Category: Five Minute Observation
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250 Years Later
They fought a war to escape a king who held too much power. Then they built a government almost afraid of itself. 250 years later, here’s what changed — and what they’d think of it now.
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The Quiet Ones
Some days the drive is forty-five minutes of small talk. Some days it’s forty-five minutes of nothing at all — and it took a lit cigarette and a quiet “thank you” to teach me the second one matters more.
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Mile Nine
Nobody claps for mile nine. That’s the whole point. A new essay on leadership, endurance, and those quiet decisions no one sees.
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Baseball. Hot dogs. Apple pie. And Chevrolet.
A jingle once meant everybody. No explanation needed. Did we lose that? Or forget? A Fourth of July essay on freedom, division, and showing up.
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Twenty-seven Times
Celebrating twenty-seven years while watching the corn pop up every summer. 2020 tried to take it all. Now it’s all growing back.
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Just Listen
She was done with the church. He didn’t fix it. He just stood in the produce aisle, listening.
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Two Ounces of Pride
Ten miles in, my legs gave out. A friend running past didn’t ask if I was okay — she just handed me what I needed. Two Ounces of Pride — a new story on Five Minute Observations.
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How’s the Water Today
A passenger confesses the three people he overlooked yesterday. An old goldfish story — and a daughter’s question — won’t let either of them off the hook.
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Wrong Call. Right Time.
A wrong number. A mother in crisis. Twenty minutes on a Tuesday that I almost let go to voicemail.
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Get To
I noticed I was living in have to when I could have been living in get to. Weird. Two little words. Everything changed.
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Take Care
A dead phone rang. A voice from the past — not because you’re ready, but because the number, for some reason, still works.
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Worth It
Rules. Alarms. White-knuckle willpower. That’s what we think discipline is. It’s not. The discipline that stays with you comes from somewhere else entirely.
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Running. Again.
After two years away, I laced up at 4:50 a.m. and ran 2.09 miles. Fourteen weeks stand between the City of Roses and me. Here’s what starting over actually looks like.
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Overheard at Brood & Barley
We weren’t trying to listen. But Gina and Shelly had no volume control — and Margie had no idea what was waiting for her at the next table.
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After “Weird Al”
Nobody fits. But we all belong. We’re all weird. And it’s totally okay. Five Minute Observations.
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What You Don’t Notice
You take a thousand left turns without thinking. Today might be a good day to think about one.
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Called, Not Qualified
Solomon built his Temple with the finest cedar in the world. God builds His with something even more remarkable — and you’re already in it.
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Name It
The average adult knows 20,000 words. But the one you learn today? What if that’s exactly the one someone in your life is waiting for?
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Still Excellent
Two weeks. One dismissal disguised as a compliment. Margot started writing and stopped refreshing her email. Then the phone rang.
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Hat Trick
Dale swears it’s true. Merv doesn’t buy it. Then Phil walks in, shaking, and orders a double.