Raven's Challenge 48

Today's link
Emerald Eyes

Saying for the Day
Many books require no thought from those who read them, and for a very simple reason. They made no such demand upon those who wrote them. ~Charles Caleb Colton

Picture of the Day
Betty and her biological Mother
She died when Betty was very young.

It is Saturday and time to play with words supplied by Raven's Wordzzle

This Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: snow and ice, vegetarian chili, pampered kitty, anthropology, do you own a home, coronation, you can change the world, hideous curtains, stammering, premonitions
Mini Challenge: Is there a doctor in the house, blowing in the breeze, shadows, comedian, sleeping disorder

The Mega Challenge in the
On Going Adventures of Agent 012

Poor Agent 012 wasn’t sleeping well. In fact he had hardly slept at all since he helped the old couple steal the million dollar artifact. He was becoming afraid that he had a sleeping disorder. The room he was staying in as he tried to pick up the trail of these clever crooks didn’t help either. It had hideous curtains that didn’t even match. One had a picture of a big fat pampered kitty and the other just snow and ice.
Both were badly faded and were constantly blowing in the breeze that came through the hole on the window frame and cast strange shadows on the far wall. On that wall hung a picture of a long dead comedian who used to ask “ Is there a doctor in the house” a lot. It would be hard for anybody to sleep in that room.
He just wanted to give up but he could still hear his grandfather saying “ You can change the world”. Remembering that always lifted his spirits. So he decided to go over to the Stammering Bulldog for something to eat. Looking at the menu he ordered the vegetarian chili , which was odd because he doesn’t like vegetarian chili or any kind of chili for that matter. But then this was England, land of coronations and Stonehenge anthropology and his premonitions told him he might like the chili here. They were wrong, as usual.
By this time Agent 012 had moved from depressed mode to Agent mode and was ready to go to work finding the couple. Because they were old and walking he figured they must live within ten blocks of the post office. He didn’t know if they owned a house or were renting.” Do you own a home” had never come up in their conversation. He would have to go to the museum and look at the security footage. If he could find a picture of them he could provide it to the local police and he could use it to question people around the Post Office. He was beginning to feel good again.
Maybe the day wouldn’t be so bad after all.

All fifteen words in one sentence

Tom , you can change the world , Brice who played a stammering comedian with a sleeping disorder in the play “ Is There a Doctor in the House” finished his bowl of vegetarian chili, put down his “Little Book of Anthropology and Premonitions”, and with his coat blowing in the breeze crossed the snow and ice to the Pampered Kitty Auditorium where the hideous curtains cast weird shadows upon the coronation scene and his next line was “ doo yoou oown your oown hoome”.

Ten Word Challenge

Elli Stokaviytch finished his vegetarian chili and put his pampered kitty back on her pillow. Then he turned his attention to the brochure that had come in today’s mail.
“Do you own a home?” it asked in great big letters.
“ Then you can change the world and we will help you.” it went on.
This was not a mortgage company. It was a quick cash company.
You signed an agreement making your house theirs if you didn’t pay them back in three months.
They didn’t check your credit rating they wanted it to be bad.
They just wanted to hold the deed and for you to fail to pay them.
These people would go to a coronation with the hope of getting the castle.
Just the kind of people he was looking for Elli thought as he started to practice his stammering.
Two hours later having gone through the snow and ice he was in their office with his big book of anthropology on his lap. Looking around he wondered if all of these places got their hideous curtains from the same place.
Then he stammered into his routine. He had premonitions or visions that lead him to an area near this town. He was sure that the anthropological find of the century was buried there. He just needed a little more money to complete the dig, about ten thousand dollars. He would be rich and famous when he finished.
He put down the deed . But then he pretended to have second thoughts. He couldn’t lose the house. It had come to him from his mother. It had been in the family forever.
They hastened to assure him that he would have no trouble paying them back and suggested that maybe fifteen thousand might help to get the job done quicker.
At that point he reluctantly took the check and thanked them.
He went straight to the bank and cashed it.
Going back to the room he picked up pampered kitty and said “ Time to move on lovely. Daddy’s finished here.
He put all his fake deeds and house pictures back into the folder, loaded everything in the van, and away they went.
It’s so easy to scam a scammer, he thought.

The Mini Challenge

“Is there a doctor in the house?”
This was the one hundred and twenty third time I heard that question while lying on the floor.
I’m a comedian and this was part of the act.
Now the old man with the fake hair blowing in the breeze would rush to the stage. He would listen to my heart and say that I have a bad sleeping disorder. Then he pulls out an alarm clock and when the alarm goes off I jump up. It really is funny.
But tonight I won’t be jumping up. Tonight I need a real doctor. Tonight I can see the dark shadows of death coming. They won’t know until the alarm goes off and I don’t jump up.
I wonder if they will cry out “ Is there a doctor in the house”.
I hope they do and I hope there is.

This week’s vanity wordzzle: feathered dream-catcher, silence, sea wrack, total, absolute, dolphin, eerie, living room, magisterial, bird feeder, munitions dump, God-jar

