This has been a fun week shooting video in some of the most beautiful areas in West Virginia. Seneca Rocks, Spruce Knob, fly-fishing on the North Fork, biking, paddling and tubing in Smoke Hole Canyon, and more. We are working with a video crew out of Oak Hill, WV called The Folkway.

This weekend is one of my favorite weekends of the year. Garret and I are playing in the West Virginia Golf Association Parent-Child Championship at Glade Springs.

One of my favorite, somewhat obscure, movies is Meet Joe Black. It stars Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt.

My cousin Greg and I were born three weeks apart in 1964. As kids, we spent a lot of time together in our small town of Williamstown. Greg is the son of my mother’s older brother Joe. Our grandparents lived in a little house on Henderson Avenue with a big grate in the center of the house that the heat rose up through in the winter time.

My favorite author is James Lee Burke. I think I have mentioned him in a past blog? My friend Tom Crooks introduced me to him a long time ago and I have read everything that he has written ever since.

Being a parent of an adult is far different than being a parent of a child.

As our children get older and take their own paths in life, the meaning of “family time” begins to change. When the kids are young and at home, family time is just something that happens and when they are teenagers, something that they have to endure. Time together is often taken for granted and not appreciated when it is happening.

I'm an old man now, I'm bound for glory

Time to lay these burdens down

Had enough of this old world of worry

Gonna trade my troubles for a crown

I have been trying for several weeks to figure out how to write an article about social media and still make it a positive article. I had thought about a lot but was not having any success until my wife and I had a conversation in the car on the way back from the dentist.

It was my pleasure to be a guest on The Biz Guy.

Urban Dictionary defines “Old School” as “anything that is from an earlier era and looked upon with high regard or respect. Can be used to refer to music, clothing, language, or anything really.” I was surprised when I read this because often when I hear the phrase it is in a negative connotation. I was certainly intrigued by the words “regard” and “respect” in the definition. I think old school is often seen as non-tech, not up with times, or simple.

My last blog marked 18 weeks in a row. I thought this might be a good time to reflect on what this journey has taught me after 4 months of writing. First and foremost, a big thank you to everyone that has read my ramblings.

Life lessons come along at different times and from different sources. One of the most valuable life lessons came from my wife early on in our marriage. I don’t recall the circumstances that led to the conversation, but I know I was frustrated and challenged by the way someone was treating me.

I have always been envious of people who have known what they wanted to do with their lives from an early age. They have a deep passion that drives them to a goal and purpose that set the tone for their entire life. Personally, I never really did know what I wanted to do. I knew what I didn’t want to do for sure, but not that one thing that I had no doubt about.

We often think that there is always time. Time to do something we have always wanted to do. Time to accomplish something we have dreamed about. Time to tell somebody something that we have always wanted to tell them. We can always do it later. So, we put things off. We miss opportunities. We continue along in our status quo. Waiting until tomorrow and then the next tomorrow and so on.

I have been in the marketing business for over 25 years. After that amount of time, sometimes you begin to wonder if what you are doing really makes any difference. Or are we just selling our time for services? Are we just a vendor to our clients?

I think we are often judged by the people we stand beside. Others make assumptions about us based upon the people we stand beside. The people we stand beside often open doors to new thinking or close doors to new ideas. The people you stand beside have a great influence on who we are and who we are able to be. Surrounding yourself with the right people is essential to being the best version of yourself.

The interesting thing about common sense these days is that it doesn’t seem to be so common anymore. I can’t remember a time when we people seemed so divided and incapable of considering other points of views or different perspectives.

If you think about it, our lives are a series of moments woven together to create the fabric of our lives. Our memory works this way. We recall certain moments from our past, while others fade completely away from our memories. Most moments in our lives are normal, mundane, and non-eventful. They make up our regular day-to-day life.

But then there are moments that change the course of our lives. Sometimes in a good way and often in a bad way.