Father Time Continues To Touch Us

Once again I knock out another Lee County Shrine Club monthly newsletter. I got it done and printed on schedule in spite of the holidays. Holidays always bring to mind people we knew, respected, cared about and loved that are now gone but certainly not forgotten. These people from the past inspired this article.

My wife and I had a nice Christmas with family. I guess my personal most pleasurable part of Christmas was being able to spend time with my wife. She is a perfect match for my insanity and we spend a lot of time laughing about a variable range of issues. I know what it is like to be married to a person that you dread being around. Christy doesn't create drama or argument, she creates fun and I really appreciate her for being her.

I hope you enjoy this article and thank you for reading my blog.

Father Time Continues To Touch Us

Once again the phone rang, once again I hear about another close friend and Brother Mason facing death. “It doesn’t look good” was the message. Here is another man who is not just a ritualistic scholar but someone who went deep into the study, history and purposes of the craft. Here is a man that truly made a difference in Freemasonry, someone worthy of our respect. Luckily he recovered this incident, but remains a very sick man.

One of my first experiences in Freemasonry was the funeral of a man who was very special to the lodge. He taught all the candidates their lectures and I remember being told he had just received the “Shriner of the Year” award; I wasn’t even a Shriner yet. Since that time I have known several good men that brought honor, respect and truth to our fraternity; something that is more rare than common in Mississippi Freemasonry, especially now. We all have our own experiences within our craft and have our own personal friendships among brothers. We should never forget these men and how these good brothers, now residing on a higher plane, improved the lodge, influenced young men to future greatness and we sure could use with us again.

Every year when the Academy Award or the Emmys come on TV they always do a special memorial segment featured celebrities that passed away the previous year. We do mention our lost brothers in our meetings, but maybe we need a special annual reminder of who we lost to death and take in account and reflect on their importance to our craft. It’s more than the ritual, the politics, or the years of membership; but rather whose death greatly affected our lodges and affiliated Masonic bodies. Some members are difficult to keep up with due to inactivity on the part of the member. Every brother is important to the craft. Every brother deserves our remembrance; even the non-participating ones.

Often I question the wisdom of our Masonic actions. Our membership continues to fall in spite of all the changes made to eligibility and qualifications of candidates. Have these changes truly improved our fraternity? Are we seeking men or is there men seeking us? Do our lodges offer enrichment and enlightenment to the membership? When is the last time your lodge discussed the meaning and intent of a symbol or a phrase?

Sometimes I feel like I am beating a dead horse when I write about the Masonic Lodge; harmony, fraternity, brotherhood, and participation. I start looking for a paragraph in a book and quoting a famous Masonic author and historian to include. How many times have our tenets and teachings been quoted in lodge and yet someone still isn’t happy. Often I have said that the most fallible thing about a Freemason is that they are human. Forget a hundred years ago, Masonry had changed significantly in the last twenty years. I know the Internet is now a factor in modern Freemasonry, especially in the information sharing area, but I believe the major factor affecting our lodges now is the loss of the men we had as leaders and teachers. Have we learned the lessons they attempted to teach us? I see men striving to take their place and seek the same respect without first employing the effort. Masonic leadership is a service, not a position of power; this much I have learned.

I no longer care about degrees, pomp and circumstance, honors, accolades or titles. I now seek peace, harmony, quiet reflection and the enlightenment from being open minded. Experience is our best teacher and mistakes are usually made from people rushing forward without the experience needed to maintain the required harmony. I get a lot of enjoyment from a simple stated meeting with no drama, full of fellowship and even a sliver of laughter from pre-lodge discussions. It does me a lot of good to drive up to that Shriners Hospital with a patient. Actually seeing the good work of our hospitals and being able to visit with Nobles from all over. These are dedicated men also volunteering their time helping children and many of them who have made hundreds of trips to that hospital. If you want to truly understand what being a Shriner is about, go visit a hospital; sit in the lobby and watch.

The men I have known who were trained fighters and professional soldiers didn’t feel the need to prove their abilities. They could break you in half in seconds. I witnessed such a friend approached by a young person who claimed he was going to show this guy a martial artist move. In a blink of the eye he was flat of his back on the floor immobilized with my buddy standing over him. This “big scary guy” asked him, “Was that what you wanted to teach me?” I have noticed the same quiet lack of ego among some of our finest Masonic leaders of the past. They didn’t need to prove themselves and they encouraged young men to jump in the chairs. These men taught without criticism and preferred to remain uninvolved with the politics of men. These men of the past whom Father Time has chosen to take from us were our guide and map for the future.

We have mentioned resolutions in the past. You don’t need to publicly resolve to reflect and ponder on those in the past who were the example of Masonic principles. Quiet personal reflection works. We can all take the time to remember those we truly miss among our numbers. Just before I go to print this I see in the local obituaries another Mississippi Masonic icon has died. The scythe of time continues without hesitation and we have another brother gone who will be missed.

Have a happy new year and think about how you can take the past into a positive future for you, your family and your Masonic Brotherhood. May the Great Architect of the Universe bless you and keep you safe.

Hummus & French Grapefruit

You would think I would have much more to say and certainly post more on this blog. I am sure I do but sometimes I don’t say what I am thinking. Sometimes I am unable to put on in words the thoughts which occupy my mind at the moment. For example; the first two sentences of this paragraph was written a week ago. The second sentence had an error in it that I just now corrected. I do love a word processor with spell-check.

Tonight was a simple night. My wife, who works in retail, got off work about two hours later than normal. Then we went out to eat. This is a rough time of year for retail personnel. Seems like we, as a couple experience the same emotions every year during the holidays. The holidays are vastly different than I remember as a kid. Then for years the combination of two bad marriages and being single back and forth, the holidays were just a time of years that came and went. I was thinking tonight while we were driving from the restaurant how much better the holidays are with this wife and this marriage. I didn’t want to say anything because I felt like I was beating a dead horse with the subject. This wife is so much better, so much easier to live with, much more understanding and I feel like I can be myself now. I am truly thankful and my Mother is right, she is a blessing.

Conflict is so prevalent now in everything, I get to the point I just don’t want to be involved in anything. The question is; how can you spend so much time on the Internet? My answer, it doesn’t piss me off. No conflict is involved in my time on-line. Millions of people are now on Facebook. I have reconnected with people from the past that I honestly want to be reconnected to now. Every Facebook friend accepted me and I accepted them. The best part is these Facebook friends do not create conflict in my life. I feel we are going to see more and more “groups” and “clubs” reduce in activity partially because of the changes in attitude in people and part due to the Internet. Why drive somewhere for a meeting to hear the same old stuff when you can stay at home and surf the globe. With social networking sites the group dynamic is met without interference in any schedule.

Businesses, news agencies, politicians, and charities already see the light and jumping on the web. With sites like Twitter and Facebook one can reach a bigger audience easier. I get Twitter updates from three news sources, five popular chefs, two Shriners sources and my daughter. It comes in real handy to keep up with things. The Internet has become a utility in life, like electricity, running water, natural gas, cable television and the telephone. I own and have owned several various reference books. It wasn’t necessarily the knowing the answer that was important but rather how to find the answer. I still like having reference material at hand. How many times have you thought or said “I can look it up on-line.” For example; my wife and I were discussing hummus in the grocery store tonight. She asked if it would be cheaper to make our own. Our curiosity increased after we saw that the jar of tahini cost over ten dollars. Naturally I said I would look up the recipe on-line. Poof! In fifteen seconds and by only typing “humm” in Google I hit this recipe. Another quick, click, drag, copy and paste, here it is ready to share. Gosh it might have taken a whole five minutes to look up a recipe in one of my cookbooks. Thirty years ago, I wouldn’t have known what hummus was much less found a recipe.

Hummus

Ingredients:
•1 16 oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans
•1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas
•3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
•1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
•2 cloves garlic, crushed
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:
Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid from can. Combine remaining ingredients in blender or food processor. Add 1/4 cup of liquid from chickpeas. Blend for 3-5 minutes on low until thoroughly mixed and smooth.
Place in serving bowl, and create a shallow well in the center of the hummus.
Add a small amount (1-2 tablespoons) of olive oil in the well. Garnish with parsley (optional).
Serve immediately with fresh, warm or toasted pita bread, or cover and refrigerate.

The Internet has changed our lives. It also occupies several hours of our time. It is constantly changing and constantly growing as well as the daily changes in what we see and use the Internet for.

I started this blog post over a week ago and just now continuing…….

My addiction to the Internet grows because it holds no conflict for me. (Yes I know I said that earlier which was a week ago) I can occupy my mind without strife and woe. It seems like I get involved with one section of the web and stick to that until I basically wear it out; I stayed on www.Bladeforums.com constantly for a long time. The knife websites held my interest and I still cruse through then now. Now it seems like Facebook is the number log on site for me. I can stay connected with multiple friends from multiple facets of my life.

Since I got my iPhone I have discovered podcasts and even found more on YouTube to watch. We have reached the “On Demand” generation and are able to listen to what we want to hear at the time we want to hear it. This changes the marketing aspect of the music industry greatly. Plus it cuts into the radio advertising area. Television is also moving in that direction. I was watching a special on PBS about the Ed Sullivan show and was reminded of a time way before VCR or DVR recordings. We used to have to wait for a show to come on and if we missed it, we missed it. Summer reruns used to be a singular rerun. A movie used to come on TV about three years after it ran in theaters. Now it plays in the theater, three months later it’s out on DVD and Pay-per-View. With the DVR we can record television and watch it at our convenience. Life has changed. I envision us all becoming Weebles, wobbling in front of a screen and keyboard. Never leaving our homes and the apocalypse is actually one major power outage….