Military jargon is a strange thing. Here are some examples:
A feathered dream-catcher = a long range rocket capable of killing thousands while they sleep.
A God-jar = the room where prisoners are kept and tortured.
Bird feeder = Guns capable of shooting down planes.
Dolphin Sea Wrack = Large submarine
Magisterial living room = Headquarters of opposing army
Absolute Total Silence = Nobody left alive
Now isn't that eerie. O! For the days when a munitions dump was called a munitions dump and not a central stove.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
It is Saturday and time to look back over the week in Pigeon Falls.
Monday– Jon Bergals family held a big party in honor of Jon’s receiving his Ph.D. in Bovine Management from Michigan State University. His final paper was on sleeping disorders in large cattle herds. His youngest son, always a comedian, said “ Now we can holler ’ Is there a doctor in the house’ and get a yes answer.”
The party went on pass the time when the laundry hanging on the line and blowing in the breeze began to cast strange shadows upon the house.
Tuesday– The Morrison family, the one with the pampered kitty, watched an old English coronation on PBS. They are one of the very few families in Pigeon Falls that watch PBS. Their motto is “ You can change the world”. One of the friends said “ I don’t know about the world but they should at least change those hideous curtains they have in the living room.” But those curtains were a gift they got for contributing to PBS. They would never part with them.
Frank Morrison says they can make fun of him if they want but he used to stammer and then he started eating vegetarian chili and his stammering was cured. So you see you can change the world. His study of cultural anthropology has convinced him that large scale change always begins with just one person often with strong premonitions of the way things could be.
Wednesday– The Way Back Realty Company started its new campaign with the slogan “ Do you own a home? You should! “ Their add which ran in the paper in Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee listed the values of home ownership. It also pointed out you could buy a nice home in Pigeon Falls for half the price of one in the city. The add didn’t mention driblets, dragons, or snow and ice.

Wrap UP

Slep well. Oxygen was a bit better. Today mu whole family was here to celebrate Peter's birthday so I didn't get much time on the computer. My grandkids used it most of the day. I did post the Sunad Bulletin on the St. Mark's website and visit some of the wordzzle sites. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Me, Ford, and EVA

Today's Link
Mirage

Saying for the Day
He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass. ~George Herbert

Picture of the Day
Betty and Friends a long time ago

I saw a video from the Consumer Electronics Show of the new Ford Concept Car. The one with Sync.
It is impressive.
No! Impressive is the wrong word.
It is just plain scary. “Twilight Zone “ scary. “ Knight Rider” scary.
It shows a lady talking to a creepy disembodied head on a little screen on the dashboard.
The head’s name is Eva (Emotive Voice Activation).
Eva is there to serve you. Eva gets to know you and your voice.
So I would get in the car and say “ Hello Eva”
Eva would say “ Hello John. How are you. What can I do for you today?.”
Now that’s creepy. You almost expect some eerie music to play in the background.
Then Eva asks “ Where do you want to go today?”
I respond to my office .
There is a moment of silence then Eva says “I checked the usual route and I 41 is all tied up from a traffic accident. I have an alternate route ready for you.”
Now that’s nice. It saves time . But it is still creepy.
I get to the office and Eva says “remember tomorrow is Betty’s birthday . Don’t forget to order some flowers”.
Hey! I knew that. My living secretary told me that yesterday. Pushy machine.
Sometime later I return to the car. Now I tell Eva I want to visit the Tom Larsons on Eagle Street.
Eva then offers to give me directions as we go along.
Just think I’ll never get lost again.
But Eva does more. On command she checks the oil and fifteen other functions of the car.
She will tell me what speed to drive at to get maximum gas mileage.
Eva is a wonderful , creepy, lady.
There is one other problem . All of this was developed by Microsoft.
That’s the company that made my Vista operating system that crashed four times yesterday.
Having Microsoft in control of my car is really eerie.
I can see myself sitting down in the car and calling for Eva and getting a response.
“I’m sorry John. I’m not working well today. Please shut down the system. I am sending a message to Microsoft. They will find the problem.”
I think I’ll buy a Chevrolet. Perhaps they will use Apple.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
One moment he stood pointing his gun at Oops and the next everything was dark. He hollered out “turn the lights back on or I start shooting and the little girl may get killed.”
A male voice behind him answered “ If I were you I would put down that gun before I have to shoot you.”
“ Where did you come from ?” our crook asked.
“ I live here and I want to know why you broke into my house.” the man said turning on the light.
Everything was wrong. The furniture was wrong. The pictures on the wall were wrong. There was no little girl. Where am I ?” , he asked.
“Well sir your in the house of the chief of police and I want to know how you got in without setting off my burglar alarm.”
“A little town like this has a chief of police?” he gulped.
“ Little town? Where do you think you are. This is Detroit”.
A half hour later our crook was on his way to jail. A routine check of his fingerprints indicated he was wanted for breaking and entering in fifteen states.
Back in Pigeon Falls Oops was still smiling.

Wrap UP

Had a very good night. Slept until 6:00 this morning. Took a bathroom break and then slept until 10:00. The oxygen problems continue. I am dragging the little bottle wherever I go and going through two a day.In the afternoon I went back to the oxygen mask just when my sister called. Her timing is impeccable. I visited some of my links. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Mighty Mouse Returns

Today's Link
Lovin and Livin Life in the Ozarks

Saying for the Day
After all is said and done, a lot more will have been said than done. ~Author Unknown

Picture of the day
Betty's Uncle Kenneth Mallmann

Sometimes events in the real world make you wonder if some cartoon characters aren’t real.
Remember Mighty Mouse. He spent his time saving mice everywhere from the evil cats. ( My apology to cat lovers but I didn't write the script).
Now comes this news item:
A few animals were rescued from an early morning fire at a Humane Society shelter in Oshawa, Ontario, in December, but cats suffered heavy casualties, with nearly 100 perishing. The Fire Marshal's office said the blaze was probably started by a mouse chewing through electrical wires.
It seems to me that Mighty Mouse was there to save the day.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
At nine o’clock last night there was a knock on the parsonage door. The man who stood there looked nice enough. He was well dressed , clean shaven, and he drove a well kept white van. When Pastor Joan answered the door he told her he needed to use a phone because his van had broken down. She, of course, invited him in.
That’s when he pulled the gun. “ I know you and the kid are alone” he said, “ I know your husband is out of town. I want you to fill this bag with money and valuables and if I’m happy with what’s in it I won’t kill you.“
He loved the look of terror that always came on the victims face when he said that. It was half the fun of doing what he did. Someday, he really would kill somebody just to see what it felt like.
Pastor Joan said, “ There isn’t much cash in the house and I don’t believe in wasting money on jewelry. I’m afraid you picked the wrong house.”
“ Don’t give me that. I know you got a big check from Publisher’s Clearing House. There has to be cash here somewhere.” He grunted
“It’s in the bank”, she replied.
He thought “ I guess this is when I find out what it’s like to kill somebody.”
Suddenly Oops said “Oops!” and smiled.

