Hikari

Caught In The Act

2008-12-23T14:26:00.000-08:00

Hamsters...the hams of the animal kingdom
always want to get in the act.

Felines also have PMS

and alas, the human species is not the only one that must deal with anger.

Tom Cruise has nothing on this guy!

Tuning Up

2008-06-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

I'm rather suspicious of trends...why get on a bandwagon that has lost its direction? As Christians, we are too prone to follow gimmicks. We copy what another congregation is doing because we think it will get us better results. What foolishness! If we follow the latest pattern, we have lost the key and are playing out of tune.

Long ago, an instructor told me that when someone is tuning several pianos at a time, they do not tune them to each other or they will all be slightly off key. First, the piano tuner must tune one piano perfectly and than each new piano is tune to the same key as the original. That is the only way they would sound the same and could be played at the same time. May we all be tuned to Christ and not each other.

If I Didn't Have Dogs...

2008-06-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

I could walk around the yard barefoot in safety. My house could be carpeted instead of tiled and laminated. All flat surfaces, clothing, furniture, and cars would be free of hair.
When the doorbell rings, it wouldn't sound like a kennel.

If I Didn't Have Dogs...

When the doorbell rings, I could get to the door without wading through fuzzy bodies who beat me there. I could sit on the couch and my bed the way I wanted, without taking into consideration how much space several furry bodies would need to get comfortable. I would have money.....and no guilt to go on a real vacation. I would not be on a first-name basis with 6 veterinarians, as I put their yet unborn grandkids through college.

If I Didn't Have Dogs...

The most used words in my vocabulary would not be: out, sit, down, come, no, stay,
and leave him/her/it ALONE. My house would not be cordoned off into zones with baby gates or barriers. My house would not look like a day care center, toys everywhere.
My pockets would not contain things like poop bags, treats and an extra leash.

If I Didn't Have Dogs...

I would no longer have to spell the words B-A-L-L, F-R-I-S-B-E- E,
W-A-L-K, T-R-E-A-T, B-I-K-E, G-O, R-I-D-E I would not have as many leaves INSIDE my house as outside. I would not look strangely at people who think having ONE dog/cat ties them down too much. I'd look forward to spring and the rainy season instead of dreading 'mud' season.

If I Didn't Have Dogs...

I would not have to answer the question why do you have so many animals?' from people who will never have the joy in their lives of knowing they are loved unconditionally by someone as close to an angel as they will ever get.

Sign Me Up!

2008-06-20T13:46:00.000-07:00

Sadist!

The housing market went bust and now this!

Where's Green Peace when you need them?

They're getting desperate!

Been there...done that.

Lord of the Mark

2008-06-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

Like a Viking king you rise, from the ash heap full of lies. Clothe yourself in armor again; wash away years of toil and pain. The warrior in you has never died, the courage there could never hide.

Strengthen your grip by holding your sword. Lead the way as Riddermark’s Lord. Let the horns blow throughout the land. At Helm’s Deep you will make your stand.

Saruman’s aim went wide of the mark. Gandalf’s light broke through the dark. Deception was unmasked in time, so you could rise up in your prime.

Better to end your days in a fight with others against Mordor’s might;
than to waste away believing lies by a master who loves to disguise.

Ride forth like Eorl of old, shepherding your flock in the fold.
Like a dotard you will not die, in a green mound with kings you will lie.

Simbelmynë will adorn your grave, crowning the Rohan you fought to save. Your people will mourn, yet sing your praise.Your ending was a triumph to all your days.

Want A Date?

2008-06-13T18:16:00.001-07:00

After visiting Israel last summer and seeing Masada, I
found this article fascinating (like only Spock could say).

A Judean date palm, long extinct, has been "brought back to life" by scientists who unearthed a 2,000 year-old seed of the plant and germinated it. A healthy 4-foot-tall seedling, named Methuselah after the oldest living man in the Bible, now holds the record for the oldest germinated seed.

The seed itself, perhaps the last link to the vast date palm forests that once grew in the Jordan River valley, was first discovered in 1965, as archaeologists excavated the ancient Israel site of Masada. Seeds discovered at the site were put into storage for 40 years.

In 2005, the date palm now known as Methuselah was planted and sprouted. After it germinated, fragments of the seed shell clinging to the roots were carbon dated, placing the age of the date seeds sometime between 60 B.C. and A.D. 95, about the age expected for a seed that could have survived the famed attack on the Masada fortress described by the ancient historian Josephus.

Following the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 by Roman forces, a group of Jewish zealots retreated to the mountaintop fortress of Masada, a nearly impregnable palace originally built for Herod the Great. These resistors to Roman rule withstood siege from Caesar's army until A.D. 73, when, according to Josephus, the nearly 1,000 people bunkered there burned their remaining stores (all but one food stash, to demonstrate that they weren't starving to death) and committed mass suicide.

The discovery of these date seeds from Masada at about the same time period leads to some intriguing historical speculation.

"These people were eating these dates up on the mountain and looking down at the Roman camp, knowing that they were going to die soon, and spitting out the pits," Sallon said. "Maybe here is one of those pits."

The Struggle

2008-06-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

The struggle builds the muscle.
The strain brings the gain.

It takes strength to live right.
It’s so easy to lose sight.

The path of least resistance
will always have insistence.

OASIS

I’ve come upon an oasis of rest in the Lord.
It’s a welcome after the desert of strife and struggles.
It’s not a rest apart from the desert but in spite of it.

LOVE IS TRUE

Everything I love has something true in it.
I cannot love a lie.
I may be deceived by it but I can never love it.

Great Shots

2008-06-05T22:47:00.000-07:00

Gone fishing!

Gimme a bite of that kit-kat bar!

Don't forget to stop and smell the roses.

Two is better than one.

Hang loose

Got milk?

An Encouraging Word

2008-05-31T09:37:00.000-07:00

Excerpts from Come Away My Beloved by Frances Roberts

"No obstacle within yourself can restrict My grace. I love you when you cannot love yourself. I forgive you when you are still repenting. I am blessing you while you are still pleading for mercy. I use many vessels while they are still struggling with their failures--for in their conscious sense of need, they are more yielded to Me than they who think themselves to be without flaw. To feel need is to receive grace. It is natural to reject yourself when you have failed. When you know that I do not reject you even in your worst state, faith will rise and slay despair, hope will drive out discouragement and My love will restore your joy. You should never abandon your desire for holiness because of your failures. You judge yourself incurably sinful. I see you as potentially pure."

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

2008-05-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

1. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the
tomb of the Unknowns and why?
21 steps. It alludes to the twenty-one salute, which is the
highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.

2. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his
return walk and why?
21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1

3. Why are his gloves wet?
His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the
rifle.

4. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time
and if not, why not?
He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb.
After his march across the path, he executes an about face
and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.

5. How often are the guards changed?
Guards are changed every thirty minutes,
twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.

6. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?

For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5' 10" and 6' 2" tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30." Other requirements of the Guard: They must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform {fighting} or the tomb in any way. After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their
lives or give up the wreath pin.

In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington , DC , the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment. They respectfully declined the offer, "No way, Sir!" Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a serviceperson. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930

Crazy About That Man!

2008-05-21T23:37:00.000-07:00

I saw Prince Caspian tonight and enjoyed it as thoroughly as I did The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I must say that though Ben Barnes is a heartthrob, Reep a Cheep is my favorite. I adore that mouse!

More than the movie, I marvel at the man C.S. Lewis. He can serve up fantasy to the delight of every dreamer, science fiction to the contentment of every layman, and apologetics to the most discerning.

Here's some quotable Lewis:

*A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.
* I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy.
* God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.
*We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.
*This year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practice ourselves the kind of behavior we expect from other people.
*Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is...
*If there is equality it is in His love, not in us.
*If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
*When you are arguing against Him you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all.
*Pride gets no pleasure out of having something; only out of having more of it than the next man.

Anger Management

2008-05-16T18:51:00.001-07:00

Having trouble controlling your anger?

Trust me, holding it in doesn't work.

You've got a real problem, my friend, and channel surfing and binge eating won't change anything.

Prayer, though uplifting, doesn't make it disappear.

A day at the spa won't make any difference.

Finding another lover won't help.

Sometimes the only thing you can do is just sit on it!

Low Maintenance

2008-05-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

Albert Einstein's wife often suggested that he dress more professionally when he headed off to work. "Why should I?" he would invariably argue. "Everyone knows me there."

When the time came for Einstein to attend his first major conference, she begged him to dress up a bit. "Why should I?" said Einstein. "No one knows me there!"

"When I was young I found out
that the big toe always ends up
making a hole in a sock,"
Einstein once recalled.
"So I stopped wearing socks."

Smile

2008-05-08T15:19:00.001-07:00

Smile though your heart is aching;
Smile even though it's breaking.
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by.

If you smile through your fear and sorrow.
Smile and maybe tomorrow,
You'll see the sun come shining through for you.

Light up your face with gladness,
Hide every trace of sadness.
Although a tear may be ever so near,

That's the time you must keep on trying,
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile

If you just smile.

Music written by Charlie Chaplin for his 1936 silent movie classic, Modern Times

What Do You See?

2008-05-04T07:48:00.000-07:00

How many images do you see?

True Security

2008-04-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

Do you feel unsettled, as if things were slipping through your fingers? Unsteady on your feet because your world is turning upside down? You may not know what your future holds...but I know the One who wants to hold your future and your life.

"I will never leave you or forsake you." Jos. 1:5b The word for leave is rapah: the basic idea of relaxing the hands, loosing one's grip. The Lord will never abandon you, turn His back on you or relax the hold He has on your life.

"But Zion says, 'The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me...

"See, I have engraved you on the palm of my hands; your walls are ever before me." (Isa. 49;14, 16)

Jesus put it this way..."I give them eternal life and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father have given them to me and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father's hand. The Father and I are one." (Jn. 10:28-30 New Living Translation)

The Tale of Two Men

2008-04-24T22:07:00.000-07:00

One evening at the turn of the 19th century, a British Member of Parliament was hurrying through rain and fog in the Scottish countryside to deliver an important speech when his carriage ran off the road. With its wheels caught axle-deep in mud, the carriage simply could not be moved, even when the politician, though dressed in typically aristocratic attire, left the carriage to lend a hand.

Fortunately, a young Scottish farm boy happened to pass with a team of horses and volunteered to help. With a great deal of effort, the carriage was finally pulled free and returned to the road. When the boy steadfastly refused to accept compensation for his help (or for his soiled clothes), the Englishman asked him about his plans for the future. "I want to be a doctor," the lad replied. So impressed was the gentleman that he promptly offered to help and, thanks to his generosity, the young man attended university.

More than fifty years later, Winston Churchill became dangerously ill with pneumonia in Morocco. His life was saved by a new wonder drug, penicillin, which had been discovered several years before by a Scottish-born physician named Sir Alexander Fleming.

Fleming, of course, was the farm boy who had helped the Member of Parliament on that rainy night in Scotland half a century before. And the Member of Parliament? He was none other than Winston Churchill's father, Randolph!

Dummy Up!

2008-04-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

A young ventriloquist is touring the clubs and one night he's doing a show in a small town in Arkansas. With his dummy on his knee, he starts going through his usual dumb blonde jokes when a blonde in the 4th row stands on her chair and starts shouting: "I've heard enough of your stupid blonde jokes. What makes you think you can stereotype women that way?”

What does the color of a person's hair have to do with her worth as a human being? It's guys like you who keep women like me from being respected at work and in the community and from reaching our full potential as a person. Because you and your kind continue to perpetuate discrimination against not only blondes, but women in general, and all in the name of humor!"

