One of the questions they asked potential employees was, “Can you climb?”
They never asked me
I will be the first to tell you I am not comfortable 20 ft in the air, sitting on top of an inch and 1/2 truss installing 2 by 6′s
Heights in and of themselves, don’t bother me.., it’s having to climb around, trying to keep my balance that gives me stress. And it gets worse the older I get. My balance, and upper arm strength are not what it was 25 years ago.
I think it’s called aging.
Work was getting slow last October so when a local farmer asked me if I would be interested in helping him build a machine shed over the Winter I didn’t think twice. I knew there might be some climbing involved, but since I can draw upon half a dozen people locally who can climb, I got the cement wall poured late last Fall with the understanding we could build the building whenever we had time.
That time was this past week.
And my labor pool suddenly evaporated.
Mitchell is in Las Vegas.
Randy and his crew are in the middle of building a restaurant that burnt down this past January.
and yours truly found himself 25 feet in the air over frozen rock.
I have not had the energy the past few weeks to do much of anything when I got home from work.
Tuesday we had the crane on the job site to swing in the rafters.
I was up and down the 25 ft extension ladder 100 times.
50% of the day, the fear was palatable.
I went home exhausted.
Wednesday we picked up where we left off from Tuesday, installing additional 2 by 6′s.
On at least three occassions Wednesday I felt like I was loosing my balance and had to literally talk myself into staying calm and figuring out where to put my hands next.
Nobody was going to be able to climb up and “unstick” me.
I miss all of you who take the time to stop by the blog, which is why I thought I better post something to let you know what I’ve been “ up to.”
I haven’t been ruminating on anything profound, just trying to keep my balance.
Several years ago now,when I was still employed by my dad and uncle, we were building a large dairy loafing shed. The concrete was already poured and we were working 20 ft in the air.
I said these words to my Uncle John “I don’t feel comfortable up there.”
I’ve heard those words spoken behind my back on numerous occassions since.
And you know what? I could care less.
If you’re not comfortable in a certain situation,then you have no business being there. That’s when things happen.
I know there are people who already know this , but for one reason or the other, it is not well-known by the general population. Unless you run in certain circles, (and I apparently don’t) this information was all new to me.
Thought I would post a portion of that original article on the blog:
What’s In A wheat Grain?
To understand the benefits associated with milling grain, you need to understand what comprises a whole grain. There are three main layers: the bran, the germ, and the endosperm.
• The bran is the outer layer where all the roughage that helps move unwanted poisons and toxins through your system is found. The bran also contains numerous vitamins, minerals, and proteins.
• The germ is the health center of the grain, overflowing with vitamins B and E, as well as unsaturated fat and protein.
• The endosperm is the starchy white center. Whole grains contain almost 90% of all the vitamins, minerals, and protein you’ll ever need. However, commercially milled products don’t offer you those nutrients. Why? Once milled, the oils found in the bran and germ oxidize and turn rancid within 72 hours. So for commercial purposes, both the bran and germ—and all the nutrients contained within them—must be removed in order to give products a shelf life.
Hard Red Wheat and Rye for sale
Bread Is Made of What?
The endosperm is all that’s left of the original grain. So you’re basically eating gluten and starch when you eat products off the shelf. For PR purposes, you’ll see breads and cereals claiming to be “enriched with vitamins and minerals!” Don’t be fooled. The fact that a product needs enriching is a sign of how much of its health value has been diminished. Usually only 2-4 of the missing vitamins and minerals can be replaced anyway, and nothing can be done to replace the fiber and protein.
Health Benefits
Although the nation is currently experiencing low-carb mania, fresh whole grain products are in fact good for you. They are low in fat, high in protein, and provide energy for your muscles and body. High fiber found in whole grains helps in the management of obesity, diabetes, hemorrhoids, stroke, and heart attacks. Eating whole-grain foods on a regular basis has been shown to decrease risk for heart disease and high cholesterol levels, and is also thought to lower the risk of breast and colon cancer. Most commercial products reek with preservatives, and bleaching agents. When milling your own flour, you’re able to mill only the amount you need, so nothing goes to waste and you are left with fresh-tasting, chemically unaltered flour.
Hard Red Wheat and Rye for sale Iowa
Taste
After eating bread prepared from grain you mill yourself, there is no going back. Commercial products will taste stale, even if they’re “fresh” off the shelf. Freshly milled breads can have a variety of taste depending on which grains you chose to mill. There’s fun in experimenting with different grains in your recipes. Try adding or combining buckwheat, spelt (good for people with wheat allergies), oats, rye, wheat, quinoa, millet and many other grains for a never-ending variety of taste.