I have discovered something new on the Internet. While goofing around on my iPhone looking at featured postings from YouTube, I found a couple from the West Coast that post “Videosongs” on YouTube. They are good and obviously started with a very small following to now a large following. These two young people, Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn, collaborate on this music style of music and call themselves “Pomplamoose” which is French for grapefruit and my kind of name for a group. http://www.youtube.com/user/PomplamooseMusic

Tomorrow I have to make another trip to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Shreveport. I am going to turn in all the can tabs we collected this year. It is good to be part of something that totally benefits the children. Looks like I will be away from the Internet for a couple of days. I hope it doesn’t go bust due to my inactivity; at least I have my phone. Maybe I’ll have something more to blog about when I get back….

Non Article Blog

Happy Thanksgiving…Normally I would have an article from the newsletter I put out for the Lee County Shrine Club. This month I opted to forgo the writing and simply put a series of pictures of our annual magic show. It was a busy day, but truthfully it was a lot of fun. I couldn’t walk the next day. My legs give out much easier now and my right ankle was really frozen and painful. So all I was really able to do Sunday work on the newsletter. I did include a public relations article on Shrine membership. I honestly try to keep this newsletter fresh for the readers. After almost ten years of producing a monthly newsletter that can be a challenge sometimes. I try to add various elements that will keep people interested in reading it. I find that more women read it quicker than the men. I get more feedback from the women.

The ladies involved in the Shriners are just as important and productive as the men. It’s a shame we (the men) haven’t found a way to “officially” add them as members. Freemasonry being the base for membership prohibits women from joining. Not that I am advocating changing one of the base landmarks in Freemasonry; but, after more than a hundred years plus the public aspect of Shriners International, we should have found a way to make the women’s role more official, at least on the club level.

We do have some movement in the Shriners big picture, a couple of new web sites, www.shrinersvillage.com and www.beashrinernow.com. The first is for Shriners and requires membership to enter and the second is a public promotional website. Being a Shriner is a position of service. http://shrinershq.org/

This year’s magic show included a child identification program; the MSCHIP program sponsored by the Grand Lodge of Mississippi. This is a good program and the odds are we are going be responsible for the recovery of a missing/abducted child.

Our magician was from Madison, MS, Dorian LaChance. He was very good, entertaining and energetic; both the kids and adults enjoyed his show. Our timing was off with the addition of the child ID program. Originally we didn’t need a break between shows, I guess we do now. I think our error was that our original magician didn’t put on as long or as good of a show. Next year we will adjust. The last show started an hour late, but it was because we had fifteen boys from the Tupelo Children’s Mansion show up for the noon show and it took awhile to process them all through the ID program. Only one lady got mad and we were able to serve the waiting audience food before the show instead of after.

The delay didn’t faze Dorian; he put on the third show with just as much energy and excitement as the previous two. He put on a show that made the crowd forget the waiting time. I enjoy dealing with someone with a good work ethic. Those boys from the children’s mansion stayed after the show and helped stack the chairs. It all worked out fine. One thing I noticed about this magician, he had the timing required to obtain the predictive response from the kids in the audience. This skill allowed all the kids in the audience to feel involved in the show and he did without being too unoriginal. I saw even the shy, introverted kids open up and get involved.

Even though my legs were hurting, I was able to go home in a good mood about the show, plus I got to see some cool magic tricks. www.magicbydorian.com
www.mansionkids.org

Today is a day for family and friends. Christy has to work part of the day, retail. Holidays used to be about the holiday and celebrating; now it is about increasing sales. Everything is on sale plus stores expect increased profits. Makes you wonder about the actual value of the product in the first place. What is the cliché? You can go broke saving money.

Have a happy holiday and drive safe.

Mysterious Ways

There is an old cliché stating “God works in mysterious ways.” It’s true and to those who don’t believe that, I feel sorry for you.

I normally avoid any religious discussions on purpose. Religion is often a major source of argument and disagreements. I believe that religious beliefs are “extremely” personal and totally individual. I am sure I am very open-minded about religion much more than most people and less than a minimum few. I don’t think I was put on this earth to judge who is right or wrong concerning religion. I will not tell any believer they are wrong and other than an atheist don’t think anyone is wrong. I certainly would not engage in an argument with an atheist. I am a strong believer in “free will.” The book I am reading explains that the Druid sun god was born on December 25th. That doesn’t mean that it is blasphemy and certainly there can be parallels in pagan beliefs as well and Christian beliefs. One thing humans have is the free will to believe or not to believe; plus, God does nothing to interfere with that human privilege. Free will is a gift.

I guess what caused my feelings of being blessed today is my in-laws. My father-in-law and brother-in-law built a special trailer to pull behind a four-wheeler so I could ride into the woods to deer hunt. They know I have bad legs and made this effort to help me. I didn’t ask them to and didn’t expect it. They just thought it up and built it. When Christy and I went by her parent’s house this afternoon, they were outside. My father-in-law couldn’t wait for me to see this trailer and we actually finished it this evening. It is rather a neat little design.

My point is that I am married to my third wife; the first two didn’t work out too well. I had come to the conclusion that I would forever remain single and really never expected to be married again. I had dated a few women but basically they weren’t much to brag about either. My good friends had formed a committee to screen any potential partners in an effort to prevent me from any further bad relationships. I was told that not only do I attract the crazy ones, but I would talk to them too.

Then boom, five years ago I met Christy. She lost her first husband to a tragic illness. I remember when it happened and knew about it from my friends who were kin to her first husband. After she moved back to Mississippi to help with her parents after her father’s heart attack, we met. Long story short, we slipped around and went out while her sister- in-law who is the wife of a good friend was in the hospital having a baby. The relationship stuck and developed. She is much younger than I am, but that obviously hasn’t made a difference. It has been a wonderful relationship and a great marriage. My family thinks the world of my new wife. Her family and I also get along great. I must be doing something right, they built a special trailer for me. This is really the first true “in-laws” experience I have been allowed to have. My previous two wives didn’t really want me around their parents. I guess they were afraid the fact that I’m not really Satan would come out.

I don’t act any differently around my in-laws. Any time they have asked me to do something, I have always responded happily. It is easy to be myself. We have shared a lot of laughter and fun over the past almost five years. I am very grateful for this gift of a good marriage I have been blessed with. I guess the secret is to not look, but to drop back and allow faith to take place.

I always feel weird when someone does something nice for me. I guess I am more experienced with conflict. I always think it is my place to be the one to do something nice for someone else. It was a lot of fun helping them finalize the construction of this trailer and figure out some of the details. Hopefully we will also have to use this trailer to haul a deer out of the woods this year.

My only advice is to count your blessings. Don’t take a good marriage, parents, children, friends, or positive relationships with your in-laws for granted. Not everyone has the same benefits and until you know otherwise you really have no idea how blessed you are.

First of November

The last few days I have been in a good mood, which has not been normal for the first of November.

Last Friday I made a crock-pot full of chili which turned out nice. I used some beef loin rather than ground beef. I didn't make it spicy as per Christy's request but it turned out delicious, even if I say so myself....

Saturday I went with my Bother in law to get my new rifle sighted in by a gunsmith. He was closed, so Christy and I went back today. This guy lives out in the boonies but uses a computer and a special mount to sight in scopes. I will go test it out before I go hunting. My Father in law swears by this guy's work. This gunsmith also used to make knives so it was a fun visit. BUT that is not why I was in a good mood rather than my usual All Saints Day depression.....

On November 1st, 1981, my first wife left with my two children stating she would return in three weeks. She said she was going to visit with her Mother in Oklahoma giving me some relief while I found a job. I had been laid off a couple of weeks earlier....She failed to return. It is not easy to explain my first wife.

Long story short and avoiding various details and nonsense....I lost contact with my children and had no idea even where they were until last year.....I got a hint they were in Pennsylvania in 1995 but I never actually found them. Efforts were made to prevent me from knowing their location....all it really did was increase my desire to find my two children.....I searched.....for years I searched.....

The Internet aided me in my search efforts but for years I had no luck.....I even drove through Pennsylvania looking through telephone books but with no luck.....

Fast forward....I finally found my daughter last year on the Internet and called her up....The first of July 2008.....We immediately connected or reconnected and have enjoyed a wonderful father/daughter relationship....even though we live a 1000 miles apart, she has a wonderful husband and two beautiful daughters of her own, we stay in contact. I was able to visit with her this past April and we enjoyed a week together....

Now that this is the second November I am enjoying after reconnecting with my long lost daughter....I noticed the absence of the depression I had for so many years not knowing...for 27 years I faced each Halloween and All Saints Day feeling bad because I was missing out on my two children....Now I don't have that situation anymore.....

My son still hasn't decided if he wants to reconnect and I have to give him time and room to decide...He was only two months old when I last saw him and he really doesn't know me. Plus I am sure he hasn't been told anything good about me...Maybe someday.

Thankfully I have my daughter and thankfully we were able to reconnect. Now we communicate through various means on a regular basis. The initial phase of reacquainting is over and our communication is a regular habit....We don't focus on the past or the whys. We live in the present and enjoy knowing each other. We share a lot of laughter and joint happiness.

My good mood replaced the sadness of the past. Now having a daughter is normal. In the past year and a half we have had several telephone conversations, e-mails, Twitter and Facebook messages....(Several is putting it mildly more like a whole bunch and more). I have an entire sub-directory of photographs of my granddaughters....My daughter set up this blog for me.....I finally get to tell her I love her and she can hear me....I never forgot her or denied she was mine....Maybe someday my son will wake up and see who I really am...

