We're Not Home Yet

Are you a traveler?  An adventurer?  We enjoy traveling.  We especially like to tent camp in places like the Great Smoky Mountain National Park or Rocky Mountain National Park.  We also enjoy Fort Pickens in Pensacola, Florida, where we camp not far from the beach.  Taking in all the beautiful sights, eating food cooked over a campfire, drinking cowboy coffee and then hiking for hours on trails.  It's just invigorating and relaxing and we've piled up a mental library of family memories on these annual excursions.

But do you know the best part of traveling?  Getting home!  Pulling into the driveway is a rewarding experience.  Seeing familiar sights, but with renewed appreciation and then crossing over the Home Sweet Home doormat, opening the back door and walking inside, smelling the familiar smell of home.  It's nice, an experience that's hard to explain.  I guess some would call us 'homebodies.'

I'm blessed to have been raised in a family that values togetherness, family, and a simple, yet comfortable and safe home and environment.  We've tried to provide that same thing to our now-grown kids, realizing that not everyone has the opportunity of enjoying an intact family with those they love surrounding and supporting them.  We never take that for granted.  Maybe that's why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  Our family is not perfect and things aren't always idyllic, but God is faithful and has blessed us.

I wonder if you also do what I'm about to explain?  As I think about things, despite our blessings, my mind goes to things that are less than perfect, relationships that could be stronger, struggles and health issues that loved ones go through.  You wonder why do bad things happen to good people?  Why is there such suffering?  Why are things unjust?  Why is life so unfair?  The short answer is we live in a fallen world.  Ever since sin entered the world, things have been this way, with pain, toil, sorrow, sickness, parting, and death burdening us.  Can you imagine what it must have been like in the Garden before sin?

For the believer, there is a future glory waiting.  There is a coming Homecoming that will make the "pulling into the driveway after a trip" joy seem petty and trite.  The best way to illustrate this is from a story I heard that Dr. Criswell, pastor of First Baptist Dallas, wrote of: 

A faithful missionary couple returned to the United States on the same ship that carried Theodore Roosevelt home from a safari that he had been on in Africa.  A mob of reporters and well-wishers were on the dock, waiting to see Teddy Roosevelt after he got off the ship from his safari.  Nobody was there to greet the missionary couple who had returned home after serving on the mission field their entire lives in Africa.

Later that night in their simple hotel room, the couple talked about arriving back and the husband was downcast.  "It isn't fair," he said to his wife.  "Mr. Roosevelt comes home from a hunting trip and the entire country is waiting to greet him.  We come home after years of service on the mission field in Africa, and nobody was there to greet us."

And then his wife answered, "Honey, we aren't HOME yet."

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Philippians 3:20

Are you homesick?

Ring the Bell - Leading you Home

 

Image Credit

When I was 10 years old we moved out to the country.  We had five acres of wooded land to roam around on.  Five acres may not sound like much to you, but to us, it was like the Hundred Acre Wood where Christopher Robin and his friend Winnie the Pooh found many adventures awaiting.  It's where I killed my first wood duck and many fox squirrels.  It's where we built many forts and camps where we hunkered down against imaginary foes.  It contained sassafras trees from which we made gumbo file from the roots and sassafras tea from the roots and where we picked mayhaws for jelly making.

There was one drawback, for my mom, at least.  This was 25 years before cell phones came on the scene.  If we were needed, how would our parents contact us when we were skirmishing with enemy troops in our many battles?  This communication problem was solved when Dad erected a cast iron bell mounted on a 4x4 post.  If Mom needed us, the bell would ring, the peals loudly echoing through acres of long leaf pine, and we were instructed to come running home.  There was no excuse for not hearing the bell.  We didn't call it the Liberty Bell.  It actually cut into our freedom, but one important thing it did was to call us home.

Almost 50 years later, we find ourselves modern people with modern problems, diversions and distractions.  Our past, our common point of reference often seems so far away, so distant that it seems an impossible endeavor - this quest to go home.  Thomas Wolfe famously said, "You can't go home again."  What he meant is that we've changed and our old home place has changed and so it's impossible to go back home to that nostalgic place in our memory to experience what we cherished.  But is this true?  Can we not return "home?"  I'm thinking of my childhood home, but I'm also thinking in a broader sense of home - that gathering point.

As we look around us and see things change so that many of the values and mores of our childhood seem foreign or quaint or even backwards, outdated and old fashioned, I submit to you that we must listen and return home.  I'm not ashamed to say that the Bible is like that cast iron bell that calls us home, that rings out to those that have ears to hear, to come home.  Home, figuratively speaking, is Truth.  Home is the bedrock of faith in Christ and His Word.  Home are the values, the old ways, that our fathers and forefathers walked.  There is great wisdom in the old paths.

