My digital evolution: eBooks and vFriends

Next month marks my 20 year anniversary as a professional computer programmer (that means I get paid to write code). And as such, it’s pretty much expected that I keep up with new trends in technology. It’s been interesting to watch things like the Internet, cell phones, facebook, and TiVo become such integral parts of our lives. But I’m not easily swayed to the newest, latest, or self-proclaimed greatest advances in technology, especially when they want to “fix” something that to me “isn’t broken.”

While it may not be surprising to anyone else, in fact some of you may be saying “finally, you old fogey,” I have digitally evolved in two surprising ways this year. I say surprising because one year ago I couldn’t have predicted how much these two things would change my behavior on a daily basis. The first is: I have purchased and read eBooks, and the second is: I have vFriends.

eBooks

I used to say things like “I can’t switch to digital books I’d miss the tactile feel, and the smell of paper.” Or “I don’t want to be chained to a device that requires a battery; I’m just fine with my simple printed book.” Another subconscious inhibitor was the reality that I had a hard time reconciling the price of eBooks vs. printed books. Because some of the production cost goes down with digital books I thought the price should too.

Ironic isn’t it? A computer programmer complaining about the price of soft copy while at the same time making a living producing nothing but soft copy. I should have known better. But it wasn’t until I listened to a couple of podcasts discussing the future of eBooks, including both the pros and the cons, that I recognized the similarities between producing eBooks and software development. Both take months if not years to produce a finished product. Both require many hands and eyes to design, implement, market and eventually deliver a quality product. I now recognize when I buy an eBook I’m paying for a lot more than just a copy of a word document.

I would still like to see some pricing adjustments on eBooks, like if I buy a paper book I get the eBook for free, or at least for a nominal fee like a dollar extra or something. But in order to keep the generally high standards we expect to see in published eBooks I am comfortable with the current price range on most eBooks today. But I digress.

Here’s how I took the eBook leap. I confess, I like gadgets. I’d been toying with the idea of buying a Kindle for a few months, but just couldn’t let myself pull the trigger. I was working on a project at work that gave me access to an iPad so I thought, before I buy a Kindle I should trying reading an eBook on the iPad. That way if I don’t like it I won’t have another useless gadget in my drawer – BTW, that drawer is quite full. I chose to use the Kindle app on the iPad instead of iBooks so that if I decided to buy the Kindle, whatever books I acquired in the meantime, I’d have access to in the future. Plus I read many good reviews in favor the Kindle app.

At the time I made this decision I was reading John Brown’s “Servant of a Dark God” – I picked up a signed copy from him at LTUE this year. I thought I’d do a comparison read, some parts paper book, some parts eBook. So, I purchased the eBook version too – you’re welcome John. Well, once I started reading the eBook, I stopped reading the paper book. The eBook was so much more convenient.

A couple of things hit me right off the bat. I was reading SoaDG and came across the name Lumen. It sounded familiar but I couldn’t remember who he was. I pulled up the search box, typed in “Lumen” and instantly found every occurrence of that name. I touched the first one and found the place where John Brown first introduces Lumen – exactly what I was looking for.

The second big thing is that I love looking up words in the dictionary. In fact, one of my favorite apps is a dictionary app. Well, in the Kindle app, if you want to know the definition of a word all you have to do is touch it and the definition instantly pops up; you don't even have to type it in.

Ok, eBooks you have me hooked, on these two things alone.

A few other conveniences I really like:

Highlights – built-in, I don’t need a pencil sharpener, or even to remember to bring a pencil, if I have my book I have my highlighter. I can even see highlights from other readers.

Built in backlight (at least on the iPad) – I don’t need anything else that requires batteries too. I know the e-ink on the Kindle is popular for reading outside, but I read a lot more often inside in low light than I do outside.

Accessibility – I can read on my iPad, my iPod Touch, my PC or my iPhone. The Kindle app syncs my current reading position so I’m always up to date no matter what. It’s like having a book mark that can’t get lost.

Purchasing an eBook is almost instant – really good for the “I want it now” generation.

