Bridalveil Falls - Yosemite

Ignatius' Quote

"The farthest bounds of the universe shall profit me nothing, neither the kingdoms of this world. It is good for me to die for Jesus Christ rather than to reign over the farthest bounds of the earth. Him I seek, who died on our behalf; Him I desire, who rose again [for our sake]."
 
Ignatius Epistle to the Romans, chp 6.

Fixed photos

Black & White

Snowy Owl

Geese @ Squaw Creek

Purple Iris

Getting Kicked Out of High School Band and Other Fallout

My freshman year I was in the HS marching band and in ROTC (yeah, you could have pasted a “IMADORK” sign to me). In ROTC, I was also in the Drill team/Color Guard class, so I had two classes of ROTC, and two of band. I knew how to march.


The band had raised money to march in Ronald Reagan’s 1980 inaguaral parade, but another CA band was picked over us. (Nice intro to political process). So we had this money we raised, and needed to go somewhere – and Hawaii was picked as the destination to go to over the Easter break. There was supposed to be a band competition, but it really wasn't.

We had to bunk up three people to a room, and I got picked by my section leader and his buddy to be roomates – as they told me, “We know that you won’t talk about what we are doing here”. They kicked me out of the room to have girls over, drink beer, and smoke pot. They did this most every night.

The last night there, I get back to the room and they are pretty wasted and the girls are gone. They had to get rid of the beer, so they told me to drink the rest of one. A few minutes later, there’s a knock at the door, I answer it, and its the band director and the VP. They come into the room, and after a few tense minutes, tell us that we will discus this back home.

I was kicked out of the band and suspended for a few days from school.

At the end of the school year(month or so later) the ROTC has their awards dinner. As part of the Drill Team/Color Guard, I earned some ribbons that I did not get. I asked the teacher about this later, and he stated “You are not going to get those ribbons due to that incident” – he meant the band incident. I told him that that was band and had nothing to do with ROTC, and he said it did, and that was that.

The politics of having to maintain the “proper look” was a bit of a surprise to a high school kid. I became upset about ROTC, and when a buddy of mine quit mid way through the next, I wanted to as well. The teacher actually had the gall to call my parents and try to convince them to make me stay in ROTC, but I had made up my mind to get out of the political game. This upset my parents to no end, but later on when I told them about the ribbon fiasco, (which they had not known about), they understood why I did what I did.

I don't regret getting kicked out of the band or leaving ROTC. It was part and parcel of growing up and figuring out that I wasn't going to have those labels attached to me.

Voodoo the Leopard

John Chrysostom Quote

Let no one grieve at his poverty,

for the universal kingdom has been revealed.

Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;

for forgiveness has risen from the grave.

Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.

He has destroyed it by enduring it.

—John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople; sermon, ca. 400

Prayer from Clement's Letter to the Corinthians

Read this prayer from the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians:

1 Clem. 59:3 [Grant unto us, Lord,] that we may set our hope on Thy Name which is the primal source of all creation,
and open the eyes of our hearts,
that we may know Thee,
who alone abidest Highest in the lofty,
Holy in the holy;
who layest low in the insolence of the proud,
who settest the lowly on high, and bringest the lofty low;
who makest rich and makest poor;
who killest and makest alive;
who alone art the Benefactor of spirits and the God of all flesh;
who lookest into the abysses,
who scanest the works of man;
the Succor of them that are in peril,
the Savior of them that are in despair;
The Creator and Overseer of every spirit;
who multipliest the nations upon earth,
and hast chosen out from all men those that love Thee through Jesus Christ,
Thy beloved Son, through whom Thou didst instruct us,
didst sanctify us,
didst honor us.
1 Clem. 59:4 We beseech Thee, Lord and Master, to be our help and succor.
Save those among us who are in tribulation;
have mercy on the lowly;
lift up the fallen;
show Thyself unto the needy;
heal the ungodly;
convert the wanderers of Thy people;
feed the hungry;
release our prisoners;
raise up the weak;
comfort the fainthearted.
Let all the Gentiles know that Thou art the God alone,
and Jesus Christ is Thy Son,
and we are Thy people and the sheep of Thy pasture.

An Example of Humility from Clement Letter to the Corinthians

While re-reading Clement's epistle to the Corinthians, I am fascinated by this quote:

"We know that many among ourselves have delivered themselves to bondage, that they might ransom others. Many have sold themselves to slavery, and receiving the price paid for themselves have fed others." Chapter 55.

Did people sell themselves into slavery so that they might get the release of others, or feed others? It would seem to be the case, if true.

