At Home On Piety Hill

http://washtimes.com/world/20050221-084406-3953r.htm

In the good ol’ days, the United States/European oil assets were regularly seized and nationalized after they had been sufficiently developed. Perhaps it’s time for the US to reciprocate in the case of the evil Venezuelan robber barons at Citgo. Viva la revolución!

P.S. There’s China again… exploiting the world’s resources and polluting up a storm… let’s march with signs, shout some slogans and raise some awareness! Yeah! That’l get it!

Moving to downeast Maine in 1993 was, in many ways, similar to the 60’s TV comedy, Green Acres. Like Lisa and Oliver Douglas, the Salisbury family struck out on an adventure to discover a little piece of rural America in Sedgwick ME. We made a splash, rolling into town with our 5 ton Ryder truck and ’67 Chevy Bel Air. Fortunately, we were from California and were looked upon as more of a curiosity, than a complete nuisance like other people from away (New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, etc.)

So, imagine our surprise to find that we had moved into the same town as Ralph Monroe, the eccentric carpenter from Green Acres. TV buffs know her true identity – Mary Grace Canfield. Mary Grace and her husband John are wonderful folks and I had the pleasure of serving them at the Post Office. One of the high points of our Maine adventure was attending the annual children’s Christmas Party, which was put on by the Thursday Club at the Sargentville Chapel. All the children would sit around Mary Grace as she performed a dramatic reading of The Night Before Christmas and then each child received a gift and everyone enjoyed some Christmas cheer. I have very fond memories of John and Mary Grace.

Today was emotionally, physically and mentally draining. I spent Sunday, the Lord’s Day, with Christians from sunup to sundown and I saw and heard so many wonderful things! It was a day of fierce spiritual battle with plenty of opportunities for believers to give and take offenses (I think I was probably the most offensive one of all). Yes, unpleasant things were done and said… But, I saw many, many examples of compassion, grace, forbearance, longsuffering… in modern parlance, we put up with one another very well… uncommonly well. I was particularly struck by the mature love of the young Christians in my orb… those under 40. I have good reason to be optimistic about the future.

My words cannot express my feeling of complete joy, but the words of John, the apostle express my thoughts…

I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 1 John 2:14

I mentioned Dr. Nathaniel Horne in my Ground-Breaking News post. I believe Nathaniel was a resident at UCDMC when I was treated there for necrotizing fasciitis in 1998. He performed a skin graft or two on my affected leg and we got along nicely…

Fast forward to 2003 and the Salisburys are on the north shore of Oahu for Emma’s 18th birthday… Emma wanted a surfing lesson, so we got her one in Haleiwa. The class paddled out and I sat on the beach photographing everyone. About an hour into the lesson, a young man with a hat and sun glasses walked up and sat down behind me and to the right. He yelled “great ride, babe” to a young woman in Emma’s class. So, I said,” I’m taking photos, so if you would like, I can eMail them to you.” He was grateful and struck up a conversation.

After a few moments, we realized that we were old pals. I had a towel covering my grafted leg, so I pulled it off and Nathaniel showed me the graft he did. We had a grand time catching up and parted ways… I sent his photos off via eMail. Imagine our surprise when we bumped into he and his girlfriend, yet again, at the airport in Honolulu! We left for Sacramento and they were off for Connecticut.

Have you ever bumped into a friend, thousands of miles from home? Tell me about it.

Today, I was honored to be invited to a ground-breaking ceremony and lunch at the Firehouse Restaurant, to kick off construction of the F. William Blaisdell, M.D. Medical Library at the UC Davis Medical Center. It seemed only fair that we were invited, after Denise and I made a generous contribution to the med center of about $1.5 million in 1998 (with some help from the Mail Handler’s Benefit Plan).

Dr. Blaisdell was the surgeon, who saved my life, then my leg, then my ankle and, finally, my foot. We have kept in touch over the years. Many notables were present, but they pale in comparison to my heroes Dr. Blaisdell, Dr. Kathrin Mayer and Dr. David Kilmer. It was great to reconnect and catch up.

All this reminiscing reminds me of a story about another young doctor, Nathaniel Horne and our providential meeting, years later…

There is a fellow in town, Ross Woodbury, who I have known for twenty-five years now. We used to have some serious, yet good-natured, jousts in the “Letter to the Editor” section of the local newspapers (yes, in the 80’s there were at least three papers in town)… Ross’ ability to craft a good, thought-provoking letter-to-the-editor has been suffering lately and yesterday landed - KERPLUNK! - at an all-time low. His bigoted screed reveals that poor Ross has been cloistered in his liberal ghetto far too long. He needs to get out a bit more, quit spending so much time at the co-op / used bookstores and see more of the world of today, 2005 AD. Ross needs some fresh insights, instead of the usual fare of Gonzo politics and Ridge Hippie hallucinations from too much time meditating in the ashram or at the hookah.

