Showing posts with label Interviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Interviews. Show all posts

Monday, February 29, 2016

What's Going On: Dobbe on Mentoring and Friendships and Overall Psych

Dobbe, or John Elvis Dobbe is hands down, one of the friendliest, most psyched person I know across the climbing and snow and skateboarding communities.  His belief about equity in the community clearly values mentoring, which in his words means "bringing people into the fold." And Dobbe has done just that - contributing to the community in meaningful and sustaining ways. As owner of Focus Boardshop, his repertoire runs deep as he not only knows business but he's obviously passionate about the business he built. I know it can be a difficult thing to answer personal questions but Dobbe does this interview with style and honesty. I have a few favorite parts but the highlight is in response to what makes him unique (#7, 9, 15). I also enjoyed learning his backstory and all the little and big things that tell his story beyond climbing, snow and skateboarding. Enjoy, and thanks Dobbe! 

So I’m an army brat. I was born in Georgia but I’m not quite a southern boy. I have two older sisters, Michelle and Charesse, and a younger brother, Dana. When my parents divorced, I was 7 and my mother and sisters did not get along that well so my brother and I went to live with my mom - Leslie and my sisters went with my dad, Gary. My mom later remarried Jack Hartvig. Gary is my dad but Jack is my father. I learned calmness, kindness and how to be a better man from Jack even if it took most of my boyhood to learn it.  My birthday is 4/11/1980, and I'm 35 going on 26. 


How would you describe yourself as a child?
I was a wild child - I played in the woods a lot. I was always climbing over fences and onto rooftops or riding my bike miles out of town to the lake.  My sister Michelle always calls me Johnny.

Do you think characteristics or temperament or interests as a child inform your passion(s) today?  
I think I have always wondered about things and was drawn to problem solving of all kinds. If you like problem solving, climbing might be one of the best sports to find. Between skateboarding, snowboarding and climbing, you really learn the value of trying regardless of failure. In all these sports, you fail a ton, but one success makes the whole process a success. I think this way of thinking has helped me to not really get stressed out in life or work. Owning a business can be super stressful if you let it. 

What is a favorite memory as a child/adolescent?
I don’t know that I have one favorite memory as a child. We never really took vacations as kids but I do have a lot of awesome memories building tree forts and running around the woods with my friends and cousins that all blend together. 


Do you have a favorite or strong memory of school? Can you tell me about a teacher who influenced you?
So I never really applied myself at school. I would always do well on tests because I’m an attentive listener and remember most everything, but never did any homework. My favorite teacher was my drama lit teacher, Miss Magelly (not sure on the spelling of her name). She taught one of the first classes where my input mattered most and I could always talk my way through most things. When the school was giving me a hard time about being able to graduate early, she stepped in and helped me get out of there. 

Who else in life has influenced you?
My friends have always been my family -  I spend more time with them then anyone else. When I was a young man, I met Red (Mike Carpenter) and he really opened up the door to climbing outside. He was the best mentor I could have had. I think it really helps to have someone bring you into the community and teach you the way that things have been. With most things, there is a normal etiquette and if you know them, at least then you can decide if you want to follow them based on where they are coming from. I think a lot of the climbing community could use a good mentor to bring them into the circle. 

In what ways does community influence you personally and professionally? What do you think we can do to encourage and support equity?
Growing up I was never into team sports but ended up finding strong communities in both snowboarding and rock climbing. For me, the whole goal of my store, Focus, is to build boarders - I don’t just want to sell people stuff.  I want to help them have the best chance to get hooked on it. I want Focus to be a place where families with little kids can come in and be helped into the lifestyle and not feel like they are looked down on for not being as into skating or snowboarding as we are.  I want it to still be a place where if you’re super into it, we can geek out with you about the best stuff out there. Personally, I think that one of the biggest things people can do to support equity is to be part of a community - whether it be sporting, social or other - that you set an example of bringing new people into the fold and not making it a members only club. 

Which aspects of your job do you enjoy? Feel challenged by?
I love both my jobs. Most days I start my day out at Boulders Climbing Gym, setting routes or boulder problems. One thing I really try and do is set problems that people will want to climb more than once. Sometimes, I’ll do a problem just to get it done but would never climb again, and for me those just aren’t worth setting.  

