News from the Edge | Secrets Beneath a Lake | unknowncountry

News from the Edge | Secrets Beneath a Lake | unknowncountry

Wow! Wouldn't it be fantastic to unleash some ancient sea creature on the world, frozen in time, from this ancient lake. I rather doubt that anything is still alive bigger than a bacterium. Science is interesting but frightening too at times. I know that we have things in our freezer that I am not sure what to do with. We shall see.

An update: Last night I decided to go through the refrigerator. Now, we don't tend to eat as much processed foods as we once did. My Wife is a strict vegetarian and I guess I am some sort of modified vegetarian. Anyway, I found all kinds of stuff in there that I don't remember putting in the fridge and the freezer. I found a once fresh jar of carrot juice that had been shoved to the back and forgotten. That was pretty gross. But, I have to say, for the most part, everything else was pretty good. I did find some wilted cilantro and some dates that may be past their sale by date. There is lots of jelly in there. Where does all that jelly come from? There is a gallon of apple juice in there that I am not sure I want to try. That will have to go to the compost pile. Yep, take that sort of stuff and pour it on your compost pile. That just adds nutrients to the rotting stuff.

I found some Salmon fillets. Now, they were suppose to be consumed by the dogs way back when. They have been frozen for a while and I am not going to cook it for the dogs. I think they deserve not to be exposed to some old fish. And, the most found item in the freezer besides ice was coffee. I must have gone sleep shopping. I bet we have 20 pounds of coffee beans in the freezer. I love coffee but not that much. If everything goes south, at least I have coffee.

The Coffee in the Freezer

Well, I hear my lovely Wife approaching. I am going to take her out to eat since I cleaned out the fridge and the cupboard is bare. Catch you on the flip side. 

Spring is Here

I had a wonderful weekend. We went to our little place in the country for two days and one night and it was very peaceful. We ate good food and got plenty of rest. I got some important work done and we got the curtain back up in the living room. Could you ask for anything more?

On Saturday we went shopping in Katy, Texas. I think the color of fashion this year is purple. Everything was purple. It is the royal color. But, who cares about the color of clothes this coming year? Not I. Let us talk about the what ifs of this world.

Gasoline all up and down I.H. 10 was $3.29 for the cheap stuff.  Now, that is a jump from the $3.19 we have been seeing in Austin. I suppose the next price increase of gasoline, which is coming this week will be to that new high. It seemed to not matter much. Traffic was just as heavy as ever on I-10. I even saw a Federal detail complete with 3 or 4 black SUVs complete with their flashing lights escorting a long black limo west on I-10. It must have been a Federal official or retired President going to the Market Place in San Antonio for Mexican food. I am sure they did not have to stop and fill up and I guess it would not matter. I can just hear them now..... "Hey Joe, pull into this Shell station up here....we need to top off the limo and a couple of the escorts." I bet the Prez, did not have to whip out his charge card to fill up the convoy.

I wonder how many miles to the gallon a limo like that gets? Anyway, all this got me to thinking about some pretty heavy stuff. I wonder where things are going in the near future? I wonder if any of us will be able to afford a vacation this summer? I kind of wanted to take a little driving trip and it sure does not look like we will be able to do that at this rate. If gas continues to go up 10 cents every few days, it is going to be sitting at $5.00 a gallon or more by mid Summer. So, what to do now?

Well, I have decided to take up a new hobby. Welding. Yes, I have a welder which I have used very little. I have miles of wire to weld with and I even have some iron and steel, so I think I will teach myself welding this summer. I already have an idea for a project. I am going to rebuild my trailer. I call it, trashy trailer, because it looks terrible. But, when I get through with it, it is going to look great. I was thinking of color matching it to my new truck. It is going to have new welded ribs and new planking in the floor and new wood on the sides and a new color.

I was also thinking I would try to seal up the attic of the old house. I almost have it wasp proof now but they still are getting in some place. I have to finish that ceiling and the hip walls and I believe it will be secure from the little bugs. Speaking of bugs, I had an invasion of Lady Bugs this weekend. They were everywhere in the house. I picked them up one by one and put them outside where they belong. While doing that, I noticed that the Martins are here. They arrived today and put up a big noise outside. I have to go back this next weekend and clean out the Martin houses.

I guess Spring is here. That groundhog was right. Winter is over and Spring is coming early. I love it. We have Narcissus blooming. The trees are leafing out and our doors are almost painted. Wow! Life is good.
Well, that is the American Dream. Damned shame the Banksters are screwing it all up by raising the price of Oil. Oh well, it is a new world with a new order of things and there is nothing we are going to be able to do to change it back.

I may have to go back to eating steaks and potatoes.

Spaghetti, Oil, and Herbs are a Royal Thing

When Gaddafi went on television recently and stated that he was just a Head of State that was very much the figurehead in his country with no real job there... like the Queen of England... he must have stepped on someone's toes in England. They were already mad at him for selling most of his crude oil to Italy and now, such a statement about the Queen was just too much. I would not doubt that the British Marines supported by our Marines don't show up on the shores of Libya and teach him how to sing two songs...God Save the Queen and The Halls of Montezuma. 

Gasoline went up 10 cents over night. Lets see...that is about 23 cents total in the past 3 days. Exxon is going to make another record haul this year thanks to us all needing to drive to work. But enough of this news stuff.... lets talk about cooking.

Despite the fact that garlic went up 100% this past week, I have decided to go ahead and prepare a big pot of spaghetti this coming weekend. I love spaghetti. I have loved spaghetti since I was a kid. I remember my cousin would always cook a big pot of spaghetti when my parents would come to visit, because she knew just how much I loved spaghetti. She would cook those noodles just right and pour over a big pot of sauce she had prepared using canned tomatoes, herbs, onions, garlic, pepper, and pan browned ground meat. Yum! You could see the fat from the meat floating in the sauce pan, but that did not matter because that is what made the sauce cling to the noodles. It all was heavenly. Serve a tossed salad out of the garden with big tomatoes sliced up and cucumbers and iced tea...Oh Wow! It was a meal fit for a King or Queen. I bet even Gaddafi would love that spaghetti since I believe his Mother was part Italian. 

It is so sad not being able to eat that good spaghetti these days. It is sad that the world is falling apart too. I am about to go grocery shopping Saturday and I hope the prices have not gone up too much. I know that grocery companies are feeling the pinch on profits while they try to hold down prices to consumers in these times of ever increasing inflationary spirals upwards of everything you purchase. I stocked up on noodles a while back and I have a big can of chopped tomatoes to make sauce. I do still have a few cloves of garlic purchased at the old price. I think there is a some broccoli in the fridge and a few potatoes on the counter. I am out of onions.....rats. The herbs are in the freezer and I have plenty of olive oil. I even have some Italian eggplant sausage to put in the spaghetti sauce. We just might be eating high on the hog this weekend. 

Did I mention that  the 6th Fleet is beefing up its presence in the Mediterranean? I think they are planning a surprise for the next few days. Mr. M. Gaddafi may want to place his order for some good food at a restaurant in Zimbabwe and pick it up while he is at it. Oh, speaking of Mediterranean, I love a diet from that region of the world. And, the music is very pleasing to the ear. It is sad that things are so much in an upheaval over there. Us Americans could use more Mediterranean dishes in our diets. It is healthy food and a healthy lifestyle with plenty of fresh air, garlic, fermented things, fresh vegetables, seafood...

And, all this just makes me hungry for some Moroccan Couscous. I love that stuff. It is easy to fix and very versatile for a quick meal. I need to go fix something to eat. I skipped dinner tonight. I had some water crackers, which I shared with my dog. That is all I have eaten this evening and I think I am going to be very hungry by morning. Oh wow, speaking of morning. It is late and I need to get to bed so I can get up and go to work to earn some money to pay for that expensive gasoline which I am betting will go up another 10 cents in the next two days depending upon what Queen Gaddafi does in his country.  Will the insanity ever end? Good night all.

Region in turmoil - Spotlight - Al Jazeera English

Region in turmoil - Spotlight - Al Jazeera English

A couple of key countries have been left out of this article. Saudi Arabia is the key nation.

The Saudis are trying to purchase the peace in their nation with massive payouts of billions

to their populace, who seem to all be on Welfare. When the money runs out, the peace may

run out. We shall see. When the riots start in Saudi Arabia, the oil will stop flowing to the USA

and that will be what sends the price of oil to a new shocking high for us.

I will tell your future for 24 cents.....

My Wife always said I should set up a booth outside of our home. It could be like that one Lucy set up as a Psychologist in the Peanuts neighborhood... and I could charge 25 cents to deliver messages of gloom and doom. I have considered that lately, but I have decided to just let this one be on the house. I am going to tell you a series of things I have heard that may make your hair stand up or make you laugh insanely. You can do what you like.

First off, the good news is that the World is going to not explode any time soon.  But, that will not matter since the World is going to Hell in a hand basket within the next 20 months. Here is what is going to happen....the twist is at the end.

