Promise Kept............Finally

As you might note,  The following is a Christmas story.  A little late,  you might ask?   Yes,  I promised my wife that if she posted this story I would post it as well.  Okay,  I forgot.......So here it is,  enjoy.


The Christmas Cardinal


For quite a while now, Jay's been encouraging me to post my Christmas story that I wrote to go with a gift I gave. Though I love to write and am working on a teen novel, being unpublished to date makes me fickle about my talent. However, he gives me some great support. So, I'm following his advise (I'm sure he'll pass out when he reads that).



The Christmas Cardinal

My grandmother was always an avid bird watcher. The yard of her house and her entire porch was filled with bird feeders to attract them. She loved to tell about the beautiful cardinals that had been her favorite since she was a child in Illinois. However, after she and my grandfather married, he moved them to Wyoming and she hadn’t seen a cardinal in all the years she’d lived here. Still, she told my brothers and I about the male’s scarlet feathers and black masked faces. She explained their spectacular red color symbolized hope and was a reminder for us to focus on our faith, their plumage a representation of the blood of Christ shed for the redemption of mankind.



As a writer, she often told us stories she had created herself as if they were fact, so to this day I cannot say if this particular story was truth, legend or her own tale.



A young man chose to leave his home and set out to see the world. He traveled far and wide, learning about new cultures and environments, learning a number of languages and skills from different parts of the world. Wherever he went, he tried to find some common reminder of his homeland. After many years, he grew homesick and decided he would return to see his family. In those days, there were no cars or trains, no public transportation. One had to get from place to place on foot or, if he were lucky, a horse. But as he had amassed no great fortune, it was his fate to travel on foot. As he arrived within miles of his home, a great blizzard blew up and he could scarcely see his hand in front of his face. He thought he would never find the little cabin in the woods where he knew a warm fire and loved ones would be. He trudged on, growing more and more fatigued and hopeless with each passing moment. He thought he might try to build a shelter, but the force of the storm was so great, he was certain he would freeze to death should he stop for even a moment. As he felt the last bit of his strength wane, he caught a glimpse of red in the corner of his eye and looked to see a majestic cardinal flitting in the tree just before him.



“Lead me home, little bird,” he cried out and thought for certain the cardinal looked directly at him as it began to move forward, from branch to branch. “What have I got to lose?” he thought to himself and began to follow the bird. This went on for some time, his burden of exhaustion lifted by the familiar sight of a beloved creature from his homeland. But in time, his body simply began to give in to fatigue. Just as he once again began to give up all hope, the smell of a wood burning fire reached his nostrils. He tried in vain to see ahead, but the heavy snowfall was too thick. The bird continued forward and so did he, knowing now that if he were not close to his own home, he was surely close to someone’s and there he would find shelter. Soon, he was close enough to see a rough outline of a building, though too obscured by the snow to determine anything familiar about it. As he was about to step up on the small porch, the bird rested in a branch of a tree beside it and the door to the cabin swung open. Out stepped an old man and woman and he immediately recognized his own mother and father. The man fell into their arms and the family celebrated a long awaited reunion and a tearful Christmas Eve that night.



Last year, near this special holiday season, Grandmother passed away and although we still lived in a place where none of us had ever seen a cardinal, he came to her that very night and, my brother’s and I believe, led her home to her Heavenly Father.

The End



The ironic part of this story is that my sister-in-law mentioned that my own mother, as she lay in the hospital about to go to surgery, thought she saw a cardinal at her window (that no one else had seen). She was born and raised in Indiana where, indeed, there are cardinals and she is a bird lover. Now that she will be bedridden and both my parents journey toward the end of their lives, I guess a part of me hopes that when the time comes, her own cardinal will lead her home.

Posted by Kerri at 9:56 PM

In case you have ever wondered what the rocslinger might look like I have a link to our pictures.  Bonus points if you can spot my wife and daughter.  Yes,  thats my real hair,  honest.Family pics.

LET THOSE WITH EARS HERE

I know what your thinking.  Doesn't the dufus know to use the word hear instead of here? 
The answer is most vociferously no!  

Why,  oh why,  does the written language have to be so dang difficult?  When we speak we don't differentiate between here or hear,  and yet the listeners understand what were saying,  why?  context that's why.