Now this November came about with a different tone. My thoughts and feelings are different....thoughts of my children are different now....I can focus on other things and know that whatever those thing are I can always talk to my daughter about them. I can tell her the silly things I said, we can laugh and share.....My father died in November 1993 and I even miss him...I wish I could tell him about my daughter and his great-grandchildren....I look around this year and see new babies in our family.....parents and children should not be separated....Do not take your family for granted...You might not realize what you are missing until you have lost them...and if you are ever denied your children or parents you will understand...I was lucky in having a second chance with my daughter and trust me I don't take it for granted....I am saddened by my son's reaction but out of respect I won't hound him....My daughter just had a birthday in October. She said her husband said she was getting old but I told her no, this was only the fourth birthday I have been able to tell her Happy Birthday....

Now I can call my baby girl up and tell her about the chili or the scope sighting or my wife's new niece or my new great-niece or the Shrine Club or anything....any I am sure she will fill me in on my granddaughters and the large cartoon characters she saw this past week.

I like this new November....feels good.....

Another Article and blogging on Freemasonry

Another newsletter done, another article…..

I’m up too late; again, with my mind racing full bore, again. I labeled and mailed the November issue of the Lee County Shrine Club newsletter today. One of the main reasons for this blog is for me to share my articles on a somewhat wider scale. The following article was influenced by two items, one is the huge book I am attempting to digest, “The Secret Teachings of ALL AGES” by Manley P. Hall and the television special with Dan Brown, author of “The Lost Symbol” and Matt Lauer.

I don’t intend to preach in my articles but rather invoke the various readers to think. We constantly are discussing ways to get members of our Masonic Lodges and Shrine Clubs to get involved, take an interest, attend our meetings and participate. This article was inspired by the early lesson “Seek and ye shall find.” This primary tenet of Freemasonry and life in general is, in my opinion, often overlooked. Freemasons have to seek out the wisdom and enlightenment which Freemasonry has to offer.

Have modern Freemasons forgotten the teachings of our Masonic forefathers? How many Masons today believe that only memorizing degree work is Masonry? How many Freemasons today know about Masonic scholars like Mitchell, Mackey, Pike, Allen, McCoy, Waite, and Coil? On October 1, 1988 in the preface to the Diamond Jubilee Edition of “The Secret Teachings of ALL AGES” Manley P. Hall, after he became a Freemason, wrote, “We were told that the twentieth century was the most progressive that the world has ever known, but unfortunately the progression was in the direction of self-destruction.” He could be talking about society or just the Masonic Lodge, this statement fits both. A brother Mason with considerable Masonic experience, who is long gone now, once told me that Freemasonry goes in circles, it decreases and then increases years later and this is how Masonry has been for centuries. Hopefully he was right. Hopefully the newer generation will find a way to rid us present day internal politics and desire for rank. Hopefully they can take the basic tenets of the craft and return the lodge to the fraternity it once was and can always be again. I wish the leaders of the present would look up from their own pedestals and ask why Freemasonry is getting more recognition from a novel than the actual fraternity.

The events locally of the past week have been extra troubling. I have a friend, someone I trust and strongly respect, do something without logic or reason. It was like watching him walk off a cliff without warning or reason. This is someone I would stand on my toenails and defend until blood shot out of my eyeballs, but he allowed me nothing to defend. He didn’t consult me beforehand and didn’t discuss it with me afterwards. When he was called on it, he displayed anger and even arrogance. This incidence has disturbed me to point I have been physically ill over it. I have no way to logically defend or justify his actions. I don’t think he intended to do harm, but his actions resulted in negative consequences. I know he is angry at me. His anger also has no rhyme or reason because I had nothing to do with his actions and I didn’t encourage the outcome. I am at a loss for a solution.

This incident of the past week, which came about after the following article was written and before it was sent out, made me think about the duality of Freemasonry. The Masonic Lodge has a very major group dynamic. The body of the craft coming together, meeting in tiled lodges is a landmark of Freemasonry. Masonic teachings and enlightenment depends on a group of obligated brothers seeking a single goal. Masons once accepted into the Masonic Lodge and especially after obtaining the third degree or Master Masons degree will see their lives changed. Since my entrance into the lodge in 1987, not a day has gone by without some form of Masonic relationship. My primary life now includes Masonic relationships. My closest friends are Masons. Freemasonry is not for everybody, but for those it does reach it will make a difference.

The singular sector of a Masonic life is that individual effort a Mason will make to seek more light. To be a Master Mason in good standing a man has to do nothing more than pay his annual dues. You don’t have to attend or learn anything more than what it would take to progress from first, to second then third degree. You can do nothing more than belong and you will be as much a Mason as any man. Some never become more than a “Card Carrying Mason” and some will seek more.

The ones that do seek more, looking for more answers and enlightenment are the ones that keep Freemasonry alive. Those studying, researching, asking, and seeking Masonic knowledge, history and philosophy are the masons that grow the craft. To me it’s not enough to know the ritual work but to know the “why” of the rituals. I truly admire the Masons that know the degree work and various lectures. I think it is extremely important to keep this vital portion of the Lodge intact. I think the men that have the skill to learn this work should be encouraged and supported by all lodges. The only thing that distresses me about “memorized” rituals is the men that believe that this all there is to it. Don’t just memorize the words but also “learn” the words. Discover what the rituals are teaching, where they came from, and why the ritual is important. Seek. Ponder on the true lessons of the working tools. Look at what is basic and why, learn and assimilate the basics of the Masonic tenets. Then you can find the more complicated and esoteric messages woven into the whole of the craft. There is no true rank in Freemasonry other than the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Any Mason believing he is more important or above another Mason has missed the point.

Like the common stop signs we see on our streets. No question you learned at an early age that this octagon shape means stop. We know this, we abide by it daily and we take it for granted that everyone driving a car also understands the meaning of this sign. This is the group dynamic. Some will go forever never thinking about it further than applying the brakes. Some will be necessary to teach new drivers the meaning of this road sign and other signs as well. There will be a few that will ask why. Who decided on the shape? When did it become a standard? How worldwide is this sign? This is the singular dynamic. The ones that believe that the stop sign doesn’t apply to them are the ones that cause the destruction.

Freemasonry needs all of us. Freemasonry needs the students, the ritualists, the teachers, historians, record keepers, philosophers and the harmony preservers. The man teaching a candidate is equally important as the man in the kitchen cooking or the man keeping the records. They all formulate a successful lodge. Harmony is a group dynamic supported by many singular efforts. The one Masonic dynamic that we cannot control is the human factor. Freemasons are human and therefore fallible. There is such a thing as a bad Mason.

Freemasonry is too important to the world to allow it to be taken for granted. Freemasonry is not a step ladder to materialistic increase. Freemasonry is a way of life within the internal temple of man. Learn something new about Freemasonry and bring it to your lodge so your brothers can likewise benefit. I hope you enjoy the following article.

Seek & You Might Find Something…
By Melvin Ford


Last week I watched the TV special with Dan Brown, author of The Lost Symbol and The DaVinci Code. In my opinion, this special basically had the underlying purpose of selling books, both the most recent and the next novel he alluded to in the interview. Freemasonry is featured in the interview and this could very well generate an interest in the craft to non-masons. His novel The Lost Symbol has a background of Freemasonry in it. Even though I found some basic errors in his book as well as the interview, I don’t believe either one to show Freemasonry in a negative light. I was very pleased to see the TV special mention the 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children and even show Shriners on parade.

I noted that one person in this special stated that if you like bake sales then you will like the Masonic Lodge. I guess we aren’t as dangerous as some conspiracy theorists might believe. We truly aren’t the dynamic social and political force that the Freemasons of our nation’s past once knew. Both Masonic and Shriners membership has fallen to dangerous levels. The average age of Lodge members and Shiners alike is now up above 70 years of age. Some of it is normal changes in the social and economic times and some is totally our fault for not seeing the obvious signs before us.

If a Mason desires to learn our rituals, it is easy for him to find someone to teach him. We have schools and special gatherings all the time for the learning of our various degrees. What if you, as a Mason desired to learn the history, symbolism and philosophy of that same ritualistic presentation? Who would you ask? There are several Masonic authors but in the most recent decades the authors that have brought positive attention to Freemasonry were not masons. I remember in my early years as a Mason I attended a Grand Lodge Congressional School. I was bold enough to ask the question, “Why do we do that?” I got told because we always have done that. I think Congressional schools are great and I encourage you to attend, but I was not satisfied with that answer. So in the spirit of not being a lemming, I sought the answer to my question on my own and actually found the answer. A lesson I have long remembered because of the incident.

I will be the first to admit that I am not a ritualistic scholar, but I truly desire to learn all I can absorb about Freemasonry and its teachings, symbols and history. The Masonic ritual is extremely important to our Lodges and I encourage all Masons to learn everything they can. Even now after several years of Lodge membership and once again serving as Master of a Lodge; when I recite the opening or closing my mind shifts into thoughts of why, origin and definition of the words. So I get lost. I applaud those members that can recite the various paragraphs of ritual work in a way that is very impressive. Each year I become even more impressed with the wisdom of our Masonic forefathers. I believe if you really want to obtain more light you have to make the effort to seek it and keep an open mind about the origins of Freemasonry, its rituals and any religious parallels.