The embarrassed ventriloquist begins to apologize, and the blonde yells, "You stay out of this, Mister! I'm talking to that little Knucklehead on your knee."

A Hobbit And A Maid

2008-04-16T15:02:00.000-07:00

There she stood in armor…a maid
Defending her king, her face was grave.
No longer called Derhelm but Éowyn.
Hair no longer bound but blowing in the wind.

Alone she stood like a pillar of light
Against the Nazgûl with all her might.
Pity stirred in Merry…
his courage awoke.
The Shire would come to her
aid with a stroke.

No man could kill him, the saying was true
Yet a Hobbit and a maid his power overthrew.
The living undead, now dead would be
The witch-king departed…
Middle-earth freed.

A Novel Idea

2008-04-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

My good friend Melanie has yet again tagged me with a great Meme. Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book of at least 123 pages.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

From Longfellow's Evaneline (I am blessed to have an original 1900 copy)

A youth, light-hearted and content,
I wander through the world;
here, Arab-like, is pitched my tent
and straight again is furled.

Yet oft I dream, that once a wife
close in my heart was locked,
and in the sweet repose of life
a blessed child rocked.

I wake! Away that dream, away!
Too long did it remain.

A Dinosaur

2008-04-08T17:55:00.000-07:00

"Wow, I never met anyone..." he said with genuine wonder.
I shivered, but not with delight.
"Well now you have," I cut him off.
"Are you for real?"
"Yes, I know I'm rare but there are actually people out there like me."
"I'm going to tell everyone about you!" he boasted as if making a great discovery.
"Please don't," I whispered under my breath.
"You're the first person I know who doesn't own a cell phone!"

I'm not catholic but at that moment I wanted to make a confession to the telecommunication gods.

1. In two years, I lost my blasted cell phone three times.
2. In the two miserable years I did own one, I used it a total of 2 dozen times.
3. I only know how to turn it on, dial, talk and turn it off and every time it rang I wanted to throw it against the wall.
4. I have no idea how to save people's numbers on it.
5. I always forget to turn it off when I'm at the movies.
6. I drive badly enough without the darn thing going off when I'm at the wheel.

Yes, I have committed six deadly sins but in order to be free I have done more than renounce them, I have gotten rid of the temptation altogether. Just call me a dinosaur!

Oh Baby!

2008-04-04T06:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a moment of pure, unadulterated laughter.
Press play and I dare you not to laugh!

To Catch A Thief

2008-03-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

Bill owns a company that manufactures and installs car wash systems. Bill's company installed a car wash system in Kingsville . Now, understand that these are complete systems, including the money changer and money taking machines.

The problem started when the new owner complained to Bill that he was losing significant amounts of money from his coin machines each week.

He went as far as to accuse Bill's employees of having a key to the boxes and ripping him off. Bill just couldn't believe that his people would do that, so they set up a camera to catch the thief in action. Well, they did catch him on film!

That's a bird sitting on the change slot of the machine.
It had to go down into the machine and back up inside to get to the money!

That's three quarters he has in his beak! Another amazing thing is that it was not just one bird -- there were several working together. Once they identified the thieves, they found over $4000
in quarters on the roof of the car wash and more under a nearby tree.

Congratulations!

2008-03-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

TO ALL THE KIDS
WHO SURVIVED the
1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING ! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms...WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! If YOU are one of them . . . CONGRATULATIONS!

A Folded Napkin

2008-03-22T15:39:00.000-07:00

My brother sent this to me in an email and I thought I was powerful.

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection?

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

1. Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

2. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!"

3. Peter and the other disciple ran to the
tomb to see.

4. The other disciple outran Peter and got there first.

5. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.

6. Then Simon Peter arrived and went
inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there,

7. while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.

Is that important? Absolutely! Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.

Now if the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm done". But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because...The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!" He Is Coming Back!!!!

Easter Cry

2008-03-17T21:51:00.000-07:00

The crowd jeering, sweating, pressing.
The Man battered, burdened, broken

Leading the way onward - upward to the hill
Leaving behind the trail of cross on dry dusty ground.

The nails pounding, cutting, tearing
And He lifted, laughed at, loved

With tears, hot - mingled in blood
Flowed down, crimson rain forming puddles
Soon sucked by thirsty ground.

The sun brightening, blessing, warming.
The tomb still, silent, empty.

And song joyous, jubilant, infectious
Echoed by saints and angels…
“He is not here. He is risen!”

The Luck of the Irish

2008-03-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

It's a little early for St. Patrick's Day but I could not resist. I must have some Irish blood mixed in with the Japanese because I always tear up when I hear Danny Boy. I've heard it done many ways; by chorus and soloists but I'd have to say that my favorite is still the Muppets and that's no baloney...I mean blarney!

Click on the video and laughed to your heart's content!

A Statue

2008-03-07T17:43:00.001-08:00

Like a statue she stood.
Did centuries go by?
The only sign of life came from her eyes. The tears
fell down in droplets of pain. The joy of
their past would not bring hope for today

Life ceased in her with his last breath.

Now her existence is like shadows.
Not even the place of their vows
could resurrect a Spring. Parting is its own hell. Reunion is its own heaven.

PROOF OF A MAN

The proof of a man is not only in the slander he overcomes but in how he handles praise.The outward pressure of these things will not invade the
soul of one who has inward strength. Curse him because he's a wanderer or
praise him because he’s a king…neither will affect a man who knows who
he is through the path of suffering.

Another Jonah

2008-03-03T14:06:00.000-08:00

I am so asleep in the security of my salvation that I am no longer awake to the judgment seat of Christ. I am so complacent that 'all is well' that I have been dulled to the fear of the Lord. Like Jonah asleep in the boat; do I need the lost to wake me up? So smug that I am the chosen of God even when I run from His will?

His patience with my disobedience is running thin and I am the last one to realize it. The godless are more sensitive to God's desires than I am. In panic they wake me up from the stupor of my comfort. They know how hopeless their situation is...the storm of life is sinking their vessel. They know the only answer for them is that the Church fulfills the will of God. Throw the prophet of God into His will and the sea will become calm. Maybe the ice cold water will wake him up to his true condition. Maybe his spirit will cry out to God and repent while there is still time. Must a willful, disobedient prophet be swallowed up and taken into deep darkness till he feels more dead than alive?

It is God's mercy that would judge us and still give us a second chance to obey Him. How powerful are the words of one who has died to self and lives to obey God. It is a word that brings a city to its knees in true repentance. People sense God's judgment is near. They are desperate to hear God's words in the mouth of an obedient prophet: "Mercy triumphs over judgment!"

My Senses Are Reeling

2008-02-29T18:24:00.000-08:00

I used to have perfect vision but now I have to wear reading glasses. My hearing is okay but my sense of smell is still acute. Yesterday, as I was talking my evening walk around the neighborhood I could smell what people were having for dinner...my favorite roast beef. Forget that it is nearly spring and flowers are blooming everywhere (at least in my neck of the woods) what is that compared to meat roasting on an open fire?

So my mind began to wander...why don't we have fragrances like pork chops eau de cologne? Do you think men want to smell fruit and flowery shampoos? Smell like prime rib and they will follow you forever. Of course, you would have to be careful or every dog in the neighborhood would too. It would have to be banned in Alaska for every time you leave your residence you are at the bottom of the food-chain. The carnivores there need no encouragement. Ah, but what are these but the musings of a deranged mind?

What Holds You Together?

2008-02-24T22:15:00.000-08:00

This is Hubble's image of the center of the Whirlpool Galaxy M51. If you are a skeptic you could call it an optical illusion but I prefer to see and think of it like this...

"The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth and their words to all the world. Palms 19:1-4

Laminins are the cell adhesion protein molecule or glue that holds our cells together. This is the scientific diagram of the molecule. I am lost in wonder that the stuff that holds our bodies together is in the shape of the cross.

This is how Paul put it in Colossians 1:17 “He (Christ) is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Whether it is through the space telescope or the electron microscope we are discovering that He is speaking to us all the time. He holds the galaxies and our lives in His hands.

Coal and Diamond

2008-02-20T22:38:00.000-08:00

Just a piece of coal; black and rather dull but the master sees it and picks it up and decides to transform it so all can see the beauty of what it was meant to be. So he allows it to be tested with pressure great till it is squeezed to a fraction of its shape. Time is added for the finishing touch to crown the gem that he worked on so much.

For in the Master's loving care the coal turns into a diamond brilliant and fair with colors reflecting sunlight. No other gem is more lovely or bright.
We see the pressure, heat and time but God sees the beauty, brilliance and rhyme.

House Cleaning

2008-02-16T16:10:00.000-08:00

"In the Temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords and drove all from the Temple area...he said, 'Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" His disciples remembered that it is written, 'Zeal for your house will consume me." John 2:13-16

It was as if I had read the passage for the first time and considered that Jesus never went to taverns and turned over tables of wine and threw the drunkards out on the streets. He never went to the brothels and whipped the men and women there. Even though both places were plentiful all over the Roman Empire, Jesus never cleansed the worst places in the world. Instead he went to where his people were during a religious celebration and cleansed the Temple. He judged his people first before he judged the world.

Your anger was directed toward your own religious people. Before the close of the 1st century, you rebuked 5 churches and told them to repent in the book of Revelations. The 1st century church was in its glory, purity and power and you told them to repent. Today American Christians are busy, prosperous and comfortable. I wonder if you came back and sat incognito in our services would you even recognize Christianity?

We carry on with 'business as usual' and we are blind to our own condition like the Pharisees long ago. We do business in your church like the world does: marketing techniques, user friendly terminology, program after program to increase numerically so that profits increase. It's time Lord to clean the temple once again!

A Reminder

2008-02-13T22:12:00.001-08:00

Before there was a celebration filled with cards, flowers and chocolate there was a man named Valentine who loved God and died for his faith one thousand seven hundred years ago and before Valentine was born there was a God who loved you and inspired His servants to express His love…

“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to Myself…I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion. I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord.” (Jer. 31:1; Hos. 2:19,20

If you are spending Valentine’s Day alone and feeling unloved don’t forget that you are not alone and unloved.

Ten Generations

2008-02-10T08:49:00.000-08:00

It is fascinating to me that God would send a message through the ten generations linked together. Read the definitions as one long sentence.

Gen. 5:1-16 Hebrew meaning of the ten male names from Adam to Noah

ADAM = “Mankind”

SETH= “turns their faces towards”

ENOSH = “and are appointed, mortal, grievous sorrow”

KENAN = “to lament and to mourn”

MAHALALEL= “God who is praised”

JARED = “comes down”

ENOCH = “to instruct and to consecrate”

METHUSELAH = “he is sent forth as a prophet – priest”

LAMECH= “to be smitten and scourged, to die”

NOAH= “to give rest and security, a quiet attitude of peace”

Wisdom of the Ages

2008-02-06T22:00:00.001-08:00

If you want someone who will eat whatever you put in front of him and never says its not quite as good as his mother made it...

Then buy a dog.

If you want someone who will never touch the remote, doesn't care about football, and can sit next to you as you watch romantic movies .....

Then buy a dog.

If you want someone who is content to get up on your bed just to warm your feet and whom you can push off if he snores ....

Then buy a dog.

If you want someone who never criticizes what you do,
doesn't care if you are pretty or ugly, fat or thin, young or old,
who acts as if every word you say is especially worthy of listening to,
and loves you unconditionally, perpetually .

Then buy a dog.

But, on the other hand, if you want someone who will never come when you call, ignores you totally when you come home, leaves hair all over the place, walks all over you, runs around all night and only comes home to eat and sleep, and acts as if your entire existence is solely to ensure his happiness...

