Today's Forecast: Wind

Today’s forecast: wind. Tomorrow’s forecast will be wind followed by strong gusts slowing to light breezes by evening. This isn’t the best weather for hay-fever sufferers; spring blooms accompanied by 50 mile per hour winds. Seems like it’s making the natives restless as well. Life can be tiring on a good day; on a windy day the world is on edge.

Coincidentally life has thrown us a mix of stressors this week; the darling wife picked up a short-term substitute teacher job; the state is testing the daughter on all her subjects save pre-calc and I am being hammered both at work and with a long list of serious to-dos in the off hours. All the time the wind whistles along the line of the roof and through the vents in the house she forces her way letting us know she’s here.

The weather channel didn’t give any hint that the wind was coming. Life sneaks up on us like that the good and the bad. Soon the weather will get calm and no wind will mean hotter days. Hopefully lazier calmer days will walk in as we move toward summer. Then we don’t need to nail everything down and hold tight to keep it all secure. We can relax a little, let go a little and spread out to relax a little---until the next season comes.

This Too Will Pass

Sometimes when we hear, “This too will pass,” it really does. The last time I sat in this attorneys’ office it was 2008 and I was divorcing my wife. Those were gut wrenching years. The past was in shatters and the future uncertain. Today I sat in the office with my new wife for a very different reason.

We were there to get the paperwork for our will in order. It’s a rather humbling experience to admit that you won’t live forever. Like any other planning process though it also culls out the blessings in one’s life. We sat there and detailed our meager finances and non-existent portfolio. At the same time we discussed glimmers of financial possibility that might occur in the future. And we discussed divvying up those finances.

We each have children from previous marriages. The positive was to look at how God has provided thus far. Providence has brought us together to shore up aspects of their lives that were non-existent; for instance seeing the parent in a committed God-honoring relationship.

The last five years have seen a whirlwind of change the loss of my parents and destruction of my first marriage. God has given a wonderful new wife, a continuing positive relationship with my teen, two new boys via the wife and her parents which I enjoy tremendously. If we are fortunate the tough times will not only pass but will open up new fields of blessing we’d never imagined.

The Lie of Customer Service

It was my first significant job after college and I still remember my enthusiasm when Mr. Kummer detailed Prudential’s commitment to customer service and to doing things right. I remember too the shock I felt when they laid off Olga just shy of the time she needed to be fully vested for a life of benefits. Olga was German and stereotypically always punched in on time, never missed a day, punched out on time for breaks and gave each day her best shot. The company wasn’t about rewarding employees for good service nor did they really believe all that talk about their customers. That was when I grew jaded. That was when I fully understood the disconnect between what most large companies say and what large companies do.

Today I work for a large grocery store owned by a large company. The employees are union employees. The contract is up for renewal in March of 2014. Every Monday the President of the company along with the VP and a marketing guy broadcast a rah-rah-rah video. Today they highlit how much money this Company puts toward pensions and employee health insurance. This was prefaced and followed by words and pictures trumpeting the value of the employees to The Company. I suspect that is not the truth.

I’ve gone through a number of contract negotiations and each time both sides begin pushing their propaganda a year before the contract is to be ratified. Today was the opening volley in what will be the Company’s position. They give us health insurance and a pension. In return we should not even think about not accepting their proposals. Nor should we even remotely consider the idea of a strike.

As I watched the video today I thought, “What a shame that I can not trust nor respect this leadership team.” Words mean little when they are not followed by action. Currently there is a small fault between what we hear and what we see. My fear is that it’ll be obvious what’s shaking when the union and the company collide next year.

Picture courtesy Library of Congress

Joshua Was Old And Advanced In Years

Now Joshua was old and advanced in years when the LORD said to him, “You are old and advance in years, and very much of the land remains to be possessed.”

Since God was speaking to him face to face a reply of, “You know you’re pretty ancient yourself,” wouldn’t have been the right response. It seems that God isn’t reprimanding Joshua. He has a two-fold purpose here, the first to affirm and the second to cause Joshua to evaluate. These are two principles which we would do well to heed in our own lives before we get to that point where we are ‘old and advanced in years.’

God affirms that Joshua has already done much in the way of leading into the Promised Land. In the chapter before we see a recounting of the thirty-one kings that were defeated by Israel. The chapters following detail the dividing up of the land between tribes. Finally in the last chapter of the book Joshua recounts the many ways that God has fought for Israel.

