Invasive Maneuvers

Yesterday I wanted to invade another world.

I meticulously planned it out (that means I finally found my go pro camera) and gathered my ice fishing stuff together for the invasion. I needed drilling equipment (ice auger) to penetrate the barrier to the underworld. I needed a stick(I cut a thick willow stick), line (very strong) a hook and bait to plunder said underworld (our frozen over lake). I needed an ATV and sled to safely drive onto the barrier (20 inches of ice will hold my truck).

Have a look. I invaded. I came, I saw, I plundered and ate the spoils!

I’m like that 4th fish. I like to think I ignore most things, especially media, out there

Aside from the temps dropping with a very cold breeze I looked into a world that none of us could survive for more than a couple of minutes without scuba gear and a very warm suit. We would then last long enough to run out of air unless we found an exit from this world and into ours again.

Have you ever had dreams like this? I haven’t (not true). My brother and I put a pickup (dads brand new 4×4) through the ice one time. I do not recommend this as it generates dreams, bad ones, for the rest of your life.

I can think of all kinds of ways we invade each others world and all kinds of ways the rest of the world tries. Advertisers, sales, every kind of media and now drones (I had to throw that one in). I can think of how God invaded our world and then became like us for a reason (Christmas and Easter, John 3:16, do you know about this?)

To the fish and underwater world I am an invasive marauder (in my defense that‘s natures way (eat or be eaten). I willingly admit I love fishing and fish fries.

To my fellow human beings; let’s learn how to love one another and just overlap in each others worlds gently with generosity and good will. Kindness on social media would be a great start. Me, I take all kinds of people fishing. We talk and break bread together over a meal of fresh fish FILLETED BONELESS

By the way, look closely at that fish. some of it is fresh fried fish eggs, the roe sac in a northern pike is extremely good (Ok, it’s not for everyone but there’s no bones).

Go ahead, name some basic invasion maneuvers where you are gifted in other worlds. Me, I’m on a learning curve with the go pro (and a few people), I wonder if they make underwater drones?

Gary

Stoked

When 2 people love deeply, they stoke each others fires

Ahh, to be young again

2nd honeymoon. By the time this picture was taken we were 9 years into adventuring life together. We were already learning how to stoke each others fires. We had survived my cliff diving, several wilderness adventures, 3 children (almost losing one twice), having money, being downsized, broke, and already on my 4th career. Standing at 12,000 feet (Top of Beartooth Pass) and still kind of wet from whitewater rafting earlier, we stopped for a picture.

35 years later (after picture) we haven’t caught our breath yet as we are stoked. Our coal beds run deep. Man, I would love to make it another 44 years with this gal.

Psst…A hint on love advice from a couple with no bad years…(1) It really doesn’t work to stoke your own fire. (2) Read 1 Corinthians 13 4-7 on love.

Gary

Peace Walker

Where do you go to get away from the worlds cacophony? Daryl Madden hit it on the nose in just a few poetic words . Please read these two posts. https://darylmadden.wordpress.com/2021/01/07/where-the-noise-disappears/ Thanks Daryl

Sandra J with her thoughts and photography ran with it in her winter wonderland https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/160380100/posts/7634 Thanks Sandra

I spend a lot of time in three places. One is in nature enjoying creation and another getting to know the creator as in Daryl’s last verse. Third is living everyday life attempting to be a peace walker from the core of who I am to what I do. Click on any picure for a better view.

Where does the noise disappear for you? Are you getting away to be still? Do you even have a space or a place to go? Even if you are in the middle of the worlds wars or in the middle of the most serene wilderness it does not mean you have or do not have turmoil inside.

Have you met people who seem to be at peace? It’s inside them like an extra ingredient making them palatable and savory to the world around them. Salt of the earth people. Peace walkers. Like Jesus. Like followers of Jesus who emulate him (not the cacophony religious ones on Fakebook).

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. (Jesus, Matthew 5:13)

Peace is oxygen to the soul and much of the world is dying of spiritual hypoxia.

