Forest Jewel

I ran across this stump the other day while trudging around the woods behind our cabin. I stopped for a short time to look it over and it occurred to me that I was one of the few people on the planet who would ever see it. I wondered how long it took for this stump to reach it's current state of mossiness.--I'm guessing 20 years or more. I'm also guessing that in it's former life it supported a mighty white oak tree for perhaps somewhere between 80 and 100 years or so. Now it's just a little jewel of the Ozarks, to be enjoyed from time to time by the few passers-by who might take time to notice. I consider myself one of the fortunate few.

It's Cold Outside

~Our Southwest Missouri cabin

This picture was taken a few years ago after an ice storm that left a lot of folks in our neck of the woods without power. My dog Max and I took the opportunity to spend a cold January afternoon at our Southwest, Missouri log cabin after the storm, sniffing around and taking pictures (I was the one taking pictures). Later, I built a fire in the wood-stove to warm up (even though we have central heat) and I was reminded how nice a fire can be when you need it. There's something about a good fire in the fireplace or stove to create an atmosphere that, aside from warming you up, makes you feel good about having previously been cold. If it wasn't for the cold, we wouldn't appreciate a good fire nearly as much as we do.

Paul Johnson-Alaska's Favorite Son

 Paul Johnson is one of those guys who fits the cliche, "comfortable in his own skin". From the minute we met Paul we felt like we'd already known him for quite some time. Paul's like a character out of a book: the kind of guy you only get to meet every now and then because there's only a few of them scattered around in places like Gull Cove, Alaska.

Whether Paul's driving his big boat, searching for bears or just relaxing after one of Tammy's fine home cooked meals, he's usually telling a story. As good as he is at story telling he's an equally good listener. Paul seems ever curious about the world down in the lower 48. He's actually very well read and up on what's going on outside of his Alaskan world probably better than most, but he always seems interested in what's going on in the lives of his out of town guest.

An Alaskan native and a life long resident of his home state, Paul is an expert on the country he lives in and the world in which he makes a living. He's a fountain of knowledge about all things Alaska and the guy you want to have around in the event of a boat problem or bear attack. I don't know if Paul Johnson has a nick name but if he does it should definitely be Griz, Buck or Hoss. Along with his wife Tammy they sure made our 2 trips there a complete joy. I can't believe we haven't been back but the boys grew up and got busy with life, while Greg, Eddie and I just continue becoming more and more grizzled. I suppose grizzled goes with Alaska, so maybe we're not doing too bad.

I wonder what Paul and Tammy are doing right now? Probably trying to keep up with their kids, Big Ricky "Riccardo" and Alice "in the palace". Those two rascals are another story and I plan on telling it sometime. Maybe I started their story in an earlier post but if I have I've forgotten. Trust me though, they're good enough for at least 2 or more stories. And now that I think about it, I don't know why The Discovery Channel isn't doing a story on the Johnson's instead of the Kilchers. Maybe I'll recommend that to the Discovery folks. Perhaps we'll find out if they're as good a listener as Paul Johnson. I wonder if Paul's related to Jeremiah...I'll have to ask him next time I visit with him.

High Mileage?

~Doug Sr & Doug Jr with Senior's 1967 Dodge 440 Cornett

 We live in a throw away society. How we view cars fits into that category as evidenced by how many of us feel we need to get rid of our vehicles before they get too old. Many car owners think you should trade a vehicle off well before it accumulates 100,000 miles, otherwise it won't be worth anything. I'm sure that used to be true in many instances, but if you take care of a vehicle, change the oil regularly and fix stuff when it breaks or stops working, a car could last you an entire life time; maybe longer. 

 A good Friend of mine's Dad is a great example of that. He recently handed down his 1967 Dodge Cornett to his son and my friend, Doug. Senior Doug bought the car new and it still looks great and as far as I can tell, runs great too. Just one example of how taking care of your stuff extends the life beyond what the average person might think possible.

NOTE: I'm ending this story here because I just found out this great car has only 80,000 miles on it. Are you kidding, a 46 years old vehicle that's been driven a paltry 80,000 miles? That's less than 1800 miles per year on average!

I'll write more on the Cornett when the odometer shows closer to 200,000 miles. At the rate the Doug's are going, however, that will be in about 67 years...give or take.