Of the three newspapers I mentioned before, Ross was once a columnist for The Mountain Messenger, which is still publishing in Downieville. Since his glory days with the Messenger, it seems Ross has been sliding steadily downhill. As I mentioned, I still consider him a friend. Although I have serious differences with him over his *regressive politics, I care deeply for him on a human level. Perhaps it’s time for an intervention. I mean, if the editor of the Union is just going to let Ross go out in public with his fly open and gravy on his tie (figuratively speaking), perhaps it is up to his friends, you and I, to love him enough to let him know he’s slipping. Do I have any takers?

* I use the term regressive, because I refuse to attach the label “progressive” to anyone espousing the same old, tired, failed philosophies and politics I’ve been fed through our nation’s institutions since I was about ten years old. Nowadays, most of the fresh ideas seem to be coming from “conservatives.” I guess it’s time to retool the language - current usage doesn’t seem to be cutting it any longer.

Denise and I passed by Area 51 on the way to visit my mom in Las Vegas. After pulling off the road to swap pilot / navigator duties, a rare vehicle was sighted. I’d heard of these ships and seen grainy, doctored photos in the past. But, we have definitive proof of our close encounter with one of these elusive, mysterious craft:

Notice the twin propellers aft. You can see the boat registration near the bow on the starboard side. A canvas canopy over the bridge shields the crew from the sun and the rain. Bizarre…

Our family lived in Maine from 1993 – 1997 and the area we lived in was ripe with chance meetings of fate, because so many celebs and “power people” vacation or retire there. Here’s just one example. More will follow and fans of the old TV comedy, Green Acres, will want to watch later posts under this heading.

Most people who flew out of our area to the rest of the United States and the world would leave on the 6AM flight out of Bangor International Airport. It was a large plane, flying to Logan International in Boston, where connections were made with the rest of civilization.

On one such flight, we had landed at Logan and were deplaning. I was doing the ol’ sideways shuffle up the aisle to exit the plane and there was one person left in First Class, getting his stuff together. He was stooped down and when I was at his aisle, he stood up and turned directly in my direction. I came face to face with a man who, at one time, was one of the most powerful men in the entire world – Caspar Weinberger. I quickly looked to my left and the captain of the airplane was standing at the cockpit door… he gave me a smile and the “yeah, it’s him” nod. I turned back to Cap, our eyes met again, we said nothing and I turned and exited the airplane.

I was pretty excited to be a foot away from such a monumental figure in world history, but nobody else seemed that impressed. Maybe you’re not real excited either, but this is just a teaser — many more will follow. How about you? Have you ever had an unexpected collision with a major power broker or member of the glitterati?

Sam’s agent, Marc, got him a mention in the European design mag, Crash. Is this part of a larger strategy to prepare the folks in London and Belgium for the kid from the US with a quirky penchant for drawing and painting women with long necks, in odd settings with little men? Here’s the cover:

Here’s the spread:

I like that title: POWER GIRLS. I suppose that’s as good a description as you can hope to arrive at, when describing Sam’s impressions of the female form. If you are interested in tracking his development, just go to marcjancou.com and visit Emerging Artists or Exhibitions. It seems like Sam has been emerging for some time, has actually broken forth into the potentially toxic atmosphere of the fine art world and should arrive at established status fairly soon. We are happy for him.

Providence or serendipity? Kismet or fate? What do you make of those unexpected meetings or events, which occasionally brighten your routine existence? Do you attribute them to chance or fate? Or, do they fall somewhere in between? I suppose it depends upon your presuppositions – those foundational verities, which you call upon to make sense out of the puzzling jumble of events we call life or being.

Well, whatever the source, isn’t it the coolest thing to bump into some celebrity or an old friend or participate in some momentous event (subjectively speaking, of course), like Forrest Gump? I seem to have had more than my share of those magical moments and I’m going to write them down, one at a time, and post them under the above title. Perhaps they will, in turn, remind you of a significant example of serendipity from your past. If so, tell us all about it.

Oh, and in case you are interested, I come down on the side of providence. I don’t see a single event in my life that hasn’t “crossed God’s desk” for approval. Yeah, I know that raises some complicated philosophical questions, but I’m content in my ignorance and grateful for God’s grace.

Psalms 31:14 & 15 But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hands…

When the topic of Iraq comes up, I often find myself frustrated and alone. Why? Because, it seems, we can’t have a rational discussion about the issue, given the current political climate. Everyone is obliged to ignore the “elephant in the room,” in order to stay “true to their school” — their “tribe” if you will.

