I Have a Rather Large Sea Shell Collection...

I Have a Rather Large Sea Shell Collection!

This is the opening line of an old Steve Wright joke that I find funny, with a true principle behind it.

He says "I have a rather large sea shell collection. I keep it scattered across the beaches of the world. [Audience laughs]. Oh, you've seen it?"

I find it funny for the simple statement of possession followed by absurd claim to ownership of all of it, which is the joke on the surface. But he is right. We all own the planet,  right?




We simply have to go beaches with shells in order to enjoy them. All of us. We don't have to collect them and hide them away in our homes. Open displays are nice, though.


Taking all the shells may pose a problem. Something that some of my folks are sensitive about when it comes to Indiana geodes.




I am a concerned environmentalist to a point. I think that recycling plastics and other items are good and worthwhile. I hate waste. We should eat the food that we produce and serve ourselves, I think that it is good to use a dinner plate for desert or re-use utensils to avoid excessive washing of dishes that simply burns up more fossil fuels.




Our planet is beautiful; we should all be concerned about its survival and sustenance.


We should enjoy the beaches. Enjoy the shells.


Yesterday I was able to hang out at Bolsa Chica Beach near Huntington, California. It was great.


Despite having thoughts that we could probably see more beach and land there along the California coast than the 1.7 million Palestinians of the Gaza Strip by the Mediterranean;  (their current dealings with the Israeli ground offensive that have cost many lives, not affecting me too much but a conversation with a brother-in-law), we had a really good time.


How many beaches have I been to in my lifetime? How many days of my life have I walked in the salty or sweet water surf? How many of those times were with family?


Probably not enough on all three counts. But more than many; I am fortunate. Blessed to get sands between my toes.


Beaches...


I went to one in April in Cape Cod when it was unseasonably cold. Beautiful, and also with family, but too cold.


Warm and cool beaches are hard to beat.


Let's keep them clean.


Blog on. EMC. 

Pioneer Day, 2014. Does it Matter to Outsiders?

Pioneer Day! What is that?

Today is July 24, 2014. It is the 167th year since the summer that Brigham Young and other Latter-day Saint pioneers crossed the United States plains and he famously declared that the Salt Lake Valley was the right place to be settled for the largely unsettled Mormon people.


A few hundred Saints made it that first year, followed by thousands more in the ensuing years until about 1860. Many came in wagons, others walked along, and by the last few years a few thousand poorer converts to this new religion (founded officially in 1830, many were converted overseas like in Great Britain in the 1840s and 50s). The Salt Lake Valley was untamed by any people of European descent, and even the local native tribes were more hunters and wanderers, often suffering from hunger.


The Saints would make the desert bloom, naming it Deseret, evoking memories and comparisons of scriptural verses from the Old Testament and other scriptures that they touted, like the Book of Mormon translated by Joseph Smith Junior. Smith was born in Vermont and raised in New York, eventually moving to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois before being tragically and brutally lynched in a second story jail. In 1844.


Three years later Brigham Young had officially succeeded as Prophet, Seer and Revelator, of the new-founded but oft misunderstood, feared and persecuted Mormon movement, called formerly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.


The founders, including 12 apostles and missionaries called Seventy in the Biblical fashion, who would eventually take multiple wives as former Biblical prophets, considered themselves the restorers of the true religion, covenants, and visions of the God of the Old World, lead and inspired by the Great Jehovah Himself.


Times were tough first going across Iowa on the winter trek in 1846, then settling temporarily at Winter Quarters in present day Nebraska, along the Missouri River of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Times were also tough bringing forth crops in and around what would become Salt Lake City, and later other valleys and river bottoms of the eventual state of Utah, and then progressively other later states like Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Arizona, California and other places.


Polygamy became the biggest obstruction to achieve statehood, but by 1896 six years of legal non-practice allowed Utah to come in as the 45th state. It had had the population for a while, but Wyoming's smaller numbers in becoming a state proved to Utah that it was worth doing.


So, whether people recognize the current LDS faith as a significant world player when it comes to humanitarian and other outreach, like its formidable missionary force across the globe, or its billions of dollars and hours invested I family history, it just might be noteworthy the date that all native Utahns know as the "Days of '47".