It might be a shock to you that I did not do so well in English during my formal years of education  (Okay,  it would not be a shock to anyone who has read my blog before).  I didn't do so well in math either.  What did I do well in,  you might ask?  Uummm....  in the one semmester of typing class I took,  I got very good at disassymbling the typewriter and putting it back together before the teacher could catch me.  I did okay at lunch.   Oh, and their (or is it there) was band.  In my senior year of high school I spent four of my six classes in the band room......but I digress.

Back to the question at hand,  why is it so hard to write English?  You Brits are a bit tricky the way you throw in extra letters like u in words like labor and neighbor and how can you possibly justify saying worcestershire with just three vowels?  Of course your not as bad as the French.  Back when I was driving over the road I asked on the CB if any one knew where versailles Indiana was.  Having studied the french revolutioin I knew how to properly pronounce it but my fellow truck drivers  (being one hundred percent American) were totally askance as to the township I was looking for,  until I pronounced it the way it's spelled.  Who ever heard of silent Ls and how does one get shree out of shreve,  as in Shreveport?  

Let's talk about punctuation,  I swear that when I was a child their (or there) was only the period.  Do you remember your father telling you that there (or thier) is no such word as can't?  Thats because the apostrophe hadn't been invented yet.  Okay I understand that the comma is very useful and if anything I now overuse it but when should I use parenthasies instead of comma's  (should I be capitalizing the names of these punctuation marks)  and when do I use the colon or semi-colon? 

I'm starting to think that their (or there) is and has been for some time a conspiracy amongst english teachers to keep the english language as confusing as possible.  I dont know why they would do such a thing.  Is it possible they envey the French?  Certainly it looks as if  the British are moving toward "French-ification"  (a word for Randi to admire).  

Perhaps I could convince someone to come clean and uncover the truth behind This trend of befudduling our language.

 Or maybe I'm just crazy.  

A Chrismas Poem (Don't Worry it's from my Daughter)

Their  are some things I do well,  some things I do OK at and some things that............let's just say I'm grateful  to my daughter for her love of Christmas and her talent with the written word. 

If I do not write again before the "great holiday" I leave you with this poem from her and wish everyone a very merry Christmas.




A Christmas Poem (a little early, mayhaps?)



Silver bells ring with music so clear,

Across the country for all to hear,

And as their music plays so comes the snow,

The clouds gray compared to the white below.



Silver snow as the moon shines to the ground,

Silver snow falling without a sound,

And in the silver is the gold,

Rich with love and with courage, bold.



Silver ring the bells and silver snow falls,

And the cheer of winter ever calls.

December is the best month of the year,

Whether there or whether here.



Some have snow and some have none,

Some have holidays but that's only some,

I welcome winter with its cheer,

It's the best time of the year.



Christmas, Kwanzaa, or Hanukkah all,

From greatest great or smallest small,

Somehow there's a feeling in the air,

That makes everyone want to share.



Smiles to strangers and hugs to friends,

Kisses under mistletoe; traditions never end,

Lord's birth or just giving,

This shows life is worth living.

With Out a Net; Will You Still Respect Me.

It has been a year and six months since I first started this blog. I now have seven people who are not ashamed to say that they follow me (the seventh is my best friend who I quilted into following) and three more who comment regularly. I have loved sharing with you who read all my opinions and ideas.  I especially love the give and take we have in the comments section.  Thus said,  for reasons I don't care to discuss I will no longer have my wife edit my blog.  When the idea of writing a blog first hit me (between the eyes,  yes it did hurt) my wife told me that with my lousy punctuation and inept spelling I would not garner respect,  I may not get respect even with a well edited blog,  was my comeback.  I find writing difficult,  it does not come second nature to me although it has been good for my own personal growth and my typing has improved. 

I write this to ask you dear reader if I should continue writing my blog?  It is with some trepidation that I continue.  The written language is not one of my strengths. 

I am not above fishing for complements,  so tell me what it is you like about my blog if anything.

If you like the commentary on this blog than I recommend Atomic Pop and The Water Cooler,  both kindred spirits of mine and astute commentators.

Keyne's Died Sixty-Four Years Ago......Can We Finally Nail Down His Coffin Lid?