Oil is going to $200 a barrel which will translate for us to about $8.00 a gallon. The American dollar is going to be dropped at the World's Reserve Currency. That is a given. What it is replaced with is unknown to me at the moment. I bet an old dog with bad breath that someone out there knows. The Middle East is just the beginning of the disruption of sanity. It will spread. It will come to America. Those countries at risk will fall like dominos. Oh, and by the way, if you have investments, they will all be worth only the paper they are printed on by the end of 2012. Gold and Silver is going to show a nice profit. The investments part is going to upset some Arabic T-Bill holders when their investments that they have been obligated to purchase from us goes south. You can thank Henry Kissenger for that sweet deal. He knew how to screw the World and he did it. Don't blame me. He did not ask my opinion. Did he ask you? Anyway, food is not going to be in a shortage position. Your ability to pay for it will be a bit iffy. America will become like a third world nation and China will take over as the top dog in the World. They just made a great deal with Russia to supply all their oil and gas. The big Oil Companies (who are behind this mess) are going to start more domestic production when the Saudis decide they do not like us any longer and cut off our Oil. We will have plenty of Oil. The bad thing for us is that it is going to still be expensive. I heard that it will cost them about 16 cents per barrel to produce it, but they will be selling it to us at a premium price. That is when domestic uprising is going to get going. The times will be ripe for a strike against us and you can bet it will happen. A big bunch of us are going to get hurt and the conflict will escalate to a real World War unlike any we have been involved in before. But, not to worry... that war will stop abruptly because the one Wild Card factor that none of the players involved have considered will happen. The Kill Shot. Did I mention that the Sun is going into overdrive next year. I believe if you check, you will read about a recent Class X Solar Flare that hit the Earth in a somewhat glancing blow. It caused some outages in China and Europe. Nothing major. The big one is coming after the conflicts get to rolling. It will be so big that we all will be knocked back to the stone age. And, we can all start it all over again. Whew! How was that for a quarter's worth of gloom and doom.

Now you ask me how I know all this insane stuff... well, I listen to influential people ramble on and by connecting the dots, you can come up with the same timeline.  First, there was the now deceased Kenneth Fromm. He was the former CEO of Atlantic Richfield Oil. He outlined all the oil stuff and the Middle Eastern conflict stuff before he died. You can read what he said in a book entitled, Energy Non-Crisis by Lindsey Williams (his good friend and confidant). Next, you can hear about the domino effect and the coming decline of the American economy from Porter Stansberry of Stansberry Investments. He recently put out a nice video which is about to be banned by our government entitled The End of America...and you can watch it at ENDOFAMERICA3.COM.  Now, he is not the only fellow saying this. I could list about 5 economists who have been warning all this was coming but I will let you go find them on your own. <hint: George Humphrey, Ron Paul, Dr. Stanley Montief, Dr. Paul C. Roberts (father of Reaganomics), Mark Faber, Webster Tarpley, Andrew Gause, Mitch Battros, and a whole army of other fellows in the know. And, finally, the big news about our Sun has been provided by two sources...NASA and the wildcard, Major Ed Dames (former Psi-Spy with the Department of Defense, Remote Viewing detail). Ed Dames told us about the Kill Shot years ago and he still stands by it. Here is what you can watch for as a sign it is going down.... the space shuttle will not be flying any longer....oops, that is already happening.... and if one or two more missions still get to go up, one will be forced down by an event.... that is the predicted event that will herald the coming Kill Shot. Wow! Now that is a revelation worth researching.


I gave up television and began reading and listening to interviews of different people about 10 years ago. Over the past 10 years or so, I have heard hundreds of interviews from hundreds of unique sources. I have a view of the World that is not the normal view you might have.  You see, you have been brainwashed by NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX. Here is a little bit of information you may not be aware of. All those networks are owned by big corporations who could care less about real news. Thus the entertainment factor associated with what used to be the newscast. They are not going to report on real issues because some of those real issues need to be kept quiet by the corporations.  They are the man behind the curtain saying .... pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, Dorothy.


Makes you Mad, doesn't it? I have received an alternate degree, acquired over the past 10 years in a new subject area....politicoscientifichistoricalparanormalreality studies. It comes with a certificate and a diploma and I have my robes and hat to boot.... It required years of studies and lots of Uh Huh moments. The connect the dots class was my favorite. You would have like it too. You see, they give you pieces to a big puzzle in very small bits and pieces from a hundred different places. You think at first they all have nothing to do with each other and then all of a sudden, you begin to see a pattern. This bit fits with that bit and this remark explains this other statement which dovetails with this idea or observation that sprung out of this line of study and research....and finally, you have the big picture. It is hard to put it all into words because frankly, it is a really big complicated picture. Holy Cow...excuse me if you are Hindu...I still am working out the missing details. 


So, for another 25 cents, I will tell you how you can escape the insanity. I came across the answer by accident and I am keeping that one to myself. Oh, wow...it is late and I HAVE TO WORK TOMORROW.... I hate to leave you hanging but I guess I am no better than the mega banker/oil super rich that are guiding the events of the day. Pleasant dreams. 

Ogden Utah Security Camera, Ghost Throws Plate Caught on Tape

There are stranger things that go bump in the night.

I Told You So

There is so much I could write tonight but I just do not have time. So I will give you a brief warning with no supporting info. You just have to accept this with faith. Go fill up your car now! Oil went up 9% today and will continue to do so until it hits $6.00 a gallon. Folks it is never going down again. Iran just sent two war ships through the Suez Canal. The rioting is spreading in that part of the world. And just yesterday we got the bad news at work about what the company expects the next 10 months. It is not good. I hate to say it but things have gone to Hell overnight and I don't like what I heard today. The good news is that we are going to start domestic oil production soon. We have lots of oil right here and you will not have to worry about that. The bad news is that it is going to cost you some big bucks to drive around. And, by the way, the American dollar is going away by the end of next year and is being replaced by a new currency brought to us, at a premium price, by that wonderful Central Bank of ours which is owned by the rich of the world. We baled them out and now they are repaying us with control of our lives. Sounds like we are up that creek. Well I could kick myself for not listening to my own advice today. I told all my employees to go fill up their cars. Gas was $2.94 a gallon. That was at lunch today. When I left work tonight the price of a gallon of gas had jumped to $3.05 a gallon! Way to go Einstein! I should have listened to myself. Watch what happens the next month. The story is set and the plan is unfolding. God save us all.

But I promised not to get into this subject. So, you all are just going to have to go find out all this stuff on your own. What I want to tell you about is actually something far less menacing. I do this in order to preserve what little sanity I have left. I want to tell you of the power of family. I might have told you all the story in the past of when my Brother, Dennis, was burned severely and for some unknown reason, I was in the know almost immediately of his peril. It was so weird to me at the time how I knew something was wrong. Well, today I heard a new story from one of my employees about something she has observed over the years in regards to her family. I think she has a sister and two or three brothers. I am not sure of the numbers in her family but that does not matter to the story, It seems that there is a three way link of mind in her family. I always knew she was close to her little sister and one brother in particular. Forgive me for what I am about to discuss, but it is key to the story. I will try to put it in a polite way. It seems that nature has a way (as I well know) through biology of synchronizing women and their delicate time. I will leave that for you to think about only for a moment. So, my friend and her sister cycle together. What is rather unusual is the fact that her brother seems to exhibit unusual psychological attributes about the same time as these two young ladies. He gets moody. He desires chocolate. He does not know he does this. But, my employee knows. She says he has been this way since he was a little boy. He never makes the connection because his sisters keep that information to themselves. Is it a mind thing? Is it a chemical in the air? Who knows.


This feeling that he has is not normal, but, it sure points out a key element of mankind. We all are linked to others whether we know it or not. Now, for the moral of this story. You and I and everyone else in this world are human. We all are the same across the entire face of this world. But, there is a difference between some of us and all the others. Some of us understand the basic needs of the others. We know when something is not right. We want to do the right thing that will be of service to all mankind, but we don't know exactly how to go about it. Tonight, I propose that you and I give this link of mankind a thought and consider saying a special prayer for peace and sanity. Someone insane is running this world and I have no idea who it is. I can guess that the person has money and could care less about you and I. I can guess that this person wants only to be in power and will do anything to get that power. I can guess that this person has a heart as black as the deepest darkest portion of outer space. I can guess that this person will go to the very limits that mankind can stand to accomplish what he wants. AND, HE OR SHE IS NOT MY FRIEND.  


I would give you some homework to give you some insight into what all this means, but I just cannot do that tonight. I am tired and worn out. I have been thinking about all this for two days now and just need to get away from it for a little while. But, if you want to know what is happening... go watch a wonderful movie called NETWORK.  I believe it says it all. Pay special attention to the scene in the movie where the corporate head of the company who owns the Network sits Mr. Beale down and explains the reality of the world to him. He actually is talking about current events. It is shocking.  THAT IS HOW IT WORKS AND THAT IS HOW IT IS TONIGHT IN OUR WORLD. It is not pretty. 


Well, I am off to bed and hopefully some nice dreams. Hope yours is not a nightmare. 

"And I came to realize that the dreams I was having each and every night were not just mere memories of the day. When I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep, I entered a new reality not of my world. There I could do anything and everything. There I could be free. And the freedom was a freedom unlike any I had ever known back in my wakeful world. Thus the reason I chose to remain asleep. I escaped the bondage of life and found real life beyond the consciousness or my existence....."