Around 11am, I head into Focus Boardshop. A lot of the time, I still walk in, and look around and am super pumped that I built this place from the ground up and 11 years later it’s doing better than ever. I love to talk to people about gear or trips they or I have taken. My job really keeps me young. I do the whole thing and I am running the business well, but most other parts of my life I am not a adult!  I will get in my car and drive across the country for two days of climbing or snowboarding at the drop of a hat. 

What lessons has your work life taught you?
When I first opened the shop, we killed it. The first three years the economy was good and there was hardly anyone else selling what we sold in town, and online was not what it is now. Then the recession hit and I really learned how to run the store lean. Looking back, I could have saved so much money those first few years if I ran the shop like I do today. Our yearly sales went down from those years, but we make more now  because we spend money a lot better. I look at a lot of businesses that never learned how to manage money and am so glad I had to.

What did you imagine you'd be doing today?
Male model but Chris cornered the market! Snowboarding and rock climbing which I still do as much as I can!

Passions?
Snowboarding and Rock climbing. I think if I could ride powder everyday it would be hard to pull me off the hill, but since I’m in the midwest, climbing is much easier to go and do. 

What makes you stop and go “Wow!”
Humbly strong people. Well, humbly strong people and attractive athletic woman. 

Got a short term goal related to your passions? I have worked a lot over the last eleven years and I’m trying to take more short trips this year. I’ve already been climbing in Tennessee and snowboarding in Colorado and Washington this year, and plan to take at least a three day weekend trip each month. 

High point in Life:
Opening my store.

Turning point in Life: 
Getting divorced. I’m not one who likes to fail. I’m not a sore loser but I don’t like to let people down, and in this case it’s hard to not feel like you failed the other person. 

What are 15 things that make you uniquely YOU?
1. I have tube socks tattooed to my legs!
2.I was born to run. I was the least prepared looking one at the start of the 50K but finished in the top 10%. I might have still been wearing surf shorts back then. 
3 My middle name is Elvis so I feel the need to take over the dance floor at every chance.
4. Worlds fastest burlap sack racer.
5. Superhuman bear crawling speed.
6.  I climbed the Grand Tetons in skate shoes.
7. I’m overly optimistic and this helps me finish most things because I always believe I can. 
8. I think I can beat you at dice because I’m good at it. 
9. When things are really hard on a long run or workout, I always think of one scene from a movie I really like - Gattaca. The two brothers have a challenge to swim the furthest out to sea, and the weaker brother ends up having to save his stronger brother.  He asks how he beat him and he says, “I didn’t save anything for the way back.” I like this a lot. Leave it all out there and use your willpower to get back.  
10. I never sit still for long but you put a puzzle or sSudoku in front of me and I can’t move away.
11. At 25, I had $250K in loans and $400K in a lease. I look back and am glad I was bold but might not make that play today.  All in!!!
12. You don’t get abs like these eating pastries everyday so at least one day a week, I don’t!
13. If we are friends there is not much I won’t do for you. I gave my friend, Gabe, my new car to drive across the state a week after we met because I didn’t trust his car. 
14. I’m 35 but if you’re going to live to 120, that’s still young. 
15. I have the best friends!! When times got tough my friends were so helpful in getting me back on track. 

Favorite place(s) to climb/where you want to climb and/or run?

LRC in Tennessee is so much fun. I love sandstone. I will run anywhere that has trails in the woods. 

What are 20 things that make you feel grateful?
Friends, Family, My Health, Focus Boardshop, My employees, My cats Mr meow & Rose, Snowboarding, Climbing, Batch bakehouse, Boulders, Road trips, Taking trips - not vacations,  Wisconsin, dark beer, red wine, the roof over my head,  my boyish good looks, eternal youth, FRIENDS.

What a great interview with an all-around great person! Thanks again Dobbe - I know more about your today than I did yesterday!




















Sunday, January 31, 2016

What's Going On: Christine Pendo Mugando Lo on Everydayness -Especially Equity, Race, and Community.



This weekend was a chance to steal some lasting amazement from the best climbing athletes in the nation in the midst of one of the best climbing communities out there. I was proud to be part of our national and local climbing community this weekend. But while I spend a wealth of my time around kids, educators, and climbers, I think I can carefully say we walk through each others lives like white noise -- quick greetings, light laughter, a half-hearted spot, maybe an exchange of ideas. Nothing too deep or very committing. And it's not that I need or want to know everyone deeply -- there are just certain people I'm drawn to know a lil better. That's the truth for Christine Pendo Muganda Lo, who I knew would offer insights across the spectrum of matters related to identity, equity, education, and relationships. I have a lot of favorite parts to her write-up, but I love her perspective on equity, race, and community. Enjoy!  


