My August 2010 Article

One of the primary reasons I had my daughter set this blog page up for me was so I could post the articles I write for the monthly Lee County Shrine Club newsletter. Some months I don't have an article, I use a photo page or like last month just sent out a short notification and calendar newsletter. I started sending out this newsletter about ten years ago. back then the club had a by-law that required a monthly meeting notice to be mailed out to our membership. When the late Milton Collier got me back involved with the Shriners, he asked me to take over this meeting notice in the form of a monthly newsletter. His only requirements was the meeting notice information and a calendar. It grew from a simple black & white copy to the four page legal size issue it is now. Several years the club purchased a HP 4600 color laser printer and I self-print it monthly on 24 pound paper. I have received several requests from people to be on the mailing list, good thing we have a bulk mail permit.

This month's (August 2010) issue was very personal due to the article. These children we treat at the Shriners Hospital for Children are very sacred to us. Milton loved these kids as much as anyone and his compassion and dedication to these children has carried on past his death through the Nobles that knew him well. I know privacy issues prevent us from discussing the medical factors of our children or even publicly mention their name. I obtained permission from the parents to share this article with my readers. I appreciate her parents for allowing me to share this with people. Her death is very sad but her life was a blessing.

Emily Grace: 1999 - 2010

Being a Shriner and involved with the transportation program puts you in contact with the very children we so adamantly seek to help. One such child was little Emily Grace Jenkins. Normally we don’t talk about the individual particulars of our children but in this case I have permission from the parents. Still the details of her medical conditions are not necessary for this article. Emily was born with several medical conditions that gravely affected her life. We lost little Emily in May of this year; she was ten years old. If there has ever been an angel on Earth, Emily Grace was that angel. I can confidently say that everyone that was in contact with her was truly blessed by knowing her.

I first met little Emily in 2002, Vance and I were transporting three children to the Shreveport Shriners Hospital for Children. The Shreveport hospital specializes in pediatric orthopedic conditions. This was Emily’s first visit and we had a van full of folks. Emily’s mother had an arm in a cast so it was a good thing we allowed both parents to go on the first trip. Her parents told us that Emily had several medical conditions from birth and said that she didn’t ride to well in a car seat. Naturally we replied as always that we could stop anytime we needed, traveling down the day before the appointments gave us all day to get there. Emily did fairly well, but just like her parents had warned, we had to stop ever so often and get the child out of her car seat. All in all it wasn’t a bad trip and with three patients, four parents and two Shriners we obviously didn’t run out of discussion topics and even had a few laughs. We were eleven miles from our final exit on a busy four lane highway with nowhere to pull over and Emily got to crying needing to get out of the car seat. The whole van was in tears, saying “Hold on Emily we will be there real soon.” We couldn’t get to our exit fast enough. No one wanted her to be in discomfort.

That evening when the whole group went out for supper, Vance offered to hold Emily so her parents could enjoy their meal. At that time Vance had a baby girl about the same age at home and his empathy level was way up. After about two seconds of holding little Emily, Vance fell totally in love with her and declared he was keeping her. He held that child the rest of the evening. Even though my own daughter was an adult by that time, I vividly remembered what it was like to hold something that precious in your arms. Neither Vance nor I have ever forgotten that experience.

The next morning we got everyone to the Shreveport Shriners Hospital for Children without any difficulty. While Vance and I were sitting in the lobby waiting for our charges to be seen by the doctors, Emily’s mother came out from the examination and treatment area in tears. Vance and I were very alarmed by this; normally the hospital lobby is a happy place full of playing children, parents, Nobles, hospital staff and volunteers. We asked her what was wrong and she told us that they were x-raying her baby. I was confused, especially since I had personally been x-rayed a couple of hundred times and knew there was nothing to it. I remember Vance saying that he was pretty sure that an x-ray didn’t hurt her. Emily’s mother wiped her tears and said, “You don’t understand, no one has ever x-rayed her before, they didn’t care about her legs.” With all the doctors and medical professionals that had seen little Emily since birth and knowing about all of her medical problems, these so called “professionals” had not bothered to find out what was causing this baby so much discomfort. This child was born in 1999 and it was now 2002; even with her mother asking them to x-ray her “they” didn’t see the need. I guess they figured that the child would never walk anyway, why bother. Emily’s mother was crying because finally someone was trying to help her child.

What these long overdue x-rays showed was that Emily’s hips were dislocated and most likely had been since birth. No wonder the poor baby didn’t like riding in a car seat. The Shreveport Shriners Hospital doctors performed surgery on Emily and fixed her hips. Emily made several more trips to Shreveport and I personally drove her two more times. The bad car seat days were over and you could not ask for a sweeter child to transport. Shriners did something to improve her quality of life. Even with all of her medical conditions, a Shriners Hospital made a difference. Being a person myself with an orthopedic condition, I do know what relief from pain means. I also understand what it is like to finally be able to walk across a room means. As an adult, I really have a lot of empathy for these children we treat. Think about it, you are in pain yet you are unable to communicate the cause of that pain for yourself. What would it mean if someone finally seeks to bring you relief?

The last trip I drove to Shreveport with Emily was less than a year before we lost her. We were riding along, I was being my normal self carrying on telling some crazy story or such when I hear Emily laugh. This laughter confused me because she was usually so quiet. Her mother explained that it was the tone of my voice and certain words I said that made her laugh. Talk about a blessing from heaven. That sweet child’s laughter touched the very essence of your soul. It really made me feel good to know that I had brought some joy into her life.

We are very saddened by losing Emily on this Earth but I believe that she is on that higher plane watching us. She surely knows what a Shriner is and every time one of us seeks to help a child, Emily is there. We may not be able to fix all of a child’s problems, but we can do what we can to improve their quality of life. Shriners help thousands of children each year from all over the world. We do not ever take any child for granted, they all are very important to us. Many people were blessed by knowing Emily Grace. She will forever be remembered. She will forever be loved.

Emily Grace Jenkins: October 16, 1999 – May 27, 2010
Memorials can be made to the Shriners Hospital for Children or the Hamasa Transportation fund in memory of Emily Grace Jenkins. Please contact the Hamasa Recorder’s Office at (601) 693-1361

Newsletter Mode….Turkey pastrami

I am 80% finished with the August 2010 Lee County Shrine Club newsletter. I have all of this stuff floating in my head and trying to determine how I will get what is left squeezed in. A lot of writing is editing and a lot of editing is cutting down on the extra fluff and repetitiveness that slips from your fingertips. Plus I had a few extra projects to knock out this week. One was the meat sale tickets for our Shrine Club. We will be cranking up the ole cooker again and selling Boston butts, ribs and briskets for Labor Day. I generated an order form with individual order numbers to keep things straight, but I bet there will still be a level of frustration present.

