Glenn Ferrell

Sitting One Out

Posted onDecember 30, 2013June 9, 2020Leave a comment

The annual orgy of consumerism has come and gone. Every year, Americans presumably give thanks for the blessings in their lives on Thanksgiving, then go out to actively participate in one of the weirdest displays of materialism the world has known, beginning on Black Friday and continuing right up until December 26. Every year, I’m more turned off by it all.

Don’t get me wrong, as I love a good deal! I’m a crazy bargain shopper myself—I kind of have to be. I even enjoy shopping, for the most part, and like Christmas shopping in general. I pore over the Christmas candy and decorations at every turn, just to see if anything new shows up … Read More ➤

Magical Mystery Tour

Posted onNovember 19, 2013December 24, 2016Leave a comment

Anyone who knows me knows that, despite my Southern upbringing, I’m not a religious person. I do have spiritual moments, though, typically about the beauty, magic, and mystery that life sometimes holds. Last month, I had the good fortune of enjoying a good dose of all.

We were down in Worcester, Massachusetts, to attend an intimate wedding of my good friends Carla and Deb. The wedding itself was rife with beauty and wonder, perhaps amplified in the absence of any ostentation or needless formality. The ceremony was everything a wedding should be: two people in love formalizing their commitment to each other in front of a few good friends. The minister was… Read More ➤

That’s “Mr. Huffnpuff” to you!

Posted onOctober 16, 2013December 24, 20164 Comments

Despite being surrounded by nature that often seems boundless, I haven’t been able to hike much since moving to Vermont. For most of the summer it rained every weekend, and weekday afternoon hikes aren’t so easy, since most trails here are pretty hardcore. As I’ve learned, so are Vermonters.

Every time I’ve gone for a hike, I’ve been shamed by at least one person nearly twice my age. At Hunger Mountain, a few women in their 70s darted past us up the steep trail. They climbed the mountain so quickly that they later passed us going down…while we were still trudging up! At least one of them was close to 80, bless her soul. That hike is about two miles each way, with a climb of over 2,000 feet. Vermonters are… Read More ➤

Breaking Comfort

Posted onSeptember 28, 20132 Comments

Leave it to a Google+ discussion about American candy imports in the UK to get me thinking about cultural comfort zones, branching out, and embracing the unfamiliar. It seems that his local Tesco now has an endcap dedicated to “quintessential” American imports like peanut butter Snickers, strawberry Fluff, PopTarts, and Butterfinger bars. The prices were quite ridiculous on some items and the selection was, well, strange. He couldn’t understand why such common and random items were imported at all, especially at those prices. I decided it must be because people like to seek out something familiar when in an unfamiliar place, and Americans make… Read More ➤

Life in a Northern Town

Posted onOctober 13, 2012Leave a comment

I’ve been in Vermont for just over two months now, and it feels like I’ve been here my whole life. It’s comfortable. It’s peaceful. It’s home.

What’s it like for the outsider though? First off, I’ve yet to meet a cranky person. People here are relaxed, friendly, and welcoming. Even the tourists here are happy and easygoing, a far cry from the chain-smoking screech-owls common at most tourist destinations I know.

What’s it like for me? Well, I walk the half-mile to work each day. I pass by a coffee shop, useful when I’m running late, and a supermarket or drug store if I need something on the way home. I can … Read More ➤

Recalculating Route

Posted onJuly 24, 2012Leave a comment

Most people think of me as fairly laid back and tolerant. For the most part, I am. But what they often don’t see is that I’ve spent my entire life fighting, and what appears as calm is more often mental exhaustion.

Over the years, I fought for love and affection. I fought for respect. I fought for opportunities that weren’t really meant for me. I fought for a better life than the one I knew in adolescence. I fought to stay afloat financially. I fought for truth, when people didn’t want to hear it. I fought for everything I have and everything I am. Nothing I have was handed to me.

Imagine running a mental marathon for 40 years. That’s what it’s been like, and I was exhausted. Need for escape from the fight had reached urgency.

Goodbye, Silly Old Broad.

Posted onJune 30, 2012August 18, 20202 Comments

If you’re lucky, you’ll have at least one friend who listens to your every story, joke, worry, and musing, no matter how boring or seemingly trivial. You’re even luckier if they take an interest in everything you do creatively and in your life in general, rooting you on when it seems everyone else is too busy or just doesn’t care enough to take the interest. I was just that lucky when I met a silly old broad from New Jersey. (She loved being called that, so it’s purely complimentary.)

I met Carleen in a car forum called Focus Fanatics—I had a Ford Focus, she didn’t. She had followed a friend of hers to the site after they met on another forum. She was just discovering the Internet and… Read More ➤

Limitless Hope

Posted onApril 11, 2012August 18, 20203 Comments

Every now and then a story is just so touching and sugary sweet that it gives you limitless hope for humanity.

You know the type: puppies/kittens/ducklings are saved from certain death by big burly firemen; an anonymous stranger buys an entire Christmas for a needy but humble family; a woman lives a meager life doing laundry for others, only to donate $150,000 to a local university for needy students. You just can’t help but appreciate that humanity can be good, even in the midst of madness or adversity.

The story of Caine’s Arcade is one such story. On the surface it just seems like any other filler story on the late-night newscast. But it’s so much more. Read More ➤

Hope Springs…

Posted onApril 7, 2012December 24, 20168 Comments

It’s getting a bit cliché, but spring means it’s time for renewal and growth.

This spring, that’s what I’ve been up to. I’m renewing myself, my dreams, and my goals—or trying to, at least. I’ve already been working on myself in a few ways, including health, attitude, and self-confidence. (I’ve been known to doubt myself on occasion.) I’m even renewing and refocusing my web presence.

Now I have to put the wheels in motion for more change… Read More ➤