I dreamt the world into being....


                                                   The Fish Tender
                                                   by Scott Crumley


I had written that as a part of a short story years ago. It was a part of a series of stories I had composed following my friend Jim Jackson and his new journey through the other side. I cannot for the life of me find that story in my files. It was a story about a man who found a pond and a story evolved around his coming to terms with life. The pond and the fish who lived in the pond seemed to be a lesson he had to experience and learn. I do remember parts of it, but the bulk of it escapes me.

There was a component of symbiosis between this wayfarer and those fish. Each day, for a while, he returned to the pond and shared his food with the fish. There was a stone ledge which overhung a part of the pond and on sunny days, that is where he would sit and think and eat and share his crumbs of bread with the hungry fish. Eventually, the fish would come to the edge of the pond, next to the ledge when they felt his approach. He would stomp on the stone and they would come to the surface....thus he became the fish tender.

I am sure there was some deeper message there of trust and relationship and mutual care and such....I just cannot remember. I believe he was dealing with what he had left behind in this world. Jim Jackson went off to Viet Nam in his real life. I remember he dated a wonderful girl while in college and they eventually got married before he shipped out. I think that is the timeline. Anyway, that war changed Jimbo. The marriage did not work and eventually he remarried a German woman when he went to live in Germany. I was a kid at the time. There was so much going on in my world. I was coming up to the age of being eligible for the Draft and my chance to go off to war. I remember the Jimbo that came back from Viet Nam and he was not the same young man who left for the war. I don't know. Perhaps his divorce was the first I had ever seen happen. It left me with plenty of questions about relationships and life and the cruelty of war. There were more victims than those who died in the jungles and cities over there.

Jimbo got a new chance in life. Things turned out pretty good. Life went on for us all. I slipped through the cracks and the war ended and I finished my degree and got married and divorced myself and remarried. My dreams changed. My relationships changed. My desires changed. My knowledge changed. I grew.

I dreamt my world into being. That was not so bad for a small town kid with big ideas of helping humanity.

Life .... Living in the Moment

I came home today sick. I think it is allergies but then, who knows these days what you can get exposed to. But, that is not what I am writing about tonight. I wanted to speak of a whole variety of things but most of which, I am not allowed to speak of, so, I shall stick to a subject that is timely.... living for the moment.

I could not help but think of how life has changed in our time, yet it is all the same as before, just painted with a different facade. Everyone seems to be connected these days via some sort of social network. I guess this blog is a sort of social network node, even if I am never sure just how many are reading it. All day long, I work with young people who are really connected. They have lives which they live to the maximum. Their cell phone is a part of their lives to an extent that is hard for me, as an old fellow to understand totally. They text. They check email. They listen to voice messages. They make and receive calls all while doing everything else that life asks of them. They multi-task to an extent that I can only dream of. That brought to mind a report I heard today about how the entire world is becoming one big social network. Then, of course, the movie is out...Social Network. It all seems to flow together in my mind.

Even the events that are shaping the history of this day and age and this particular time involves social networks. One of those experts that give commentary and trends and news and opinion said today that, "the next war we face, in our time, will be a war covered on Twitter and Facebook instantly". He remarked of how the networks, in place right now are driving and fueling the, so called, revolutions in the Middle East and soon in Europe and eventually, right here in the USA. Revolution? Is that what this is all about? We see something, we say something. I am not talking about that new order that is coming down from Homeland Security, being broadcast on tele-screens at Walmart. I am talking about real people in real time seeing something and telling their friends immediately. It spreads exponentially. It spread so fast in Egypt that Mr. Mubarak had to shut down the internet in order to control the crowds and the events. Now, where did that get him? He is out of power now, despite the fact that he did not want to leave. He fled to Israel and immediately suffered a Stroke. Bingo, his social network falls about him at his feet. But, that is the serious social networking of the world. That is the frightening social networking of the world. That is the social networking that catches the lies of the world and tells friends to watch out and don't believe what is happening.

I have to wonder where we are headed. Are we in the moment? Are our lives being lived to the max? I don't feel like doing much tonight. I actually want to take a hot bath and crawl into the darkness and join my other social networking site of sleep. Which brings me to the point I wanted to really talk about. While the world revolves quickly in every way around you, I seek a slower place to escape and it is a humdinger of a place to go. While the Federal folks can pull down 84,000 websites as a test of their new Kill Switch, they cannot pull down the one site I enjoy the most, which is firmly and safely hidden away from hackers and regulators in my mind. I have found that I can live to a fuller extent by experiencing part of life on the other side.

In the shadows of the night, when we dream, we enter a very real world of an alternate consciousness. It has no limits or boundaries. I once read a wonderful book entitled, The Unobstructed Universe. It was written by a man who had lost his wife to this world. She crossed over to the other side and remarkably remained in contact with him for while through a Medium. It was not a work of fiction. It was a real account of his dealings with his soulmate. She described everything she was experiencing and tried her best to explain it all to her husband. When I first read that book, I read it with an open mind. I tried my best to understand what she was telling him and at first I could not comprehend. Then, I started experimenting with lucid dreaming and perhaps even out of body travels. I have no idea if that is what I am really experiencing or not. But, I find it to be a great adventure in my dream world. I have not limits in my Unobstructed Universe. Funny thing, I just experience life in a normal way over there. It is not exotic to me. It seems very normal. I just step through that membrane of consciousness and hardly want to come back here. You see, to live for the moment means to experience every second as if it is the only second you have left. I do that there. I try to bring back that philosophy to here, but it is not always easy to do. I am awake there. I am asleep here, all too often.

The social network on the other side is interesting. It does not require a contract with AT&T or a smart phone or a laptop. It is instantaneous, working at the speed of thought. Remarkably, if I need to spread a message, it is done just by thinking it and the image forms in my vista. I am only now beginning to experiment with being able to adjust and change my world over there. For the most part, I have been exploring that world at my own pace and stupidly on foot, up to now. I did manage to borrow a car a while back. Yet, if I had listened to Betty, I would have realized that you only need to expand your mind and you are there in the moment, instantaneously. Unobstructed!

In this world, we all need to start to think in those terms. We need to seek that Unobstructed avenue of life here. I bet you could sit down right now with a pen and paper and list hundreds of obstructions in your life. Right at the top would be all the new governmental  restrictions in the world, if it were my list. But, let me try to impart a bit of wisdom from my own experience, which I often forget for stretches of time. Change the way you see this world and the next. Don't look at the obstructions. Look only at the possibilities. Make your focus a positive one and remarkably the obstructions disappear. My Wife would be the first to say that I do not practice what I preach. She is right. It is hard to change. But, I am trying very hard to do that. It is hard to do here. It is easy to do over there.

Imagine this.... you can make your world into anything you desire if only you would set your heart and mind to it. Don't be too greedy. Start small and build upon that. In my dream world, I have seen massive cities built over millennia that once were great dreams but fell apart. I have walked streets that were vacant with houses left standing on either side of the street abandoned just as they had been when the dream of the owner died. I can sense the life that once existed. I can feel the emotions. I know what was there but is not any longer. I walked those streets like an apparition at times, with inhabitants all around me oblivious to my presence. I have walked through graveyards and felt sad at all the departed buried there. I have seen empty ruins, shells of that city where once was a bustling life but now is only destroyed dwellings. I often wondered what had happened in that city. It was too much for me to own, but then I realized that what I was seeing was the composite of many dreams from many minds. I pulled back a bit and started to look for what was my own over there. I found the most rewarding thing I could build was not physical but spiritual. I am not talking religious. I am talking from the soul. Deep down inside we all have a dream we have not realized yet. Start small. Take it a step at a time. Build a piece of your dream and feel it. As you grow in spirit, you will soon see what I was talking about above. There are no obstructions. Step over them. Leave them to those who built them to put in your way. That is their dream, not yours. Those are their barriers, not yours.

Also, you have to come to realize that dreams change. That is a part of life. What once was, will not always be. Your dream might evolve over time, and take it from me, TIME IS NOT REAL. Over there, you will find that our linear concept of time is meaningless. It is a restriction we have built on this side of the veil. Over there, time does not exist. All of what you consider time here is just road signs tacked onto experiences here. Over there, it is just the experience and it has no restriction of having occurred then or now or in the future, because you just don't have to think that way. Anything is possible. Everything is possible. Zap, you can bring that understanding to this world too. The social network you operate in will allow you to be all that you can be and experience all that you want to experience if only you would allow it to happen. What you think about, you can bring about. My only warning to you is that you should think about what you want and not what you think this world would want you to think about. After all, it is your dream, your desire, your Unobstructed Universe.

Let me go a step further, that thinking I was just speaking about, well, imagine it as Love. Love is a force that cannot be totally defined. It is a combination of so many things which are different for everyone. But, that force is like magnetism. It attracts. It attracts people, and things and feelings, and emotions, and a whole Universe full of stuff. It is a silver cord binding you to everything else. You think and form an image in your mind's eye and that is what you begin to build and/or attract. The image can be a physical something or a conceptual idea. It can be something you can touch or something you have to touch with your heart only. It can be held in your arms or only in your mind....remember, there is no limit to what you can bring to your table.