I lived in the state for five years in the 1990s, and before I left I felt as if I were a resident in a few ways. But even growing up in the Midwest, surrounded by LDS of many parts I knew that Pioneer Day celebrated and honored the fortitude, strength and dogged determination of my spiritual ancestors, a special group of people that truly believed they were re-establishing Zion.


Zion.


No, it is not always in the present state of Israel.


Utah has some Manassites and Ephraimites too.


But that is for another day.


Today, we simply celebrate and remember the Mormon pioneers.


Happy Pioneer Day, everyone, Latter-day Saint or not.


Blog on.


EMC. 

Reagan; His Museum and the American Presidents, USA

I was able to do something yesterday that I regretted not doing since I left California back in 2006: I went to the Ronald Reagan Museum. It was well worth it, in my opinion. (July 2014).

I took two of my children and we all enjoyed many aspects of the building in picturesque Simi Valley, Ventura County, California. It was hillier and rockier and drier than I had imagined. But still quite pretty. Dry, warm (but not overwhelming) and no signs of forest fires.

Reviewing the life of this iconic American and former president, plus all the accompanying US and world history that he was associated with ,was an interesting way to look at the past, consider the present and perhaps see into the future. My children at their respective ages, soon to be 5th grader and 1st graders, were able to find a lot that they were interested by and engaged in.

Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) was president when I was cutting my teeth about politics and world affairs as a young person and then becoming an adult. I bought into the Republican party as mine, preferable to the Democrats, even though I registered in 1988 as non-affiliated. I later joined the GOP as a member in 1994 or so, during college. I figured I had more sway that way. And I still consider myself a GOPer, even though I think that any candidate could win my vote regardless of party if they were the right person and message.

Back when I was finishing high school at the end of Reagan's presidency in the late 80s many of my childhood friends claimed that Reagan was awful, Republicans were so wrong in general. Many of their families tended to be Democrats, but I was convinced by then the GOP had better plans and made more sense economically and morally. Even militarily. Too many, of course militarily. And the end of the Communist Soviet Union under President Gorbachev during Reagan's tenure was a big deal.


Seeing all the things Reagan did in life was impressive; from sports athlete to sports commentator to Hollywood actor to GE spokesman, California governor and of course Commander-in-Chief, to even his last 10 years of dealing with Alzheimers and somehow surviving that long.


Impressive guy. Some of the tour guides at the museum and store seemed to be quite pro-Reagan or Republican in general. This makes sense. It made me think of all the gamesmanship in politics and what people think make successful times, attitudes, presidents, economies, societies, etc.


Seeing him as a paid spokesman for General Electric in the 1950s and that company maintaining their own part of exhibit with its own theatre was also instructive. Reagan said that going into all those plants was like getting a doctorate in political science. Very interesting way for him to be educated in business and economics and further polish his knowledge and speaking skills.


Yeah. Existential questions of prosperity and success. Meeting "rendezvous with destiny", to borrow from a Reagan speech in 1964.


Each person usually has their own positive and/or negative take on presidents, past and present.


For many years I have more seriously thought that US presidents have received both too much credit and blame for everything. And yet, presidents have more or less reflected our populations over the years. George Washington and the rest to Barack Hussein Obama, number 44. First Catholic, 1960, first black, 2008. First woman? Remains to be seen.


No matter the diversity or the lack of it at the Chief Executive's office in our 200 plus years of nationhood, our country is strong and wealthy. Blessed.


Going through this museum and seeing the personal history of this hugely famous US icon (first through the silver screen) and later politics was interesting and instructive.


I hope to go to more presidential libraries and tours and museums in the future.


Ronald W. Reagan (1911-2004). RIP. And God bless America.


Blog it. EMC.

James Alexander Thom, Historical Fiction Writer

I am finishing up another (of an impressive series) of novels by James Alexander Thom. He lives in southern Indiana and writes about the colonial and early American period of United States history.


I first read From Sea to Shining Sea (1984) in the late 1980s at the behest and gift of my mother. It was a good and very educational read. In the early 1990s I received Panther in the Sky (1989) and I read it by the end of the decade. It took me a while but I enjoyed it.


Now it has been Sign Talker (2000), about the voyage perspective of half-Shawnee half French George Drouillard, significant interpreter and hunter for the Lewis and Clark expedition.


All three have been very well put together as far as context and historical knowledge. He is not considered a great writer, per se, by many critics or readers, but he is a great researcher. His stories have enriched my understanding of the past.