My article this month is something I had in my head for a couple of months. Since I didn’t produce a full newsletter last month I had to save it for August. It is one of those Shriner Hospital success stories but very sad as well. I got permission from the parents to run the article and they even sent me a photo to use. This sweet girl had a lot of medical problems but at least the Shriners Hospital for Children in Shreveport was able to make some improvement in her life. We lost her at the age of ten, but she will forever be remembered. I plan to post this article in this blog after I complete the newsletter.

I have been tied up with various projects and a trip to Cincinnati with a Shrine patient. I took another driver with me from the Pontotoc Shrine Club so he would be able to make more trips giving us more trained drivers to rely on. I handled our local transportation program while our chairman was in Toronto at the Imperial Shrine Session. That is a full time job. Many of our members and even leaders take these dedicated drivers for granted and the importance of what they give to our philanthropy is trivialized. I am thinking of a way to elevate the level of awareness of our transportation program and volunteer drivers.

I am back to reading. I recently read Anthony Bourdain’s latest “Medium Raw.” It was a follow up book to his popular “No Reservations.” I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed “No Reservations.” In spite of his past and his strong opinions Bourdain can write. I would recommend Bourdain to any “foodie” that likes read.

Another good book for any “foodie” is “Heat” by Bill Buford. I found this book in the bargain book section of a book store. It was actually a library book from Ontario, Canada.

The full title for this book is “Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany.” After some on-line searching I have found where “Heat” has already been optioned for a movie. Mario Batali has said he wants Philip Seymour Hoffman to play him in the movie. Maybe it will make it and maybe not. I did enjoy the book and found some if the details of happenings in a three star kitchen to be revealing. One character mentioned in Bourdain’s book was also a subject in “Heat.” Both of these books give a good insight to the world of high class New York restaurants and the inside world of food. I do like Bourdain’s attitude towards fast food and his acknowledgement of needing to straighten his life out when he became a father. I am also glad I picked up the bargain book to read following Bourdain's latest.

While I am on the subject of food, I have enjoyed the new web page Food Network Humor. http://www.foodnetworkhumor.com/
These gals also have a free podcast and have a good time laughing it up at the expense of Food Network celebrities. They are also on Facebook and Twitter. Some of the stuff they post does make sense.

I am currently reading the new Daniel Silva book “The Rembrandt Affair” but I haven’t gotten enough into it to give any type of review comment. I expect it to be good based on his books in the past. I have enjoyed all of his previous work. Daniel Silva has become one of my favorite authors and I have been waiting for this new novel to come out. Waiting for the bargain rack won't do in this case, it was off to the book store on the release date for this one. I will admit I used the coupon Barnes & Noble e-mailed me for the purchase. So far what little I read from his latest work is right on track.

While on the subject of books, my wife and I paid a little visit to the Goodwill bookstore on McCullough Boulevard in Tupelo. It was pretty neat. It had a lot of decent books along with the normal stuff you would expect from donations. Some neat cookbooks to boot. The store was clean and well organized. We donated a few boxes of stuff to Goodwill and the guy was out to the car and had us unloaded in seconds. Goodwill has really stepped up their game. The people working at donation drop-offs have ten seconds to get to your vehicle. My wife has a friend that is the manager of the Corinth Goodwill store and this company is doing things to make them a major player in the retail market, all with donated goods. This bookstore is a pretty good place for a person that likes books.

Our dog has been driving us crazy; she has been sick again and spent another costly week at the vet. We already have to give her Phenobarbital for seizures and now she has to be on stomach medicine for her irritable bowel disorder. She is much better now because she has gone back to being annoying and spoiled rotten.

I do have one rant to express. We bought some sandwich meat at the grocery store, turkey pastrami. It’s not bad and low fat. I noticed the container was empty, my wife having finished it off, so I went to remove the label and dispose of the container. I like to save these plastic containers but when I am not looking my wife will slip them in the recycle bin. I noticed the label that they stick to the lid had “recipe idea on back” listed on it. Cool, I like recipes and wondered what they had cooked up to make with turkey pastrami. The recipe was for a turkey pastrami sandwich.
What?
Well duh? Who would have ever thought to make a sandwich with deli sliced sandwich meat? Have you ever needed a recipe to make a sandwich? I told my wife I was going to e-mail them and ask if they thought consumers were so stupid we needed a recipe to make a sandwich with sandwich meat. The recipe even lists to use two slices of bread. Damn, glad they clued us in on that. Maybe this time I won’t get mustard all over my hands. Two slices, who would of thought? You think someone stuck their head in the door of the marketing department on a Friday afternoon and said, “You guys get a recipe sent over to labeling for the turkey pastrami and you’re done for the day.” Poof, recipe done, sees ya Monday. Maybe I should e-mail them and ask about the recipe. Stating I am confused because they listed “dill pickles, sliced” in their recipe but they didn’t specify if it should be the crinkle cut pickles or the straight cut ones. Wait, could they mean the “sandwich” sliced pickles? It says to use two ounces of the sliced dill pickles, now I have to go out and buy a scale just to make a sandwich. Plus the recipe calls for three ounces of turkey pastrami per sandwich and there is only eight ounces in the package. So I either have to waste two ounces of meat after two sandwiches or I have to buy a total of three packages of deli sliced meat to make it even out. How in the heck am I supposed to eat eight turkey pastrami sandwiches? Wonder how they would respond to a lawsuit for mental anguish because of their recipe? Probably the same way most folks respond to my craziness. By the way I am keeping this recipe, you never know.

Concasse?

I got the July Lee County Shrine Club newsletter in the mail yesterday. No article this month either, I sent out a one page newsletter. A one pager means one legal size sheet of the 24 pound paper printed on both sides with the calendar on the back with the address header. We aren’t meeting in July, due to the holiday week and people being gone. Attendance would be very low. Plus our main cook will be in Toronto at the Imperial Shrine session. I have an idea for an article about the ten year old girl that passed away last month. She was a Shrine Hospital patient with more problems since birth than you can imagine. She was a sweet kid though and I have to get it down just right to satisfy me on the article. I already have approval from the parents to write something.

Funny thing happened last week. On Tuesday, while Christy was on vacation after the store inventory, I went after us some lunch. She was focusing on house cleaning stuff, like getting rid of stuff and cleaning up her scrapbook room. I went to Subway for a couple of sandwiches. This was about 11:45 AM and the Subway on West Main & North Thomas was packed. I was in line and I ordered two ham & turkey subs and while I was waiting for all the toppings, she girl behind the counter was telling the guy in front of me that he could get two sandwiches because it was “Two for Tuesday.” He said he didn’t want a second sandwich but she insisted, so he gave in and said he could feed it to his dog or throw it away. Good deal, Two for Tuesday, right? I was getting two sandwiches, so I wanted a free one.