It’s easy to change the font size and text color – so my wife can read too (she needs glasses, but don’t tell her I said so).

I’m not predicting the end of paper. I still do like the smell of paper, it reminds of reading as a kid. But if there is an eBook version available that’s what I’m going to buy from now on.

vFriends

Let’s start with my definition of the term vFriend. A vFriend (virtual friend) is someone I feel attached to because of interactions that take place mostly online via blogs, twitter, podcasts etc. The attachment is mostly one sided, the vFriend doesn’t usually reciprocate directly to me; I’m simply one of many followers to them. I may or may not have met them in person – mostly not.

Now, before this starts to sound too creepy I want to clarify that vFriends are good. I’m perfectly comfortable with our relationships in this fashion. I have received advice and encouragement this way. Sometimes I agree with my vFriends and sometimes I disagree, but I always gain something – otherwise I wouldn't go back to listen or read more.

I know blogs have been around for many years, over the years I’ve read several that I enjoyed. But I had a hard time keeping up. It was work to keep checking for new updates. Before anyone points out the many numerous tools that could have solved this problem for me I need to say that for some reason none of them were convenient enough to get me to use them. Then came RockMelt.

RockMelt is a browser built on top of Google Chrome that incorporates facebook and other social feeds right into the frame of the browser – super easy access. I first heard about it on NPR. To be honest my first impression was do we really need another browser? But RockMelt has succeeded where other tools have failed me. I added all my vFriends’ blogs to the right side of RockMelt. So now, when I launch RockMelt to surf the net, all of my vFriends with new posts show a number next to them, notifying me they have something new for me. And when I click on that notification I see a quick list summary of the new post, and all the older posts show in a greyed-out “I already saw that” background color. Adding vFriends to my RockMelt frame is as simple as navigating to the blog. If there is any type of RSS feed there RockMelt will find it and ask me if I want to add that feed to my list – incredibly simple and totally nonintrusive. If I want it it’s there, otherwise I surf the net as usual. One more cool thing about RockMelt is that my notifications, bookmarks, and vFriend information follow me no matter where I access RockMelt from: desktop computer, laptop, or even the new mobile RockMelt app gives me access to the same stuff – so I don’t’ have to remember any that stuff myself.

Another form of vFriends I have to mention is podcasts. I’ve been using my iPad to listen to Writing Excuses and The Appendix podcasts. It’s so easy to download them from iTunes and listen whenever I have the time. Once again I know I’m late to this game, but for those of you who haven’t found them you should go check out all of the many podcasts that are available, and are mostly free. I’ve learned a lot by just listening to them a few times a week on my drive home from work.

The last type I want to talk about is my vFriends on Twitter. I joined Twitter quite a while ago, in my attempt to “keep up” with technology. But since I started writing and trying to learn as much as I can I’ve realized the incredible wealth of information available via Twitter. The idea of a micro-blog (140 characters or less) is brilliant; it loosens the fetters that prevent most people, myself included, from general blogging. There is so much going on out there, so many hash tags to follow; if you’re in need of almost any kind of info you can probably find someone to answer it on Twitter, if it’s not already out there. On Twitter I get a chance to follow interesting people, who are sharing mostly useful tidbits about what they are doing. As someone who is trying to learn about writing and the publishing industry this is incredibly helpful.

There you have it, my latest digital evolution progress. I’m sure I’ll digitally evolve even more in the future. I’m always looking for new ways to be more efficient. But I prefer simple tools so I can focus on what’s most important – the content not the tool. In summary here are my top 5 most useful, and most used, tools I started using in the past year.

iPad (podcasts, eBooks)

Kindle reader app

Rockmelt (blogs, facebook, twitter and the net on my desktops, laptops, and mobile devices)

Twitter (I joined more than a year ago, but I’m using it differently lately)

Wireless mouse (I finally shelled out the money for one – did I mention I’m cheap and that I’ve been using freebie mice for a long time. Anyway I got a new wireless mouse for my Netbook and I love it, I can’t believe I waited this long to get one. I use Netbook to write, and my iPad for almost everything else Internet related.)

Where are you at in your digital evolution?