My wife read Follow the River (1981) in the early 2000s, and enjoyed it. We own a couple more of his that I still need to read. And my mother and step-father, Ruth and Terry Carpenter, have most of the complete set which they have enjoyed since the 1980s.


I think that with time Mr. Thom may receive more due for his life's work (ouvre) and his creative and historical imagination and attention to detail.


Blog on. EMC 

Washington Nationals Update: Weeks 13-15, 2014

The first weekend after the All-Star break has turned out all right for the Nats, beating the Brewers 2 out of 3. The Brewers have been good this whole season but are struggling of late. The post break opening Friday night game in D.C. was underwhelming for supposed ace Stephen Strasburg, who fell to 7-7 overall. He gave up four runs and the Nationals only mustered 2 scores, including a late home run by Bryce Harper. But the Nationals rallied to win the Saturday and Sunday games, and are keeping pace with the Atlanta Braves, their division rival having one more win and loss. They are tied in the standings for the


This is the first report in July of this season for them by me, as my updates usually happen every two weeks since the current season began in the spring.


Prior to the All-Break where the American league secured home field advantage (winning 5-3) for the World Series in the fall, the Nats were also tied for the division lead with Atlanta, thus creating statements from players like Jayson Werth that they were pleased with their results so far. This all despite the struggles of pitchers Strasburg and Gonzalez, and an at times anemic offense.


About the pitching staff, it is possibly the best in the majors with a league leading low ERA a little about 3.00, like 3.18. Doug Fister has been a great addition and throws tonight against the lowly Rockies in Denver, while Tanner Roark has been a consistent winner as well. The fifth starter has been Jordan Zimmerman who is overall superior, but due to injuries to gusy like gio Gonzalez thye have started experimentally with guys like Trainen, Blevins and a few others, but things have been pretty good as stated from the 5 rotation. The middle relievers have been decent, the closers good enough, and they have held on to a few good wins or made some comebacks due to good bench pitching overall. Tyler Clippard was the only Nat taken in  the All-Star game, which indicates no other teammate is having an outstanding season so far. But things could change. Bryce Harper and a few other position players may be poised for a good second half. More on the possible One...


That is the hope. More health and full positions on defense and the batting line-up, more hits and runs. And more wins. All the hitters are hitting okay but nothing above .280s; that should change for a few like Werth, Harper, Rendon, possibly LaRoche, Span and Ramos. Denard Span needs to get on base more and score runs, as does Harper in his third season, being more productive overall as he has missed many games for injuries and is now at only 3 home runs, down from 22 and 20 his first two seasons and as youngster.


And then there is Mr. National and the one I call the "Natural", Ryan Zimmerman. He can get hot, and normally adjusts to hitting about .290 with 100 RBIs. This is a must for superior offense, but the other guys can carry a lot, too. Anthony Rendon has been consistently clutch and productive.


Bench players are all right, with Nate McClouth and a few others like former starter Danny Espinosa (2B) filling in parts.


Overall, things are looking good. First place, keep up with the Braves. Stay healthy. One more full plus week of July and the real pushing begins.


Overall, I have written that word too much for this three week update.


Blog it. Blog on. EMC.


Overall

Ecumenicism, Ecumenical Thinking

One Church. One institution of Jesus, the Son of God. Paul writes in Ephesians, "One faith, one baptism, one Lord." Makes sense to most Christians. However...


There are so many types of Christian churches and beliefs.


Why the disparity?


History, both secular and doctrinal, can explain it all too well.


A friend recently prompted me to think and write about this subject, so here are a few of my cents on the issue.


There ought to be one faith in Jesus, despite the billions of us that exist on the planet (and the billions that have come and gone) that depend on individual relationships with Him. Collectively, there ought to be a Way to the Way, Truth and Life.


But of course, because of all our different individuality, we all do worship differently. I worship Christ in practice, deed and devotion differently than my wife, or respective children, even though we all practice the same faith and may sit in the same church pew most Sundays.


We were all built differently, much like our external differences, we are internally sundry as well.


But obviously we do have many commonalities.


We Christian Westerners have a lot in common with Western Jews. Or Eastern Jewish people. Or Muslims. Or Hindus, Buddhists...Agnostics, atheists.


