Less is More/ Life at Top Knot

Oh how happy my soul is when I get to spend weekends at Top Knot. Wonderful weather this weekend. Took on the challenge of the steps for the back door. Small projects seem to become larger challenges. I’m not in the same shape I was when I built the cabin a couple years ago. Hell, I’m not in the same shape I was this morning before I took on the steps!! But, 500 pounds of quickcrete later, there they are  it’ll take a while for the concrete to really set. I mixed the first few bags a little runny to help it settle into all the crevices and stuff. But it worked! Mission accomplished. It’ll take awhile to really set up, but it’ll be a game changer when it does.  Each little item I get checked off makes me love this place all the more. Cooked pizza for lunch in the fire pit. $2 frozen thin crust pizza cooks up mighty fine in there. Next up, drain lines on the sinks so we can start washing dishes and selves up here. It’s a full list of to dos this summer and I’m eager for each one...

​So the bracket is completely shredded. My pick to win it all is still alive, but I have my doubts. So many great games and individual performances. I absolutely love getting games wrong. That’s the fun of the tourney.  It reminds me of life in a way. If you looked at the bracket for my life I put together back when I was 18, it looks nothing like today. From a tournament standpoint, I’ve made the Sweet 16 of my life. My tournament is past the halfway point. Some losses. Some upsets. Some last second heartbreakers. A lot of missed shots, but that’s because I have taken shots. Sure there are some regrets in there. Some out of bounds plays I’d love to be able to do over. Moments when I really needed a time out, but played on. Some pains. Some injuries. All of it has me where I am….right where I need to be. So the bracket looks nothing like it did 40 years ago. But it looks exactly as it should. I am the happiest and most hopeful I have been. The victories greatly exceed the losses. ...

Each year, I have a few weeks of pure pleasure watching the NCAA basketball tournament and get to see the improbable happen. Teams that should not have a shot at winning, DO! Davids beat Goliaths and catch lightning in a bottle for 40 minutes of basketball. It seems like the last untainted parts of college sports, but that’s changing. NIL will croak it. BUT I will still enjoy it to the max.  I disconnect even more from society when the tourney is on. It starts the Friday before tourney selection. Watching conference championships and seeing who will fill my bracket before play starts and turns the bracket to trash. I’m always thrilled to have my bracket shredded because it means magic happened. And then there is Montana weather. All winter long was stress about how warm it was and how low the snowpack was. Somebody, somewhere told Mother Nature that Montana winter was over and Mother Nature said, “Hold my beer.” Almost 2 feet of snow at the cabin. Some parts of the Rocky Mountain F...

​It was a MUCH needed Top Knot weekend. Temperatures getting up near 50. Snow melting away. Birds out chirping and foraging for bugs and seeds. And peace…..SOOO much peace.  Spring is about renewal and the hint of what’s coming. Warmer weather, growth, meeting new challenges.  Already scheduled this year to go to New York, Philadelphia, Denver, and Washington DC. Expanding the menu of offerings through my consulting company, Focused Consulting. Doing a LOT of leadership and mental wellness trainings this year. Super stoked for that.  What’s on tap for Top Knot this year? Extending the roof a foot on the south side to best accommodate the rain catchment system. Finishing the front porch. Wiring the cabin. Upgrading the solar panels and taking all the new solar power storage for a full test drive. Shifting the stove to the north side of the cabin and getting new furniture for the “living room”. Finishing the plumbing, including the shower. Building stone steps into the back...

​It’s been a busy, high mileage, fabulous few weeks. I’ve been to Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Columbia Falls, Kalispell, Canada (Fernie, British Columbia is gorgeous), Seeley Lake, and all points in between. Did training in Helena that’s never been offered in Montana before and can 100% help save lives. Next week I’m off to Missoula to do more training. Loving the opportunity to do leadership trainings with people.  I am an educator at heart and helping people get their learning on makes me happy.  No tiktok. No Facebook. Dropped them at New Years. It worked for me. You do you. But I actually detoxed a couple weeks. Had to get past the jonesing about what was going on in the worlds of the world. I’ve had some people reach out to me through text or email or….believe it or not…they actually called and we spoke to each other. I seem to recall that direct communication used to be a thing.  I have way more “me time” to get things done I used to say I didn’t have time to do...

Road trip weekend. Throw 1,000 miles on your rig and you’ll be ama​zed at all you might see. It started by seeing a big rock hit the windshield barely 10 miles into the trip. Safelite and I are besties! But then, smack in the middle of February, traveling into Canada on roads that should be covered in ice and snow, Mother Nature said, “Hey! Thanks for coming out! Look at all I can do!” Lemme tell ya…she can do SO much! Bighorns…(note the Ram logo on my currently being repaired windshield matching up!) mountain goats, elk, bald and golden eagles that were quicker than the camera, “The World’s Largest Truck”, and incredible scenery in all directions. Rivers and creeks that should be frozen were flowing. Yummy nummins were had. 80’s tunes cranked.  The batteries feeling fully recharged after a big work week last week and more on the way.  I’m incredibly fortunate. I know it. I don’t take it for granted. It’s a great big beautiful world and I intend to see as much of it as o can b...