On Best-Laid Plans

Posted on November 28, 2025 by awtraughber

I had really hoped to be writing a blog post or two from Victoria, Canada (my mostly-regular Thanksgiving weekend haunt), but alas, even the best-laid plans fall apart.  In my case, it was a mechanical issue with the plane (still in Honolulu) that kept me grounded.  The airline people did their best to get me an early rebooking (instead of waiting a while day), but the connections were too tight for my comfort (especially with Customs at play).  So at about 2:00 Thursday morning, I made the decision to “call it” and stay on island for the long weekend.  Will I spend the rest of the weekend wondering if I should’ve just gone for two days instead of three?  Maybe.  But that third day keeps everything from being a rush.

So I’m trying to “bring over” some of my plans from the trip into my long weekend here (plus I’ve gotten to have some more traditional American Thanksgiving Day fare).  Yesterday was the new Knives Out movie.  Today is the haircut and catching Hamnet.  I’ll definitely miss the cool weather and the walking (along with the pub food).  But all this to say that the weekend won’t be a loss (financially, it will be a gain since I got refunds on both airfare and hotel).

There’s definitely some truth behind “wherever you go, there you are.”  But place and time are also important.  Maybe not vital, but important.   I’m glad for places to go, for sure.  And I hope to get back to Victoria sometime soon.

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Sunday’s Best: Sunday with Pizzazz

Posted on November 9, 2025 by awtraughber

Today’s a solid day in the Sunday funnies.  Calvin and Hobbes featured another “sigh” moment from Calvin that has some great visuals (and a good response from Calvin’s mom).

Technology played a fun role in both Peppermint Patty’s view of the future and in the approach to sports that Jason and Marcus take concerning sports over in FoxTrot.

And then there’s Frazz, with another entry in the eternal back-and-forth between Mrs. Olsen and Caulfield about getting work done, with today’s strip focusing mostly on the when.

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Sunday’s Best: What Dreams May Come?

Posted on November 2, 2025 by awtraughber

I recently finished A Pilgrimage into Letting Go by Andrew and Kara Root.  It’s an interesting gloss on Hartmut Rosa’s thinking about the (un)controllability of the world.  Today’s Sunday-sized Frazz has some nice overlap with Rosa’s thinking, too.

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Sunday’s Best: The Crust of the Matter

Posted on October 26, 2025 by awtraughber

Today’s Frazz comic by Jef Mallett leaves with something to think about.  Turns out the crust really does matter but it’s also something often taken for granted (and perhaps why it’s the one thing left to mess around with at pizza places).  Sturdy but not too doughy, easy to hold, just crisp enough.  On some level, everything else depends on it.  And that’s the crust of the matter.

On a similar note, I spent most of Friday evening updating the operating systems on my digital devices.  Not too tricky with the laptop, but always a questionable with when it involves a major upgrade to my very simple phone.  And wouldn’t you know it: I had to reboot with a factory reset and then connect with a recent back-up.  There was one touch-and-go moment where I thought I’d lost it, but in the end it was okay.

Operating systems are like pizza crust, really.  Everything depends on them: what your device can do, what can be done to your device.  It’s something easily taken for granted.  But it’s also something I’ve tried to keep up with for devices.  I’d like to think I keep up with similar things in the rest of life, but that can be a little more difficult to judge.

But the conversation between Frazz and Caulfield was spot-on.  Maybe the toppings don’t matter as much as long as the crust is what it needs to be.

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Sunday’s Best: Spice of the Season

Posted on October 19, 2025 by awtraughber

There’s a little bit of seasonal humor in the air in the Sunday funnies.  Today’s FoxTrot is all about the spice, pumpkin spice, that is.  It’s not something that I find particularly appealing, but it’s definitely become part of culture these last few years.

But it’s today’s classic Calvin and Hobbes that captures something fun, important, and true about autumn.  It’s also another visually beautiful comic.

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Maintenance Work

Posted on October 16, 2025 by awtraughber

Week two of fall break has felt significantly different than week one.  Week on was full of movies; week two has been full of board/dice games.  Week one was about wrapping up the first quarter; week two has been about setting up quarter two.  One thing both week have in common is the (mostly) planned maintenance work: car service, dermatologist, regular doctor visit with prerequisite blood work.  I guess this week feels a little heavier because of the last two.  My routine hasn’t quite gelled as much this week, either (maybe because of the Monday holiday?).  But no complaints.  The weeks have gone well.

