How To Get Six Years of Sobriety

  On May 4th, I celebrated six continuous years of sobriety. Cue the happy dance. “How did you do it? How did you get six years, Pauly?” someone asked me the other day. I paused and gave him a short, but meaningful answer. It fell in line with where I am in my recovery and…

Sifting Through The Bones Of My Existence

It’s snowing out right now.  Fat flakes are blanketing the ground, muffling the sound of whooshing cars and buses.  I’ve got that fuzzy glow one gets from awaking from a nap. There is coffee at my side, and I’m listening to some gentle music.  I am alone in the house and taking in my breathing,…

Fetch Me A Thesaurus, Lad – It’s Time For The Word Of The Year

I don’t make new year’s resolutions.  And perhaps outside of some running targets I have in mind, I also don’t have goals.  I don’t do vision boards, and I don’t write down any sort of plans or schemes.  Perhaps I should, but for the most part I don’t like attaching myself to things like that….

Redwoods

A few years ago I heard a speaker talk about redwood trees.  He mentioned how the redwoods, giants of the forest, had shallow roots.  Surprising, considering that those Ent-like beasts of beauty can reach up to 375 feet. There is no taproot, but the roots can spread out 50-80 feet from the base of the…

Nothing Is Wrong, But Nothing Seems Right

This seems just a little bit different.  It seems to be clinging on a bit more.  It seems to be a bit deeper.  There is a cloak feeling to it, as opposed to strips of it passing over me like those dull blue scrubbers at the car wash. I can’t put my finger on it,…

And Now The Boy Is Ours

Yesterday we sat in court and waited for the judge.  He was running a few minutes late. I am used to courts, as some of you might know.  But this was different.  There was no sentence to be handed down, no incriminating evidence to be displayed, no legal jabberwocky jousting.  Just our family and some…

Pinwheels

There are three things I never do when I run – plan the route, carry a phone or stop moving unless I absolutely have to.  This past run, I broke all three of these rules.  I can’t say why, but there was something within that nudged me to plan a route.  It was a path…

Brand New All Over Again

This is a piece I wrote a few weeks ago for a treatment center alumni weekly newsletter.  My old treatment center, in fact, and one that I work with on a regular basis.  I wanted to share this here on my blog. She found it while cleaning up. My wife, sorting through some shelves, found…

Myth Busting With A Rocket Launcher

“I don’t ride in snow. Period.” This is something I have said countless times. It’s been a rather nasty winter this year, and those who know me also know about my almost religious attachment to my bicycle riding. So they will often ask me whether I am going to hop onto my two wheels when…

Clock Watching

I was always concerned about my son. As a baby and infant, he seemed to take a long time to hit the landmarks that they measure the wee ones by.  Or at least, that’s how I felt when I was comparing him to other kids his age.  It took him a while before he walked. …