Background: Where you're from, family, birthday, marriage, education
I grew up in Illinois in the suburbs of Chicago. I come from a biracial, multicultural family: my mother was raised on a subsistence farm in a Pennsylvania Dutch community, while my father was born and raised in Tanzania, the son of a diplomat. I was born August of 1987, the middle of three sisters. My parents are both educators, and decided to homeschool my two sisters and me the entire way through high school. In college, I doubled-majored in mathematics and Spanish -- two languages I loved, but had no idea how to incorporate into my future career path. After college, I moved to Wisconsin for graduate school, I spent six years at UW Madison and completed a PhD in Population Health, Infectious Disease Epidemiology. I met Justin in Madison, in my grad program, actually, and we developed a deep friendship over climbing, running, faith, and general grad school battles. I married Justin earlier this year :)

How would you describe yourself as a child?

I was the stereotypical middle child. I enjoyed challenging my parents, and their rules. I loved any creative outlet, I was a quick-thinker and a master negotiator.


Do you think characteristics or temperament or interests as a child inform your passion(s) today? Definitely. I saw in my own life how easily is it for gifts such as creativity and quick-thinking to morph into something selfish and hurtful. As a child, I didn’t always use my “powers” for good. As a result of my own experience, I now love challenging youth to identify how their giftings may be used for positive or negative outcomes, so that they can make more informed choices about their actions.


What is a favorite memory as a child/adolescent?
During the summers, my sisters and I would spend days working on my grandparents' farm in
Pennsylvania. For anyone, but especially for a city kid, there is an incredibly rewarding feeling that follows putting in a full day of manual labor and seeing a literal harvest as a result.

What is a story you remember?
Because my sisters and I were homeschooled, my parents crafted their own academic calendar for our education. I remember being in middle school when I found out that the “other kids” had vacation all summer long. I can’t say I was delighted to learn how “extra” education had been “gifted” to me. ;)


Do you have a favorite or strong memory of school?
My parents created a lot of space for hands on learning in our educational experience. I remember being very interested in animal biology as a kid, especially bird embryology; I read every book I could find about birds, eggs, imprinting, etc. My mom bought me an incubator and found a few chicken and duck farmers, and then let me loose. I hatched chickens, bantam chickens (mini chickens), ducks, and miniature ducks over the course of numerous summers. Later, my mom encouraged me to share my excitement with younger kids in our homeschool group, so as a highschool student, I created a 10-week curriculum, and taught 3rd and 4th graders about the science of embryology and helped the class care for 24 incubating duck eggs. It was a blast.


Who else in life has influenced you?
My two grandmas and my great grandma. During time spent together in the U.S. and in Africa, these women have done a beautiful job of modeling the value of family and of hard work. They are incredible, strong, and inspiring women. I’m thankful to be part of their legacy.


What do you think we can do to encourage and support equity personally and professionally?
Refuse to become lazy in our thoughts and speech. If you encounter something that feels even a tiny bit “off,” process it fully. Write it down. Talk about it with someone you trust. Use the most precise language you can. Brainstorm and try to make connections to identify the root of the unfairness that you sensed. It is easy to let things slide, but if you consistently challenge those comments or actions (either your own, or observed), you gain in two ways:
  1. You sharpen your ability to sense inequities, even those subtle issues that we may have accepted as “normal.”
  2. You learn how to better communicate your feelings about situations, and you learn to find common ground in these exchanges with others, so that conversations can be fruitful.

Does race and ethnicity matter to you? Why? What challenges you and/or others?
This is a newer passion of mine. Every part of a person’s identity matters.


On an individual-level, it is simply unjust that one may become unsafe, uncared for, or unacknowledged because the piece of their identity that is a minority, is perceived more strongly than the whole of EVERY piece of their identity, the sum of which makes them human.


On a societal-level, when a piece of a person’s identity is ignored or discriminated against, society becomes more and more homogeneous, and as a result, we all lose out. Without differences, we can not learn from each other, and that makes social growth very difficult. A society with no room for the “other” will have an increasingly normative voice and with no alternate voice to offer challenge, it will become increasingly easy to make mistakes.