One Scripture reference that comes to mind is Jeremiah 6:16 which says: "Thus says the LORD: Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls."  The people of Judah were called to return to the Lord, to come back to ways that were tried and true.  Rebellious people back then and yes, today, think the old paths are boring and irrelevant to a modern society.  This call home promises rest for our souls.  Don't we all need rest?

The interesting thing about that call is that it is not mandatory that we answer it.  We have the choice, the free will, to follow or to stray.  The next verse, Jeremiah 6:17 goes on to say: But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ Also, I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’  

The rest of the chapter tells of the judgment and calamity that would befall them because of their obstinate rejection of His wisdom.  You see, we have free will to make choices, but choices we make set in place an irrefutable law.  We can't insulate ourselves forever from the consequences of our choices.

One day, the Word tells us, the trump will sound and those of the faith will be gathered home.  I can almost hear that bell a-ringing!  God, give us ears to hear. 

Best Laid Plans

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry" Robert Burns - To a Mouse

That quote from a poem lays out perfectly how even the most carefully made plans can fail due to unforeseen circumstances. That verse and idea is seen in literature, specifically in John Steinbeck's book "Of Mice and Men," illustrating to us how life is unpredictable and life teaches some real hard lessons.

There's a lot of fear and worry in the financial markets right now.  It's understandable.  I have to admit, I no longer worry about it.  I don't even check my statements.  That's probably a good thing.  I remember being in college studying Finance and on the wall of my apartment, I had graph paper filling an entire wall.  I owned Wal Mart stock and Anheuser-Busch stock.  Each day I would chart the stock prices manually.  I would fret over the slightest correction.  Can you imagine?

But, I think it was the onslaught of the Covid insanity that my eyes were opened and I stopped worrying about things (like the stock market) that were beyond my control.  Perhaps you could call it escapism?  Avoidance? Whatever you call it, I began being concerned about more pressing, underlying issues like cultural rot, division, downturn in morals, the middle class being robbed from, and the largescale abandonment of religion, values and the Godly underpinnings of our nation.

All this other stuff... is just stuff.  If you are able to afford a new car and the insurance that comes along with it, it loses its value in no time at all. Wages are stagnant, costs rise, and people find themselves between a rock and a hard place.  Our landfills are full of things that were once someone's pride and joy and now rust and decay.  Material things that we set our sights on and place our hopes in slip through our fingers like dust.  I was thinking about these things the other day as I drove to an appointment for work.  In rural Allen Parish I made a turn down a road and saw this:

Here's a better picture of it from a closer vantage point:

I don't know the story of this home.  What a remarkable, well-appointed home it was.  I would guess it's not 20 years old.  Two stories, plenty of windows, sitting on a large parcel of land.  It had all the amenities one could ever want.  At some point, a couple drew up plans and built this home surely spending a quarter of a million dollars on their dream purchase.  I'm sure they were filled with joy, dreaming of the pitter patter of little feet and the family they'd raise here.  And now...

The dwelling has a dystopian feel.  Grass has overtaken the once manicured lawn.  There is a gaping hole in the roof.  Shingles are missing, windows broken.  I see sadness.  I'm sure tears were shed and discouragement enveloped the owners as they watched their dreams shrivel up and die.  The people are gone.  Rats and raccoons and possums now dwell in this spacious estate.  I was sad as I took these photos and drove on to my appointment to meet a man whose neighbor's dogs had chewed up the front bumpers and wheel opening moldings on his new vehicle and scratched up the paint.

I have no idea what the story is on this house.  Perhaps it was damaged in the hurricanes and wasn't properly insured?  No clue.  What I do know is this:  We need to have the right perspective on things.  That which we hold dearly can be taken from us at a moment's notice.  Plans that we make, for whatever reason, doesn't come to fruition.  The life we planned doesn't turn out like we thought it would.  Happiness based on these things is as elusive as a greased pig.  Faith and family is where the real wealth in our balance sheet rests.  Everything else is window dressing.  It's best to have an eternal perspective and rest in the peace that only God gives.

 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  Matthew 6:19-21

I'm Back

Wednesday morning I had to report to Baylor St. Luke's Hospital in Houston as surgery began sharply at 8AM.  We spent the night at a hotel in the medical center the night before.  That morning, they had me do a thorough cleaning and then they shaved me shoulder blades to knees.  I had to put a cap on and a gown.  

The last thing I remembered was being rolled into a large operating room with a gallery with viewing windows up top.  There were lots of lights and lots of equipment and a full team of people getting ready to work.  It was very cold in there.  Then I don't remember anything.  The surgery lasted for 6 hours and then I was pulled into ICU.  Tricia and my Dad and Mom came and visited me, but I don't remember any of this.  I was still knocked out from the anesthesia and still intubated.

The surgery went well, they said.  They were able to repair, versus replace, the mitral valve.  They didn't need to give me any blood.  That was important to me.  I didn't want a transfusion.  The surgery was called Minimally Invasive Robotic Mitral Valve Repair.  They went into my femoral artery and I went on the bypass machine.  I assume they oxygenate the blood and pump it through my body by the machine, while the heart is arrested for about 90 minutes while they fixed it.  

