Bulls, Baal and the Children of God

Moses ascended Mt. Sinai where God gave him the ten commandments, but while he was gone, derision grew in the camps of the children of Israel, so they collected all the gold from everyone and fashioned themselves a golden bull calf.

Without the presence of Moses, the children of Israel quickly forgot about God and returned to the worship of Baal.  Baal, or "Lord", whose symbol was that of a bull, and the Israelites had become very familiar with the worship of it as a deity. Baal represented prosperity, therefore the calf was made of gold.

After receiving the law, Moses descended from the mountain and his anger was aroused.  In Exodus 32:19, it is recorded that "When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain."

Some see that there is a template set by God where the United States is like that of ancient Israel.  The United States has deep roots in the God of the Bible and in its infancy, George Washington, after being sworn in as the first president, effectively said that if America ever turned away from God and His eternal laws, its blessings would be removed.

In the late 20th century, we began to see the laws of God being systematically removed.  No longer were the Ten Commandment allowed on government property, and slowly became less important in our private lives and business.  The very mention of it or Jesus Christ brings hatred, anger, and vitriol, stirring up those who think that we ourselves are the creators and not the creation.

After the stock market crash of 1987, an Italian sculptor, Arturo Modica illegally placed a 7,100 pound symbol of prosperity and financial optimism, the charging bull, outside the New York Stock Exchange which was removed to a small park on Bowling Green later that day.

Today, Charging Bull figurines are seen on the desks or walls of virtually every financial office in the United States.  Our financial system now is worshiping Baal and awaits another Moses to descend to New York and the financial district to smash our ten commandments or the constitution.  

It will not be pretty.  Who or what will be the instrument of our destruction?

Job, God and me

For the past few years, I have awakened and spoke with God virtually every day, just a brief, "Mornin', Lord. Thanks for seeing me through the night."  I am not sure if it can be called praying, worshiping, or praising but either way the communication is there.  No, He's not spoken to me in a thunderous voice and there have been no flashes of lightening but just the same, sometimes I feel as if He is everywhere in the room.

My next step is brewing up a cup of coffee, sitting in my chair and spending a few minutes reading in His word and contemplating what I've just read.

Sounds pretty holy, doesn't it?  Well, if that's what I wanted, then that's my reward. That would be fine as long as the winds and turbulence of the world isn't distracting me.  Will my little daily devotions walk me through the gauntlet of challenges ahead?

I recall the story of Job.  God said there was none like him but Satan argued that it Job's faith and love for Him was because he'd been blessed with wealth, family and friends and that if those things were gone,  Job wouldn't be so lovey-dovey with the Lord then.  What would happen if all those things were suddenly removed?

The challenge was on so the Lord gave Satan permission to afflict Job with all sorts of problems but under the condition that he could not take his life.  As the story heats up, messengers come with the news that a great storm came, blew down the dwelling with all his children in it and no one survived.  Also, there as a fireball that came down and consumed all his livestock and all was gone.  Job, ripped his garments, pile ashes on his head and cried out, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

It's one thing to lose possessions.  You can deal with that by adjusting yourself to a new normal but when he became afflicted with sores on his body, things now had gone from economics to a very personal physical way.  His own wife just even said to him, "Job, just curse God and die!", yet he did not sin against God.  Now, the last of his family had now turned on him.  What about his friends?

Along came three of his friends and a younger guy who sat with him a while.  Each of them reviled him and strongly hinted that he was not the man of God he pretended to be. Job refuted each of them, sending them into a tizzy,  and still proclaimed the holiness and his everlasting faith him Him.  Job still had not sinned.

Eventually, God restored Job's wealth and family and Job lived a ripe old age.

In a way, if we isolate ourselves from the world, perhaps we can wrap up in a spiritual cocoon and ignore those things of the world and be oblivious to it all, but that's not how most of us are built.  We have to continually deal with both physical happenings as well as emotional challenges such the afflictions of those near to us as well as our own.  How then do we continually overcome and still hold fast to Him who made us?

