I am a writer, photographer, and an advocate for building stronger, more resilient places. I live with my wife, Kate, our two daughters (ages ten and seventeen) in the Mid-Willamette Valley, about 45 miles south of Portland.

Some of the things that are most important to me and that I will write about here:

• Spiritual Life: Following a God who is simply wild about us (and all of God’s creation) is an invitation to adventure, enchantment, and deep purpose.

• Home Life: Being a husband and dad is the most rewarding, most challenging, and most interesting thing I get to do.

• Neighborhood Life: We are created for community. Yet there is so much about our culture—the pace of life, digital technology, what we’re taught to value, how we build our towns and cities, etc.—that pulls us apart from one another. Thus, I write and speak a lot about neighborliness, the land, and the built environment. (This is also my day job at Strong Towns.)

• Creative Life: I’m a professional writer and an amateur photographer. I’m fascinated by how people make things and make things happen.

Throw in a couple other topics I spend a lot of time thinking about—books and analog tools—and you have a pretty idiosyncratic mix of topics. Yet all these things somehow come together in me, and I’m hoping what I write will be useful (or at least interesting) for others.

An invitation

We live in a beautiful world. A beautiful, broken, amazing world. Let’s slow down enough together to experience the full, rich spectrum of all that world has to offer.

I want to make things that help people slow down and open our eyes to the beauty and wonder all around us. I sense you have similar hopes. We’re on similar journeys, so let’s go together. I invite you to subscribe to this newsletter.

Here I’ll be sharing original writing that hasn’t appeared anywhere else, usually on the themes described above (creativity, place, faith, and so on). I’ll also be sharing stories from home, sharing the occasional photograph, and recommending books (or podcasts or films or articles) I’ve recently loved.

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