The Space Between The Waves

Meanwhile, I was sitting at The Old Beach Bar on Front Beach Rd in Panama City one day, watching the tourists go by. Flip-flops slapping the pavement… sunburns already setting in… arms full of beach chairs, coolers, and more plans than the day could ever hold. You could tell the first-timers from the ones who had been there before. The first-timers were in a hurry. Trying to do everything, see eve...

Meanwhile, just across the street from the road I grew up on, down a long gravel dirt road, there was a junkyard. At the very end, you’d find piles of old wrecked cars… parts and pieces scattered everywhere… tires, wheels of all kinds… and off to the side, a big heap of broken bicycle parts. The old man who ran the place was always covered in grease, wearing the same worn-out coveralls that smelle...

Meanwhile, sometimes life can feel like a broke-down old car… a constant reminder of all the things you can’t do. It won’t quite crank right, so you only take it halfway… or you push it off. The lights are dim, so you avoid the night… and the gas gauge doesn’t work, so you don’t trust it on long trips. Before long, you’re not really driving anywhere… just staying close to what feels safe. But here...

Meanwhile, I built a Tiki Bar many years ago in the shade of a hickory tree, so in the evenings it would offer a little relief from those long, hot summer days spent floating in the pool. That tree was much smaller twenty-some-odd years ago… and over time, I’ve watched it grow, just like I have. Late summer always tells its own story. You can feel fall coming—not by the calendar, but by the squirr...

Meanwhile, it’s easy to say rainbows and butterflies are everywhere and if you just trust yourself, everything will work out just fine. But we all know… that’s not always true. In fact, there are more frustrating days than easy ones. Life is complex, and expecting everything to always work out can make those inevitable tough days feel even heavier. It’s exhausting to pretend everything is perfect...

Meanwhile, if you’ve ever been to one of The Tiki Bar New Year’s Eve parties, then you already know about the “F” Bucket. It’s something I came up with a long time ago for anyone looking to let go of something…or finally make a change. The idea is simple. You write down whatever it is that’s been weighing on you…a habit, a thought, a situation…fold it up, toss it in the bucket with a dollar, and w...

Meanwhile, Winston Churchill once said, “If you’re going through hell…keep going.” It’s a simple thought, but a powerful one. Because when life gets heavy…when things feel uncertain or even overwhelming…standing still only keeps you there. Forward, no matter how slow, is still progress. Over the years, I’ve had a lot of characters come and go in my life. Some stayed for a season…others were just b...

Meanwhile, there are times in life when you feel a little worn down…maybe even off course. Sometimes it comes from choices you wish you could take back, and other times it’s simply life showing up in ways you never saw coming. You think you’ve made all the right moves…then suddenly things shift. A company you believed in closes its doors. A relationship you counted on changes direction. Life bring...

Meanwhile, down in Key West, a painted concrete buoy marks what’s known as the southernmost point in the continental United States, placed there back in 1983. Before that, it was just a simple wooden sign…nothing fancy…just a quiet marker that read, “The Southernmost Point, of Southernmost City, Key West Fla.” These days, while repairs are being done to the seawall, there’s even a temporary duplic...

Meanwhile, somewhere between that first cup of coffee and the sound of the world starting to wake up, there’s a moment…a quiet one…where you get to decide how this week is going to go. I’ve learned to enjoy my mornings a little slower than I once did—taking time to appreciate the silence after an adventure-filled dream. That space, that pause…there’s something important in it. No matter how your d...

Meanwhile, it was another busy day at Flounder’s. The season had finally arrived, and summer dreams were lining up along the sugar-white sands of the Florida coast. Around the corner, the little gift shop was unpacking boxes, t-shirts, sunglasses, hats, shot glasses, all waiting for someone to carry a piece of that beach life back home. That’s where Melissa found herself. She had come here after w...

Meanwhile, there’s an old saying that gets passed around from time to time, but not everyone is ready to hear it…you’ll never become who you want to be if you keep blaming everyone else for who you are right now. It’s a tough one. Because taking responsibility isn’t easy. It means looking in the mirror and being honest about the choices we’ve made, the paths we’ve taken, and the habits we’ve held...

