Still dry so far.

The east side of the Mississippi River in Louisiana is still dry at this point.  Not being at home, I'm constantly thinking about Louisiana every time I turn on the TV in the hotel room.  My wife says there are sand boils on or near the levee on River Road just south of LSU but she's confident that they will not rupture.  My heart goes out to the folks north of us and on the west side near the Atchafalaya.

Here's a link to compelling photos of the flood from up in Mississippi down into Louisiana. (click here)  

Some of my favorite photos

Click here for a small representation of my favorite photos.

http://lenseyeflash.blogspot.com/

End Of The World Kit

Combined with growing up with frugal self sufficient parents or being trained in my early teens by a really wacky scout master, I've developed a penchant for self survival.  Beginning at the age of 13 our scout master in the Boy Scouts of America, troop 16 in Farmerville, LA, would take several of us off into the Bayou D'Arbonne or Bayou De Loutre on weekend trips into the woods armed with little more than a sleeping bag, hatchet, knife and a cigar box full of survival essentials.  I suppose these lessons of life have carried over to my advanced age.

In the past 10 years, I've traveled most of the 50 states and have been part of natural disasters ranging from hurricanes/tropical storms in Florida, landing in blizzards in Minnesota and Michigan, dodging tornadoes in Alabama and Tennessee and feeling the earth beneath my feet turn to jelly during an earthquake on Maui.

Each of these events often have one thing in common; loss of power and essential services.  So with this in mind, I have collected a few items I always carry in the trunk of the car.  Of course seasons and geography usually change what I have but for the most part my core End Of The World Kit remains the same.  It includes:

• A backpack with extra socks, underwear and a pack of beef jerky.
• Small first aid kit 
• Aspirin, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, anti-diarrheal tablets and Zycam
• Toothbrush with dental floss
• Hydrocortisone, anti-bacterial ointment and chapstick
• Halizone water purification tablets
• A magnesium fire starter with steel wool to catch sparks. Also a magnifying glass to start fires and to read small print.
• Folding pocket scissors, razor blades, multi-tool, screwdrivers, pliers, electrical tape and a Swiss Army Knife
• Disposable plastic gloves, 2 space blankets for heat, head net protection from insects and a lightweight disposable hooded poncho
• Needle and thread
• A compass, several hundred dollars cash, extra identification and a road atlas
• Depending on the season or the area, there will good walking shoes, caps, gloves and jacket.
• In the winter (places like North Dakota, Minnesota, etc.) I usually make sure I have plenty of water in the car with a couple those large 24 hour candles. ( You don't leave your car in a blizzard )

Can I survive indefinitely with this supply? No, but I have a better chance of waiting it out until help arrives or have the tools to break in (hey, it's survival) to where food, shelter and creature comforts exist.



Slightly related to all this paranoia, is how I leave a few things in the room during the night.  Usually, I will drop my room key, car keys, wallet, pocket knife and shoes by the hotel room door.  My reasons are that if a fire started during the night or other emergencies happen, I won't have to fumble around in the dark to find things to make a hasty departure.  Also, if I carry my electronic room key with me, I do not carry it in the sleeve they give me if my room number is written on it.  If you are robbed or it is stolen, you don't want the thief knowing where you are staying and beating you back to your room for other booty. It is worth mentioning, I usually try to not let my gas level get below a half tank just in case of wide spread power loss rendering electric gas pumps useless.

Call it how you like but that's how it works for me.

Bin Laden

Today, President Obama said that photos and videos showing a dead Osama Bin Laden would not be released.  Many pundits on both sides of the fence cranked up the political posturing and set forth a barrage of what could be a firestorm of conspiracy theories.  I personally could care less whether the photos emerge or not.

However, I do find certain things curious about the controversy.  Many who do not want the photos released seem to fear a Muslim backlash were the very ones demanding or applauding the release of photos from Abu Ghraib prison.  Most likely to serve as an embarrassment to the Bush administration.  Let's face it, radical Muslims will hate us regardless of the released photos and are hell bent on killing us long before a photo of any kind emerged.

On another note, Many who want the photos released say it will counter the conspiracy theories that have already begun to rise.  If that is true, there are photos and videos of the lunar landing, the Kennedy assassination and 9-11 itself that have had no effect in dispelling theories.  Apparently, the administration did not have a concise plan on the stories told and there seems to be conflicts on the time of the raid, whether Bin Laden was armed or was hiding behind women in his compound.  Naturally, every time a story changes, it only fans the flames of the conspiracy theorists. We can look forward to the next few months of nasty debates on this matter.

Whatever the outcome, some things probably are better off just not shown. The cell phone video of the hanging of Saddam Hussein was released but for the sake of human decency's sake should have never surfaced but like the gruesome photos of interment camps at the end of World War II, they will be part of history and serve to rally the sentiments of generations to come.

Storming In Tennessee

Last night, I was at the Wal-Mart store in Decherd, TN buying some office supplies when the store manager came dashing around exclaiming that a tornado was near and we should all huddle near the center of the store.  Sure enough, all the lights went out and folks were all crowded around in the clothing section listening to the rain and hail hit the thin roof. I began to text family and friends, letting them know of my predicament.  My wife texted back, saying to get away from the hardware and things that could become airborne if the roof tore off.  I responded that I was hunkered down with two fat gals between rows of women's underwear and asked if that was soft enough. I received no other response.