Once I stood on a golf course by myself, one dark stormy night. I was at a dance in my home town and had wanted to get away from the music and the crowd for a moment. If I remember correctly, I had recently broken off a relationship and I was trying to cope with that. Feeling sorry for myself was a big thing back then. I guess we all feel that way at times. I wanted a bit of space to let those dark emotions come to the surface. I walked out from under the Pavilion where the band was playing and found myself looking up into the heavens at an approaching thunderstorm. The thunder was just barely audible. The brilliant light of the lightening was very visible. I was fascinated by the power and the majesty of that world that existed at that moment in those towering clouds. Pitch darkness was all around me and yet flashes of marvelous light made everything clear for brief moments that night. I found myself talking. I was talking to God. I was talking to myself. I forgot about those feelings of loss. I was moving on in my mind and the thunderstorm was a message.  I wanted that storm to come closer so that I might feel the power. It did. I have no idea how many people were running for cover that night as the first drops of rain began to fall in the darkness. I just stood there and experienced the moment. For a change, I was having what I wanted and my Universe consisted of darkness and power and light and thunder and thoughts. There are things in life that are far greater to experience. Years later, I saw a movie entitled The Tempest which drew upon dreams and desires and change and finding yourself and those storms that blow up in life. Remarkable. I could identify with the entire story. I was the master of my world.

Craft your destiny. We might have to live in a different world here soon. The winds of change seem to be blowing rather strongly. Who knows what that construct of time will mark for us in the future. But, at least now you have an idea to build upon. Put it away in your heart and sleep on it tonight. And, if you find yourself wandering in an Unobstructed Universe, enjoy it.

BE A CLOWN, BE A CLOWN, BE A CLOWN......

Some days you feel like a nut. Some days you don't. Every now and then I manage to really have a good day at work when all the quips and jokes work and work with perfect timing. I think that comes with the territory in my line of work. Let me tell you a story.

A typical day for a Pharmacist goes something like this. You are always focused. That focus mode starts as soon as you walk up to the security pad and punch in the numbers to turn of the alarm system. Zap! You hear all the lasers turn off inside the Pharmacy. The motion detectors stop humming. The cameras go to "day mode" and greet you as you step through the portal into the pharmaceutical environment. You walk over to the biometric reader and it scans your fingerprint an bingo, you are ready to fire up the control system to bring all components of the big brain into action.

Up pops your system with what needs to be handled first and a list of pending prescriptions that are staged for assembly and verification and pickup all during the day. The list grows by the minute as patients add their requested prescriptions to your growing work load. You notice that the little indicator light is flashing telling you that some Doctor's office has left you their verbal orders for prescriptions, waiting to be transcribed. You glance up and to the left and notice that there are a bunch of e-Prescriptions waiting for you to translate into a prescription for the system to process. Just below is a list of e-Fax prescriptions that are waiting to be printed and processed. You take a look behind you at the Fax machine and there are a stack of Faxed prescriptions from offices who have not entered the 21st Century and still use the old fashion system of faxed orders. It is at that point that you realize you have your work cut out for you this morning.

About that time, your Technician rolls in with a dolly filled with crates filled with thousands of pills, suppositories and capsules and pints of medications to be checked in and put on the shelves. That is only the first order of the day. There will be two others coming later in the morning and early afternoon. Invoices have to be printed and controlled substances have to be checked in by the Pharmacist. Oh, yes, don't forget to scan in the Central Fill Prescriptions which have been filled for you overnight at the Central Fill Facility in San Antonio. When all this is done, you can print a total of all the prescriptions filled the previous day and note that total in the ledger. It has been 30 minutes since you have walked in the door and your have 30 minutes to finish all this stuff and get the morning waiters filled before the patients begin lining up to pick up their prescriptions. The pressure is on. No Mistakes Are Allowed. You feel the muscles in your back tense and the counting tray reflex begins. It is like preparing for a battle. You put your best smile on your face and greet the crowd which is already forming at the front counter. There is only a sturdy metal bar grid standing between you and your audience. About that time, you feel the first joke of the day coming on.....

"Hey Kelley....
     did we get that Henway in the order this morning?"

Kelly looks puzzled and turns and looks at me and says,
             "I'm not sure. ...What's a Henway?"

I reply.....  "Oh, about 5 pounds."

And we are off and running. Little bits of humor thrown into the day always puts a smile on the face and lets you laugh away the tension. It is the glue which binds a team. It is the lubricant for free flow of information. It is damned funny at times. And, it all is in the timing. We all do it, all day long at our Pharmacy. "Keep em laughing" is my Motto.

My boss is a tall fellow. He towers over me. Bob is a gentle giant of a man with a sharp sense of humor and I find it hard not to try to keep him entertained. Most of the time he has a smile on his face but lately I have noticed more and more a deep vein of focus coming into his professional attitude. He is good at what he does and takes our practice very seriously. But, he gets pretty uptight every now and then. Friday was not a tense day. I walked in at the beginning of my closing shift and everyone greeted me with all kinds of smart remarks. Bob belted out a greeting in a rather good, but fake, Scottish accent, playing on the use of the Star Trek engineer's name of "Scotty"... It was funny at the time.  All the Techs chimed in and came up with their own comments. One of which was the question of  did I notice the miracle performed by Bob? There were no baskets to be processed on the counter when I walked in. They had been working hard and had everything caught up before I entered the door. Without missing a beat, I walked down the line to my work station and replied back...."Hey great job!" Turning to Bob, I said, "You know that is why I look up to you Bob. You are a good man.....that and the fact that you are so much taller than me!" Everyone got the one liner and we were off and running.....

The other day I got an email from corporate wanting me to fill out an electronic form about myself and attach a photo for their files. I have worked for my company for 29 years. You would think that everyone knows what I look like by now. You would also think they would know my address and phone number by now. But, being the good employee that I am, I attempted to fill out the form online. It did not work. All the typed in information stuck, but the photo would not attach properly and so the form kept showing up at Corporate without the picture I was using. It was frustrating. It seems that everyone was having the problem and so they sent out another email with the fix. By then, I decided it would be easier to do this at home, so I waited till I got home that night. I filled out the form and attempted to attach the picture and still it did not work. So, I thought for a moment and decided to try a different route of creating the form with the picture and sending it as a different format. I figured it would not work since nothing else had worked up to now.... so, I attached a funny photo of myself wearing a Viking helmet with large bull horns on each side. I was making a funny face since I was singing in the picture... Now, you have to understand that up to this point, I had not been successful with any attempts. I had emailed the sweet office lady at Corporate that I just could not seem to get this to work and perhaps she could do a sketch of what she thought I looked like and attach that to the file from her end. She replied that was funny and would I please try again. Ok, well you might have guessed by now, the last attempt worked and so there was my new file sitting in a Corporate computer file with that Viking photo attached. But, I did not know that.

I got a call at work the next day from Jody at Corporate which went something like this....

J "Scott?"

S "Yes"

J "I got your file in the email and I just have to tell you something."

S "Yes,,,"

J "I was on the phone with a potential new employee from Florida and was scrolling through my email when up popped the form you sent. I burst out laughing so hard, I could not talk for a moment....that picture was great....but, could you send one with your smock and name badge for our files?"

S "Sure, but don't you want to use that file instead? I kind of liked that picture and it is the real me...."

 Laughter is the best medicine ....try it sometime. 

Greetings and Aahh Chew

I have a sore throat. It all started this morning. It feels like I have a piece of brillo pad stuck on my throat somewhere around where the sinuses drains into the throat. So, I have been treating it with hot coffee. Amazing how well hot coffee works for sore throats. There are side effects from my treatment....being wired. Oh Momma I feel good, except that my throat is still a little sore. I believe the causative factor is allergies. How is that for a diagnosis. Let me state for the facts that I am not a Doctor, but I kind of play one every day at work. 30 plus years of practicing Pharmacy gives you a bit of a different twist on life. Funny thing is, I really like for people to try to keep from getting sick in natural ways like eating correctly, getting exercise, getting plenty of rest, staying well hydrated with good water, laughing at every chance, forcing yourself to try new things to keep the mind active, reading good books and listening to good music (but not too loudly), staying away from dangerous situations, using your old noggin to have some common sense, etc etc etc....

My Wife is a firm believer in good nutrition to stay healthy. She never gets sick unless I bring home something that is very virulent and that is not too often. I have herd immunity to most things. I probably have been exposed to every disease in North America that is common except a few really bad ones. I don't get sick very often. I try to just fight things off if I do get sick with rest and water and rest and food and rest and music and rest and rest and rest. I may have to go get some medicine....

forgive the interruption...but we had to go out for medicine....

Tonight we went for the cure at a new treatment facility called Cheddar's Casual Cafe. I had the ultimate cure all, Hot Chicken Pot Pie. Ok, I know, I am a vegetarian...flog me. There is nothing like either hot chicken noodle soup or Chicken Pot Pie to soothe a sore throat. And, now that I am home, it does not hurt except that I AM SO STUFFED, I CAN HARDLY MOVE. Tomorrow I will go back to being a good vegetarian.