Meanwhile, there’s this place called “Kokomo.” It became a popular destination after The Beach Boys released their 1989 hit of the same name. The song made it feel like a real spot somewhere down in the Florida Keys, and over the years, a few clever business folks tried to bring it to life. Truth is…Kokomo isn’t a real place. But in another way…it absolutely is. Kokomo is anywhere you go to get aw...

Meanwhile, every spring at the Tiki Bar there’s this thing I call “tying up loose boards.” After a long winter, right on cue, it’s time to get everything ready for another season. Bar stools get tightened up, refrigerators fired back to life, outside furniture cleaned and set, signs straightened, the pool checked…every little detail matters. Because when the people show up for fun in the sun, ever...

Meanwhile, some Mondays hit a little different… maybe you’re headed somewhere new, chasing an adventure, or just stepping into a fresh beginning. There’s something about being above the clouds… looking down at that soft, puffy world below that makes you pause for a minute and see things a little differently. Farmlands stretch out in perfect squares, like someone mapped it all out long before you g...

Meanwhile, over the years Fridays have found me packing up… catching a plane, or heading out for a long day of shuffling through airports with a sea of strangers, all of us doing the same thing… trying to get home. Sometimes it was a temporary home… a quiet hotel room somewhere, zipping up a bag as the sun came up. That little card sitting on the table… “Did you forget anything?” I used to laugh a...

Meanwhile, just past the dunes where the sea oats bend with the breeze, there’s an old wooden bench that’s seen its fair share of dreamers come and go. Some sit for a while, staring out over the water… others don’t stay long at all, like they’ve got somewhere they need to be. She sat there with a notebook in her lap, flipping pages filled with half-written thoughts, ideas that never quite made it...

Meanwhile, down by the marina where the docks creak just enough to remind you they’ve seen a thousand sunrises, there’s a quiet rhythm that most people miss. Boats rocking gently, lines tapping against masts, and that soft hum of water moving on its way somewhere else. He sat there with a cup of coffee that had already gone cold, watching a boat ease out of the slip without much noise at all. No b...

At the surfside coffee shop things were already hopping as another beautiful day rolled in. The kind of place where the morning sun slips through the blinds, casting slow-moving lines across the tables… like time itself easing into motion. There’s a booth in the corner where the light always hits just right. Darla pours the coffee without missing a beat, while Fred stands over the grill turning ba...

It’s been said that excuses are the ugly sister of success… and which one you choose to spend your time with will almost always predict your outcome. New adventures are a funny thing, they’re equal parts exciting and a little scary. They keep you on your toes, pulling you forward while testing how much you really want something different. But sometimes, we find ourselves just waiting… waiting for...

There’s a lady down by the pier who, every morning, sets up a small stand along the path that leads to the beach. Flowers and roses of all kinds, laid out in simple bundles like little pieces of sunshine. She wears a floppy beach hat, sits under a faded umbrella, and keeps a small canister of coffee beside her. “The coffee is free if you buy a rose,” she’d say with a smile. One time, on what I lik...

It is said that life is an echo… what you send out comes back, and what you sow, you reap. It’s one of those universal truths, simple to hear, but not always easy to live. You are, in many ways, a reflection of your predominant thoughts, beliefs, words, and actions. The truth is, the universe isn’t here just for you… and you do carry a responsibility in what returns your way. It responds, but it a...

One day your world gets smaller… and a little quieter. The things you used to fill your days with don’t seem to matter as much. People scatter to the winds, routines change, and the noise that once surrounded you slowly fades. You don’t even notice it at first, but little by little, like an eroding shoreline, it shows up out of nowhere. Maybe it’s a morning where you wake up and don’t feel the rus...

I think one of the most overlooked things that truly leads to everything is a sense of purpose. There are countless benefits to giving your best effort and pursuing life with dedication and diligence… yet sometimes, it can feel challenging to keep pushing forward. They say hard work pays off, and it’s true. If you want to be good at something, you have to practice, practice, practice. And if you d...

Meanwhile, “So what happened?” I asked a man who was telling me a story about his former life…or what I like to call “another chapter.”He paused for a second, looked out past the water, and simply said, “I got on with my life.”You can’t spend your whole life chasing one big thing, because life isn’t just one moment, it’s made up of a bunch of smaller adventures. And if you ignore those along the w...