Chad W. Gardner

Auld Lang Syne - Jacksonville Edition

On Settling
(Jan 17, 2025)

The most significant chapter of my life so far is coming to a close. We've been in Jacksonville for more than 8 years now, and in a few short weeks, we'll be moving to Saint Paul to start over. Jacksonville is the only real home our kids have known, and we've made so many dear, dear friends here over the years...

We are, once again, crossing the country, looking to put down roots, leaving torn ones in the ground behind us, trying to find that feeling of “settled.”

The Continued Audacity of Hope

Thoughts on the 2024 Election
(Nov 9, 2024)

Like many of you, I'm feeling a mix of emotions right now: a strange cocktail of shock but also of familiarity, of energy but also resignation, the kneejerk desire to blame every racist-homophobic-gun-loving redneck who voted for him but also the desire for the Left to take a hard look at itself.

Harris did not lose the election for any one strategic decision, or policy, or position. She was placed in a near-impossible situation, and she and her team did just about the damned best job they could have. Given the hand she was dealt, maybe we were foolish to hope for any other outcome. But maybe not...

Zen and the Art of Fishing

My therapist wanted me to write about fishing...
(Sept 29, 2021)

I've recently picked up fishing more seriously. I've always loved it, and I've had a simple kayak here in Jacksonville for a number of years, but I never had anything fancy or any gear that made fishing from a kayak particularly simple or easy. In April, after I got vaccinated, I started playing in-person poker again, and I was doing fairly well! But then delta hit, and I decided to back out again for a bit. So I spent my poker bankroll on actual, pedal-driven fishing kayak. Game changer! Fishing and moving at the same time is way better.

Words to Ink

A series of quotes and reflections that pretty much sum me up. Also a tattoo.
(Last Updated Jan 2022)

I’m designing a tattoo sleeve of quotes. These quotes both represent and have shaped my life in various ways. I thought I’d share.

There is grandeur in this view of life...

These words are the beginning of the final sentence of Darwin’s immortal On the Origin of Species. Darwin has had a lager impact on my life than any other scientist. Despite my first love of astronomy and physics, with Einstein and quantum mechanics overthrowing the classical world, Darwin’s theory of evolution and its implications have directed more of the twists and turns of my life: everything from my first glimpse of religious fundamentalism, to my leaving the church, to my decision to go to grad school.