Orange groves. For as far as the eye can see.

On a recent drive through central Florida, the state's official fruit was on full display. This is Tropicana country after all, an industry that processes approximately 4 billion oranges annually. 

As a kid, orange juice was a frequent staple of my diet. After breakfast, we'd push back our chairs while gulping the remaining dregs of its sweet, pulpy flavor. My lips smack just thinking about it.

Tropicana, in business for nearly 80 years, will no doubt produce orange juice for generations to come. Long Live The ORANGE!

"Every glass of Tropicana is filled with a million sips of sunshine. Tropicana. Sip Your Sunshine." - Marketing Slogan

It has been estimated by the NOAA that the coastline of the United States comprises some 95,471 miles. Water abounds. But only within reach of a few of us.

Cresting Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica recently, my entire windshield was suddenly filled with a view of the Pacific Ocean. For the lion's share of my life, I have lived close enough to the edge of the land that this doesn't strike me as peculiar. But the abrupt disappearance of terra firma IS a jarring concept. Deep water is closer than we realize. 

Every day provides an opportunity to right the ship, to make better choices, to carve a new path. But this realization is rarely actualized because letting go of old patterns and comfortable environs keeps most of us safely on dry land. We search the horizon, but only with our eyes, even though the sea is so tantalizingly close.

What would it take, I wonder, to instead choose the waves?

"In order to find a new land, you must lose sight of the shore." - Sara Blakely

818.768.1802 X7

Or as we call it in Los Angeles, the "Poppy Hot Line."

Once in a blue moon, the parched ground of SoCal absorbs enough winter rain to create a burst of flowers come springtime. Scattered across the desert plains sprout purple lupine, yellow goldfields, brittlebush, and cream cups, creating a vibrant carpet of color.

But the star of the show is the Eschscholzia californica, otherwise known as the California poppy.

A designated information line has been created for the crazed fans of our luminary state flower. The recorded message is updated each Friday, charting the bloom patterns of the brilliant orange florets. 

If you've never punched in this nine-digit series, now's the time. "Spring Bling" is here!

"Poppies, poppies, poppies will put them to sleep." - The Wicked Witch of the West, The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Roadside attractions are my jam.

I never, EVER, go on a road trip without planning a side jaunt to see something quirky, creepy, or just plain weird. 

I've already seen many of the iconic attractions of the American roadways; Graceland (Memphis, TN), the Corn Palace (Mitchell, SD), Cadillac Ranch (Amarillo, TX), and the biggest ball of twine (Darwin, MN), as examples. That said, some of my favorites receive far less fanfare. The house made of paper comes to mind (Rockport, MA), and the 40-foot-tall file cabinet (Burlington, VT), and of course the largest bottle of ketchup (Collinsville, IL), just waiting for a Big Mac to come along.

Always on the prowl, a recent trip to California's central valley brought some new opportunities to explore. But which site would win my heart? The coffeepot water tower in Kingsbury? Or perhaps the root beer drive-in of Selma? Or maybe the milk bottling facility in Tulare?

But when all the votes were cast, a clear winner emerged. This trip's blue ribbon goes to the 7-story tree house in Traver. Talk about feeling like a kid again!

“And just like that, we were on our way to everywhere.” - Emery Lord

Mission San Juan Capistrano was founded in 1776, the seventh of 21 missions located across the state.

Considered the "Jewel of the California Missions," its red-tiled roof stood in stark contrast to the cobalt sky during the day I visited. I dawdled near the flower beds. I watched a monarch butterfly flit from stem to stem. I perched on a wooden bench to gaze at a line of bells and strolled through the courtyards.

While I was dazzled by the display of beauty, oh how my heart swelled once inside the candlelit chapel.

The soft chanting of monks wafted from the organ loft. Women knelt in prayer. The air hummed with a kind of energy I rarely experience outside of the pews.

Despite a sturdy faith, the chasm that separates me from the beyond can often feel like an exhaustive reach. But the spiritual monikers of my youth; tallow, hymns, and the worn pages of idle prayer books still provide me with solace and hope. Which is exactly what I found that day, waiting for me in the dark...

"I love when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church." - Khalil Gibran, author of The Prophet

The Los Angeles Central Library is hosting its centennial celebration in 2026!

In July of 1926, the main library located just off Pershing Square, was completed. The complex now includes two buildings; the historic Goodhue portion and a wing added in 1993 named after former LA major Tom Bradley. An architectural gem, the library showcases a wonderful collection tucked within the most stylish of scenery.

Over the course of the next twelve months, the library will roll out new exhibits, commemorative merchandise, gather items for a time capsule, and offer special edition library cards. Oh, and the card catalog is coming BACK, exciting news for those of us raised in the analog age.