Back in the day, if you fell into debt and had no other way of paying it off, you could sell yourself into being your creditors slave. Depending on how you were treated, it wasn't always a bad deal: Your master had to feed, clothe, and provide housing to you until you paid off your debt. Depending on how you were treated, you could decide to stay with your master and become their bondservant.

But to sell yourself into slavery for someone else - who does this kind of thing? I suppose that if my wife and kids were needing to be released from slavery, I might do it without thought.

Would I sell myself into slavery for someone else? What about another family member, a good friend, or even a complete stranger? That would take some serious "hearing from God", the farther away from me you are(thinking 6 degrees of seperation here).

Which all causes me to wonder, "How far am I willing to go for someone else?"

Redbud Tree in Spring

Painted Horse in Fog

Cast Out - Part 14

Sunrise came to the parking lot of the Club Store, with many cars already parked near the front. A few people had begun to mill around the entrance, waiting for it to open and talking amongst themselves. Some of them were armed with handguns, not quite hidden by their jackets. Others were trying to look inside the store, while some had decided to stay in their vehicles until the store opened.


At 7AM, the store opened and the parking lot seemed to come to life. Some of those who had been in the front of the store began to push their way inside. People began to shout and then scream as the panic started.

Someone fired a gun. More screams and panic ensued. People were being trampled on as their bodies blocked the front of the store.

Then some of them started to get up.

Some got up like they were awakening from sleep, looked around, and then began to attack those trying to get by them, grabbing them by the legs and pulling them down. Screams and more gunshots filled the air, as blood sprayed the air, ground and windows.

A handful of people who had been sitting in their vehicles got out and made their way to the trunks of their cars and backs of their trucks. They began to unload their hunting rifles and shotguns, grabbing a few stray shopping carts and loading them with ammo crates. While panic ensued at the front of the store, they nodded to each other and began to push their carts towards the entrance. One of them without a cart walked in front of the rest, pulling his pistol from behind his back. Seeing this group, several more people began to get out of their cars and followed.

He calmly walked towards the mayhem, paused, raised his gun, and shouted out “Hey! Over here!” One of the bodies on the ground turned looked at him. The body had black eyes. Before it could raise itself off the ground, a bullet ripped the top of its head off. More of the infested bodies started to stand, but were quickly dispatched themselves.

After the entrance was cleared of bodies, the group pushed their carts forward. Loud moans made them stop.

The noise had attracted ghouls within a radius of the Club Store. They were now swarming to the source of the commotion.

The people slowly making their way to the entrance looked to the left side of the store. About 20 figures were making their way towards them. On the right side of the store, about 15 more bodies. And behind them, more were coming from the direction of the street. A few stumbled out of the restaurant from across the parking lot.

“There’s too many! Get inside the store!” said the shooter.

The group quickly pushed the carts around the bodies and into the store, while the shooter yelled at everyone else to get inside. Others were already inside, screaming at the store manager to close the doors.

At last the shooter came in and said “That’s it! Close the doors! No one else is out there!”

The dead were getting closer with every moment.

“Lock the doors!” the shooter shouted. Others shouted as well. The shooter turned around to face the crowd.

“Who’s locking the doors!?” NOW!!”

“ME!” said a running man with a vest. With the shooter next to him, the manager locked the outer glass doors. They turned around and faced a gun pointed past them.

“NO!!” said the shooter. “No shooting outside! You’ll break the windows! Get inside the store!”

Between the glass doors the store, they had warehouse rollup doors.

“Can we lock those doors?” the shooter asked.

“Try and stop me!” the manager yelled.

Once they got everyone else inside, they closed the doors and secured them.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Some sat on the floor and cried.

“Thanks.” The shooter said to the manager, breathing heavy. Looking at the managers nametag, he asked him, “Randy? That you?”

“Yeah, no problem. Good job yourself.” The manager said to the shooter, also out of breath. “You?”, he said with a head nod.

“Dan”.

“So Dan, how did you…..get to be a..such a good shot?” Randy asked.

Dan replied, “Comes with being a cop”. Randy nodded, as did Dan. They both looked down at the floor.

Blood had been tracked all over the floor.

Both of them exhaled, and said nothing.

Cast Out - Part 13

Pam awoke to the sound of moans outside of her apartment, She looked at the clock – 4:30AM.


“Who could it be at this hour?” she thought.

She slid out of bed and put on her robe, quick and quiet, and went down the hallway. She peeked into each of the kids rooms, and then went toward the front door.

She grabbed the baseball next to the door, and with both hands on it, placed it on her shoulder. She took her opposite shoulder and looked out the peephole.