Talking about chickens brings to mind the subject of vaccines for the flu. Did you hear about the new vaccine they are talking about releasing? It is going to be a Universal Flu Vaccine. I do not know all the details yet, but it already makes me a little suspect of how it might work. I heard a quick, non-scientific description of its mechanism of action the other day. It seems it is a live virus. It goes in and destroys sites in the body which are portals for virus entry. I could be wrong about that and so do not quote me on that. But, if that is how it works, I have to see what the side effects of such an action might be. Those sites may be important for other things other than virus attachment. And speaking of attachments...don't forget that Monday is Cupid's Big Day, Valentines Day. I already gave my Honey her gift the other day and I actually think she loved it. I drove about 50 miles, here and there purchasing the components to the gift and I have to confess, I enjoyed the shopping trip. I think I might go buy her special gifts all year round since this is coming up on the end of the Mayan calendar and that famous date of December 2012. You saw the movie, right? Spend like there is no tomorrow....

Anyway, how does all this tie together? Well, it is Winter and it is Flu Season and It is Valentines coming up...so, here is my advice for you all. Wrap up, avoid sick people, drink a big glass of water and One: take your special someone out for a really good meal. Two: buy her or him a cup of hot tea or coffee with that romantic meal. Three: While out, listen to some sweet music or if none is available, sing a sweet song to the one you love expressing your love for him or her. Four: Don't forget a card expressing your love and perhaps a wonderful little gift (skip the pink panties guys...think of her and not yourself for a change). Five: Get home early and go to bed and get some rest...Hey, get your mind out of the gutter there.... Six: Be sure to give your significant loved one a kiss and a hug and tell him or her you Love Them before you doze off. If you have false teeth, don't fall asleep with them in your mouth. If you have a sore throat, just do that French thing of kissing the air next to their ears....Seven: Be sure your little Rat Terrier is warm, nestled there between you and your significant other and don't roll over on her during the night.  Eight: Dream sweet dreams and get up early the next morning and make the coffee for a change.... Let's see, did I cover everything? Yep!

Ok, I am off to bed for I have one more day of work this week. If you have a question for the Doctor, leave it in the comment section below. Where is that box of tissues?

Season's Greetings

It is Superbowl Sunday, an American religious holiday dedicated to the celebration of the NFL and the AFL. I could not help but think that it is almost Christmas again. I think there are about 322 days left until the next Holiday Season's big day of Christmas. That thought brought to mind a memory of a wonderful Christmas Letter I found in the trash at a copy service. I was making copies of my Christmas Letter which was to be mailed out with each and every Christmas card that year. Since I was making several thousand copies of mine, I had some time to read this discarded letter.  Before long, I was in tears. Not from sadness but from laughter. Who in their right mind would send out such a letter as this, I was thinking. The more I read, the more I cried with laughter. I almost could not stand up. I guess you had to be there to appreciate just how funny it was. After reading that letter, I decided that would be the last year I would mail out a Christmas Letter to my friends. I just could not top this one and I wondered if my letters were as ridiculous.

I sat down that year and composed another Christmas letter and sent it out to select friends. Since you all are my select friends, I will share part of that letter with you and beat everyone else in Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

                                               The Unofficial Christmas Epistle
                                            by Scott Crumley, Howard and Gene


The First  Christmas card we got this year had such a wonderful Christmas message, I just had to sit down and write this letter. It was a heart warming, tear in the eye story about having to put to death your old faithful dog. Angela read it and got all choked up. I read it and wondered why in the world would anyone mail out such a sad story as a Christmas letter. Then along came Howard and Gene. Now, I do not know Howard or Gene from Adam and the Serpent in the Garden, but they too were sending out a real appropriate Christmas letter. I shall share a few lines in a moment. Normally, I would not laugh at such a sad letter, but come on, it is Christmas for God's sake. I have to admit, the more I read the harder I laughed. I almost choked myself laughing so hard. Does that mean I am sick or does Howard and Gene have a corner on the Christmas gloom? I carefully tucked it in a folder and rushed home to copy the words off the page. It seemed that the paper they chose was not going to work for the letter because the ink was not sticking to the page and it was quickly smearing off with every turn of every page. I had to preserve the sentiments before they were gone like the eggnog around my house.


                                                             Merry Christmas


To each of you, Howard and I send out warmest wishes for a joyous holiday season and a healthy, happy 1998!


Wa are thankful to be alive and kicking---no matter how feeble the kicks. Without devoted family, neighbors and friends, no kicks would be possible.


At this time last year, I called Dallas and Nickolette in desperation. I knew I could not see well enough to write notes and address Christmas cards for the holiday season. As usual, they came to my rescue. Dallas designed cards and printed them on his computer. At the end of July we lost Dallas to a heart attack. After being a member of the family over 50 years, he is sorely missed by us all.


1997 was a rough year for us -- we came home with the flu, from the farm, in January. Howard never fully recovered until after a short stay in the hospital in May.


We were not able to return to the farm but one week in April. After two days, Howard got sick and we went back to Austin. Finally on October 5th, with Danny, Candy and Sam, their oldest son, we made it back to the farm. Howard had lost a great deal of strength in his legs and continues suffering much pain there. His remaining foot gave us a scare in the summer, but it got better (by his will, so he could be at the farm for hunting season). But, December 1, another place broke out on his leg. He may have to have it removed this next year. I am not sure what I am going to do if that happens.


Once over the flu, I have been better since receiving low vision aids and getting over some of my frustration from the loss of sight in one eye.


Socks, out cat, is as wild as ever. She is a lot of company with all her antics! Currently, we are having trouble taking care of her since I am blind and Howard no longer can walk. It is our hope that one of our dear friends or relatives will be able to come and help us change the litter box every week, this winter. 


We thank God for each of you, and ask his blessings on you and yours this coming year.


Love Howard and Gene

If I Could Dream, Would I Dream of You?

The day was done and my fatigue was very evident to me as I finished up the dishes from supper. I was tired. I was tired of all the running here and there. I was tired of all the hassles I had encountered at ever turn of the day. I was tired. A hot shower and a change into comfortable evening wear and I was ready to  recline on the couch and just do nothing. No television. That just brought the terrible events of the world into my home. No radio. I did not need to hear another top 20 pop hit of the day. No newspaper. More bad news to haunt my dreams. Dreams....

I realized that the dreams I had been having these past many nights were not mere reflections of the events of the day. They were so very much more. They were freedom. They were freedom like nothing I had ever experience in my entire life. I was free to do anything and everything. I was free to explore where I could not explore in my wakeful hours. I could meet friends and relatives long since passed. I could travel to exotic or mundane places and just be myself. It was freedom like you could only imagine.

I learned that if I escaped to this place in my mind, I could forget the haunting events of the day. I needed to be away from this world. It was getting to be just too much to cope with. Every time the news came on, there was a new piece of bad news. Voices were yelling all the time about the condition of the world and just how messed up we all had made it. I had not made it that way. They had made it that way. I needed to escape from their world. Asleep. I needed to be asleep so that could drift away like a rising thread of smoke from an extinguished candle. Float away to the blend into the darkness and become a part of the night.  When I slept I dreamt of everything. Because of that freedom of consciousness I found in unconsciousness, I chose to sleep, and dream......

                                                           O'Cromruic's Gift
                                                           by Scott Crumley


Hospital rooms can be ever so cold. They are hardly ever a place of rest for the sick. Beeps and noises are always present from the many monitor and devices in the I.C.U.. There beside the bed was an I.V. dosing machine. Its calibrated drip from the three hung bags was accompanied by a steady sound of gears tumbling. Or, maybe it was more like an almost imperceptible dull bubbling sound that soon became the dominant noise in your head. It did not matter which it was. It was there. That was only the beginning of the irritants. The lights were always ON at some level, day or night. Nurses and Doctors come and go at all hours. It is impossible to get a sound sleep. You tend to lay there and doze between disturbances. Sleep deprivation is common in an Intensive Care Unit. The only means of escape was the drug induced haze, if you were lucky to be put on some sedative or narcotic.


Jim lay on his left side, favoring the bandaged right side of his body, where the surgeon had removed his kidney. He drifted back and forth from reality to a dream world. The intermittent swirling fog was induced by the narcotic drip, supplied by one of the piggyback I.V. bags hung on the stainless steel rod above his I.V. monitor. He listened, both in his dream state and in his semi-alert state to the constant noise of the monitors. The I.V. dosing machine was the most important sound he listened for. It fed the fluids down the long, clear plastic tubes, through the monitor and filters, to the tube that ran down to the needle in the vein in his arm. White cloth tape held the butterfly I.V. set in place. Morphine was all that he cared about at this point in his life.


Cancer of the kidneys was a difficult diagnosis to hear when you are just in your late fifties and thinking about retirement. One kidney had to be removed immediately. The other kidney was going to be saved, if possible, by chemotherapy and a new immunization treatment. The odds were not as good as they could have been, considering. Things were in a delicate balance at this stage. This was a damned rotten way to have to end a relatively short life. What the hell had he ever done to deserve such luck?