“It’s about freedom and democracy for an oppressed people!” Okay, I’ll buy a little of that. But, certainly we could have delivered those ideals to the people of Rwanda in the 90’s and saved many lives in the bargain.

“It’s about bringing some peace and stability to the region.” Yes, I can go with a bit of that, too. I can see signs of stability from Libya to Pakistan. I mean, what amateur (or professional, for that matter) geopolitical analyst wasn’t looking for the next nuclear war to be waged between Pakistan and India? Yes, they still hate each other and, yes, there is still a de facto dictator in Pakistan. But, can’t we agree they are much less likely to initiate launch sequence now?

“We went to Iraq to avert an ecological disaster in the southern marshlands, caused by Saddam, and restore the delicate culture of the peaceable people of that region.” You know, I never heard that one much, but you have to admit it’s a good thing that water will be pumped back into the area to re-hydrate the delicate ecosystem.

“Religious freedom… yeah, that’s it!” With Saddam out of the way, the Shi’i have unimpeded access to the Atabat (threshold), the most holy shrines in the south. I don’t think most Americans were even aware they existed, until we invaded Iraq. So, that one probably isn’t heard in too many discussion groups.

“It’s all about oil and Cheney’s friends getting rich off the backs of the Iraqis.” When I hear some spoiled adolescent, trapped in a “fifty-something” body, screeching “oil, Cheney, Bush, Haliburton,” I just wanna laugh out loud, but the denials from my friends on the right are almost as silly.

I happen to think that there are probably as many “reasons to go into Iraq” as there are people and ideologies at work in the State Department, the Commerce Department, the Defense Department, the Congress and the White House. But. If you want to boil it down to one overarching issue, I think it really is “all about oil.” But, not to make any one in the oil industry rich (although that certainly will be a corollary).

Why, do I think that? Well, I’m one who firmly believes that we humans learn best, when we discover things for ourselves. So, please allow me to pose a few questions. Then, you can decide for yourself why we are in Iraq.

First, do you ever look at the world as someone would, who is playing the board game RISK?” Do you ever take a strategic look at why the United States does what it does? Have you ever checked out a map or statistics about projected world oil reserves and production? Then, have you ever looked around and thought about the fact that virtually everything you see was manufactured or produced, transported and preserved in some way by fossil fuel? Then, ask your self these questions… who is emerging as the biggest rival of the United States militarily, strategically and economically? How fast is the economy of the EU growing, what is their unemployment rate and what kind of labor force can we project for them in the next few decades? Where is Russia in all this and why could the United States do in Afghanistan in few weeks, what Russia could not do in a decade and still cannot accomplish in Chechnya? What does Maoist China have in common with Muslim Sudan and Iran? Who does China perceive as the greatest hegemonic bully in the Pacific Rim? Why is China buying submarines at an accelerated pace (is it only about Taiwan and the region)? How does most of the oil consumed in the United States get to us?

Finally, the biggest question of them all… How do you think a nation, which enjoys big houses, nice cars, cheap goods, lots of entertainment and frequent vacations, would respond to their government, if the supply of oil to them began to diminish and they were forced to live with less? What would be their mood? How about all of those progressive folks in their 50s and 60s, who are banking on retirement plans and 401ks, which in turn, are banking on robust economic growth – how do you think they would respond to a radical downturn in their financial fortunes, because some upstart nation started consuming more fuel than this pampered nation and needed more of the world’s oil?

Okay, so I’ve worked on the template and I’m liking the formatting… I added an up-to-date photo for my profile and a “cast of characters” over there in the left column, so I don’t have to explain who each member of the family is every time I mention them. I also added my favorite blogs, including my old friend Levi’s hip culturezoo.

Here’s the burning question: When you click on a link, do you prefer the page to open in a new window or do you like to use your “back” button/command?

With tabbed browsing here in modern browsers and Explorer soon to play catch-up, this may all be academic. But, I’m interested in your browsing habits… I’d like to make this a usable blog. Thanks for your participation - vote early and often.

How do I love thee? I love thee for thine funky retro greeting cards that thou dost findeth in thrift stores. Man, I hate trying to write prose in Elizabethan English. Anyway, when we bought our home from Mrs. Brass in 1997, we also took possession of a huge stash of greeting cards from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. That supply ran out a couple of years ago, so Denise scours the thrift stores and eBay to find the finest cards for loved ones. That’s one way Denise demonstrates her affection – by sending folks cool special occasion cards. Here is the one she gave me this year for Valentine’s Day:

Actually, when I think about it, this is a longstanding practice with Denise. During our courtship, she wooed me with Pot Shots. I remember how my heart would go all aflutter, when I would find one of those cards from Denny in my mail box. And, do you know that her handwriting is identical to the script on those cards from 30 years ago! My heart still goes pitty-pat whenever I see Denise’s beautiful handwriting. What’s a Pot Shot you ask? Well, I just happen to have an example right here:

I’ve just begun blogging and I can see that these posts are way too long… I’ll need to work on that.