Then buy a cat!

Now be honest, you thought I was going to say..then marry a man!

True Love

2008-01-31T16:11:00.000-08:00

Some enchanted evening
When you find your true love,
When you feel her call you
Across a crowded room,

Who can explain it?
Who can tell you why?
Fools give you reasons,
Wise men never try

Some enchanted evening

when you find your true love,
When you feel her call you
across a crowded room,

Then fly to her side,
And make her your own
Or all through your life you
May dream all alone.

Once you have found her
never let her go.

Once you have found her,

Never let her go!

A Father's Love Letter to You

2008-01-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a message of encouragement if you are stressed or weary.

Vive la difference

2008-01-23T16:03:00.000-08:00

We had a few guests over at our house spending the weekend and because one of them was hearing impaired, we used subtitles on our movies. Since there were five women and just one lonely man...he had to endure our pick which was Little Women.

The next night he got even by voting on Gladiator.
Now I happen to love both movies so I had no problem with the pick. Maybe it was the novelty of watching a movie with subtitles that helped me notice something that had eluded me before...no, it wasn't the storyline or the obvious differences between a "chick flick" and a "man's movie:" one filled with relationships while the other full of blood and guts-- it was something else.

It was the dialog!!! This is where the realm of masculinity and femininity can clearly be seen, or rather should I say heard? Here's the challenge...watch both movies with subtitles and you'll see the contrast. What do I say?
Vive la difference!

Breaking Free

2008-01-19T11:13:00.001-08:00

Faith is a fight most of the times and everything true will be tested. I see the struggle like a metamorphosis...the transformation happens in the darkness and hardness of a crystalis. Part of the struggle is the aloneness of it all--will we ever get out? Why all this pain and constriction...will we ever be free? We wait and wonder and struggle yet we can no more escape the process than a butterfly for it is who we are and what we are fashioned for.

I remember hearing a woman speak on the radio who was describing a butterfly breaking free from it's cystalis. As she saw the thing struggle she decided to help it by tearing the sides of the capsule only to find that when the butterfly emerge it was deformed and soon died. The struggle and fight to get out of its prison was the thing that transformed it.

How often have I aborted the affect of change in my own life because I was tired of the process? I cry out, "God get me out of here!" When all the time He is saying, "I'm answering your prayer to make you whole." I doubt Him because it doesn't seem like the way to transformation, in fact it feels like the opposite is happening. Free me sooner, make the process painless and the very life I crave to live is unattainable. That's why faith is a fight to me and I don't think I'm the only one who sees it that way...

"That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gave on things that cannot be seen for the things we see ow will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever." 2 Cor. 4:16-18 New Living Translation.

Words to Live By

2008-01-14T15:18:00.000-08:00

H e will make your righteousness shine like the dawn
A s for me and my house we will serve the Lord
P erfect love case out all fear
P eace I give you
Y ou surround me with songs of deliverance

N ever will I leave you; never will I forsake you
E arnestly will I seek You
W ait on the Lord and be of good courage

Y ou have made known to me the path of life
E vening and morning, I cry out to You
A part from You I have no goodness
R estore to me the joy of Your salvation

Hurrah for the Hobbit!

2008-01-10T14:14:00.000-08:00

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After months of bitter legal wrangling,

Peter Jackson, New Line Cinema and

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Studios Inc have agreed to

make two movies based on the book

"The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien.

(Alas, Peter no longer looks like a hobbit!)

In a statement Tuesday, the companies said Jackson, the director of the smash hit "Lord of the Rings" movies, and producer Fran Walsh will executive produce both a "Hobbit" movie and a sequel, but Jackson was not named as the director.
"We don't have a director yet," said a New Line spokeswoman.
The movies will be made simultaneously starting in 2009, and a tentative release date has been set for 2010 for the first film and 2011 for the second.
MGM and New Line, a unit of Time Warner Inc, will co-finance the films, with New Line distributing them in the United States and MGM internationally.
MGM is a closely held company owned by several private equity firms and media divisions of Sony Corp and Comcast Corp.
Science fiction fantasy "The Hobbit" tells of a world inhabited by wizards, dwarfs, elves and little people called hobbits, who include the central character, Bilbo Baggins.
"The Hobbit" preceded Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" books, which were made into smash hit movies by New Line, starting with 2001's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring."
Combined with two sequels -- "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" -- the three took in roughly $3 billion at global box offices.
The final movie, "Return of the King," won Oscars for best movie and best director for Jackson. But the director later sued New Line, claiming the studio had improperly accounted for the movie's profits and owed Jackson money.
That suit has now been settled, allowing movies based on "The Hobbit" to go into development, with Jackson attached and with MGM, which owned film rights to "The Hobbit," as part of the team.
"I'm very pleased that we've been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line," Jackson said in a statement.
(Reporting by Bob Tourtellotte; editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

Historical Revisionism

2008-01-06T15:55:00.000-08:00

The following is an email I received and had a good
laugh! I did an edit and cut out the political comments
because this is not a political blog. My comments are 
in green.

The two most important events in all of history were
the invention of Beer (why is beer capitalized?) and
the invention of the wheel.
The wheel was invented to get man to the Beer. 
(Ah, I thought that's why the car was invented!)
These inventions were the foundation of
modern civilization.

Once beer was discovered, it required grain,
and that was the beginning of agriculture.
(Is beer the motive of all mankind's advancement?)
Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum
can were invented yet, so while our early
humans were sitting around waiting for them to
be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery.
That's how villages were formed. (My God! beer
is the foundation of all society!)

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to
B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer.
(alas, men have not changed in thousands of years!)

Simple People

2008-01-03T18:19:00.000-08:00

I’m one of those simple people…
I actually like paintings that represent the real thing.

I like books that clear up some questions instead of adding to them.
We can be so artistic no one understands us.

We can be so clever that we are all alone.
We can have the praise of the elite and miss the heart of humanity.

A Blond's Year In Review

2007-12-30T00:09:00.000-08:00

January
Took new scarf back to store because it was too tight.

February
Fired from pharmacy job for failing to print labels...Helllloooo!!!...bottles won't fit on the printer.

March
Got really excited.....finished jigsaw puzzle in 6 months...box said "2-4 years!"

April
Trapped on escalator for hours .... power went out!!!

May
Tried to make Kool-Aid.....wrong instructions....8 cups of water won't fit into those little packets!!!

June
Tried to go water skiing.......couldn't find a lake with a slope.

July
Lost breast stroke swimming competition.....learned later the other swimmers cheated, they used their arms!!!

August
Got locked out of my car in rain storm...car swamped because soft-top was open.

September
The capital of California is "C".....isn't it???

October
Hate M & M's.....they are so hard to peel.

November
Baked turkey for 4 1/2 days .. instructions said 1 hour per pound and I weigh 108!!

December
Couldn't call 911 . "duh".....there's no "eleven" button on the stupid phone!!!

A Thought To Ponder

2007-12-27T11:01:00.000-08:00

A man was having a conversation with God one day and said, "Jehovah, I would like to know what the difference is between The Light of your truth and The Darkness of Satan?"

Jehovah led the man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the man's mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach the pot of stew and take a spoonful. But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back in their mouths. The man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.

The Lord said, "you have seen The Darkness."

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was a large round table with a large pot of stew which made the man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well-nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The man said, "I don't understand."

"It is simple," said God. "It requires but one skill. You see they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves."

A Christmas Blessing

2007-12-24T14:47:00.001-08:00

May His peace fill your heart

May His joy give you wings

may His love bring you confidence

may His hope steady you in His faithfulness,

and God bless us everyone.

On The Mend

2007-12-20T14:24:00.000-08:00

Five years ago I was diagnosed by a friend to have a fatal disease...I didn't even know that such a thing existed but here I was living proof. My ailment was called "techno-phobia." I had nightmares of hitting the wrong key and deleting vital information or even worse of blowing up a computer altogether (I should have never seen The Net).

I am a recovering techno-phobe and I have to force myself to try new things: branch out by doing blogs, websites and even writing books with a computer. Actually I think I could have only accomplished the feat during the age of spell and grammar check.

Whenever I get the strong urge pulling me back to a simpler time, I spend at least a few hours on the internet to counterbalance it. Alas, I must ever be vigilant. May my plight encourage others of similar mold.

Light Shines Out

2007-12-16T14:38:00.000-08:00

I wish I could say that Christmas is a merry time for everyone but that isn't so.
Many people struggle with loneliness and depression during this time of the year.
If you are having one of those dark days remember that the babe who lay in a manger
was born at night and not during the day to give light to everyone in darkness.

"Arise (from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you--rise to a new life!)
Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord) for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen
upon you! For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and dense darkness all peoples, but the Lord shall arise upon you and His glory shall be seen on you." Isa. 60:1,2 Amplified Bible

Hurray!

2007-12-11T20:09:00.001-08:00

I want to congratulate my friend Melanie on her first book!
I don't have a link but if you are interested it can be purchased at Amazon.com

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Class

2007-12-07T16:28:00.000-08:00

It rained hard last night and this morning I noticed a clump of children bending down near the basketball court. It looked like a conspiracy was brewing so I went over to inspect.

What did I find? Sweet, considerate kids full of compassion for poor wiggling worms deciding to throw them back on the verdant lawn. Not one squashed remnant did I find. Those little vermin didn't know how lucky they were--all except one however...

"Teacher, Joey* ate a worm!" one little first grade informer told me.
"He what?!" I ejaculated.
She pointed in his direction and the other kids nodded and affirmed her declaration.
The guilty victim approached with a carefree air.
"Joey, did you really eat a worm?" I bent down to look at the first grader eye-to-eye.
He nodded his head truthfully.
"Why?" I asked in utter frustration.
"Because Eddie asked me to!"
"If Eddie asked you to jump off the cliff would you do it?"
Joey's forehead furrowed as he thought about the scenario.
I wanted to scream out, the answer is NO, Joey!
The audience was there: young pliable hearts ready for a life lesson but all I wanted to do was run to the nearest exit and laugh my head off.
I really wanted to ask him what it tasted like...chicken?
No, I couldn't laugh, I didn't even smile, I did not want to encourage the behavior.
What about Joey?
He didn't get sent to the office or a note home to his parents--not even a slight tummy ache but he did get a little extra protein!

* names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Beyond All Reason

2007-12-03T19:52:00.000-08:00

Beyond all reason there is a place
Where God can call you to fond embrace;

The mind cannot fathom
Nor intellect tell of how or where that one may dwell

In a land where the five sense no longer reign
But where the sixth has domain.

The sixth is the one the spirit senses
The world of the spirit's unseen abode:

That is one with God and all creation
Which is its natural heavenly home.

Time no longer an enemy
Death no longer a foe
Hate no longer a way of life
Fear no longer a road

For time is lost in Your loving arms
And death is but a friend
Who'll usher in the greatest age
My soul has ever been

Hate is swallowed up in love
And fear but a bit of strain
That through its trials has wrought fine gold
And through it Your bride is trained.

A Perfect 44

2007-11-29T16:00:00.000-08:00

I'm in one of my moods; now that doesn't mean what you think it does! When I get moody it usually means silly, crazy, mischievous or any combination thereof. I blame it entirely on the Manufacturer--He wired me this way!

I was speaking today with a co-worker who was interested in getting her BA degree and that got me thinking about my own. An AA in psychology means that I can psychoanalyze moderately well. My BA in theology means that I understand dogma and the Bible even better but the place where I really shine is psychoanalyzing biblical characters.

I took an evaluation and found out that I'm a 44. No, that is not my IQ or my age...it is my score on a Dr. Phil's personality something-or-other test.