#amwriting

I started writing. Finally! It feels so good to say that. I found several sources that helped me along the way and I want to share.

Last year I took a writing class through my local adult education program. Annette Lyon, the instructor, was excellent. She taught the basics of writing. But she taught more than just foundational skills; she gave sound advice from her own personal experiences on being published. And she gave us encouragement and the confidence to give it a go.

I made the decision to write young adult (YA) fantasy – the biggest reason is my kids. We started reading some of their books together and I was hooked. I still read adult science fiction and fantasy, but I’m continually drawn back to YA.

At “Life, the Universe, and Everything” (LTUE), a local writing symposium, I attended a session where a publisher said she was looking for novels with multi-cultural characters or main characters from different cultures. That sounded interesting to me so I started researching. My main POV character is a First Nation Cree (Native American) from Canada. And I have several other characters from around the globe including: Tanzania, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Denmark, England, and the US.

Once I found my characters and developed a little of their personal history I was so excited to start the novel. I officially started writing the first draft last year in June. Finding time to write was hard, but the more I wrote the easier it was, and the more excited I was. Even so, my output wasn’t great. I had maybe 10K words by the end of October. Then came National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) – what a great thing. I know the pure goal of NaNoWriMo is to write an entire novel in a single month, but I twisted it a little to meet my own needs. I just wanted make progress on my novel. The great part about NaNoWriMo is the constant reminder to write something, anything. The inspirational messages focusing on quantity over quality were exactly what I needed at the time. I finished the month of November having written an additional 18K words. That is far short of the 50K goal, but for me, producing almost two times my starting word count in a single month was a significant step forward. At the same time it was kind of grueling. So, since then I’ve tried to maintain a more moderate pace. But, without the constant reminders – and encouragement – my production hasn’t been as consistent as I had hoped. My current word count is around 38K, which overall I’m happy about. But I am disappointed I was stuck on one particular scene for a few weeks – I should have written more.

This past weekend, though, was rejuvenating. I received a jumpstart. I literally feel like someone attached jumper cables to my attitude and said here you go, have some of my energy. The source of that energy was another writing seminar, “So You Want to Write a Book,” conducted by Luann Staheli. I heard about it on twitter from Annette Lyon. I saw Luann at LTUE on a couple of the panels. But meeting her in this class was so much more personal. The seminar participants included me and one other aspiring writer – so pretty much one on one instruction. Luann covered a wide range of topics from genre definitions to plot structure. Along the way she told encouraging stories from her own life and from the lives of other writers—she knows a lot of writers. She made me absolutely jealous listening to stories about her own writing group.

While the instructional part of the class was great, my biggest takeaway was Luann’s encouragement. There were several opportunities during the class where Luann asked about my current project, and used my answers in examples of how to do something – like generate a plot. Each of us took time to outline our plot starting with the initial incident and ending with the resolution. I struggled at first, this is an area where I needed some help. By the end I had some new ideas and some needed focus that I’m confident will make my novel better.

I have to confess something at this point. When I say I struggled when we worked on our plot outlines here’s what I really meant. I’ve never felt so fragile in my life than when I was trying to express my ideas in that class. It’s not that I didn’t have something to say. I’ve been thinking about it, working on it, and discussing it with my family, and even a few select friends, for over a year now. But sharing it with someone new, the entire class no less, was, and still is, a scary experience for me. Look, I consider myself a fairly confident person. I’m a computer programmer with 20 years of experience, 19 in my current job. I’ve played sports, coached my kids in sports, plus planned and carried out activities with scouts including winter camping for so many years I stopped counting. But sharing my story ideas, and as an extension of that, writing something that other people will hopefully read, is scary. This is tough to admit. I know as a male I’m supposed to bottle up my feelings rather than share them this way, especially in such a way as to emasculate myself in public. I blame this uncharacteristic expression on the fact that I recently watched “You’ve got mail.” We actually talked about “You’ve got mail” in Luann’s class, then that night it was on TV. I even stayed up late to watch the ending. Ok, I feel better now. Hey, maybe the fact that writing is scary to me is why I want to do it so bad – I have to prove to myself I can do it. I think I just had a psychological breakthrough.