When I got to the register to pay I asked, “Two for Tuesday, right?”
“No, that doesn’t apply on the ham & turkeys, they have to be melts.”
Then she said, “You can add bacon and get one for free, that would make them a melt.”
I was confused. How could adding to “their food costs” make me qualify for a discount? I didn’t want the bacon. My doctor wants me to cut down on fat and salt. So I said “Okay” and paid full price for both sandwiches. When I got home I stewed on this and it made me mad. The guy in front didn’t even want a second sandwich and they insisted he take the extra one for free. I started looking at the Subway web-site and saw that the sandwiches I ordered were the “healthy” ones. So I guess eating better costs more and you can get free food if you eat extra bacon.

I sent them an e-mail through their contact section. I told them where and what I ordered including the store number and receipt number from my purchase. I simply asked them why adding to their food costs would qualify me for a discount. I also told them that the guy in front of me didn’t even want a free sandwich but the counter girl insisted he take it anyway but then refused to give me a free sandwich unless I added bacon.

I have only contacted a company a couple of times before. One was a true complaint and one was just for grins. I contacted Hardees a few years back after seeing a girl doctor another girl’s new tattoo on the food line. I was at the drive-thru waiting on my order. Someone from Hardees called me and told me they would be taking care of this and he said I was the kind of customer they wanted.

The other time was over a TV commercial. It was a Healthy Choice commercial; the actor tasted this soup and put his soup back in the pot of soup. It’s a commercial, no real harm to anyone, but I was tempted to contact someone. I did a little research and found out the brand was owned by Con-Agra Foods and sent them an e-mail. It was about four months later; I thought they had ignored the crazy guy from Mississippi when I got a response e-mail. The e-mail explained that their company was all for food safety and it was just a commercial and they were only actors. I saw the commercial later and they had cut out the returning spoon part. That was funny.

A manager from Subway called me the next morning. He said he had received my e-mail, read it and said he agreed with me. He said, “I’m sorry some of our employees are stupid.” He said they might as well wrap up a dollar and given it to me. He also went to explain that the “Two for Tuesday” promotion was for melts and if he tried to explain any exceptions that would only make it worse, because some of their employees were stupid. He told me to simply order a “melt” and hold the bacon and/or cheese. Then I could get the ham & turkey sandwiches I wanted. He agreed with me completely and told me he was going to send me some coupons. I told him I was looking for anything in the way of compensation, I just wanted to understand how adding to their food costs would qualify me for a free sandwich. He still sent me three coupons for free six-inch subs. I gave them to Christy to use when she has a short lunch from work. Now I feel obligated to have a “good” experience at Subway and e-mail him and tell him about the good part to balance out everything. So on Tuesday, order a “melt” and simply tell them to hold whatever you don’t want.

O concassed a tomato, actually a couple of tomatoes now. To “concasse” actually means to “peel seed & chop.” I like the word. I was watching Julia Child on the new Cooking Channel and she mentioned “peel, seeding & chopping” tomatoes but she never used the word “concasse.” I guess many people are doing something fancy named while cooking but never realize there is a fancy word for the process. I heard Martha Stewart mention once that if you love your family you will peel your tomatoes. The old boiling water and ice water plunge really works well. So I guess if you love your family you will boil some water. I have found if you get into the habit of doing the little things right every time, it won’t seem like a bother. Using decent cookware and a good sharp knife also helps.

I am growing some basil along with my pepper plants this year. I am growing it in a plastic window box type pot and it has done really well. That fresh basil plucked off the plants just before you use it is amazing. The flavor is so nice. I am finding stuff to cook that I can use it in now. I was whooping up me a quick lunch the other day after I finished printing the newsletter. I chopped an onion, garlic and some of my mild peppers and one jalapeño. I started to sweat that then concassed a tomato and threw it into the mix. Then I tossed in a can of herring filets in tomato sauce that I found at Big Lots. You can tell Christy was at work, because she would never eat something with herring filets. While my herring sauce was simmering I cooked up some linguine noodles and had one heck of good lunch. I used fresh grated parmesan also. I know buying real parmesan cheese of good quality seems to cost more, but in the long run it tastes better and you get more cheese than you will out of some container of fake filler parmesan product.

This morning I made my version of caprese bruschetta. Caprese (kah-PREH-seh) is a mixture of tomatoes, basil, olive oil and mozzarella. I added some onions, peppers and garlic though. But I got to concasse another tomato and use some more fresh basil. The only side effect is I now sound like an Olive Garden. The bruschetta was tasty though.

I am reading Anthony Bourdain’s new book “Medium Raw.” It’s pretty good and I agree with a lot of things he has to say. Some people might not like him but the man can write. Maybe this book is what has me thinking about cooking and food. Now if I can break my Facebook farming obsession for a while. Why this virtual farming is so habit forming I don’t know, but it seems a lot of people are wrapped up in it. I see a group called Farming Anonymous coming up. People addicted to virtual gaming to a point it controls their lives. People that don’t drink, do drugs, or gamble but have lost everything because their grapes were due. We are destined to become a society of “weebles” sitting at home in front of a computer screen plowing and planting. So I guess the cure it to sit around blogging about peeling seeding and chopping a tomato, CONCASSE!

By the way, here is a link to a whole encyclopedia of pasta.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pasta

More Blogging for the sake of blogging; Don’t Panic

A while later….
I guess I am not as good as a blogger as some, but it isn’t a job and I am sure that my readers number in the few. But I do appreciate the ones that actually read my blog and I would hate to make tolerating my musings to be a daily chore. I have been involved in reading a book which for some reason inhibits my desire to write anything; kind of like I don’t have anything to say yet because I am not finished with this book.

My regiment of daily blood pressure pills affect my ability to rest, because I am supposed to take this one pill twice a day and it makes me sleepy. Taking it during the day creates a problem staying awake then you don’t sleep through the night. Reading has helped. Now I am awake in the middle of the night drinking a pot of Community Coffee, half New Orleans blend and half Between Roast laced with Half & Half, it’s good.