There are some things to avoid in wrapping ourselves in that spiritual cocoon. Both in Christianity and religions of the world, some would cloister themselves as monks high on a mountain or lock themselves in a man-made retreat of brick and mortar devoting themselves to becoming deeper with God.  But, that's not how He created us.  He designed us to procreate, to live and to worship with one another and to enjoy the life he gave us.  Sure, He called special people out to be His voice on earth for the purpose of vocalizing his will but they too, ate, drank and breathed the air which he created for us.

I've had a few trials but none like that of Job.  Right now, there is a calmness to my sea of life but storms will come and I pray that my faith will not sink in the high waves.   He put me here for a purpose as he did for all.  Our job is to walk in his ways, love one another, forgive one another, and have compassion.  Compassion on those near and dear to you, compassion on the stranger, and yes, compassion on those who seemingly despise you.

All these things I can do while enjoying that second cup of coffee, watching my children and grandchildren accomplish things with the talents he gave them, while knowing that it was God, who gave us all these things.

lying on the rear window back ledge

Lying there against the rear window on the back ledge of the car, objects moved from large to small to infinity and were constantly replenished as breeze whipped around from the downed windows while the car sped along at 60 mph. To an eight-year-old kid back in the 50s, it was almost a universally accepted thing to do. It was not illegal, and it was done often. Of course there were no seat belts or any constraints and a padded dash was sometimes added as a safety measure for the ones in the front seats.

The diminishing signs, poles and trees was like watching creation in reverse, I could not see what was coming from the front and every few seconds, something new would become the past then be replaced by future past objects. Having ultimate trust in my Dad to take care of what was coming up on the road, I never had a worry for what was out front. The occasional bump in the road or the tight curve did not unnerve me, and all I had to do was enjoy the ride. Whoa!...there goes a cow on the side of the road!

Sometimes I let the events of my life load up on me, and now I try to see the future, only to realize my hindsight is much better than my foresight and that only God knows the future and not me.

Recently, my wife and I were handling an intense life event and I spent a lot of time mapping out in my mind how things should or would play out. As was pointed out, I was often in a twitch when it looked like things were not becoming a reality in the fashion I had envisioned. I began to understand my limitations, so with my wife's advice, I began to talk with God (at length) and confess that I had no power and that He was the one driving the process and I should be that eight-year-old kid again and place that ultimate trust in God to map, guide and walk me through the process.

Wanting to display strength, leadership and confidence, we often hide our fears and dwell on worst case scenarios. I should have been taking Psalm 56:3-4 to heart. "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?"

Psalm 37:5 tells us, "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act." I've seen that work recently and if only I could put myself in that position for the rest of my life, and be totally dependent on God to handle the bumps, drive me around the curves and steer me around the random heifer on the side of the road. He also says in Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

That's where I want to be, for it is written (Mark 11:24), "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

My job is to learn to trust in Him. He already knows His job.

Making the best of Alaska

In preparation for the predicted rain on Sunday, I thought I would get out and find some more wildlife, hike a few trails and photograph some running water.

My first good fortune came when I pulled into the Thunderbird Falls trailhead parking lot and found that the fee station pay machine had been vandalized rendering everyone with free parking.  There's a $5 fee every time you pull into a state facility.

Arming myself with a hiking stick, backpack full of lenses and a tripod, I set off (uphill) toward Thunderbird Falls.  I'm pretty much out of shape so the higher altitude and the incline caused me to stop and "admire" a tree when I met or was being overtaken by other hikers while wheezing and being short of breath.  I didn't want them asking the all too familiar question, "Are you alright?"

Along the way, I me three Asian ladies who were picking little red berries.  I asked them what they were.  Popping a couple of them in her mouth, one answered, "Alaskan High Bush Cranberries" and asked if I wanted to try one.  They seemed to know they weren't poisonous so I picked a couple of them and ate them as well.  Pretty tart and tangy but tasty none the less.  