Gary

My Christmas Card to you

May you find the peace you are looking for this Christmas. In a world filled with power hungry leaders playing the real life game of “Simon Says“, We will always have the choice to find peace by knowing and following the Price of Peace.

May you find the opposite of what the world gives. Good news, peace, joy, love and purpose. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

Here is a peek at snow falling for 8 seconds. You can use it as a background?? and a few images from this season. And, yes I have been busy fishing.

Merry Christmas wherever you are in the world

Gary

The Old Doe

She is old. She won’t make it through another Minnesota winter. Shunned in the deer world so she keeps to herself and decided humans are better. She follows me around the yard hoping for a hand out and a few words to perk her ears up. She doesn’t show signs of having CWD as the local Department of Natural resources has assured me from pictures. They asked me to watch her but not feed her. I sin frequently as do a couple neighbors.

Social distancing at six feet away from humans…sometimes

Last weekend our group of deer hunters gathered in the yard before daylight as we all hope to harvest a deer or two for the freezer. The old doe walked into the middle of the group. I should have warned them. One of the nephews commented “somethings really wrong with this picture” as he tried to pet her.

Life is full of ironies. The old doe has become as innocent as a newborn. Her instincts of flight and danger are gone which suggests some type of disease which will kill her either directly or by car, wolf, coyote, slowly this winter or any number of possibilities. No matter, it’s straight forward. She will die. So will we.

Lessons from the old doe. One: don’t live in fear (however that translates in your case) because life is short. Two: lets take better care of our neighbors, than we do the old doe. They need us, we need them. Three: don’t worry about what the rest of the herd thinks. Shut off the news feed. Do what we were created to do. Figure out how you should Love God and love people. Eternal things are the most essential

“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing(which was dangerous back then), but encouraging one another-and all the more as you see The Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25

Gary

Uncluttering: What is Where?

The picture says it all. There are thousands of “finds” in dad’s shop. Just try to find something, specific. You can, umm…eventually. This is what moving onto mom and dad’s place can be like after they are gone.

Dads been gone awhile and everything here was a part of his life. I have siblings that will walk in, look around and then weep. Almost every item is a story and we do not want to forget any of our stories. But, dad is gone and he left a lot of stuff. Do you need a 7/16 wrench? we have about 30 of them, I think, somewhere. When dad couldn’t find the 9/16 wrench he just bought a new set.

It’s taken me 4 months to come up with 39 plans for a useable shop. The hardest part is getting past the clutter and potential inventory to prioritizing what and how we will use the shop. What stays, what goes, where is what? does what work? and, can we walk into the shop and grab it? It’s always been a family shop and it will continue to be that way so it might as well be useful.

When I stare at the image of the cluttered shop, I see life. I see the clutter that builds up in relationships when words are not put in their proper place. Angry words are kept and not thrown away. Broken promises are not mended, they are just put aside with the new promises. Generations hoard and pass on life clutter. Clutter becomes ingrained in culture. Honesty, truth and moral values become lost in the clutter and are deemed unusable in an end-justifies-the-means society. Even our faith can become so cluttered it ends up as a burden too heavy to drag around. Possibly too expensive to fix. Let’s face it, fixing clutter will cost us, often more than we want to pay. Like sin it also keeps us longer than we want to stay.

Clutter can be found everywhere. Imagine trying to have a conversation with someone who keeps looking at their text messages (Oh, you don’t have to imagine). Imagine trying to pray in the morning while thinking of all the things you need to get done for the day (no…not you too?). Imagine… and I believe you have already thought of an area you may want to unclutter, even you neat freaks!

What do you think? It’s a start and yes it’s the same shop. Piles are now gone and the pegboard is full of things that we can walk in the shop and find what we are looking for. New shelves are in place with more coming. Lot’s of intentional work from a vision of what it will be. I’m using tools that can now be found. Constant decluttering will be a new norm. Fixing or replacing the broken, fences, gates, signs, posts, faith, prayer and all kinds of relationships. Decluttering.

