Goosebumps. A slight tear in my eyes.  

Pictured in this week’s column is my most favorite place in the entire universe. The Grand Teton Mountains straddling the Wyoming/Idaho border. I’ve been coming to these ancient peaks since 1992, when I was seven years old and made my first trip West with my family from our native Upstate New York.  

I once spun my wheels searching and seeking an experience outside of myself or something big and expansive to find happiness. This tactic sort of worked for a while, but eventually I realized that looking forward to the next vacation or celebration or milestone was preventing me from all the in-betweens, all the goodness that happens in the weeks and months and years that unfold quietly, slowly — these are the minutes and hours we need to embrace more fully. 

I woke up with sunshine streaming into my bedroom, the mountains surrounding my town illuminated in bright green vegetation. And yet, I felt in no mood to celebrate Independence Day. 

With each passing year, I think more and more about the longevity of life. When I was young, I couldn’t wait to be older, to reach those milestone birthdays — 16, 18, 21. Even turning 10 was fun because it’s the first double digit and also 13 because one can finally use the descriptor “teenager.” 

I recently found my old CD album, the giant book of plastic sleeves that many of us tediously curated back in the day. Flipping through the pages, one by one, I smiled as I recalled memories — certain albums serving as soundtracks to highlights and lowlights of my teenage and early adult years. 

There’s a quote that’s stuck with me since I first heard it recently. It’s actually in the story I wrote last week about the newly-opened Astro Record Store in Waynesville: “There’s enjoyment and there’s convenience. As things become more and more convenient, I think people look for ways to invest their time and find enjoyment.” 

The quote used to title this column was stated by the late Pope Francis, who passed away last week at age 88. Rest easy, good sir. 

Pope Francis was cool in my book, even though I can’t say the same for the Catholic Church, in general. I’m an incredibly spiritual person, not religious. And, as someone who grew up surrounded by Catholicism, I’ve never been a fan of the church’s antics over the centuries and millennia (“antics” is a very, very diluted word to describe the dark history).

As a young child, growing up right outside of London, Dan Tapster fondly remembers watching David Attenborough’s nature documentaries with his mother, these family moments that were “a cherished ritual.”
“She proudly claims to be his number one fan,” Tapster said. “And those early experiences ignited my fascination with storytelling and the natural world.” 

I woke up this morning with this heavy feeling of how fast time is moving. I mean, in essence, time doesn’t exist and everything is all one moment. But, I still see those increasing grey hairs in my beard and well-earned laugh wrinkles in my face. 

This evening, I realized that a wine bottle ordered at a restaurant (half-off bottles on Mondays) never lasts long enough when you’re with someone you love (friend, family, partner, etc.). And it never seems to empty itself when you’re by yourself.