Security codes aren’t new, but I’ve had my fill of them in recent weeks. Their prevalence in the workplace has grown exponentially in the past few decades, a fact I felt acutely during my recent job transition. Coming up with new passwords for everything from logging onto my computer to setting up my medical insurance … Continue reading Unlocking the vacation code
Among my many sayings our boys have begun to catalog is this simple proverb: “The anticipation of a thing is often better than the thing itself.” I know, deep, right? I did not originate this proverb nor was I the first to discover the psychological condition from whence it emerges. But for many years, I … Continue reading Vacation anticipation
My social media feeds this summer have been filled with friends and acquaintances taking amazing trips to beautiful and sometimes exotic locations, inspiring both envy and anticipation of my own family beach trip. Rather than resent these posts, I find them interesting. Honestly, my first reaction is “good for them!” But this week when our … Continue reading Vacation performance
I’ve kicked around Georgia now for more than 21 years, almost half my life. In all that time, I had only been to Savannah twice. The third time was definitely a charm last weekend as Carla and I were able to parlay a work event Friday night into an excuse to leave the boys with … Continue reading A trip to Georgia’s oldest city to feel new again
What you pack for vacation says a lot about you. Vacation is that time of year when you are released from the bonds of work long enough for your true personality to emerge. Maybe it’s the only time all year you have real choices about how to spend your time. Maybe it’s when you discover there … Continue reading Flip flops and running shoes
In less than an hour on Interstate 75 the week after Christmas and it becomes abundantly clear that the entire population of the Eastern and Midwestern United States along with a great portion of Canada is heading to Central Florida. The mass migration is led by the exodus of Atlantans, fleeing the onset of a … Continue reading Orlando beckons
For the last several years during my beach vacation I’ve been seeing people standing on surf boards with big paddles. Curious but too timid to tackle this sport on my own, I finally got a taste of stand-up paddle boarding (or SUP as it’s commonly known) this week during a work retreat at Chickamauga Lake in … Continue reading What’s up with SUP?
Sheets of rain lashed the balcony of our condo, soaking our nearly dry swimsuits and towels. Day six of our week-long family vacation was being washed out, not by a stray afternoon Florida thunderstorm, but by a day-long, soaking tropical rain. With the exception of a couple of forays to local restaurants, we had thus … Continue reading Asocial behavior
I’ve spent the better part of the last week in Fort Worth, Texas, working long hours, enduring incredible heat and spending time with my youngest brother and his family. The 8-day odyssey to the place of my birth felt more like two trips in one. The first four days I was engaged in the annual … Continue reading Playing catch up
As temperatures rose into the upper 80s, I packed the minivan for a three-night campout at Black Rock Mountain State Park just north of Clayton. With sweat running down my forehead and my patience waning, Carlton and Harris sat in their seats too eager to get underway to heed my repeated instructions to stay out … Continue reading In search of the moment
New South Essays 