7/9/2023 To Brush or not to

    Brush. If it's your teeth keep on brushing.  If it's your metal bristle grill brush, stop what your doing and do yourself, family and friends a favor and toss that brush in the garbage. 

      I read about a doctor in Oregon who didn't know the dangers of said grill brushes. He experienced severe abdominal pain. It would be there in the morning and get worse in the afternoon. Using differing scans of his abdomen they ruled out a lot of things. When taking pictures at different times, the radiologist picked up something. A very small mass. Operation later they had the culprit, yep, a single centimeter wire from a grill brush. It was his brush, it matched perfectly with his brush. This relief came weeks later.

      He learned a lot. Also he learned what his patients complained about in their illnesses, first hand. Now he knows what real pain is. When the other doctors couldn't find his problem, he worried that they were thinking he was crazy. So a lot of times the patient is Not  Crazy. You have to think for yourself as well and maybe keep a journal in trying to unravel a mystery. You can also invite divine spirit in to help you solve it.

7/4/2023 Flap the Bird Karma

       Last week, looked in the backyard due to a kerfuffle 20  ft up in the air. A flock of blue jays swept in and alighted on 2 trees in backyard. One dead tree and the other alive. One Jay alone is loud but 50 of them are just crazy loud. Never seen so many together. And I've  been here since 2004. I looked but didn't see what they were protesting about. They stayed for a good 10 minutes. Since I've been here I've been feeding the birds. The blue jay numbers were about 12 equal to the amount of cardinals.  It was the blue jay feathers I would find around the feeder but not the bodies. I guess the hawk would carry it away. When a hawk comes every body goes crazy, all the birds, chip monks and squirrels. The dove is well camouflaged. The cardinal flees horizontal to the ground looking for cover. The jay freaks and launches vertical, easy pickins for Mr hawk.

      Today, I hear the jays they're back at least 50 of them. What a racket. I look out the window with a bird's eye view. The hawk is on the outer limb of the live tree, he retreats closer to the trunk. The birds are harassing him pretty good. Eventually he has enough and glides off with 4 jays chasing him. Wow! Never seen that before. Jays turned the table on Mr hawk.

      So the blue jay got smart in almost 20 years. On their own they were dead meat. As an army the hawk had to retreat. That's a metaphor for us who inhabit this earth. As I said before it is when we are united that makes us a beacon to the world. Let's never ever extinguish that flame no matter how hard it becomes to keep it lit.

7/4/2023 We the People

       A system of government where it's inhabitants have a say so in the how the country is run. To possess this document say about 25,000 colonial dead ( future Americans) and 7,000 wounded. These colonists put their lives in jeopardy for an ideal. To be governed not by King George the third but by their own elected representatives. Some say they revolted due to England's taxing of the colonies. No taxation without representation. But in life someone has to pay in one form or another. The English footed the bill during the French and Indian War. They also protected villages from Indian attacks. Who benefitted? The colonists did. So England needed money for all this warfare. Only way to get it was via a tax. Eventually the US forms and they institute a tax eventually. So to me the war was fought for an ideal. A place where there would be no kings and queens. A country that was going to give democracy a chance.

      They wanted George Washington to run again after 8 years. See they slip backed into that king mentality. George said no. 8 years is enough. They stayed the course till FDR. After FDR they went back to 8 years and your done.

      Was there perfection... nope. Blacks had no say, women had no say and men without land had no say. These things had to be tinkered with way down the line. 

      The war of 1812 saw England return to the US. This time burning down the Whitehouse and torching the capitol building. The states endured. They had a bad army then. So they started to assemble a more proficient one. All was calm for the next 45 years. A division was always lingering in the heart of the US. The industrial North and the agricultural South worked by slaves taken from their homes back in Africa. It was a power and a moral issue. It was settled after the deaths of 620,000 Americans. Millions of people suffered during this 4 year period. And more suffering for the south the next 10 or more years. But the US persevered. 1900 rolled around. Back then some people believed the end times would happen  as the calendar dropped the 8 and put in a 9. Some people even got rid of all their stuff. The next 101 years would be something.  The industrial revolution saw the introduction of the mass produced car and the aeroplane  in quick succession. Fossil fuels and electricity. Everything got accelerated. 50 years after the Civil War. America found itself at war again. Repaying a favor to the French. They helped us during the revolution and we did the same for them during WW1.We were there a year and a half. It was enough to turn the tide of the war in the allies favor. The US was slowly becoming a world power. And when the world needed us most, we were ready. WW 2 came around in 23 years. Our industrial might came down upon the axis powers and blocked their evil ambitions.  If the south won during the Civil War, we probably wouldn't  have defeated the axis powers. All our greatness came because we were united. We must do the same for the next 100 years. To have any chance for hope, we must stay united. We did it after 9/11. Stay the course.