I had no ill effects.

Three quarters of a mile was a viewing station for the falls so I snapped a couple of shots.

 It wasn't a great view at all so after talking to a pretty young lady at the overlook, with the largest Great Dane I'd ever seen, I discussed with her about getting to the bottom.  I think she was kindly trying to discourage me from going, pointing out that my shoes (a pair of Merrell waterproof hikers) may not be the best for the trip.  I'm pretty sure she was wrong.

Asking about the wildlife, she said she found a dead moose down by the river probably killed by a bear and if I went, I should have some kind of protection.  I pulled my shirt tail aside revealing a large can of Bear Spray on my belt.  "That'll do", she said.

Before I could start the trek down, I met a man and woman with a couple of kids.  The guy was wearing a holster strapped across his chest with what appeared to be a .44 or .454 Casull revolver.  Maybe the lady at the top was serious about being protected.

Anyway it was very easy going down and she was right in respect to being rocky and muddy slippery.
So here's a couple of pictures of the Ekletna River at the base of the falls. 

The whole round trip was probably a couple of miles half of which was very uphill but once I got back to my car, drank a bottle of water and rested a minute, I set my course toward Hatcher Pass near Willow.  I avoided the GPS and took the back roads hoping to spot wild life but none appeared.  It is moose season here so they are laying low.

From Wikipedia: Hatcher Pass (3,886 ft or 1,148 m), also known as Hatcher's Pass by locals, is a mountain pass through the southwest part of the Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska. It is named after Robert Hatcher, a prospector and miner. The nearest cities are Palmer and Wasilla approximately 12 miles (19 km) to the south, and Willow approximately 26 mi (42 km) to the west. The communities are at an elevation of approximately 250 ft (76 m) in the Mat-Su valley. 

From the direction I traveled, it was mostly a dirt road with hunters camping along the rivers and trafficked heavily with various ATVs and off road jalopies.

As I drove along, I saw several places that were being mined for what I guessed would be gold.

Once at the top of the pass there is a small lake that has no obvious source for the water unless it's just the holdover from last year's snows.

Confession time here.  I figured since it had taken me 4 hours to get here, It was going to take the same to get back to Anchorage.  As I went on a little further from the lake the altitude began to drop significantly and I could see what appeared in the distance to be...a hard packed road!?! 

Sure enough, on the other side of the pass was a state park including a lodge.

















Plugging in my GPS, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was only 2 hours from my hotel, all on improved roads that took me down by Wasilla River.

It was quite a nice day but I was tired.

My phone app registered over 10,000 steps but it felt more like twice that and I did not see any wildlife.  Not even a bird.

"Not all those who wander are lost."-J.R.R. Tolkien 

Alaska 2018

As fate would have it, I'm back in Alaska, this time in Anchorage.  Hopefully, I will stay long enough to collect a gigabyte or so of picture.

Without a lot of description, here's a few photos.

The wildlife
Alaska Brown Bear

A moose at a preserve

Mother Moose with Calf.  Notice her ears folded back.

Shot of this moose with my cell phone

Traveling about:  Alaska Railroad

 Denali (aka Mt McKinley) a few miles south of Talkeetna

Kenai Lake

Turnagain

Lake Hood Seaplane airport

 

Anchorage skyline at night 

 Aurora Borealis / The Northern Lights with the Big Dipper in the top left

Traveling Alone: Let them know where you are

I am nearing 16 years as a traveling guy for a Fortune 500 and the side benefits are out of this world.  I personally have managed to visit all 50 states as probably many of of you all have.

Most of us have a little spot in us that gives that drive to do that special interest that appeals to you deeply.   I believe there's one TFA whose soul purpose is to visit a Starbucks in every state and there's one I know that can't pass up a chicken and waffle restaurant.  One of us out there collects Harley Davidson pins and visits a US National Park every chance he gets.  All these penchants are fun and usually do not expose you to any inherent dangers.