Wrap UP

Another really rough breathing day. I may just have to get used to them. I slept very poorly last night. This morning I blogged, had breakfast and went back to bed. In the afternoon they brought a new oxygen concentrator as the old one was making some odd noise.I visited some of my links. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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I am Impressed

Today's Link
Mary's Writing Nook

Saying for the day
It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare. ~Mark Twain

Picture of the Day
Betty and friends Long Ago

Obama has been President for over a week and I am impressed.
I no longer think that he is a pole turtle.
In fact I am beginning to believe he will make a good President, maybe even one of the four or five great ones.
The first thing he did impressed me.
He closed the detention camp at Guantanamo . Or at least set a time table for its closing.
He also ordered that similar camps set up in foreign countries by the CIA be closed.
There is to be no more torture. No more secret prisoners.
He did this to bring our actions in line with our values.
He did it because it was the morally right thing to do.
When I was a kid . We were told the Germans and the Japanese tortured but we would never do a thing like that.
I believed that to be true.
We were , after all, a moral nation based on law and justice.
Fear lead us to ignore our values.
But if an enemy forces you to change your basic beliefs the enemy wins.
Obama says we will live up to our values.
He said this at some risk to his administration.
When the next terrorist attack comes in this country and it will.
He will be blamed. This decision will be blamed.
It would have come without the decision but people need to blame somebody. They will blame him.
He knew that but acted anyway.
When one of those released joins in an attack on us in some foreign country he will be blamed.
Those we tortured and released have no love for us. But that’s not his fault.
But he will be blamed for their action.
He knew that but he acted anyway. He could have held off making the decision.
He could have argued that the economy was the prime problem right now.
But he didn’t.
He faced up to the task at hand and he did what had to be done.
I am impressed.
I am really impressed.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Pastor Joan went out visiting yesterday. She was still having a hard time believing she won that ten thousand dollars from Publisher’s Clearing House. It just seems like a miracle.
Back at the parsonage Oops and Herman were building bridges out of Lego blocks. They were in the middle of a huge bridge when Oops sneezed. Right at that moment flowers began to fall from the ceiling. All kinds of flowers, big ones, little ones, red ones, blue ones, and all shaped like roses. By the time they stopped drifting down there was about a foot and one half of flowers on the floor. All the little bridges were covered.
Then Oops sneezed again and the flowers turned into grasshoppers. Now they had a whole room full of chirping grasshoppers. That’s when Oops said oops and a large pigeon appeared and ate the grasshoppers, every last one of them.
When it finished Herman opened the door and it flew away. Then he and Oops went back to building the bridge as if nothing had happened.

Wrap UP

Didn't sleep at all well last night. My oxygen was down this morning. It was a rough breathing day. After I blogged in the morning and had breakfast I took a nap which really didn't help much. Betty went to therapy. I spent most of the afternoon putting up the new monthly calendar and newsletter on the church website. I visited some of my links. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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I am ashamed

Link of the Day
Dee's Updates

Saying for the Day
I just wish my mouth had a backspace key. ~Author Unknown

Picture of the Day
Today is Maggies Birthday

There are times when groups that call themselves Christian do or say things that make me ,as one who claims to follow Christ, want to crawl into a hole and hide. Their actions give ammunition to all those people out there who think all Christians are alike. It lets them say things like “ You people. Think you are so much better than the rest of us but look at what you did.” It is horrible because usually there is no way to defend whatever it was the individual or group did. We just have to suffer with it and from it.
Last week I read about one of those groups on Russel’s blog ( A blog well worth visiting by the way). He told of a girls basketball game between The Covenant School of Dallas and the Dallas Academy. The final score of that game was 100 to 0. That’s right 100 to 0. Wow!
The Covenant school ( A Christian Academy) won over the Dallas Academy which is just a private school.
In the last quarter, already ahead 88 to 0 the coach had his team run a full court press. The local student crowd cheered for Covenant to make 100. What a marvelous time for the Academy.
There are a few other things you need to know.
1.The girls from the Dallas Academy haven’t won a game in four years.
2. Dallas Academy offers a structured multisensory program for students with diagnosed learning differences in grades 3-12.
3. Dallas Academy only has 20 girls in the high school program. Only eight play basketball.
On this team a Christian Academy choose to run up the score.
I am ashamed.
One would expect a Christian Academy to teach the Christian values of kindness, mercy, and compassion. There was none of that shown in this game.
Instead they demonstrated the secular values of win at all costs and humiliate your opponent if possible.
I am ashamed.
I looked up the website of the Covenant academy . I read with care its statement of beliefs. Nowhere does it say that it believes in the traditional Christian values of mercy, kindness, or compassion. No where does it say it tries to instill these in its students.
Why am I not surprised?
But without them we are left with a heartless , Christless Christianity.
They demonstrated that very well.
They also demonstrated they understood the value of good PR and apologized to the Dallas Academy and offered to forfeit the game . The apology came ten days after the game and after CNN picked up and made an issue of the score.
I am so ashamed.
If you want to see how Christians should act you need to look to the Dallas Academy.
It has no Christian belief statement.
But its students acted like Christians should.
1. They played until the end of the game. They didn’t quit because of the score. The fact that they played the best they could is evidenced by the fact that Covenant Academy needed a full court press to reach 100.
2. They didn’t become angry.
3. They refused to be humiliated by the loss. They choose not to feel bad.
4. When interviewed by CNN they choose to accent the positive. They learned from the game. They worked together as a team.
In them I rejoice. Somebody has to say to the win crazy world there are other important values that are being lost.
I would nominate them as my team of the year.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Yesterday Herman had arrived and Pastor Joan was ready to go to the office when the doorbell rang. In truth it can no longer really be called a doorbell. Since Oops came it just hasn’t been the same. Once it sounded like a canon going off. Once like a marching band. Yesterday it sounded like trumpets playing some kind of victory song.
Pastor Joan opened the door and there were three people and a cameraman. Two of them held up this great big check and one held a bouquet of flowers. It seems Pastor Joan had won a regional Publisher’s clearing House Award of ten thousand dollars. WLUC out of Marquette was there to record the event.
Pastor Joan started to cry. She wouldn’t have to worry about finances for the rest of this year. Last Lutheran could use the thousand two hundred she would give the Church. She always gave a tithe plus. The bad economy had cut into the offerings a little.
She thanked Publisher’s Clearing House profusely. It was only after they left that she realized that she couldn’t remember sending in an entry. She usually threw them directly into the garbage. She must have slipped up and entered once. But she just couldn’t remember.