Ok, getting back to my jumpstart. Another insightful thing Luann asked us to do was to write our top ten list of things we’d do if we had no obstacles stopping us. That was illuminating. The thing I learned was I can do all of them now. But like most things in life, it will take effort and a plan to balance those things in with the rest of my “busy” life. One of the things I want to do is to blog more consistently – this blog is my first attempt to make good on that one.

And now I’m almost as excited to write as I was when I started last summer.

To sum things up what I've learned about writing over the past year is to never give up, write about what you are passionate about, and surround yourself with encouragement – especially people who will encourage you. If you feel scared reach out and connect with others who are in the same situation – there are a lot of us. Annette and Luann are awesome at that – but I bet that wherever you are you can find people like them who are passionate about writing and willing to share.

My goal is to finish the novel I’m working on as soon as I can – I’m shooting for 90K words – then see what happens. I want to blog at least once a month; in order to practice writing, and to give me small writing breaks from the “big” novel. And I’m hoping to find a writing group; I feel like that will help me make more consistent progress, and that it will help increase the quality of my work.

I have to try.

Starting to Write

I’ve had false starts before, many of them. So…, why now, why this time?

Reading as a kid
I’ve loved reading for as long as I can remember. More often than not, when other kids were playing outside, I was reading. Some of my most vivid childhood memories are of browsing through libraries or riding my bike down to Main Street in Logan, Utah to visit the Book Table bookstore – I could always find something I wanted there. Book orders were an exciting time at school, at least for me – I’m sure my mother secretly wished the school would stop handing them out. Adding to my collection of books and organizing it was almost as fun as reading. I read all kinds of books but my favorites were mysteries; Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, the Hardy Boys, Agatha Christie, and The Westing Game are some of the most memorable. Finding clues and solving cases was endless fun.

My reading lean years
I never made a conscious decision to stop reading. I can’t put my finger on the exact point when it happened; maybe there wasn’t just one point. Cars, girls, sports, jobs, movies and TV began to occupy my former reading time. Compounding that, going to college, starting a family, and embarking on a career as a computer engineer dominated my time. Spending significant portions of my day in front of a computer monitor or reading about computer science the last thing I wanted to do in my spare time was read. I started fly fishing to escape – but that’s a whole other story.

Back in the saddle
I credit movies for reviving my reading appetite. I fell hook, line, and sinker for the advanced previews of the Lord of the Rings – it seemed like nearly a year in advance on the first one. I bought the trilogy plus the Hobbit and devoured them before the movies debuted. The Chronicles of Narnia were next – I enjoyed all of them. My taste gravitated towards fantasy.

Reading these classics reawakened my childhood dream of writing a book. However, being away from reading for so long, I felt compelled to research a variety of authors in hopes of discovering my own story to tell. I started perusing recommendations on Amazon – I love Amazon by the way. I picked up titles from Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K Le Guin, G.R.R. Martin, Cornelia Funke, Christopher Paolini and Naomi Novik. During this time I read the Harry Potter series – who didn’t? Also, based on editor’s picks on Amazon, I read Stolen Child by Keith Donohue and the Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger – thoroughly enjoying each of them.

As my children grew older they started reading too. My fourth son introduced me to Fablehaven, the Ranger’s Apprentice, and Percy Jackson, all of them excellent and worth reading.

Ready to try writing
That brings us into the calendar year 2010. Now, I’m not saying I’ve read enough to be a writer – I’m not sure if I can ever do that --but I’ve read enough to know what I like. I’ve cherished those works that make me feel alive, that make me want to read more. I want to do that for someone else. My hope is that I can evoke an emotional connection with my readers – if I’m ever lucky enough to have some.

Nudges
I’ve received nudges along the way too. In January my wife signed me up for a writing class through the Spanish Fork city adult arts education program. It was an excellent class taught by Annette Lyon. Annette has published several books, she really knows her stuff. I gained confidence, not that I am a good writer, but that I can become a good writer. And the only way to become a good writer is to write.