After about 30 minutes, I began to think that staying in a thin metal building with a thin roof might not be such a hot idea so I made an executive decision to seek shelter in my hotel (20 miles north) and bolted for the car.  Being mutilated with 100 complete strangers in a Wal-Mart store just wasn't what I thought the end would be like.

Within the first 10 minutes, I began to question my logic when water overflowing from the ditches caused me to hydroplane a few times. When the hail began, I also wondered if I would be responsible for the dings on the rental car but my decision was now in play.  I had to re-track once because of downed trees but got there in about 40 minutes. Once back to the hotel, I congratulated myself on the choice but recounted the possibilities if I had met a tornado on Tennessee highway 127.

While I thought that was pretty bad, I found out later that nearly two hundred people had lost their lives just south of me down in Alabama.  A friend from Birmingham sent me a message that he was all right and that he had spent the early evening huddled in his bathroom playing cards with Miss Biscuit (his cocker spaniel) but had lost the game.

It was truly a destructive event and pray for those who were not as fortunate as myself.

Easter

As I came out of the large auditorium with several hundred people, I found myself directly behind two young women dressed in mid thigh skirts and spiked heels. The shoes made clicking sounds on the concrete floor and the thin material swayed sensuously as they made their way through the crowd toward the outer doors. At the doors the outside light made their clothing almost translucent revealing their shape and form. That was Easter morning at a very large and popular church in Baton Rouge.

Not that I'm being judgmental on the attire or being speculative of the lives of the ladies but it did give me pause and reflect how things have changed over the past 60 years.  They were by no means the only ones caught up this display of  corporeal beguilement.
I remember as a young boy, Sunday services were held in a little one room church house with eight windows without screens, two back doors and a front door without the benefit of electricity or running water.  While it wasn't exactly written in stone, women and children generally sat on the left side and men on the right on home crafted wooden pews.  I don't think you could ever describe anything as "sensual" in anyone's appearance and the "Sunday" clothes were reserved for weddings, funerals and church. Music, depending on the congregation, could have been supplied by an out of tune piano, possibly a guitar and depending on the group, singing a capella.  Yes, to an eight year old it was boredom in the purest sense and tempered only by the sometime wasps that may fly in and out of the window.

Fast forward to 2011 where you may find, in some occasions, modesty has completely been thrown out the window and dress down is rule of thumb and if a man can ignore the tight jeans, short skirts and abbreviated tops, he is a better man than I. Music is complimented with a light show that could rival an Elton John national tour and if you can't hear the words you might believe you were at the Hard Rock Cafe.  Mixing boards and controls are of the highest state.

Somehow, I find myself lost in the transition and fight daily to make sense of the distractions and figure out where I am in all of this and wonder what is to become of us as people and how will God judge us on the perversion.

The Lesson of the Moon Pie

A couple of weeks ago, I rode into town seeing gas in the $3.49 range and within a week, I was seeing $3.63-3.66 all around me. That was a wake up call to the fact that we are INDEED being hit with inflation.

When Gas prices go up, we can expect it to effect everything else from the shoes on our feet to the food at the store because it's all delivered to the final destination by a truck and that truck uses gas.

Here's another way I've seen it sneak up on me.  After having a decent meal in a little mom and pop restaurant in Decherd, Tennessee today, I was riding back to the office when the urge for something sweet hit me so I popped into a little convenience store, looked around for something to satisfy the sweet tooth and grabbed an old standby favorite, a Moon Pie.  I've been eating those things all my life but it's been a while since I have gotten one.  Walking up to the counter, I'm thinking this thing could hit me for anywhere between 59 and 79¢. The guy at the counter didn't even blink when he said, "Uh dollah an' seb'm cents, please."  Wow, my 59¢ good ole Moon Pie, with tax, is now $1.07?

The government has been denying that there  is significant inflation by choosing different reporting and calculating criteria.  But when my Moon Pie takes a 50% jump in price, now that's inflation.

I'm wondering how long a short term certificate of deposit at the bank can last below 1% now with the government (digitally) printing money at a record clip?  Hang on to your hats folks, this thing could get nasty.

Warm Spring Day In Tennessee

While yesterday was less than wonderful with temperatures ranging from the high 30s to the low 50s with gray skies, today was a gorgeous day. 

This afternoon, I explored local things near my hotel. One being something called the Old Stone Fort which is really an Indian mound but that's another story.

I walked some trails along the Duck River, managing to only fall flat of my face only once without breaking me or my camera. The tragedy could have been sliding off a 25 foot cliff into the waters.  It didn't look that deep but it was probably pretty cold and I wasn't ready for a swim.


Wild flowers were coming out along the rivers edge causing bugs to be out as well. While lying on the ground taking close-up pictures of some flowers, I had the uneasy feeling I was being watched.  I snapped off a couple of frames, slowly go up and saw a couple of Geezers (that would be someone my age or older) looking at me as if I were some kind of (please be kind in the comment section) nut.  I got up and nodded to them as if I were doing something important and headed back up the trail.  I suppose they don't see people wallowing around on the ground eye level to a dandelion very often.

It was a nice day.  I think there's even a full moon out tonight.

30 years ago, April 10

It's hard to believe how fast 30 years passes.  Little did we know how the roads would twist and turn as we started this journey which had no map or destination.

Tennessee

In case you had not noticed, I'm working in middle Tennessee and staying in Manchester.  When I arrived a week ago today, the gas station across the street from the hotel had prices of $3.49.  I have seen them raise prices twice in the last week up to $3.62 and three cents higher at the next exit.