In the surgery, they break no bones.  No sternotomy as is normally the case in open heart surgery. There are several incisions for the instruments, but they are relatively small (the biggest being about 4 inches between my ribs on the right side) and no human fingers went inside my body.

The photo on the top left below shows what they did inside my heart, robotically.  I think you can click on it and enlarge it.  The brightly lit area shows my mitral valve inside the heart chamber looking down.  The mitral valve was prolapsed, with a severe regurgitation.  What that means is that approximately 25% of my blood was flowing in the opposite direction.  It had caused the upper chamber of my heart to expand and had to be dealt with to avoid further damage.  The heart was very inefficient, but I felt no symptom.  Of course, when they told me what was going on, my mind told me that this is why I was getting tired.

They cut a triangle-shaped piece from the mitral valve, pulled it together and stitched it up. You can see the black stiches in the center of the photo.  Then, to re-shape the foundation of the valve, they used mesh to fashion what they call "the smile" to form up the foundation.  This was riveted into the muscle.  You can see the tubes in the photo that the robotic arms worked in.

Then they pressured up the heart valve with saline, and it was pressured up at 2 times the normal pressure of the chamber.  When it showed that the leaflets/valve held the blood securely without allowing the backflow, they knew that the repair was successful.  At this point, if it was not successful, they would have cut all of that out and put in a pig or cow valve.  I could have also chosen a mechanical valve, but would have been on blood thinners for the rest of my life, so I opted for the biological valve, if needed.  Fortunately, they were able to repair it, so a happy pig rests somewhere tonight with his valve still intact?

I was moved after one day out of ICU and into a regular room.  In this photo, you can see the extent of the scarring.  Really not too bad.

The doctor, on rounds, came to remove my chest tube which was draining.  That thing was very uncomfortable.

They had me up and walking very quickly.  I felt good.  Honestly, the pain meds make you feel like you're okay, but if you get behind on your meds, you quickly realize that you're not okay.  The care from the surgeons, to nurses and all medical staff at the hospital was simply amazing.  As the doctor was pulling out my chest tube, he told me that the surgical team had a heart transplant scheduled for that evening.  They do about 40 heart transplants each year and about 100 lung transplants.  What an amazing thing!  To be able to make an impact on people's lives like that!  I told him when I went home, my goal was to plant some cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli.  His plans were to take a diseased heart out of someone and replace it with a donor heart that would extend his or her time with family and friends.  The intricacies of the human body and the wisdom God blesses people with to be able to work on them astounds me.

The doctor also clipped the wires on the pacemaker and let it fall back into my chest.  I also had an 'epidural-like' injection into my spine area which was deadening my whole right side where they had cut through the muscles to get to my chest cavity to gain access to the heart.  That was removed as well.  I don't have any sensation on my right side.  I assume that I have some nerve damage from where the incision was made to get to my heart.  Nerve damage heals slowly, but I'll bring that up with them.

By Sunday afternoon at 5PM, I was released from the hospital and Tricia drove me the 3 hour trip home.  Unbelievable!  Wednesday at 8AM open heart surgery commenced and in less than 5 whole days I'm back at home.

I have several checkups I have to go to and I can't drive for two weeks.  I just have to take it slow and allow my body to recover.  I'll say this:  God is good!  He saw fit to give me extra time on my clock and gave me excellent service from some very skilled medical doctors that are on the cutting edge of technology.  He also gave me a wonderful family who cares for me and close friends who have concern for me.  Many prayers went up and God answered them.

Montgomery Gentry sang a country song called "Lucky Man" that I always liked.  I don't believe in luck.  I believe in blessing, so I've changed the words of the chorus, but I think they are appropriate:

I know I'm a blessed man, God's given me a pretty fair hand,
I've got a house and a piece of land, a few dollars in a coffee can,
My old truck's still runnin' good, my ticker's tickin' like they say it should,
I got supper in the oven, a good woman's lovin' and one more day to be my little kids' dad,
Lord knows I'm a blessed man.

A Homecoming

Yesterday morning we met with the physical and occupational therapists.  It was sort of a show and tell day.  We were shown what his rehab has consisted of, how it has progressed and how Benjamin has met or exceeded the goals set at the onset of his stay.  They practiced exercises and stretches.  They showed all the skills for independent living such as showering, getting in/out of a car, toileting, putting on socks and shoes, safely transitioning from a lying to sitting position and sitting to standing position.  It is remarkable what they've done for him in the last two weeks.  He's not the same person that was transported here by ambulance.  I've told you numerous times and I'll tell you again.  God is has been so good to us.  People have been so good to us.  Benjamin's therapists all gave him hugs on the way out, making him promise to WALK BACK IN one day to visit.  One therapist gave him a nice card, telling him she was praying for him and gave him some Scripture to stand on.  