This was my first time ever not going on the school’s fall-break England trip.  I knew on the last trip that it would likely be my last.  It hasn’t been as sad as I thought it might be, checking for updates and pictures from the trip over the last week.  And I’ve had my own bit of England and Scotland with me via the latest Rivers of London and Impossible Creatures books and The Hardacres and Lynley on BritBox.  I’ve also gotten glimpses of that part of the world via Andrew Root’s latest, A Pilgrimage into Letting Go (which he wrote with his wife).  The book follow’s their family’s pilgrimage to follow the trail of St. Cuthbert along the English/Scottish borderlands (including a quiet stop at Jedburgh, which I’ve visited a few times myself).  So out of sight but not out of mind, I suppose.

I do believe that I’ve become a big fan of “maintenance” work, I just wish I didn’t wait until my late 40s to really do it.  It’s a little bit like “scaffolding” a long-term assignment for students: layering things with regular check-ins instead of waiting until the very end to see what ultimately happens.  Life is more the latter than the former, I’m afraid.  So hopefully better late than never with the “maintenance word” of everyday life.

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Dark to Dawn

Posted on October 15, 2025 by awtraughber

Last week marked ten years since the release of Andrew Peterson’s The Burning Edge of Dawn.  It’s an album that has brought much encouragement to me over this last decade, the opening track in particular.  Here’s a version of “The Dark Before the Dawn” that I’ve likely shared before; it’s so good that it’s worth sharing again, I think.

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Sunday’s Best: The World When You’re In It

Posted on October 12, 2025 by awtraughber

Lots of fun in the Sunday funnies, but a classic Calvin and Hobbes takes the title.

FoxTrot has some fun seasonal humor, with Jason trying to use tree-and-property knowledge to his advantage.

Canines end up basking in a better light than people in today’s full-sized Frazz comic.

But it’s today’s classic Calvin and Hobbes that stands outs.  It’s the perfect blend of story and art, with a final panel that reminds you of how beautiful line drawings can be (especially when they are wonderfully covered).

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Just As I Am [October 6, 2025]

Posted on October 6, 2025 by awtraughber

And so fall break begins, not with a bang but with a . . . drizzle?  (And a not unwelcome one at that.)

Today marks the first full day of fall break, which isn’t totally accurate because an odd overlap almost always exists between the old quarter ending, the break, and the new quarter beginning.  So today and tomorrow are for closing out the grade book and later in the week will be for getting things in place for the second quarter of the school year.  And next week?  That’s for doctors and dermatologists and chiropractors.

The drizzle has been nice.  The morning started with a trip to the gym followed by breakfast and time at the state library.  Lunch was the messiest and best chicken salad sandwich around.  And I may have snuck in a quick nap after some time in the classroom.

One of my main goals, as always, is to get some reading done.  I’ve been taking way too long getting through the latest Rivers of London novel.  Waiting in the wings?  The second entry in the Impossible Creatures series.  And then there’s a new Wendell Berry novel that I’m going to try (which will be a miracle because I’ve not been able to read any of his other novels).  I’ve also got some theology books to work my way through.  I’m almost done with Fred Sanders’s Union with Christ and the Life of Faith.  And John Owen’s Communion with God (which I only know about because of Sanders’s book).  There’s one other book, a last-minute addition to the list, that I’ll get to later this week.  A week ago I didn’t know it existed, but it’s a perfect fit for this particular moment in time.

The quarter, by the way, was good, full (with some days being a bit too full).  Much like this space, my personal journal has quite a few large gaps, but that doesn’t mean reflection wasn’t happening.  I do think that some questions of meaning linger, are always just beneath the surface of things.  I’m definitely carrying that with me into break.

But for now the drizzle continues and there’s hope for a quiet night and a peaceful end to the day.  That’s a great way to start a break.

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Sunday’s Best: Sunday Fun-Day

Posted on September 28, 2025 by awtraughber

Quite the fun day in the Sunday comics today:

But it’s the annual Lucy-with-a-football day in Peanuts that sees Charlie Brown going for it yet again . . . and the banana isn’t even something for him to slip on.

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