I had gone back to my hometown to work hard and try to find myself again, which turned out to be more of a beginning than end.

On a whim I opened a place for people to eat, and realized that it was I, I still needed to meet.

“Look how happy you make people,” this was said to I, and then came that thought from the sky.

I’ve spent my whole life seeking fortune and fame, but not enough of either came.

Because there never is enough.

Why not just spend your time feeding people and making them happy?

So my penitence and personal protest transformed to purpose, and the I that had gone missing began to surface.

And in my quest to do things right, the employees and landlord did not delight.

The place where I cooked was both loved and hated, people who had not met me said I was not so nice, in the mirror it is they who should look twice.

I thought small town America might be different, so in my free time I drove around, in hope of finding some gentler ground.

In the town of Winfield there was an inn known as Iron Gate, which I took over in a twist of fate.

And I did come to town to truly do good, but like in the big city this was not understood.

The values of small town America are not the values of old, like the big city it’s about the gold.

Are there nice folks, absolutely there are, but they prefer to cheer from afar.

Guthrie Oklahoma, I don’t know how I came there, but again I cooked with great care.

And yes, against the odds money did come my way, but will I cook there again, I really can’t say.

My writing? This year I tried out a new voice, the voice of a repentant sinner, a man struggling to find genuine good in the world and in himself, the kind of book I would want on my shelf.

I’ve promised another novel to pen, but in my mind there’s a beginning, middle, and no end.

So I will continue to cook the good food, and wonder how it all shall conclude. Las Vegas, Seattle, LA, New York, friends, maybe even love, or perhaps all of the above.

My friends, the truth we all know, it is not the destination, but the way that we go…