Making a Difference

~Grandma & Grandad's front-porch, California, Missouri 1963

It's been my observation that you don't have to pastor a church or move to a far away land in order to have a meaningful ministry. This concept is being proven daily by folks all around who go about their daily lives while quietly and selflessly helping others.
An example of this is someone I know who lives a comfortable middle class life style, but spends a great deal of her time shopping at yard sales and flea markets in an ongoing quest to find high quality items at ridiculously low prices. I don't think I've ever known of or for that matter even heard of an individual who's better at finding a bargain than her. I've seen her purchase brand new clothes, household goods, and numerous assorted items with the original sales tags still attached for pennies on the dollar. I'd estimate that by now she's probably purchased somewhere between 2 and 3 pretty good sized semi tractor trailer loads of merchandise for a fraction of the actual value. Her prowess in the field of buying merchandise I'm sure would have made Sam Walton himself somewhat envious.

This may not seem all that different from many folks you might know who have a penchant for great deals, but with her it's different. The individual I'm writing about spends all this time, effort, and money searching out, buying and hauling all this stuff around, so she can give it away--that's right, so she can give it away. God apparently gave her a generous heart and she puts that heart to work throughout the year buying as much stuff as she can so she can give it to people who need it. In many cases, people who without the help of caring folks like her, might not be able to buy these basic items on their own. The thing that makes her actions so exemplary is the fact that she does this not for recognition or so she can build up community service hours in the event she one day decides to run for city council; she does it because she has a good heart and she likes helping people. I don't know whether her inspiration comes from Matthew 23:39 or Matthew 26:45 or maybe from some other life learning, but I think her actions are a great example for all of us regarding loving others. It must be what Paul had in mind when he wrote those words over 1900 years ago.

Oh, by the way, the person I'm writing about is pictured above on the far left, holding my now 50 year old little brother Mark. She's our Aunt Dee, and although at 14 she had her moments, we're all pretty proud of the way she "eventually" turned out.
Aunt Dee is proof that you don't have to spend your life working inside a specific church organization or living in Spankdanglidesh in order to help make the world better place to live.

Our first new car

Speaking of family cars, one of ours that I remember well was a 1969 Plymouth Fury III. Dad bought it "brand new" from the Plymouth-Chrysler-Dodge dealer in some far off town like Waynesville or Licking. Dad thought the local guy was too high and as a result decided to do his car dealing out of town. As I recall it had a screaming 383 cubic inch V8 unencumbered by catalytic converters and future smog control devices and could go from 0-60 in about 3 seconds when Dad was driving it. Dad rarely drove over the speed limit unless he was passing someone on crooked old highway 63N (looking back I think Dad's in the 1960's and '70's used passing cars on the highway as an excuse to stomp on the gas pedal of the family car--perhaps their only chance to run the snot out of a car like they probably did before they got married), but he could get our family car to just over the legal limit when he needed to in what had to be at or very close to the state record. I think Dad called it, "blowing the soot out of the engine", something you apparently had to do every now and then if you wanted your car to run right.

~Mom around that time

Cars back then didn't come with a cruise control but our Mom performed the aftermarket equivelent by saying things like, "Don slow down a little bit" and "Don, you'd better slow down." I don't recall Mom ever telling Dad to speed up, but maybe she did when we weren't around.
The other thing I remember about that car aside from the white vinyl top, was the massive size of the trunk. Dad never left a square inch of storage space go to waste in the trunk of any vehicle we ever had and he and Mom were able to get everything in that trunk we needed for a 2 week long camping trip in the Rocky Mountains with enough room left over for a small mule and 3 or 4 circus midgets if need be. Had we needed to, I suppose we could have left the huge Sears & Roebuck family sized cabin tent at home and just slept in the trunk of the car, but that wouldn't have been as fun.

It was the first car we'd ever owned with seat belts and Mom made us wear them when we were going on long trips; trips like the ones we used to take to California, Missouri to visit our grandparents or to St. Louis to visit our friends the Sperrys. We weren't required to wear them around town most of the time, I guess because the statistic that most accidents happen within 18 miles of home hadn't came out yet and we all just figured most accidents happened on highways like 63 and 50.