Surprisingly, or not, all of us humans share very common values. We believe violence is abhorrent. We suffer the little children to come unto us, and we are greatly offended when bullies pick on the little runts. Vegetarians or not, we abhor cruelty and unwanton mean behavior.


We all believe the Golden Rule of the Christ of the New Testamant, no matter whether we call it karma, quid pro quo, legal fairness, civil justice, harmonic convergence, so on and so on.


We as a human race can agree to agree about a lot, despite the multitudinous differences of our stated beliefs, practices and lifestyles.


We should be one Church in the Christian camp. Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland and the Isles have no sensible reason to hurt each other, other than pleasing and serving the Enemy. The main Adversary of God.


And that is what we do when we fight and debate, or pridefully or incidentally breed contention about our most cherished beliefs. We can agree to disagree, too.


Politics and economics do get in the way. Sad but true.


I used to read two Christian magazines a lot, more in the late 1990s but I still keep up with them in the 21st century as much as my local libraries provide them . Christianity Today and the Christian Century discuss ecumenicism,  the idea of One Church that belongs to Jesus.


My faith's monthly Ensign and the accompanying youth magazines discuss the same prospect.


One faith. One baptism. One Lord.


We can agree that we should agree to agree and agree to disagree. We can be true Christians, fair and decent and virtuous, despite the lack of commonalities that we think arise (and inevitably cause contention and strife) with others of non-Christian lives and cultures.


We can be the Chosen people Jesus tells us to be.


Pray for it. Live it. Hope and have faith in Him. It will be as He promised numerous times in the scriptures. They are holy. They tell the truth.


This has been my Sunday/Sabbath sermon.


Thanks for sharing.


Blog on. EMC.

Have You Heard the One About California? (Calamity Cycle)

I used to live in the amazing state of California; I was there for an amount of years, enough (8 combined) that I felt like I knew the place. I felt that I had become a resident, that I understood it somewhat. I thought that I knew many things about the locals and the overall lay of the land.

It is an amazing place; it is connected to its neighboring states and has similarities to them but also is its own unique place. And it is large, of course, so not easy to summarize.


After living on the East Coast for a while, I realized something about the dynamics there that I call the "Calamity Cycle".


Northern Californians have always been known for complaining about the overpopulation and drag on resources of the more numerous Southern Californians. I married into a large southern California family and I was able to live down there a total of six years. I spent another almost two years along the central coast of Monterrey Bay. Close enough to the north to think that I understood more of the "northern" Cal attitude. And all of this perhaps neglects the attitudes people of isolated parts of the San Joaquin Central Valley, the forgotten Imperial Valley, or even the extreme north.


But here is what I call the Calamity Cycle:


1. Northern Californians complain and criticize the southern part of the state (primarily Los Angeles and its environs) for using up all the resources like water, having too many people that plunge into financial funds and thereby horde up the state coffers and budgetary expenses, leaving the Golden State in perpetual crisis of money and endless political strife.


Simply put, the people of the north say the people of the south, whom there are too many of, are draining and ruining the whole state!


But then I thought about it more, and I concluded:


2. Southern Californians have the same complaint about foreign immigrants, and "out-of-staters" like I used to be. A Midwestern transplant like dozens of others that I knew from Chicago or other parts of the east, we came to the state on the Pacific, the Left Coast, and claimed much of the necessary resources from the native Californians. Of course, a huge percentage of these people not native to California were Hispanic. Many of those Latinos, primarily but not exclusively from Mexico, struggled to learn the requisite amount of English to be considered truly productive and integrated Californians and US residents.


So the people of the South blame the immigrants! Too many, resource-draining, drag on the better economy due to their needs and problems.


But speaking Spanish as I do, and attending a Spanish speaking church for a couple of years in San Bernardino as well as teaching many second language learners to try to speak English, mixing with many foreigners, some of whom were undocumented, I came to understand their point of view better:


3. The foreign immigrants of southern California complain about the narco-traffickers, the coyotes (human smugglers), the real thugs and hoodlums who prey upon them and others. They are the ones to be blamed for the draining of needed and limited resources of the political and state funded options in Southern California! The illegal and other gang-banging criminals are counted as too many in the streets and the jails and prisons of the Golden State, thus being the real reason why Southern California is at a loss and the downward cycle continues....


Alas, these are the bad guys! The true culprits of all that is wrong!