Wrap UP

My oxygen was up a little more today. The temperature got up to twelve degrees.I spent a lot of the day visiting links and visited all of those on my list. It took a long time as some had very long entries. My sister Dawn called and we talked dogs and grand kids. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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A bit more of me

Today's Link
Playing Down River

Saying for the Day
The first thing in the human personality that dissolves in alcohol is dignity. ~Author Unknown

Picture of the Day
Old Episcopal Choir Picture from Escanaba
Betty's Mother is first one in second row back.

It is time for me to share a bit of me with you. Usually I have a meme or something like that to work with. Last week I was interviewed. But today I want to tell you one fact about me and why it is so.
I don’t drink alcoholic drinks of any kind. Not beer, not wine, not whiskey , not any alcoholic drink. I never have.
Now I suppose you think this grows out of my religion but you would be wrong.
I made the decision never to drink when I was still an atheist.
My family had a plethora of problem drinkers to teach me.
I learned that when you were drunk you did stupid things.
I learned that when you were drunk you looked stupid.
I learned you had to pay money to do stupid things and look stupid.
One of my teachers was Tom. He was a boarder at my grandmother’s house. As a young man he got falling down drunk and fell across a railroad track. A train came and cut off one leg. But once he had a wooden leg he went back to drinking.
Another teacher was Fred who was also a boarder . He came into the family Christmas celebration , dead drunk, and knocked over the Christmas tree.
Lesson by lesson they taught me all about drinking.
I had uncles, a grandfather, and a father all of whom had trouble handling what they drank.
I had no desire to be like that. So I just decided never to start.
My classmates in high school had no such qualms. Some of them got drunk as often as possible.
We buried one of the popular ones five days before graduation. He had been drinking and he drove into a bridge.
I discovered in the UP young people did not look forward to “ social drinking” they looked forward to getting falling down drunk. That was fun. That took away your troubles. That I wanted to avoid.
As a Pastor I saw the damage excessive drinking did. I held the hand of a lady whose son was killed by a drunk driver. I counseled people whose lives were being pulled apart by drinking. I went with the sheriff to try and talk a drunk, who was shooting at people. into putting his gun down. By the time we got there he shot himself. I listened to the crying of the parents of a young man who died in a snowmobile accident that had excessive drinking as a cause. I visited young people in jail for vandalism who would never have done what they did if they were sober. I became a fifth step counselor in the 12 step program. I listened to all the terrible things people had done while drunk.
I experienced the intolerance that heavy drinkers have for people who don’t drink. I remember being at a bar waiting to go into a wedding reception when a fellow well on his way to being drunk and noticing I didn’t have a glass said “ What’s the matter Rev. drinken against your religion”.
To which I responded “ No! It’s against my intelligence”.
AS a Pastor I never condemned drinking as such. I knew people who had wine or beer with their meals and never drank to excess. I knew the history of prohibition and how it failed.
I saw my task as being a designated driver in life. To be there to pick up the pieces , to counsel, to cry , to help where I could. To set a different example of how to live a joyful life.
It’s possible I told you all this before. That’s how it is with us old people. We keep telling the same things over and over.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
It is Monday morning and Pigeon Falls is quiet.
Petrovich posted his demon Driblet to his website yesterday. He still doesn’t have the end for it. But it certainly doesn’t bode well for the town.
Pastor Joan is taking the day off and spending it with Oops. She feels bad that her finances are keeping her from getting Oops the kind of clothes she deserves. In the last few days she has learned a lot about Oops.
1. She loves Lego's
2. Despite not being able to talk she plays a wicked game of Scrabble . So she knows the words.
3. She and Herman have some kind of special bond.
4. She seems to have a lot of power.
5. Somehow she influenced the social worker.
6. She always seems to know when the dragons are flying over. She goes to the window to watch them.
7. She seems to be waiting for something or someone.
8. She loves chocolate bars and ice cream.
9. Sometimes when she says Oops she becomes invisible but you can still see her clothes. That’s eerie.
10 . Sometimes she is surrounded by a bright blue light.
Pastor Joan is certain she is not your ordinary child.