Not to worry, you too can be part of the year-long celebration. The library is soliciting short videos from the public for their oral history project. If you have a memory or story about the central library, you can self-tape or attend an in-person recording.

But you'll have to get in line behind me!

“The only thing you absolutely have to know is the location of the library.” - Albert Einstein

3-28.

If you're from New England, this is a code you instantly recognize, seared into our collective memories on February 5, 2017.

With just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter of Super Bowl LI, the Patriots were trailing the Atlanta Falcons. My hometown team looked despondent. Slumped on my hotel bed in NYC, I felt much the same way.

But somehow, inexplicably, the Patriots mustered a comeback. Scoring 31 unanswered points, the Pats went on to win the game in overtime, securing their fifth title.

This Sunday my team will vie for their seventh Super Bowl victory. Long gone are the days of power couple Brady and Belichick. This new crop of guys has no storied legacy on which to rely. They will need to calm their nerves and play their hearts out if they are to overcome the talented and gritty Seahawks.

And I will be watching, this time, ironically, from a hotel room in ... Atlanta.

"If you're not gonna go all the way, why go at all?" — Joe Namath, quarterback of the New York Jets and Super Bowl III Champion (January 12, 1969)

November 12, 2025. The day the penny died.

After decades of debate, the production of pennies officially ceased last month. The cost-benefit analysis finally slayed the copper coin. At last reporting, the price of minting each one-cent piece had risen to 3.69 cents. The math just doesn't work anymore.

The original penny, first struck in 1792, featured a feminine figure representing the ideal of liberty. Our contemporary coin appeared in 1909, commemorating the 100th birthday of President Lincoln. His craggy profile was the first presidential face to grace a coin, and on the flip side, a rendering of the well-known Lincoln Memorial. 

As a kid, my Dad taught me to check each penny I got for the alternative wheat design. "Wheaties," as they are called, feature two stalks of grain on the coins' posterior, a design choice that pre-dates the completion of the famed monument in 1922. Continued production from 1909 to1958 means there are plenty of "wheaties" still in circulation. I have a jar full of them to prove it.

I mourn the demise of the penny. And the writer in me wonders if the words I associate with this staple of my youth will die as well. "A pretty penny." "Penny pincher." "Penny wise and pound foolish." And perhaps my favorite.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"If it's a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone, somewhere, is making a penny." - Steven Wright

Wordle. Phenomenon or fad?

I'm a fairly late arrival to the daily word puzzle that has captured the imaginations of lexophiles everywhere. But now, Wordle is as much a part of my morning routine as brushing my teeth.

First released in October 2021, Wordle's popularity skyrocketed after the New York Times acquired the game in January of 2022. In November of that same year, Tracy Bennett became the puzzle's first editor. She whittled the dictionary's 5-letter possibilities (13,000 in total) to roughly 2,000 prospects each year. And from that group, 365 answers are chosen.

Bennett initially selected her answers with an eye toward the date they were to appear. As an example, on November 11th the Wordle answer was "MEDAL," an homage to Veterans Day. This practice created some pushback from puzzle purists who felt the tactic was too schmaltzy for a highbrowed brainteaser. 

Not to me. I'll take all the help I can get!

"I just wanted a game that was just three minutes of your time a day, and that's it. That's all it wanted from you." - Josh Wardle, inventor of Wordle

The room where it happened.

In this case, that would be the main hall of the Riverside Convention Center, where after two days of deliberation and multiple ballots, the eighth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles was chosen.

In my nearly twenty years as an ordained minister, this was the first time I participated in electing a bishop. In some ways it is a byzantine process, shaped by multiple layers of rules and procedures. But interwoven with the systematic nuts and bolts was a palpable sense of the sacred.

Before and after each vote there were periods of silence, prayer, reflection, and the occasional hymn. There was no posturing. There was no combative debate. And when the selection was finally announced, the room was filled with a solemn silence. 

On that day the episcopate, certainly a position of power and privilege, became more lamb than lion, a reminder that to be chosen bishop is to be recognized as the lead pastor.

"Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge." - Simon Sinek

Chlorophyll. Sometimes less is more.

As you might remember from your elementary school science curriculum, chlorophyll is the magic sauce responsible for keeping green leaves green. But as cooler temperatures and shorter days prevail, this pigment begins to break down, changing foliage into shades of red, orange, and yellow.

The vibrant leaves of autumn bring flocks of tourists to my native New England. I too recently returned for a visit and experienced this colorful medley for myself. The kaleidoscope never gets old. 

Boston is known for many things ... Dunkin Donuts, crazed drivers, our gruff demeanor and, at times, an undecipherable dialect. But let's give credit where credit is due. When you're hunkered down with a bowl of clam chowder on a crisp November day, those gorgeous leaves still bring a smile.

Chlorophyll, see you in April.

"Autumn leaves don't fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar." - Delia Owens, author and zoologist