I have several things to do today to prepare for my trip this Sunday and Monday to Shreveport transporting a couple of kids to the Shriners Hospital for Children located there. Making these trips does take up two days of your life but it also recharges my Shriner batteries. I am taking another Shriner with me so he can be ready to help out with our transportation program. It will be two full days and I also have a meeting in Starkville Tuesday night. I have a lodge meeting Monday night and hope to get back in time to make it to lodge. My Facebook activity will slow down except for what I read and post from my phone. At least my wife will have some quality computer time while I am gone. I wonder if Facebook will shrivel much while I am gone? (facetious question by the way)

My wife is baking a cake for her grandmother’s birthday tonight, so I will be cooking supper for her this evening. I am planning on fixing roast beef, steamed asparagus and roasted potatoes, carrots with onion. I have been trying to figure out how to use some of the fresh basil I have growing on the back porch, so I might fix a simple baked tomato with fresh basil and mozzarella. After looking at Mark Bittman’s iPhone application “How to Cook Everything” I will probably use lemon zest and lemon juice to dress up my steamed asparagus. I like cooking for my wife and making her happy. She is a good wife. I know, because I have experienced a bad wife. Now to have to kitchen clear and oven ready when she starts the cake baking. Her plan is to have it for Sunday to take to the nursing home. This is by request from her father, so I am glad she is able to bake one for the occasion.

I have been reading the “Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” which is five complete novels and one story all by Douglas Adams. Amazing writing, it is totally original and fun. I bought this “classic” edition a few years ago, but kept pushing aside until lately when I was looking for something to read until Daniel Silva’s latest novel come out in July. I should have read this collection of work long ago. Like all good books this one is an experience; one of a different caliber more “avant-garde” than you will normally find. I can understand how the various series of this work became so popular. “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” is a book that needs to be experienced; it will blow your mind.

I am almost done with the fourth novel part and about ready to put it down for a bit. Mainly for two reasons, one my brain needs a break from the wild ride this writing generates and secondly I am anxious to start two other books on the food world. One is the recent “Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook” by Anthony Bourdain. I enjoyed his “Kitchen Confidential” book so I had to get his latest book just published. Bourdain may piss a lot of people off, but the man can write. His No Reservations series on the Travel Channel is enjoyable as well. I don’t get the Travel Channel on my cable but I can see his shows though the On Demand portion, which is better, low commercial content. I previewed the first pages of this book the other night while waiting on a computer to update at my bother-in-law’s house and I’m expecting it to be another good read.

The second book I have on deck is “Heat: an amateur's adventures as kitchen slave, line cook, pasta maker, and ...” by Bill Buford. I hadn’t heard of this one and found it in the bargain book section; actually it was a resold library book from a library in Ontario. I think I paid three dollars for it or something. Sorry Bill, I guess you don’t have Bourdain’s connections, but the other day I also saw Hemingway in the bargain section. From what I have previewed in the book it should prove interesting, especially for a foodie person. When I Googled the book, I found it got decent reviews; I guess I will find out. I will probably read the Bourdain book first.

I am a cookbook fanatic. I always look though the cookbook section of a bookstore and I have five or six iPhone cookbook applications on my phone. While looking at an Ina Garten thirty-five dollar slick page edition I found a Moosewood cookbook next to it that looked really interesting. With what I already own plus the vast resources provided by the Internet and my phone, I don’t usually need to buy a lot of cookbooks anymore. I guess Ina is going to have to get an App like Tyler Florence has now. I can’t even find Ina on Twitter and I thought everyone was on Twitter. I guess living in the Hamptons means you have so much money you don’t need to tell people what you are doing every day.

The Food Network is all over Twitter and Facebook, the Food Network Twitter account has over 136,000 followers but the much more interesting part is that they are following 1098 different people and groups on Twitter. Is there someone at the Food Network monitoring all of these Tweets? Is it them just participating in the on line world by clicking on everything food related or corporate paranoia? I wonder if Monday morning a report will be on someone’s desk at the Food Network that will include that Melvin from Mississippi used lemon zest on his asparagus this weekend. Probably not but they are following Britney Spears and Conan O’Brian though.

The sun is up, my wife left for work and I made more coffee. Kharma Jean the Phenobarbital dog is on the couch after her morning dose wondering why I didn’t share my rye bread toast with her. After six hundred dollars in vet bills in the last six weeks, she is going to eat that blankety-blank expensive dog food we had to buy.

I haven’t written anymore articles for my Shrine Club newsletter lately because I had photographs from the fishing rodeo for June and we aren’t meeting in July, so I will put out a single page July edition. I have one in my head, but it isn’t totally created. This past month I went to a funeral home visitation of a ten year old girl I knew as a Shrine patient. She had several things medically wrong with her from birth. I want to write something about her but the sadness of her life and loss is overwhelming. She didn’t talk and was blind but she was a pure angel. I felt real bad for her parents, whom are also nice people. I am not sure how to write down what I am thinking and feeling about her. She obviously touched a lot of lives because the funeral home was full of people.

This has been Shriners International Awareness week, I hope many were aware. I am going to drive a couple of children to Shreveport tomorrow for their appointments Monday. I am aware of what we do for children. Time to start my day…..

Blogging for the sake of blogging; books and reading

I just finished another novel, Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel. He is the one that wrote the famous Life if Pi; which I consider one of the best and most interesting books I have read. I purchased Beatrice and Virgil solely because I remembered how much I enjoyed reading Life of Pi. This one was different, thought provoking, deeply symbolic and totally unexpected. I wouldn’t say it was one of the top five best books I have ever read, but I will definitely remember this one. It was actually exhausting in the middle, tiring out your mind and thoughts while attempting to reason just what direction the author is leading you. I wondered how the author was able to come up with all the images and metaphors that are detailed in the words of this book. The one line from Beatrice and Virgil that really hit me was “Those who carry a knife and a pear are never afraid of the dark.” Wow, what a thought; how many ways can this phrase be interpreted by readers? His description of a pear was a beautiful use of the English language and a brilliant piece of writing. The jacket cover describes this one as a “novel” but to me it isn’t novel at all, it is “literature.” I think a person really has to enjoy reading before they would enjoy and appreciate this particular book. Yann Martel’s work should be studied and learned from.

I guess not all books written today are for profit or a potential movie script. I think reading different styles of books and various authors increase a person’s range in enjoying a book. Can a person appreciate and truly enjoy modern day written novels without first reading authors from the past? Can you appreciate the success in story telling without having read works by James A. Michener? Can you get as much out of a novel without having experienced a Morris West novel? I think personally that I enjoy the books I read now which are written within the past decade more because I have previously read several authors from the past fifty years. I also think reading various types of novels and books also widen my enjoyment of the books I now choose. I believe I was able to grasp Beatrice and Virgil easier not because I had read Life of Pi but more because I have also read Watership Down by Richard Adams years ago.

