Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is His...

Everyone can identify the coin with the Emperor's face on one side, then assumes there is something that God has given us that we can return for His glory.... but what is that? Another assumption is that it must be a coin, since anything else has little real value (okay, animals for sacrifice - but blood is such a juvenile view).

Silly folks, all God has given you is your life. An opportunity to serve Him. Oh, you could get out of the exchange cheap if you recognize that God has given you Love, shown you love and only expects your love - then remembering that you love, then you would lay down your life for that love - and the price became too high and you want to go back to the animals, crops and coins with the face of folly on it.

Sorry, I insist you concentrate on Love as your medium of exchange - works better than any Gorilla Glue at holding families together and dear. It builds stronger bonds of community than jealousy and fear will. Yeah, keep working on it, spread it around, depend on it and allow it free flow. Love comes back, or maybe it just binds the tie.

After midnight... and all the

Shucks! Seems like I have lost another chance for Appleseed Instructor glory in April, 2014. The Poulsbo range decided that there just wasn't enough interest in the six that signed up. So they canceled. In May there is the Port Townsend range Appleseed with room for those shooters.

So I begin to wonder if I am driving folks away. It wasn't so long ago that we had a pretty nice Appleseed at Poulsbo.  Like: Poulsbo WA Sept 14-15 2013. It was only a week before we would have Port Townsend, WA. Are we scheduling too many? Isn't there enough 22LR ammunition? Have we reached all the shooters that want to learn? Or are they all still trying to recover from a seemingly long Wet Winter?

In two weeks, I will be at Coupeville, twenty shooters, and I must nudge some more instructors in that direction, we have got to get out of the Winter and into the shooting cycle. Well, like I said, it is after midnight, time to think seriously about sleep. I have to seriously think about getting into hunting season, walking daily, exercising vigorously (passed my pacemaker check this morning), and shooting straight with bouts of tracking and hunting for finding targets in the natural settings.... fun stuff. Good night and God bless all our best, the government will tax and claim all the rest.

What is making you so slow? really?

Noticed this morning, that we didn't turn on the distraction box (cable) and our morning had more minutes in it for our use than normal. We got ahead of ourselves several times and could look back in wonder. I was considering turning off the computer at least for internet access for getting even faster - the speed of light was a very frightening potential result.

Off we went for church, and keeping that happy feeling going, good sermon (added to my Pastor's English 'lineage'). Just looked it up in the dictionary, which was way up high behind the boxes of .45APC. Don't ask for cataloging and book shelving sense in my computer cave, reach for more ammunition than word definitions? Any way he still appreciates it when I find a word he needs to work upon. So I freely gave it away.

Coffee and a doughnut I didn't need from my wife, I got her coffee with creamer and sugar. Told everyone the two weekends this month I wasn't going to be at church, so they adjusted things that could be for my participation - even after I told them they didn't need to... So the 19th will start with singing, and finish with Bible Study and prayer. The 20th is an Easter Service, where I could get baptized if I thought it would improve me. I don't.

Sunday School lessons were on Proverbs treatment of man and money. Good discussion and lessons to be learned. Went off to wait for seaweed soup and rice lunch, which would be after the Korean service finished. Not enough seats, so I stood and noticed they were selling hotdogs, or giving them away. I went to get one, and asked the price (50 cents) so I told them to give nine more away to children that were hungry. Which excited the pretty young ladies that were serving, love to light their eyes up. And I went back to standing, eating my hotdog with everything on it, and talking about what-evers with the other guys. Suddenly three children were holding their hotdogs and waving at me from across the fellowship hall. And later two young people came up to me and thanked me for the hot dogs they had. Nice to be thanked, but I did it for the feeding of the needy. Still remember the quiet polite boy watching others getting free hotdogs, waiting to be invited. So I went up to him and invited him.

It only takes a real invitation to make something happen. The picture is of my missed Appleseed event, yesterday. Drove 173 miles to a closed range and a non-event, then drove safely home thinking about the anti-gun goofs winning. For no better reason than they got the range closed, made sane people do foolish things like blame the tool for the troubles, or frightened off enough people that .22LR ammunition is held too dear to linger on shelves or warehouses. Doesn't matter, I have to keep inviting people to shoot, listen to the heritage and help. An invitation always there.

Land of the Free and home of the Brave...

Title comes from something else I wanted to write about, but Fort Hood, Texas is on the news. One, it is a sad thing that so many are dead and wounded or injured. And the shooter was a service member, a Veteran of the last of Iraq.

The story bothers me, because what has happened in the wars since Vietnam, is the idea that PTSD is everywhere in combat, and needs to be treated and disability applied. That last is where the money is, disability and treatment, untaxed dollars and lifetime privileges. So instead of like most wars, the wounded became a burden on the family or hidden from society in Veterans Homes, now people could make money from them, medical retirements and commissary and exchange benefits forever.