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Hard Red Wheat and Rye for sale Iowa
I tracked down a source for Organic hard red wheat and Rye, which I would even sell to you if you’re interested. Leave me a comment and we can talk current prices. For a lot less than anything I found anywhere else on-line and no minimum quantity for sale right here in River City… Iowa that is.
Diagram of a “Wheat Berry” : (or Kernel of wheat )
Picture of me grinding my first batch of fresh flour….living the dream
Wife and I have been on a healthy eating kick the past 12 months. I shed 36 pounds in 6 months when I went from highly processed foods to eating more fruits, vegetables, nuts and no white breads. Simple as that, cut out the highly processed sugar and the pounds started coming off.
That’s why the article on homemade bread caught my eye as I was strolling past the magazine rack @ Walmart last week:
That’s not what I wanted to talk about right now, but it does give you a sense of where my brain has been the past 12 months.
In the January 2011 issue of Mother Earth News was also a story on Floriani Red Flint.
(It’s an heirloom variety of corn)
I want to grow some now….
talk about the power of the printed page.
I told my buddy Steve a week ago to help me design me a garden plot I didn’t have to weed this year.
Steve and I get together on occasion over lots of coffee to chew the fat on everything from heirloom tomatoes, seed saving, politics, the underground railroad in Iowa, war, current events…you name it..all topics are fair game and while he and I are in different camps politically and spiritually, mutual respect underpins our discourse, so I always come away mentally stimulated.
Steve had mentioned something called a “sisters garden” in passing a few weeks ago, but I didn’t get it.,
In simple terms, you plant 3 companion crops in the same area….corn, beans and squash. The beans add nitrogen to the soil, which the corn uses and vise versa. The Squash (I’m going to plant an heirloom pumpkin) vines out and shades between the rows effectively shading out the weeds. The corn acts as a natural trellis for the beans (you need to plant the pole bean variety) so the beans climb the corn.
Here’s a diagram of what a 10 ft by 10 ft plot would look like:
The “three sisters” garden has been around for 1000′s of years
Why have I never heard of it before this week?
Have you?
“According to Iroquois legend, corn, beans, and squash are three inseparable sisters who only grow and thrive together. This tradition of interplanting corn, beans and squash in the same mounds, widespread among Native American farming societies, is a sophisticated, sustainable system that provided long-term soil fertility and a healthy diet to generations….
There is definitely a life lesson in this gardening model
3 different crops with different nutritional needs living in the same garden plot, producing different types of fruit.
Come to think about it, Steve and my relationship is a little like this gardening model. We each come to the table with different life experiences, different world views, etc. yet we can benefit from the others insight.
The next time you meet someone you know has a different take on a current event, instead of looking @ them as a nut job who obviously doesn’t understand real life because they don’t see things as you do, stick a cork in it.
Instead of launching into an attack mode, we really do need change the tone of our social discourse. And what better place to begin than with you? (and me) ;-)
“According to Three Sisters legends corn must grow in community with other crops rather than on its own – it needs the beneficial company and aide of its companions.”
Monday morning , both of our chicken waterer’s were frozen solid.
That did not bode well for the family budget.
I thought to myself, if I plug-in the electric water heater, that will add $30.00 a month to the electric bill, which makes for some pretty pricey eggs.
Tuesday morning same thing- frozen waterers….at that point an idea began to take shape in my mind
Ideas often come to me in the morning.
Why not build an aviary here on the farm?
instead of filling it with finches, I could fill it with chickens!
We have a 140 yr old barn that would work perfectly!
Here are some pictures of the final result .
It is a green passive solar chicken aviary.
green as in, built with all used construction material.
Today the thermometer was reading 24 F. Inside the aviary it was pushing 40 F
Here’s Lori, Joy, Emily, one unnamed hen and The Colonel in the middle.
Nothing beats farm fresh eggs.
I’m talking real fresh
I usually get mine right out of the nest….
