Rituals – every person, every family has them. We may not even realize what they are, but we have them. The way we eat our meals, take a shower, get ready for bed, what we do on the Sabbath day, etc., etc. It is the rituals that, combined, create individual and family traditions.
My wife and I have lived in the Alaska wilderness for the past 22 years. We have raised eight children here – only our eldest two daughters are old enough to have much memory of our pre-Alaska life. Life in the Alaska wilderness demands a certain life style. Extreme climate conditions (i.e. temperatures in the 30°F to 60°F below zero range) are life threatening. Though road connected, we live in an area with a very sparse population. There are no wholesale outlets, box stores, no supermarkets. The nearest supermarket is 150 miles away; the nearest wholesale outlet is 200 miles away. The nearest small town is 15 miles away, and it has a few small (as in very small) mom and pop type stores that cater to year-round local residents and to the tourists that swarm the area in the summer. Because of these conditions, groceries and supplies are not abundant, specialty items and some necessities are not available (there is no clothing store, for example), and those that are available are very expensive. Milk, for example, runs $6 to $7 per gallon, about double what it can be purchased for in Anchorage, and about quadruple what it can be purchased for in most areas of the lower 48.
A commodity that is very expensive, and getting more so all the time, is heating fuel. There are two kinds available in the area: fuel oil and propane. Its one of those situations where they are both more expensive than the other (I don’t know how that works either, but it sure seems like it!). With the high cost of such goods and services, and the not so high wages and salaries in the area, we do not have a lot of money to throw around. Because of this, we built our home to be energy efficient, to conserve heat and water. Our home is designed with a wood stove as its central heater with a fuel oil forced air furnace as a back up. The venting system is designed so the furnace pulls its return air from around the wood stove. The intent is to create a system that will actively circulate heat from the wood stove throughout the house
One ritual that I have, at least for the three-fourths of the year that we have to use supplemental heating, is building a fire in the woodstove every morning. I seem to have a knack for it. The wife and kids can build a fire, but it usually takes them several tries, lots of paper and cardboard fire starter, and sometimes they just give up because they can’t get it going. In contrast, I can usually get a fire started the first try and have the house warmed in only a few minutes. Rarely do I ever have to light a second match (I’m a good Boy Scout!) or refresh the kindling.
What I have to do regularly (in fact, as regularly as the seasons) is collect the firewood we use to heat our home. It takes about 5 cords of wood to last us the winter. I usually make the effort to do this in the last part of September or early October, and I do my best to get it in before snow flies. I use a Honda Fourtrax 300 4x4 with a small trailer to haul my cut firewood out of the forest. I bought this machine 20 years ago, and if you had told me then that it would stand up this long to the work I have used it for, I would not have believed you. It will climb a tree, and it works like a tractor. I can haul about ¼ cord of wood each trip. That is quite a load for my little rig, but it pulls it through some of the most difficult terrain you can imagine without any problem – unless there is significant snow on the ground. Much more than 8” of unpacked snow, and my little 4x4 “swims” in it and is not much good for pulling any load.
The collection of our winter wood supply has developed into one of our family traditions. Our kids always whined and complained about it, but I would drag them along to help as often as I could. Believe me, gathering our wood supply is a lot of work! I do most of the chain saw operation and hauling of the biggest logs, and I get the kids to do much of the gathering of cut logs and hauling to the rig to be loaded. I always find it satisfying. It has been said that firewood warms you three times, once when you cut it, once when you split it, and finally when you burn it.
As our children get older and get to be more our friends than our kids, we can converse with them as adults. It is amazing sometimes to learn what our children pick up on during their childhood. Its understandable that they remember and almost always adopt the family holiday traditions they grew up with for their own homes and families when they mature and are on their own. I mean, those are fun and exciting. But I was amazed when at a family gathering in the not too distant past, I mentioned something about gathering the annual wood supply, and my grown son pipes up and says he really misses that annual tradition. I was floored! I had always had the idea that the kids did not like helping to gather the wood, and only helped because I made them. When I expressed my amazement at this pronouncement, one of my daughters spoke up and said that she misses that annual activity too. Other children spoke up expressing similar feelings. Apparently, this annual Fall-time activity has made a positive and indelible impression on our children.