The lights in the foyer were always too bright, but tonight she didn’t mind them so much.

In a moment her eyes adjusted to see a couple of people moving around outside of her neighbors door across the foyer.

Pam saw her neighbors door open and the people outside went into his apartment. She heard some muffled voices and then silence. “Maybe they were his friends?”, she thought. “I may have to say something to him about his friends waking me up.” She turned away from the door, put the baseball bat down, and began to tiptoe back to bed.

The sound of a hand striking the door startled her. She stopped. Then came the sound of the hand hitting the door again, this time harder. “What could they want?” she thought to herself.

She didn’t move. She didn’t turn around. She breathed through her mouth, not making a sound. In her mind, she prayed. She decided to not answer the door.

The hand hit the door again. And again.

And then it stopped.

“Whoever it was must have found something more interesting than my door”, she thought. She soon heard a voice and then..nothing.

Still not moving or turning around, she stood there until she could not hear the sounds of shuffling of feet and the sound of moans any longer.

Every few minutes she heard muffled screams from elsewhere outside her apartment. She stood there, praying, and praying hard.

After what seemed like an hour, she turned around and ever so gently moved toward her door. She again looked out her peephole, but saw no one and nothing else, but a stain on the wall across the foyer. She shuddered. Tears started to come down her cheek, as she realized that the stain was blood.

It was daybreak before she moved away from the door.

She tiptoed into the kitchen and turned on the little TV they had there, not turning on any other lights. She leaned against the counter and watched the news, not believing what she was hearing.

She was glad that she had not opened the door.

After watching the news for awhile, she decided that the best course of action was going to be staying put for awhile. She had to quietly get the kids up and let them know not to make any noise. Keeping quiet was going to be their plan, until a better one came up, or they ran out of food, whichever came first.

Ice is nice

And no, I have not forgotten about writing my Zombie story....thanks for visiting!

Just cause...

I haven't written anything for awhile, and I wanted to post something!

Cast Out - Part 12

Hank was ambivalent about owning the donut shop. His dad had built and ran it for years, until he retired and gave it to his son. Hank loved his dad, but the shop kept his dad busy or tired, so when his dad died a few years later, he thought about selling the store and moving on. But donuts was what he knew, and going back to school just didn’t interest him.


While people loved the donuts Hank made, they didn’t much care for his bad attitude, some even took it as part of the “experience”. This made sure that the shop never got too big or busy, or that they expanded into franchises. Actually, they sold more donuts when Hank went on vacations, a fact in which he was acutely aware. The shop was also successful because of its great location. Being between the hospital and Hanks house, he missed anything happening around the hospital.

Hank got to the shop around 3AM, his usual time, and turned on the lights in the kitchen area. Working by himself, he was able to start mixing batches before the rest of his crew came in at 4 and they opened the doors at 5. He preferred to work in silence, with only the noise of the mixers and the hum of the fluorescent lights overhead to keep him thinking about…being away from donuts.

Around 4AM he unlocked the front door for his crew and went back to work. He still had not given anyone else a spare key to let themselves in, something learned from his dad. He thought about this for a moment, and then went back to work.

About 10 minutes later he began to wonder when the crew was going to arrive - they were late.

Soon afterward, he heard the front door open and the shuffling of feet on the old linoleum floor. He glanced up at the circular mirror to see who was entering, and he saw what looked like people stumbling in the dark, in front of the counter. “Customers already?” he thought.

“We open at 5.” He said nicely, but forceful. He went back to work.

No answer. He saw them standing there still, not moving.

“Folks, no donuts yet. Come back at 5.” He said with more conviction.

He looked up at the mirror again, and still they were not leaving. There were maybe a half dozen of them.

“No donuts!..” Hank said as flipped on the light and went out front. He looked at the people waiting on the other side of the counter - something about them wasn’t right. A few of them seem to have hospital gowns on, and the rest of them had clothes that were torn and ripped.

He raised his eyes and looked at their faces. One in front had his head down, but the rest ….all he saw was the large black eyes that seemed to bore into his soul.

The one in front raised his head and looked at Hank as he spoke in a deep inhuman voice, “Join us!” as the rest came around the counter and grabbed Hank.

Before Hank knew what was happening, they had bitten into his arms and drove him to the ground. His last thought was of complete terror, and then all went dark.

After killing him, they moved away from his body.

Hank’s body soon awoke with black eyes and then got up from the floor.

Leaving the shop, the group saw the light of the 24 hour diner down the street, and shuffled off towards it.