I don’t want to bore you with construction details, but if you want to talk shop, feel free to drop me a note. I did take into consideration things like thermal mass, ventilation, insulating w/ bales of hay, lighting, etc
“Doug, I was wondering if you had any more apples that needed picking….I really enjoyed doing that last weekend, it was so relaxing.” Message on the answering machine from our friend Marilyn
Later when Marilyn did stop out, she told me she felt so relaxed after an hour in the orchard picking apples, it was “better than going to a therapist” to which I replied..”I think we should call it “tree therapy…that will be $20.00 please “
:-)
Then I read this in the local paper last night:
“Whenever I’m feeling sorry about losing Dan, I come out here, and it’s gone, just like that. There’s something about the healing power of working in gardens.”
Celtic believers have long maintained the veil between us and God is thinner in a garden.
(I’d like to add, in an orchard) They called those places and experiences ”Thin places”
“In simple terms a ‘thin place’ is a place where the veil between this world and the next is thin….
I (DM) promise not to get all new-age on you, but I can’t tell you the number of times someone has commented when they’ve visited our place, they’ve experienced a profound sense of peace and tranquility, and on occasion had their spiritual batteries recharged.
It happens to me all the time.
My grandpa Conley used to say, he felt closer to God when he was fishing than going to church which was why he did the former. At the time, I thought, yea, right, that’s just an excuse Grandpa, but now, 30 years later, I would have to say he was probably being honest and not just making a lame excuse.
Here are a few pictures I’ve taken in our East Orchard:
Early morning in the East Orchard
Mist in the Orchard
Pruning
Pruning is the art of trimming an apple tree to keep it healthy and fruitful. I regularly find myself thinking about the spiritual implications in my own personal life.
If you don’t prune an apple tree (and I’ve intentionally let a couple of them go without just to see what would happen)…the fruit is small…lots of little apples that aren’t worth that much.
You also prune diseased or dead branches to keep them from spreading to the rest of the tree….sort of like having certain relationships/ or activities a person might be involved in that are not good for them.
Fruitfulness
This is not original with me, but if you’re someone who thinks about having a fruitful life…think long and hard about the fruitfulness of an apple tree. Have you ever seen an apple tree grunting?
Nope, me neither
They just quietly stay connected to their root system drawing nourishment from the ground, combined with sunshine and rain..and wha-la…in it’s season, it produces a crop of fruit.
All apple trees don’t produce the same type of fruit either. Did you know there are over 2000 varieties of apple trees world-wide?
So why do we think our fruit need to all look the same?
Harvest
The biggest rush I get however, is harvest time. I get a tiny little jolt of joy every time I remove an apple from the tree branch. Some of you will probably think I’m crazy, but sometimes I am so overwhelmed by the sheer volume of apples on a branch I’ve said “Thank you” to the tree as I’ve picked. *(probably got that from watching movies where the native americans would say something over the buffalo they’ve just killed):-)
I just came in from digging a couple of hills of new potatoes to make for breakfast for our B and B guests…noticed the 2nd crop of green beans need picking today. This reminds me of another mystery I’ve thought about as I’ve worked outside in the garden and orchard.
A Seed
One seed becomes a plant, not over night mind you, but over the course of several weeks. When I plant the seed, I don’t go back and dig it up to see if it’s growing. nope, I might water it, pull some weeds, etc. but leave the original seed alone. similar to life…I “plant” seeds of kindness and love, then often times/ not always that seed takes root and begins to germinate, and something beautiful begins to form.
Well, it’s about time for coffee. Wife is probably wondering where in the heck I am.
”There is a difference between superficial beauty and the inner beauty we all possess as unique human beings. One is the product of the object culture, which reduces us to the things we own and the milestones we accomplish. The other is the result of a life well lived, where our struggles and challenges make us more loveable and truly ourselves. Inner beauty the kind you can feel and others can see, is what happens when you stop chasing false ideals and become the Real person you are meant to be.”
I (DM) was dumbfounded after watching that clip. Sometimes I feel as if the whole world is chasing after a mirage. And then I read the following and realize, I’m not alone….
“I began to formulate the Velveteen Principles in a most unlikely place. I was at my doctor’s office for a routine checkup. I looked up from a glossy, waiting-room magazine, which was full of images of smiling, perfect-looking people, and noticed that it was hard to tell that any of the patients around me were sick, worried or defective in any way. well-dressed and smiling, we were all trying to look good, just like the people in my magazine.
Then the outside door swung open and a wheelchair-bound woman in her mid-seventies entered, pushed by a man of the same age who was obviously her husband. After stopping at the receptionist’s station, they came into the waiting area.
