Category: Uncategorized

I am going to use my time with you this week to talk about the Viet Nam war. I am not a vet. I graduated in 1967 from HS and got a student deferment. When the lottery came in 1970 my number was 350. I was supposed to be born on June 28–which would have given me 57. There were 64 Viet Nam deaths from Pueblo, County —I knew two of them. But first to this movie which I saw yesterday.One of the joys of my life has been welcoming into my life my step- daughters 38 years ago. Stephanie…

When your home becomes the gathering place for every kind of bird that either lives or flies by the Front Range, lessons in inclusivity come with it. You soon learn that the invitation to the aviary species that goes out “FREE FOOD AT THE PUMPHREYS’ ” does not discriminate. MK has become the “Daddy” Bruce Randolph of Whisper Creek. “Daddy” was known in Denver for creating one of the largest Thanksgiving Day food distributions in the nation. This year will be the 57th annual, with a total number of those fed to exceed 10,000.When we first began this bird feeding…

In 1933 two seventh grade girls formed a friendship that would last their life times. One girl was from Clarinda, Iowa and the other from Basingstoke, England. It was purely a random draw that brought the two girls together. They began writing to each other, at a time when it took a letter at least a month to cross the ocean and find its destination. They continued to write through high school and college. One of the girls went to the University of Nebraska and the other to the equivalent of a teacher’s college in England. When the war hit…

My dad, William Charles Pumphrey aka “Bill” was born August 27, 1922. He lived until he was 77. Many of us who knew and loved him wondered if he had not smoked for 58 years, how long he might have lived. Oh well, his words to me on the 50th anniversary of D-Day: “Mark, I have had a great life. The heros in WWII were the ones who did not get to come back. I came back to Colorado, met your mom, had four great kids, eight grandkids, loved my business, got to travel a lot and enjoyed my life”.…

I am certainly an extrovert, and that would be no surprise to those of you who know me. If it’s a gathering of folk I generally like to be there. I am most always up for meeting new people so sitting at a table of strangers lights me up. Today my “development” had its annual meeting. They bribed us with free food and bingo. We got the usual handouts of financial reports and projects as we came in to the meeting. I braced myself for the questions that come from the personalities that like to “pick the pepper out of…

One of my secret pleasures during this Covid mess: about once a month in a Starbucks drive through I pay for the person behind me. It is truly a random act, with the hidden agenda of trying, in a very small way, to redirect a tiny piece of the universe. Chaos theory says that a butterfly meandering through the Amazon can affect us. So, this is my shot at trying to affect change. I am always careful to zip away as they are picking up their order. I need no thank you. My joy comes in making up stories about…

For years I never gave the month of August much credit. What I remember is that it signaled the end of summer break and going back to school. About the best thing I do remember is that in Pueblo the end of August meant that the State Fair was running. I can still smell the corn dogs, the rabbit pavilion and the unmistakable accent of the announcer at the rodeo. Somewhere in the that last 30 years or so, I began to appreciate all the special joys of August. Yes, August brings the birthday of my step-daughter Faith, my Uncle…

Tomorrow July 31 will mark exactly 45 years of ordained ministry for me. This past month I went to a reunion where I was with people that have known me since 1967. More than once I had the sincere question posed to me, “Mark, I admit I never saw you as a minister. How did that happen”? I am never offended by the question, in fact I have wondered the same thing. My answer was usually something like this—“Well, neither did I. It was sort of an experiment that worked. I backed into ministry”. The one thing I was never…

“Camp Runamuck” was a sitcom that ran for one year in 1966. I was a senior in HS then but since I had spent about 20 weeks of my life in one camp or another I truly found it fun. Camp Runamuck was the boys camp and across the Runamuck River was the Camp Devine— yes the girls camp. Runamuck was run Commander Wivenhoe— who could not stand kids. This week with the help of my daughter Amy, son-in-law Christian and my Nephew Jed and his “gift from God” wife Allie, we pulled off a family vacation where the 10…

There are those movies you can watch every year and laugh at the right spots, even knowing exactly what is coming. The 1983 “Vacation” by National Lampoon is one of those movies. Little did I realize that three years after it’s release I would be moving to the heart of where much of the story takes place—the San Luis Valley. The “old Sonic Drive-In” in Alamosa’s stall #14, was the exact spot where Chevy Chase and his family had one of their classic scenes on their way to Wally World. If you remember this all takes place in their ‘pea-green’…