Be Reconciled to God

The season of Lent is here. Today we are observing Ash Wednesday. The partying and getting rid of all the bad things ended at midnight. Now we go into the observance of Jesus' 40 days of temptations.

This is a time of repentance and renewal. For those of you new to the season...

"The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been seperated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgieness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith." Book of Common Prayer

Take a moment to reflect on your life, where you are, where you want to be.

Long days and pleasant nights.

Enchanted

Have you ever had one of those days that is beyond explanation? The day is so good that you know it has to end but you secretly pray that it won't? The kind of day that all the stars are aligned and you can almost smell the sweet Texas wind blowing thru you?

Well that is exactly the kind of day we had yesterday. I knew there was something different about the day when I actually sat thru a complete interview of former VP Dick Cheney. The extraordinary thing is that listening to him did not send me to the toilet vomiting nor did it send me into a fit of rage.

The reason for the calmness is simply this... for the first time ever I was actually looking forward to St. Valentine's Day. Not because it is a manufactured holiday to sell flowers and cards, but because we had tickets to see the music icon Kris Kristofferson. To make the day complete, we went to see Crazy Heart first then had a steak and a beer or three.

Crazy Heart was really good. I'm not a movie goer normally. In fact the only movies I have seen in the last 12 years have been because Jo has literally dragged me to them. She was pleasantly surprised when I suggested we begin the day watching Jeff Bridges (who we love) portraying a country music singer in the fashion of Kris, Waylon, Willie, Johnny, etc... whom we also love. It was even better when I was able to cash in my two free movie passes!

In case you are thinking of seeing the movie, I won't spoil it here. However, it is the first movie I have EVER closed my eyes during the love scenes. Just sayin' Bridges played the role a little too well... You could see and hear Kristofferson and Waylon in the character of Bad Blake. The most amazing thing to me was that it felt like Boland wrote the sound track. The songs were very much like something the Ghost of Waylon aka the Bourbon Legend would have written. The venue's Bad played are venue's I have found myself in, while not in those exact towns, still the same type venue. He played in a bowling alley that was very reminiscent of the dive I first remember seeing Mike McClure play in Tulsa. There was the band and twenty audience members. If you are a true fan of real Country music (not Nashville) you will enjoy this movie.

Then we raced to our vehicles and across the street to the Texas Roadhouse. The place was packed, but I managed to get a front row parking spot. As I opened the door and stood behind a gazillion people wishing to partake in Texas, steak and beer - I heard a page for a 2-seat table available for the first one to the counter - guess who that was!!!! Being short has its benefits sometimes. So I was seated and couldn't find Jo. When I called her she was still looking for a parking spot! The magic just couldn't go away. Dinner was wonderful. Good food, cold beer, best friend....

Then we made it to the concert. If you have never experienced Kris live - I highly suggest it. He has no band. He walks out on a dark stage, alone. He wears black. So getting a picture of him is impossible. We just sat and listened and laughed and were amazed at the incredible man on stage. Most of his songs were recorded by someone else. He isn't really a singer or an entertainer - he is just the legend behind the singer(s). Most of the songs I heard the original recording artist singing. Several you just had to sing along with like Bobby McGee.

No words can describe how incredible yesterday was as a package or how wonderful it was to be entertained by Kris Kristofferson again.

My only wish is that everyone have a day as special as yesterday was to me...

Long days and pleasant nights.

Oprah Mae - Normal

Today Oprah Mae and I made the trek to the vet. It is her one year check-up. The whole way there she kept assuring me that she felt fine, really! We didn't need to make a whole long trip to the vet just to be told that she was fine, seriously....

For the first time since I've been using this vet, we were asked to come back or let Oprah Mae hang out for awhile to wait for the doctor. Since she was already stressed out enough, I chose the latter. Toby and Millie have spent weekends there and had no complaints, so what was a couple hours?

Evidently a couple hours of Oprah Mae's time away from home is worth a LOT more than a whole weekend for the pups.

Everything turned out OK though. She is now back home for another 12 months. All caught up on her shots. The vets report even stated that her mental attitude is normal. I wish the vet could see her bossing the pups around. I wonder if that is normal too...

Long days and pleasant nights

Don't Forget to Look UP!

With the temps going above 30 degrees, ice is falling from the tower.

Don't laugh. Our towers reaches almost to the moon and has more ice accumulation due to the height. So, when temps start getting above the freeze level - ice begins falling. It doesn't melt and drain neatly down the tower either. It comes down in very large killer chunks.

In an effort to keep people as safe as possible, we shuttle the worker bees to and from their cars which are safely parked at the bottom of Mt Krumpit.

We also have these cool hard hats. Each department is allotted two!

Long days and pleasant nights