In what ways do you believe a community can foster equity and acceptance?
I think a big step is to refuse to ignore problems. As uncomfortable as it is, we have to acknowledge and diagnose problems before can make steps toward improvement.


Advice regarding personal conversations about race and equity issues?
Listen first. Be humble and teachable. Be ready to forgive -- race and equity are hard issues and we are guaranteed to misstep as we try to understand each other. Remember that if someone explains their feelings to you, those perceptions are real and ought to be treated as such, even if you (and many others) may see the world differently.

Which aspects of your job do you enjoy? Feel challenged by?
I am trained as an infectious disease epidemiologist, but currently working as data analyst in health informatics. My job offers me the opportunity to keep learning new statistical and data management tools, which is really great. I have the chance to work on many different types of data and I am becoming much more versatile as an analyst.

I feel most challenged by being so far removed from the public health impact. I use data to describe problems, but in my current position  I am not able to design interventions to address these problems. I challenge myself to find productive ways to redirect my skills in this new setting.


What lessons has your work life taught you?
Create space for your passions and skills, they will open doors for you to have broader impact.


What did you imagine you'd be doing today?
Chasing infectious disease outbreaks around the world and making a huge public health impact.


What is/are your passion(s)?
Connecting with people and building relationships.


What makes you stop and go “Wow!”
New babies. It’s incredible that such a tiny tiny package can hold so much potential. WOW.


Short term goal related to your passions?
One of my goals for this year is to become the strongest I’ve ever been, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
High point in Life:
THIS season. I've FINALLY developed enough self-confidence to be unapologetically me, and appreciate differences without needing to make comparisons.


Turning point in Life:
Finishing graduate school. I am now convinced that I can be disciplined enough to achieve big, hard things.


What are 15 things that make you uniquely YOU?
  1. I love to read parenting blogs. I have no children, but I can’t get enough of discussion surrounding attitudes, boundaries, trust, growth, etc – I try to apply what I learn to myself.  
  2. For the life of me, I can’t keep the letters ‘v’ and ‘f’ straight; I confuse the two in both written and spoken English.
  3. I love pasta.
  4. One day, I’d like to become an expert in something.
  5. Fall of 2014 is missing from my memory due to a concussion.
  6. I do not enjoy board games.
  7. Relationship building is one of my favorite things to ponder.
  8. I am not particularly brave, but I love trying new things.
  9. My identity is tied closely to my interracial, intercultural roots.
  10. I love sowing into our future through children and youth.
  11. I have really big hair.
  12. Cardigans!
  13. Empathy is probably my strongest  personality trait
  14. I have goals to become more articulate, self-confident, and responsible.
  15. I like bright colors.


Favorite sayings/remarks?

“Tuko pamoja” It’s a Swahili saying that can’t quite be translated to English because it’s so cultural, but it means “we are together” and it captures the idea that we rely on each other, that coming together as a society is the only way to move forward. It is the opposite of individualism and it reminds us that we have responsibility to care for one another. “Tuko pamoja”


Significant advice someone gave to you?
“Try thinking about it” -- my dad
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*After reading Christine's interview a few times through, I think who she is comes down to Tuko pamoja. I love that Swahili saying.  Thank you so much Christine - I know more about you today than I did yesterday!  















Friday, January 15, 2016

What's Going On: Chris Eggert on Everydayness and Passion


One purpose of my multi-authored blog is to share in the power of personal narratives. I've known Chris Eggert for several years as a super strong rock climber, and I'm really psyched that he accepted my challenge to help build this archive of human experiences. For those wondering how others pursue their potential, you'll appreciate Chris' realistic expression of balancing his life with family, career, and passions.  It's one thing to know someone as a climber, but to know pieces of their history and everydayness, really adds depth to who they are as a person. I enjoyed interacting with Chris through these questions, and know him better today than I did the day before. Enjoy!

Just the Basics: where you're from, family, birthday, marriage, education?

I’m from Twin Cities mostly, after spending a couple years living on an Air Force base in California when I was little.  I’m the middle child of 3, and that’s supposed to mean something about my personality I’m sure.  I’m a Virgo which apparently also makes me  practical, modest, and quiet yet persuasive.  I married Cari whom I met at Loyola medical school  in Chicago.  Traveling, camping, canoeing, fishing, and hiking make us tick in sync.  We have 2 boys, ages 5 and 10 and moved to Madison about 8 years ago after carefully looking all over the country for places that had both good schools and great rock climbing nearby.  