This is the description of those who are 44: "Others see you as fresh (but not rude), lively, charming, amusing, practical and always interesting. Someone who's constantly in the center of attention (God forbid!), but sufficiently well-balanced to let it not go to their head. They also see you as kind, considerate and understanding, someone who'll always cheer them up and help them out."

Now there are so many wonderful accolades in the preceding statement but the only one that really mattered was
WELL-BALANCED. If Dr. Phil thinks I'm mentally fit then I don't care who thinks I'm crazy!

True Beauty

2007-11-27T06:21:00.000-08:00

True Beauty

True beauty awakens in me
fragrance of immortality:
I see it in the face of a child,
hear it in a line of music,
or read it till it fills my soul.

All true beauty affects me in the same way:
it starts as an ache,
builds to a longing,
till it overflows into tears unrestrained.

It is not the rose I want
but something beyond it.

We Are Shaped

We are shaped by what we love.
Our sight is formed by what we see.
Our heart is molded by what we hold on to.
Our imagination is baptized by where we linger.

Like the Elves

I’m like the Elves.

I love the night.

I love the stars.

I love the stillness of a forest.

The sound of water

is like music to me

And whenever I hear a seagull cry

I am wistful for the sea.

How You Commit

2007-11-19T22:48:00.001-08:00

Bitterly blows the wind on the barrenness of Mordor.
Sweetly soothes the breeze on Lorthlorien’s elanor.

Chilling to the mind are the shrieks as Nazguls fly.
Thrilling to the heart are the eagle’s joyous cries.

Noisy is the pit that Saruman has made.
Quiet is the peace of Rivendell’s leafy shade.

The earth responds in kind to all that is done in it.
Nightmare or paradise depends on how you commit.

NEED

Hard exterior yet tender of heart
Strider, wander…may your loneliness depart.
Life shaped you this way but it was never your intent
through years of hardship your journey went.
Till you found yourself in Bree’s Prancing Pony Inn
where your adventure with four Hobbits would begin.
Cautious they were till they began to understand
your heart for them…even though a lonely man.
Gandalf understood the need they would have of you
but it worked both ways, for you needed them too.

TREES WIN

Merry and Pippin seem more trouble than they’re worth
until they meet an Ent of considerable girth.
They stir up a folk who have never been hasty
and that is quite a feat in itself.

They bring an unexpected cavalry
to break up Saruman’s party.
For every twig and branch
that cries out for revenge…
it’s the only story where the trees win in the end.

WHICH WAY DO WE GO?

They were shaped by unseen forces
that found its way into their own choices.
Have they the light of Valinor?
Or the twisted shape of Melkor?
Kindred they would more than prove
by something else than their own mood.
It’s an inward being in the core
that reveals itself on outward shores.
The imprint of their master they’ll show
by the direction they choose to go.
The fork is not on Middle-earth’s map.
It’s found in the heart like an eternal gap
that forever separates Mordor from the West.
We can languish in darkness or choose to rest.

Reconciled

2007-11-15T14:16:00.000-08:00

I grew up hating my name. There are lots of reasons but the one that sticks out the most is when kids called me "Helllllllllllen" or just plain "Hell" or sometimes "Helen-melon." I didn't get reconciled to my birth name until I found out what it meant. This monumental discovery came from a college friend who also had the unfortunate moniker. She also confessed to her aversion until she learned that the name was Greek in origin and meant "light."

That revelation changed everything for me. It reminded me of one of my favorite scriptures: "Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever." Dan. 12:3

Now I don't like being referred to as hades; I much prefer light which is also the meaning of "Hiraki" in Japanese. So if you are like me and have had difficulty with your name you may want to look up the meaning...who knows what you will discover?

We Remember

2007-11-12T09:28:00.002-08:00

To all veterans everywhere

we will never forget:

from my father's generation
(standing on the left)

to the newest generation

we thank you for your sacrifice
and pray for your safe return.

A Peculiar Blend

2007-11-08T19:25:00.000-08:00

A few mornings ago I was listening to Beethoven's sixth symphony as I was driving to work but just so that you won't misunderstand me, for highbrow I am not...I ended the same day with a decadent delight off Youtube. Are you a bit curious what a morning of classical music would be topped off with? What flavor was I in the mood for? Hmmm, you probably wouldn't guess in a hundred years so I'll make my grand confession now--I had to watch the Muppets. I was dying to hear the Mehna-mehna song. Never heard it before? You have no idea how much you are missing. I can be serious and deep at times but lurking at my core is an undercurrent of absolute zaniness. Are you tracking with me?

I love the majestic, the grand, the raw
power of nature.

but who could resist a massage
and morning java?

Ah, the sweet moments at the end
of the day when a boy and his dog
unite in holy petitions before the Lord
in heaven--who would not be moved
by such earnest goodness?

But then this perverse thing comes
over me and I throw all sweetness
to the wind.

The Heavens Declare

2007-11-04T21:39:00.000-08:00

When I consider Your heavens,

the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars which You have set in place
what is man that You are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

Ps. 8:3,4

I’M NO MYSTERY TO YOU

You understand why I love the stars.
You know me and share my joy.
You know why the tears start to flow
when something beautiful
touches me deep down inside
I am no mystery to You!

REACH FOR THE STARS

To reach for the stars with my feet on earth.
“Impossible” you say, yet I know it’s the truth.
For of myself the highest I can reach is but two feet over my head.
Yet through God I can reach up to the stars and even further yet.

A Vision

2007-10-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

When I lived in San Francisco God gave me a vision while I was worshiping the Lord one day. I saw myself in front of a cave entrance that was small and in order to go inside, I had to crawl on all fours. I did so and felt the floor of the cavern; it was gritty and full of small pebbles. I filled my pockets with the pebbles and went back out into the sunshine. When I got outside and checked my pockets I drew out what I had thought were pebbles and found uncut jewels instead.

I didn't understand the vision and asked the Lord to reveal to me what He meant by it. This scripture came to mind "I will give you treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places..." Isaiah 45:3 and I knew what God was trying to tell me was that He would give me the ability to see the beauty in people that others would just assume are throw aways.

God sees the true treasure that you are in the darkness. You may not see yourself that way but He does and when He brings you out into the light everyone will see it.

I want to see people with His eyes and treasure what He treasures. I think that is what made Mother Teresa the kind of person she was but then she was only walking in the footsteps of Jesus who loved the unlovely.

In Praise of Good Husbands

2007-10-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

Jack wakes up with a huge hangover after attending his
company's Christmas Party. Jack is not normally a drinker,
but the drinks didn't taste like alcohol at all. He didn't
even remember how he got home from the party. As bad as he
was feeling, he wondered if he did something wrong.
Jack had to force himself to open his eyes, and the first
thing he sees is a couple of aspirins next to a glass of
water on the side table. And, next to them, a single red rose!
Jack sits up and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed. He looks
around the room and sees that it is in perfect order,
spotlessly clean. So is the rest of the house.
He takes the aspirins, cringes when he sees a huge black eye
staring back at him in the bathroom mirror. Then he notices
a note hanging on the corner of the mirror written in red
with little hearts on it and a kiss mark from his wife in
lipstick: "Honey, breakfast is on the stove, I left early to get
groceries! to m ake you your favorite dinner tonight.
I love you, darling! Love, Jillian"
He stumbles to the kitchen and sure enough, there is hot
breakfast, steaming hot coffee and the morning newspaper.
His son is also at the table, eating.
Jack asks, "Son... what happened last night?"
"Well, you came home after 3 A.M. , drunk and out of your
mind. You fell over the coffee table and broke it, and
then you puked in the hallway, and got that black eye when
you ran into the door.
Confused, he asked his son, "So, why is everything in such
perfect order and so clean? I have a rose, and breakfast is
on the table waiting for me??"
His son replies, "Oh THAT!... Mom dragged you to the bedroom,
and when she tried to take your pants off, you screamed,
"Leave me alone, I'm married!!"

Broken Coffee Table $239.99
Hot Breakfast $4.20
Two Aspirins $.38
Saying the right thing, at the right time . .. PRICELESS

Irresistable

2007-10-23T15:22:00.001-07:00

A few days ago I was having some work done at my local garage. A blonde came in and asked for a seven-hundred-ten.

We all looked at each other and another customer asked, "What is a seven-hundred-ten?"

She replied, "You know, the little piece in the middle of the engine, I have lost it and need a new one.."

She replied that she did not know exactly what it was, but this piece had always been there.

The mechanic gave her a piece of paper and a pen and asked her to draw what the piece looked like.

She drew a circle and in the middle of it wrote 710. He then took her over to another car which had its hood up and asked "is there a 710 on this car?"

She pointed and said, "Of course, its right there."

Target Practice

2007-10-18T14:15:00.000-07:00

Every time I am offended or hurt
or feel sorry for myself

I know what has been the target
carefully aimed at by God…my pride.

After every arrow has been plucked out
I see better what You were centering on.

Pride is blind to its own existence.
The pain I feel after these lessons is to realize
that pride in me has always been Your target.

The pain I feel is there to wake me up to its presence.
You have been aiming at a hot-air balloon
because pride is full of itself.

Deflate me till I hit the ground of reality!

DISCIPLINE

We look to God for pleasure but deny His hands bring pain.
How can pride without pain? Hos. 6:1

We look to God to build us up but deny He tears us down.
How can He add to a faulty structure? Ps. 127:1

We look to God for fruitfulness but deny He will cut.
How can fruit come without pruning? Jn. 15:1,2

THE SOURCE

There is a love that is deeper
than the one emotions can flame.

It finds its source in its loved one
whether in desert or rain.

It goes beyond the surface of feeling
down into the deepest commitment.

Here the hail, wind and storm
cannot disturb its sweet contentment.

All Natural

2007-10-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, I must admit that it doesn't happen every day that I can capture a Rocky mountain goat and my family taking a break from a hike at the same time but still I must make a confession. I know envy is not a good quality but honesty is: so here's the bottom line--I'm going to be honest about my envy...

I wish I was better at taking wildlife photography.

The Shot I Took

I like capturing wildlife in a more contemplative
relaxed state but doe a deer is easy
to get on film compared with...

The Shot I Wish I Took

a polar bear catching the rays and getting a tan.

The Shot I Took

If you are going to check out an ice flow....

The Shot I Wish I Took
then check out the ice flow.

Wildlife photographers are amazing because they are patient and can wait for the perfect shot. The lighting, setting and animals must all be caught in their most natural state. To find a sleeping polar bear, a penguin ready to make beautiful music and another to be wearing the right accessories is just awe inspiring...I mean, think of the odds of that happening! It must be astronomical!

A Few of My Favorite Things

2007-10-12T21:24:00.001-07:00

The Incredible Edible Egg

2007-10-08T17:13:00.000-07:00

A thing of beauty is a joy forever

(all these eggs were done by lasers...imagine that!)

Forget a flying carpet, give me Pegasus any day!

Oh Holy Night the star was brightly shining!

A rose by any other name would still
smell as sweet...

Drink your medicine

2007-10-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

"A cheerful heart is good medicine," Prov. 17:22 says so consider this your spoonful for the day!