She was bright-eyed but obviously quite ill. Her hands shook, and she breathed with the help of an oxygen tank. She wore no makeup. Red splotches and blue veins were visible through her pale, wrinkled skin. And her clothes were not the least bit feminine or fashionable. She was everything I had been taught to avoid becoming- weak, unhealthy, dependent and unconcerned about the impression she made on others.
Her husband, a white-haired man was dressed in khaki pants and a flannel shirt, was small, alert and quite fig. He had pushed her wheelchair with relative ease and then knelt next to her. He pushed back the sleeve of his shirt, revealing a very old tattoo of a buxom young woman maybe it was Betty Grable- and stroked his wife’s hair. As he adjusted the plastic tubing for her oxygen supply, he spoke softly in his wife’s ear. Whatever he said made her smile.
As I peeked over my magazine I became strangely jealous. Here she was, at the end of her life, physically debilitated and struggling. But she was not shy or embarrassed. Instead, she exuded a peaceful sense of certainty about who she was and her inherent value. It was clear that her husband adored her and cherished every moment they spent together. I considered his tattoo and thought of a time when he was young and probably quite obsessed with pretty women. And who knows, maybe his wife was once the girl who had fulfilled his fantasy. But in the moment I witnessed, what he loved was the true and essential person inside the body, the invisible beauty he may not have seen in younger years.
In the weeks after seeing that couple in the doctor’s office I struggled to understand why I had been so envious.. I had a husband who loved me. I felt good about my work and about my two children, Amy and Elizabeth. But I felt, deep in my heart, there was something that older woman possessed that I wanted. It was there in her face, and in the way she interacted with her husband, but I just couldn’t name it.
The answers we need often come at unpredictable moments and from surprising sources. This happened to me on a summer evening as I prepared dinner. I was in the kitchen, taking vegetables out of the refrigerator and grabbing pots and pans from the cupboard while my daughters sat together reading on the sofa in the next room. Elizabeth, age six, was reading to two-year-old Amy. Amy had her favorite blanket in her hand, her best bear, Lauren, in her lap and her thumb in her mouth. Elizabeth’s stuffed bear, Ted, was propped next to her They had reached page sixteen of The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams’s story, which was one of their favorites.
“What is REAL asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time not just to play with but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Sometimes said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are REAL, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But those things don’t matter at all, because once you are real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
In the kitchen, I was suddenly flooded with emotion and understanding. The Rabbit and the Skin Horse, I realized were talking about the difference between superficial beauty and the kind of Real, inner beauty that we all possess as unique human beings. They were saying that in a life well-lived, where we are true to ourselves, all the struggles and challenges only make us more Real and more loveable. Others can see this quality in us, and make us even more Real with their love and nurturing.
At last I understood my reaction to the older woman at my doctor’s office. She was loose in the joints. Her hair was thinning, and her clothes were shabby. But she showed no anxiety, no shame, no worry. She accepted herself fully. She knew she was precious and irreplaceable. She was Real. She loved and accepted herself as a Real and therefore imperfect person.
The scene at the doctor’s office was made all the more poignant by the fact that the woman’s Real value was clear to her husband as well. To him she could never be ugly, because she was simply herself. At a moment when anyone else might have been supremely self-conscious, he was so Real that he was almost carefree…..
As the pages of The Velveteen Rabbit turn, the main characters teach us how to find peace that comes when we focus on what matters most in life: love, relationships, and empathy for ourselves and others. The Skin Horse is a wise and experienced elder who is generous with what he has learned. The Rabbit is, like all of us, insecure and searching for his place in the world, a place he eventually finds in a rather unexpected new life…. (that was from the Introduction to The Velveteen Principles )
Started working for my dad the summer I turned 14.
That was in 1974.
You can do the math
One of the most popular blog posts on this site is one I wrote about big ears. Last count there were over 120 comments. The post has taken on a life of its own.
That’s kind of what I have in mind with this post. An interactive conversation between me and thee where I field construction related questions.
Big or small, it makes no difference. If I don’t know the answer I will tell you.
Since I’m not fielding anyone’s question tonight , how about if I tell you what we’ve been doing this week?
We’ve been installing 100-year-old southern yellow pine barn beams on the ceiling of a new addition 20 some feet off the floor. We took the 8 by 8 beams out of a 100 yr old barn, sand blasted and varnished them. Here are a few pictorial highlights from the week:
Beams arriving on the job site. These averaged 17 feet long.