I know the wounded need medical, dental and rejoin polite society adjustments - not that I think re-joining polite society is the highest one should reach for. Still I do want them cared for, but ever since the German chemists and medical doctors started playing with humans to see how far they could go - I have been worried about the idea that a pill can compensate, for any ill. It has never been true, and it doesn't change because we have better chemicals, more science and more research. There are disclaimers on television advertising - side effects include, if you are having suicide thoughts, changes in mood or ... stop taking the medication and consult with a physician. They may put the warning there because of lawyers and law suits, but really it could be that all medications don't treat exactly the same thing in the same way in every patient.

So I always come back to you have to care for them, watch them and their reaction to the treatments - and it would be perfect if you would love your patients, to the point of willing to die for them, but I would be putting some stress on the providers.

While watching one of the exercise groups at the YMCA, I thought to myself that Zumba classes for two years might make the returning troubled veteran much happier than anything the doctors will do. It shouldn't hurt to try it, never saw so many happy sweaty exercisers in in rhythm!

For sure really talk to the vets, eye to eye contact - not looking at your PDA as you twitch your thumbs over the flirt that just showed up.

Never mind me, only someone from some of my wars understands - which is why those treating the wounded have some but not enough idea. And the best doctors and nurses all love their patients. I am not to be trusted, I have been missing my watch since I left the YMCA, several hours ago, and just found it on the other wrist. Sigh, I think I will put the real story of Noah in the VCR, where John Huston does it right.

One date long remembered...

1 April, 1945. I know what my father thought about that day... long before I was born. So don't concern yourself with what you find today, check back tomorrow. I should focus on the normal and mundane there are bills to be paid and flower to see and sweat levels to achieve, my month long no upper body workouts is over, but I will go gently into the night.

Techicolor dreams last night...

Seems that watching Nebraska in black and white will do that to me. Very good movie, just to think a little about. So glad my extended family isn't like that, but Woody had an interesting life and wife. Yes, a very good movie.

I started the Revolutionary War done by the History Channel and realize why I no longer linger when sliding by that channel. Historical re-writes for today's ignorant. Still nice color and somethings were correct, King George was only the Third then.

Fine Bible Study when we could get off the subject of being subjects and subjected to authorities and cultural bias. Heaven is going to surprise us all - most often heard phrase will be 'I didn't see that coming.'.  I think God will do exactly as He wants. Lawyers aren't going to persuade Him at all. Hard to ignore the evidence. IMHO

I am spending too much time on the monitor, since it took me a bit to realize that the letters QC were meant for conversation. I thought they meant Quietly CRYINGoutLOUD! but they meant Quality Control. Too many joined at the hip letters wandering from lazy typists.

Throwback Thursday... way back when

 It is Thursday and for various reasons I ended my day cooling out watching A Bridge too Far. I have marched across that bridge in Holland, was a paratrooper and constantly studied the European theater of WWII. Nice finish for the day spent on mower maintenance and grass clipping. While visiting Facebook before the DVD, I noted it was Throwback Thursday and wondered if I could scan an old picture from a Yearbook of Yesteryear... the Wayback machine in action.

So I looked in the 1964 Yearbook, and found a picture and in the 1963 Yearbook I found two signatures that I scanned to share. Or laugh gently at the memories. I was known for one of the best in Spanish class, an artist, a Brain (was that a curse in those days?), a rising football player (?), leader of the pack rats, a motorcycle enthusiast (didn't own one then nor ride), a rifle shooter, and not to be forgotten... do any of them know my name now? Well, some did years ago when I started chasing folks with computer searches.

The girl in the top picture is in the High School Rifle Team in 1964, the picture is in the gymnasium and that was the year that the girls could shoot in competition with the boys. I like to remember that was the girl that out shot me in the Junior High Rifle Club the year before. The American History teacher, Mister Mauger, was coach for both organizations and signed my 1963 Year book with his red pen.

 The signature on the other page is from one of the girls that didn't think I should shoot so well. As I remember it, we all shot well, and I like to think none of us ended up having a terrible life because of our education and social and sporting activities. There were guns in the schools, in the cars in the parking lot, in the teachers' desks (maybe). There was a rifle in the hands of the Old Mountaineer, with a beard, pipe and jug of moonshine - simple mascot for the school. No, they weren't rednecks, but Lil' Abner was a famous cartoon character of good heart.

I would like to think that my favorite History teacher thinks I have kept up with the rifle, although I didn't join the High School Rifle team. My Revolutionary War Veterans Association is doing well bringing some marksmanship and heritage back into the school systems as we can.  Carver Middle School, Colorado City, Colorado was the most recent example.


Marksmanship in the Classroom   On Facebook one page is dedicated to promoting marksmanship in the classroom. And the CMP, the NRA, and Military Marksmanship Units continue to support and encourage the competition shooting.

The biggest problem of looking back is noting changes, Blue and White were the school colors, the Old Mountaineer the mascot. Now, a larger School district is Black and Red and the mascot is the Ram. Change happens, and there is not a rifle team nor club listed.