April 28, 2021. Holiday Island, AR. Speak English

This is NOT a blog about people who come to this country to live, have lived here for a long time, and still speak the language of the country they came from. Even though that annoys me, I really want to talk about what those of us who have lived in the United States all our life and speak only English are doing to the English language.
I admit that I do not speak perfect English, and I often misuse words. I have "pet" words I use too often and often talk too much. But I don't start every sentence with the word "so". I don't say "like" or "you know" in every sentence. I have never eaten a food I was willing "to die for" and I "wasn't born yesterday" or "a spring chicken". I don't buy products which promise to give me my "life back", my "lips back", my "hands back", or any other part of my body "back". And why do weather people say "overnight hours", "morning hours", when there is no reason to add "hours" to a period of time which is already specific? Why does the President have to say "for God's sake" and then use the word "hell" so often? A lot of how we respond to people is tempered by the words they use and the manner in which it is conveyed?
I have probably insulted some of my readers with my "peeves" about how we use words improperly, but our words do matter, and how we speak is a reflection on us, how we want people to treat us, respect our opinions and our concern for others. It's not easy to break a "habit", but if we realize that when we speak to others, we should also be a "listener" to the words which come out of OUR mouth. Let those who have ears to hear.............that means ME too.




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April 25, 2021. Holiday Island, AR. God’s Handiwork

Our life has changed in the past eleven months since we moved from full time in the motor home to our cabin in the woods. It's hard to imagine how much our routine has changed and how our attitude about "everything" has been altered by the change of scenery, the way we see God's handiwork in our surroundings and the way He brings it all into harmony and builds blessing upon blessing in the details which are beyond our imagination and our ability to conceive of ever have been able to accomplish on our own.
Of course, there have been problems and unforeseen events, but each one has been an opportunity to either let the situation knock us down or an opportunity to let Him temper us to the reality of Who is orchestrating the matter and Who will see it to the needed resolution. You, God, have been our strength and we have trusted You completely for the answer needed and the time for it to be fulfilled.
When I look at what You have provided for us, for the protection You have provided and for the comfort we feel in Your presence, I marvel at the handiwork of Your creation around us, and I feel so blessed and even more eager to continue to serve You as we have for the past 22 years. For everything.......... and all You have for us up the road................Thank You, Lord.

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April 22, 2021. Holiday Island, AR. Spring Storm Out The Back Window(Gone in 2 days)

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April 19, 2021. Holiday Island, AR. Career Choices

There have been a number of times in my 75 years that I have had to make decisions on what I "wanted to do when I grew up". In fact, there have been MANY such times, the most important one being after I graduated Law School, passed the Virginia State Bar Exam, and made the decision NOT to practice Law in Virginia or anywhere else.
After spending a considerable amount of time watching the trial of Derek Chauvin on television and listening to opening statements, testimony of multiple witnesses, some of the closing arguments, judges instructions and the comments of the HLN panel of "experts", I am SO glad I made that decision forty-nine years ago to not pursue a legal career.
I definitely enjoy talking. Most people who know me would agree with that, but I really don't enjoy the legalities of being a lawyer. I don't do well in confrontational situations and I would not do well in an environment like we witnessed in the ChaIvin trial. There are too many "truths", there are too many variations in what people "witness" and the realization that one wrong word or statement could have a profound impact on someone's life, death or financial situation and the resulting public reaction. My stomach would not do well in such a circumstance and I might get even less sleep than I get now without such a stressful career. I may not have chosen wisely some of the career moves I made, but NOT becoming Dr. Harold Schatz Esq., B.A, J.D. was, by far, the best career choice I made. I rest my case.


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April 16, 2021. Holiday Island, AR. Wait A Second

Have you ever considered how brief a second is in the grand scheme of "time"?
In my lifetime I have lived more than 2.38 billion seconds and I have wasted a good portion of them with things that haven't been productive or worthy of note. If we believe that Adam and Eve were "born" about 9,700 years ago that would mean that there has been life on earth for more than 306 billion seconds. For those who believe the earth has been in existence for 4.54 billion years that means it's age is 174709440000000000 (174.7 quadrillion) seconds.
I really don't know what this has to do with anything, but it was worth a few seconds to just see how big the number could get. I guess this was a further evidence that a lot of my efforts are not very productive of worthy of note. Getting back to full capacity after my surgery and the ongoing therapy is "down time" but also crucial for a time in the next 30 million seconds when I will back to "normal", if there is ever going to be such a thing again. Still thankful for my current status, and still in service to The Lord as He has called me. Rest, and keeping His "temple" in working order, IS part of God's plan and I am thankful for all who are helping me on that journey.

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April 13, 2021. Holiday Island, AR. How Does HE Do It?

