Nene is back

Last night the Nuggets routed the Dallas Mavs. But the real story was Nene. He returned after a long bout with a malignant testicular tumor. When he returned to the game last night the Nugs were 14 points ahead with a minute to go in the game and the crowd gave him a standing ovation. It was a sports "moment." It was a special time rarely seen in sports. Unfortunately, the refs couldn't wait to get back to their precious hotel and insisted that the game go on immediately. No time for applause, no time to feel the moment for a man who fought a battle any of us might face, no time for a moment of heroics beyond sports, no time to honor a man who faced death, endured chemo and came back. Nene is a class act who works hard and has a strong faith in God. He's affected everyone around him in a positive way. Too bad the NBA has no judgement.

Bondage and Freedom

I'm about done reading My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass. The whippings over minor offenses and murder for "no good reason" occur with uncomfortable frequency. It's no wonder so many people hated slavery. Douglass was born a slave in Tuckahoe, Maryland in 1818. He became a leading abolitionist and women's rights advocate and one of the most influential public speakers of the nineteenth century. I highly recommend this excellent book.

The poem below he says is, "not a bad summary of the palpable injustice and fraud of slavery, giving as it does, to the lazy and idle, the comforts which God designed should be given solely to the honest laborer."

"We raise de wheat,
Dey gib us de corn;
We bake de bread,
Dey gib us de cruss;
We sif de meal,
Dey gib us de huss;
We peal de meat,
Dey giv us de skin,
And dat's de way
Dey takes us in.
We skim de pot,
Dey gib us the liquor,
And say dat's good enough for nigger.
Walk over! walk over!
Tom butter and de fat;
Poor nigger you can't get over dat;
Walk over!

Douglass also writes, "We were, at times, remarkably buoyant, singing hymns and making joyous exclamations, almost as triumphant in their tone as if we had reached a land of freedom and safety."

"O Canaan, sweet Canaan,
I am bound for the land of Canaan,"
I thought I heard them say,
There were lions in the way,
I don't expect to stay
Much longer here.
Run to Jesus - shun the danger
I don't expect to stay
Much longer here."

The North was their Canaan and had a double meaning. "In the lips of some" he writes, "it meant the expectation of a speedy summons to a world of spirits." To others it meant deliverance from the evils and dangers of slavery to a free state.

Who'll be VEEP?

There's been talk about who would be Vice President if Obama were elected. If that's the case, I really like the idea of it being Hillary. Lyndon Johnson had a very low opinion of the Vice President's position. He once said about Hubert that "All he needs over there, is a gal to answer the phone and a pencil with an eraser on it." If it was Hillary, then she could probably do both jobs and the taxpayers would have one less person on the payroll.

The rooster croakes

I went hunting today and did pretty well. I used a 20 Ga. single shot from when I was a kid. The gun has been with my Dad for quite some time. At any rate, the weather was good and today was the last chance we had of getting out. Nice rooster huh! By the way, we don't shoot them unless they fly. Nancy and I will have a nice meal later this week.

We worked a nice field just West of the bluff North of Byers. Below Scott and Matt watch Callie the magical dog, sniff out those birds.

Here is Callie cooling off in a small water tank. It was pretty hot for her to be running around for 4 hours. Note the solar panels which are used to pump water into the small tank.

Latest baby photo

Here is one of the latest photos of "Andy" and my daughter. He seems like a happy guy. Currently Seth and Noelle are looking around at different graduate schools for a doctoral program for Seth. He's been accepted into two programs and is waiting on the others.

Pagosa

This weekend we met our good friends Ed and Mary Pat in Pagosa. Ed and I are pictured below checking out some fishing areas on the Piedra River. With all the runoff it's pretty much blown out now. Colorado is due some serious runoff this year. The snow pack is huge. But we had a good time at the hot springs and relaxing at Dee's place.