Wrap UP

Still another rough breathing day. I carried my little oxygen bottle around most of the day. Loaded this week's bible study to the St. Mark's website. Ran six copies for Betty to take to Bible study tomorrow. My sister called . I called Pastor Steve and told him of the nice comment he got on my blog yesterday. I spent the day catching up on things. I sent out the interview questions. I checked on our automobile insurance. I clerared up a lot of loose ends. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Today's Link
Faith, Fiction, Fun, and Fanciful

Saying for the Day
Many great ideas have been lost because the people who had them could not stand being laughed at. ~Author Unknown

Picture of the Day
Sign at back of little Methodist Church
We visited in England long ago

In the liturgical churches the season of the Epiphany continues. This is the third Sunday after the Epiphany and the Gospel text is Mark 1:14-20.
Since Epiphany is about the light of God, Jesus penetrating this world one might wonder why this text. Why not Jesus walking on the water, or changing water into wine, or healing somebody, or even stilling a storm. Isn’t it in the miracles we see who Jesus is.
Today’s text is about four men who decided to follow Jesus and it is a miracle text though it may not seem like one at first glance.
These four men , without hesitation, gave up their occupation and their family and followed Jesus. They gave up who they were to become something new.
Then as now one was defined by one’s occupation. You were Matthew the tax collector or Peter the fisherman , or Joe the carpenter. It was not just how you made a living it was who you were.
In addition you were part of a family that depended on you. There was no social security . The young took care of the old.
But along comes Jesus and four men drop their identities and their families and follow him. Two of them leave their father sitting in the boat mending nets . They put family behind them.
This is a miracle in its own right.
I understand it because I lived it. When I saw Jesus and heard him call me through the old Pastor. I put aside my parent’s dreams for me to become a medical Doctor. I put aside my dreams to become a college Professor and I followed Him. He called . I followed.
My parents were not happy. Pastor was the very bottom of the list of occupations they wanted for me. My mother said she never raised me to be a professional beggar. I loved my parents but Jesus called. I had seen the light. I had no choice.
Yes! I understand today’s text. Jesus calls. Lives change.
Jesus called. My life changed , forever.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
It’s Sunday and Pastor Jon has made the usual arrangements for Oops. Nancy stays with her for the first service and then Herman is there for the second service. It works out well for everybody.
Because of the latest Driblet Pastor Joan has added a petition to the prayer of the church calling on God to protect us from all demons , personal or otherwise.
As she looks over the text of the calling of the disciples she sees Herman. He went from town drunk to town seer and then to follower of Jesus. She wishes she could use him as an example but it is his story and sometime she will have to give him the opportunity to share it with the congregation. Today she will just say that she has seen people respond to Jesus and their lives turned upside down.
Over at the Parsonage Herman and Oops will build a whole living room floor full of churches. There will be big ones and little ones and no two alike. It is amazing what Herman and Oops can do with Lego blocks.
After he finishes acolyting at the ten o’clock service Tommy UK will head out to the Lake of the Loons to check on the whale. He checked on Friday and there was still a good size hole in the middle of the lake.
Tommy TW’s second book is selling well and he has started on his third. The temporary title is “Death by Snowmobile”.

Wrap UP

My oxygen level was up a bit but not enough. I went through a full small tank at church this morning. The Church service was great. The choir sang a really moving number. Pastor Steve preached a great sermon and we had a hymn sing. You couldn't ask for much more. The fellowship after was also good. The sun was shining outside which meant it was even colder than usual. When I came home I spent all afternoon working on the St. Mark website. I am now including a video of the sermon from the Sunday. I visited some of my links but now I really need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Raven's Challenge 47

Today's Link
jrbk9 News

Saying for the Day
I must do something" always solves more problems than "Something must be done." ~Author Unknown

Picture of the Day
Ruins of Old English Monastery

It is Saturday and time to play with words supplied by Raven's Wordzzle

10 Word Challenge: air tight seal, bitter cold, draft card, diner, paragon of virtue, broken computer monitor, CPR, a love of folk music, scatter-brained, can of worms ,
mini challenge: California here I come, Springtime in Alberta, panorama, etchings, miracle foot repair,

The Mega Challenge in Terms of the
Ongoing Adventures of Agent 012

Poor Agent 012 spent the evening kicking himself for having helped a couple of old crooks make off with a million dollar artifact. How had he become so scatter-brained? It seemed like only yesterday that he was singing “ California here I Come” on his way to California. There he graduated top of his class, He was the youngest Agent ever to get the 012 title.
But now he sat in his hotel room with a broken computer monitor that he had accidentally dropped on the floor. If it had been a person he could have given it CPR. He was good at CPR. He was good at lots of things.
In fact he was a paragon of virtue.
He never burned a draft card.
He never invited a woman up to see his etchings.
He had never charged the Agency for meals at the local diner.
He had done a miracle foot repair on a partner who was accidentally shot in the foot.
Despite all of that here he was in the bitter cold of England having helped the crooks. In the great panorama of history he was turning out to be a smudge.
Now he was hungry so he broke the air tight seal on the can in the refrigerator. He wanted to just eat alone. Pouring out the contents of the can he discovered it was a can of worms, a can of real worms. Now who in the world cans worms? He wondered. Then he read the fine print “ Only to be used for fishing”. He had taken the wrong can. Could he do nothing right?
He threw the worms into the garbage and put his favorite CD “Springtime in Alberta” on to play. He had a love of folk music and it always relaxed him.
He would get through this.
He would see a better day.

The Ten Word Challenge

Beverly, the cashier at the Can of Worms Diner held in her hand a relic of another age. It was a genuine draft card in a plastic container with an air tight seal. It had belonged to her scatter-brained uncle that paragon of virtue who had fled to the bitter cold of Canada rather than go to Viet Nam. The entire family knew his story. How he had given CPR to the Canadian Prime Minister and become a national hero in Canada. Those with a love of folk music knew there was even a song written about the event. He had returned to the U.S. on a Canadian passport and given the family his plastic encased draft card to remember him by. He was the family hero.
But now Beverly was considering selling it on E-Bay. She needed the money. She had a broken computer monitor that she just had to replace. Family history was one thing but separation from the internet was another. Which in the long run was clearly more important?
Why the internet , of course.

All Fifteen Words in One Sentence

Scatter -Brained CPR Jennings had a love of folk music that drove him to add California Here I come and Springtime in Alaska to the time capsule with the air tight seal where he had already put a bottle of miracle foot repair, a draft card, a picture of the Can of Worms Diner, a broken computer monitor, a panorama of etchings, and a statue of that paragon of virtue George Bush all on a bitter cold January day.