When Barack Obama says that most economists agree with the policies that he has put into effect, he is talking about Keynesian economists.  In the thirties, Maynard Keynes and Friedrick Hayek were debating the effectiveness of government intervention in the economy.  The stimulus package of last year is what Keynesian economists advocate to kick start an economy.  There is supposed to be a multiplier effect involved when money is dumped into the economy by the government, ie: people who receive money from the government spend the money boosting other sectors of the economy. Why this has never worked is that the money the government infuses into the economy is backed by debt, creating more debt, inflating our cash flow making the dollar worth less. Picture two Keynesian economists in a deep hole with a shovel (the hole being our debt). The Keynesian with the shovel says, "We need to dig our way out of debt". The other Keynesian says, "Dig up, stupid".  Just as the two with the shovel can not dig their way out, the government has failed every time it has tried to get us out of debt by making more debt, to include President Roosevelt's New Deal.  I know that most of us have been taught in school that the New Deal policies helped to bring us out of the Great Depression.  The fact is that the rest of the world was coming out of the depression while the U.S. was still mired in a sluggish economy due to the policies of President Roosevelt.  Flash-forward to now.  After a year where we have amazingly huge debt spending geared to revive an economy in collapse, mostly due to bad home lending practices (the unintended consequences of government interfering with private loan companies and some greed thrown in for good measure). Can we all see that these ridiculous debt spending policies don't work?  Can we finally agree that the best thing that government can do to help the economy is to get out of the way and stop spending money that we don't have?  Or are there still people that would trust the politician more than themselves?  Yes, there is a role for government.  It is there to protect us from unscrupulous people that would endanger our financial and personal well being.  But, to make villains out of whole sectors of social, political and financial persons and institutions, the way our "beloved" President has, is on its face, absurd.

Politics IS NOT a Four Letter Word; Ignorance........Might As Well Be.

I first started this blog last year with certain ideas in mind.


1)  I wanted an outlet to share with others the concepts, opinions and ideals that I have formulated after listening for many hours to talk radio hosts across the country.

2)  I wanted to be a participant in the "war of ideas" that helps to shape our culture, our society and our nation.

3)  I wanted to demonstrate how politics in Washington (and to some small extent the various state and local governments) affect our daily lives.

4)  I wanted to convey the importance of being involved in politics.
I am grateful to all those who read my blog on a consistent basis and I am especially grateful to you who take the time to comment. I am not at all certain that this post is even addressed to you, as I know that you are active and informed.  Perhaps my regular readers can take encouragement in the preceding words and perhaps there will be those who stumble upon this post that will take my message to heart.

I have often heard people say they do not wish to "be political" or that politics is not something that they're interested in. I say that politics is human nature.  It is the process that we use to get along with others.  The politics of DC are just an extension of how we interact with our neighbors.  Often people are afraid to express their view point or ideas.  People find it easier to share their preference of skin cream or shampoo than to tell people who they will vote for and, more importantly, why. While it is important to have clean hair and soft skin, I think it might just be more important that we are informed and that we inform those around us. Who we choose to represent us in our "representative government" is a decision that has long lasting reprecusions.  Too often have I heard the complaint that they're all bums and crooks. To that complaint I ask how did all those crooks get into office and more importantly how do they stay in office?  I believe that it is the responsibility of the American populace (those of age to vote ) to be well informed on the issues before stepping into the voter booth and pulling the lever (okay, I think I just showed my age by saying "booth" and "lever" but you get the idea).  I'm not egalitarian enough to say you should vote if you're not voting for my candidate.  I would just as soon you stayed home or didn’t mail in your ballot, but since I know that you'll vote for your guy no matter what I say, than I just ask that you are as informed as you can possibly be.

Since our government is supposed to be run "by the people" we all are combatants in the war of ideas. This should be a civilized war where we treat those who disagree with us respectfully, but still try to convince them that our argument is right or be intellectually honest enough to be swayed by theirs.  As Rush Limbaugh has eloquently stated, "Ignorance is our most valuable commodity". Speaking up is our best defense against ignorance, including our own.  It is too easy to sit on the sidelines and think that what we have to say does not matter, but not having everyone involved has cost our nation dearly.