Big nudge
My biggest nudge so far happened in February. I knew that writing would be hard work, and take a huge amount of effort. Given my status in life, I’d been wondering if writing was a worthwhile endeavor. So, one morning I happened to be reading from A Disciple’s Life (the biography of Neal A Maxwell) and Standing for Something by Gordon B. Hinckley. In A Disciple’s Life I read:

“Yes there would be problems ... yes there would be challenges ... yes there would be unevenness and disappointments ...

He knew all those things, yet ... he did not wait until everything was perfectly in order before acting... If one tried to solve in advance all the problems which might occur later, he might never start! The capacity to trust the Lord for continuous revelation as to what would later need to be done was clearly a part of the makeup of this very special man.” (A Disciple's Life page 467)

In Standing for Something I read:

“[God] allows ... disappointment to occur on the threshold of every human endeavor. It occurs when the boy who has been enchanted in the nursery by Stories from the Odyssey buckles down to really learning Greek. It occurs when lovers have got married and begin the real task of learning to live together. In every department of life it marks the transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing.” (Standing for Something page 134)

I refuse to believe that reading both of these passages on the same day was a mere coincidence. I’d been reading A Disciple’s Life off and on for several years. I’m not saying I’m destined for greatness, in fact, in all likelihood I’ll never be published. But the direction I should go right now seems crystal clear.

Hope + dream + work
I’ve had false starts before, many of them. So…, why now, why this time? I’m not sure I’ll ever be good. But I have dreams I hope I can turn into reality. I want to write a book. I know it will be hard work, but I’m eager to make the “transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing.” I have to try. And the first step is to start.

A New Bird

There are around 10,000 living species of birds in the world today, making them the most numerous vertebrates with legs. Translation: there are a lot of birds out there; there’s more fish, way more insects, but it’s safe to say that birds are pretty common. Learning to recognize birds by their individual characteristics, thus identifying a specific species, can feel like a 1 in 10,000 proposition, especially the first time you do it. But taking one bird at a time, not only is it easier than it sounds, it can be a rewarding exercise.

I've seen lots of birds around my house over the years. The American Robin, very familiar in the northwest especially where I live, is easily recognized by its dark gray back and brick-red breast. Last spring my family and I watched with rapt attention as pair of Robins built a nest, laid eggs, fed the hatchlings, and trained the young birds to fly. We even took some video footage as this lasted for several weeks. But most of the time, when trying to identify a bird, they don't cooperate that well.

Preparing to go to work one morning last December I heard a fairly loud bird call from outside the house. We're used to hearing Robin's sing around our house, they are almost as easy to recognize by their song as they are by sight. One thing I knew for sure at this point was the bird making this call definitely wasn't a Robin. Always interested in identifying a new bird, I stopped what I was doing in order to figure out if the sound was coming from the front or back of my house. Since the Robin's nest in the front has been vacant for many months, and I have some bird feeders in the back, my first impulse was to look in the back. As I headed that direction I heard the call again, this time more distant. I reversed direction and moved toward the front of the house. Knowing from past experience if I opened the front door the mostly likely thing that would occur is I'd witness a flurry of wings as any bird in the area made a hasty retreat from my yard, I stealthily positioned myself at the front window unsure of exactly where the bird would be.

From my point of view at the window I quickly scanned the front yard searching for the source of the call. My eyes were immediately drawn to motion around, of all places, the vacated Robin's nest. I saw a good sized bird, larger than a Robin, pecking at and around the nest. Its beak was long, resembling a Woodpecker's. My first thought was this bird is a Lewis's Woodpecker which is similar in size. It had a grayish head and a tan breast covered with black spots. I watched for a couple minutes trying to note in my mind as many characteristics as I could, relishing in how smart I was to quickly identify this bird I'd seen on a couple of occasions, albeit never very close to my house. The bird flew from the tree to our rain gutter, the only thing visible from the front window now was its tail, but it was a really good view of the tail – often a significant characteristic when identifying a bird. Then it hopped up on the roof of our porch. Totally gone from my view at the front window I ran upstairs to my son’s room hoping to get a closer look. From this new vantage point I saw it pecking at a patch of snow on the roof, breaking off tiny ice crystals into small enough pieces to consume. It was fascinating to watch. During this time I was able to catch front and side views well enough to validate my id -- at least I thought I did.