Picture of my lead carpenter cutting the end of the beam . (Notice the joint in the beam behind him)
View from the top of the scaffolding
Finished product!
Now I could very easily have punted on that beam installation job. I have another crew lined up to do the finish work. But one of the things I love about construction is you’re constantly forced to learn new things and I wanted the challenge of figuring out how to take dirty old barn beams, cleaning them up and installing them in a new setting.
I discovered early on, that there is more than one way to frame a house. Turns out there is more than one way to shingle a roof, side or do window replacements. It can get pretty confusing..then if you add the new type of products on the market. Where can a person go to get trustworthy, unbiased advice?
Right here on this blog that’s where.
Why would I want to do that you might?
Because I love to teach.
I love to mentor
I love my job and I’ve lived long enough to know that as my former co-worker Scott loved to say, “What comes around, goes around…”
and if I am willing to help a few people with construction related questions, who knows what sort of cool things might happen in my life…you never know, maybe I’ll end up with my own TV series.
One last picture from the barn beam project:
We are installing this beam as a mantle on the fireplace. Check out the ax marks. This baby is probably from the 1860′s or before. It is O-L-D
We found it in a small shed on the property where we are working. The owners grandpa used to live on the property, so this beam has some sentimental value.
So do you have any construction related questions? Don’t sweat it if you don’t…but how about you…what area(s) of life would you be willing to help the rest of us out on if we needed some direction?
What I do like is all of the stuff that goes on behind the scene to produce this tomato…..
Building raised 4 ft by 4 ft garden beds.
Filling the raised beds with black Iowa topsoil.
The smell of damp earth after a long Iowa Winter.
Mapping out the raised beds into 1 ft squares
Discovering the mystery of composting. Watching those early grass clippings, watermelon scraps,and coffee grounds slowly break down into organic black gold.
Enjoying the company of my eldest granddaughter Addy as together we work in the garden.
This week I decided to save some of the seed from a Brandywine tomato. I want to participate in the whole life cycle of a tomato.
Now that their fist sized fruit have formed, I want some of their seeds.
I already have an LED grow light sitting in the box just waiting……
but that’s another story for another day.
As you can probably tell, it doesn’t take much to entertain me.
Back to the present. Saving tomato seeds…
You don’t just dig them out and put them away for safekeeping. Oh no, they would just rot. The little tomato seeds are encased in a jelly like sack:
Cross view of Brandywine. Seed sack is on the right
After you dig them out, you mix the seeds with a little water (about 1/4 cup to the pulp of this one tomato) then cover the container with a paper towel.:
Adding water to the seeds
Allow this brew to ferment and mold for 3 to 6 days, depending on conditions:
Mold forming on top of the “brew”
After the mold forms, (in 3 to 6 days) skim it off with a fork, add more water (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup) .
The viable seeds will settle to the bottom of the glass in a couple of minutes
Drain off the water.
Do it again.
Trust me- It feels just like you are panning for gold.
I set the seeds on a paper towel to blot off the excess water, then transferred them to a kitchen plate. where they continued to dry for 4 days.
After the first day, I did move them around so they wouldn’t stick to the plate.
Here’s what they looked like when I was done:
Closeup of the Brandywine seeds after they’d dried.
I never would have guessed I could squeeze so much pleasure out of just one tomato.
“ Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”
It’s a Friday morning in Iowa. There is a gentle rain coming down. All my work today is outside , so I have time to put together a pictorial highlight of the past several weeks…
A work story…
End view of a 3000 sq ft addition I’ve been working on.
We started the addition early May. As a general contractor, if I were asked to bid on a project like this, since there are so many unknowns , I would need to include a pretty hefty profit margin just to make sure I covered my expenses. Instead, I’m doing the job on a time and material basis. If you know and trust your contractor, that is the only way to go.
Things are going good @ this point, but mid June we were hit with a series of several strong thunder storms, that caused considerable water damage in the existing house.
(I took this picture of storm #4 rolled through our area that week)
The stress from that couple of weeks pushed me to the limit. I read a scripture that spoke to me It compared the stress in life to being in smelting furnace Right now, the furnace has cooled back down.
A music story…
Danielle Gasparro spent a couple of days with us, giving a mini concert in our kitchen. She was in the middle of concert tour of the Midwest. We also have a B and B and have been known to barter on occasion. (bed for some music)
Danielle Gasparro singing her heart out in our kitchen.