~My brothers & I with our cousin Dee-a trip we would have made in our Plymouth

The first nick on the car was installed by my friend Jim Ballenger one summer afternoon when he decided that shooting an arrow from my bow straight up in the air sounded like a good idea. It was until it came screaming down from the sky and landed directly on top the vinyl roof of our new Plymouth. Unfortunately for Jim (and me), Dad was standing about 12 feet away in the garage when the arrow whacked the top of the car. Jim would have probably gotten off easier if he'd have just gone home and set his house on fire. The lesson we learned that day was, don't do stupid stuff in front of your parents or your friend's parents: save it for when no one over 12 is around.

~Dad, well before the flaming arrow incident of 1971

$5 Flat Rate Shipping

-Turkey Lamp from Cabela's

-Flat -Rate Shipping

Let's say you're in the market for a turkey lamp made in China: I'm assuming most turkey lamps are not made in America. I didn't check this Cabela's turkey lamp, but I'll lay down 100 bucks against 5 it's made in China.
Now let's say you didn't realize you'd be able to find a turkey lamp in your local Cabela's store, so you order it at Cabela's.com. When you go to check out you're pleasantly surprised to discover you can have your prize shipped for a flat rate of $5--not a bad deal based on the average cost for shipping lamps and other various items. The only catch is to get the $5 flat rate you're required to pay with your Cabela's Club Visa card. Don't have one; not a problem...they'll sign you up!

Key learning: to know what kind of actual deal you're getting on any item you purchase anywhere, you have to add up all the cost associated with your purchase. True, if you pay your Cabela's Club Visa card in full each month, there's no finance charge. But Cabela's is hoping you won't pay it off so they'll be able to make additional profit by charging you a fairly substantial interest rate on your turkey lamp and other purchases you might have made on your Cabela's Club Card. Forget that you already paid Cabela's a nice profit in exchange for their turkey lamp (I don't know their margin on turkey lamps, but I'm confident it's over 40% and could be over 50%--Chinese turkey lamps don't cost much to make, providing you make them in China).
Cabela's $5 flat rate shipping is a real good deal, providing you can pay off your purchase in full before the due date. If not, the good deal you got on shipping is pretty quickly erased as soon as you start paying Cabela's additional profit via Club Card interest--which is a GREAT DEAL for Cabela's, but not such a great deal for you.

NOTE: I like Cabela's a whole lot, and if I haven't mentioned it before, they're my favorite sporting goods establishment. It doesn't change my opinion, however, about being careful to determine which end of the great deal you might actually be on.

Doug the Fireman

Greg, Doug, Chuck & Tony

The plan was to make stair railings for the cabin out of cedar harvested off our property. For quite some time I'd been gathering limbs off standing live and lying dead cedar trees and storing them in a pile stacked neatly beside the barn on a wood crib I'd made out of old 2x4's. I had acquired nearly enough and was planning on starting the project soon. 

My plans, however, changed one December evening a few years ago. I'd gone into the cabin to check on some potatoes I had frying on the gas stove (the range as my grandparents might have said) and to make sure the beer was staying cold. I'd left Greg (who left before the below picture was taken) Doug, Tony and Chuck by the campfire, telling lies about one thing or the other--either something they had allegedly done or were going to do. When I came out, the first thing I noticed was the fire was roaring nicely--much better than when I'd last seen it. The second thing I noticed was the nicely stacked cedar I'd been saving for the last year or so was gone. At first I thought maybe the guys had very thoughtfully moved my wood-stash to a safer location, away from the fire. When I looked back at the fire, however, I noticed something strangely familiar about the wood it contained: it looked a lot like cedar. In fact, it looked exactly like the cedar I'd been saving. I asked the guys where they got the wood for the fire and Doug replied, "I got it from the wood you had stacked up over there", pointing to where the cedar had been. I responded with something like, "Are you serious?". Turns out he was. 

It took me a very short time to get over it. He certainly hadn't burned up my awesome cache of perhaps one of a kind completely air-dried cedar "on purpose". Besides, it wasn't like we were going to run out of cedar trees on our Southwest, Missouri property any time soon. We actually ended up getting a pretty good laugh out of it. Before it burned down too much, I took a picture of Doug kneeling beside to the fire he'd so proudly built up. It was so hot, he couldn't get very close without being in danger of catching his hair on fire. Funny how things sometimes turn out!

Author, Doug, Tony & Chuck

Doug the Fireman!