One thing I did gain from the Dan Brown special was the mention of a book which I am presently reading. It’s not light reading but I am discovering some interesting knowledge. The book is The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manley P. Hall published in 1928. I guess in spite of any errors I found in the mentions of Freemasons in Brown’s book and the TV special, I was inspired to seek out more information and history concerning our craft. While doing a little on-line research into Manly P. Hall, 33º I found this excerpt from his book The Lost Keys of Freemasonry.

The true Master Mason recognizes the value of seeking for truth wherever he can find it. It makes no difference if it be in the enemy’s camp; if it be truth, he will go there gladly to secure it. The Masonic Lodge is universal; therefore all true Masons will seek through the extremities of creation for their Light. The true brother of the Craft knows and applies one great paradox. He must search for the high things in lowly places and find the lowly things in high places. The Mason who feels holier than his fellow man has raised a barrier around himself through which no light can pass, for the one who in truth is the greatest is the servant of all. Many brethren make a great mistake in building a wall around their secrets, for they succeed only in shutting out their own light. Their divine opportunity is at hand. The time has come when the world needs the Ancient Wisdom as never before. Let the Mason stand forth and by living the doctrines which he preaches show to his brother man the glory of his work. He holds the keys to truth; let him unlock the door, and with his life and not his words preach the doctrine which he has so long professed.


This passage hits home in so many ways. Timely for this time of year when we as a Shrine Club are going to elect officers for next year. When Masonic Lodges in Mississippi are looking to elect officers for their next year and when Hamasa has its whole unwritten future ahead of us. Don’t sit by and wait. Either you desire to be involved or not. You know what you truly want to be involved with and I surely hope you aren’t waiting for someone else to make the first move. Neither youth nor age is a deterrent; find your niche in your fraternity. From a Shrine Club standpoint, gather your spouse or significant other and come to our meetings. We are long overdue for a good old fashioned party anyway. You never know you might have a good time and even help out a child. Seek what you desire in your fraternity.

More blogging about books….

Since my last blog about books and mentioning “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown I have read two other novels and started a third.

The next book I read after Dan’s latest offering was “A Spy By Nature” by Charles Cumming. He is a British author that I discovered from Facebook. Charles Cumming sent me a friend request and not knowing who he was I looked him up. He is a fellow Daniel Silva Facebook friend from London. So I figured what the heck, any fan of Daniel has got to be ok. I accepted his friend request and the next time I was at Barnes & Noble I ordered one of his books. “A Spy By Nature” published in 2001 was the only Charles Cumming’s novel they had in stock in the warehouse. I have to say, I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more by him. I found the British viewpoint interesting and entertaining, being an American. One thing I noticed was that it was very realistic and believable. I was very pleased towards the end when he doesn’t skirt around it and allowed the truth to jump out. I am not a literary expert; I am just a reader so I guess the fact that I will be purchasing more of Charles Cumming’s work says enough.

I had such a good time reading the Cumming novel I went ahead and dove into “The Dark of The Sun” by Wilbur Smith. I first read Wilbur Smith in the seventies starting with his Egyptian novels, “River God” and “The Seventh Scroll.” I had always read for pleasure all during high school. When I spent six months flat of my back either in traction or a body cast, I read several books. I think what attracted me to these novels of ancient Egypt was that I was looking for something deeper. These first two books I read made me a Wilbur Smith fan. When I read his recent Egyptian novel “The Quest” I got to wondering if he had become darker in his writing. After finishing his last offering “Assegai” my curiosity increased about his work. Had his writing become darker more mystical and even more sensual in nature? So I picked up a paperback copy of “The Dark of The Sun” in an effort to see for myself. This is his second novel published in 1965.

Did I find a difference in his 1965 work versus his present day offerings? Yes, but not the difference I expected. I thoroughly enjoyed “The Dark of The Sun” and the African mercenary tale. What I saw was that his more recent writings are smoother and more visual in nature. His story line flows better and the action sequences grip the reader more. One example was the big game hunting portions that were featured in “Assegai” as easily compared to the shooting of water buffalo for food in “The Dark of The Sun” novel. “Assegai” will excite any hunter with the descriptions of the hunt and kill. The 1965 version was still enjoyable but I could see the author’s improvement in skill. The dark human element was there as well as the sensual aspect, I guess his writing style has improved to the degree these elements became more prominent to the reader. So after thirty-two published novels in several languages since 1964, Wilbur Smith hasn’t allowed his work to degrade. It is no secret why he is considered one of the best, if not the best, historical novelist. Personally I am more impressed with the content of his books over the mass marketing campaigns I see of others.

The book I am presently reading is a novel I found on a bargain sale. I think I only paid a couple of bucks for it. Being a bibliophile I like looking over the bargain tables. I have found some interesting books some of which that are an author’s first novel. Finding novels like “The Man Who Ate the 747” by Ben Sherwood and Adriana Trigiani is the reward for looking over bargain tables. I basically have more books than bookshelves but refuse to discard any of them.

The present bargain book I am reading is “The Law of Gravity” by Dennis Morgan Cottrell published in 1995. This is his first novel and from what I have found on the Internet, so far his only novel. What induced me to spend a couple of bucks on this novel was his opening line, “I suspect that most everybody living below the Mason-Dixon Line has heard of me,” How Southern is that?

I guess every author stresses over the first line. It is only human nature to want your own “Call me Ishmael”, “All this happened, more or less” or “Who is John Galt?” Those first key words sometimes sell the book. I am not a novelist but I do write articles for my Shrine Club newsletter, so I also want to grab the reader in the first paragraph so they will want to read more. I can only imagine what a writer goes through in deciding on the elements which make up the marketing of his work. Title, cover art and the synopsis all must take up considerable time and effort. I know if you include a knife on the cover art; I am going to pick it up and look the book over. I also noticed once I owned several red colored books, go figure. There is a lot less stress in buying bargain books; if the novel sucks you can always use it to prop up a couch with a broken leg. I have found more good ones than bad ones though; something to read while you are waiting for your favorite authors to crank out a new one.

I am still in the early stages of “The Law of Gravity” but so far I have found it enjoyable and different from novels I usually gravitate towards. (Pun intended) The author is doing a beautiful job of telling the tale from the perspective of a dirt poor thirteen year old boy. I will finish it while Daniel is locked in a room with Gabriel and until I can get to the north side of town to pick up Charles Cumming’s latest releases. I have no idea what Wilbur is up to but maybe number 33 is in his head.

On a personal note: My father-in-law bought me a new scope for my rifle, so hopefully I will get to have my own hunting sequence this year. Maybe I can bloody up one of the “several” custom made knives I own. I donated one that I have owned for several years and never used to my lodge last night. We are going to raffle it off to raise a little money for the lodge. So I’m in a pretty good mood.

Burned out & droopy fez

I get Google Alerts on any news story using the word “Shriners.” It goes in handy being an active Shriner, writing a monthly newsletter and personally believing so deeply in the work of the Shriners and the Shriners Hospitals for Children. Some of the links don’t really reach anything pertinent about Shriners and some are obituaries. I do see several interesting articles related to our Fez-head fraternity and the 22 children’s hospitals.

I saw an article this morning from the Poughkeepsie Journal about a 12 year girl selling her artwork to raise money for the Springfield, MA hospital. Her family had received a letter stating that this hospital was in danger of closing. The young lady raised $300.00 with her efforts.

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20091008/LIFE/910080307/1005/Your-positive-achievements

Nice normal positive feature story for a local newspaper and $300.00 doesn’t sound like much, but it is a whole heck of a lot more raised than a majority of card carrying Shriners. I applaud her efforts and grateful her local newspaper featured her in their publication.

Those that know me best know that I have been extremely active in Hamasa Shriners for the past several years, especially since 2003. I have been probably too active and too involved because when the crash came it came hard. I knew going into the first of this year I needed to slow down and back off some of my involvement because I was feeling burned out. A majority of phone calls I received involved Hamasa or the Lee County Shrine Club. I was heavily involved in every activity and fundraiser. Several friends told me I needed to learn how to say, “No.” I felt obligated and I started to feel like it was someone else’s turn.

Mix my burn-out with a Potentate (The head guy) that has been totally ineffective, narcissistic, and just plain wrong and I had to come to a screeching halt. Screeching is what I did too. We tried to help him. We tried to warn him, but he has consistently refused to listen. It’s not just the internal politics of Hamasa; it’s the basic mistakes that anyone can see. Besides having the main Potentate’s Ball on Easter weekend, he now has scheduled the Fall Ceremonial on the same day as a Mississippi State home football game. We tried having regional meetings to increase participation due to the fact that Meridian is too far to travel on a Tuesday night. Especially for the Northern have of the Hamasa Territory. We had two this year and it was starting to work and we were getting more members involved, but he killed that too. I wrote a few years back in one of my newsletter articles, that “in the absence of good leadership, bad leadership will come forth.” I guess I was right, especially when it come to Hamasa. I sent a nasty e-mail a couple of months ago to the Potentate and Divan (Divan is like the officers) that I regret and feel bad about. I told them I have lost faith in the Hamasa leadership and I have. I have also lost faith in the Hamasa membership. The Potentate has not responded and I really didn’t expect him to respond. The Recorder and Treasurer both sent me replies demanding an apology. I guess I should apologize but like I told the Recorder on the phone, I don’t see other people in Hamasa apologizing. I think what my nasty e-mail really was all about was me trying to commit Fraternal-Suicide, so I could justify not being involved anymore.

A Couple of Days Later…….