I had been having problems with my Toyota Tundra for weeks. It stumped 2 different local mechanics- so finally I decided to bite the bullet and take it in to the Toyota dealership. I got a call an hour later from the dealership, informing me they were not going to be able to fix my truck either…. apparently it was on a recall list for defective frames. (In the back of my mind, I thought, right…just another way to make me trade it in on a new model.) I protested- because while it was an older truck, it was paid for. Couldn’t they just go ahead and fix it anyway? I would rather pay $750.00 and have my old truck back than be saddled with truck payments.
I come to find out, it was a legitimate program. They did not want me to trade it on a new model..they just wanted to get it off the road for my personal safety. I got a call the next day- they offered me 3 times what the truck was worth- no strings attached. All I had to do was drop it off and they would cut me a check. I then started looking for Toyota Tundra. (How many other car manufacturers treat their customers like that? ) Found one on Craigslist….2 years newer, 50,000 less miles, full size vs. mid size…. I am so glad those first two mechanics weren’t able to fix the problem.
2001 Toyota Tundra compliments of Toyota Company Recall program
A claw foot tub story….
Picture of antique claw foot tub we have for sale. First $500 gets it. I will deliver it anywhere in the US for additional fee.
And finally, a grandchild story…
Picture of Addy and Rigg Addy told me she likes hanging out with me the other day. I am very thankful. This past Winter I realized my primary approach to relating with her was with low level teasing. Harmless enough right? Well, what got me thinking was something Addy had mentioned about another person in her life who enjoys teasing her. She didn’t like him. She just turned 4- so she hasn’t learned how to send mixed messages.
The rain has stopped. Need to think about going to work. How about you? How are you doing? What’s been happening in your life the past couple of months? As most bloggers would tell you, we love comments…even if it’s just to say “Hi” As always, thanks for taking the time to read my stuff. DM
Walkabout: to travel around to see what you can see. An Australian aboriginal concept
Wife and I had some great conversations today about the two of us going on a walkabout of sorts…. taking an extended time away from regular activities and going out to see what we can see. I decided not to teach the construction classes again this Fall. They could only offer me part-time, and it was just too much trying to juggle my regular construction projects and teach in the middle of the day. So that completely frees up our calendar. I’m in the middle of a big remodel project currently, but that should be done some time in September.
Here is where you come in. Right now every detail is up in the air. Not sure whether to head East, West, North or South. I’m thinking continental United States, but if you live over seas and have a construction project you’d like to hire me for, drop me a note. , I’m not ruling out traveling out of the country.
Timing is still also completely up in the air. I’m thinking 5 months to a year, Winter months are traditionally slower for me anyway. We are thinking about traveling in a truck w/ a camper on the back. I am a self-employed carpenter/general contractor with 35 years experience. My thought is to find some projects along the way to pay the bills and stay with people we know or worse case, in the camper.
I don’t have a large pot of money I’m drawing from, so this would be one of those pay as we go adventures.
In 1985 we did something very similar. I’d decided to go back to school to take a course in marriage and family counseling in Philadelphia, It was a 1 year course through CCEF. We did not know a soul in Philadelphia,so in order for me to go to school, we flew out for East for a week, rented a car, looking for a part-time job and housing. It was one of the most amazing weeks in my life. Things didn’t fall into place until we stepped out of the boat. (remember the story of Peter stepping out of the boat?)
I’m feeling that same stirring 25 years later.
So, if this sounds like something you’d like to talk with us more about , either leave me a comment on the blog or shoot me an e-mail.
This is me today.
Couple of things right up front if this is your first time here. I grew up on a farm. I'm a general contractor. Someone told me recently, "Do what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your whole life." That's my story.
We live in the Midwest...people still do things around here on a handshake. I married my high school sweetheart (Think Princess Bride...farm boy marries Princess Buttercup). I'm a dad and now a grandpa two times over....do I look old enough to be a grandpa????- I don't think so.
I have a Biblical World View. I'm an optimist 90% of the time, but will freely admit when I'm struggling that 10%. You can read about some of the struggles: here, here or here .
This is not a religious blog, although I am definitely a spiritual person. I hate it when people try to jam their "stuff" down my throat and I work real hard not to do that to you.
If you decide to leave a comment...please work real hard at communicating respectfully and graciously- especially with the other people whose thoughts you may not agree with. (no sarcasm). If you don't I will either delete or edit what you say.
I'm honored that you would take the time to read something I've written.
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