It's been almost a month.  That's a long time.  I remember driving away from the hospital when we had our first baby scared to death.  I felt like I had a fragile cargo of eggs that I needed to be very careful with.  I checked the streets twice for on-coming traffic, so protective.  I felt the same way today.  I was nervous, like the first time I sat behind the wheel.  I pulled up to the doors of the exterior of the hospital and Benjamin, as he practiced many times, got into the car.  We stowed the wheelchair and walker in the trunk and started the 40 minute drive home.  Home!

We arrived to balloons on the mailbox, signs on the house and well-wishers.  He emerged from the car all smiles.

I'm sure we're going to cramp his style for a while.  He's used to living in Lake Charles in a house that he and Tanner and Owen (his roommates) rent.  Now he's back with us for a while.  He will start out-patient rehab three days a week here in Jennings starting Monday.  That will go on for four weeks.  In two weeks he has an appointment with his orthopedic surgeon.  Hopefully, at that point he will be deemed load-bearing on his right leg.  Then we have an appointment with his neurosurgeon in early November along with x-rays to gauge where he is in the healing process.

For now, though, he exhaled and was happy to be home.

Belle, his Great Pyrenees, was SO happy to see him.  In a later photo, that I wasn't able to capture, that big old dog tried to climb in the chair with him.

Then it was up the ramp and into the house.  What a homecoming!

He still has a lot of work to do.  Our next goal is to get him back to work.  With his mother following behind us in another vehicle, I had an opportunity (a captive audience) to talk to him on the way home.  He wouldn't have therapists working with him, pushing him every day, although he'll go 3 times a week.  The other days it would be incumbent on him to push himself and not slack off if he wants to continue the progress he's made.  

I told him to keep up the hard work and make it to the finish line.  I brought to his attention that he has four titanium rods in his legs and two in his back.  That's a lot of titanium.  I had googled the value of titanium per ounce and it ranges between $0.52 and $10.00 per ounce.  I told him that's a lot of money and warned him that if he starts slacking off, I'd sell him for scrap.  He laughed and promised me he wouldn't let us down.  I know he won't.

Home Sweet Home.

Home Sweet Home

There is a small town twenty miles north of us.  We pass through this town many times and have friends that live there.  There is a good little spot that we like to stop at and buy boudin and boudin balls.  There's one other thing that I learned about this town that I wanted to pass by and check out.  It just so happened that I had an appointment for work in this town and was able to drive by this site.

Know what it is?

Do you remember the Sears & Roebuck catalogs that would come by mail?  I remember the Sears Wish Book that would come out and we'd go through it with a marks-a-lot and circle what we wanted for Christmas.  It was exciting.  Sears was like Amazon before there was Amazon.  The reason I'm telling you this is that Sears didn't only sell toys and clothes from their catalog...

The home in the photo above is a Sears & Roebuck Mail-Order home. Now, I felt a little creepy taking photos of someone's home like this, so I made it quick. I didn't want them to come out and "pepper my tailgate" with some buck shot.

I did a little research on these homes.  This website right here had an informative write-up of these homes.

From the article:

"From 1908 to 1940, the Sears Modern Homes Program offered complete mail-order houses to the would-be homeowner — what would come to be called “kit homes.” Customers could select from dozens of different models in Sears Modern Homes Catalog, order blueprints, send in a check, and a few weeks later everything they needed would arrive in a train car, its door secured with a small red wax seal (just like the seal on the back of a letter)."

This home sits about a half mile from the train tracks that run east and west, so the homeowner didn't have far to carry his building materials.

"This seal was to be broken on arrival by the new owner, who would open up their boxcar to find over 10,000 pieces of framing lumber, 20,000 cedar shakes, and almost everything else needed to build the home — all the doors, even the doorknobs."

I laughed when I read that, thinking of the times I've put a swing set or something together and it had missing parts or extra parts leftover once I was done.  Can you imagine all the parts (including door knobs) with a house?

"Sears promised that, working without a carpenter and only rudimentary skills, a person could finish their Sears mail-order home in less than 90 days."

My skills are far less than rudimentary.  I would hate to see the house that I would build!

But look at the Sears mail order home in the two photos above.  It looks GREAT!  Even after all these years.  It has character and charm.  In looking at some of the blueprints in the article I linked above, I think I found which kit they bought.  It looks a lot like the home at the bottom right of the brochure below:

Can you imagine?  Ordering your home from a catalog, having it come in on a train, and then putting it together on your lot yourself?  It's a quality home that's still standing today!  Home Sweet Home, for sure!

 

An Old Swing (and a New Electric Chain Saw)

My oldest son bought a home in a nearby town.  It is an older home, but was in great shape.  He's been working on it, making small repairs, painting, and working on landscaping.  He really enjoys home ownership.  He called us and asked if we could come give him some help on a couple of projects that he needed assistance on.  There are a few things that need an extra person or two. 