THe Mini Challenge

Before she arrived George had to get everything ready. He had narrowed the background music to either “ California Here I Come” or “ Springtime in Alberta”. She was from Canada but lived in California so either one would do. He had laid out several pictures showing panoramas of neighborhood areas. This time he was pretending to be a real estate salesman instead of the inventor of the miracle foot repair system. It worked so much better than inviting them up to see his etchings. Everything was ready. He could hardly wait.
She would be his tenth victim. He loved that look of terror they all got just before he shot them. It would be wonderful. The last thing she would hear is " Somebody has to be number 10".
The doorbell rang . She was there at last . Like all the others he had met her in the Way Back Diner up on Church Street. He had spent three days getting ready to invite her to his place. He had laughed with her, coffeed with her, and now he would kill her.
He opened the door and welcomed her in.
Closing the door he flipped the lock. She was never getting out. The place was sound proof nobody would hear her scream.
She reached in her purse and pulled out a gun.
“I’m sorry George “ she said “ You’re a nice guy but somebody has to be number ten.
If you beg and plead I might not kill you. This is the part I love best. Down on your knees.”
The last thing George will ever remember, the very last thing," is somebody has to be number ten."

This week’s vanity wordzzle: Culture, sheep, skin, mentally, box, desert, several people, church.

Vanity Wordzzle

The old church ,now half submerged in the desert sand was an indication that once this area had a thriving culture all its own. They were not nomads driving sheep and camels. No these people had put down roots. But now all that was left was the old church and this box.
I was one of the several people who looked for the box. My skin was burned almost black from the sun, that unrelenting burning sun. But now I held the prize. Mentally I congratulated myself.
I could prove that at one time aliens from another solar system visited the earth. The proof was in the box. Did I dare to open it.
It was a good script . It would make a good movie. I just had to sell it to a studio.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
It’s Saturday and time to look back on the week in Pigeon Falls.
Monday-Despite the unbelievable bitter cold weather the entire Tommy Club showed up at Last Lutheran in the evening for training in CPR. Tommy FK (Farmer’s Kid) said it would be scatter-brained not to take the training because you can never tell when it will be needed.
Tuesday– Elva Moris was forced by a broken computer monitor to watch broadcast television. She was not happy with what she saw. She didn’t have cable so every channel available to her ran nothing but inauguration stuff all day. One paragon of virtue after another told how wonderful everything was. That was okay for a couple of hours but all day?
Wednesday– Bob Maki accused Petrovich of causing the troubles in Pigeon Falls. “He reads the durn driblet which is like opening a can of worms. Is it any surprise the worms come out?”
Thursday– It was so cold that if people still had draft cards they would have burned them not to protest anything but just to stay warm. Nancy had an air tight seal put around the windows at her diner and it was still cold in there.
Friday-Citing her love of folk music Mrs. Petrovich and their twins went to Green Bay for a concert.People are saying she really went because Petrovich believes the demon is coming and wanted to be sure the twins were safe.

Wrap UP

Had a bad night last night. The oxygen was down today. I am beginning to get cabin fever. I spent the day reading and watching television. I visited people listed as having done Raven's challenge. My sister Dawn called. Now I really need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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SOS

Today's Link
Joyful Reflections

Saying for the Day
Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say. ~Sharon O'Brien

Picture of the Day
(My Cornish Great Aunt. She hated the electric stove
because unlike the wood stove it burned stuff)

This is your weekly report on the activity of the S.O.S ( Save Oz Society)

We have held two meetings since the last report.
Nine people have pledged never to buy any books by the “Wicked” writer.
A membership card has been designed and is being printed.
We are still working on bumper stickers.

Further it was decided, in the light of Quilly’s remarks that the million person march on Washington might be counter productive and cause people to purchase “ Wicked” , that we would put the march on hold until a further time and after further study. ( Besides we were short a few on the million people goal-999,991 to be exact.)

For the same reason we are putting the book burning on hold as emotionally satisfying as burning “Wicked” books would be. ( Besides those blamed books are expensive and there ain’t much in our treasury)

We are continuing to gather signatures on a petition to Congress to make all the Frank Baum Oz Books a national treasure. Thus getting more people to be aware of them. Congress should listen because it costs them nothing.( Though the Society could use a grant)

We are also continuing in our effort to get “ Somewhere over the Rainbow” declared a National Song. We are suggesting schools that do not have songs from the Wizard of Oz movie in their music curriculum be denied any federal aid.

We are almost ready to begin our one tell one E-mail campaign . Will give you further information next week.

Other projects are also being studied.

We continue to solicit your support.

Remember if the good do nothing “Wicked” writers triumph.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
People having coffee at Nancy’s that have read Petrovich’s most recent translation of a driblet are scared. They have absolutely no desire to confront a demon from Hades. This time , unlike the others there seems to be no way out. The demon is coming and it can’t be stopped. It will burn the town down.
Nancy reminds them that they have been through much and it always turns out well. The came through the attack of the Killer trees and the great Shadow. Those were scary but the town survived.
But people are sure that a real demon is far worse than anything they have faced. If the driblet is to be believed then there is nothing that can stand against it. This is it. The end. All she wrote. No hope time.
People are trying to get Petrovich to tell them when the demon will come. The best Petrovich can do is point out there will still be snow on the ground when it comes. Of course given this winter in Pigeon Falls that could be July. But he feels it will be soon because the dragons are agitated.
Eino is telling everybody who will listen that there are no demons so they don’t have to worry. Demons are not rational. Sane people don’t believe in them. Poor Eino almost nobody listens to him anymore.
Tommy UK is too busy worrying about the whale to worry about demons. Unless he could get the demon to thaw the lake.
So people who can afford it are making an early trip to Disney World. They hope that in the three weeks that they are gone the demon will come if its coming at all. Others are going to visit relatives in Wisconsin for a week or two.