How would you describe yourself as a child?  I questioned authority freely, but was able to toe the line for the most part.  I was also a bit of a slow thinker.   I was in soccer for several years as a kid before I started to wonder why I was in it.  I really never enjoyed it all that much.  I remember asking my mom if I really had to be in soccer again one summer.  I think she was surprised to hear me ask since she assumed I was in it because I enjoyed it. After that I became sort of stubborn and wanted to know WHY I had to do  things, it wasn’t good enough to just say that I needed to do them.  I suppose this attitude persists to today.  

Do you think characteristics or temperament or interests as a child inform your passion(s) today?  Definitely being outdoors as much as i was influenced my adult choices.  Additionally, a slow plodding pace through life eventually lead to discovering climbing as a pursuit that I really enjoy and have been doing for 13-14 years now, and recently rediscovering my love of cross country ski racing.  I skied on the XC ski team in high school but it’s a hard sport to dabble in if you race.  You’re either all in or you’re not doing it.  Now that I think about it, that’s part of my difficulty with all my passions.  I don’t like to do them half way, despite the necessary nature of compromise that permeates any personal pursuit when you are married with kids.  



What is a favorite memory as a child/adolescent? Any memory where I was outside.  I have vivid memories of hiking, skiing, and snowshoeing at our lake cabin.  Still feels like home when I get the scent of a pine forest.  My parents took us canoe camping in Canada every year growing up.  We weren’t allowed to bring a walkman or any other electronics.  Being unplugged for a couple weeks at a time nowadays is heaven.  I dropped my cell phone in a hot tub on vacation last year  - best vacation ever.  My kids are now calling that “going old school” on vacation - no electronic devices.  

What is a story you remember? When I was 18 or 19, I  ran out of money in the Sao Paulo bus station in Brazil.  I just miscalculated the amount of money I had.  Of course this was 25 years ago, long before cell phones and easy access to credit cards.  So, I did what I had seen others doing: I asked others for money to get where I was going.  It was an incredibly humbling experience.  It took a long time to get enough to get a ticket out of there.  You never know how others ended up at a point in their lives, so when you see someone asking for money or help that could be you next week.  I’ve been very lucky on this journey around the sun; I acknowledge that every day, and try to instill that thankfulness in my kids as well.  A funny ending to that story -- I was finally in line to buy a ticket with all my spare change, and I ended up right behind a guy I knew, who said “you should have just asked me for some money!”.  

Tell me about your education -- do you have a favorite or strong memory of school? Can you tell me about a teacher who influenced you?  Ralph Leischner was a professor in medical school that I really admired.  He taught our pathology course and also was one of my small group physician mentors.  He was perhaps the smartest and most humble teacher, while also being very sure of his convictions.  He nailed me on the head once by saying I was “respectfully irreverent”.  You could never walk away from meeting with him and not be awed and feel better than when you started.  I wanted to be like him and enjoy my job as much as he clearly did, and not lose sight of what motivated him to be a physician in the first place.   I miss him.  

Who else in life has influenced you?  Two coaches have really struck chords in my life.  First was my cross country ski coach in high school, John Strand.  He was able to connect differently to each person on the team, pick out what they needed to do to improve, and encourage them to get it done.  Not only that but he still does the Birkie every year - I hope I can do that at his age.  Ray Obermiller was my college swim coach.  He was an incredible man, able to walk the very fine line between coach, teacher, friend, and mentor to anyone who walked through the door.  I was not a very fast swimmer but that never seemed to matter to Obie.  He believed that I could be, and that was enough to improve.  The common thread was inclusiveness and belief that someone could achieve something that even they weren’t sure they could.  That’s powerful.  

What do you think we can do to encourage and support equity personally and professionally?  If by equity you mean treating everyone with respect and dignity, I think that starts young.  We ought to be teaching kids that everyone is the same despite how we look, where we came from, or where we happen to be at that moment.  When I was in about 4th or 5th grade, a friend of mine said to me “you had that black lady for a 1st grade teacher didn’t you?”  I had to stop and think about that before I could answer.  It had never crossed my mind that her skin color was different from mine, she was just my teacher.  Until you tell kids that someone is different, they just accept that person for who they are.  