We drove over Sunday afternoon after church on a beautiful afternoon to assist.  The first project was hanging a swing on his back patio.  The swing has a story.  Tricia recently made a trip to Corpus Christi, Texas to visit her mom and attend her high school class reunion.  While there she brought a swing back that her mom gave her to give to Russ.

The swing was in an old cardboard shipping box that was deteriorated.  Tricia's Dad passed away many years ago.  Before his death, he had bought a swing that he intended to hang.  It is still unclear whether he wanted to hang it at the Garcia home in Corpus Christi or at the ranch.  Regardless, it never got hung and has resided in a box on the floor of my mother-in-law's garage for years.  Tricia's mom decided that she'd like Russ to have it.  He put it together and we hung it on Russ' back patio.  I took the photo below of Russ and Tricia, sitting on the old swing.  After many years, it got hung and will provide relaxation and enjoyment for years to come. 

"Just a swingin'"

Russ had asked me to bring my pole saw.  I have a nifty electric chain saw on a pole that extends out to catch limbs way up high.  Russ had some limbs that he wanted to prune to get away from the roof as well as to thin out excess branches to allow more sunlight to filter in to allow grass to grow better on his shady property.

It was the first time I'd taken the electric chainsaw out of the box.  I have to admit, I was a little leery of an electric chainsaw.  I wanted an electric one because I felt that it was so rare that I used it, if I got a gasoline powered saw, it wouldn't crank when I needed it, but it just doesn't seem like it would be strong enough to do the job.  It did have good ratings on Amazon, but I wanted to see if it warranted those "stars" on the review.  It did!  Russ climbed on top of his garage roof and trimmed limbs from his magnolia tree.  I dragged the cut limbs to the road where his town provides pick-up.

He told me that he was working up on his roof the other day and the ladder fell off the side of his house when he was up on the roof.  I asked him how he got down.  He told me he jumped off the side of the garage and into the magnolia tree and climbed down the tree.  Magnolia trees are great for climbing.  While he trimmed his magnolia tree, I told him to leave limbs to give him a back-up plan should he get stranded on the roof again.

In his front yard facing the road, he has a water oak tree that shades the yard.  The limbs block sunlight and prohibit grass growth on certain parts of the yard.  Russ trimmed limbs until he felt things had opened up a bit.  He is facing east in the photo below and the morning sun will now shine into his yard.

When we were done, Russ asked us to come inside.  He paid us for the work with a slice of chocolate cake and strawberry ice cream.  That sounded like pretty good wages to me!

As the Twig is Bent

As the twig is bent the tree inclines. Virgil

The above quote illustrates that lessons learned early in life have a tremendous bearing on you in later years.  In nature, you see this sometimes when young trees are blown by ravaging, hurricane winds.  These trees continue to grow at odd angles throughout its life.  In people, often early experiences - good or bad - mark us for life.  Of course, many people overcome bad experiences early on and achieve successful, happy, fulfilled lives.  In contrast, some people through bad decision-making, end up negating positive beginnings.

As I think about that quote, I reflect on parenting our kids.  I pray that God will bless good intentions and forgive short-comings in our attempts in child-rearing.  We are flawed people living in a fallen world.  I think we did good in some things and not so good in others.  Why am I being so introspective?

This Sunday night after church our oldest son ate supper with us, loaded up his car, and moved out and into his own home.  Our eldest daughter has been on her own since she graduated college.  We have one more at home, and he'll be moving out this fall when he goes off to college.  We'll soon be empty-nesters.  As Russ pulled out of the driveway, Tricia and I stood in the driveway and watched him drive off.

We prayed for him that God would bless him in his home and in this new chapter of his life.

Did we give him the right tools in his toolbox to enable him to be successful in this life?  Will he continue to grow in the direction we've tried to point him?

As he spreads his wings and flies, we trust that God will protect him and guide him, cover him in His Love, and that he will know that his entire family loves him.

The LORD bless you and keep you;

The LORD make His face shine upon you,

And be gracious to you;

The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,

And give you peace. - Numbers 6:24-26

Another Bird About to Leave the Nest

Our middle child and oldest son, Russ, recently purchased his own home in a town west of our home.  It was a big step for him and a big step for us.  With Laura already out on her own and now with Russ moving out next weekend, our little nest is getting empty!  This weekend we helped him load up some of his belongings.  Tricia helped him do some cleaning and organizing at his house.  We had to move a couch and some chairs and other things from upstairs.  We got it loaded onto the trailer.

Tricia and Russ

The home was built in 1953 and is in remarkable shape.  He lives in a quiet neighborhood and it will take him ten less minutes to commute to work each day.  Here he is unlocking his door and opening the door to a new chapter in his life - a new chapter for Mom & Dad, too!