I recommend anyone that likes action/mystery novels also read the three book Big Stone Gap series by Adriana Trigiani. Why does a series of personal growth/semi-romance novels help with novels of a different genre? The character development and storytelling without the drama of an action sequence or blood curdling mystery broadens your sense of the human experience. Like taste buds if you don’t widen your range of foods and flavor profiles you can dull your palate. I think one of the most poignant factors of Beatrice and Virgil is Yann Martel’s statements about the mixture of fiction and non-fiction books.

Reading and books are very personal, which probably keeps the book publishing and book selling business successful in this modern “e-world.” We should encourage the reading and development of the written word. Good storytelling is timeless and the great stories will never leave us. I feel sorry for those who can’t read a good book and I pity those who refuse to read. I hate it when someone says, “I can’t read that, it is a thousand pages.” A good book has no page count and some books make you wish it contained many more pages of that fulfilling story and captivating plot. When I read Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog by Ted Kerasote nothing about the page count, book size, or any physical attribute of the book mattered. The pure emotion and totally engrossing story of this dog took over. Humans should read this book; it will affect you if you are human.

I admire people that can make a living writing. My son-in-law and I recently joked about Nora Roberts having either a herd of trained typing monkeys or a room full of slave labor literature majors cranking out pages of her many juicy romance novels. Maybe it is trained monkeys shooting out pages to slave-editors all who previously had huge gambling debts paid off by Nora. Well it obviously works for her and she is successful. I am at the book store purchasing Nora’s latest for my bride as soon as it hits the shelves. My wife consumes Nora Roberts’ books almost as fast as Nora can crank them out. If she is happy, I’m happy and I bet Nora’s publisher is also happy. He probably doesn’t mind the searing pain from the “I heart Nora” brand on his butt as he rides to the bank in his Bentley. I will give my wife credit; she has and does read other authors than Nora and other than just romance. People that are making a good living writing novels have a skill and I admire this skill. Badly written books help make good books good. Mediocre books make well written books shine even brighter. Authors that can maintain a steady course of enjoyable novels, well written with new elements mixed with the remembered pleasure of the past are the ones keeping book stores in business. When a reader finds one or two of these steady authors, they are truly happy.

Novels are almost organic and reveal much about the author. A person that produces a successful novel which receives public and critical success will unveil their true personality in their following offerings. I have read several “first” novels. I look for these in the bargain books sections. Speaking from a purely speculative aspect I am of the opinion that this “first” novel requires more effort on the author’s part with more personal pressure to not only produce a well written original book but a manuscript that will initially make it past a publisher’s set of hurdles and blockades into print. First novels are interesting to read. When an author doesn’t have tags like “Best Selling” or “Author of” on the covers items such as the title, cover art, and the synopsis written in the jacket cover can be the book’s only selling points. Just getting published is such a feat that it prevents many from even trying, like me. Remember John Kennedy Toole and his Pulitzer Prize winning book A Confederacy of Dunces? It was published eleven years after the author’s suicide. Supposedly he committed suicide after failing to get his book published. First novels reveal the authors raw talent, inexperience, and desire to tell a story. They also have an element which convinced a publisher to spend money. The following works of that author prints how history will remember them.

When and if an author hits the big time, the truth unfolds. That’s when he or she will continue to captivate the readers or the author will let their ego overrun. I have read both, ones successful in writing more good books and those that only sold because of a marketing campaign. In books, art and music you can tell when the creator of such has forgotten what it is like to be hungry. Fame and fortune has ruined a many a poor boy. What is the old cliché? You rise to the level of your incompetence?

Yann Martel brings this to mind in his recent book. I guess I was expecting the same magic in Beatrice and Virgil that I found in Life of Pi. I found something completely unexpected and very though provoking. I can’t really say if the book was good or bad; my thoughts on completing the book was that Martel is a genius that has managed to create new literature for the world. I am glad that I bought the book. Now will the next book I pick up impact my life or disappoint? I guess we will have to find out.

Editorial Note: Tradition versus Change – Together we are winning!

Editorial Note to the Editorial Note: This is my May 2010 Lee County Newsletter article. Its not as long because in the newsletter I included some photographs from the ball. I was a day late on mailing it out due to running out of black toner and having to wait for more to arrive. I usually try to get it in the bulk mail on the Tuesday one week before our regular club meeting night which is the first Tuesday of each month. The original intent of the club newsletter was to serve as a meeting notice for our regular meetings. Ten years ago or so the late Milton Collier asked me to turn this meeting notice into a full blown newsletter and it has been part of my life ever since.

I guess as long as I stay away from controversial subjects everyone is happy. I am tempted to tackle various topics just to get a "rise" out of folks. Sometimes I feel I am repeating myself with too much "Rah Rah Go Shriners" rhetoric. I feel people are numb to the message that we true believers often repeat. It's hard to get people to look up from their busy lives and see the truth behind the work Shriners Hospitals do for children. It's not just about funding our efforts to aid children but more of a total awareness of how important these orthopedic and burn centers are to families all over the world.

I find that the women usually are the first to read my newsletter. Sometimes I think that many of the men bypass reading it, especially when they ask about an even that was clearly and boldly detailed in the latest issue. Oh well, Shriners are human too. I personally feel that if we, as Shriners, could find a way to "officially" involve the women our fraternity would profit greatly. The women involved with our club and Hamasa Shriners are our greatest asset. The men and our children truly benefit from their participation. The "Together we are winning" is a quote from our 2010 Potentate at our last meeting held in Tupelo.

So here is my latest offering to my mailing list, all 377 of them. I did have a lovely onion frittata this morning made with Shriners vidalia onions, yum.

Tradition versus Change - Together we are winning!

If you missed the 2010 Hamasa Potentate’s Ball you missed a good time. It was reminiscent of traditional days of old with a large hint of things to come. This was most likely the last Potentate’s Ball to be held in the historic Hamasa Shrine Temple Theatre ball room in Meridian. The path is laid for our new Hamasa Shriners home in Marion, MS bordering Meridian. We are facing balancing the traditions of the past with moves into the future. Our Hospitality was the perfect example of this balance. We had an old-fashion hospitality before a ball even with all the similarities of days long gone; but, it was different. Like I have said several times before the days of the Shriner being the “drunk-mason” is over. I remember all too well of attending a Shrine Club meeting and seeing several men obviously inebriated past the point of reason. I have also talked to others that had the same experience. It took a lot of convincing to get me to return to our club and participate and it was the statement of no more “drunkenness” that got me involved. At this hospitality there was a bar but no one was drunk or unruly; I guess some of us are just too sweet to drink alcohol anymore. We did laugh a lot and have a good time which made people remark that we needed to have more of these Shriner occasions.