As we look into our "backyard" and beyond we are blessed with a panoramic view of tens of thousands of trees of various sizes, shapes and colors. In a few months we will have lived in our cabin for a full year, and have been witness to the changing beauty of full summer shades of green, autumn colors, winter's starkness and now the springtime revival and new growth.
When we lived in Colorado we visited the Colorado State University Trials Garden often to see the wide variety of annual and perennial flowers and shrubs, and also saw the beautiful Rocky Mountain foliage, quaking Aspen and the flaming fall forests, and the evergreen varieties below timberline. In our travels we have always been aware of the beauty of each locality and marvel at the handiwork of God's creation.
How and why the trees can come back to "life" after winter is a miracle. How the plants can return year after year with little or no effort on our part, the grass dormant from late fall comes back green and full, and even with little moisture, the trees "pop" out with leaves and new growth. It is nothing less than God creating beauty, giving us a sense of new life, animals bringing forth their young, bees doing what they do, hummingbirds returning from their winter homes and us getting rejuvenated and uplifted by the reality that God has it all figured out, is continually caring for His creation and fulfilling His promise of never leaving us or forsaking us. I don't know how He does it, but I am certainly glad, grateful, and thankful that HE DOES. Lord, Your awesome wonders never cease

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April 10, 2021. Holiday Island, AR. Let’s Try Again

When a I sat down to write my blog three days ago, my mind went blank. The more you I sat, the less came to mind and the more I realized, "It was not my day". it was frustrating, but, then again, the last year has been frustrating in many areas. The virus while affecting everyone in one way or another has taken a toll on our national psyche. Masks have become the norm and I believe have made us more "invisible", cut off the amount of air which gets into our body, and generally given us a false sense of security.
The vaccine is not a cure-all but is being touted as one by some. Who knows how long it will be effective and what the long term ramifications will be. Half the country is still seeing increases in cases and hospitalizations and yet some states are "reopening" as if there is no danger of another surge. It's a confusing mess.
I'm still at less-than-full-strength from my surgery, but doing well in my therapy and eager to get back to a more active routine. The added pounds are crying for release from my waist. I need to proceed cautiously to avoid re-injury. The surgeon did too good a job for me to undo it by going too fast, too soon.
There is a lot of concern for the direction our country is heading after the last election. It concerns me that we were promised a President who would be a President of ALL the people, and yet seems to ignore the 74 million who didn't vote for him and feels the need to "executive order" his agenda without listening to the people he promised to listen to. It worries me that he is trying to do too much too soon and possibly cause injury which may be hard to repair. We live in perilous times and need leaders at all levels who will make wise decisions, and weigh impact they will have on us and those who come after us.
Let's try again to get along, be considerate of others and realize that life is more than us getting our way, all the time, every time. I'm trusting God for direction and provision more than any earthly leader, political agenda, or multiple multi-trillion dollar cure-alls.

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April 7, 2021. Holiday Island, AR. Out Of Words

As I sit down to write, I realize after about five minutes of sitting and doing nothing, that I don't have anything very worthwhile to say. I've written the second sentence of this blog several times, and each time It has been erased. I usually sit down to write and the words just come out, there is a theme, a final thought a review of my spelling and grammar, and a push of the "up" arrow...... but my mind is pretty much devoid of anything substantial.
Maybe in a day or two, I'll be prompted to write about "something". For now.......have a good evening, get some rest overnight and thank God for all He has blessed you, and me, with. See you later.........

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April 4, 2021. Holiday Island, AR. It Has Begun

The 2021 Passion Play season has begun........to be resumed on Memorial Day Weekend. Because of an early Easter, the ongoing COVID restrictions and the need to plan well in advance, we are now in a seven week hiatus, with a lot of work still to do before we "open" again at the end of May.
The opening weekend was our best in a long time, with good attendance, good weather and a return to "normal", somewhat. It was a fun weekend even with some glitches, delays, plans made but needing to be altered, animals which didn't behave as they had been trained, and people in roles they had never done before. There were a number of potentially serious situations, some frayed nerves and a few people who were inconvenienced, but it is now behind us and we will press on to what lies ahead.
Our only guarantee is that God is still on His Throne, knows what His plan for us is, and wants us to get on board and ask, seek and knock..........and rest in the assurance that everything, everything...........everything is working for our good and His Glory. HE IS RISEN........HE IS RISEN INDEED. Thank You, Lord.


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April 1, 2021. Holiday Island, AR. The Trial

Coverage began this week of the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin charged in the death of George Floyd almost a year ago in Minneapolis. There has been extensive live coverage of the actual trial, which is expected to last for about two weeks. It puts before the public the workings of our legal system and is bound to elicit strong emotions as we have already witnessed over the past year with peaceful protest, violent protests, harsh words, calls for defunding of the police, greater support for the police and more awareness of ethnic and social issues.
The trial is far different than watching Perry Mason, Matlock, Law and Order, Judge Judy, LA Law, Night Court or the long list of other tv lawyer shows, and is going to bring out strong reactions when the decision is rendered at the end of the court proceedings. There will be a "winner" or possibly a hung jury or even a mistrial or other legal outcome, but there will really be no winner. The losses already sustained may be hard to undo. The $27 Million civil settlement with the Floyd family, and it's timing before the trial began, has further clouded an already cloudy situation. Who knows what will happen as this trial stirs up emotions once again as it has over the past eleven months.
I hope there will be something positive which comes out of this whole situation and that we can see better, more peaceful, kinder days ahead. In reality we are all on trial in our society and I hope we can all aspire to be winners in the " game of life" and eventually face Our Maker and Judge and hear a "well done" and not an "I knew you not". There is a choice to be made.............and I pray we make the right one. Thank You, Lord.


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