On the heels of reiterating the history of Israel one can sense the coming meeting in the war room. Clearly there is a divide between ‘where we have been,’ and ‘where we are going.’ This is why Joshua lays out the ways that God has fought for the nation. They need courage to march forward in the same way that he needed courage to take up the mantle of Moses and march forward into the land. Remember God’s words to Joshua in chapter one, “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land….Only be strong and courageous; be careful to do according to all the law….Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous!”

This is a reminder to us to set goals in the years we have on Earth. By the grace of God we will make some measurable progress. We may not set out to complete all that we desire to accomplish. The overarching goal is to have God affirm us at the end of the race for what we’ve done and to pass the baton to the next generation to finish the race.

Joy and Living Purposefully--The Wrestling

My thoughts today keep coming back to joy and living purposefully. Seems joy is easily lost if we base it on our current circumstance. My head hurts today, sinus’ are in an uproar (which would have been evident if you’d recorded my snoring last night) and lungs are tight which makes breathing tough. Easy to be grumpy for me but I try default to joy. Work is a struggle. Then I keep thinking about my sister-in-law and her cancer. Easy to question, harder to trust.


The flip side is coming home to the wife, the rose bush blooming along with the Lavender and Purple Robe. Cranking on my Squirrel Nut Zipper station on Pandora and listening to Glenn Miller and Satchmo warm the heart and restore perspective.

None of these things is permanent or guarantee deep soul stirring, gut affirming joy. I find that only in God’s character. Apart from God I can’t maintain joy—can barely do it with God (though that’s my fault not His.)

Nature, Nurture And A Good Eye

In my college classes we’d always argue ‘nature vs. nurture,’ now that I’m a dad I’d say both. My dad enjoyed photography and got my cousin hooked on it. I’ve been taking pictures since I was five and had my first Brownie. My father bought me my first 35mm upon college graduation. Today my daughter takes pictures like a fiend and she has an eye.

I played violin for six years. I could hear the notes and place my fingers and body in such a way that appropriate sounds would emanate from the instrument. I was never a musician. The musicians in orchestra with me could feel the music; they could mentally arrange the music, they could think in time and move up, down and between scales. My brain never worked that way. It’s like that with any art form. There are people that take vacation photos and pull up Flickr while you are visiting them. That is usually the point that you remember you left your dog in the house without turning on his favorite Pandora station---“and you know what that means!”

My daughter enjoys taking the pictures and she has the eye for it. The technology has changed since I began with my Brownie but the basics remain the same. It helps if you have received the eye to compose a good photo and the family history to frame it in.

Spring Tip Toes In

I’m thump thump thumpin my hands on the steering wheel with Garth turned up loud. There’s a cool breeze keeping the daytime temperature in the seventies. The clouds in the sky are dark in patches surrounded with solid blue; feels more Midwest than south California. I pull the car into the Stater Bros. parking lot to purchase some Granny Smiths. Granted the cashier lacked fire in her eyes but a customer took my shopping cart back in from my car just on a whim. Its’ as if the wind blew the cares of people into the foothills and woke them to life.

The wife and I had French toast together. In the morning sun she noticed that the Purple Robe plant is showing bloom. Our neighbor Kathy is out watering her butterfly garden between shoppers at her two-week long vintage yard sale. If you’re in the market for a charcoal burning barbeque circa 1970 she’s still got three for sale.

Apple cobblers cooking in the oven and beer is chilling in the fridge. The neighborhood children ride by on bikes, trikes and a Big Wheel. Morning doves and sparrows prance around the front yard in search of seed and bug. Wildflowers (or weeds) burst into yellow bloom and the grasshoppers leap out of hiding. Yes that means the ants are out again too along with a bunch of other scary critters. We’ll cheer on the birds—and probably spray a poison barrier around the house.

April often sends a mixed message. Usually there’s a strong hint of Spring and a cold front or two that passes through. Consistent with the total lack of rain we’ve had this year it looks as if she’s marching straight for Summer. We’re hoping, like we hope every year, for a mild one. Today however is all about enjoying her tip-toe out of winter.