Ola drops by

While we were at the Hanson's Ola dropped off something for Kathy and then stayed for dinner. We talked about his wedding in Montana (just a few days away) and all their plans. He was pretty excited. I gave him our family advice for newlyweds. The girl thinks the guy is going to change and the guy thinks the girl is going to stay the same. Watch out for this, I warned him. He was all smiles and had no fear.

Tlaquepaque

During our trip to Scottsdale we went to Tlaquepaque which is an excessively commercialized, overpriced community of artists. If you want to buy a $35 coffee mug signed by the artist then you should go here. However, the place is first rate to get good photos. Below is a shot of a bell in one of the walls around the shopping area.

Here is a photo of a shop that sells wind chimes and stone chairs. Why anyone would want to buy a stone chair I have no idea. They looked pretty cool, but weren't very comfy.

Pagosa

I took this photo of Nancy behind the condo in Pagosa Springs. On our way back from Phoenix we stopped at Dee's condo to sleep, sit in the hot springs, and relax before grinding our way back to Denver. The snow levels are amazing, not to mention the wind. Our drive back to Denver was successful although I had white knuckles going back through La Veta Pass to avoid the snow storm to the North.

Spring Training

Colorado Rockies!! Today, we went to Peoria (Peoria??). Yes, that's right Peoria, AZ and we watched the Rockies play the Seattle Mariners in a spring training game. We had a great time in the hot Arizona sun. Nancy and I enjoyed every minute. It sure beats 23 degrees and flurries for the weekend. And of course, you know where our loyalties reside.

Craig was a little confused though. He wore the Rockies hat I gave him and an Arizona Diamondback's shirt. He confessed that the Rockies are his second favorite team. Teresa and Genaro were confused too because they actually live closer to the Mariners.

If the Rocks had only won the game, things would've been better. However, the Rockies only had two starters in the game. I got the shot below of Gill hitting a two bagger in the 6th inning.

Thursday

Today, we all drove up to West Fork (near Sedona, AZ) and went for a hike. I couldn't believe how much snow was up in the canyon. We decided not to ford the stream because the water was pretty cold. So, we played in the snow and had a few snow ball fights.

We also enjoyed a picnic together at the entrance to the canyon. I was however, horrified at the $8.00 charge for parking. Sedona has turned into this greedy little town determined to bilk every visitor from the contents of his/her wallet. It's pretty disgusting. Imagine going to the local park in your town and having to pay $8.00 to park your car.

Teresa and Genaro brought us to tears of laughter while sitting on this log by the creek. Genaro just has that way about him.

After our picnic we went to the little "ghost town" of Jerome, AZ. 20 years ago no one lived here. Now the town is inhabited by artists and more artists, and some stores selling art, along with art on the stores. It's a great place to visit and we had a nice dinner there too.

Old friends

Today I met my old friend Norm Langliers after 30+ years of no contact. I remember riding across the Babbitt property with Norm and moving cattle from one range to another. I remember sitting at a high school football game with Norm at Coconino High, and I remember our College days together like they were yesterday. Kathy Hanson and I called him on a whim Wednesday morning. He just happened to be in Phoenix and agreed to come over for dinner. Norm is a great story teller and reminded us of many long forgotten events. He should write a book. Next time he should bring Robin though.

America and war

Bob Dole reminds us in his book Great Political Wit of some of the attitudes Americans have had about war. In January 1966, Republican senator George Aiken of Vermont, discussing the war in Vietnam, said, "I'm not very keen for doves or hawks. I think we need more owls." I couldn't agree more George.

Huey Long never fought in Europe and he gave a very "American" response to war. "I did not go," he said, "because I was not mad at anyone over there." In my mind it was Will Rogers who became the seer and sage of future wars we could be involved in. In fact, he was downright clairvoyant. Regarding future wars he said, "If you want to know when a war might be coming," he said, "you just watch the United States and see when it starts cutting down on its defenses. It's the surest barometer in the world."

He who is greatest among you shall be your servant...

The nature of servant leadership is revealed nicely in these words from Philip Brewer. These are called the Paradoxes of a Man of God.