Asthma doesn't seem to bother me any more unless I'm around cigars or dogs. The thing that would bother me most would be a dog smoking a cigar.
Steve Allen

When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.
Henny Youngman

If it's the Psychic Network why do they need a phone number?
Why do they call it rush hour when nothing moves?
Robin Williams

All men make mistakes, but married men find out about them sooner.
Exercise? I get it on the golf course. When I see my friends collapse, I run for the paramedics.
Red Skelton

I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception
I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.
Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution?
She got her looks from her father. He's a plastic surgeon.
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Groucho Marx

She said she was approaching forty, and I couldn't help wondering from what direction.
The good news is that Jesus is coming back. The bad news is that he's really pissed off.
Bob Hope

Housework can't kill you, but why take a chance?
I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford. Then I want to move in with them.
Most children threaten at times to run away from home. This is the only thing that keeps some parents going.
Whatever you may look like, marry a man your own age - as your beauty fades, so will his eyesight.
Phyllis Diller

I came from a real tough neighborhood. I put my hand in some cement and felt another hand.
I could tell my parents hated me. My bath toys were a toaster and a radio.
I found there was only one way to look thin, hang out with fat people.
I was so ugly my mother used to feed me with a sling shot.
When I was born I was so ugly the doctor slapped my mother.
Rodney Dangerfield

Yes, I know that there are many other comics out there but I chose these ones because this is a G-rated website, so give me a paper cut and pour lemon juice on it!

A Dream

2007-09-30T12:59:00.000-07:00

I had a dream a few years ago and in it I saw a very elegant restaurant filled with people. Each table was filled except one where a man was sitting alone. This table was in the center of the room and was very large with the man sitting at the head. This man paid for everyone’s meal and it was made known to all in the room.

There were loud exclamations and people turned to look at him. Many came over to thank him and humbly accepted his payment. I saw a man with his family ask this kind stranger, “Why did you pay for our meal when we don’t even know you?” “Because I love you,” he said. They were amazed but saw the love in his eyes and asked if they could sit at his table and talk with him. He nodded with a smile and soon his table was filled with people.

Others were insulted by this man. They felt interfered with and were very suspicious. Their pride would not let them accept this free gift. They did not want to feel obligated to anyone. Their indignation mounted to anger and hatred. They went to his table and yelled at him. Some spit on his face because they were so enraged. This man still desired them to accept his gift but they refused every entreaty. They seemed pleased in the fact that they could refuse him. This man kept following them with his compassionate eyes as these people retreated from his table to pay the cashier themselves. He kept calling them back to come to his table and they kept refusing to hear him.

When they came to pay the bill, they again refused to have the cashier accept the man’s generous offer. The cashier rang up each of their bills. It came up to tens of thousands of dollars each. Their faces paled because no one had enough to pay what they owed. The dream faded and in that dreaming, waking state, I asked the Lord what it meant.

He said, “I am the man who paid for everyone’s meal. The table I am sitting at is the kingdom of heaven. Those who are humble and grateful are able to let Me pay the tab for their sins. Each individual sits at the table of their life and eats of their own doing. You truly are what you eat. You can only change your diet when you eat from My table. I give the invitation and all hear and know it, but as you have seen there are still those who reject My free gift and choose to do it themselves. When they find out they do not have enough to pay their debt--it will be too late.”
I woke up with the picture still vivid in my mind and wrote it out as best as I could recall it.

Eternal Optimist

2007-09-26T17:36:00.001-07:00

Man says, “Impossible.”
God says, “Wait and see.”

Man sees a monstrous trial.
God sees victory.

Man says, “Lord, I quit.”
God says, “Son, I can’t.”

Man sees barren hearts.
God says, “Love I’ll plant.”

God is the Eternal Optimist.
New hope shall He bring
Even through our muted tune
A new song shall we sing.

UNQUENCHABLE LOVE

“Many waters cannot quench love. Neither can the floods drown it.”

Song of Solomon 8:7

Your love is a fire of passion
that can never be extinguished.

Not all the cold hearts in the world
could freeze such a love!

Not all the deadness in mankind
could kill such a life!

Not all the darkness in the universe
could conquer such a light.

You warm cold hearts.
You raise the dead.
You pierce the darkness.

Nothing You are -
nothing You do
nothing You give

can be overcome.

Thirst Quencher

2007-09-22T19:52:00.001-07:00

When He comes, He will open the eyes of the blind
and unplug the ears of the deaf.
The lame will leap like a deer,
and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!

The parched ground will become a pool,
and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land. Isa. 35:6,7

When the poor and need search for water and there is none,
and their tongues are parched from thirst,
then I, the Lord, will answer them...I will open up
rivers for them on the high plateaus.
I will fill the desert with pools of water.
Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground.

Isa. 41:17,18

The Lord will guide you continually,
giving you water when you are dry
and restoring your strength.

You will be like a well-watered garden,
like an ever-flowing spring.

Isa. 58:11

As the deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for you, O God.

I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before Him?

Ps. 42:1,2

Another Fine Mess

2007-09-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

I have never been guilty of impulse buying--my impulses lie in a different vein altogether. I love taking a road I have never traveled on before (when I have time to get lost a little, which doesn't happen often, alas!)

I'm impulsive when it comes to experiencing something new; like when a friend and I decided on a lark to go repelling and spelunking (no, these are not dirty words but you can get dirty doing them).

I bought the ticket, got into the gear and had the pleasure of dangling 200 feet suspended in air...wondering if the added weight of breakfast would affect the poor rope I was attached to. A sensible group of tourist were at the bottom of Moaning Caverns looking up at the idiots (me and my friend) wondering if we had lost our minds.

Just imagine...you are higher than the Statue of Liberty dangling on a rope...people looking like ants below you and on top of this...the lights go out and you are in complete darkness. I mean total, absolute, mind-boggling, Twilight Zone, black-hole darkness. The kind where you can put your hand in front of your face and still see nothing.

The lights were turned off by the sadistic guide below and I think he loved the power he had to freak people out. I want to reassure you that I did not let a bunch of expletives like !@#$%^&* pass my lips. I was just thankful that I had gone to the bathroom before I went repelling.

An eternity later I touch bottom; sweet terra firma with my unsteady feet. I couldn't blame my friend (I suggested repelling); I couldn't blame the management (they briefed me and with sound mind I signed on the dotted line); but I could blame God (He was the one who made me like this--taking
pure pleasure that I was wired so perversely).

Three weary hours later I changed out of my mud caked coveralls, ran my fingers through my mud encrusted hair and glanced at the wall of the main building on my way out. All of a sudden my heart swelled with pride and my exhaustion vanished like the morning mist. Why, you may ask? There on the wall was a picture of another person who had done what I had done. Whom, you may ask? The honorable Tom Hanks.

Call me crazy, but I was in good company now! Besides, impulsive people have to stick together.

Sea Fever

2007-09-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

I'm coming down with a fever...sea fever. I wear a silver chain and on that chain is a silver ship--full sail. It's not a lucky charm; it symbolizes my life. I was made for something greater than the harbor of my comfort zones. I was made to launch out into deep waters and I feel the tug of the sea. My ropes are taunt with the strain of wanting to sail to unknown lands and settling for what's safe.

_____________

LAUNCH OUT!

A ship is built on land but is made for the sea.
The land is safe, solid - no fears of uncertainties.
The sea is not tamable - there's no guarantees.

All my life I have been built on stable ground
and now Your Spirit calls me into deep waters.
Part of me yearns for it and dreads it at the same time.

Is there anything so ridiculous as a ship that stays on land?
Lord, shame me until I launch out and face the sea I was created for!

______________

A better poet, John Masefield, put it this way...

SEA FEVER

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

In Remembrance

2007-09-11T14:13:00.000-07:00

On this day of sorrow for our nation I would like to add some healing balm. Though I did not lose someone on 911 I understand the loss of a loved one.

My father died of a massive heart attack the day after Christmas 1969. I remember going to my room after we came back from the hospital--the lights had just gone out of my world. I was in shock and felt like the events were happening to someone else.

Mechanically, I pulled out my Bible (I received it as a gift but hardly ever read or understood it). I can't remember what I read but I began to cry and suddenly I felt a presence in my room: it wasn't creepy--I was not afraid.

How can I describe it? It was as if for a brief moment in time I was inside love...pure, joyous, liberating. I was completely known, loved and accepted for who I was. From my innermost being I felt wholeness and wellbeing radiating out. Honestly I don't think it lasted more than a minute--I know I couldn't take much more of that perfect love without bursting.

I was thirteen years old and an atheist: I did not acknowledge the presence as God...I thought it was my father who had only died a few short hours before. I thought his ghost was in the room with me. I even addressed the presence out loud because it was so real to me, "Daddy, you are here with me and you will never leave me!"

Sadly from this point, I became hard and bitter and I buried the experience as hatred and anger began to eat at me like a cancer. I spent my teen years as a loner, an outsider until at eighteen I found God or rather, He found me.

The same night I turned my life over to Him, He brought back the memory of being immersed in love. I knew then that He was the one with me the day my father died.

I was an atheist and He still showed up; I was lost in confusion and He still brought His peace; I felt completely abandoned and He surrounded me with acceptance; I was filled with rage and He still saturated me with His love.

If you are an atheist, or filled with hatred and anger, or simply hurting...know this: God doesn't ask your permission to enter your pain--He'll just do it.

"Father to the fatherless, defender of widows--this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; He sets the prisoners free and gives them joy." Ps. 67:5,6

Literary morphing

2007-09-07T20:18:00.000-07:00

I got tagged for this meme and my additions are at the bottom in living color;) hrpeters

Story-time Meme

SF Girl over at The Alien Next Door sent me this story meme challenge. Writing is always fun! (unless it's a dissertation on the joys of mathematics).

Here are the rules:

1. Copy and paste the story below, and the rules, on your blog.
2. Find out who you're going to tag.
3. Write one or two sentences to continue the story, and use the titles of the blogs you're tagging or any word(s) associated with them as keywords in the links you include in your part of the story.
4. Remember to tell your taggees that you've tagged them!
5. Feel free to use this and start your own viral link story. I'd very much appreciate a link back to Mother's Home ! if you do. (Or a tag, if you prefer!)

Here's we go:

Mother's Home! the cave troll yelled. I have been out all day strangling chickens like CRAZY! for the evil Empress. All i want now is a MOment to myself, but i keep getting Linda talking Drivel, but that is better than a certain someone Mooing. Then suddenly what should appear but the NOT evil Empress and all her strangled chickens and Mags cooked them all up and made us a lovely cake to eat. Gracie wanted all the cake for herself but the NOT evil Empress was able to hack off a good sized slab for herself!!! Ha ha ha, Gracie belched loudly after eating all the scrumptious cake that Mags had baked and watched Callie scrappin' with Sarge about who was gonna win Big Brother 8. Sarge started humming "Dixie," and almost choked on the bite of cake in his mouth! So he got some coffee to go to wash down the cake. The coffee helped a bit but he had to vocalize before he started singing again so he began, "Mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi..."

...who heard him all the way from Bloggingham Palace and said, "Where is that awful noise coming from? Is there a sick wailing Wacky Mom loose in the woods?" She said, "I'll bet Songbird can teach him to sing!" but she was busy BONDing in the desert with Kathleen who sat writing heresy in her diary. She was absolutely no help. So Mi-Mi asked Kat to put him on the PP&P list to save his sorry soul. Alas, Ralph the Airhead made a new batch but the Patti-cakes fell in Polliwog's Pond and nobody got to eat cake after all! It was all Bee's fault (somehow). Feeling sorry for herself, she pranced over to Odat's for a dance but she only heard strange mumbling...