      Our money says In God we trust. It is not just a slogan, it's a way of life. Each of us must work with God to become even better. And a better you will lead to a better world. God helped with the framework, let's not muck it up now.

      Happy July 4th, America  247 years young.

6/22/2023 He is Such A Patient God

       He is. He has all the time in the world. We're all here to learn how to love. He has given us free will and with that we will reap the benefits and detriment that come with it. Those pluses and minuses will shape us into being who we really are. This boot camp can be difficult but everyone who comes wants to learn the ways of God. God sees into every human heart. He knows all. Your weaknesses and strengths. He does not judge. He is just divine Love. All encompassing. He awaits your signal. When you cry out he hears no matter how small the voice, he hears. He feels  all that you feel, he feels. He sees all that lies hidden, he sees. He wants you to be with him forever, he wants. He waits for however long it takes for you to be ready to take that step toward him, he waits. He pours his love out to you, it is yours, he pours.

       Many paths to get there. Pick one,  it does not matter which one. Make your own path. If you are learning on the path all is good. Look for the good fruit along the path. Partake. If it tastes bitter, cast aside and choose a new path. Ask God your travel companion to show you his ways. For surely he will. Stop look and listen. The answer is nearby. Answers can come from dreams as well. And don't forget the inner small voice. Listen to it as well as feel it. It is your comfort. From here all can be surmounted no matter who you are or what your circumstances. Your connection, your anchor  your peace.

      Your world will change. A new and brighter you.

6/18/2023 Father's. Day

       I grew up with the best father in the world. For that I'm very grateful. I thought when I was young everyone had a great father. Later on I learned that it was far from the truth. Unfortunately  for this world. With loving parents this world would be quite different. If you see strife in the family, well of course it will exist throughout the land. The sins of the father or mother are passed on to the kids.  Who then perpetrate them onto their kids.

      I was at a sotrta friend's house a long time ago. We were in the backyard, beautiful manicured green grass. He kept it immaculate. So we were talking and his 9 year old did something minor. John booted the kid in the butt for it. Took the kid by surprise. I said John don't do that. He says why not. I say because it's  not right. What an idiot asshole I think to myself. A couple weeks later I'm working at our factory and 2 old timers are there. I told them about John. They say you know why he did that. I say NO. Because  that's what his father did to him. Now I get it. Not an asshole but a victim who passes it along like an unwanted cold. But we can say to ourselves I have a choice to belike my parent or to see that change and say no not today. Today I change the script up. I choose kindness from this day hence.

       My friend Tom had an abusive dad. He lamented it. He said your family was very different from my own. He was about to start a new family with his wife. I said to him now is your chance to do something different. You will become the better patriarch to embark on a new branch of the family tree. Learn from the past. But live in the NOW

      To the loving fathers everywhere, keep up the good works. You create change in this world by your acts.

6/17/2023 Yep ... it's Breed's Hill Day

      Two things they got wrong, 1) not Battle of Bunker Hill, it's Breed's Hill.  Two)  the background color of colonist's flag was red not blue. 

     After this day, there would be no going back to a "normal life".

      Oh,  the colonists lost this battle but not after putting a big hurt on the number 1 military power in the world at that time.

      1500 colonists were told to put a redoubt (earthen fort)  on Bunker Hill on the Charlestown peninsula. The purpose was to keep an eye on the Boston Harbour. To tally British activity in the harbour.  Bunker Hill was at the base of  Charlestown peninsula, it was also the biggest Hill there.  It's just about midnight on June 16 th. Some of the men look over to Breed's Hill and say we can see more from over there.  It's closer to the city.  So they go over there instead. Free thinkers. You dig here on Bunker Hill. Nope not doing it, sorry.  Breed's Hill it is then. Dig ,dig they did. First light British War ships see the breast work atop and down the hill. They unleash their cannons at the Hill. Many men said I had my fill of this and retreated away from the cannon fire. By the time the battle started they were down to 700 men.

      Now the musket was not that accurate. It would shoot a large ball about 175 yards. The ball could travel from a ft high to 7 ft high. By firing together  at the same time. You would send out a wall of lead. That equals no chance for you if you are within 175 yards of the gun's muzzle. Col Prescott said don't shoot til you see the whites of the regular's (British soldiers were called that by the colonists) eyes. Now some say Prescott  said don't shoot till you see the colors of their eyes. But that doesn't make sense. Since the whites are really the light's of the eye. The white reflects light better than the darks. 

      The British cannon caused a fire in Charlestown which was slightly to the north of Breed's Hill.  The colonists looking down the Hill would see Charlestown to their right.  The British suspected that since weather usually goes west to east it would cover the hill in smoke. Not this day though, for some unknown reason it went north. Good for the colonists. Their good luck or divine intervention happened again during the retreat from Long Island NY to  NYC. A fog helped in George Washington's escape. The cause might of ended there except for that fortuitous fog. George was able to use many boats to get his army across the river cloaked by the fog.

