Wild and Barefoot

        Many years ago before I had a family of my own I heard an analogy for life that resonated with my own philosophy. The basic idea was that no matter how well you played a game (chess, checkers, parcheesi) at the end of the game all the cards or tokens you acquired went back into the box. It’s very similar to the “you don’t take it with you” adage.       I spent many years honing my MMA skills to become a skilled fighter. After a winning record and dipping my toes into the professional fighting world, I retired with an injury and a child on the way. My conquests were short lived and only memorialized in a few medals collecting dust on the shelves or a belt hanging in a gym that sees a new generation of athletes.       The last five years of my life have been dedicated to raising my three young sons.  Without family living nearby, I spend the majority of my time with my young boys.  Although some days it feels overwhelming due to the natural demands of young children, I remind mys

 It’s still over a month until Halloween but my kids are already obsessed with ghosts, skeletons, and other creepy things. My house sounds like a haunted house from morning until dusk. This inspired me to finally plan a trip to a place that has been on my bucket list for a while: the Neskowin Ghost Forest. At low tide, the stumps of old trees are visible. The Neskowin Ghost Forest is the remnants of a Sitka spruce forest on the Oregon Coast. The stumps were likely created when an earthquake of the Cascadia subduction zone abruptly lowered the trees, that were then covered by mud from landslides or debris from a tsunami. Many of the stumps are over 2,000 years old.  Note: I followed google maps and the directions said to turn on Beach lane. That road is now gated and privatized for a new housing development. The only way to access the ghost forest now is to park at the public beach entrance and Wade across the bay.  Definitely worth a visit! The boys discovered crabs, starfish, and othe