Desert Fortresses and The Apocolypse Part 2

Who surrounds their property with Cholla on purpose? “Honey, let’s move to the high desert and build a little fortress far from Los Angeles. We can shoot animals in our backyard, stay off the radar, build up our gun collection and be prepared for the zombie apocalypse.” Why else buy land in the high desert and build a house surrounded by walls?


We are six miles from Joshua Tree National Park. Two-thirds of the year you have views of San Gorgonio and San Jacinto covered with snow. The stars at night are amazing, the sunrise and sunsets and the full moon cause me pause on a regular basis. So what kind of person would move here only to build a house with walls that block out the beauty of the desert?

There is no parapet visible from the outside. My guess is that the house has small windows made of bullet proof glass. It’s the desert so I’m ruling out a moat---but certainly land mines make sense (except for the rabbits and coyotes). Oh how I want to see what the house behind the walls look like. Next time I pass these houses I’ll be getting an address so that I can see what’s visible via Google Earth.

Everything comes back to conspiracy theory. The walled-off house is only thirty minutes from the Marine base. However I’ve heard it said that ‘they’ want people to go the base if there’s an emergency so that ‘they’ can keep people confined and controlled. Whatever the thinking the Cholla is a great idea. My wife once stepped on a branch of cholla and the spikes drove up through the sole of her tennis shoe and into her foot. It’s not about enjoying the desert flora it’s about using them as weapons and shields.

Finding Fear Amidst Apocolypse



 Three long dry years in Southern California have the experts worried. Fire danger is always a concern and could make for a scary summer and fall. The Morongo preserve saw only 3.23 inches of rain this season and a meager 2.17 inches (according to the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve newsletter) last year. Add to that the decline in local wildlife sightings and it looks as though we are on the edge of an ecological precipice. There is always one more element that gives worry but that is fully out of anybody’s control.

My daughters’ mother tells me that she is worried that the government has bought up all the ammunition and there are no bullets available. This is a concern because soon the dollar will be devalued and the government is going to crash. This will incite panic. If it doesn’t then the effects of movement on the San Andreas Fault will.

One doesn’t have to look farther than the world news to find things to worry about. Whereas I believe that preparing for emergencies is a good idea I don’t think you can figure out the way things are going to turn out. Like in high school and you imagined how asking your favorite girl to the dance would turn out. You imagined her reaction and the conversation. In reality the encounter was nothing like the one in your mental movie script.

Healthy concern is a good thing. Conspiracy theorizing not so much. I can get overwhelmed with the simple difficulties that come into my own life. Freaking out about the coming ‘zombie apocalypse’ just doesn’t seem worth the energy. The words of Christ console when media and chitchat do not; But seek firstHis kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.Each day has enough trouble of its own.

God Gives Breathing Room

He changes a wilderness into a pool of water And a dry land into springs of water; And there He makes the hungry to dwell, So that they may establish an inhabited city, And sow fields and plant vineyards, And gather a fruitful harvest...But He sets the needy securely on high away from affliction, And makes his families like a flock.---Psalm 107

There are seasons that life presses in upon you with such weight that you feel you can get no rest. Physically you may sleep but the days are filled with such emotional pressure that the sleep counts for nothing because the strain on mind and heart is so consuming. A different season may bring about a pressure that is intense but not overwhelming. Within a season there may be a period of unrest and turmoil as well.

Into these seasons God will often reach in and insert a parenthesis of rest. It will come in different forms. A friend will insist on a visit whereupon you leave the house on a mini-adventure with laughter and discussion ensuing. It may come in the form of church on Sunday or percolate up from hours watching a newly released film. You may be surprised to find that a day at work has distracted you from thoughts of the terror that is present at home. Or God may remove the trial or at least downsize it.

God has granted breathing room this week. Surprisingly on Easter I learned that my store director (the one that demanded at least one cup of coffee be brought to the staff meeting because he needed his coffee) was transferred to another store at the opposite end of the valley! He is being replaced by a director that I’ve worked with previously and get along with. Our car seems to be working and we’ve gone one-and-a-half weeks without a dead battery. The big issues remain but some of the significant ankle-biters are done away with.

Someone has said that God is never early but he’s never late. He promises that we will never be tested beyond what we are able to bear. Often the key to the bearing up under the pressures are those small interludes of rest smack dab in the middle of the chaos.