summer with my youngest son, hiking with my eldest son in Rocky Mountain, finishing some challenging paintings, and enjoying my 50th birthday with my family in Hawaii.

Many of us make new years resolutions. I just call them goals. I want to make some cool artwork. I want to cross a few more places and experiences off my bucket list, I want to read more books. I want to make some home improvements. I want to experiment with and build some electronics. I want to continue spending time with my family and helping my kids achieve their goals.

Let’s have a great 2026!

Holidays, Outdoors

Happy First Day of Spring

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The vernal equinox is today and that means that the scales have tipped in favor of more daylight each day as we make our way toward summer. Where I live in Colorado the ground is still covered in snow and we’ll likely continue to have snow off and on into May (and some years into June), but summer is inevitably coming.

This is a pasque flower which is usually one of the first flowers we see in Colorado in early spring. It’s name actually means ‘Easter Flower’ since it usually blooms around Easter time. They are a symbol of spring time as well. I photographed this pasque flower on a spring hike and I’m looking forward to a little more time outdoors as the season progresses.

We have not yet seen the first pasque flowers (at least not in our area), but surely they will come. As will the warmer temperatures, early morning sunshine, thawing rivers, and eventually long, enjoyable summer days.

Holidays

Happy New Year!

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Welcome 2024. I talked with my son on our dog walk today about the meaning of Auld Lang Syne. In life as we move on from one year to the next, we have a moment to reflect upon all the friends and acquaintances that have come and gone over time. We’re lucky to have life-long friends but in the modern era it’s rare.

I try to encourage my kids to remember that in life we should value our friendships and not take them for granted. Sometimes people drift apart over the course of time, but often we find that an old friend can still be called upon in times of need. 

2023 was an interesting year. Let’s all look back upon the good times, the hard times, the memories we want to keep, and those we’d be best to let go.

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup!
and surely I’ll buy mine!
And we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

History, Holidays

Winter Solstice 2022

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Today at last the northern hemisphere will reach the official starting point of winter, but we’ll also begin the long slow march toward the summer season.

Solstices are both an astronomical event as well as a moment when we can look back on past human history and consider the importance that ancient civilizations placed on these events. They built incredible structures, many of which still exist, to mark the occasions. Understanding earth’s seasonal clock was a matter of literal life and death.

I don’t think it’s an accident that holidays of family gathering and giving happen to fall so close to the winter solstice. Before Christmas, or Hanukkah, or the Roman festival of Saturnalia, there were older winter solstice traditions that marked the end of the harvest and hope for spring after the cold of winter. Those ancient holiday traditions have been largely lost to time, but they influence us even today.

So certainly we can look forward to a fun holiday season of gift-giving and family time in our warm homes. But let’s remember the most ancient of all holidays today and be thankful that no matter how cold it may seem now, spring and summer are coming once again.

Holidays, Outdoors

Summer Solstice 2022

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I would argue that the summer solstice is probably the oldest holiday in the world. For thousands of years the occasion was observed with celebrations and religious observances.
It is really cool in my opinion that so many of the world’s ancient civilizations were able to mark the solstice and built impressive temples to align with the rising summer solstice sun. While I have not yet been to Stonehenge or Machu Picchu or Chichen Itza, they are on the bucket list.

Happy Summer Solstice 2022!

Holidays, Random

Happy Father’s Day!

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Happy Father’s Day to all the fellow dads out there! I’ve been a dad for nearly 16 years now. It’s not always easy, it’s not always appreciated, but we make a huge difference. The younger generations have no idea what we have done to make everything possible for them, but hopefully someday they’ll see it.