I was in the middle of scripting this blog and my phone started ringing, so I never got the opportunity to actually finish my thoughts. My phone rings a lot concerning the Shriners. I ended up attending another Shrine Club meeting in the next county with a member from my Shrine Club. We took the two petitions over there so they could participate in the process. There is a petition to change the location of Hamasa Shriners from Meridian to Starkville and a second one to change the name of Hamasa Shriners to “Magnolia” Shriners. Seems like some people mistake “Hamasa” for “Hamas” and we are confused with the terrorist group. If each petition gets 100 member signatures, then a notice will have to be sent out and then a vote. Then it will take two-thirds vote to pass and after that approval at the Imperial Session next July. I do not expect the name changing petition to get the required 100 signatures to even call for a vote. It might, but I would be real surprised.

Changing the location of the temple to Starkville will centralize it and allow more members from the Northern half to attend meetings. It could even mean a new beginning for Hamasa. Don’t get your hopes up. There are enough members in the South that do NOT have to drive three hours or more to a meeting that will show up and vote it down. Just so they won’t have to drive. Hamasa will become even more divided, more will drop out and we will eventually wither up and die. If more boys from the South would have been active in Hamasa, this petition would have never seen the light of day.

The ironic thing is “IF” our elected leadership had done their jobs and kept their obligations, a petition never would have been written. We had District meetings but our present leadership mucked that all up. If he had been a true leader, this petition to move Hamasa would have never appeared. I claim neither credit or blame for either of these petitions. I have only one vote, period. If the Hamasa membership is truly interested in making a change, they will do something about it. I stand neutral, not willing to argue the subject one way or the other. I have one vote. The subject of moving Hamasa is a long drawn out complicated matter. It seems like people are more interested in obtaining titles for themselves rather than the responsibility and service of office. They prefer to lead by demand and not inspire or enlighten. They forget that even though they think they are a king the servants are not truly bound and simply can stay at home. I prefer peace over turmoil and have declared not to spend six hours in a vehicle to attend a Hamasa meeting consisting of empty meaningless nonsense. I guess we will see……

I am really sleepy so I am going to post this. I have more to blog about, but I think I will go back to bed; maybe I will sleep this time…..Later….

Widows & Orphans…..& Books?

I know it has been a while since I blogged, but burn out takes it's toll. I have felt the need to back off from everything. The problem with people is that they are people. I have done a spot of reading lately, a nice escape from the reality of life. Books and words are a great way to escape and recharge your batteries. I remember a time when reading books was essential to making it through the week. I felt sorry for all those people that could not read. Children should be encouraged to read for pleasure and allowed to develop a love for a great storyteller.

I have read many authors and found some enjoyment from reading an author's first work. It seems like they put more heart and soul in that initial novel or work that makes it a good book. When they can repeat that heart and soul they have proven they can write. When their name becomes more important then the content; they have lost it.

Take John Grisham's A Time to Kill for example. He knocked it out of the ballpark with that one and even followed up with other novels that hit the mark. It was reading The Rainmaker first that made me go back to his earlier work. I quit reading him after The Brethren. I found basic errors in that novel that told me he neglected his basic research, facts that he could of presented correctly if he had only talked to a couple of people. I am surprised his editors didn't catch them or were they only looking at the profit margin by then. I quit reading his books. His mistakes were so simple to avoid, that I lost faith in his work. Am I judging him too harshly? Maybe, but the man is writing bestsellers, mainly purchased on his name creditability alone, not soap opera scripts.

Novelists have tough jobs if they do it right and after writing a few articles I appreciate professional writers. I also work on a monthly deadline which also makes me appreciate reporters that have to produce on a regular basis plus attempt to keep the reading public interested. What I write has very few boundaries and I do not write for profit, so my freedom helps. My writing is vastly different from what a professional writer produces and I recognize it. Novelists that require themselves to preform a lot of research and background knowledge do succeed in their work. Readers do notice.

One author I started reading over thirty years ago is Wilbur Smith. Wow, this dude can write. He wrote his first novel in 1964 and can still spin a tale. I have not read every novel he has written, but I have read his entire Egyptian series and several of his other books including his most recently published. Here is a guy who has been published worldwide in numerous languages and he still puts out a "good read." The last two of his I have read were his newest novels and it seemed like his writing had a slightly different attitude than his early stuff. That may not make much sense, but today I purchased his second novel in paperback put out in 1965 which isn't part of a series, just to see for myself. You might not like his historical work, but it intrigued me. I do think every young man read his Courtney novel The Birds of Prey, it is just a good ole pirate story and very well done in my opinion. I look for his work when I am in the bookstore. http://www.wilbursmithbooks.com/

Another good author I have become a fan of is Daniel Silva. (No, I do not get a kickback) He is also a Facebook friend and from my experience married to a very nice lady. I had already read everything he had published before I got on Facebook. It was his writing and not me being one of the thousands of his fans who also owns a computer. People who write a "series" of novels involving the same characters have to work hard to keep the characters and story fresh to repeating readers plus not confuse the new readers. I am curious if he feels any added pressure now that he knows he has so many fans in direct communication with him via Internet. The Internet spreads bad news as quickly, if not quicker, than good news. I have faith in him though. Hopefully his sweet wife won't have to hire a couple of Russian dudes to slap him around. http://danielsilvabooks.com/

I guess the point I am trying to make is that I recently finished Dan Brown's new novel The Lost Symbol. I still think Angels and Demons was his best work. This last one was a decent read and ended okay, but I felt at first he wasn't topping himself with this one. He eventually got into it and it turned out fine. I just feel that this one became an instant bestseller because of his previous work.
We wanted more; we got more but did it enlighten? Did he hit "that" mark in his readers? Will we snatch up his next hardback as soon at it hits town or do we wait a year to pick up the paperback?
Did we say, "Oh Boy I can't wait until good ole Dan Brown cranks out another one." like several of us did after reading The Defector by Daniel Silva?
Mr. Brown, are you writing movie scripts or novels now? Didn't you learn anything from John Galt?

Reading for pleasure is personal and I see some books that I can't imagine anyone buying but each to his own. My dear wife consumes Nora Roberts as fast as the woman can crank them out. I think the lady shoots one out a week. I have accused dear Nora of having a hundred or so female ghost writers, typing furiously while she sits in the back of the room cracking a bullwhip and sipping champagne. Well if my wife is happy, I'm happy and she doesn't need Russians. She will just poke me in the eye, again.

So dear friends, what started to be a simple preamble to my latest Shrine Club Newsletter article, turned into, this....This article goes out Tuesday and there will not be a movie. Enjoy.
________________________________________________________________

Widows & Orphans…..
Two things happened last month that inspired this article. The first was the death of a Brother Master Mason and his obituary had no mention of his Masonic affiliation. The second was I got a phone call and was ask to assist the widow of a dear departed brother I knew and truly respected. I agreed without hesitation. It isn’t anything awe inspiring to help out a friend and it was actually fun, but it got me thinking about what do the widows of our departed brethren actually think about the Masonic Lodge and Shriners. Do they know that Masons are supposed to lend aid to our widows and orphans?

Dr. Albert G. Mackey wrote in his work, Jurisprudence of Freemasonry in the section relating to the rights of a Master Mason:

“Perhaps it is hardly necessary to add that the wives and children of Freemasons, while claiming relief through the right of their husbands and fathers, are subject to the same principles and restrictions as those which govern the application of Freemasons themselves. The destitute widow or orphans of a deceased Freemason have a claim for relief upon the whole Fraternity, which is to be measured by the same standard that would be applied if the Brother himself were alive, and asking for assistance.”

There is much more to this discussion by Mackey in his writings, but I think you get the point. We as masons are taught that we should lend aid to our widows and orphans. This doesn’t mean that Freemasons restrict our charity works to only relatives of our members; matter of fact, Masons are very charitable to people from all walks of life. Do we leave a positive enough impression on the families of our departed that they will feel comfortable enough to seek relief and do they even know this fact about Freemasonry?

One of the worst things a lodge secretary has to deal with is that note or phone call from a widow saying, “You sent my husband a dues notice and he died two years ago.” Some of these ladies are mad because the “Lodge” didn’t notice her husband died. If a member hasn’t attended lodge in years and the family doesn’t let anyone know, the likelihood is great he will not be removed from the rolls until his dues aren’t paid. If the member or his family doesn’t communicate with the lodge, it is very hard to keep up. There are thousands of card carrying Masons in this state that never attend lodge or even let anyone know they are a Mason. Freemasons should discuss Masonry with their families and if you are unsure what you can talk about, ask. Lodges should host more family events and even discuss items that wives and family members should know about our fraternity. I have never seen a Lodge suspend a member for non-payment of dues that was truly in need of the relief. I have known Lodges to keep a sick member on the membership roll and not ask for his dues money. I have also seen several men reach in their wallet and pay another member’s dues. Like the member we lost last month, if it hadn’t been for a Lodge Secretary doing a superb job, the Lodge wouldn’t have known about the loss because it wasn’t in his obituary. The ladies and families need to know that a Masonic funeral has to be requested and the Brother has to also be in good standing before his Lodge is allowed to conduct a Masonic funeral. Freemasons need to remain in contact with their lodge and make sure the secretary has all of your updated information.

Shriners and our philanthropy have truly benefited from the participation of our ladies. Our clubs, events, fundraisers and notoriety would be sadly lacking if our ladies weren’t involved. The ladies are the unsung heroes of Shriners, everywhere.