Tonight, Denise and I were treated to a Valentine’s Dinner catered and served by our church youth group. I had the tri-tip; Denise had chicken Cordon Bleu. The service was excellent, as usual, because the kids have honed their skills at the annual fundraiser for the local crisis pregnancy center. They really are good!

Our speaker was an old friend, Doug Britton. I have known him for about 15 years and spoken to him a number of times, but this was the very first time we have met in person. I have used his materials to counsel couples with great success. Of course, these folks were committed to change, beginning with themselves. But, much of the success can be attributed to his approach or philosophy.

I found Doug back in the days when Christian bookstores were glutted with trendy sanctified self-help books… modern pop-psychology with a little Jesus thrown in. And, I mean a literal “little Jesus” – a tiny, weak, impotent Jesus, who could only help people through “years of intense therapy” with “qualified,” high-dollar counselors.

His approach is simple, practical and effective – check out Doug’s website. Tonight, he gave us three easy exercises we can do as couples, which will go a long way in strengthening our marriages, if we practice them regularly.

• We thanked our spouse for three things they did over the past couple of weeks, which we really appreciated.
• We thought of three character traits we admire in our mate and shared those with them.
• We asked our partner if there were two things they would like us to pray for and, then, we prayed for our spouse.

Doug closed with this observation: Couples he’s counseled over the years reported that the one change, which had the most dramatic positive effect in their relationship, was when they began to pray daily with one another, even for a few minutes. I can attest to this, as well.

Speaking of a load off… It has long been a dream of mine to redecorate our home in a modern theme, but it looks like that will have to wait for another 5-10 years. In the interim, we have decided upon a retro look and have been scouring thrift stores, garage sales and eBay for furniture and accessories from the same era as the ribbon-cutting on our home, i.e. 1961.

Today my wife, Denise, and I were leaving a disappointing garage sale, when we happened upon a young gentleman (who happpened to be from New Zealand), standing in the driveway of his new home, next to this sectional. Nothing ventured, nothing gained… we rolled down the window and asked if he would like to sell it. He said, “sure” and we agreed upon the reasonable price of $50.

As you can see, it is a beautiful piece of furniture and it compliments the entertainment center Denise found months ago, which shook us from our complacency and began the cascade of interior design activity.

It also gave me incentive to learn how to import images into the blog and futz around with them a little. Aren’t you glad?

It looks like I’m ready to roll. I’ve finished my first post, created my profile, set up some files on my domain to link to and I even tweeked the template just a bit.

This is a real load off of my shoulders… now I can relax a little, redesign my old sites, perhaps come up with a few other designs and settle down to learn PHP and MySQL. PHP looks like it should be pretty straightforward, but I ran into a roadblock with MySQL. I think that’s because (I hate to admit it), I am still ignorant when it comes to the inner workings of Macintosh OS X. Worse yet, I think MySQL is a service (or whatever you call it) of Apache, so this may take some brains. I’ve tried some online tutorials, but since I’m one of the few web enthusiasts over 28 years of age, I will probably benefit from one of those tomes of paper we legacy humans call “books.”

Addendum: I’m using Firefox for my browser and the spell check doesn’t seem to work. I’ll have to check on that.

Pronunciation: ‘prag-m&-”ti-z&m
Function: noun
1 : a practical approach to problems and affairs

Many years ago as a young man, I read very little, wrote even less and never dreamed I would write a journal of any sort, let alone a personal log on a space-age device like the computer I am tapping away on. That has all changed.

Now, I read a lot and I write even more!

So, I conceived a plan — a very pragmatic plan, really. Since I would never be published, I decided I would create a website and share my thoughts with anyone who may find them entertaining, enlightening, encouraging or exasperating (strange, but some people do find a certain level of satisfaction in exasperation).

A simple website was constructed in Claris Homepage and many visitors dropped by. The plan was going well until I decided I wanted more control and, so, I thought it only made sense to learn the art of web design. This may have been an error on my part and it certainly proved to be decidedly un-pragmatic. But, it’s too late now — I enjoy web design almost as much as I do writing. There’s an indescribable sense of satisfaction in putting your own thoughts and words on a page, introducing some graphical elements and manipulating them with CSS.

That brings me to this blog. It was supposed to be designed in WordPress and I intended to learn PHP/MySQL to exercise full control. But, I found that I am not prepared for that level of commitment yet. The dream of designing and implementing a beautiful, functional blog continues to live on and it will be realized, as time permits. But, I cannot bear to put off blogging and publishing a moment longer. So, the blog begins here… now.