Now I can go fishing or sit down and have coffee with my wife. I can get up early in the morning, read, pray, take some pictures from the deck in bare feet as the day dawns. I am at peace as the gathering winds of clutter are dissipating. “Honey, have you seen my shoes?”

“They are on the deck I think…it’s cold out there!” Oh, and that one set of footprints in the frost…they are m-m-m-mine.

Gary

Content in the Storm

Orphan fawn has adopted our place as it’s safe haven. Photo from the dinner table

Inconspicuous deer behind our deck, watchin me sipping coffee watching him.

It’s snowing and blowing and 28 degrees f. It feels like below zero weather. The deer is more at peace with the weather and winters outlook than I am, even after losing her mother.

What do you do in life’s storms? Dwell on all they have done to you? Fear what might be ahead?

What do you do with the wolves of life? Hide? Tremble at what may come?

Be safe and warm this winter little deer, there’s plenty of food and pines for shelter around our place

Remember: Yesterday and Tomorrow are thieves who trade empty coffers for our contentment Today.
“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance” (to the full, till it overflows, Jesus. John 10:10)

MY LIFE: In the hardest of storms God has been good…Gary

Bring Your (Good) Camera

Yes, I totally understand if you skip my ramblings and go straight to the pictures.

Life Lessons: Learned the easy way. I have a brother who claims he has learned most of the painful life lessons by watching his older brothers and then not doing that. The skeptic in me highly doubts that, even though he has quite a list of life choices which seem divinely guided (It is). He has broken more bones than me but I have more stiches and seem to be more accident prone by sheer lopsided statistics so we are even (I think). I’m not sure how our mother made it raising seven kids with extremely high risk taking penchants.

When I was 15, I acquired a “Farm Permit” to drive a vehicle within 25 miles of our farm. The “why” escapes me to this day, what was I thinking? I had raised my hand at the boys club meeting that I could supply a car and drive 80 miles into Canada for a week long camping trip. The club expedition leaders did not check my drivers license. The Canadian officials did not check my license at the border. The United States officials did not check my license even though they totally ransacked the car. I was the oldest one in the car at 15 and looked young for my age. But, dad found out and I was in more trouble than anyone else could have put me in.

Two things. 1) We can all agree here that I wasn’t thinking. Zero. Nada. Dad claimed this happened a lot. It still does. 2) I brought my first camera and four rolls of film. I totally mis-documented the trip with poor quality photos.

I learned that in one area of my life, I could actually pay attention to the details.

I’ve stretched paying attention to detail to a few other areas thankfully over the years. My value as a husband is determined by how much I invest in my wife and our relationship. My value as a father to 3 children, the same. being I value my relationship with God, I invest alone time meeting with my creator. I value capturing good images of life around me and the beauty God created should one pay attention to detail. I think God has rewarded that in my life.

So without further explanation I want to share a couple of photos with you as the scene was gifted me while fishing a few hours ago. This is the lake we live by. The same lake I have shared many stories from and will continue as it is intertwined within me from several generations back to the homesteading days.

Pictures taken from my boat between casts and unhooking fish. I brought my good camera and three different lens options, otherwise, one cannot begin to end up with images that look like what you saw through the view finder. I shoot on settings that do not wash the color out of the picture. I put the light sensor on the brightest area of the picture. I took these shots on my sports continuous shooting settings as I was standing in the boat with a stiff wind and rough water (because the fish were biting I did not go in to shore and use a tripod). and yes, Ted…Thank you for pushing me (you may have noticed these comments in other blogs comments section). I have started putting several of my photos on a free sharing website, but that’s another blog to come.

It’s my birthday today and this comes to mind as I am retirement age: Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them” Ecclesiastes 12:1

Sigh…That’s so true.

