Friday Donuts

Friends, I have a confession: I’m somewhat of a purist. As long as I can remember, I’ve thought anything worth doing must be done right. No half-measures –it’s often all or nothing for me. I wanted to explore the uncharted virgin jungles of Africa, not “settle” for ordinary Ecuadorian rain forests (although settle I did). Trek around the continent’s beaches, not just wade in the waves. As a child, when someone said my sister ‘broke’ her head, I imagined it cracked open, brains exposed, not the small cut she actually endured. I suppose that may be why despite living in Colorado for 20 years I had never hiked Mt. Evans. After all, hiking a fourteener should be more than a few hundred yard scamper up a well-worn trail. Right? Well, I finally did it... and it was awesome! I had not considered I would be driving the highest paved road in North America to the highest parking lot. Who knew there was an observatory and a blown-up building that in the 1930s was the highest man-made struct

Friends, The future is unwritten. Plans and prior commitments can give us a sense that impending events are set. Comforting for some. Unsettling for others. Our script for the days and months ahead is more of an if-then statement (better yet, if-perhaps ). Even if we follow the plan, outcomes are uncertain. Priorities shift, plans change, and commitments can be broken -and chance plays a role. You get to decide. Granted, deciding to break with the past can be a risky proposition, however you have the power to do it. Whatever your plans are for the weekend ahead, I see donuts in your future. A dozen Dunkin’ Donuts waiting to be consumed. Enjoy one as you decide. Happy Friday!

Friends, The world cup is upon us! The two teams I normally root for in the first round are out (Ecuador and USA) so I’ve been trying to find something to get excited about. I know, elite soccer should be enough of a motivator, however, not rooting for a team removes much of the thrill. Enter Iceland –a first time qualifier! With only 335 thousand inhabitants (and yes, I rounded up), it’s as if the city of Aurora, CO somehow formed a team and qualified for the tournament. The Vikings open against Argentina tomorrow at 7 AM and 1.5% of Iceland’s population will be at the stadium watching –proportionally, if we wanted to match that, 5 million Americans would have to travel to a game –we’d need a big-ass stadium. Although I would normally root for Argentina (and still might in other games), I’ll be cheering for the little country that could (drum, Viking war chant and all). Skol! In preparation, I brought some donuts (need to carbo load for the strenuous weekend celebration). If you’r

Friends, Most of life is predictable. We gauge each situation and set expectations accordingly. Unsurprisingly, things often go as planned. Sometimes, though, the pattern is broken and something unexpected happens. Surprise! This week, my whimsy trip to Ecuador was jam packed with fun activities –and a few unplanned turns and twists I’d like to share with you. 1.             While I had planned to attend my High School’s 80 year celebration, the camaraderie was well above expectations. I was also not expecting about half of my graduating class to attend (a couple of whom I had not seen since 1985). 2.            How much I would enjoy spending time with my dad, who graduated from the same high school, class of ’63. 3.            Finding a new horseback riding trail right next door to my dad’s ranch was a tad unexpected. Having a silver colored antimicotic inadvertently rubbed on my black jacket while holding my dad’s horse, total surprise! 4.            Although

Friends, In this world of virtual assistants, virtual server instances and virtual reality, why not a virtual donut -or three! If only 3D food printers were mainstream, I could share a donut with each of you. It’s coming sooner than you think, but not soon enough for today. So, pixels will have to do. Happy Friday!