Russ, being the horticulturalist, is excited that his house has a fig tree that is loaded with figs, two pear trees (no partridge), a grapefruit tree, and a tree in the front yard we had never seen before.  It is a tree from Hawaii called the Orchid Tree.  It is filled with beautiful blooms like this and has been blooming for 3 months straight and still going...

The tree is about 8 feet tall and has long bean pods hanging from it, similar to a mimosa, but bigger.

One thing Russ has at his house that he is NOT excited about is carpenter bees.  Here is one in flight that I captured with the camera on my phone.  That dude is heading for the rafters to his shed in the back.

These carpenter bees drill holes into the rafters and cause all sorts of damage.

Some really good friends of ours gave us a Carpenter Bee Trap.  It is a homemade device that is simply a mason jar with a block of wood from a landscape timber attached to the lid.  Holes are drilled in the landscape timber at angles that lead down to the jar.  The theory is that the carpenter bees crawl into the wood thinking it was a hole they drilled.  It leads down into the jar.  They fall in and cannot get out.

At the time I took this photo, he had already caught one!  But at the time of this writing, he's already caught four!

 It is going to be a big adjustment for Tricia and I when he moves out next weekend.  At that point, we'll have two of our three kids out of the house.  Our third, Benjamin, will be moving into the dorms at college this fall.  Time marches on...  Don't blink!

Daisy Comes Home

Daisy is the matriarch of our current Jersey herd.  Back in 2007, she came to us as a baby calf on the side of her mother, Momma Cow.  Momma Cow passed away years back, but Daisy remains.  She's getting up in years a bit and has been having trouble getting bred the last few times we've had her get together with a bull.

We've had her get checked out by our veterinarian, but he cannot find anything wrong with her that would be keeping her from getting pregnant when all the other cows have gotten bred.  So, we have a friend in Hathaway with a registered Jersey bull.  He agreed to let us bring Daisy down to stay for a few cycles with his bull. 

Our friend saw evidence that Daisy was bred by his bull, but this has happened before without her actually becoming pregnant.  Two days ago, blood samples were taken to check to see if Daisy is carrying a calf.  We await the results.  We picked up Daisy and brought her back to home.  She arrived in the trailer and began walking to meet up with the rest of the little herd that she hasn't seen in a couple of months.  There was lots of mooing and bellowing...

Cows go through some sort of a greeting process where they touch noses and then start walking around sniffing each other.

And then they sniff some more...

After a couple of months all the cows are back together again.

\
We should hear results of the blood work to confirm pregnancy in about 10 days.  If the results come back that Daisy is open (not pregnant), we'll have to make some hard decisions.  On a three acre pasture, we can't keep cows that can't provide calves.  We'll cross that bridge when we get there, I guess.  In the meantime, we'll pray that Daisy is carrying a calf - a heifer calf!

Things Couldn't be More Different...

In the mornings I wake up early and commute 42 miles to work.  Sometimes, depending on traffic, the drive only takes me 40 minutes.  Other times it may take me an hour and 40 minutes.  The commute is actually a peaceful time for me as I usually quickly catch the news on the radio while I drink my coffee and then I turn off the radio and pray.  Before I know it, I'm turning into the parking lot at work.  I work with some good people and we provide a good service in keeping the cogs in the wheels of industry turning.

I was thinking the other day about how the view at work couldn't be more different than the view I have at home.  The sounds couldn't be more different either.  From time to time, we'll hear loud hissing sounds and see huge flares, like you see in the photo below.  We always joke that they just burned off more in the flare stack in value than we'll ever make in 10 lifetimes.  Black smoke will billow out and we'll hear announcements over a loudspeaker that we cannot understand.  We wonder if we should run as fast as we can.

Then at the end of the day, I hop in my car and drive back home, moving from an industrial area into a pastoral one.  The hissing sounds, flares, black smoke, and warnings are replaced by the gentle cackling of hens as they make their way to their evening roosts, the bleating of goats and lowing of cows.  Instead of looking at chemical plants, I look at real plants in our vegetable garden.  The sun sets and the light show put on in the western sky is far better than a flare stack.

I'm truly thankful to God for clean, country living.

Fresh Baked Bread in the Oven

"Oh, but anyway, Toto, we're home – home! And this is my room – and you're all here – and I'm not going to leave here ever, ever again, because I love you all! And... oh, Auntie Em, there's no place like home!"  - Dorothy in the last lines of The Wizard of Oz

Home is a haven, a safe refuge from a world gone mad.  There is safety at home. You are surrounded by ones you love and there is a feeling of acceptance and familiarity.  It is a place where you can be yourself and relax and unwind.

Have you ever noticed that every home has a particular fragrance?  When you open the back door and walk inside, it just smells like 'home.'  I tell you what, sometimes home smells extra nice.  For instance, when there is a fresh loaf of bread baking in the oven!

Some realtors will tell you that if you are looking to sell your home, it needs to smell inviting.  Fresh baked bread or chocolate chip cookies evokes a feeling of comfort that supposedly makes prospective buyers make an offer.  We're not trying to sell our home, but when I walk in and smell fresh baked bread, I'm definitely comfortable and happy!