Jim had grown up in a small Texas town. He had been the oldest son in a family of one sister and two younger brothers. Being the oldest son was like being an adventurer who set out to discover the world and all that was in it for himself and his younger siblings. He was the brother who was to be looked up to for guidance and advice. Much depended upon how he performed, while in this role. Much indeed rested upon his shoulders! 


He had studied hard to learn the finer things from books. At a young age, he learned the exciting truth that much could be gained if you read good books. Jim also learned to play music. His Mother saw to that. Piano and guitar were the two areas he pursued in his musical training. His Father had seen to it that he knew the importance of hard work. His Father also saw to it that he was introduced to the wonders of nature. Fishing and hunting had been a large part of his childhood. A bird dog named Spot was his hunting companion during part of his life. Old Spot was a good dog. She lived in a hole she had dug underneath the doghouse that had been built for her. She found it to be cool and shady under the house on those long hot Summer days in Texas. It was better to be outside of the doghouse than inside, and that was the way she wanted it. Maybe that was an early lesson to Jim on existing outside of the box. Spot eventually passed on. She had cancer in her abdomen. How ironic it was to think that he might go in a similar way to his old hunting buddy. Thoughts and memories like that were coming into his mind more often now. You tend to have lots of time to think when you are lying around with a bandage over a hole in your back and an I.V. tube pouring liquid dreams into your veins.


This day, Jim struggled to remain in the real world. It was not an easy task with the drugs and the lack of sleep. Doctors and Nurses still came and went on a regular basis. The nursing unit noise was always in the background. The small room had no windows. With the unreal light from the florescent bulbs making it "daytime" always, you tend to lose track of night and day. It really did not matter since he had nowhere to go and nothing to do but drift. When Jim opened his eyes, all he saw were white ceiling tiles and white walls and a thin white curtain over a window facing the nurse's station. One contrast was the door, which was brown. That seemed to be the only color in the room besides the neon green on the monitor screens. The only color was white and the poster... there on the wall was a poster size picture of green hills and valleys that stretched out before your eyes, inviting you to come to Ireland. "The Emerald Isle beckons you to come and see the land of the Shamrock". Morphine can play tricks on the mind. You can look at a poster like that and see all kinds of things there among the trees. Soon, you just seem to incorporate all the things your senses are experiencing into one big  dream of false reality. The morphine dripped steadily. That wonderful morphine felt good right now "What the Hell...", Jim thought. "Lets just take a little nap." He closed his eyes and tuned off the world that was around him. The monitors disappeared, as did the little sounds. The bubbling I.V. faded out of his mind. He closed his eyes and slowly darkness came over him. It was finally time for some real sleep....


It was just a far off echo of sound which he heard at first. Voices and sounds of laughter all intertwined to awaken him from his sleep. Was it the shift change where the Nurses all talked about their patients? Jim lay there for a moment longer with his eyes not quite open or closed. It was so comfortable there in that twilight that exists between the rest of sleep and the toil of being awake. Just a moment longer to keep the eyes closed before you opened them and the light sparked the brain into a new state of comprehension. The voices seemed to be coming from behind him. He was on his side and he realized that in order for him to be able to see where they came from he would have to roll over. With great difficulty, he managed to turn his head and take a look over his shoulder, just before he rolled on his back. He recognized the green hills and valley of the picture poster. He closed his eyes once more. Gradually, a soft echo of music entered his mind. Tin whistles,flutes, guitars, fiddles, drums and bagpipes floated in the morning air. What was this lively music he was listening to? It sounded a bit Irish in its tones and melodies. The voices returned shouting and whooping in time with the music. What in the world was this? Jim did the impossible. He sat up in bed, only to realize that he was no longer in bed. He was awake...fully awake.


No monitors were to be seen. No white walls surrounded him. There were no sterile white lights over his head. He was not in his room any longer. He sat up from a bed of soft green grass on the side of a tree covered hill. There below him was the greenest valley he had ever seen. Wild flowers dotted the expanse of ground around him. Birds flew in the clean blue sky. The air was sweet with the smell of the outdoors. He reached out his hand to touch the blades of the soft green grass, which seemed soft as any feather bed. The coolness of the fresh air was like a slap to his senses. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the clean crisp air. It was not at all like the the stale sterile air of the I.C.U..


What a feeling this was! No pain could he feel anywhere in his body. Jim got up off the grassy ledge where he had been sleeping. Suddenly, a voice from behind startled him as it came clearly across the hillside to his ears. "Top of the morning to ya Lad." Jim spun around to see a Wee little Man sitting on a stone lodged into the side of the embankment of the hill. What a sight to see. Moss covered the stone like a green velvet slip cover. There were tall flanking ferns that grew under an overhang of a stone ledge above the Wee Man's resting place. He was a framed picture of great curiosity. The face of the Wee Man was well tanned with reddish cheeks. He wore rough boots and baggy dark pants held up with a well worn brown leather belt. His shirt was a green plaid covered by a red leather vest, buttoned from waist to neck. His hat was a bit on the pointy side. Jim could not help but notice a wonderful curly white beard on the face of the Wee Man. And, there clutched between his white teeth was a long curved tobacco pipe, which had been carved from what looked like a long gnarly branch of a tree. The Wee Man spoke again to Jim as he puffed on the pipe. With his distinct Irish brogue, he spouted out, "Its about time you found it in ya to wake up on such a glorious morn as this. What took ya so long Jimbo?"


Jim had not been called "Jimbo" in many years. Jimbo was a name he had been tagged with as a little boy back home. The nickname hung on through the years he had gone to grade school. When he reached the University, he had become Jim or James, as his Mother called him, or Mr. Jackson as the Professors addressed him. Professors at the University tend to be a bit more formal . In a place of higher learning the focus changes. You tend to forget the childish pleasures of your youth. You become a man, a scholar, a student of the world of academia. Life tends to change. For the most part, play ceases and work takes its place in your life. Your mind is filled with new facts. You become learned and respected and above the childishness of running along wild creek beds through tall grass. You forget about playing Indians and Cowboys. You let slip from your mind frogs and fish and cattails. You grow up.


Jim was now more than a bit confused. "Where am I?" he asked. The Wee Man answered in a riddle of sorts, "Ya are at a crossroads of paths in your life, for those souls traveling here and there." The Wee Man continued, "We felt that it would be nice for ya to take some time to rest and refresh on your journey." The Wee Man puffed his gnarled pipe and a huge cloud of blue white smoke rose from his lips. It swirled up over his face momentarily, hiding the sly smile that was building on his lips. He said, "Come, let us walk a bit to a place I know of. There ya will find food and refreshment and perhaps a bit a entertainment to refresh the senses."


Accepting the offer Jim and the Wee Man set off through the soft green grass, down the hillside. This is a dream Jim was thinking...only a dream. Ahead of them in the valley stood an impressive grove of oaks. Through the trees ran a pathway. It was bordered by flowers and stones and grasses, which defined the path to the travelers. Jim could not help but notice that he stood a great deal taller than the Wee Man, yet the further they traveled, the less he noticed the difference in height. It was good to walk among the trees. The branches were filled with birds singing such pretty little songs. The sky was clear and the blue was decorated with puffy little white clouds. It was like the canvas of heaven was being painted with ever changing shapes. It was good to be out in nature again. It was good to escape the confinement of solid walls with windows that offered too narrow a point of view. Brick and wood and steel and glass had been replaced with trees and plants and birds and sky and a Wee Man. These woods were walls of a different sort with many points of view.


As they walked together in silence, Jim could see a break in the trees up ahead. A clearing of sorts was visible at the end of the path Once again, there was green grass surrounding a patch of brown soil cleared of all vegetation. In the middle of the cleared ground was a stone circle and within the stone circle was an inviting fire. The air had remained pleasantly crisp on the hillside and under the trees of the woods. This would be a welcomed chance to warm up a bit at the campfire. A thin column of smoke rose up through the canopy of trees to the sky above. What a curious vision his eyes beheld as he took in the entire clearing. All around the fire, within the ring of stones, were other Wee Men. They were busy preparing a meal and talking to each other. Their voices were of all octaves. Loud voices and soft voices could be heard around the camp. Without exception, cheerful voices were all you heard. The Irish lilt of the tongue was pleasant on Jim's ear. This was going to be something special and he knew it. 


Jimbo had not sat next to a campfire in what seemed like a lifetime. He could not remember the last time he had built a fire outside of his fireplace. Perhaps it was next to a lake or river on a cool Fall night. Maybe it had been on a fishing trip to the coast with the fire being built among the dunes on a star filled night. He could not say for sure but it did not matter. Jim had not enjoyed the company of men around a campfire in a very long time. His thoughts were running wild with wonder as they walked across the clearing. The jolly band greeted him and the Wee Man loudly and warmly as they approached. They all came up to shake their hands and pat them on the back and coax them closer to the gathering spot. This group looked remarkably alike in their manner of dress and in their common heritage. How strangely wonderful this was to be among what felt like new friends.