The Potentate’s Ball was likewise enjoyable; nobles in tuxedos and ladies in lovely outfits. There were introductions, presentations, dinner and dancing with all the traditional trappings of a Hamasa Potentate event. No one was drunk and everyone was glowing with happiness, especially since our entertainment was a Shriners Hospital patient, Justin Shows, another one of our success stories. We still enjoy our traditions but our hospitals and Shrine children are more the primary focus. In my conversations with other nobles, topics such as traveling to Cincinnati and Shreveport with children and the upcoming fishing rodeo at the Noxubee refuge on May 22nd were discussed. We have to remember that our fraternity was founded on fun and philanthropy.

Next year we should have our ball in a new building. You will not want to miss this historic event. I have visited several Shrine Clubs all throughout the Hamasa territory and I have found ladies and nobles of the highest quality that care for our cause and very pleasant to socialize with and enjoy their fellowship. The days of the “drunk-mason” are gone and our clubs are family orientated now, so feel free to invite your friends. If you really want to experience a true Hamasa Shriners event, come to our fishing rodeo on May 22nd. We are doing everything we can to maintain those good traditions from the past as well adapt to the future.

There are opportunities for everyone to get involved. Not only the fun-filled fishing rodeo on May 22nd, but a historic statewide ceremonial on June 5th at the Wahabi Temple in Jackson were all three Shrine Centers in Mississippi will join together for a major Shrine event. Then on June 15th Hamasa will meet at the Starkville Shrine Club for a stated meeting which will include the gun drawing. Being a Shriner is still a high honor and actually seeing what we do for the children of the world will make you proud to be involved. If you are presently involved, be sure to invite someone to join us and if you haven’t worn your fez lately, gather up your better half and join us for fun and philanthropy, we are winning together.

It’s Almost Pepper Time

I have this habit of growing hot peppers in a couple of large pots in the driveway. I cram several plants in each pot and use the red Miracle-Gro™ plant food. What I end up with is something that looks like pepper bushes. I have harvested a lot of hot peppers over the last few years. Being from the South I won’t plant anything until after Good Friday.

Year before last I looked for cowhorn peppers but was unable to find any. I grew a variety of hot peppers which resulted in some decent pepper sauce but not what I was really wanting. Habaneras, jalapenos, banana, cayenne, Serrano and some called Mississippi hots. I did end up with some dehydrated pepper flakes which will knock your socks off. Tonight I was transferring this dried mixture from a sealed zip lock bag to an empty plastic herb container and both my wife and I were subdued by the pungent dust.

Last year I found cowhorn peppers, so I planted a pot full of them and a pot full of jalapenos. I made up lots of pepper sauce. Matter of fact, I have too many jars of peppers in stock. I even made three quarts of hot sauce, a red, green and one that is orangey looking. The reason I wanted cowhorn peppers so bad was that years ago I planted a plant and ended up with these extra long hot peppers in abundance. I thought it would be cool to fill up a gallon glass jug with these hot peppers and make this gallon of pepper sauce with these long peppers. I sealed up and left this jug in the kitchen for about a year mainly as a decoration. Then one day after I had exhausted my regular pepper sauce supply, I decided to crack open this gallon jug and decant off some pepper sauce. Wow, it was good. The heat was just right, the taste was just right and the aroma was great. Give me more “Cow-Horn.” It took me a while to use up all of this pepper sauce and I think I gave some of it away. So begun my quest for more cow horn pepper sauce, you know for peas and greens. Last year I had me some and made up a bunch of pepper sauce.

Today I decanted some of my first batch that has set since last July. The first time I simply used white vinegar but this batch was made with apple cider vinegar. Yes, I did it. I now have an empty (cleaned and vinegar rinsed) olive oil bottle full of some aromatic pepper sauce; time for a pot of peas. (Do the happy dance) Now that I am cutting back on sodium, fat, sugar and calories, the taste factor means a lot. Today we made a pot of low sodium spaghetti sauce with organic tomatoes and no “friggin” salt, so Christy put a half teaspoon of my pepper flakes and that provided plenty of heat and taste that I didn’t miss the salt. We even used ground turkey but I did use real Parmesan, damn if I am going to commit a food sin. I am sure that I cut back enough on the sodium in everything else that the cheese didn’t kill me. Now I have to come up with a way to cook a pot of peas without the salty hog meat.

You know why they don’t serve turkey bacon and turkey burgers in prison? Riots. Cause a turkey burger will get you shanked. I think they use turkey bacon to train suicide bombers as well. I gave a piece to our dog and she acted like she was being punished. I do believe it is on record that dieting and healthy foods are the chief cause for profanity. I did order this “healthy” entrée in a restaurant yesterday for lunch. There wasn’t enough chicken on the plate to excite a vegan and mostly “blankity-blank cuss that doctor", broccoli. I didn’t use to mind broccoli until I was told that was all I should eat. This low sodium “quest for new cuss-words” diet has been interesting. I found a zero sodium organic peanut butter that is pretty good, expensive but good. Which brings to mind, why do foods with “less” or “zero” amounts in it cost more? Its ground friggin peanuts, no salt, no chemicals, and no additives, so why $3.89 for this little jar? Before long, fat people will have to start killing skinny people and selling off their healthy bodies on the black market just to afford the additional food costs of being on a diet.

In the good news department, after our healthy lunch, my bride and I stopped by the Tuesday Morning store in Tupelo. It has to be another buy-out type store because of the stuff in it. It’s decent and I have found some interesting cooking items in there before. I made a “Find.” I was looking at the bamboo cutting boards, like I really need another one, but just looking. I lifted this one cutting board and underneath I found this black box with “Culinary Institute of America” on it. Well, this looks interesting, so I open this fancy black box and Wow! A ten inch Chef’s knife with Culinary Institute of America labeled on the blade. Ok, now this is really interesting. I took it out of the box and flipped it over and saw that the steel was the same German steel the Wusthof knives are made with. Even the handle was styled like a Wusthof. I have an eight inch Wusthof chef knife that I really like. Here was a ten inch knife, not as wide as my eight inch model and the steel wasn’t as polished. But wow. I returned the knife to box and turned it over to see a price tag of $39.99. I latched on to the thing like a kid in a toy store. This made up for all that evil broccoli I had just consumed. I drove Christy crazy all the way home with the excessive repeating “Did you see my new knife?” bit. This knife probably retailed for about a hundred bucks, so I figure I got a decent buy on it. I own several good kitchen knives and enjoy using them. I believe anyone that is going to cook at home should invest in at least a couple of decent knives and some good cookware. It does make a difference in your enjoyment in preparing dishes. Looking around for bargains can also be fun. My buddy just brought me a ceramic knife back from his vacation, which makes a really handy slicer for vegetables. I already own a five inch ceramic Santoku knife which is great to use and stays very sharp. Ceramic knives require knowing what you don’t want to use them for so you don’t break them. They are fairly tough, but will break. I really enjoy using my two primary eight inch chef’s knives, which are my Wustof and Ken Onion Shun. I also like this five inch Global knife we have for making thin slices. It seems to have a thinner blade profile and you can turn a single apple into a plateful. I have this Japanese six inch blade that is perfect for jalapenos. Now I have to find something to cook that I can use this new ten inch model on.