That mumbling, however, resulted from The Alien Next Door trying to clone Justin Stanely’s Weblog. The meticulous and risky cloning occurred throughout several millennia, past, present, and future. Or so it seemed; no one could keep count. It was just too much. The mind-numbing years had finally sublimed the earth into a pristine Bobbarama. All well and good, said Bob, but whatever happened to the rules? Before anyone got hurt, however, enough stars fell and crashed to alert Sci-Fi Girl, who grabbed her laptop and returned to the woods, where Mimi's Dating Profile popped up, allowing a lion to lie happily next to a lamb…

Now, the insane writer burst into the forest, kissing the dogwood and sat on the lion, spinning tales about sci-fi girl's boyfriend, sci-fi guy, who had his eye on [her] DNA, which he was hoping to sell for anything goes. But just then the mad goat lady and the drowsey monkey pranced into the forest and sang a truly quiet symphony, which annoyed the insane writer.

"What's that funky sound?" screamed sci-fi guy.

"Well, it sure isn't a raspberry-latte!" grumbled the insane writer. "Get a grip, sci-fi guy! You're my main character! I expect you to know how to split an atom! Ignore that woman and her indolent pet! Now, go and do your dastardly thing!" But the insane writer became further entranced by the absence of symphonic sound coming from their mouths that it compounded her fraught; so Marjienalized was she, delirious from dementia like a beheaded chicken.

"Hikari, hikari!" she yelled in her best Japanese accent as the sunlight broke through the dogwood trees. She believed it to be the light of heaven, discordant from the sky. She promptly withdrew her Skywater Journal to record the unusual events...

Was she in a trance or was it only bad pizza? A light was shining but it didn't come from heaven...she was caught in a tractor beam from an alien spacecraft. Up she floated light as a feather regardless of the pizza: down came her journal crashing to the earth. A zephyr breeze gently turned the pages until an entry stood out--To Not A Desperate Housewife--it trailed off and was left tantalizingly unfinished...

Encouragement to first time authors

2007-09-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

I found this on a friend's blog and wanted to pass it along to you. May this encourage any struggling author out there...you are in good company. I wonder if other famous authors would have made the grade in todays competitive market?

Austen scam exposes publishers' pride and prejudice

Thu Jul 19, 7:59 AM ET

LONDON (AFP) - A string of publishers failed to spot blatant plagiarism of one of English literature's most famous authors, in a cheeky test to see if she would have secured a book deal today, a report said Thursday.

David Lassman, head of the Jane Austen Festival in Bath, sent manuscripts to 18 editors seeking a publishing contract, using only slightly disguised versions of chapters from the iconic novelist's most famous works.

But only one publisher spotted the fakes, which included perhaps the most famous line in all English literature, the opening sentence of her 1813 work "Pride and Prejudice".

"I was staggered. Here is one of the greatest writers that has lived, with her oeuvre securely fixed in the canon and yet only one recipient recognised them as Austen's work," Lassman told The Guardian newspaper.

Making only minor changes, he sent off sample chapters from three of her best known books: "Northanger Abbey"; "Persuasion", and finally "Pride and Prejudice" which he renamed "First Impressions".

For the latter, he made no changes to the opening line: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

But all he got was a series of rejection slips, including from major publishing houses.

"Thank you for your recent letter and chapters from your book 'First Impressions'. It seems like a really original and interesting read," wrote Penguin. Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling's agents Christopher Little said they were "not confident" of being able to place the work.

The only editor to spot the ruse was apparently Alex Bowler of Jonathan Cape.

"Thank-you for sending us the first two chapters of 'First Impressions'; my first impression on reading these were ones of disbelief and mild annoyance, along, of course, with a moment's laughter," he wrote back.

"I suggest you reach for your copy of 'Pride and Prejudice', which I'd guess lives in close proximity to your typewriter, and make sure that your opening pages don't too closely mimic that book's opening."

The publishing houses scrambled to explain their failure to spot what are some of the well-known passages in the English literary canon.

"Our letter was a polite note declining representation and provided a standard response," said a spokesman for Christopher Little cited by The Guardian.

"Our internal notes did recognise similarities with existing published works and indeed there were even discussions about possible plagiarism."

A spokeswoman for Penguin noted that its rejection letter had said only that it "seemed" original and interesting. "It would not have been read," she insisted.

Food Glorious Food

2007-08-30T18:44:00.001-07:00

How much is that doggie
in the window?

I'm so lonesome
I could cry!

froggie went a courtin' he did ride, uh hah

We are poor little sheep that
have lost our way...
baaa, baaa, baaa

Joy to the fishes
in the deep blue sea...
joy to you and me!

A friend emailed these photos to me and I could not resist!
For everyone who thought it was bad manners to play
with your food...now you can and eventually eat it too!

Ring of Power

2007-08-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

Frodo’s burden, ring of fire
Isildur’s bane, Sauron’s desire

Gollum’s obsession, eaten alive
Possessor’s poison, hell’s own drive

Middle-earth’s consuming lust
Death devouring, conquering dust

Key to power, all to crush
Hell’s own whisper, all to hush

Cries of torment, self’s own rule
Temptation’s child, to keep…a fool

Ichy fingers, beating heart
Long to have, wisdom depart

Pride’s own passion, common sense lost
Trapped in nightmare, lunacy’s boss

Cut the hand, only hope
Free the heart, will to cope

Something lost, something gained
Joy rebounding ending pain

FIRSTBORN

By the light of the stars
were the Firstborn awakened
And ever after they would love the night.
Middle-earth wakes up to a busy day
but the stillness of the night
belongs to the Elves.
It belongs to them still
and to those who are like them.

IN KHAZAD-DÛM

In Khazad-dum, in Moria,
where Durin’s people dwelled
they made of this mountain root
a Dwarf city called Dwarrowdelf.

Splendid is was, its walls of stone
with pillars of light from torches shone.
Peace there was, till greed took hold
for Dwarves desire mithril more than gold.

Deep they delved, their hunger for gain
awoke the Balrog, Durin’s bane.
From this grief would years unfold
to make of Gimli a similar mold.
He would wreak vengeance with all his heart
thus would the Dwarves have a new start.

SET APART

Could you be wounded for something good?
Frodo would show you the scars if he could.

Could you be forgotten even though you’re a king?
Aragorn could prove it through years of suffering.

There are marks you bear on skin and heart
that will always set you apart.

Picture This

2007-08-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

I'm a visual kinda person, maybe that's why I enjoy slapstick over one liners. I'm like that with learning too. I tend to remember stories because I can visualize them over facts and lengthy lectures. One illustration I recall was from an instructor who mentioned that a man once had a vision of heaven and witnessed another person being crowned.
The crown was so big that it fit over the person's head and onto their shoulders.

The man who had the vision asked someone nearby, "Why is the crown so big that its larger than his head? It looks ridiculous!" The answer rebounded in his soul, "The crown was not fashioned according to his intellect but according to his heart."

It became my heart's cry...

Lord make a crown to fit my heart not my head.
Let it not have the jewels of what I know but what I live.

Lord let me speak the words You've given me to say
and not the things that I would want to say.
For Your words give life that I just can't give
and let it not be simply what I know but what I live.

Clothing Malfunction

2007-08-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, calm down. I did not have a Janet Jackson moment. My "accidents" are not telecast nor will anyone know other than the people reading this blog. What was my sin? Everything was zipped and buttoned properly. I was dressed smartly in my black suit, so where did I go astray?

Alas...I almost got away unnoticed but my mother, the clothing hawk, with her eagle eyes spotted the malfunction right away.

mom: "What's wrong with your skirt?"
me: "Ummm, it's no big deal."
mom: "Come closer."
I reluctantly stepped forward.
mom: "Are those staples?!"
me: "The hem went out! I didn't have thread and needle!"
mom: "You helmed your skirt with staples?" she asked in disbelief.
me: "At least I colored it in with a black sharpie!" I said defensively.
Words escaped her as she shook her head.
me: "Look it was busy...there were a lot of customers. I had to use what was available."
mom: "I'll sew it tonight," she sighed like a martyr.
There was no use praying that her tomboy daughter would ever become a lady--my character was fixed.

Other than create a new use for staples and a sharpie I know the whole experience worked greater patience on my long-suffering parent and resolve in me: no, its not that I am determined to become more ladylike--that is a lost cause. It is not to use thread and needle instead...because I'd rather use a stapler. No, I'm resolved to hide the damage better next time; maybe with tape.

Little Things

2007-08-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

I love the expanse of sea, earth and sky but I also love the little things that go unnoticed by most: like wild flowers peeking through the foliage or morning dew on the grass. I enjoy the macro and the micro world for there are wonders hidden in both.

I remember browsing through a book of frozen water crystals...the colors and shapes fascinated me--there are worlds within worlds. My brother teased me later and said, "Simple things for simple minds." He's probably right.

I never want to gaze at the stars and think like an astronomer..."Look, there's Betelgeuse, a red super giant: when that goes nova it will blast everything within a hundred parsecs!" I'd rather behold their beauty and be lost in wonder like a child, "twinkle, twinkle, little star...how I wonder what you are!"

What fascinates me even more is that God created the universe with all these wonders intertwined and dependent. When I realize how much He cared for the works of His hands then I realize that I am no accident: created with nothing, because of nothing, for nothing.

Coming from a former atheist--that is no little thing.

There is a Kinship

2007-08-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

There is a kinship in pain;
no words need to be spoken.

The healing comes in sharing,
the bond remains unbroken.

There is an intimacy in joy--
impossible to keep alone…

intensifying as it spreads
humanizing hearts of stone.

THE SCENT OF SPRING

The scent of spring gets stronger everyday;
promise of life to rise from winter’s decay.

Let this renewal last forever--to start slow
rejuvenating cold heart and weary soul.

SIMPLE PEOPLE

I’m one of those simple people…
I actually like paintings
that represent the real thing.

I like books that clear up
some questions instead of adding to them.

We can be so artistic
no one understands us.

We can be so clever
that we are all alone.

We can have the praise of the elite
and miss the heart of humanity.

NO LIMITS

Sky is not the limit for me.
I do not want to be earth bound…

I want the countdown and ignition.

I want the power to break
the bonds of gravity.

I want to live on the edge
of worlds unexplored

Lost in Translation

2007-08-06T15:26:00.000-07:00

It was our last day in Japan but before we were to be taken to the airport, my cousin wanted to know what kind of food we'd like to eat for breakfast. "American or traditional Japanese?" he asked. All ten of us piped up, "Japanese!"

I had to translate everything since my brothers, sister-in-laws and their kids understood very little Japanese. I made it plain to them but something got lost in translation. We all had miso soup, rice, eggs in mind but that is not what was on the menu.

Upon entering the restaurant, we took off our shoes (that much was a given) and we were served by waitresses wearing kimonos (that was different). Sitting on a tatami floor and served a ten course meal was wholly unexpected.

All I wanted was a nice cup of coffee and a piece of toast but noooo such luck. Out came dishes so strange that I wanted to throw the contents back into the sea (where the little creatures had come from).

I don't want to be an ingrate but eating something with tentacles and suckers just does not appeal to me: morning, evening or late night snacking. Though I hardly touched my food, I had my trusty camera with me and my Japanese cousins were happy to see me memorialize our meal in film.

This happened over a year ago so why am I reminiscent? It's because in a few days my cousin and his family are coming to the States for the first time and I hope he does not have a gastronomical surprise like I had. Whether he'll be pleased with the food has yet to be known but one thing is for sure...I'll do my best so nothing is lost in translation.

Annie Get Your Gun

2007-08-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

There they stood: youthful, confident, smiling. My first reaction was surprise...what were teens doing with machine guns and rifles? I blinked, did a double-take and then duh...it hit me--I'm in Israel. You blooming idiot, I thought to myself. Every eighteen year old must join the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) including women.

Yes, you read that right...teenage girls with estrogen eruptions armed to the teeth. Now have I got your attention? I thought so!

