I just don’t understand why the Vikings ever left. With scenery this majestic, why would anyone want to leave? Yet leave they did, across the globe to England, France, Russia, and even as far as North America. With about a million visitors a year, many from the new world, the flow has reversed. Picture Norway and the fjords of Eidfjord may come to mind. The landscape here sweeps up from the tranquil aquamarine waters of the fjord up the verdant green slopes of the cliffs to the craggy peaks, often above the treeline.

On July 24th, fresh off of a fantastic vacation in Norway, we were supposed to return home on United flight 71. Little did we know that we’d only be home almost 48 hours later, including over 5 hours on planes that never moved. If it weren’t for the incredible vacation we had just had with our twins, their first time out of the country, the whole thing might have been ruined.

Across the street I spy the largest butcher’s shop I’ve ever seen. It looks as if it takes an entire block’s ground floor with numerous counters stacked with meat. From the ceiling hang a multitude of cured meats, legs of several land animals, and a few fowl as well. For a town connected more to the water of the fjord, it’s strange to see so much meat in Stavanger. I make a mental note to revisit after my run.

I’m not one for hot takes. This is much more of a lukewarm take. Everyone seemingly has an opinion on the leaked memo a Google employee wrote and circulated within the company last week. The employee has since been fired, Google’s CEO has penned a memo to employees on it, and the former employee has filed a free speech lawsuit. Everyone seems to feel the need to argue about whether or not it is protected speech or not.

Can a cruise ship run out of rolls? Our one-year-old twins did their best to find out. We took our twin boys to Norway to celebrate their birthdays, their Scandinavian heritage, and to get them traveling. Travel has been such a huge part of my life as well as my wife’s that we wanted to cultivate the same passion in our boys from an early age. We chose a cruise to Norway because we thought it would be perfect for the boys and us.

The middle of June is a time for reflection and looking forward for me. Our twins’ birthday, Father’s Day, and my own birthday all come within two short weeks, leaving several days to not only look back at the past year, but think about what the next will bring as well. This year, with the boys’ first birthday and my second Father’s Day - the first was after three days of being a father last year - I looked back at what the first year of parenthood had brought me, and took some time to consider what I wanted to accomplish in the next year as a father.

It’s all too often we tell our young boys to “man up” or to “be a man” when things aren’t going their way. While this isn’t intended to be detrimental, statements like these can encourage inequality and a mindset that is less inclusive and equitable than intended. Instead of telling children to “man up”, fathers should demonstrate what being a real man means to their children. By a “real man”, I don’t mean the macho, chauvinistic definition that typically accompanies this phrase.

Boston is a city where history greets visitors on every corner. It’s a well preserved city where buildings that stood over founding fathers, massacres, and battles still stand today. Exploring the city on foot not only allows visitors to see the major sights, but also allows for becoming fully immersed in the history that surrounds as well. I recently visited Boston on a work trip and had a few chances to get out on foot, running the city from Cambridge to downtown and was struck by the way the water defines this city.

As I stand next to my best friend from high school, holding his wedding rings during the ceremony in which he is about to marry his soon-to-be wife, I completely understand why they have chosen Mackinac Island for their wedding. With the lapis-blue lake behind us, a lush green lawn with Adirondack chairs accented by colorful flowers to the side, and the Victorian charm of the Mission Point Resort in front, I instantly grasp how this small, car-free island at the tip of Michigan’s mitten captured their imagination and sense of fantasy.

How can 365 days fly by so fast, especially after the first 6 weeks took so long? It feels like no time has passed since I stood in the operating room in the hospital next to my wife and was quickly handed not one but two greenish, slimy, fragile looking potatoes with spindly limbs. It would take a few more hours for it to sink in that I was a father now.