Well, Happy Easter everyone, Lent will be over and I am going to eat me a dessert. Maybe a piece of healthy dark chocolate or something but I won’t overdo it. So at my next doctor’s appointment I can not only say I have lost weight, but I have also provided medical science several useful skinny cadavers. “See my new knife Doc?”

“Health Care – We been re-formed”

This month I put my Shrine Club newsletter out a few days earlier because we are having an Easter Egg hunt before the end of the month and I wanted to get the notice to my readers in time. Last month I didn't write an article and I wanted to get back on track for the April issue. I always try to produce an article that not only will interest readers but promote the cause of Shriners as well. After a couple of weeks being ill from a virus both my wife and I contracted as dealt with, I also had some hypertension issues. I take five different blood pressure medicines, both inherited and resulting in a lifestyle from my disability. My regular doctor asked me to see a specialist which turned out to be a bad experience and several days of harsh side effects from a new medicine. Things have balanced out and I have actually lost eight pounds and revised my diet to an even lower sodium and healthier choices. Not as much fun, but healthier.

So I decided to make my article about an aspect of health care most people don't consider. Since 1922 Shriners Hospitals for Children has given free specialized medical care to close to a million children. Our hospitals have a budget of around 2.2 million dollars per day. Obviously it is something I believe in. I hope you enjoy this month's offerings.

“Health Care,” you can’t escape the words anymore. Every day we are bombarded with news and discussions about Health Care. In between the talk about health care you get the commercials for the drugs which will vastly improve your life, so just ask your doctor and by the way this drug could also cause stroke, heart-attack, nausea, suicidal thoughts, death and a desire to gamble. That’s alright the next commercial is a 1-800 number for a lawyer to contact if you had a problem from taking a drug. Then you can cash in your structured settlement and buy more drugs so you can hire another lawyer and start the whole cycle again.

Recently between a virus and updating my prescriptions I have been involved in a health care reform of my own. My regular doctor sent me to a specialist, even though I clearly told him that the last specialist I saw was an idiot. This specialist wasn’t much different and I really felt the need to punch him in the head. I tried to talk to him but he wasn’t listening, he already knew it all. Even though I had given him my entire medical history, he told me to walk; then when I got up and left the room he said, “You can’t walk.” Duh? I had just told him that. Health care is a maze of variables, vastly confusing; full of doubts, speculations and apprehensions. Imagine a parent trying to find help for their child with a burn injury or orthopedic condition, legs, feet, arms, back, etc. Who do you talk too? Who cares about the patient rather than the money?

What about the child, a four or five year old trying to understand why these people in white coats are looking at them and talking about things they can’t understand? Shriners Hospitals for Children have Child Life Specialists which are pediatric health care professionals who work with patients, their family and others involved in the child’s care in order to help them manage stress and understand various medical procedures; minimizing the negative impact of situational disruptions while maintaining individual growth and development and family relationships. Child Life Specialists collaborate with parents and other health care professionals to meet the distinctive requirements of individual children. Because a child can feel overwhelmed, child life professionals help children gain a sense of familiarity and control of this new environment through play and exploration inside the health care facility. Although child life specialists typically function in the hospital setting, their skills make them especially trained to support children and families in other settings. Because of the physical, emotional, and cognitive stressors that accompany a hospital stay they use child-centered interventions and pain techniques to work with the patient and family members to help our children cope with hospitalization, surgery and medical procedures. The child life specialists I have met with Shriners Hospital are extremely impressive. That’s what I needed the last couple of weeks, a low sodium/sugar-free/low-fat grumpy old guy specialist to help me cope with my health care. Maybe I wouldn’t have snarled at that skinny person when I left the doctor’s office.

What about Health Care reform? What about Health Care costs? Look on the Shriners web site or any Shriners publication and you will see these words.
“Shriners Hospitals for Children® is a health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing specialty pediatric care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs. Every year, Shriners Hospitals for Children® provides care for thousands of kids with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate, in a family-centered environment with no financial obligation to patients or families. It's how Shriners Hospitals for Children® has been Changing the World through Caring for Kids since 1922.”

Since 1922! Think about it, how much money have the Shriners Hospitals and this fraternity saved families, insurance companies and governmental services since 1922? (Billions) We have provided specialized care for children since they were a few weeks old until after their eighteenth birthday. We have several children in the Hamasa area alone we have treated for fifteen years and longer. We have treated children from every state in the union plus about 49 different countries, all at no cost to the patient. The recent economical times is requiring us to start taking in third party pay, such as insurance and Medicaid. Still we will not have a financial requirement to the patient or family. Talk about your health care reform, Shriners since 1922 have done more than talk.

Shriners Hospitals is not just a pediatric clinic; it is a full blown international health care system. In 2009, we had 111 research projects, 31 research fellowships and 20 shared research facilities. This innovative research has benefited not only our patients but the entire world. In the past 20 years alone, more than 8,000 physicians have received residency education or postgraduate fellowship within the health care system. Talk about your health care reform, Shriners since 1922 have done more than discuss which political party favors what.

I know the readers of this newsletter have seen me repeatedly state that every Shriner and his wife need to visit one or more of our hospitals. I know you have read about the top quality pediatric care provided by our hospitals. That is because every Shriner and his family are involved in something major, something life changing and something so huge, it fathoms the imagination. It is worth repeating and witnessing.

What is Shriners health care reform? It is those Nobles from Laurel selling ribs to raise money. It’s the people in Meridian standing on a street corner selling onions and the Pontotoc Shrine Club members turning in a big stack of sold raffle tickets. It’s setting up somewhere with an information paper in hand giving out hamburgers to shoppers just so they will know we exist and can help children. Health care reform is every hospital application sent in and every child helped. It is also that smiling guy in a red fez saying good morning to a Shriners Hospital employee after a seven-plus hour drive; smiling because he knows the real truth. He has seen the miracles happening daily at our 22 facilities. Health care reform is participating by attending club and temple meetings and functions, you don’t have to dedicate your life, but you know you can attend when you can. Personally I have sponsored 15 Shrine patients all because someone encouraged me to get involved.