Now I have no problem with females so armed, but I noticed that a few of the men in our tour group were wiping sweat off their brow. Maybe it wasn't because girls younger than their own daughters had rifles strung over their shoulders--the reason could have been that it was over a hundred degrees in the shade but I like to think that it was both.

Depending on how strong a female's cycle can be...PMS not only stands for the obvious: it can also mean Premeditated Man-Slaughter. If you are a thoughtful, rational man you'll remember the acronym. Remember to be forewarned is to be forearmed.

Why am I so considerate of the male gender and would give them a heads up? Maybe its because I grew up with two brothers or maybe its because I had an aversion to the feminist of the 1970's. Anyway, grab the advice while its hot.

If any of you are thinking about visiting Israel--don't hesitate. Let me assure you that the media makes it seem danger lurks everywhere but it is much safer than they let on. How do I know? I have the proof of my own eyes. Our guide took us up to the Golan Heights and lo and behold the vaunted, noble, distinguished United Nations compound was on the Israeli side and not Syria. Maybe they know something that the media does not.

If that doesn't convince you then let me comfort you with the fact there are still teenage girls armed with real weapons and ammo. Trust me, after the first initial surprise--you'll get used to it.

A Retraction

2007-07-31T13:16:00.000-07:00

Anyone who follows this blog and really knows me well, knows how much I hate shopping. To be completely honest, I passionately dislike shopping in the USA but something strange happens to me when I go overseas...I actually enjoy bartering and buying--go figure!

Now maybe it's the sights, smells and the novelty of it: the calls to prayer from the minaret, the fragrant spices of the market place, and the splashes of brightly colored fabrics that set my senses reeling. Anyway, I must be out of my senses to enjoy the barbaric practice. Can I get a rousing "Amen!" from the men out there?

It was countdown time: we only had two days left in Israel. Our schedule was filled with ancient wonders but we had little time to shop. Finally we got a free evening and I was elected to scout out the land...seasoned campaigner that I was having been to Israel once before. I screened my eyes from the sun as I looked for a familiar landmark. Ah, there it was--the Jaffa Gate! King David Street loomed in front of us. A handful of tourist grouped around me as if I were the shepherd and they were the sheep.

"Remember, don't snatch up the item with the first price they give you...walk away...act like you don't care," I said as each person mentally took notes. "Let's synchronize our watches and meet in front of King David's Tower in two hours," I said feeling very much like a commander on D-day. With that piece of advice and a quick blessing they were off to the races.

Come closer and I'll whisper a little secret--I actually had pleasure in watching them return with their purchases. They had survived the day out without any serious injury and so had I. What more can one expect? We were surely in the Promised Land.

There and Back Again

2007-07-28T03:55:00.000-07:00

I loved Israel but I'm glad to be home again. Thank you for your prayers because I did not fall off a camel nor was I close enough to one to get spit upon. Actually it was a very tame trip for me but not, alas, to a few friends who were also there: Maddy not only got baptized in the Jordon River but fell into it a second time the next day for good measure.

I enjoyed the food as only a Hobbit can with second breakfast, but did not gain any weight because I walked at least 2 or 3 miles a day during the tour in 100 degree weather. I felt more like Indiana Jones than a saint on pilgrimage. There is just something about looking at 5,000 year old ruins that makes me want to go into archeology.

I actually used my old fashioned Minolta X700 more than the digital so I have to get rolling on the development. I'm writing this at 4am because I'm still on Jerusalem time so I'll end this blog now before I become incoherent.

a hop, skip and a jump

2007-07-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

For those of you who enjoy reading about my adventures...or rather misadventures, know that I am only going to add to the storehouse by hopping to New Jersey, skipping to Germany and jumping into Israel. Why that route? Because I must go where the plane leadeth. Why Israel? Because like Mt. Everest...It is there and I love the land and people--Muslim and Jews alike. I shall be gone for ten days but I hope to be back with roaring tales to tell.

If you read my article "Old Yeller" than you know that horses and I don't mix, but don't rule out camels. If I see one I just may take it up. Now that is where I could use your prayers, if you are so inclined for the height of a camel is greater than a horse and my backside could be in some danger if I fell. Why a camel? Because I haven't been on one yet.

If you read my article "Candid Camera" than you know how simpatico I am with photography. I promise to bring back lots of pictures of my trip and like Bilbo, God willing, I shall be "There and Back Again."

Painting the Barn

2007-07-12T12:24:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning and assessed my situation. There was no denying the facts: it was as plain as the nose on my face. Down the corridors of my memory came advice so clairvoyant and clear like a clarion call. It was the only counsel my mentor and spiritual father, Rev. Paul Hackett, ventured to give the female segment of the student body.

There I was a young, eager, bright-eyed freshman looking up with veneration at a veteran minister with many campaigns; battle tested twenty years in the fierce jungle that made up Compton California.

"Ladies, please remember this..." he paused for effect. I, of course, was leaning forward in my seat with bated breath. What pearl of wisdom would he utter next, I wondered? In stentorian tones he somberly pronounced, "Do not paint the barn unless the barn needs painting!"

"Huh?" I said stupidly as I looked at him blankly. My neighbor, a sympathetic soul of sisterhood took pity on this tomboy and translated in a whisper, "He means don't wear make-up unless you need to!"

I nodded my head in acquiescences; I was only a a budding twenty-one year old. I had no intention of wearing make-up.

Adamantly through all the ensuing years I have been faithful to the vision. I only dabbed the war paint on if I had to attend a wedding or other special occasion. But alas, time moves forward and I am now over the hill. I momentarily brighten when I realized that when things go over a hill they pick up speed but the elation did not last long.

I looked in the mirror for a closer inspection. "Was this the face that launched a thousand ships and burnt the towers of Ilium" I pondered? Definitely not! How about sunk a thousand ships, I thought ruefully. Christopher Marlowe did not have my face in mind when he wrote the epic poem of Homer's Helen.

I sighed heavily and began to apply the paint, I mean, make-up. The barn definitely needed painting. "It's not the years; it's the mileage!" a sage-like Harrison Ford said long ago...I quite agreed with him.

Then like a bell another truth came ringing. This is for all of you out there who like me keep pushing middle-age further and further back the more you age. As far as I'm concerned, middle-age is about 65 now. I remember the days when they said you couldn't trust anyone over 30!

"God does not see as man sees: for man looks upon the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7)

I am so grateful that He does because in my heart I'm still 21 years old.

Old Yeller

2007-07-09T09:54:00.001-07:00

I should have known better and gone by my instincts but here I was prompted by my friends to ride a horse.

The cable guy...I mean stable guy, or whatever you call him, sized me up and said, "Have you ever been on a horse before?"
I shook my head nervously and wiped the sweat off my upper lip, "Umm, no sir!"
He paused and then drawled, "I'll give you Old Yeller."
That should have tipped me off right then that the man wanted to humiliate me. He nodded to a teenager who disappeared around the side of the horse pen.
My friends were already mounted on their beasts looking smug and confident.
I only had a few moments to collect myself and present some form of dignity I didn't possess.
"That's him," the old man pronounced tiredly.
Out came the most dilapidated creature I ever saw on four legs. It looked like it would collapse right then and there...a pale yellow but definitely not one of the horses of the apocalypse.
I was stirred by pity. "Are you sure he can take my weight?" I asked the stable man.
"No problem," he patted the horse's rump. "Old Yeller is the best horse to give beginners...he's real gentle."

After the man showed me how to mount and give commands, I was just happy to sit on it.
"Come on horse!" I ordered as my friends snickered.
Nothing happened.
"You have to kick the sides a little to get him going," one of them helpfully suggested.
I made a timid attempt and sure enough the horse started to move. That was the signal that my friends could take off and they left me in the dust.

My poor horse walked at the slowest pace imaginable and followed a trail under the shade of oak trees. What did I care that I was left behind? I had my imagination. I was Gandalf riding on Shadowfax swift as the wind. A refreshing breeze was blowing, the horse was behaving and I was feeling proud of myself.

All of a sudden I heard a loud sound coming from behind me: I'm ashamed to admit that I was too frightened to look, I just kicked the horse's side and yelled "giddy up!"

Old Yeller knew only two modes...start and stop. If he ever knew how to gallop it was long ago. The sound happened again and this time I looked behind me and saw nothing.

That's strange, I thought to myself. I know I did not imagine the sound. I decided that the next time the sound happened I would look back as soon as I heard it.

Ten minutes went by and I heard it again. I glanced quickly behind me and nothing was there. This is impossible...something has to be making that sound, I said to myself getting angrier!

Then I noticed the horse's tail was arched and to put it delicately....he was flatulenting, wait that's not a word, flatulating, oops wrong spelling. Okay, to put it bluntly--he was breaking wind or crudely stated--he was farting.

Now those of you who are equestrians can laugh all you want at a novice like me but I had no idea that horses did that. That hour long ride was a nightmare--the beast was filled with hot air.

If there is anyone out there who has never ridden a horse and you are considering it, please learn from me and never get on a horse named Old Yeller!

The Power of Forgiveness

2007-07-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

You don't have to live many years in life before you are hurt by someone. The more pain we endure should make us impenetrable but we seem quite the opposite and the thin layer of social veneer is easily peeled away by the first offense we encounter. Every new offense is like salt being rubbed into a wound that never fully heals.

We can move or make new friends but we also take our offenses with us. No one can live up to our expectations and sooner or later someone offends us again. You get the picture of the vicious cycle, but I don't want to paint the canvas black because there is hope.

I've learned how to guard myself from being offended. The first step was that I had to get a different perspective: a humble minister taught me my first lesson. He had to deal with the usual squabbles in a church and instead of getting impatient, angry or tired when the barbs were aimed his way, I heard him say many times in counsel meetings..."I give them the benefit of the doubt." He was a cheerful, happy man and lived without taking offense.

The second thing I learned was that hurting people hurt each other. I doubt very much that someone is planning and plotting how to make me miserable. I give them the benefit of the doubt: maybe they are facing pressures and sorrows I know nothing about, maybe they are just having a hard day. If I were having a rotten day, I hope that other people would grant me that freedom also and not judge me too harshly.

The third thing I learned was that I can forgive others because of what Jesus said on the cross when He cried out "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!" People don't know what they are doing when they hurt one another. They are caught in a trap and do not know how to stop hurting and hurting others.

Unforgiveness doesn't affect the people who hurt us...they may not know anything is wrong while the bitterness and bile collect in our system. I've leaned through hard lessons in life that when I finally release others--I am the one set free.

Be Still

2007-07-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

I admire beautiful architect and feel a hushed awe when I am in a great cathedral. Two years ago when I was doing research on my book, I went to England and visited Winchester Cathedral where Jane Austen lies buried. The Norman arches, ancient baptismal fount, and the stain glass windows all spoke of antiquity but I am from the New World and felt very much out of place.

I did not worship the Temple, I admired it. I am in awe of the people who could build such a monument to faith but the sanctity of God's presence I reserve for one place...His creation. I feel God's presence more when I am surrounded by the beauty His hands have made than when I am in services.

When I lived in L.A. and couldn't take the asphalt jungle any longer, I would have to visit Griffith Park. When I lived in SF and the noise and pace of the city wore me out, I would have to get my fix from the ocean or Golden Gate Park.

We live in a noisy, busy, frantic world...we have to fight to get to a place of rest and stillness. I am not talking about a stillness of surroundings, though that helps, but the stillness of soul and spirit. Many people may find life with that hectic pace but I have to slow down or I live on automatic pilot.

A few months ago I was teaching a rambunctious Sunday school class this lesson; after all the games, contests and snacks were over we went outside. The children laid on a large blanket and I told them to close their eyes and just listen for a few moments.