4. So we ask the drug-runners and sellers, the producers and others that run illicit drugs to the tune of billions per year, with all the subsequent problems that follow this dangerous trade: so?


They point to their main market, which comes from---wait for it: Northern Californians. They have more money and resources financially to buy the illicit product of heroin, cocaine, LDS, marijuana, etc. They are the reason that drug production and illegal selling exists, because of this great demand, there will always be this supply.


Ahh, the blame game has come full circle.


So it is with California.


Blog it. EMC

Yellowstone Park and Wyoming

Quite a state. Quite a park. I went to the national park briefly as a kid when I was pretty small, around 1980.


A couple weeks ago we stayed overnight in Buffalo, which is in the northeast corner of the state, east of the Bighorn Mountains. We had already stayed in South Dakota a couple nights, which was great with Mount Rushmore and then a little Crazy Horse and then Devil's Tower on the Wyoming side.


Really cool stuff; the latter I had not seen before.


Lake Yellowstone is huge! Much bigger than I had thought. The geysers at Old Faithful go on for a long time; further than I had recalled as a child. "Bloopy", the nickname I had given a favorite of mine that I did not find, was maybe another 15-30 minutes than we could walk.


Yellowstone is an amazing geothermal site. Very unique.


The whole state of Wyoming is a beautiful place of the outdoors, recreation and tourism. Great in the summer.


Our smallest populated state.


Thanks for the good times.


Blog it. EMC.

Scott Russell Sanders: River Man Thinker

I just read "Staying Put: Writing from the Center" by the above-mentioned author who resides in or near Bloomington, Indiana.


A good read. I enjoyed it and I think many other people would be enriched or enlightened by it.


I first learned about this author some six months ago while attending a Christmas concert at the St. Mark's Methodist Church. My step-mother pointed him out across the pews and I was curious to see and learn what he wrote about.


Based on some online research in the last few months, and now having read this book that he published in 1993 at age 46 or so, he is generally a naturalist, a little bit like Annie Leonard, only not as famous as her. He cites many previous generations of writers who focus on the outdoors, like Thoreau, Emerson, and a few other luminary environmental authors that I am less familiar with.


He describes in the book, a sequential set of essays, many things about nature and geography (history, science) that I enjoy; because it also takes place in my native Bloomington and southern Indiana and the Ohio River Valley, this made it more personable to me.


He is a thinker, and loves rivers and water, and is definitely in touch with the earth and his own mortality.


He is easier to read than Annie Dillard, only using some vocabulary that is beyond my immediate grasp.


I look forward to reading and learning more about him and his thoughts in the future.


Blog it. EMC.

Iraq, 2014. Not Doing So Well.

Iraq, 2014. Not Doing So Well.

Some doomsayers, or "realists", politicians or other pundits predicted it: Iraq would be torn up and divided by sectarian strife. It is looking true right now.

Mosul and other key Iraqi places are falling to ISIS.

ISIS is an organization that most of the Western world considers a terrorist group. After taking a large city like Mosul lately, ISIS might as well be  deemed a de facto government spanning the Syria/Iraqi border, straddling former fought over territory of Al-Anbar Province, a place where the Iraqi anti-Coalition Government forces wreaked havoc and high casualties from 2003 to as late as 2009.


This blog post was started more around the time that Mosul fell about a month ago, near the beginning of June of this year. In the summer weeks since then (now July 1, 2014), official Iraqi forces have fought back against ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (or Shem)), and have apparently struck back hard in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and other places that seemed fated to the Al-Qaeda or Wahhabi jihadist types. It currently appears the Shia-led government may make a stand.


More US forces and advisors have been sent to Baghdad to shore up the embassy and that central part of the country. There should be no repeat of the disaster of Benghazi and the US ambassador in September 2012.


Good news for the current state of Iraq (backed by the UN and the US) is that the official government is making a stand.


Fingers can be pointed in many different ways: President Bush (2001-2009) or the current president Obama (2009-2014+) in dealing with both Iraq and the bloodbath the last 4 years in Syria under Bashar Al-Assad.


Blame and credit can be leveled at US presidents and other world leaders. The soldiers and civilians in harm's way are the ones who pay the most.


Gas prices are the highest since 2008; Iraqi stability and oil production are part and parcel of these worldwide prices.


And many cynics and so-called "realists" call it the real bottom line: world economic forces.