I don’t necessarily consider our wood gathering as fun (as I said, it is a lot of work). But I do find it satisfying, and as Fall approaches every year, I find myself antsy to get out in the woods and get at it. I think this stems from my fear of not having enough firewood to last the winter at least as much as it does from the desire to do so. As the days get rapidly shorter and nighttime temperatures get lower, I will rush home from work, quickly change clothes, gas up the chainsaw, and head out into the woods. I always try to tell my wife about where I will be. I feel better knowing that she can find me in case a bear gets me, or I have an accident, or am otherwise delayed in returning.
My wife will occasionally accompany me (or us, if the kids are here) to help. Though I am comfortable going solo, I always enjoy her company when she does. But, because of household requirements, she often cannot. Sometimes, when I am out making sawdust and loading wood by myself, I will hear a rustle or catch a movement out of the corner of my eye. I will look up and see my beautiful wife like a fairy waif coming through the woods to find me. This always gives me a thrill – makes my heart go pitter-patter. After she does this a time or two, I will catch myself watching for her, hoping she will come, anticipating her arrival. I love her so much. I so desperately want to have a beautiful, loving, unified, intimate, and eternal marriage relationship with her, and none else. Please, God, help us to achieve this.
Rituals – everyone has them.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
B. Hussein Obama - Continued
In my most recent post, I stated, "take my word for it; this is one time that the moniker “progressive” fits, only in the sense that this monstrous bill will only “progress” (i.e. continue to grow) to astronomical proportions." I don't claim to be any sort of prophet, and that is one time I would like to see my "prophecy" prove false. But, it hasn't proven so, and it is coming to pass. Just consider: first, it was TARP at $700B, then the stimulus bill at $790B, then I think it was a $265B bail out for health care, then several other things I don't remember right off, and now a $420B budget for the current fiscal year. The latest total of all this is $3.6 TRILLION (MSNBC News and other sources). Where will it end? Answer: it won't! As long as we have a "progressive" in the White House, and "progressive" controlled Congress, this mess will just continue to get worse. The "progressives" constantly whined and moaned about President Bush doubling the national budget in the 8 years he was in office. B. Hussein Obama has doubled the national budget in SIX WEEKS! The stock market has tanked and continues a death spiral down. What little retirement savings the wife and I had in the market is worth only half of what it was worth before the election. I'm afraid we need to be ready for a long haul of this kind of Obama economic "recovery". I urge my children and everybody to prepare. I hope and pray that Obamanomics will not hit my family too hard, but what else can we expect? Everyone (except of course Obama and the tax cheating "progressive" elites) is going to suffer as a result of these misguided policies. May God help us all!!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Pre-Quiem
Our nation is a “land of promise, which [i]s choice above all other lands, which the Lord God ha[s] preserved for a righteous people. And … whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them. … And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity. And this cometh unto you … that ye may know the decrees of God—that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you … . Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ … .”
Thus quoth the Scripture, speaking of our land, our nation, the United States of America. Can anyone deny that the U. S. is a blessed nation? As citizens of the U. S., we are blessed with the greatest prosperity, the most freedom, and greatest security relative to any other nation that exists or has existed upon the earth. Our nation has blessed the world with science, electronics and computers, cars and airplanes, food production, medicine, and on and on – you name it. Not only has the U. S. blessed the world with material goods and technology, but we have blessed the world and its peoples with charitable giving. Billions and billions of dollars in funds, goods, and services have been given by the U. S. to nations and peoples less fortunate than ourselves. Any time, anywhere disaster strikes on earth, it is always the U. S. that is first there offering help.
“Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people. And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose [that which is not right], then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited …” those throughout history who covenant to be His people and ultimately turn away from that covenant.
