November 15, 2020. Holiday Island, AR. Outdoor Bears

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November 15, 2020. Holiday Island, AR. Indoor Bears

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November 15, 2020. Holiday Island, AR. Animal Farm

When we moved into our cabin in June we knew we would be liable to encounter a host of animals and need to have a plan to keep them from taking control of our home. Joan brought us Miss Hissy and her three kittens, but the little ones are all gone and just Miss Hissy remains. In the meantime, we have "adopted" two other cats who it turns out are our half-mile-away neighbor's outdoor cats. Mass and Parrot have come to partake of Miss Hissy's breakfast and dinner and while Parrot has decided to go home, Mass has not, and enjoys being petted and wants to come inside. 

Penny, our neighbor, thought Mass had disappeared, and was glad to hear that he was well, and well-fed, but wants him back to be a pal to Parrot and her two dogs Cooper and Leo. Plus, she misses her guard cat. We have decided to limit Mass, who we had named Rascal, from eating Miss Hissy's food and I will have a sit-down with him to encourage him to return to his family who misses him dearly.
Our squirrels which like the bird feeder may have been the cause of "rodent damage" to Jinny's car, to the tune of $3600. Our lawn has been target of either moles or armadillos and the hunters have begun roaming our adjoining property on weekends to clear our the hogs and thin the deer population. Taking the cat food in at dusk has kept the raccoons away, but we think they still prowl because we hear some to-dos at night. Our fish seem happy and with the cooler water temperatures they don't need to be fed as often. We are getting a lot of birds at the feeder once we shoo the squirrels away and at this point we have no plans for dogs, geese, chickens, or bringing Abraham, the donkey from the Passion Play, to live with us.
We did get used to the Passion Play "cast" animals and the petting zoo animals, including Indy, the pig, and see them when we work at the PP, but it's different when you are in the "wild" and share your space with them and they get to share their space with us. No telling what we are liable to encounter. We do have a host of indoor and outdoor bears, but that's another story. Pictures will have to do for now.

November 12, 2020. Holiday Island, AR. What Are The Odds?

Life is not always what we expect it to be. Early in life we set goals for "What we want to be when we grow up". Some people set their goals high, and realize fairly soon that they are not going to have a snowball's chance of achieving them....and lower their target to something more realistic. Others keep trying and face failure again and again and then give up. Others actually do reach that goal and "beat the odds".
To be a professional athlete. To be a billionaire by age 50. To be a movie star. To be President of The United States. To dream the impossible dream is what every every one of us has fallen prey to at one time or another. The odds are not in our favor to be a pro athlete, a billionaire, s Broadway Star, or the President. People do reach these goals, but when we hear one who has say, "if I can do it, you can do it, too" it usually is a recipe for disappointment for the aspiring wannabe.
Get a good education, learn a skill and get good at it, watch what you get "addicted" to, be respectful to those in positions of authority, choose your friends wisely, keep your emotions in check, always tell the truth, stay out of jail. If you can achieve these, the odds for a successful and useful life are a definite possibility and always know that with God in your corner, the odds go up exponentially. Give Him the praise and He will give you the desires of your heart, peace, joy, contentment and a whole lot more.

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November 9, 2020. Holiday Island, AR. Thank You, Donald Trump

I don't know how you were able to endure the unparalleled abuse thrown at you over the past four years. Before you were even sworn into office, there was a concerted effort by your "enemies" who were sworn to seeing you fail and be removed from that office. Between the Democrats, the mainstream media, and some within your own party, it was a war from start to finish. Yet, finish you did and in the process you accomplished a lot. Your appointments to the federal courts will have tremendous impact for years to come. There were many other great accomplishments.
The whole 2020 landscape with the politics, pandemic, immigration, racial tensions, economics, weather and wild fires was unprecedented and it is amazing that we as a country and you as our leader have come through it. We still face a lot of hard decisions and probably a lot of contention within our nation. I pray that there will be wise decisions made, not short-term "band-aid" "sound-bite" fixes. We are in for a rough ride. And I pray also for your final two months in office; that you will make wise decisions to make the transition smooth and amiable; that you will help those of us who wanted you to continue in office for another term accept that we will need to stand up for our rights, pick our battles well and not be angry or act toward "them" as they acted toward you.
I know you will rise to fight again and in that fight, may we all be determined to Make America Great Again. Thank you, Mr President. May God bless you and may God bless America. In reality, it is God who has the ultimate plan for us and our future. Thank You, Lord.

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November 6, 2020. Holiday Island, AR. Who Won?

Right now there is no winner in the 2020 Presidential election. And the winner is certainly not the American people. While there is the ongoing debate over the electoral college tally versus the popular vote tally, and the expansion of absentee ballots, mail-in ballots and provisional ballots and the different systems of machines, paper ballots and voter registration rules and eligibility requirements administered by each individual state, it makes it very difficult to understand how the election system works at all.
The United States map with its red and blue counties, urban vs rural divisions and pre-vote surveys vs exit polls looks more like a "bloods versus crips" gang war than a country with a Constitutional form of government. We are far from a "United" States of America, but as bad as it may seem, I wouldn't even think of wanting to live in any other country.
With all the turmoil over this election, it looks like the House will remain Democratic and the Senate.......well, it too is still up for grabs. I pray that regardless of who eventually "wins", that we can somehow learn to get along, be calm in the face of confrontation and that we find peaceful ways to resolve our differences without resorting to violence, contentious law suits and wasting any more money beyond the estimated $14 Billion already spent on this year's fiasco. Even if we had that money back, I wonder if we could ever agree on where we should have spent it to do the most good for the most people. God help us. GOD......HELP.....US.

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November 3, 2020. Holiday Island, AR. Election Day

Even though Karen and I voted last week and Jinny voted by absentee ballot, today is officially Election Day. While a lot of people were concerned about how Covid would affect the actual voting process and others were fearful of the mail-in efficiency, we didn't want to wait until the last minute and face long lines or machine issues. But our votes are in and the whole election situation is one which will have a major impact on our country and how we go forward from here. Many people are still standing on line, and many of the results will not be known for hours.....or days.
As with past elections, the ads have been confusing, negative, and a waste of a lot of money; and depending on which news you listen to I'm not sure that the "other" candidate should not already be in jail or in a mental institution. Our future is at stake and regardless of the outcome, a lot of people are going to be upset and some violently upset. The police, lawyers, unsuccessful candidates, political pundits, critics and the public at large seem to "ready for a fight" and expecting anything from an internet meltdown or a cyber-attack to a nuclear war as a reaction to the outcome of all the local, state and federal contests.
We need to pray for peace and calm to prevail, for winners to be humble in victory and losers to be gracious in defeat; for all of us to find ways to come together for the good of our country and the welfare of every citizen. God, help us to accept what happens, knowing that You have it all figured out and are in control of EVERYTHING. You weren't on the ballot in any precinct or district........but You definitely have my vote.