For me, it's photography and when I get that call for a new assignment, I start hitting google maps trying to figure out where and what I want to shoot.  However, I seem to sometimes get in a jam with my avocation.  You just need to think about your surroundings and be careful.  Things and situations can change quickly.

Case(s) in point:
Years ago, the HQ Team Leader called and sent me to Oregon.  Being from Louisiana, I was just mesmerized at the mountains as I drove south to Roseburg stopping often to snap a picture thinking I'd eventually run out of mountains.  Once there, I began to hear about Crater Lake so that was all I could think of until the weekend came.
 

When Saturday arrived, I pulled out my maps (no GPS for me then) and struck out on my quest.  Riding along, I noticed a waterfall coming off the side of a steep hill so I pulled over, grabbed my camera and began climbing a pile of rocks to get that perfect and up close shot of the cascade but as I began to make my way down,  my foot slipped on a mossy rock and found myself bouncing off a half dozen boulders before I came to a rest in a heap 15 feet below.

My camera was OK but I managed to break an elbow.   In pain, I continued on to Crater lake and took a couple of pics before getting back to the room and dosing up on ibuprofen until I could see a doctor the next day.


Then there was the time at an annual conference in Saint Louis that I got the brilliant idea to go downtown and take a picture of the Gateway Arch at night.  It was a full moon.  I parked my car and made my way to the plaza, wandered around a while to choose how I was going to do my shot.  Not having a tripod, I had to lay down on the concrete,  propped the front of my lens on a book and sited through the viewfinder and squeezing off a dozen or so different shots with various exposures. 

As I fidgeted with my settings, I caught the glimpse of a very large foot next to my head.  Now, if you're lying prostrate on the ground in an unusual place, there are just not many options for a quick escape if there's trouble.  While there were people off at a distance, I was pretty much alone.

Not wanting to make any sudden moves, I slowly turned my head to the direction of the pair of well worn boots and traced the image with my eyes upward to reveal the face of a guy bigger than me with lots of hair and big nasty beard.

"Something I can help you with?", I asked.  It sounded pretty dumb but I was at a loss for words and I was making a vain attempt at appearing cool and not appearing as a victim here.

"Got a buck?", he grunted.

Without a word, I slowly reached into my left jeans pocket, felt a bill and slowly pulled it out and handed to him.  I have no idea how much I gave him.  It could have been a buck or it could have been a twenty.  I didn't know or care at that point and was hoping he wouldn't produce a knife, hammer or screwdriver.

"Thanks!", he said and wandered off into the dark as I pondered if I needed that one more shot of the fountain and arch.   Things could have gone so wrong.


Once while in New Mexico, I thought stopping off at a turn out near Cloudcroft and climbing down into a canyon in search of a small waterfall might be a grand idea.  There was one other car so it had to be safe, right?  Anyway, I took a cell phone pic of the license plate of my car along with the GPS tagging and emailed it to my brother letting him know where I was in case I really didn't come back.

Finally, after crawling down lots of boulders and not encountering rattlesnakes, I reached the bottom of the arroyo and began get my photo groove on.  Somewhere in the distance, I heard thunder.  How nice, it might rain and be cool.  Then I notice a log lodged in the middle of a tree limb about 8 feet above my head.  Yikes, his could become a flash flood in minutes!   I quickly gathered up my camera bag and began crawling back up the boulders not so careful this time.  As an old guy 20 years away from being in shape, I began to wheeze and pant for breath.   I could hear someone coming up the canyon behind me and they were moving fast.  Not to appear in trouble I quickly sat under a mesquite bush and played like I was taking pictures of the surroundings, just as this 30 something local and a couple of teenage kids scurried by me.


