A thought about Christmas

I was just watching the news as they are reporting about the poor in our community and Christmas. They talk about how the only Christmas that these people might get is what they receive from a charitable institution, like Christmas is something that can be wrapped up and handed to you. Christmas is something that you must carry inside and share with others. You cannot buy or sell it. Give someone some of your time and company this year. It doesn’t cost a thing but you could never buy the time back even if you had all the wealth in the world.
Whether you are Christian, Pagan, Jewish, or many of the other religions of the world, everyone seems to understand that there is something special about this time of the year. If you doubt it then read about the World War I Christmas truce. Those men found the Christmas spirit in muddy trenches with snow and ice and no real luxury of any kind. All they had in abundance was misery and the Christmas spirit. Some people go the extra mile for their fellow man at this time. The only anger and violence usually is because of money, and money isn't really important unless you make it so. The best Christmas that I have ever had so far was last year when Heather and I didn't have any spare funds so we spent as much time with each other as possible. It was wonderful. With the same being true this year I am looking forward to giving my wife a lot of my time again.

With that being said, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Yule, Festive Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, and any other name you wish to give to this most wonderful time of the year, and yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. Peace and love to you all.

Hiding in plain site

Hello again, it’s been far too long since I have written anything. I could say that I have been working, or that my wife has been using the computer a lot and these would have been true. But the most honest answer I can give is that I have been LAZY. I should try and post at least once a week just to keep the crazy thoughts in my head from becoming a chorus that I cannot deny. (Just to be clear, everyone has an inner voice. It is when a person thinks that the inner voice is coming from somewhere other than his own mind, ie. God, Satan, secret friend, the dead, the neighbor's dog, etc., is when they are ready for that in depth mental evaluation. ) I also cannot blame my absence on not having anything to write about as I have had several revelation type thoughts covering everything from religion to politics to really good ideas for Monty Python skits. With that in mind I want to talk about how we hide every day.
This isn't hiding in the closet because we are scared or under the covers because of what might be under the bed, or is it? I keep certain truths from my friends and my family because they wouldn't accept or understand it. I cannot be around my wife's grandparents as myself because if they found out that I was a democrat and did not follow the teaching of Glenn Beck's doctrines I believe they would demand that I leave their house. This would be OK with me but if they found out that their granddaughter was a democrat too they would either disown her or try to have her grabbed in order to have an intervention and get her away from my evil influence.
I would probably have the intervention from my family if they knew that though I grew up Christian and hold many of those beliefs near and dear, but I also have many pagan beliefs and several friends who are fully steeped in the pagan religion. Rather than learn about what I believe and try to understand, they would think that I have become corrupted by a cult and that the devil had taken control of my thoughts. I wouldn't mind all of the prayers that would come my way but the visits from their ministers would make me glad that I have the right to kick anyone out of my house. They think that I am the joker already but in reality I am the honest one. If someone asks my opinion, they get it. I don't sugar coat my answers and since they are blunt, they think that I am joking.
I am also a Freemason. I joined the same lodge that my father has been in for over 40 years. I am even an officer there but it really is a system made up mostly of good-ole-boys who are just a small step away from being KKK members. I keep the knowledge that I am a democrat and voted for President Obama from them. I have to constantly bite my tongue and hide my true expressions from them when I hear phrases like "that Washington nigger" or jokes about hanging him from a Christmas tree. I truly believed the beliefs of Freemasons like Benjamin Franklin who felt that politics and religion had no place for discussion in a Lodge. These were places for progressive minded men to come together for the sharing of ideas and beliefs to make the world better, not just gripe and complain about the way things are and who to blame it on.
I once told a brother mason that it made more sense that our current economic problems were caused by several years of mismanagement by a republican controlled government and not just because a black democrat had been elected to the office of President. He said that he would pray for me in church on Sunday. I would leave it and find a lodge that more closely followed my way of thinking but instead I am trying to make things better rather than turn my back on them. I just have to hide in order to do so.
So we hide. I hide even though it galls me to no end when I do so. It is one of the main reasons that I prefer to closely associate with a very small group of friends. These are people that I can be myself around. I am 42 years old and I doubt that I will live long enough to see my society and country grow up enough to let us all be ourselves openly. If you don't think that people don't hide in plain sight, just listen to the "Don't ask, don't tell" discussions. If we didn't hide in public this wouldn't even be a topic for discussion.