Cast Out - Part 11

Continued from Part 3


Walt was back on the road a few hours after the accident. He had been interviewed by the police, and gave his statement to them, but leaving out the exchange he had with …what was he going to call it? A crazy person? Someone with a death wish? A demon?

The police told him that they had heard strange things going on that night, and they had been warned about dead people attacking the living. They were told that they could shoot on site anyone who they know had died and was now alive. They checked the condition of the occupants of the other car with the paramedics, pulled them aside for a minute, and then followed the ambulance when it left.

“That was strange – the dead attacking the living? The 911 operator told him, now the police were telling him the same thing.” Walt thought.

No it really happened, and he needed time to process it. He drove away from the scene and down the highway, missing the exit he had planned on stopping at, his mind too busy to put the pieces together. He decided to drive on through the night, get to his destination by morning, and hope he didn’t catch heck for getting there too early.

After getting his bearings, he pulled the semi truck over and called his wife. They talked about the accident. He didn’t mention to her the exchange though. “Why bother until he was able to tell her face to face?” Walt thought. They agreed to meet the next day just outside of Kansas City and stock up at the club store, after he dropped his load and his truck. He asked her to bring his hunting rifle and handgun, along with all the ammo she could put in their truck. They prayed, told each other “I love you”, and hung up,

Starting up his rig, he turned on his radio. He heard the announcer talking about the nights events elsewhere. “So this is what we do know: About 4 hours ago, every person who has died within the last few days has come back to life and attacked the living, trying to eat them. Yes, if it sounds like a zombie movie, then….that’s what we believe is happening right now! So far, authorities believe that they have the situation under control in most areas. People are asked to proceed with caution near any dead bodies, and if any bodies come back to life, they are to run away and call the police immediately!”

Another voice broke in, this time a woman, “Chris, Do we know how this started? Was it a virus or chemical agent or….. something else?”

Chris responded, “Laura, No one knows how it started, but it seems to have started everywhere at once, so any talk about viruses or localized outbreak…..seems premature at this point. I mean, all over the world? How could this happen all at once?”

Laura asked, “How long after a person dies do they become…let’s just call them…zombies? How does it happen?

Chris answered, “For how long it takes, we have reports …. that if someone dies, it only takes a few seconds for them to …..change.” He paused, and not for effect. “No one seems to know how it happens, how the dead become alive again….at least not yet.”

Laura paused, and then asked, “What about the dead ….. talking? I have heard that some have reported them talking to people…before they….”.

Chris replied, “I have heard that as well. I don’t know what causes that. I don’t know if anyone knows why they are talking, if it’s happening.”

That made Walt drop his jaw.

“It sounds crazy, but I think I know why they talk!” Walt thought to himself.

“What was that I was listening to last week?” He grabbed his MP3 player and scrolled until he found the recording he was looking for. He played and listened to the pastor read and then explain from the Book of Revelation, chapter 12:

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”


“Folks, let me ask you a question: Did you know that at the present time Satan is not in hell? In fact, did you know that he has never been to hell? And did you know that when he finally does get to hell, he's not going to be in charge? In fact, when the devil gets to hell, he will be the lowest being there. He will be assigned the most horrible punishment of any creature ever made. He is not the king of hell. He is not in hell. And he's never been there.


In fact, he spends most of his time, according to this text, where? In heaven. Did you know that Satan who was once the anointed cherub, exalted above all other angels living in heaven with God, even now still spends most of his efforts before the throne of God? He still has access to heaven and he's not yet sentenced to hell. In fact, as I said, he's never been to hell…


Now Michael and the holy angels win a very decisive battle. . the end result catapults Satan and all of his hosts out of heaven down to earth and that explains why the Tribulation is such a terrible, terrible time. Because now all the demons of the universe have hit the earth. No more access to heaven. Literally verse 8 says, "No longer was any place found for them in heaven." No longer can they come before the throne of God…


He was thrown down. Down means down to earth, it says at the end of verse 9, "And his angels were thrown down with him." And what makes the Tribulation in part so horrible is not just the judgment of God, but it is the arrival of Satan and all of his fallen minions landing on the earth. That spells really the end of his time as prince of the power of the air and his whole operation is confined to the earth. And, of course that means that all the demons are fully occupied here in this very place. That horrifying, indescribable and unbelievable epoch of time is waiting..”

Walt had to stop the truck. Tears were streaming down his face.

He sat there listening for a few minutes and then stopped the mp3 player.

He asked, “Is this what’s going on?”

He didn’t get an audible answer, but he did feel a sense of peace, one like he had never felt before.

Wiping the tears away, he started the truck and got going down the highway.