I don't remember what caused me to second guess myself but after watching it for a while I decided to grab my bird field guide and bask in the triumph of my identification from memory. I'm pretty good, I thought to myself. Casually perusing the Woodpecker section of the field guide it was obvious I'm not as good as I thought I was. While the Lewis's Woodpecker is about the same size the similarities to this bird ended there. I turned the page thinking, ok, it must be a Hairy Woodpecker, also a bird I've identified before. Strike two. My confidence started to waiver. I turned to the next page and continued my downward spiral; the Northern Flicker was the first text on the page. Having never even heard of the Northern Flicker before, I thought I was going to have to start over from scratch searching through the entire field guide – a tedious process to say the least. What I failed to notice is that the Northern Flicker is a member of the Woodpecker family. Nearing utter defeat, my eyes scanned the pictures locking onto the topmost bird on the page. To my surprise it had a grayish head -- with a red crown, which I hadn't noticed -- but it had a tan breast with black spots, the back and wings were brown with black bars (stripes) -- which I had noticed, kind of, more so after reading about them than before. According to the field guide the key distinguishing marks of a Northern Flicker is a black patch across the chest, just below the neck, and a conspicuous white rump while in flight.

Armed with this new information, 90% sure of myself now, I raced back upstairs to see if the bird was still on the porch roof. It was gone. However, I did see a slight bit of fluttering just past the edge of the roof, in the tree with the nest. I raced back downstairs to the front window and in what was now an unprecedented experience for me; the bird was once again rummaging around the nest. Its back was turned to me but as I patiently watched, hoping it wouldn't up and fly away, it hopped to the side of the nest oriented facing me. What a stroke of luck. Even better luck was, there in plain sight, too obvious to miss now, the bold black patch across its chest. Now I'm 100% sure this is a Northern Flicker.

The Northern Flicker is not new. What is new is something inside me, something the Northern Flicker has added to me, a spark of appreciation kindled for the seemingly common, yet deeply amazing, environment I get to live in every day. I become a new bird. The list of birds I’ve personally identified, my life list, is modest, especially compared with avid birders. Each time I add to my list however, is a very satisfying experience. It’s like making a new friend.

It's all about the boys ...

Imagine you're a boy or maybe you have a son who loves baseball. For a 3rd or 4th grader the baseball draft is filled with the greatest anticipation. It's a chance to show off your skills and be with your friends. Finding out which team you're on and who else is on your team is right up there too. As the season approaches you work hard to refine your game, attending practices and working out individually. Winning isn't the only thing but it's the goal you set for yourself and your team. As the season gets underway you learn to work together and support each other. You quickly learn that hard work and a little luck can really pay off. As the end of the season approaches you are once again filled with anticipation looking forward to the city tournament where 22 teams come together to duke it out -- only the best team left standing -- bragging rights to the winner as well the usual set of awards, among which is the coveted placement in the state tournament. You want to win it all but don't dare even to dream about it. Then you go to work. You look for small ways to make improvements. You fight for motivation against all odds -- then you play. Game by game you struggle, you fight, you give it your best, but more than anything else you never give up. Then the thing you hoped for, the unbelievable, happens. You knock off the best team in the tournament in the semi-finals and run away with the championship. Joy, elation, awe are just a few words to describe your feelings. You move from here to anticipation once again -- the state tournament. Surely your hard work and effort will be rewarded with the best seating of any of the city teams in the state tournament, that's only fair.

Now imagine if all your anticipation was in vain, your hopes dashed to pieces, the rug pulled out from under your feet because someone doing the scheduling didn't wait to reward the actual winners, they simply chose, before the city tournament was barely half over, who they thought would win, rewarding teams who ended up in 3rd and 7th places higher than teams who placed 1st and 2nd. Imagine how you would feel, or how you would feel telling your son that. A man of honor and integrity would stand by his words "It's all about the boys" and do what is right even if it's hard. But then I come back to reality and remember that, in the city where I live, the rec department gets the final say, no matter what. They're the ones who make all the rules but only enforce them when it's convenient or helps their own teams.