Lovin' in the Oven

When you pull that bread out, everyone gathers round.  The "heel" of the bread, in my opinion, is the best part.  I'll fight you for it.

I like to get some butter and slather (I like the word slather) lots of it on top of the warm bread.  Then I like to pop the warm bread out of the loaf pan and slice it while still warm. Then I either put more butter on the warm bread or I get out the jar of Steen's pure cane syrup and pour a generous helping on the slice.

After the slice is gone, a critical decision must be made.  Should you have another slice? Or should you back away from the warm, fresh baked bread?  While it is still warm, it takes superhuman will power to stop after eating one slice.  Fresh bread is quite the temptress.  Get behind me Satan!

Counting the Days

One of my favorite movies is Gladiator and yes, as the title suggests, it is chock full of violence as one might surmise by the title of the movie.  Gladiator is an epic drama about good versus evil, loyalty and betrayal, and one in which you are drawn to the character Maximus, who is played by Russell Crowe.

Maximus is a General for Marcus Aurelius and is a skilled military tactician and leader of men.  One of the things that is of great interest to me, though, is a glimpse into his personal life that takes place during a dialogue between him and Marcus Aurelius.

Image Credit

After an opening battle scene in which Maximus and his Roman army defeat the Germanic army in a hard fought campaign at the cost of many lives, the Caesar calls for his General.  He wants to talk to him.  The dialogue pulled back the curtain on what really drives men.  Man is more than his work and although he may do his duty day in and day out, there is more than performing your 9 to 5 job that drives you.  You may be wondering how in the world Gladiator has anything to do with farming, right?  Well, stick with me for a minute...

Here is the dialogue between the Marcus Aurelius and Maximus: Dialogue Credit  I've bolded and highlighted in red key parts (at least to me).

Maximus: You sent for me, Caesar?

Marcus Aurelius: Tell me again, Maximus, why are we here?

Maximus: For the glory of the empire, sire.

Marcus Aurelius: Ah, yes. Ah, yes, I remember. Do you see that map, Maximus? That is the world which I created. For 25 years, I have conquered, spilt blood, expanded the empire. Since I became Caesar, I have known four years without war, four years of peace in twenty. And for what? I brought the sword. Nothing more.

Maximus: Caesar, your life...

Marcus Aurelius: Please. Please, don't call me that. Please, come sit. Let us talk together now, very simply, as men. Maximus, talk.

Maximus: Five thousand of my men are out there in the freezing mud. Three thousand of them are bloodied and cleaved. Two thousand will never leave this place. I will not believe that they fought and died for nothing.

Marcus Aurelius: And what would you believe?

Maximus: They fought for you and for Rome.

Marcus Aurelius: And what is Rome, Maximus?

Maximus: I've seen much of the rest of the world. It is brutal and cruel and dark, Rome is the light.

Marcus Aurelius: Yet you have never been there. You have not seen what it has become. I am dying, Maximus. When a man sees his end... he wants to know there was some purpose to his life. How will the world speak my name in years to come? Will I be known as the philosopher? The warrior? The tyrant...? Or will I be the emperor who gave Rome back her true self? There was once a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish... it was so fragile. And I fear that it will not survive the winter. Maximus, let us whisper now, together, you and l. You have a son. Tell me about your home.

Maximus: My house is in the hills above Trujillo. A very simple place. Pinkstones that warm in the sun. A kitchen garden that smells of herbs in the day, jasmine in the evening. Through the gate is a giant poplar. Figs, apples, pears. The soil, Marcus- black. Black like my wife's hair. Grapes on the south slopes, olives on the north. Wild ponies play near my house. They tease my son. He wants to be one of them.

Marcus Aurelius: Remember the last time you were home?

Maximus: Two years, 264 days, and this morning.

Marcus Aurelius: I envy you, Maximus. It's a good home. Worth fighting for. There is one more duty that I ask of you before you go home.

That really touched me for several reasons. First, despite conquering the world and re-writing the map, Marcus Aurelius was concerned about his legacy. The Caesar knew that he was dying and was was wondering whether or not his life had purpose.  He changed the world and yet he was worried about whether or not he accomplished anything meaningful.

He turned to his loyal servant, Maximus and wanted to hear about his General's personal life. Maximus' answer was poetic,descriptive, emanating his love for his family and his land.  He spoke of his home, his wife, his son.  He was not a warrior at heart.  He was a FARMER!  He described the soil like only a farmer would, comparing it to his wife's hair, for crying out loud!

