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When I began this marathon on March 6th of ‘life at home’ I sensed Iwas in for the long haul. I had given my last Lyft ride and prepared my church for the ‘no touching hug fest’ that we tend to carry off each week. By the following Thursday I had called the staff and leadership team together to let them know I had decided ‘no gatherings at the church’ for the foreseeable future. After sharing with them the information I had been given by very credible sources, they unanimously agreed. “Do you think we will be back by Easter”?…

It has been two weeks since my last blog. There is a part of me that says “Mark, what could you possibly say or add to this cacophony of voices, memes, videos, posts, emails and news reports that has any importance”? I have set a goal of reaching out to every household at First Christian Church in Greeley every week. This experience has given me so much it feels like I am drinking out of a ‘fire hose of grace’. I want to share with you one story that has been circling between my heart and head.I was talking with…

My Dear Friends, Nine days ago my very wise kids Mateo and Amy as much as begged me to stop my Lyft driving for the foreseeable future. I admit I did not grasp the gravity of Covid-19  and its implications. I now do. This is real, and none of us can accurately predict how it will affect each and every one of us. Mary Kay and I are practicing social distancing.  I am hoping to write something each week.  Today I ask you all to take very good care of yourselves and trust scientists, physicians, especially epidemiologists. We will learn…

I grew up skiing. We started at at Broden’s San Isabel hill. It was a single hill with a rope tow. We had wooden skies, cable bindings, lace up boots. We were bundled up like Randy in “Christmas Story”. For those of you unfamiliar with a rope tow, you slide over to the rope, line your skis up in a groove, put the rope in your right hand in front of you, while letting rope glide through your hand and then the hard part comes. You take your left hand and grip the rope behind your back, squeeze hard and…

About three weeks ago I got a ping to go to a high rise senior living facility off of Speer Blvd.  The 80-something woman hopped in the back seat and asked me if I knew the street of her destination.  I said, “I sure do, I took you there from here, before Christmas.  You go every Tuesday to have dinner with your old neighbors who you lived next door to, in Park Hill”. “You have a great memory”. “Well, about some things.  Ask me where I left my car keys.  I spend my days herding my stuff”.  She laughed, “Well,…

My Wednesday day off began with lunch with a friend in West Arvada. I decided to do a little driving from the ‘Heaven Dragon’ parking lot afterwords. It took 10 seconds and I was picking up Jason to head out on a 41 mile trip to DIA. Not a word was spoken for the first half of the ride. I have learned that not every rider wants a conversation, and so it was dead silent for the first half of the way. Then from the back seat the questions began to rain. I soon learned that he had four kids…

Up until the recent great migration into Colorado, Denver was known as a ‘cow town’. Every January we host The Great Western Stock Show. We traditionally leave our Holiday lights up until the last cowboy hits the dirt in late January. Believe it or not, many of the folk who come to see bucking broncos or ‘Spin Dry’ the Brahma bull, actually prefer to take a Lyft to the Stockyards and leave their ‘big A-s’ truck parked far away. Well, the Stock Show makes me happy. I especially felt that way when I picked up a family of four at…

Let me first tell my readers that I took three weeks off from blogging.  Between the Holidays, writer’s block, and flying to California to play with family, I took a nice break.  This piece begins year 3 of my dive in to the blogosphere (autocorrect knows the word).  Over the past three weeks I have been doing some intermittent Lyfting.  There are probably 20 stories I could reflect on and share but one in particular stands out.  It was on December 31st and I got a ping to St. Joe’s hospital in central Denver.  As I pulled into the drive-in…

I begin my third year of Lyft driving from my location in the “Burbs of Arvada”. It is a very different experience starting at the far reaches of the NW area of our metroplex. I began over four years ago on this adventure from my perch at Wash Park. There, it usually took about 10 seconds to get a ping, as the population density and urban scene called for it. Friday is my Lyft day. Now I start by sitting in my driveway waiting sometimes 5-10 minutes. If nothing connects I usually move towards downtown. My first ride began at…

This past Monday, which is my “Lyft Day”, I pulled up for my first ride in a suburban cul-de-sac in Westminster. Out the front door walked a young man dressed in US Army fatigues. He hopped in the the front door, and we began an engaging conversation. He had recently completed basic training at Ft. Benning, Georgia. He was headed to his first deployment in Fairbanks, Alaska and he was home through Christmas. His job was to go to the Army recruitment center, and share with other young women and men about why he chose to enlist. “Why did you…