Attending a lodge meeting is not only a right, it is a privilege. We are not a secret society but like any fraternal order we have portions that are nobody’s business but our own. Freemasonry is family orientated and anyone attending a Lee County Shrine Club meeting can tell you that we are definitely family friendly. Our wives and families need to know about their relationship with Freemasonry. They need to understand the definition of “relief” from a Lodge point of view and what “measured by the same standard” means.

Freemasonry is back on people’s minds now with the release of Dan Brown’s recent novel, The Lost Symbol. Non-masons may be disappointed or surprised by the ending of this novel. Active Freemasons that study and practice the tenets of the fraternity will not be surprised or disappointed. There is no better time for us to improve our family and public perception of the craft. Brothers, call a Masonic widow you know and let them you are still there for them.

9-9-09

The day before yesterday was September 9, 2009 the big 09-09-09. To some I am sure there was a numerical meaning in this rare date and alignment of numbers. Numerology has been around for centuries and we shouldn’t take it lightly. Certain numbers have certain meanings and significance. September 9th had a different significance for me; it was my oldest granddaughter’s seventh birthday. Seven years ago I became a grandfather and at that time was totally unaware of the event.

Bypassing any negative side of this story and cutting to the chase, November 1st, 1981 my first wife took off with my two children and within a year I had totally lost them. I couldn’t find them. I had no clue until 1995 and then all I was told was they were in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is a big state. I did hunt for them and did countless internet searches using every clue I had as well as anything else I could imagine leading me towards my children. Feel lucky if you know your children, my daughter was two and my son was two months old the last time I had seen them.

Very few people even knew I had children but I never denied them and I thought about them every day. It was something that haunted me for a very long time. My search continued and as the internet grew larger the more I searched. I found references to my son and his wife and I even located my first wife. I knew without a doubt she would not tell me anything. You would just have to know her to understand. I even paid one of those Internet sites to give me details and I got a telephone number for my son. I called and it was useless. My present wife was aware of my searching efforts and warned me not to be disappointed if I did find them and they rejected me. She said she didn’t want to see me getting hurt. I had to keep looking. If you have children I am sure you understand.

Finally on the last day of June, 2008 I got a hit on my daughter, it was a Saturday. The website was her employer and it even had a photograph. I knew it had to be her, because she looked like my sister at that age. I waited to call on Monday, thinking she wouldn’t be there on the weekend. This site gave me her married name and I continued to search even more, memorizing and jotting down even detail I could find.

Monday morning I tried to be patient and not start calling too early in the day. When I did get my daughter on the phone, I almost passed out. Instant connection much better than I could ever had imagined. My daughter and I have so much in common it is uncanny and she accepted me. She and I have stayed in touch on a regular basis even though she is a thousand miles away. I can’t tell you how many phone calls, e-mails, text messages, Facebook message we have exchanged. Not only do I still think of her every day like before, I actually get to talk to her now, know where she is and that she loves me. I get to tell her directly I love her now; not just in my prayers like before. I get to know my son-in-law and have a great amount of respect for him. I get to know and hear the sweet voices of my two granddaughters, encourage their antics and tell them I love them. After twenty-seven years of not knowing, the darkness has dissipated and the relationship between me and my first born evolved rapidly into more than anyone could hope for in life. Matter-of-fact, she set up this blog for me. I am extremely grateful for my daughter and love her very much.

Unfortunately my only son hasn’t decided whether he wants to know me or not. All I can do is respect his wishes and accept his decision as painful as it may be. I have received one e-mail from him, I answered but nothing since. Hopefully he understands that I never forgot or rejected him.

I am not going to lie and say my daughter and I haven’t talked about the past. When we visited this past April, we spent a lot of time talking to each other and several subjects were discussed. The good thing is we actually don’t dwell on the past. I guess we got it out of our systems and we don’t need to talk about it. We still talk to each other a whole bunch, but subjects of the present and future have become the topics of the day. Things like my granddaughter’s daily antics and vast cuteness are what we dwell on. Cooking, recipes, TV, weather, current events, school, health, dreams and ideas occupy our chats. We have talked for minutes and have talked for hours. She and I share many common interests and our conversations are of such what would be expected from a father-daughter relationship. I missed out on a lot of her life and growth but she has made it possible for the past to rush into the present leaving us with a healthy loving family relationship. I told her up front my intent was to cause no harm, and I think by now she knows I was being honest. I told her up front that I had no desire to speak negatively about her Mother and I would say that since July, 2008 she knows that when I call she doesn’t have to worry about being in the middle of something painful. We don’t need the past, we have now and tomorrow.

I won’t speak much about religion or politics because they are two volatile subjects. I will say this about what we are taught about forgiveness and redemption. Absolution from sins should cure us; forgiveness should give us a new day. Negativity, anger and hate only destroy us as a person. If I allowed the feelings of the past and spent all my time issuing blame, I wouldn’t be much use to anyone. My present marriage is a Godsend. I wasn’t looking for it, but I have been daily blessed by it. How could I participate in my marriage to my wonderful wife now, if I allowed the past to infiltrate my thoughts and actions?

Now I can fully appreciate my daughter and my granddaughters. My son-in-law and I can be friends and buddies, free to communicate without dread. My daughter can know that her father loves her and she can still refer to her adoptive father as Dad without me minding. I love her unconditionally like a father should and not cause her any disharmony. I guess since Wednesday I have been thinking about how blessed I am now to have found my children. It feels good to call a grandchild and say Happy Birthday. By the way, in case you aren’t aware, Grandchildren can do no wrong.

My recommendation is if you have children, hug them now, for there are people who don’t have that privilege. If you haven’t talked to your child, make time to talk. It feels good and if you lost that ability you will miss it greatly. I got to hug my baby girl for the first time in a very long time this year and I can still feel her arms around me. What was lost is now found. Thank you to my daughter for being my daughter. I love you.

Two topics

Topic of the first part, Good things: I bought a quart of honey while I was on my trip to Cincinnati. On the way home we stopped off at the orchard that my Great-Grandfather started in 1905. It is no longer in the family and was bought out a few years ago, but I still feel a connection to this orchard. Now instead of trees and strawberry beds the main fruit stand is obviously storage and the new owners have built this barn like structure which is gift shop/fruit stand/restaurant. The fruit part now seems to have a minimum part in this gift and there is this large playground in back of the barn/restaurant.

While perusing the various “tourist trap” wares I came across a shelf with pints and quarts of honey. I like good honey and the last two pints I bought was from a guy at the big flea market in Ripley, Mississippi. He had his honey marked by the different strengths of the honey. The two I bought were both good honey. This honey I found in Kentucky was labeled Suttons Honey and listed that is had won several awards, like some State Fair best eight years in a row. So I bought a quart. I started to buy a pint but I got to thinking if this honey was as good as the label indicated I would really regret only buying a pint. I am real glad I bought a quart, because it is some real good honey. My wife said it reminded her of her Grandfather’s honey.

I told her that when this jar ran out….she finished my sentence by saying “we’re taking a trip.” That would be just like me to drive seven hours one way to buy a jar of honey. I would like to think I was more restrained than that. We have driven a couple of hours to another town to see a movie that wasn’t playing in Tupelo, but that was a couple type outing. The problem is once you taste a food item with superior taste you are disappointed with anything less. My wife tells me I have a snooty palate, but after finding things that taste so much better than you had before you aren’t satisfied with “before” anymore. Everyone likes good food, but the people that are happy with bad food truly confuse me. While society still allows us we should seek out more and even better tasting food items, either sweet or savory as long as it is better than you had before. I would rather pay twenty dollars for a wedge of real parmesan cheese and grate it myself per use than any filler-filled facsimile. Not only does it tastes better, but you get more and have to use less. It’s no secret that the best will cost more or even require more effort, but if you get in the habit of using fresh ingredients and better cooking techniques you will reap the rewards. Now I have to start figuring out how I will get more of this honey. Several very delicious items I have found were by being adventurous and not fearing trying new things. Personally I think it is wrong for a person to declare they don’t like something they haven’t tried before. Plus sometimes it isn’t the food item but the preparation of that food that made it taste bad. Try something new every so often and I think you will be surprised with some of your new discoveries. Recommendations help but please remember that “taste” is very individual and not everyone is the same. So be open-minded and enjoy.

Topic of the second part: Advertising. Daily, hourly and every minute of the day now we are bombarded with advertising. You would think these ad guys would realize that by increasing the volume of a television commercial only results in hitting the mute button and ignoring the ad rather than getting our attention. I don’t mind a company advertising their products, but now there is so much advertising I am getting were I don’t listen to or read any of them. Plus, they have to repeat the same ones constantly. Ads should be limited to only once a week, even once a day would be nice. Everything has a sponsor. The homegrown ones are the worse. True ads make it possible for some TV shows and events to be shown but we also pay good money for cable service. When is the last time you saw an advertisement and was inspired to buy that product? The ones about the “free” credit report make me wonder, if it is a free service what is paying for all those annoying ads? The local boys with the used car lot that think they are entertainers only make people avoid them. We should be able to block an ad once we seen it once. Do people really buy the premium brands with the fancy ads or do they opt for the store brand at a lower price. Some premium brands are better due to quality not because of the advertisement.

Once I saw a food ad where the person tasted the soup and put the spoon back in the pot. I e-mailed the company telling them about the lack of food safety portrayed in the advertisement. About four months later I got a response stating they were very serious about food safety and that they were actors not company food professionals. I saw the same TV spot after that and that part was edited out. I thoroughly enjoyed my little victory.