The older asked, "You OK, Sir?  You need help?"  I'm certain he noticed the bright red complexion of my face and felt sorry for me.  I tried to appear non-nonchalant and said, "Oh no, I'm fine. Thanks for asking."  I was such a liar.

After they left I took another 20 minutes to get a few more feet to my car.  I called my brother to let him know I was back to my rental.  He said he would have been calling the cops in another 30 minutes if I hadn't called.  As it turned out, I'd injured my knee and developed an infection with a lot of pain that took weeks of meds to cure.

I've got a ton of similar tales but the important thing to remember (particularly for me) is to be aware of your limitations, let someone else know where you are and if possible, don't travel alone in unknown places.   Nowadays, I have an app on my phone that my wife can tap into that will reveal my whereabouts within 100 feet.  I'm long past caring about that kind of privacy and still email my family the license plates of my rental cars.

Texas

After coming home from California, I spent a couple of weeks getting both eyes worked on by removing cataracts.  It makes me feel old to think about it but it certainly had to be done.

When it was over, I was amazed to see how bright and clear things were.  My doctor said it was entirely necessary because I'd probably not be able to pass the drivers license vision test my next time up.

After all that was handled, I had a couple of Texas assignments.  The first was in the small town of Bastrop, just east of Austin.  I'd hoped to see the burst of bluebonnets but unfortunately, the assignment ended before they came to full bloom. 

I did spend a bit of time on weekends walking along the boardwalk in Austin and hiking the state parks nearby.

I had hoped to be there when the bats return to the Congress Street bridge.  Each afternoon just after sundown, bats pour out of the crevices of the bridge and fill the skies attracting hundreds of people just to watch the site.  Again, I had to leave a couple weeks early and missed it.

There was this quick 2 day trip to Oklahoma which yielded nothing but an extra plane ride. After that, I found myself in Weslaco. Texas.  It's a little town in the Rio Grande Valley between McAllen and Brownsville.  (Trivia fact: Weslaco got it's name from the W. E. Steward Land Company)

Fortunately, I was located near another co-worker, Jim Larson with whom I spent a lot of time with exploring the RGV and much of what it had to offer. That included a lot of Mexican and seafood.

Besides the tourist attractions, I managed to become friends with some locals and for a while considered myself as either a Winter Texan.  Since it wasn't winter any longer and the temps were now reaching 100°, I'll refer to myself as an Undocumented Texan.  Either way, I think Texas and I fit.

Included in our explorations were the butterfly sanctuaries.  I found out more facts about the Monarch Butterfly than I could possibly explain in this blog.  Just look it up, it's astounding.

In every location, certain birds were everywhere.  Some of the more common birds were loud and noisy Chachalacas.  These birds were sometimes called Mexican Pheasants.  I asked a naturalist if they were edible and he said yes but they were a protected species in Texas so they weren't to be hunted.  Another was the big black Crackles.  They too were loud but not nearly as large as the Chachalacas.

On this picture, you'll have to look closely between the two Crackles to see the well camouflaged Chachalaca.

We did see a pair of Orioles nesting.  The nests were fascinating in the way they hung like a big bag from the tree limbs.  I've never seen an Oriole.  This species doesn't get too far north in the USA but is home in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV).

When I first arrived it was spring break time so it took a month or so to conjure a trip to South Padre Island.  I was disappointed there were no naturally growing trees there but the beach people didn't seem to mind.

One weekend, Jim and I rode over to Corpus Christi and took a tour of the USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier, now a museum with several airplanes on display on the deck.  Jim, being a former Navy pilot was all over the place.

Good times.

Texas has come and gone for now but I still miss it.

Shame on me. Long time; no post

I've already been up for a while taking a nice ride along the river road feeling almost apologetic for disturbing the egrets in the water filled ditches who were not especially grateful for the rumbling of a Harley Davidson on a mild summer morning.