Becoming Immortal

It would be nice to live as long as we want to whether it is our allotted 3 score and 10 or a thousand times that much. I would love to be a witness to the next 1000 years. I mean just think about all that a person would have seen during the past millennium. I would take that choice even with the daily pain that I have in my knees and all the aggravation that comes in this life. The reality is that I might not make it until the next sunrise or I might outlive everyone I know. It's the not knowing when, how, or what next that most people are afraid of when dealing with death. There is, however, a way that anyone can have a touch of immortality in this world. It comes in what we leave behind when we are gone. I am a teacher in my heart and my soul. It's not just the certificate that I have from the state of Tennessee (Which is been pretty useless over the past 10 years) but in the passing on of what you truly love to do. I am lucky enough to have a few students who want to learn what I can teach them and in them is where I will gain some small ability to stay around for a long time after I am gone. Especially if I can get them to pass on those skills and knowledge again and again. In time my name will be lost but my lessons will still be here. I was talking to a friend awhile ago and I told her that one of my students would surpass my teachings and achievements within 10 years or sooner. She asked me if I was OK with that and I had to answer that I was more than OK with it. A teacher should feel like a failure if their students never take what was taught to them then grow and add to it. Education isn't a fixed thing and I am looking forward to the day that young man shows the world just how good he is. At that time my soul will soar because I will know that I had a hand in his training. Education grows and expands as we go through time and by that same fact, the teacher needs to grow and keep learning too. I still spend hours at the Library or sorting through information on the net or practicing what I learn and I have to keep reminding myself that I am helping keep other people immortal as I keep learning from their teachings. What we pass on to others is an energy that never stops once it is put into motion and we are best served if that energy is a positive one. I hope that the energy that I start or that I continue is something that helps people and our world for that next 1000 years that I want to be here for so that I will still be here too.

Where oh where has all my hair gone?

Sometimes when you decide to make a change in yourself, the people you know are surprised and shocked. They may even worry since "Drastic"changes are a warning sign for various problems. Its not that drastic of a change when you know the whole story. Having once had hair that reached all the way to my waist is a part of my past. I had my reasons for having it long and I now have them for shaving my head. Mother Nature and Father Time had slowly started taking my crown of glory about 12 years ago and keeping it in a tight ponytail all the time didn't help matters. I started to notice that I could see more skin than fur on the top while the sides were still very heavily padded with thick growth. At that time I realized that I was getting to have "Old Man" hair and that while I hate them, a comb over was a very "doable" hair style for me. That was when it was time for Heather and I to have a little chat. One of the reasons to justify my choice was the job I had planned to work over the Summer. I was going to teach Summer School at a group home for boys again this year. Having no hair in that setting is actually a safer way to be at work. One of the first things that a person in a fight who doesn't know how to fight will reach for is the hair. That is why most prison guards have shaved or close clipped hair. On my second day at the home, I had to break up a fight between 2 boys, one of whom was nearly as big as me and taller to boot. In a grappling fight I become a rock, I don't move and I don't budge, so he went for my hair which was no longer there. OK, I had made a good choice but back to the wife. Once I convinced her that it should go we didn't waste any time. She took the clippers to me with no guard on it and the tub on the floor filled quickly. When it was over she wasn't thrilled but she wasn't too upset either. Two days later I used a razor and went down to the skin. I mean "In for a penny, in for a pound" right. After 2 months I have become more used to it now myself. I no longer wonder if my hair looks goofy from a haircut, if I have bed head, or if its going to keep getting thin on top. I think that it took several years off of the way I look and I feel energized by the change.I am also not alone because I have several friends with the same need to show how good they look sans strands. My only concern is that if I am caught with Chad, Robby, and Matt all at the same time that someone will think that it is a skinhead rally. Nope just a group of men who don't need to hide under bad hairdos.

The First Post

How to begin? I was born in the mountains of East Tennessee and here I live still. I was raised to know mountain ways and gifted with the ability to use my hands to create. I think it was the way the world around me changed that allowed me to grow up fat and lazy. I have always felt lost here and would be more at home 100 years ago when the world and town I live in was smaller and filled with less. The quality in our world was either lost or pushed to the side to make way for the plastic, mass produced junk that we spend so much of our time and money on today. I would rather live in a small town where everyone really does know everyone else but those don't exist here anymore. I have thought about moving but I have family here to help support me and my wife when necessary. Besides, most of the areas where I could live the way that I want to are in the great Northwest of our country or in the far Northeastern Coast. I don't know if my wife could live there or if we could survive the loss of our friend's regular company. I am trained as a school teacher, but have had trouble getting a job as such because I don't value athletics as much as I do education. Most days I find myself wishing that I could make my living as a craftsman or in researching the past. My wife and I both enjoy the hobby of living history and all of the skills that come with them so I have some release at least for my need to create quality items. Well, that's enough for now but I will be back with more of the ramblings and ravings just hopefully not those of a lunatic.