The print media isn’t any better. Magazines are mostly advertisements but at least they aren’t loud with annoying songs. The internet is racked with ads and will jump in your face. I once knew a newspaper reporter and actually went on restaurant reviews with her. She told me that we couldn’t give a bad review because the advertising department wouldn’t allow it and the advertising department controlled the paper because they brought in the money.

So like most Americans I have learned to ignore all the advertisements I see on a daily basis. I have become so overloaded with ads I am not affected, inspired or amused. All that money, time and energy spent on so many calculated seconds while I get a refill or go to the bathroom. The mute button gets hits automatically and I miss whatever is out there that can and will improve my life. I guess I won’t be talking to my doctor about that pill which will allow me to walk romantically on the beach regardless of a possible heart attack, blindness, stroke, rash, dry mouth or gas.

Do we talk too much?

Probably do and since the on-set of cell phones and the Internet we converse a whole heck of a lot more than ever before. Are we saying anything more than before, probably not, we are just hashing and re-hashing the same old words just more of the same.

How did we ever survive in the sixties and seventies without all this mass communication on a daily basis? Last night I had dinner with a friend and both of us received text messages during our meal. Neither one of us obviously thought it was odd or an inconvenience. We were not bothered but the normal daily occurrence. The Internet allows us worldwide instant communication with millions of people and I venture to say about any subject that comes to mind.

For example: I was talking to my daughter last week and using my weird sense of humor the subject of Chinese cheeses came up. Luckily my daughter understands my sense of humor. Within minutes of the initial question, “Do the Chinese have cheese?” Neither one of us could remember seeing a cheese dish in a Chinese restaurant, well a Chinese dish. I was able to Google “Chinese Cheeses” and discovered that yes there is Chinese cheese and matter of fact there are three different Chinese cheeses.

Being that I have been a lover of all thing knives since childhood, I discovered an Internet forum which I joined ten years ago. http://www.bladeforums.com/

When I joined in July, 1999 there were already 2,000 members. I was psyched. That many people all in one spot talking about knives. This forum includes some of the most knowledgeable purveyors and makers in the world. This forum has been exciting and basically has changed the face of the knife industry. Now ten years later there are over 138,000 members on this forum. At anytime day or night there will be around 700 to 800 members on-line. That is a lot of people talking knives. There are sections relating to non-knife issues and even total nonsense. Some of the forums are restricted to members only and the moderators keep the spammers and troublemakers tossed out faster than you can be bothered by them. There are other good knife interest forums and I have been known to read them as well. Checking Bladeforums has become a daily habit. I have learned a lot from these guys and I have also been bored by some of the members asking the same old question over and over. I guess freedom of speech is their right and I can easily skip right over the boring stuff. But please people discover for yourself which is the best knife. I own over a hundred knives, so what do I know? I have successfully used four different styles of kitchen knives in the last week, each a different blade length, width and metal. Maybe it isn’t the knife in general but the user. At least all four of them were decent knives.

It does seem that the forums were a lot more interesting when less people were on-line. I guess we have covered all the truly relative subjects and now we are waiting for the next big development. I have become bored with the forums for now, but I will remain a faithful member.

There is a new forum for Shriners now. http://theshriners.proboards.com/

This forum only has 27 members and apparently very little activity. With 191 Shrine Temples you would think we would have more to discuss. One problem is the average age of Shriners is somewhere around 70. Not many of them are Internet savvy and some think it is OK to pass around spam. “Oh No, Pass it ON, the country is going to hell in a hand basket!” So I guess it wasn’t really rock-n-roll after all but all the politicians you elected. Maybe allowing all of our industries to move overseas and not buying American wasn’t such a good idea. I know you don’t like illegal immigrants but you also don’t like picking the fruit and digging the potatoes yourself. How about the real issues of the Shriners and the 22 hospitals? Apathy is our worse enemy, but maybe as the years pass by, more Shriners will connect and we can rebuild this great fraternity.

Maybe we do talk too much and maybe we aren’t really saying anything. I think all this communication is better than not talking at all. At least with forums we can choose what to ignore and what to learn from. Sometimes we can depend on our Internet friends to be more supportive than people we see every day. I have four Internet friends that I have known for over ten years, we all live hundreds of miles apart. They are as close to me as the friends I have living in Tupelo.

Conclusion: We probably do talk too much but at least we are communicating. Maybe the lack of mass personal communication in the sixties and seventies is why the world is like it is now. We should encourage the exchange of free ideas and respectfully understand all people are entitled to their opinion. We should continue to read, continue to learn and continue to respect each other.

The only people that are wrong are the closed minded and the ones that use cheap dull knives.

Cheap Steel

This morning after the dog woke me up so I could let her go out; I sleepily sat down at the computer and started doing “my thing.” Checking e-mail and scanning the various news websites which is my version of reading the morning paper.

I then started writing for this blog and wrote a bunch of words, which I have since decided was total crap. Sometimes delete is nice, too bad I didn’t use it when I should had this week. I sent a harsh e-mail which some people totally agree and other think I owe an apology. I probably should apologize but I have realized that these people never apologize for their words or actions. I have been out of sorts all week and allowed my emotions to run wild. One reason I fiercely miss Milton Collier, he used to keep me from unloading on people. I think I am burned out and should have dropped out a couple of years ago.

I feel better now; tonight my wife and I went to dinner and a movie. We had good sushi at Kyoto and then saw Julie and Julia. Being a foodie, I was looking forward to seeing it. Meryl and Stanley were great and I even liked Amy Adams. If this movie doesn’t get a nomination or even award for costume design I will be very surprised; because if I noticed the costume design, it had to be impressive. One thing the movie did impress me with was an appreciation for real relationships.

I noticed the movie mentioned the use of carbon steel and stainless steel knives. In the era of Julia Child was in while she was writing her cookbook, she was right about stainless steel for knives wasn’t good. Things have changed since then. There are now steels out there that make very suitable knives which are in the stainless category. The carbon versus stainless argument does still exists in the knife world. I remember a time when you couldn’t get good knives made out of stainless and back in the sixties some of the better models came from England or Germany. Then American knife makers came around and now make some of the finest blades you can find. Even the Japanese make some very fine kitchen cutlery.

I like knives. Knives are ancient tools which also are pieces of art and products of technology. Design, choice of materials, heat treat and construction of each knife all play a part. A good knife will cost you, but is worth the expense. Now the really sad part is that some of the cheapest knives and some of the most used knives are kitchen knives. Do some research; find one or two “good” kitchen knives that feel right to you. Meaning when you hold the knife in your hand and you can imagine yourself using it, and it feels right, then consider it. Learn to use a good kitchen knife properly. Practice with it and learn how to take care of it. A word of caution, if you are used to using dull knives in the kitchen you can easily cut yourself when you start using a sharp one. You do not have to slice and dice at breakneck speed like you see on TV. If you can, fine, but I recommend using your knife which how you enjoy using it. The best part of owning and using a good kitchen knife is enjoying using one.

The most significant change in the knife industry in the last ten years has been the Internet. The Internet is riddled with websites and forums dealing with nothing but knives. You can find any type of production or custom knife imaginable now on-line. The Internet has benefited several knife makers and companies and even hurt others. A maker can’t put out a bad product or provide bad service without it becoming known worldwide in a matter of minutes. Plus you can find good knives for a better price if you are willing to look. It is amazing how much the Internet has altered the life of such a simple ancient tool.

By the way, don’t buy cheap weak knives with inferior steel.

One of the things I wanted to do with this blog is include the articles I write for the Lee County Shrine Club Newsletter. This is the one for the September 2009 issue about the Cincinnati Hospital...I hope you enjoy it...Melvin

Cincinnati Shriners Hospital for Children, Wow!

When you think about Cincinnati, Ohio, baseball or maybe even the famous Skyline chili comes to mind. When Shriners think about Cincinnati, we think of the award winning pediatric burn center that is part of our twenty-two Shriners Hospitals for Children system. This hospital, which is a thirty bed burn center, is nothing less than totally amazing. From the facility, medical staff, and the volunteers you will swell with major pride as a Shriner the minute you walk into the place.

Last week Ruben called me saying he needed someone to make a trip to Cincinnati with a patient. It wasn’t like he was sitting around on his hands; we already had two other trips to Shreveport to make. So I didn’t refuse him, besides I had never made a trip to a burn center and since Galveston was shut down for repairs, I wasn’t going to see one any sooner. I called my little brother, Noble Ross Ford, and told him to load up for two days of Kentucky bluegrass and Tennessee highways. Ross was the perfect choice for a co-driver because he knows the route and can tolerate two days in a car with me.

Hamasa wasn’t too familiar with the Cincinnati facility mainly because we normally transported patients to the Galveston Burn Center. Details like appointment schedules and hotels weren’t clear. Many of us had already seen the DVD produced by the Imperial Headquarters, so we knew they did quality work in Cincinnati. My first real experience with the Cincinnati facility involved a phone call to ask about which hotel Shrine Drivers use. I spoke to a very helpful and friendly lady named Belinda who not only gave me good information but also set me up with reservations. The experience started out on a high note, so I was excited about making the trip.

Thursday morning Ross and I picked up a 2010 minivan from Enterprise Rental; we loaded up and headed north. The minute we crossed the Tennessee state line we heard a little voice ask, “Are we there yet?” That began a two day trip of laughter and sightseeing green hills and tobacco farms the best we could from the road. Once we spotted that famous Cincinnati skyline we were able to settle in for a decent night’s sleep.