Did he love his home?  Yes, in fact he was counting the days that he had been away, down to the very hour.  That is very meaningful to me.  He had a job to do that came with great cost and sacrifice and he did his job well.  But he longed for his home and his family and he loved his farm.  In fact when leading his troops into battle, he spoke the following: (I think Fratres means 'brothers'):  Dialogue Credit

[addressing his troops]
Maximus: Fratres!
[cavalry addresses Maximus]
Maximus: Three weeks from now, I will be harvesting my crops. Imagine where you will be, and it will be so. Hold the line! Stay with me! If you find yourself alone, riding in the green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled. For you are in Elysium, and you're already dead!
[cavalry laughs]
Maximus: Brothers, what we do in life echoes in eternity. 

In what could have been his last act, he envisioned doing what he loved - farming and being with his family.  He was looking forward to the harvest as any farmer does.  Then he spoke the profound phrase : "Brothers, what we do in life echoes in eternity."  

And it is true, what we do in life really does echo in eternity.  Decisions, actions, choices that we make in our relatively short lives affect our eternity.  And those same decisions, actions, and choices have the potential of affecting others around us as well.  Our days are indeed numbered and we must ensure that as we count the days, we make our days count. 

Valuing "Home"

We recently went as a family to see the latest Hobbit Movie: The Battle of Five Armies. We've seen them all and have enjoyed the action and storyline. Before I go further let me warn that there are SPOILERS that follow in this blog post.  If you have not seen the movie and plan to, read no further. Come back tomorrow and we'll discuss something else.  I don't want to ruin the movie for you.

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogies are excellent books written by J.R.R. Tolkien and are essentially stories about the battle of good versus evil.  Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were great friends and in fact, Tolkien helped C.S. Lewis convert to Christianity.  C.S. Lewis went on to write "The Chronicles of Narnia," "The Screwtape Letters," and "Mere Christianity," among other great literary works. Those two were extremely gifted writers that could tell a story like few others can.

SPOILERS FOLLOW!  

One of the things I want to talk about today involves an exchange between Thorin Oakenshield and Bilbo at the end of the movie.  Earlier in the movie Thorin has been consumed with overwhelming greed upon seeing the vast stores of gold and other riches within the mountain.  Bilbo Baggins makes a hard decision and seemingly betrays Thorin in order to save Thorin from himself.  Upon becoming aware of the betrayal, Thorin is incensed and calls Bilbo a traitor and a thief. Ultimately, however, Thorin finally sees that Bilbo's motives were pure and that he was a true friend.

Finally, after an intense battle, Thorin has been mortally wounded in combat and as he lay dying on the ice, he looks up to Bilbo, the Hobbit, and says the following words:

Image Credit

Thorin Oakenshield: [Last words] "Go back to your armchair, Master Baggins. And your books. Plant your tree. If everybody valued home like you did, the world would be a merry place." 

It was a powerful segment of the movie and the quote was touching and meaningful, even here 'beyond Middle Earth,"  You see, Thorin was a valiant warrior and a good man.  But when faced with untold riches, it had a disastrous effect on him and his only intent was to hoard it all for himself, even to the point of selling out his friends.  Bilbo wanted to try to save Thorin from the 'gold madness.'

In contrast, Bilbo Baggins didn't allow himself to be tempted by the great wealth. Bilbo valued something greater than gold.  Bilbo, during their adventure, had picked up an acorn that he wished to take back home the the Shire and plant so that when it grew into a tree, he could remember their great adventures and friendships made along the way.

In today's dog-eat-dog, consumerist, me-first world, it is very easy to become enamored with all the material items, the 'gold.'  We can allow ourselves to get so covetous of those with more material possessions than us, or those with more successful careers, or luxurious lifestyles or any number of things that distract us. To try to "keep up with the Joneses," we get caught up in the rat-race and truly lose sight of things that are the most important - things like Faith and Family and just enjoying a simple, honest life surrounded by the ones you love.  The pursuit of riches can bring much unhappiness if we don't have a Bilbo to come into our lives and refocus us on the things in life that really matters - like valuing home.

I'm a home-body.  I enjoy going around and seeing sights and traveling, but I tell you what, I like being at home, in my own bed, on my own land, feeling the dirt I own under my feet and being around those I hold dear.  I'm not going to lie, I'm certainly not above the sin of coveting other people's possessions, in fact, I catch myself comparing and belly-aching more often than I'd like to admit.  But I want to be more like Bilbo. I like to plant trees and other plants, and read books, make memories, and remember good times, and I value home.  I want to continue to pursue meaningful things because I think deep down we know that 'all that glitters, isn't gold.'  Truly valuing home is a great place to start.

Your home is your castle.  It doesn't need to be a mansion.  It might be a simple shack.  But it should be your haven, a place of safety, protection, and shelter from the world.  It should also be a safe place where family members support you and build you up and come to your defense.  A home should be filled with love, unconditional love offered by those who see your faults and struggles and love you anyway.  Having a home that you value is a blessing.  A blessing indeed.

I think Thorin was right when he said to Bilbo, "If everyone valued home like you did, the world would be a merry place."  Yes, Home is a good place.  I think Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz summed it up best when she said, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home..."