The sun had not completely risen and the mixture of dark blue clouds with orange edges reminded me of a saying I learned years ago, "Red skies in the morning; sailors take warning."  It looked like it may rain later.  Still the clatter of the pipes sang a morning hymn and comforted my soul.  I talk with Him quite a bit with the V-Twin choir singing in the background.

Still there were no rain drops on my windshield and there was hardly any traffic on the roads. It seemed I owned the world and as I returned back to my neighborhood, I sort of wondered how many neighbors I was waking as I downshifted and rounded the corners sometimes scraping my floorboards on tight turns.

It felt great to be alive.

Call it writer's block, apathy, laziness or whatever but I've just haven't had the drive or will to post.  Not only that, I've not been all that excited about hauling out the Nikon because for the past few years, it was like another body part.

Anyway, this year I have had a short assignment in Atascadero, California.  I only had a couple of weekends to do any exploring.  A lot of that was visiting Morro Bay and watching the sun set on the rock.  

As the sun began to set, a boat pulled through the channel to spend some time for a late weekend evening sunset.



You'll have to pardon the dirty sensor and lens.  Consider the sun dogs as just being artistic.

Knowing I couldn't get that far north, I thought I'd ride on up to see how far I could go.

Anyway, I did cruise north toward San Simeon stopping along to see the smelly and noisy Elephant Seals and checking out a zebra near Hearst Castle.  

 I did not go into the castle.

I did get on up a few more miles as far as Ragged Point Inn before the road was closed and sent me back south where I spent some time back in Atascadero at the Tamale Festival.  It was a typical small town festival selling, yes you got it, tamales.  One on the best things was seeing the Azteca horses with riders singing as they ponies seemed to dance to the beat of the Mexican band.

With such a short time there, trips were cut short but manage to meet my old friend Jon Zeller up in Paso Roble in Central California's wine country.

I appreciate the chance to get back up there but am a bit disappointed I could not get further north on Big Sur.

2016 Year in review

2016 has been a year that I've neglected posting a lot.

While I've had no real personal hardships this year,  it's been a bad year due to losing a couple of aunts, one on my Dad's side and one on my Mama's side. Friends and family members have experienced challenges with the recent flood and all the hardships associated with that and the rebuilding.  Not all has been negative; I've met some new friends and renewed some older friendships.

My travels have been mostly in the central part of the US this year and did not even get near California or Hawaii, let alone Alaska or Florida.  I've spent time west of the Mississippi in Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.  I've also spent quite a bit of time in Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio, Iowa and Nebraska as well as working in Baton Rouge.

A lot of the time taking pictures of bugs, waterfalls, moons, sunsets and sunrises, all of which border on an obsession.

Here's a few shots.

I saw the beginning of the year in southern Kansas.

 

 Not looking at my appointment calendar, I don't exactly remember the order where I was located.  The three or four Texas assignments were usually very quick and my bags never really got unpacked.  North Carolina and Tennessee took up nearly half of the year.

 

While working in Madison, NC, my wife flew up to visit me in lieu of me coming home.  Maybe I should clarify that...she actually stayed with our friend nearby near Sugar Mountain.  There are tons of things to see, hikes to take and scenery you have always dreamed of.

 Although I worked in North Carolina for nearly 3 months, I took a one week motorcycle vacation ride up to Tennessee and North Carolina, with my friend Louis, visiting places like Chattanooga, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Cherokee, Maggie Valley and the Mecca of motorcycling in that area, Deals Gap or the Tail of the Dragon.

You'd think I had enough of that trip but as soon as Louis and I returned, Darlene and I loaded up in the car and took virtually the same trip with a few variations, the biggest part of the time in or around Banner Elk, North Carolina admiring the fall colors and mountain streams.

 

I also found myself visiting Ohio a couple of times, dodging a few Amish on some side roads and being there for a super moon.

 

My working year ended with a trip in nearby Nebraska where I imagined a stalker and got into a little bit of snow.

May you each be blessed with a happy and prosperous new year.