       When the regulars were disembarking just below the fort. The guy in charge of 2 cannon was told to take the cannon out of fort and harass the redcoats at the shore. He left the fort and kept on going back to Cambridge MA. Oh   well. The British organized 2 wings,  the 2nd went along the mystic river the other proceeded from the south east. This group would experience a horror that would last them the rest of their lives.

      As the regulars in their red wool tunics marched up the in a horizontal line though the tall grass, they saw upclose what was to befall them.  Once they crossed the 175 yard line they heard a crescendo of musket fire. The lead was so thick it cut them down like a swift sword. The smoke from the musket fire covered the hill. Acrid smoke and screams permeated the spring air. Down they went what was left of them double time. No marching lines this time. It's every man for himself. Back to the shore they went. The captains reformed the ranks and they did the same thing. Round 2:  The same thing happened but this time climbing up the hill they had to sidestep the dead and wish they were dead fellow soldiers. They went back to the shore line and regrouped for round number 3.  But this time the colonist's were out of musket balls. Rule number 1 you can never have enough ammo. They broke that rule. And on the 3rd try the regulars entered the redoubt with bayonets glinting in the hot sun. It was hand to hand fighting. The soul of the colonist contingent fell dead.  Joseph Warren a medical doctor who was a family man and a firebrand for the cause. He was just made a general. When he heard about the redoubt he left his family and ran to the cause. Col Prescott said you are a general now. But he demured, he was just there as a volunteer. He performed the tasks of the everyday foot soldier. He was so loathed by the redcoats that they dug him up a couple days later to make sure he was dead.

      The redcoats did not pursue the retreating rebels, big mistake. The redcoats were licking their wounds. The British would never learn from their mistakes. Which was to occur again in Long Island NY,  Philadelphia and the 2nd battle of Trenton. They would not pursue.

      The colonists lost 300 dead  and 30 captured wounded.  They were put on British ships were 20 of them would die.  Redcoats lost over a thousand men in dead and wounded. They had at the start 2,000 men. An astonishing 89 officers were lost. The British never had a loss like that ever. They just could not believe it. Neither could London. Heads did roll.

      When there is a will there is a way. This rag tag army got the best of a world power in an hour and a half from 3 pm to 4:30 pm. 90 minutes that changed the world for a better future for all mankind. Without the US. Germany would have won in both world wars. And that world,   I would not want to have envisoned.

      I like our motto:  In GOD we trust. Focus on that in all our endeavors.

6/12/2023 Fire & Compass

       When lost in nature, those 2 tools can come in handy.  For 66 year old Appalachian  trail hiker Geraldine Largay she had access to both but failed to use them. There's  and old saying when in Rome due as the Roman's do.  In other words follow their lead. If you want to build a structure in your backyard say a shed, you want to learn something about how to actually do it. You talk to others who know how and look it up on the internet, or get a book on it. There you will learn the tools you will need and most important how to use the tools. Then do small projects first for practice. This is called doing your due diligence.

      Nature is beautiful at times and deadly as well. Know what your up against so as to properly prepare for any problems you might run into. On a hike in the woods a compass is a must. More important is how to use said compass. Geraldine had the compass but had no clue how to use it. With the compass you leave the trail. Look at compass and pick a direction north south east or west. If you leave trail heading north time your self, say 10 minutes  to do your duty. When returning you reverse your direction and head south for 10 minutes back to the trail. Having geographic maps is a plus too. Also know how to read them. If you don't have a compass use a marker. Carry a roll of colorful tape from Home Depot. There is no sticky on it and can be torn with little effort by your fingers. Wrap small sections of tape on bush or tree branches. As you move forward look back to keep that piece of tape in view. Whe you start to lose sight of it, time to place another marker.

     As a teenager our troop did an overnight at a campsite. It snowed 4 inches that night unexpectedly.  That morning the parents where down below  to collect their kids. My patrol leader Roy, who was also a young teeensger and me decided to walk out. He had a compass. We walked 15 minutes came across a very small clearing mountain laurel everywhere and bare deciduous trees. Another 15 minutes later the same clearing, looked like we went around in a circle I said. Roy said it did look the same but we go by the compass and we did.  Two hours later were standing on a snow covered road, where we made it back to his house. The power of a compass.

      Where there is smoke. There is fire. When lost for 2 days it's time to start one. Gather all the dead fall. 2 piles, 1 small one for the fire and the bigger 1 to feed the smaller pile. Once it's going add green or wet leaves. This makes it more smokey. The fire has to be big enough for the smoke to be able to escape the forest canopy. A forest fire could also help your cause.

      Unfortunately for Geraldine they found her in her tent 2 years later. She died. She was less than 2 miles from the trail.

      When lost tell yourself you will get out of this predicament. I do this all the time. It works for any predicament you come up with. I also call on divine spirit's help. It is always on the ready. And I thank it when it comes through.