Way to go Giants, you did it, City League Tournament Champs! Who would have thought you could do it?

High Anxiety -- Climbing Angels Landing

The night before I read, one more time, from the Zion Canyon Trail Guide: "Angels Landing – Strenuous Long drop-offs and narrow trail. Not for anyone fearful of heights. Ends at summit high above Zion Canyon. Last 0.5 mi follows steep, narrow ridge; chains have been added."

The day of the hike I woke up with mixed emotions. I didn't sleep very well in anticipation of the day's activity. Half of me was excited for a challenge, to spend time with my sons accomplishing something that isn't easy. The other half was apprehensive. I worried I was plunging headlong into something I couldn't control, a strenuous hike I'd never done before. I looked for a way out without losing face – nothing presented itself.

The plan for the day had my family splitting up, only three of seven going on the hike. While the rest wanted to relax, hang around the hotel and go to the pool. We needed to meet back up as soon as possible so we could leave at 5:00pm for a special birthday dinner for my soon to be 16-year-old son.

My mixed emotions intensified when it took longer than we thought to travel from our hotel in St. George to the Zion Canyon Visitor Center, the better part of an hour. As the drive continued to drag on I started the mental calculations of how long it would take to do the hike and get back in time for our dinner plans. According to the trail guide the Angels Landing hike takes 4 hours round trip. We were bumping up against our dinner deadline.

A little background about me—I have chronic lateness syndrome. I've been known to totally mess up plans because I tend to get caught up in the moment, totally disregarding prior engagements.

Once again I offered to forgo the hike in order to guarantee we didn't disrupt the dinner plans. And once again I was shot down.

After being dropped off we scurried into the shuttle, right around noon. I had it in my mind that the 4 hours the trail guide estimated was for ordinary folks – those unlike the super me and my boys. But the fact that we started late, and had important dinner plans that could easily be messed up, started me off feeling behind.

We exited the shuttle at the Grotto and made a beeline for the trailhead across the street. I prepped my 2 sons, one 13-years-old and the other 18: "We need to hustle through the hike, no dilly dallying." As we progressed through the lower part of the trail my 13-year-old made excellent time. In fact, I worried he was going too fast and should pace himself. We stuck together, mainly because they were nice and waited for me when I lagged too far behind. The first set of switchbacks weren't much of a challenge, the trail was paved most of the way. By the time we made it to the base of the mountain the trail leveled out into a welcomed gentle rolling up and down stroll, for a few minutes. We made it through that section even quicker and came upon the second section of switchbacks. This was mostly in the shade and once again posed little challenge. Till we hit the spot I now understand is called "Walters Wiggles." What a cute name for what ended up being quite the opposite of cute. Looking up from the base of the wiggles this set of switchbacks were so tight and so many, I at first glance thought we were going to climb stairs carved into the stone. They weren't actually stairs but they might as well have been. The rapid zig-zags wore me out after the first few. I set my goal to go back and forth, one zig and one zag, once before stopping for a breather (rather than stopping at each switchback). This strategy had the added bonus that I could stop in the shade each time. I got into a rhythm, found a second wind and began taking 2 zig-zags before a break. As I plodded along through the 21 zig-zags I'd come upon my sons laughing and hiding in cracks pointing out how old I am. Something I'm only now able to look back on and smile at. Clearly the wiggles didn't have the same physical impact on my sons that they did on me. At the top of the wiggles the trail leveled off just before my physical strength gave out. We had a brief leisurely stroll through a comfy sandy-bottomed trail into Scout Lookout. It's at this point where you can catch a glimpse of what's to come before reaching the summit of Angels Landing. Pay attention here.

Up to this point on the hike there were many people going up and down, along with us. Each one that passed going down I wanted to ask: "Is it worth it?" and "How far are we?" But few if any spoke to us more than a brief greeting. I guess they were busy enjoying the solitary beauty of the surroundings, like we were.