The outpatient clinic doesn’t start seeing patients until 1:00 PM because the doctors perform surgeries in the morning, so we didn’t have to rush Friday morning. We got to the hospital about 11:15 AM to sign in and have lunch. Once we walked into the lobby we were all impressed with how nice the place was and when we walked into the outpatient clinic, wow. We were all speechless on how wonderful this Shriners Hospital is, full of art work, murals and furnishings designed as a village. Here is a place for children who have suffered the most painful and horrific injuries can come to and be treated in an atmosphere of love, caring and happiness. Just the children I saw in the outpatient clinic will tear you up and make you swallow hard.

We were greeted by some extra friendly volunteers and staff, after we signed in we headed to the fifth floor for lunch in the cafeteria. Well, you can call it a cafeteria if you want, I think of it as a very nice restaurant with good food that I want to visit again. The food service people were grilling out on the rooftop patio as a special, so we got a nice lunch for free. I looked over the buffet and considered calling Ruben and telling him we had to stay through the weekend.

Once we finished with lunch, our patient was able to settle into the colorful play area at the clinic while Ross and I had the opportunity to talk to other Shriners and volunteers. I was able to meet with Louise Hoelker, the Director for Volunteers and Public Relations, who in spite of the fact she was extremely busy preparing for an open house the next day took the time to talk to us and e-mail me the information I requested. She set us with Wanda, a Lady Shriner and volunteer associated with Syrian Temple who gave us an informative tour of the facility along with a couple of Nobles from Tennessee. She told us about addressing the children as “sweet-pea” or “honey” because you couldn’t tell from the bandages if the child was a boy or a girl.

We found out that this “village” wasn’t just colorful impressive art work but a fully functional burn hospital. The Dress Shop was really Radiology and the Beauty Shop was administration. The Cobbler Shop was Orthotic Services and Garment Fabrication, where the special masks and custom fitted spandex garments are made to assist with healing and reducing burn scars. This “village” with hand-painted lettering that even impressed Ross, an accomplished artist himself, also houses accounting, human resources, and a school for the children; plus recreational areas divided by age group for the patients. The second and third floors also have patient rooms while fourth floor was research. They have a visual art department that photographs the healing process and produces other vital information. There is a muti-functioning auditorium for movies for the children, medical conferences and even Masonic meetings. We were shown the Shrine representative board room that also serves as the tele-medicine room for the doctors, saving us thousands in transportation costs.

This burn center has 350 employees and over 200 volunteers from students to Shrine Ladies and Nobles with an award winning transportation team. They also have a child-life program and a school re-entry program helping these young burn victims return to their homes and school as well as occupational and physical therapy units. Cincinnati Shriners Hospital provides a summer camp for our children as part of their family centered care allowing parents and family members to deal with every stage of treatment and recovery. As someone involved with various fund raising efforts I was impressed with the efficiently and overall utilization of the facility.

We normally don’t think about what is truly involved with a tragic and painful burn injury. We hear about it on the news, but don’t understand the devastating reality of a child being burned. Many of us are lucky enough not to have the experience, but for the ones that do suffer this painful tragedy, Shriners have a solution. Like all our Shrine Hospitals, Cincinnati is a special place that works miracles for children and families. Nobles I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for you to visit one of “YOUR” Hospitals and see what we really do and understand why so many of us are totally dedicated to being a Shriner.

As we crossed the Ohio River headed home, we heard a little voice say, “Are we in Mississippi yet?” and the laughter started again for a pleasant but long ride home, happy due to the positive experience in Cincinnati.

Angry for 2 days

I have been angry for two days. Experience has taught me not to expound when I am angry. I needed to cool off. I am still mad and still upset; but, at least I don’t have the desire to publicly call people idiots. They still are idiots but at least I didn’t say it in anger. I don’t feel the need to lay out details or lash out something I may regret later.

Some people understand and some do not; there are some that you could puree the truth into a smoothie pour it down their throat and they still wouldn’t get it. I just don’t think decisions should be made based upon “prediction” or “opinion” but actual facts. Bypassing the efforts it will take to gather actual factual data is irresponsible. No, many of you have no idea what I am talking about, but I refuse to discolor something I really believe in because of “internal” disagreements.

Now what to do? At the moment I am convinced I should back off and allow the downward trend to continue and step off the train now. This has worked for me before both with good results and bad results. One time I flatly refused to throw my supervisor under the bus because it was untrue and wrong. I was warned I could lose my job, but I refused to participate in empire building by making a false report. It was wrong and I refused to be wrong even though it hurt me personally.

A second time I set back and allowed my supervisor to destroy himself. His bossed ask me why I didn’t call and report him. My answer was, “It wasn’t my job to supervise him; it was your job.” I also told him that I refused to cut the guy’s throat because I wanted his job. He said I would have gotten his job if I had reported him. My response was that I wanted his job because I was qualified for the job and not because I caused my former supervisor to lose his job.

Now I feel I should step back and let the idiots have it. The only problem I see with this plan is that normally narcissistic people don’t learn from their own mistakes and tend to blame others. Basically I am burnt out and frustrated. I feel I have done too much in the past and people have grown to depend on me for what I will do and don’t realize actually what I do for them. Like today I asked, “Where are we having the district meeting? I have a newsletter to finish.” I was told “I’ll find out.” Then I was told we were having the meeting “At that place on the side of the highway. “ I asked three times, “What is the name of the restaurant?”
“Oh you know that place by the highway in Booneville.”
“BUT, what is the name of the place??”
“I don’t’ remember but the guy is not normally open on Tuesday.”
“I still need the name.”
To his credit he did call me later and tell me the name of the place. I was frustrated by the thought of making an announcement for a meeting with just “That place on the side of the highway, Yawl come.” Plus I am still in a bad mood. So all I was seeing was the negative.

I get a lot of credit and praises for my newsletter, but I don’t think people really know what level of effort it takes. I just want people to realize I need time and have a deadline and just once not to have to chase down the information that needs to be put out. Burnt out is probably the main problem.

On a happier note, I have an article done about my trip to the Cincinnati Shriners Hospital for Children, a pediatric burn center. The work these people for children is amazing. I wish all Shriners could see and realize the real work of these hospitals, and some of them that have seen have obviously forgotten. We don’t realize how lucky we are until you see a child age four or five wearing pressure garments on her head and face from a burn injury.

Now I need to figure out how to be mad and supportive all at the same time.

Newsletter Mode....

Newsletter Mode is code for "I'm Writing, I'm creating, so DO NOT be surprised if I seem insane, rude, frazzled or even crazier than normal.

Taking something from a blank page to a finished product is a labor of love. I can get snappy if I am disturbed during this process....Christy fully understands now and doesn't get offended when my answer to her "What ya doing?" query is, "I'm Writing." This newsletter has several elements that require balance and tweaking into the size and format I need. Yesterday, I took an article about my Cincinnati trip out of my head and wrote it down. One of the challenges was to get the entire article on one legal size page. The font size matters and getting the photograph(s) to fit in just so can take a lot of patience....

I send out several copies of this newsletter all over and sometimes as I am sticking the mailing labels on and bundling it for bulk mail I wonder if certain people actually read the thing. I have had several people tell me they enjoy it, but it isn't a pat on the back I am looking for. I want to know if they are impacted by my words. Are they getting the message? Many times I am tempted to include something totally off the wall just to get a reaction, but when I got distracted several years ago while laying out the calendar and placed Christmas on the wrong day, only one called me about it. Some said they never noticed. I guess it is like any publication, some read all of it, some part and some never find the time. People do what they want to do and their interest belongs to what ever truly interests them.

When I get in "Newsletter Mode" all I think about is the newsletter with the various elements and layout. I have a deadline for mailing it which means I have to have it written, proofread, printed, folded, labeled and bundled for bulk mail. Now bulk mail has to be folded a particular way with the proper labeling components. Many times I face writer's block and procrastinate getting it done until it will flow on the pages. Driving away from the post office the afternoon it is mailed includes a sigh of relief and a realization I now have to start thinking about the next month's issue....Putting together a monthly newsletter includes lots of pacing, loss of sleep, small self-rewards for items completed and proof-reading, re-reading, reading out-loud to myself, and zoning out.....

Being it is a Shrine Club newsletter the focus is limited somewhat, even though after I include the meeting notice and calendar, I basically have free reign. Normally I have steadfastly refused to allow anyone to pre-approve my work. This year I have allowed that more than ever. I allowed the PR lady see my article about the Cincinnati Hospital for fact checking, she did and corrected the number of volunteers I had listed and said she liked the article. I have allowed this year's Shrine Club President see articles before publication more than any before, basically because he can check the accuracy of the item and doesn't tell me how to write. (I must be slipping, letting people approve of my work.)

Sometimes I feel like I am just being a "Rah-Rah" cheerleader for the Shrine. I want people to get involved, but on their terms and really want to participate. I can't transform them into that wheelchair, walker, braces or even burn garment. Getting people to fully understand why we do what we really do is hard and confusing. Shriners are one organization divided into two sections, the fraternal and the philanthropy. Getting our own members to understand that is a chore all in itself. We don't live close to a Shriners Hospital, so many of our members don't get to see our true cause. Like any organization, club or group there are internal politics and dynamics which further complicates matters and the chief cause of our loss of membership. Humans are human, but that is another blog post.

Now to get back to creating another newsletter, I still need program, meal and transportation information...I'll wrangle it out of them...Plus I have to travel to Meridian today for a Hamasa meeting. As previously stated, or at least thought, I plan on posting my feature articles I write for my newsletter into the blog, you never know.

Until then, stay well and be kind...