Jimbo was shown to a place to sit next to the fire. Food was cooking in large pots,nestled in the coals, at the edge of the crackling embers. The smell was glorious. There were meats and vegetables prepared to just the right point of doneness. Loaves of bread were sliced and ready to daub in the juices of the plates being prepared. A crock of water was in the shade cool to the lips and sweet to he tongue. The Wee Men passed a plate to Jim. A tankard of ale was served with a steaming plate of delicious food.  Jim took a drink from the tankard and the sweet cold ale felt good going down his throat. He remembered a time long ago when he and a friend had sat in the basement of his house and drank a cup of homemade peach brandy. Homemade hooch was best consumed in private and with a friend. He remembered two little boys peering through the dirty window panes of the door to the basement as they drank the brandy. The two little boys giggled at the discovery. Those two were his little brother and the little boy from across the road. Jimbo's secret had been discovered, but it did not matter. The alcohol had taken hold of his mind by then. He was rapidly approaching that feeling, like a candle being blown out by a sudden rush of wind. He was drunk as was his friend. The peach brandy was the first time in his life he had drank to the point of no return. His basement drinking establishment was his first taste of the sweet fermented delights of liquor and the fun of the swirling mind. He seemed to be lost in memories as he ate the food and drank the ale. Everything was so good. He asked for more when he finished his plate and another serving was provided along with a refill of ale. Jim had not noticed before just how hungry he was. The fresh air seemed to stimulate his appetite and he ate and drank his fill. The Wee Men all ate and drank and laughed and talked, louder and louder as the meal progressed. The group were all boasting and telling stories and lies and laughing boldly as the day progressed. Each little Man had a story to tell and it was grander than the one before. Each story a treasure of adventure, good nature and humor. Soon, Jimbo was prompted to join in with a story of his own. In his youth, Jimbo had never been at a loss for words when it came to a good story. He always had a story or a bit of philosophy to expand upon. Lets see, perhaps a story of ghost and spirits was in order. Perhaps the one about the old Lady who lived by herself out on that lonely stretch of road in the countryside. She lived there by herself till the day she died. The story of how two young boys had ventured out there to her vacant house one moonlit night to see if there were any spirits to be seen. They drove along the dusty road with the lights off on their old car, parking it at the bottom of the hill. They climbed the gate and saw the house in the dim light just up the winding dirt path on the crest of the cedar covered knob of land. With every step up the path they imagined every noise they heard to be someone watching a waiting in the brush off the side of the dark incline. As they approached the front porch, they noticed an old rocking chair that sat on the rotting boards of the wooden porch. Not a breeze was blowing. The night air was as still as the grave. As the two walked up the steps timidly past the chair and reached out for the door knob, they saw the door of the house open slowly and the chair began to rock. Just a bit at first. The hair on the back of their necks stood up as they opened their eyes even wider to see in the pale moonlight. The chair rocked and the porch boards creaked. This was as far as they needed to venture that night. No one was about to enter the old house on a dare now. When the chair stopped rocking and the top step on the porch stairs creaked behind them, they had enough. They turned and leaped from the top step and ran down the dirt path to the dirt road. The rough limbs of the trees reached out for them to catch them as they ran towards the gate. Without hesitation, then climbed the gate and stumbled to the car door. Wy had they left the doors closed? Why hadn't they rolled down the windows so they could have jumped in the front seat? They did not have time to ask many questions. Something seemed to be following them down the hill as fast as they had run. They hopped in their old car, slammed the doors shut and cranked the engine. It turned over and over and finally kicked to life. Pushing the accelerator pedal to the floor, they sped off home down the gravel road. The old Ford fishtailed in the loose surface of the road. No traction. Too frightened to turn and look to see if there was anyone or anything following on horseback down the road, they sped on. Too frightened to see anything but what was in front of them, they sped on, raising a cloud of dust and rocks. They were too frightened to see if there  perhaps was an old dead Lady sitting in the back seat of their car...dared not look in the rearview mirror, they sped on.  Too frightened to even imagine if there might be a boney hand reaching out from the darkness of the back seat to touch their shoulders. Their hearts raced in their chests with a fear that was almost too much to stand. They did not chance looking back at all till they got back to the well lit streets of their home town. Even then, they went straight home and never stopped till they were in their homes and in the the bed, under the covers. It was a good thing they were spending the night together. There was safety in numbers and no one wanted to be a coward in the dark by himself.  Still breathing hard and laughing, they realized that it was all in their minds, as they lay there under the sheets, not willing to peek out .  Who would even want to know if there was an old wrinkled Hag hovering over their beds? Her long white hair blowing in the night breeze would touch their nose if they ever came out from under the safety of the covers. The young boys imagined her cold breathe just moving the sheets above their heads as she waited for the boys to slip the sheets off their faces. If she could look into their eyes with those dark sunken eyes in the dried skin pulled tightly over her skull,  she might be able to have their souls....Jimbo paused in his telling of the tale. The pause meant to allow the Wee Men to picture in their minds a boney hand waiting to snatch the boys as they pulled down the covers...  The Wee Men sat in silence as Jim wove his story around them. They all moved a bit closer to the next, watching intently for the next gesture as Jim was to continue the frightening tale. They almost jumped out of their skin as Jim leaped up with a loud banshee whoop... Their hearts pounded with fear and then they all fell backwards laughing. They all rolled with laughter and tears as they took deep breaths to recover from the story.


Somewhere in the crowd, a Wee Man grabbed his fiddle and another picked up his guitar. Over there a Man picked up his whistle and here one took up the flute. A drum began the beat of a lively tune and all joined in with the energy of a storm. The bagpipes offered up the harmonious tones of the hills and an Irtish jig erupted. Each song got more intense and soon everyone not playing an instrument was up dancing in a wild circle around the fire. Arms were hooked together and boots stomped out the rhythm as the jigs and reels were played. Jimbo could not contain himself and he was up dancing with the crowd. Hands in the air and head back they all sang and danced and whooped like a band of wild men. It was like a disease of frenzy that spread to all. No one was sitting any longer. They whirled and danced until they dropped with fatigue and laughter. More ale and more song and more dance until they could go no more. Once again Jimbo fell to the ground. It was getting dark and the sun was about to drop below the horizon. The stars were appearing in the night sky. One by one, they sparked into brilliance as the heavens turned from deep blue to darkest black. 


Jimbo had not realized how late it had grown. He had not been aware of the coming night and the end of the wonders of this day. He did notice the stars and how beautiful they were. He lay there on his back gazing up into the heavens. He had never seen so many stars in his life. The sky was perfectly defined with shapes and designs and brilliance from the multitude of heavenly bodies that made up the constellations. The coolness of the damp night air was chased away by the warmth of the fire which still burned. He was comfortable and content. All around him the Wee Men continued their song and dance. He was just too worn out to join them so he watched with amusement. Orange tinted faces and beards glowed in the light of the fire. Their forms danced as black shadows on the circle of trees at the edge of the clearing. Raising himself up on his elbows, Jimbo looked around and smiled. What a wonderful rest stop this had been. Soon, the music slowed to a less invigorating tempo of sad melodies and laments from the deep recesses of the heart. The bagpipes softly wept and the fiddle cried with the feelings of loves lost and battles long since fought. Jimbo lay back and listened to the soft music and gentle voices and the sounds of the night. The crickets chirped and the breeze rustled the leaves in the darkness of the forest. The warmth of the fire eventually brought on sleep. Jim fell into a deep sleep that wrapped him up in dreams the entire night. He slept like a contented baby in the arms of his loving Mother. The fire slowly burned down to embers. Besides the chirping of the crickets, the only sounds that entered his mind were the hissing and popping of the dying fire. He did not notice a warm wool blanket being place over him. It was thick and warm and well made. All slept as the stars stood guard over the merry band of men. The damp sweet night air drifted over them all, off the green hills, hidden now in the darkness. Sleep....


The morning came bright and fresh. The birds seemed to sing from the tops of every tree on every green hill. Jim awoke with a crowd of Wee Men slumbering all around him. The revelry of the night had them all a bit on the groggy side. Jim was sore. He had not danced or drank or ate like that in years. His muscles complained greatly as he stretched. It was good to feel the pain from such a night as he had. It was good to be alive again! Alive! How could this be? Just a day hence, he had been in an Intensive Care room, recovering from a difficult operation. One kidney was gone. His other was hopefully going to be saved by some medical miracle. His life had been in the balance, so to speak. All he could remember was his private room and monitors and I.V. tubing and constant light and that one odd travel poster on the sterile white wall. That poster of the Emerald Isle, inviting him to come and experience that which is Ireland. The voice of the Wee Man once again startled him back to the present. He said, "Jimbo, my boy, ya are on a journey now. No more hospitals and Nurses and Doctors...No more surgery and tubes and beeps and flashes...No more cancer." The Wee Man stated, matter of fact, "Ya are free and clear of all your Earthly debts and cares of any kind." Jim was even more confused now. Had he died? Was this all a dream from which he would awake at any moment? Or was he cured and healthy and the ordeal at the hospital long behind him? It was confusing but for some comforting reason, it did not seem to matter much any more. He was on a journey now. It was going to be a journey he would have to make alone. "What rotten luck ya had getting the cancer." the Wee Man said. "Ya need not worry about that now." With a big smile and a puff of smoke from the pipe, the Wee Man stated, "If it were not for ya sweet Irish luck, ya might have ended up somewhere else last night." Jimbo looked at the Wee Man and said, "But, I did not know I had any Irish luck or that I was even Irish, for that matter." The Wee Man replied, "Well someone back there thought you were. I distinctly remember O'Cromruic introducing ya as a fine Irish lad who needed a bit of rest and comfort and entertainment before he took his Journey." The Wee Man continued, "I remember him asking me, 'Could you find it in your heart to give him a good send off for my sake?'" The Wee Man winked and nodded with another puff of smoke from his gnarled pipe. "Oh, I suppose ya know O'Cromruic as a young lad named Crumley." the Wee Man added. Still confused, Jim tried to sort out what he had been told. He was happy for what had happened, but he still did not understand completely.