The stroll through Scout Lookout was invigorating. Physically that was exactly what I needed. We passed many who were lounging about enjoying the view. But for us, we had a schedule to keep. From here to the top is a mere 0.5 miles, a piece of cake. We made it to the first set of chains. My first thought was alright, I can handle this, it's gonna be fun – let the challenge begin. That's because the first set of chains are pretty easy, on a hill with no narrow cliffs. I believe this is how they suck you in. Progressing through that first set I was confident, everything was good. We did have to wait for traffic – it was pretty much a single line for those going up and down. But that was always a welcomed respite.

Then the trail got steeper and narrower. I don't remember exactly where it happened but the fun, at least for me, stopped. My anxiety mounted with each step I took over the narrow rocks, shuffling along the edge of the sheer cliffs, which at this point rose roughly 150 feet. I thought to myself this would be so much easier mentally if I were alone, without my sons. It was my sons, especially the headstrong 13-year-old, who despite his so far athletic, acrobatic, prowess, I could envision slipping over the edge while I watched helpless unable to assist either them in any way. I briefly thought about how I would explain such an occurrence to my wife. As we continued through this set of chains, boulders, and narrow ledges I started to wonder how anyone could enjoy this? I stopped at each location that afforded a more comfortable, stable refuge and took a deep breath, pondering whether or not I really wanted to continue. Through this section I couldn't even look around and enjoy the beautiful scenery. The best I could muster was to focus on the next step immediately in front of me, completely ignoring the cliff edges to the left of me and the steep drop offs to the right. Trying with every ounce of effort I had not to worry about my sons, while at the same time praying that we'd all make it through this safely. I looked for hope from anyone descending. A "you're almost there," or "it's not so bad", or even "it's worth it once you get to the top" were not freely flowing, but I started petitioning people till I got the feedback I desperately needed. My nervous chatter distracted from the fears surrounding me providing minute amounts of calm, much funnier now, looking back. There were many times as I asked people that I hoped they'd say just a few more feet, just over that rock right there. One devastatingly said "you're almost there but you've still got some tough spots before you reach the top." I didn't need that. But it kind of riled me – maybe I did need that. It wasn't nearly as bad as they made it sound. Soon after that we rounded a corner with no more chains in sight. The trail leveled off for another 30 yards or so and that was it.

People were sitting down along the way enjoying this view. We walked till we reached a large group and we couldn't go any further. We made it! I looked down at my watch, our climbing time so far was 1:15, not too shabby. The view was enjoyable, but after a 15 minute rest, some jerky and water, and a few pictures, the schedule needed to be met. I still didn't really enjoy this part, my sons did though. They loved jumping from boulder to boulder, regardless of the proximity to the edge. My 13-year-old, much to my dismay, needed to accomplish every part on his own. Each offer of assistance from my older son was waived off.

My favorite part while descending through this upper section was giving encouragement to those going up, that same encouragement that I so much needed during my own ascent. As we passed through the last section of chains, back to Scout Lookout, I've never been so glad to be "back on the ground" in my life! From here down the sense of accomplishment settled in. I even let gravity coax me into a jog at times, accelerating my descent. Even with stopping a few times to take pictures we crossed the bridge that leads to the shuttle stop at the Grotto after a scant 2:35 total round trip time. I guess I am super, not-so-ordinary, after all.

Was Angels Landing an easy hike? Heck no! Was it terribly difficult? No. But the combination of physical and mental challenges, enhanced by traveling with someone you love, care about, and tend to worry about, make it stand out for me as an accomplishment not soon forgotten. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.

The life lesson I take away is this: Sometimes life feels perilous, with ultimate doom surrounding us and our loved ones. Worrying about it doesn't help us make any progress, in fact worrying stifles progress. The best thing to do is focus on the very next step required as an individual, hoping and praying that our loved ones will do the same.

A second life lesson is this: once you've overcome a challenge a small, simple word of encouragement to others in a similar challenge of their own, can mean the difference between their success or failure.