I’ve been married 6 years now.  The "yeti speak" has been in operation half of that time.  Yeah, this blogging stuff all started on (or around) this day in November of 2003.  Sarah was only three months old at the time and screaming her head off (hence her blog nickname that stuck–The Banshee…)


In some ways I’ve been more consistent with this blogging activity than any other hobby I’ve undertaken.  I suppose it comes naturally…(or unnaturally–when you think about how weird it is to open your journal entries up to the world.)  I find it funny how big the avalanching snowball of internet-driven writing has become in my life.

When I met Christa in 1998, I had never even owned my own computer; (a word processor, yes, but not a real PC!) and up until that time I had purposefully avoided the whole concept of e-mail.  She instigated the necessity for that mode of communication by living on the opposite corner of the continent from me. 

Funny, eh?

Especially in light of the fact that I was trained in the dark arts of journalism and eventually would go on to become a "technical" writer (where my job would be writing online manuals other people would use so they would know how to use their computers.)  Life imitates irony at times.

So my relatively late entry into this realm of micro-chips and broadband, makes my consistent devotion to blogging all the more unusual.  I remember first seeing my friend Pete’s blog and thinking, "Wow, that looks like fun.  Maybe I could do one, too…"  I had no idea what kind of creative (often painstaking) endeavor I was undertaking.

My main criteria for starting a blog however was that I wanted some kind of thematic platform to create writing around.  I needed a mascot, a logo, an alias to hide behind (at first).

So…why yeti?  And why a yeti speaking?

Contrary to popular opinion, my thematic choice had very little to do with crypto-zoological interests (although I am a big fan of the X-Files). In the beginning, the main reason I chose the Yeti as my alter ego was because in many ways the yeti is still an unwritten book.  A thing of imagination and possibility.  A strange thing.   A thing for good or evil?  A sighting or glimpse; not the full story…


There are legends and myths built around this furry biped, but so much more mystery that can be marveled at and explored.  In a symbolic way I wanted to explore my own thoughts (in the public eye) while reserving my right to retreat to my cave of anonymity.  I found that I wanted to hear what the yeti  was speaking out because I romantically liked to believe it must be something profound.  People who speak less often have better things to say.  (Not always, but often.)

The more I explored this theme (in the early days of blogging) the more I realized that there was a similar mystery (or expected revelation) in my relationship with God.  God, like the yeti of myth, is also not at man’s beck and call.  He hears us from the place(s) He dwells, but He is not our pet to be ordered about or trained up as we see fit.  But He also can be found (glimpses and sightings) by those who ardently seek Him.  He is magic and Light.  But seeing Him does not always make the searching any easier.   I liked this tension.  It seemed just tangible enough to be real.

The hard-core seekers who search for Bigfoot, Nessie, and The Abominable Snowman are a little bit crazy aren’t they?   But perhaps we tour guides and pilgrims are the same (even with our abundance of propositional truths, proofs, and evidence)?  We are marching; but the drum n’ base kicks we hear don’t quite jibe with the world around us…

Anyway, that’s how this all started.  And the more I blogged, the more the persona seemed to take shape and life of its own.  (Not that I’m schizophrenic or anything…yet…) 

I think over the course of time the writing has improved.  Lessons have been learned over the past 3 years (although I still don’t do "short" all that well…) and I feel I’ve grown as a writer and as a person.  But what has been the most satisfying thing for me (by far) about this blog has been hearing how the writing has blessed others.  Either by making you laugh or cry or grin or shudder; I keep going because it feels as though I am using my simple gift.  As much as I do this for myself, I would be lying if I said it isn’t important to me that people read and enjoy themselves here at the yeti speak.

I want people to feel compelled to live life fully and to be creative and to walk in a way that is worthy of Narnia’s tour guides and pilgrims.  We’re on a beautiful, often difficult, journey together, and I think it’s vital for us to see the path through one another’s eyes.  These Yeti eyes are mine.

I hope you can see the kingdom through all the hair…

Thanks for sojourning with me these first 3 years…  Let’s keep hiking!