Gary

Life is Like a Bowl of Oatmeal?

life is like that you know. Add nothing and it’s plain. Stir too much and it’s mush. Let it set too long and you can patch pot holes in the road because it’s character is set in it’s ways.

How can one have a Gourmet oatmeal? I’m glad you asked. I took pictures. The grandkids line up for this (all but one), and yes, like life there are some added ingredients that will take more time. So, in the spirit of this harvest time lets just say your gourmet oatmeal will be a fruitful endeavor.

I love to dice fresh apples for a starter

While I put some water on the burner with a little salt in it, I diced up an apple to simmer for awhile before adding the oatmeal. Sometimes I dice up dry fruit (apricot, fig, apple, throw in blueberries and so on) and simmer a little longer. I’m not into prunes at this stage). Here’s my ingredient list in picture form.

Cinnamon, salt, brown sugar, honey, molasses, apple
Notice my subliminal tendencies? I have been known to go fishing, hence my measuring cup.

It might look like granola. About that…I like to use our home made granola which is mostly baked Old Fashioned rolled oats with pecans, sliced almonds, maple syrup and a bit of cinnamon. When it’s not available just use the oats and add the nuts and whatever else you find around the pantry to throw in (within reason). We are talking Gourmet oatmeal which like life takes time to add those ingredients that make it special and worth living, ur.. eating. I believe there is definitely overlap here. So yes, add a few touches of love throughout (and I sound like a movie).

Gourmet Oatmeal and a cup of Coffee in my Men’s Breakfast Coffee Mug (another project…make your own mug)

The real question is “Do you live a Gourmet Life?” It’s very possible that most of us struggle with taking the time for Gourmet anything. We live in a generic age with fast food, fast (and shallow-mushy) relationships, political and advertising sound bytes, instant foods and very expensive pills to combat the eventual side effects.

Make Gourmet Oatmeal sometime. It will take a little more time. Think about the ingredients of having a Gourmet Life while you do it. Think about these four areas: Mentally (a sound logical thinking mind), physically(Am I in good shape for my age?), socially (How am I at building relationships lately with no excuses) and spiritually (Do I have and am I growing in a relationship with God?).

I cannot resist this conclusion: It will take time but It Will Be very rewarding and Fruitful!

Addition: In the comments section Kim Smyth from Words on a Page added a very good oatmeal recipe for baked oatmeal. I finally tried it this morning and it is definitely worth passing on.

I put the almond slices and apple chunks in it, and blueberries on top. I might double the oatmeal part next time just so it will last longer…thanks Kim. Hmm now I’m wondering how peach slices would do on top..

Gary

Don’t Stay There

I sat out on the front deck this morning and snapped pictures of my thoughts. So many people I know are living in fear, shriveling up and dying in their loneliness.

Beauty is so fleeting, Enjoy it while it lasts
Adversity makes us show our true color. Love those Pines all seasons
Bald Eagle soaring, catching a nice current
Black Squirrel is more ready for winter than I am
God’s voice. Do you believe that?

When my dad was dying and in pain, I asked him if it was OK to invite some people over for a fish fry. He said he probably couldn’t be the life of the party but please do. It was hard on him physically. I could tell. Yet, after everyone had left he said “Today, was a good day” (it was my last feast with dad and a bunch of people) “When I am gone, promise me this house will ring with laughter for a long time”

Doing my best dad!

I will leave you (pun intended) with a picture of so many people who are living in fear. Don’t be there. Don’t stay there.

It looks like this over dad and moms graves. Some day ours.

There are no passages in the Bible that tell us to live in fear (except for fearing God). There is no disease, political landscape, media medium or power on earth worth listening to above hearing from God. Consider Jesus words  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

So…I sit mornings on the deck, read my Bible, let God speak to me and follow that voice. Sometimes I take pictures, sometimes journal and sometimes just pray for you and the other few who may read my scribblings.

The world sows fear. Jesus sows peace. No Jesus? or Know Jesus? Did you notice my bible passage picture? “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…”

Gary