Then it clicked. He thought of a young boy he had watched growing up across the road. That boy was the best friend of his youngest brother, Ed. Ed and the boy had both looked up to Jim as a mentor It was the young pair of boys who had spied him drinking the brandy. It was the young pair he had first told the old Lady ghost story to. It was the young pair who had sat and listened to him play his guitar and sing songs about the world outside of their hometown. It was the pair that saw him go off to University and to the War in Viet Nam. It was the same pair that were still there when he finally returned. They both respected him and looked up to him as a brother and a friend. How could this young boy have arranged this for him? But then again, how could Jimbo have known how much he had influenced that young mind? How could he have ever imagined that he was so well liked that this young fellow would gladly have arranged this for him no matter how much it took. Perhaps their paths would cross again one day on this Journey. 


The Wee Man brought Jimbo back to the the moment when he said, "Jim, it is time. You have to walk this path alone." Jim looked at the Wee Man and saw that smile grow once more on his face. He shook his hand and turned and saw the path on the far side of the clearing. This was his destiny. He walked on. Voices called out with a parting message of farewell. Little hands waved from the crowd of Wee Men. Jimbo raised his arm and waved a departing gesture to them all and called out, "Good bye my Friends." A song was struck up by the Wee Men and a lively jig it was. Jimbo felt the joy of the song in his bones and he shuffled just a bit with a departing dance step and a leap in the air and a click of the heels together. The music filled the forest and echoed off the hills....


The Nurse entered the room to check on her patient. He slept soundly for a change. It must be the morphine drip that produced the sleep. She took down all his vital statistics and wrote them in his chart. All were a bit off. Nothing to be concerned with just now. She turned to leave and stopped. Once more she turned and looked at her patient's face. Where usually there was a grimace of the underlying pain, there was a visible small, satisfied smile. She could not help but notice a movement under the sheets at the foot of the bed. There was a click on the footboard  as Jim's foot tapped the railing. Perhaps it was muscle spasms from lying in bed for so long. Or, perhaps it was a bit of a rhythmic movement of his toes and feet. It was almost like he was trying to dance a little to a tune in his head.  She could not help but smile herself. She turned and walked to the door. As she left, she turned out the lights in a gesture of kindness to her sick patient.


Dedicated to the memory of my Dear friend, Jimbo Jackson...a scholar, a veteran of war, a teacher, a friend....

The Quills Trailer

Words to Live For

Forty five years ago I came into possession of a powerful tool, a typewriter. I remember it well. It was a little thing with a thin ribbon of black and red. You had to pound on the keys to write and I did not know full well how to type. I pounded away for years as a hunter and pecker. Before that remarkable machine, I would write with pen or pencil and yellow pad. I remember that I wrote poetry. Rotten poetry at that, but it was poetry.  I wrote at night. Late into the night. I would write until my parents would get out of bed and come and force me to stop. The sound of that pounding upon those keys always gave away my nightly obsession with writing. It was always at night when the ideas would come. I guess it was like dreaming on paper. All the beauty and the demons came out to sit upon those pages.

I just finished watching a movie. It is called Quills. If you can get around the violent scenes, it is a hauntingly beautiful story. It is a tale of passion for the written word. One line in the movie caught my ear and it had so much meaning for me. It went something like...."and he found his sanity at the bottom of an ink well...". 


Funny thing is the written word. It is not easy to capture and it often escapes easily. I can close my eyes and see things which must be written of and yet at times I just cannot grasp the words to tell the story. It is the same for anyone who has a concept that must be made physical out of the ether of thought and mind. I watch my Wife create things every day. I love to watch her work. She forms her thoughts into clay shapes and eventually, they become solid ideas you can hold in your hand. I suppose that is the way the written word comes to be solid...it is written down on a page or a screen. 


What amazes me is how much emotion is wrapped into what you do as a writer or artist. The movie really was about a man's attempt to deal with the horrors of the French Revolution and the total collapse of his world. That idea sends a shiver up my spine when I think of what seems to be around the corner for this world. How many times has such an event as a revolution happened in this world? How many people have been caught up in that revolt? You see, there is two sides to every revolution. There are those who benefit and those who suffer the loss. And, there are those who orchestrate the revolution and never are affected as either side. I would venture to guess that those who orchestrate have no emotion and no story to tell that is worth reading. It is the other two groups who render the best stories. But, the revolution is not what I want to talk about. I want to express myself in saying that I think I have been on both sides of the fence as the benefactor and the sufferer. I can tell stories of glory and defeat in my own life. And, I am at a point in life when I am about to tell my best story, the ultimate story. 


What about you? Do you have the emotion to put down on paper your best story? Is there a spark of inspiration in your life which will lead you to an epic? I would ask you all to think about that. Do not sit back and let your life's story remain silently tucked away in a dark recess of your mind. Tell it to the world. I say this because I am waiting for the next great story to be added to the literature of mankind. Each story becomes a part of the greater story that needs to be told and remembered. Let it become a part of the history of our species. If we are remembered for nothing else, let it be for the ability to tell a good story. Time is short...words are plentiful. 


"And I came to realize that the dreams I was having each and every night were not just mere memories of the day but a new reality. When I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep, I entered a new reality not of my world. There I could do anything and everything. There I could be free. And the freedom was a freedom unlike any I had ever known back in my wakeful world. Thus the reason I chose to remain asleep. I escaped the bondage of life and found real life beyond the consciousness of my existence...."

How I Survived the Blizzard of 2011

It snowed in Austin. It snowed perhaps 3 inches. Under that snow was a nice 1/2 inch layer of ice. Now couple that with the fact that most Texans really don't know how to drive on ice and you have one hell of a fun day on the highways. That is why I opted to walk to work today.

When I headed off to bed lasts night about midnight, I knew the bad weather was coming. There had been a freezing mist falling all evening, after the sun went down and snow was forecast for the early morning hours. When Angela took the old dog out to answer the call of nature at 4AM, there was a blanket of snow on the ground. When I got up at 5AM, the snow had stopped falling and it was white all around our house. Snow! Glorious snow....

It was not that I was worried about driving the 4 blocks to work that made me decide to walk. It was the thought of my new truck being parked in the middle of an ice rink all day and having the shoppers playing BUMPER CARS with the parked vehicles.  I bundled up in by North Face winter coat and layered up with underwear, tights (leggings), military pants and two pull over shirts. I had gloves, a scarf and my trusted Bavarian hiking hat with the deer hair tassel on the side. I was ready for anything. I had to be at the store by 8AM and I only had to walk just a little over 1 mile to get there. I decided to head out by 6:30AM since I had remembered once before having to walk about 5 miles to work one winter and all the fun I had that year slipping and sliding all the way. This time, the walk was not a problem. I stuck to the fresh snow and avoided the ice and I actually made it to the store in about 25 minutes. Along the way, I managed to say good morning to a few folks out seeing what Mother Nature had deposited in their yards. One little boy was out walking his cat. Another group of kids were throwing snowballs at each other. School was cancelled today and the authorities were saying that if  your were not essential, stay home...so, most folks stayed home. Amazing how you make that decision that you are not essential on days like this.

When I arrived at the store, I went for a cup of coffee and headed to the Pharmacy. I was a bit surprised to see one of my techs walking in about that time. He had gotten a call about 6:30 AM and had switched shifts with one of the girls who lived across town. It was going to be just Jeremy and me for the morning. We were the essential employees this morning. (I read an email when I got to work saying that if we thought it was too dangerous to drive, stay home...I wish they had sent that one to my home this morning).  We only had one customer for the first hour or so after we opened. I did have my sweet Wife, You Know Who, walk up to the counter with my lunch, which I had left home. She always walks in the morning for exercise and this morning she swung by the store as part of her hike. I know she must have put in about 5 miles on her trip around the neighborhood.

The customer/patient load was light, the delivery orders were not coming to us before the afternoon (due to ice on the highway between Austin and San Antonio), and most of the Doctors were out of the office today. When things did thaw out, the patients began to venture out to our Pharmacy. By that time, it was the end of my shift and time for me to consider that walk home. Lucky for me, You Know Who came and picked me up. All and all, it was a nice day. I was glad when the shift was over. I am tired today after that short night and fun day. I hear that we are in for more snow this coming week. Oh Joy!

Snow from the Olden Days of the 1960s

Sanding the Ice today

The Ice and Snow this morning early

It was slick and cold this morning