Have we reached this point? Ours is a Christian nation, founded upon historic and timeless Judeo-Christian principles. About 53% of the people who voted in the recent general election cast their ballots in favor of B. Hussein Obama. Similarly, a virtually unstoppable majority of “progressives” were elected to both the House and the Senate in Congress. Frankly, this scares me. If these people are “progressives”, why is it that every policy or action they have proposed to date will ultimately, if not immediately, take away or reduce our rights, stifle the national economy (not to mention the disaster to our personal economies that will result from job losses, skyrocketing prices, scarcity of goods, reduced income, increased taxes, etc., etc.), reduce our competitiveness in the world economy, hamstring our national security forces, etc., and basically put our nation down the road, full speed ahead, back to a third world status and lifestyle. In my view, these “progressive” policies are contrary to and in violation of the foundational Judeo-Christian principle upon which our nation is founded. This is not progression, it is regression.
President B. Hussein Obama talks pretty and paints beautiful pictures with his words. But there is something wrong with his pictures. If we look with our logic rather than our fears, we can see through the pretty façade to the harsh reality underneath. We need to learn to see through the lie. For example, let’s examine his statements and promises about taxes:
· Obama says 95% of Americans are going to get a tax cut. But, he also promises his “progressive” supporters that he will let President Bush’s tax cuts expire. I never heard him discuss these two concepts together, so we could see and evaluate them side-by-side. When we do evaluate them in this manner, we can see that before anyone gets a tax cut, everyone will get an across the board tax increase.
· Obama promised that the only ones that possibly would see a tax increase were those making over 250,000/yr. Who do you know that makes this kind of money? If you know someone, most likely he/she is an entrepreneur or CEO of some small business. The lie is that these are the small business owners who employ something like 90% of the rest of us who don’t make over $250K. Taxing these small businesses will stifle the economy, reducing our job opportunities and salaries. Tax increase for our employers translates to less compensation and fewer job opportunities for employees.
· President B. Hussein Obama promises to impose a windfall profits tax on oil industry and big businesses. This one makes me laugh that people can’t see right through it. Who is it that pulls into a gas station and fills the tank of their car? Pays for lube and oil change? Uses plastics or anything else that is a product of the petroleum industry. We do. There is no such thing as a tax on business. Any tax imposed on business is passed straight to the customers. Windfall profit taxes are taxes on you and me, further reducing our ability to provide necessities of life for our families and ourselves. Obama’s tax plan will only make businesses into tax collectors.
· President Obama and his “progressive” cohorts have pushed through a massive economic stimulus bill. His promise is that this $790 billion (that’s billion, with a “b”) stimulus package will create jobs, provide an influx of cash that will resurrect the economy, and heal the Dead Sea (Not really! That’s my take on the miracles he’s promising). What is the stimulus bill really? It is a massive pork and glut giveaway spending bill that primarily rewards his “progressive” backers and cronies. And, take my word for it; this is one time that the moniker “progressive” fits, only in the sense that this monstrous bill will only “progress” (i.e. continue to grow) to astronomical proportions. How does this relate to taxes? Well, who is ultimately going to pay for all this? You and I are, the taxpayers of the nation. In one fell swoop, Obama has saddled me and my family with more debt that we have ever had, even cumulatively, since my family has existed. I’m sorry, but this is not acceptable. And, it will not stimulate the economy, but will do just the opposite.
Certainly, these are not the only examples I could dredge up. Almost everything Obama has said is a lie couched in pretty language. And, it is not only taxes that will be subject to this type of manipulation. Watch the rights enshrined in the Constitution, the freedom of speech, the right to keep and bear arms, etc. And the justice system and the courts are likely to be skewed so far left, by appointment of “progressive” judges, that our rights to a fair and impartial trial will be largely compromised. I may address some of these issues in subsequent blogs.
People, we need to wake up! Look beyond the persuasive rhetoric. Learn to see the lie.
May God help us!
Thus quoth the Scripture, speaking of our land, our nation, the United States of America. Can anyone deny that the U. S. is a blessed nation? As citizens of the U. S., we are blessed with the greatest prosperity, the most freedom, and greatest security relative to any other nation that exists or has existed upon the earth. Our nation has blessed the world with science, electronics and computers, cars and airplanes, food production, medicine, and on and on – you name it. Not only has the U. S. blessed the world with material goods and technology, but we have blessed the world and its peoples with charitable giving. Billions and billions of dollars in funds, goods, and services have been given by the U. S. to nations and peoples less fortunate than ourselves. Any time, anywhere disaster strikes on earth, it is always the U. S. that is first there offering help.
“Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people. And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose [that which is not right], then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited …” those throughout history who covenant to be His people and ultimately turn away from that covenant.
Have we reached this point? Ours is a Christian nation, founded upon historic and timeless Judeo-Christian principles. About 53% of the people who voted in the recent general election cast their ballots in favor of B. Hussein Obama. Similarly, a virtually unstoppable majority of “progressives” were elected to both the House and the Senate in Congress. Frankly, this scares me. If these people are “progressives”, why is it that every policy or action they have proposed to date will ultimately, if not immediately, take away or reduce our rights, stifle the national economy (not to mention the disaster to our personal economies that will result from job losses, skyrocketing prices, scarcity of goods, reduced income, increased taxes, etc., etc.), reduce our competitiveness in the world economy, hamstring our national security forces, etc., and basically put our nation down the road, full speed ahead, back to a third world status and lifestyle. In my view, these “progressive” policies are contrary to and in violation of the foundational Judeo-Christian principle upon which our nation is founded. This is not progression, it is regression.
President B. Hussein Obama talks pretty and paints beautiful pictures with his words. But there is something wrong with his pictures. If we look with our logic rather than our fears, we can see through the pretty façade to the harsh reality underneath. We need to learn to see through the lie. For example, let’s examine his statements and promises about taxes:
· Obama says 95% of Americans are going to get a tax cut. But, he also promises his “progressive” supporters that he will let President Bush’s tax cuts expire. I never heard him discuss these two concepts together, so we could see and evaluate them side-by-side. When we do evaluate them in this manner, we can see that before anyone gets a tax cut, everyone will get an across the board tax increase.
· Obama promised that the only ones that possibly would see a tax increase were those making over 250,000/yr. Who do you know that makes this kind of money? If you know someone, most likely he/she is an entrepreneur or CEO of some small business. The lie is that these are the small business owners who employ something like 90% of the rest of us who don’t make over $250K. Taxing these small businesses will stifle the economy, reducing our job opportunities and salaries. Tax increase for our employers translates to less compensation and fewer job opportunities for employees.
· President B. Hussein Obama promises to impose a windfall profits tax on oil industry and big businesses. This one makes me laugh that people can’t see right through it. Who is it that pulls into a gas station and fills the tank of their car? Pays for lube and oil change? Uses plastics or anything else that is a product of the petroleum industry. We do. There is no such thing as a tax on business. Any tax imposed on business is passed straight to the customers. Windfall profit taxes are taxes on you and me, further reducing our ability to provide necessities of life for our families and ourselves. Obama’s tax plan will only make businesses into tax collectors.
· President Obama and his “progressive” cohorts have pushed through a massive economic stimulus bill. His promise is that this $790 billion (that’s billion, with a “b”) stimulus package will create jobs, provide an influx of cash that will resurrect the economy, and heal the Dead Sea (Not really! That’s my take on the miracles he’s promising). What is the stimulus bill really? It is a massive pork and glut giveaway spending bill that primarily rewards his “progressive” backers and cronies. And, take my word for it; this is one time that the moniker “progressive” fits, only in the sense that this monstrous bill will only “progress” (i.e. continue to grow) to astronomical proportions. How does this relate to taxes? Well, who is ultimately going to pay for all this? You and I are, the taxpayers of the nation. In one fell swoop, Obama has saddled me and my family with more debt that we have ever had, even cumulatively, since my family has existed. I’m sorry, but this is not acceptable. And, it will not stimulate the economy, but will do just the opposite.
Certainly, these are not the only examples I could dredge up. Almost everything Obama has said is a lie couched in pretty language. And, it is not only taxes that will be subject to this type of manipulation. Watch the rights enshrined in the Constitution, the freedom of speech, the right to keep and bear arms, etc. And the justice system and the courts are likely to be skewed so far left, by appointment of “progressive” judges, that our rights to a fair and impartial trial will be largely compromised. I may address some of these issues in subsequent blogs.
People, we need to wake up! Look beyond the persuasive rhetoric. Learn to see the lie.
May God help us!
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