Wrap UP

My oxygen was down again today. In the morning I put the coming Sunday's bulletin on the website. That took a bit of time. In the afternoon we finally got back to the basement and we did some wiring. Next week we plaster. Peter called and told me about the Linbaugh episode at the Green Bay Middle school. I visited some links. Now I really need a breathing treatment,
GBYA

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Cofffee Halucinations

Today's Link
Country Roads

Saying of the Day
Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon. ~Doug Larson

Picture of the Day
Great Aunt Dora in Cornwall Long Ago

Every day I get in my e-mail something called “ Health News”. I don’t remember ever asking for it or checking a little box that I want it but it comes anyway.
It is full of health related facts and a few adds. I ignore the adds.
But the facts are sometimes interesting.
The other day there was an article on some research being done by an English University. It seems they have discovered that people who drink more than seven cups of coffee a day are prone to hallucinations. They tend to hear and see things that aren’t there.
Voices tell them what to do.
I read that and thought that can’t be right.
I used to drink a lot of coffee and the only hallucinations I ever had was when I was coming out of the coma in the hospital and the coma was not coffee induced. Those hallucinations were caused by CO2 in the bloodstream.
But yesterday I saw something on television that makes me think it might be true.
I saw a bunch of people standing on house roofs hollering about how wonderful their coffee was.
No sane person would do that.
What sane person goes out on a house roof to begin with?
If you want to tell how good your coffee is you use a cell phone.
No they were hearing voices telling them to go and proclaim coffee from the roof top.
The whole dang neighborhood was on coffee.
The next time you see them on the TV and they come on every day stop and think.
Just a few more cups and it could be you up there. If I hadn’t already quit drinking coffee I would certainly quit now.
I can hardly walk on the grass.
No roofs for me.
I don’t care what the voices say.

News from Pigeon Falls
The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Well Petrovich published as much of Driblet 427 as he has. It read as follows.
It was a beautiful Winter day in the City of the Birds.
A bird sang.
The snow looked so white and clean.
Then it came.
From the very pit of Hades.
Shooting fire.
Oozing fire.
A demon ,
A horrible demon.
Snow melted near it.
It started down the main street.
The flying beast tried to stop it.
Fire met fire.
The beast lost.
That which is but is not tried to stop it.
It failed.
Then it spoke in a horrible voice.
Words I should not understand.
But I knew the meaning.
“ I can not be defeated”
“ I will take what is mine”.
“ You have no power to stop me”.
“ No where on Earth is that power.”
But ………
The last part of the Driblet is missing.

Wrap UP

My oxygen level was done this morning. I didn't sleep well last night. So I was rather lethargic all day. I spent most of the day watching reruns of " Burn Notice" as there was a " Burn Notice" marathon today. I visited some of my links. Betty went to therapy in the morning. Now I really need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Picture Story from Two of Us

Today's Link
The wonderful Blog of Oz

Saying for the Day
Do not condemn the judgment of another because it differs from your own. You may both be wrong. ~Dandemis

Picture of the Day
Another Cornish Great Aunt and Uncle Long Ago

A Picture Story from Jeff's Portrait of Words

Please note this is a story with two writers. Betty and I took turns adding lines to the story. The rules prevented us from discussing where we wanted the story to go but this is the final result.

Sandy Shore did not want to go to England,so she grumbled as she threw her wardrobe into the suitcase. But her psychologist had told her that it might get rid of her penguin and she would do anything for that to happen. She badly wanted to go to Washington DC to see Obama become president. Of course, Obama would have enough problems without her sicking the penguin on him and so here she was on the plane.
Landing though she was not sure that seeing the Changing of the Guard would any any way get rid of her penguin, still she went to see the changing of the Guard.
She expected to see the penguin sitting on top of a Guard's head but it didn't happen.Where should she go next,maybe the Tower of London or a family cemetery plot?
Her great Uncle was buried behind a little Anglican Church just two blocks south of the Palace and she had always wanted to visit the plot.
Her visit reminded her that she did have relatives living here and that a visit to them may give her some insight into her problems. So she rang up her second cousin Ruth and her Husband James and asked them to meet her at the Museum next to the old time street display.

The museum had a golden carousel, which when it entertained was carried by horses. It was then that she saw on one of the wooden horses the stupid penguin wearing a cowboy hat.
"aghhhhhhhh,"she growled quietly, this isn't the USA it is England and that is not the proper hat, maybe a bowler.
Then the carousel started to revolve which Sandy knew was not possible because it needed to be pulled by live horses to revolve. Was the unknown power from the penguin?
Just at that moment her cell phone rang it was Ruth asking to meet at the Mock Up of the Church Street Post Office instead of the horse and cab. Sandy quickly left and went to the Church Street Post Office where she saw Ruth and Jim.
They were older than she expected, much older, or at least they looked older. They were pleasant, but they were engaged in mailing a letter to someone, causing them to be a little edgy with each other.
She looked like the kind of little old lady that had one or two of those beautiful English flower bushes growing in the back yard. Would these appearing to be sane individuals have any knowledge of super natural penguins? Ruth looked at her and said your the spitting image of great Aunt Rose, the one with the Gypsy Curse.
"The Gypsy Curse?" asked Sandy.
"You know" Ruth said, " She insulted a gypsy Prince and was cursed with a penguin for her life and in the life of one of each following generation."
Sandy opened her mouth to ask a question, but then closed it, reconsidering the question. At least she would have something to consider on the flight home.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
Pastor Joan spent yesterday afternoon in her office at the Church. She had two appointments. Herman was taking care of Oops and who knows what they were building. In between appointments she was going back over the sudden change in the Social Worker. It had to have been something that Oops did but she hadn’t seen anything. She hadn’t waved her hand or said anything except the usual Oops but something changed that Social Worker’s mind. Not that she wasn’t happy. She was but she was also confused.
In addition to wondering about how much power Oops has Pastor Joan was worried about her finances. Oops was draining away what little extra money they had. Both she and her husband were still paying off student loans and were stretched pretty tight to begin with. Now with the down turn in the economy her husband was getting fewer consulting jobs and having to drive farther to get them. She had to pay Herman and Oops was a bottomless pit when it came to food. She also wanted to get Oops some nice clothes that didn’t come from St. Vincent De Paul. God will provide she said to herself over and over.
Petrovich has decided that tomorrow he will publish what he has of the driblet. It will be missing the end but people are entitled to know what is coming. Some may want to leave.