Minutes went by with just silence and then each child began to tell me what they heard...birds singing, the pages of their Bibles rustling, sounds of traffic from the distant highway. They felt the soft breeze and most of all...the presence of God. Why? I think it was because they were still enough in body, soul and spirit to recognize that He was with us.

Find those moments alone and you will discover how close He really is. "Be still and know that I am God..." (Ps. 46:10)

A Tree of Life

2007-07-01T18:51:00.000-07:00

It felt surreal...I was at a bookstore I had frequented most of my life but I wasn't there to buy anything this time--I was selling and signing my own book. I had buried the desire long ago; I had no hope that anything I ever wrote would see the light of day.

My dreams went on hold while I rolled up my sleeves and invested my life in children and youth. Looking back now, I have no regrets for many of their lives are built on a solid foundation.

Twenty years went by and then God began to stir me again and inflame my desire to write. I dusted off my long forgotten ambitions and poured myself into a story three years in the making.

This scripture has marked most of my life, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick..." I made the usual rounds to publishers and had many doors slammed in my face. Ah, but the scripture does not end there for the second part says this, "but when the desire is fulfilled it is a tree of life!" (Prov. 13:12)

Allow me to encourage you to never give up or let go of your dreams for they not an illusion. Twenty years can go by and it is still possible to see your dreams take shape into a tree of life.

Candid Camera

2007-06-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

I wish I could paint but I'm dismal at it...I have to use the paint-by-numbers in order for anything to remotely represent something recognizable. Beauty is in my soul but it sure is hard to get it out of me.

I watch musicals because I love to see graceful people dance, but me...I have two left feet. Gene Kelly can belt out, "Gotta dance!" and my feet starts tapping to the rhythm but that's as far as it goes. I can sing a little (on key too!) but after years of playing guitar with my small chubby fingers, I can only manage about fifteen chords so my repertoire is very limited.

How can I express what is inside of me? I searched and tried and failed and finally found something that captured what I wanted to say...yes, by Jove...you've got it! Just point and click! Thank God for the camera.

Now I can't match Steinbeck's Travels With Charley but I've had my own adventures with my Minolta.

Setting: Yosemite Valley
Year: a dozen years ago maybe
My age: none of your business
My weight: definitely classified
Literary type: non-fiction with just a tint of literary license
Time: an hour before sunset

Let me set the scene for you: I am standing in a verdant meadow with my zoom lens and eye fixed on Bridal Veil Falls. I am focused on one thing...capturing beauty, nothing else matters at the moment. My friend is standing by my side watching me take the picture and begins to move a healthy distance away.

friend: "Um, Helen, I hate to disturb you but you are about a foot away from a hornet's nest."
I made no comment and kept on clicking. Her voice rises in urgency as she ponders whether I am deaf as well as blind.
friend: "Did you hear what I said?"
me: "Yes" (I am still looking through the view finder and clicking away)
friend: "Don't you care?"
me: "I'll care right after I get this shot."
Silence reigns--my friend is musing whether I am insane too.
me: "Is the hornet's nest to the right or left of me?" I asked not bothering to glance around: I'm still glued to my Minolta.
friend: "It is to the left of your left foot."
me: "Good, I'll make sure not to move there."

Now I hear the buzzing sounds...four more shots and my roll is finished. Now I raise my head and notice my surroundings. Sure enough the hornet's nest was right there and the little buggers didn't seem too happy with me. For five minutes I was rooted to the spot like Mount Rushmore and now I high-tailed it like greased lightning.

Was I so cruel as to leave my friend behind? No way--she was the runner and I was weighted down with a ten pound camera case.

What was the happy outcome? Well, I captured the shots I wanted and my friend who thought I had totally lost my mind became fascinated with photography. She is now a first rate photographer. Isn't amazing what God will use to grab people's attention?

Love Gives Life

2007-06-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

Love gives life to everything.
Hate devours itself.

Good releases everyone.
Evil imprisons itself.

Faith believes for everyone.
Fear implodes on itself.

The world is vast for what is right
and narrow for all that is wrong

GANDALF

Ancient order, tales untold
One of the nine--leader bold
Quick to anger, quick to laugh
Wise in counsel, stifles wrath
Elves’ advisor, Strider’s friend
Frodo’s mentor, Saruman’s end
Glamdring’s owner, Shadow-fax tamed
“Mithrandir” Elves have named
Middle-earth’s flame, Arnor wields
Mordor’s darkness, hope to shield
Balrog’s terror, old man’s might
Fell in shadow, rose in white
Third age over, mission done
West is calling, joy has begun

FARAMIR

Faramir, faithful son
life almost over before it’s begun.

Greater wisdom than brother had
favored by Gandalf made your father mad.

Passed the test where Boromir failed
to give up the ring, your father railed.

Pride the portion of Denethor
fanned into flames by Mordor.

Faramir’s love could not quench the fire
his life salvaged from his family’s pyre.

Raised up to be Aragorn’s friend
Stewards of Gondor coming to an end.

EOWYN

The darkness has passed, the frost over.
Gentleness wins, hardness blows cover.

Faramir’s love has defrosted your heart.
Eowyn, you will have a new start.

Say goodbye to roughness and Rohan.
You will be a princess in Ithilien.

No longer a shield-maiden you will be
but a healer loving all beauty.

ITHILIEN’S GLOW

Proud maiden with heart of stone
Faramir’s love did much atone.

Winter is broken by the Spring
with all the promise it can bring.

Despondency with all its gloom
couldn’t force its way into your bloom.

Raven back and golden hair
mixed to the delight of Gondor's stare.

May your laughter mingle so
adding joy to Ithilien’s glow.

Make Them Laugh

2007-06-24T13:33:00.000-07:00

I envy my brother because he has perfect comic timing. He remembers jokes he learned in high school. I'm great as an audience member because I am very empathetic but I can't tell a joke for the life of me. I'm just not wired for it.

At family gatherings he's cracking us up and I can't even remember the punch line a few minutes later because the words and the order get all jumbled in my mind. If I do deliver the joke in right order then I miss the timing and there's no pizazz. Life is just not fair sometimes!

What I lack in the joke department I make up for in imagination because I think like Gary Larson. Alas, I still mourn the loss of The Far Side, don't you?

I'm very visual so if it looks funny than it is funny to me... I still laugh when I watch I Love Lucy, Perfect Strangers, Laverne & Shirley or Home Improvement.

Now my sense of humor has caused me some embarrassing moments because slapstick is funny even if someone gets hurt and that someone is me. I've done my usual trip, flip (wipe out on water skies and ripped my shorts) and hard landings. Besides a few bruises the only thing that really smarts is my pride and the swift kick to my ego.

The problem with me is that the lines don't get embedded in my memory...the pictures do. Someone can bring a box of candy to the office and tempt me with sweet confections and I start laughing. Co-workers back off thinking I've lost my mind but at that moment I can picture Lucy and Ethel stuffing bonbons in their cheeks and down their blouses.

See how dangerous it can be to be me? If I had been born two hundred years ago I would have been put in a padded cell but since I was working and living in San Francisco at the time...I was pretty normal, considering.

Name That Tune

2007-06-21T15:38:00.000-07:00

There I was with little tykes all around me abandoned in the sheer joy of the last day of school. Not a sigh on the air; I was smiling too. Out of nowhere I started to hum a tune...and then broke out audibly with a "ha ha ha...you and me," and caught a few curious glances from parents. I put a lid on the singing and my brain started to work on the song. Where in the world did it come from?

"Teacher, what are you singing?" a first grader asked. Beats me, I thought. Then as fast as white lightning came the knowledge that I had been humming one of my dad's favorite tunes...Little Brown Jug. "Umm it's just a song my father used to sing a long time ago," I replied lamely.

I could tell that the boy was eager to hear the whole song but I was not up to recital. The parents of my first grade class are kind and understanding but I don't know if they would tolerate me singing..."ha ha ha--you and me--little brown jug how I love thee!" especially at a Christian school. I know I am unorthodox but I have some sense of decorum.

Crazy how certain tunes can come out of nowhere like that and almost crucify you. The last time I heard that song I must have been nine or ten. I remember how my dad loved to belt it out especially after he had a swig or two. When he drank he was very happy...no moody blues with him and of course the song got lodged in my memory.

I remember that he used to sing military tunes too. My mother found out the hard way when her three year old son came home from play one day singing..."You're in the army now! You'll never get rich...you son of a b----! You're in the army now!"

Ah yes, fond memories. After my mother lectured my little brother she turned on my poor father and told him what for.

You never know what you may sing when you're tipsy or what song your child will have seared in their subconscious...so beware, be very aware the next time you are tempted to hug that little brown jug.

Sleepy Hollow

2007-06-19T13:49:00.000-07:00

I turned around and noticed the sun dipping below the horizon. I checked my watch in the vanishing light. It was almost 6pm. The sign said clearly that all the gates would be closed at sunset. Great, I thought! I had spent too much time lingering around the literary corner of Sleepy Hollow pondering over the graves of Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau and Louisa May Alcott.

I yelled to my friend and we both got in the car. We headed for the main entrance but the gate was locked. I began to sweat. I swerved to another gate and found that it was also locked.

"Why do these things always happen when I'm with you?" my faithful friend opined. I didn't reply because I was too busy praying under my breath. "Dear God, please let us get out of here! I promise I won't visit anymore graveyards for a long time."

My imagination was already taking over and I wondered what it would be like to be locked in a cemetery overnight. With a name like Sleepy Hollow I expected to be decapitated by the Headless Horseman before morning's light. In a flash my fear was no longer based on a character from a Washington Irving's novel but on Tolkien's Black Riders...

NAZGUL

Deaf to laughter, blind to cheer
Famine’s hunger, drunk on fear

Hell’s own offspring, living undead
Pursuing the nine, mission of dread

Clothed in darkness, shivers up the spine
Deeds of evil, poisoned wine

Made of nightmares haunting our dreams
Extinguished light, phantom teams

Shrieking menace, forever fell
Vacant goodness, putrid well

Hideous cries, consuming hate
Sauron crushed, death thy fate

A shiver ran down my spine. A rising hysteria took hold of me and I wanted to scream aloud, "We're going to die!" Now my fancy filled in nine back riders trying to overtake my car.

"Oh good!" my friend's calm voice penetrated my momentary insanity, "The last gate is open!" I left Sleepy Hollow with deep gratitude and trembling heart. It was enough of a close call to extinguish any desire to visit old graveyards for at least the next few years.

In Praise of Fathers

2007-06-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

I want to warn everyone right off that this is not a PC blog. If manhood being torn down and fathers ridiculed in sitcoms are more to your taste than please avoid reading any further for you are in danger of being traumatized.

I happen to be one of those rare birds who does not think that masculinity and femininity are the same thing in spite of all the gender bending and blending going on in our society; that giving a truck to a little girl and doll to a little boy are not going to change their natures. I say exuberantly with a dash of rebellion...viva la difference!

I want to honor all fathers on this day of days because I am unable to thank my own father. I lost him when I was thirteen and time has not lessen the ache. He was part of "The Greatest Generation" and fought in WWII, the Korean War and also worked behind the scenes in Vietnam. His grave marker has all three wars engraved on it; he was awarded two purple hearts.

I understand the pain this day can cause for some people whatever the reason...there are no perfect fathers yet don't we all have baggage and still strive to do our best?

In an age where euphemisms, semantics, and PC control our world: where unclarity in definitions can give birth to muddled thinking--I prefer another time to draw forth a tribute to fathers. I could not have put it better than Rudyard Kipling's hallmark poem...

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)