Strong enough to be weak;
Successful enough to fail;
Busy enough to take time;
Wise enough to say, "I don't know";
Serious enough to laugh;
Rich enough to be poor;
Right enough to say, "I'm wrong";
Compassionate enough to discipline;
Conservative enough to give freely;
Mature enough to be childlike;
Righteous enough to be a sinner;
Important enough to be last;
Courageous enough to fear God;
Planned enough to be spontaneous;
Controlled enough to be flexible;
Free enough to endure captivity;
Knowledgeable enough to ask questions;
Loving enough to be angry;
Great enough to be anonymous;
Responsible enough to play;
Assured enough to be rejected;
Stable enough to cry;
Victorious enough to lose;
Industrious enough to relax;
Leading enough to serve.

What am I? A liberal or conservative?

I can't believe it. One of Tyler's friends thinks I'm very conservative. Just the other day he asked me how I ended up with a liberal son. I suppose he read my Hillbilly post on Feb. 19. Here's the odd thing. At work today in a meeting with franchise owners, I was accused of being a liberal! Maybe I'm just anti-politics and anti-politicians, I don't know. I like what Will Rogers said, "The more you read and observe about this politics thing, you've got to admit that each party is worse than the other."

I find it interesting that politicians are quite low on the public "esteem" poll. They're one step below lawyers I think. I met Bob Dole about 7 years ago in Connecticut. Here was a rare, humble politician who made fun of himself. Guess that's why he never got to be President. He told a story about Herbert Hoover who was asked by a child for not one but three autographs. Hoover asked him why, and he was informed crisply that "it takes two of yours to get one of Babe Ruth's." For those of you who are wondering, I have far more sports autographs than I do of politicians. And no, I won't trade my Joe Frazier, Brooks Robinson, or Michael Singletary autographs for any politician.

Suns go down in Denver

Notice the ref shrugging? Sorry, but you fouled Melo dude. When you complain about a foul it only bolsters the other team and reveals your weaknesses. Dean Smith always said not to reveal your emotions for this very reason. Also, I'm not really sure how much Shaq is helping the Suns, especially in a game with the Nuggets which is nothing short of a track meet.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful

Another storm came in last night clogging the streets in Denver. We just dug out from Sunday's storm and now this mess early Wednesday morning. Last night we went to bed and it was getting a little cold. I thought, "It's not going to snow." Early this morning I shoveled it so Nancy could get out. I'm estimating 6 inches at 5:30a this morning.

Do you realize how long it takes to get these planes de-iced? Long enough to miss your connection, that's how long. Do I sound like I'm complaining? Naw, it's great!

Intellectual Resources

I am often perplexed at the things people do. Some examples of this are, slowly driving home the other day from the mountains on slick, icy roads and the guy behind me is so close I can't see his headlights. Or, someone at work makes a senseless decision that costs $150,000. And there are countless other examples I've seen of people lacking intelligence.

James Boswell recounted Samuel Johnson's words, "few people have intellectual resources sufficient to forego the pleasures of wine. They could not otherwise contrive how to fill the interval between dinner and supper."

Bad Weather

This morning Nancy and I "attempted" to go to Evergreen again and hear Phillip Yancey for his fifth and final message at LOMCC. The traffic on I-70 was horrendous due to the snow storm, even at 8:00a on Sunday. A number of large semi's had stopped to chain up right in the middle lane of I-70 between C-470 and Morrison exit. It caused numerous accidents and left the entire Interstate a parking lot, what a mess! As we passed one of them (after 40 minutes of stop and go driving) he had his chains on but his wheels were just spinning and he was going nowhere. We got to the Morrison exit, turned around, and went out to breakfast. It took about 45 minutes to go a little over 1 mile.

Book recommendation

I've been reading Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer. This is a very eye opening book, not to mention interesting. I grew up in Flagstaff, AZ and many of my friends and schoolmates were Mormon. I don't know of any who were Fundamentalist Mormon and practiced polygamy, but they were shrouded in a little bit of mystery. I recommend to book to anyone.