Wrap UP

The temperature got up to twenty today and it didn't snow. In the morning I worked on questions for the three interviews I promised to give. Writing questions is worse than writing stories. In the afternoon we opened up my new bread maker and made a loaf of bread. It was not as good as the last loaf I made in the old one. But , perhaps, it will get better as we learn just how to use it. Then I watched some old NCIS. After that I visited some of my links. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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Agent 012 in England

Today's Link
Tales from Twisty Lane

Saying for the Day
We are too busy mopping the floor to turn off the faucet. ~Author Unknown

Picture of the Day
Another Great Aunt and Uncle in England
Long Ago

A Picture Story from Jeff's Portrait of Words

Yesterday at this time Agent 012 was at home playing Secret Agent on the Wii with his boys who were beating him as usual. But today he is in England across from the Church Street Post Office waiting for an old couple to pick up their mail. The Agency has provided him with a general description and the instructions to pursue and observe. They are believed to be Mute operatives and may lead him to Mute pick up and contact points.
After what seems like an eternity to Agent 012 a couple fitting the description picks up their mail and he begins observing and pursuing. They move on down the street to a flower shop where they purchase a large bouquet of flowers. Agent 012 makes a note on his Information Retrieval System and takes a picture with his ring camera. A bouquet of flowers would be an ideal way to pass secret information. While he watches them he wonders if they are Agents of Mute or perhaps Aliens like the ones he saw in France. He’ll have to look closely at the old man’s eyes.
As the couple moves on Agent 012 follows as silently as possible. They turn into a small cemetery behind a Church. There they put the bouquet on a tombstone. Agent 012 takes another picture and makes another note. This is an ideal way to pass information. He would like to look at the flowers but they are moving on and his job is to pursue and observe.
Now they enter the Royal Museum passing the Royal Guards. Agent 012 wonders if one of the Guards is an Agent or an alien. You can’t be too careful. He takes a picture and makes himself a note. After all the way the Guard stands or his position might indicate where in the museum the Agent is supposed to go. Who would suspect ?
He follows the couple into the main hall of yesterday . Here in front of an old street scene they stop. First one takes a picture of the other with the man and his horse. Then the other stands there and gets her picture taken. They spot Agent 012 and ask him if he would take a picture of the two of them standing next to the cab and horse. He agrees. What else can he do. They thank him over and over saying that he has helped to make the day special. He wonders if they have figured out who he is. But even as that thought goes through his mind he is considering the possibility that the pictures could be used to carry information or show somebody else where information is hidden.
“ Come walk with us a bit, young man” she says to Agent 012. It is nice to have someone to talk with. They move on now to a very old merry-go-round. She puts her hand out to touch it and begins to cry.” It’s still here after all these years “ she says.” I knew it would be “ the old man said, putting his arm around her.
“This is why we came all this way”, she said. “Fifty years ago, right here by the merry-go-round Matthew asked me to marry him. He almost asked over by the horse and cab but he had to work up his nerve.”
“ It’s still the same. Nothing has changed. It’s like we were young again.” Matthew said.” This is the greatest anniversary ever”.
That’s when Agent 012 realized they weren’t Mute agents. They were just an old couple touching their roots. His eyes filled with tears as well. It was so special. He began to think of where he would like to take his wife on their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
There was a little coffee shop near the door of the museum and the three of them had coffee together. While he was talking to the lady Matthew went into the gift shop and came back with a beautifully wrapped package. He put it down on the table. As they were leaving Agent 012 saw that the package was still there and called them back. He handed Matthew the package noting that it was fairly heavy, like a brick.
Matthew thanked him while saying something about how forgetful he was getting.
Agent 012 followed them out on the street and then decided there was no purpose in following them any more. He watched as they hailed a cab and left. He had wasted a day.
Back at his hotel he saw on the television in the lobby that someone had stolen a relic from the Royal Museum. It was the size of a brick and had Latin writing on it. It was worth over a million dollars. Now who would take something like that? And how could you hide a brick?
It definitely wasn’t his day.

News from Pigeon Falls

The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal
At exactly 2:00 in the afternoon the Social Worked showed up at the parsonage. She was not in a very good mood. She looked at the forms Pastor Joan had prepared for her.
“These seem to be in order” she said .” But you know I am going to have to contact Social Services in your sisters city and be sure she is in the hospital. If these are lies both of you could be in big trouble.”
Then she noticed there was no form from the Doctor.
“ I suspect that kid isn’t even autistic. She doesn’t look autistic to me. What kind of game are you playing? Are you part of a Church or a cult?” she fumed.
At this point Oops smiled and said Oops.
The Social worker picked up all the forms and placed them in a folder. Then she turned to Pastor Joan and said “ These forms are perfect.” We won’t need the one from the Doctor. I will recommend that you home be made an official foster care home. We are glad to have people in the community like you willing to care for kids. If I can help in any way just let me know”.
Then after shaking Pastor Joan’s hand she went whistling to the car as happy as could be.
Pastor Joan sat dumbfounded . She couldn’t believe what had happened but she knew that somehow Oops made it happen. What was coming next?

Wrap UP

Please note that tomorrow Betty and I will try to write a story based on the pictures. Each of us will add a line at a time. Who knows where we will end up. Well we spent the morning when we weren't watching the inauguration writing the story for tomorrow. It ended up far different than I conceived it. Betty went to the Post Office in the afternoon. I visited everyone of my links and left a comment on most of them. That was a long process. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

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