In what ways does community influence you and your decisions personally and professionally?  I think of community as a woven tapestry, and each of us is a thread running through it.  But this tapestry is constantly changing as our life circumstances change.  I think we surround ourselves with people who share similar interests and goals, and as those change, our thread through the tapestry moves to touch different lives.  Sometimes I feel that I take more away from the tapestry than I give, and sometimes I feel that my thread is holding part of it together.  Every decision you make has some influence on someone else, and that in part should guide how you make your decision.  Who is your thread supporting?  Who is supporting you?  


In what ways did your family influence your own family values and traditions?  I think the best or most useful advice I got from my parents was that hard work pays off.  

What challenges do you experience as a parent?  I wasn’t convinced I would be a very good parent, but as it turns out it’s a lot more fun than it seems like it would be.  I struggle a little with the line between being a friend and a parent, as well as the usual battle of selfish pursuits versus parenting time.  Somehow we make it work, but some weeks I’m not sure how it will work until it’s over.  My parents definitely let me fail (a lot) to learn lessons the hard way.  This is something I know I will have to allow to happen, but I’m not looking forward to it.  

Questions your kids and wife have -- what do you think they’d want to know about you? I hope they see me as genuine, honest, and hard working.  As long as everyone tries their hardest the outcome doesn’t matter and I want my kids to understand that.  

How are your kid(s) like you? Or your wife?  I think our older child is more like my wife’s personality with my lack of a sense of danger or any type of fear, while our younger one questions every rule (like me) but has a very healthy fear of danger, or a sense of self preservation (more like my wife).  So they each inherited a bit of both of us, just kind of opposites.  It will be interesting to see how these characteristics evolve over time.  

Which aspects of your job do you enjoy? Feel challenged by?  I’m a physician - specifically I care for patients with kidney disease.  The people I take care of often came from very different backgrounds than me and or have very different values and perceptions of health.  My main challenge is how to communicate effectively to help change the things I can change, while attempting to carefully and empathetically manage the things I can’t change.  

What lessons has your work life taught you?  Every day upright and healthy is a gift.  

What did you imagine you'd be doing today?  I can’t imagine doing anything else.  I didn’t mean to blindly follow in my dad’s footsteps.  In fact I really tried to follow other career paths.  I just couldn’t get all that interested in anything else.  

What is/are your passion(s)?  When the snow is fast I feel like I am flying when I cross country ski.  A couple years ago I started competing in biathlon, which is cross country ski racing with sharpshooting stages mixed in.  It was something I always wanted to try and got hooked immediately.  My other personal passion is rock climbing.  I love the companionship, the places it takes me, and the fact that during a hard climb, absolutely nothing invades my thoughts.  It commands an intense focus that won’t be broken by anything else.  These pursuits are really perfect compliments to each other, seasonally.  I suppose I could climb ice as is the fashion around here, but that just sounds miserable.  

What makes you stop and go “Wow!”  A beautiful sunrise, seeing mountains again after a period of time without, and watching a bird of prey in flight.  I was skiing through the woods in northern Minnesota a couple weeks ago and a great grey owl swooped at me.  He then landed on a branch maybe 10 feet from me and we had a staring contest, until I moved to get my phone to snap a photo.  “Wow”.  

Short term goal related to your passions (athletics, training, or hobby )?  Someday I’d like to break back into wave 1 in the Birkie.  It might be a couple years before that happens.  

How do you incorporate your family/kids into your passions?  I try not to push them.  I figure if they see how much I enjoy something, they will at least want to try it (and they do).  But the minute it becomes a chore or a forced activity they will want to stop.  So I let them decide.  

High point in Life:  Wedding, kid’s births.  A random weekday off with my wife.  

Turning point in Life:  Failing to get accepted to medical school the first time around.  I applied late and didn’t take it seriously.  Lesson learned.  

What scares you?  Global warming and Donald Trump.  

What are 20 things you are grateful for? My wife and kids (that’s three), cross country skis, rocks to climb, canoes, meteor showers, cadbury cream eggs, coffee, friends, V8 motors, my kidneys (that’s two), a job I don’t hate, clean tap water, flush toilets, a furnace and A/C, the capacity to heal, and the southwest.  

*I love this picture of Chris and his family - it captures the spirit of his life and loves!