When people start talking about health care, you can always mention Shriners Hospitals for Children and the vast amount of children helped since 1922. You never know, someone might know of a child we can help and improve their life. You want to be reformed? See that mother with tears in her eyes because finally someone is helping her child. Let people know how Shriners Hospitals for Children has reformed health care since 1922.

Me? Well if you see me flogging the salt, sugar and fat out of a skinny dude with a salad bowl; it’s just me working on my health care reform. Hey, he said to get some form of exercise. “Having fun and helping Children.”

Get your kids into archery

I had to share this....My good friend "Rat" and I laughed like crazy....I was reminded of my childhood days and some of the dumb things I did...enjoy

Around age 10 my dad got me one of those little badazz long bow beginner kits. Of course, the first month I went around our land sticking arrows in anything that could get stuck by an arrow. Did you know that a 1955 40 horse Farmall tractor will take 6 rounds before it goes down? Tough SOB.

That got boring, so being the 10 yr. old Dukes of Hazard fan that I was, I quickly advanced to taking strips of cut up T-shirt doused in chainsaw gas tied around the end and was sending flaming arrows all over the place. Keep in mind this was 99.999% humidity swampland so there really wasn't any fire danger. Ill put it this way- a set of post hole diggers and a 3ft. hole and you had yourself a well.

One summer afternoon, I was shooting flaming arrows into a large rotten oak stump in our backyard. I looked over under the carport and see a shiny brand new can of starting fluid (ether). The light bulb went off. I grabbed the can and set it on the stump. I thought that it would probably just spray out in a disappointing manner... let's face it to a 10 yr. old mouth-breather like myself ether really doesn't "sound" flammable. So, I went back into the house and got a 1 pound can of dads muzzleloader pyrodex . At this point, I set the can of ether on the stump and opened up the can of black powder. My intentions were to sprinkle a little bit around the ether can but it all sorta dumped out on me. No biggie... 1lb pyrodex and 16oz ether should make a loud pop, kinda like a firecracker you know? You know what? Heck with that. I'm going back in the house for the other can. Yes, I got a second can of pyrodex and dumped it too.

Now we're cookin'. I stepped back about 15ft and lit the 2 stroke arrow. I drew the nock to my cheek and let fly. As I released I heard a swish as the arrow launched from my bow. In a slow motion time frame, I turned to see my
dad getting out of the truck... OH CRAP he just got home from work. So help me God it took 10 minutes for that arrow to go from my bow to the can. My dad was walking towards me in slow motion with a WTH look in his eyes. I turned back towards my target just in time to see the arrow pierce the starting fluid can right at the bottom. Right through the main pile of pyrodex and into the can. Oh Hell! When the shock wave hit it knocked me off my feet. I don't know if it was the actual compression wave that threw me back or just reflex jerk back from 235 decibels of sound. I caught a half a millisecond glimpse of the violence during the initial explosion and I will tell you there was dust, grass, and bugs all hovering 1ft above the ground as far as I could see.

It was like a little low to the ground layer of dust fog full of grasshoppers, spiders, and a crawfish or two. The daylight turned purple. Let me repeat this... THE **** DAYLIGHT TURNED PURPLE. There was a big sweetgum tree out by the gate going into the pasture. Notice I said "was". That mother got up and ran off. So here I am, on the ground blown completely out of my shoes with my thundercats T-shirt shredded, my dad is on the other side of the carport having what I can only assume is a Vietnam flashback ECHO BRAVO CHARLIE YOUR BRINGIN' EM IN TOO CLOSE!! CEASE FIRE DAMIT CEASE FIRE!!!!!

His hat has blown off and is 30 ft. behind him in the driveway. All windows on the north side of the house are blown out and there is a slow rolling mushroom cloud about 2000ft over our backyard. There is a Honda 185s 3 wheeler parked on the other side of the yard and the fenders are drooped down and are now touching the tires. I wish I knew what I said to my dad at this moment. I don't know- I know I said something. I couldn't hear. I couldn't hear inside my own head. I don't think he heard me either... not that it would really matter. I don't remember much from this point on. I said something, felt a sharp pain, and then woke up later. I felt a sharp pain, blacked out, woke later.... repeat this process for an hour or so and you get the idea. I remember at one point my mom had to give me CPR so dad could beat me some more.

Bring him back to life so dad can kill him again. Thanks mom. One thing is for sure... I never had to mow around that stump again. Mom had been ******** about that thing for years and dad never did anything about it. I stepped up to the plate and handled business. Dad sold his muzzleloaders a week or so later. And I still have some sort of bone growth abnormality either from the blast or the beating. Or both.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, get your kids into archery.

Its good discipline and will teach them skills they can use later on in life.

Friend's Funeral

Today I spoke at a friend’s funeral. I had to write down what I planned to say because I knew there would be a possibility of me loosing track of my thoughts, repeating myself or rambling without making sense. I tried writing yesterday but as of last night I had only a couple of scant paragraphs without any satisfactory results. I told our present Potentate last night at the Shrine Club event that I was trying to wrap my head around these words I wanted to say. I had all the elements in my head, but there was no flow and what I did have down was all one note. He told me I should get in a quiet place and I would be able write what I needed. I stayed off the computer last night when we got home from the Shrine Club. Not only did my legs hurt but I was tired. Christy woke me up this morning with a text message telling me it was time to get up. I got up, sat down and wrote what I was going to say.

I am at that age when funerals come a lot more often than before. I do not enjoy funerals and today was hard for me for two reasons. One, Jimmy was a close friend, I know his sons and secondly I was there at the family’s final goodbyes. Freemasonry has a special connection with funerals. One of my first Masonic experiences, even when I was just an Entered Apprentice was a funeral. Masonic funerals are one of the rare public Masonic events that give people just a hint to the world of modern Freemasonry. I have been to more funerals of brother masons than any other. Most of the people I am close to have a Masonic connection somehow.

Jimmy was one of the people I connected with through Masonry. Jimmy was self taught in a lot of his knowledge. He researched various historical areas. Jimmy was one of those people you would like to be more like but you realize that in order to be more like him you had to be less like yourself. Jimmy obtained his knowledge from studying and learning with old fashioned efforts. Jimmy was a good man and a good friend, I will miss him.

Tonight I had to decompress and allow myself to relax. I guess a psychic connection with my daughter kicked in because she called exactly at the very moment I needed her to call. We had a good conversation about a various range of subject and it was what I needed. She was a dose of good medicine.

Here is what I said today at Jimmy’s funeral. Thank you for listening.

Jimmy Howell was my friend. He was a friend to many as well as a father and a Brother. Jimmy and I once laughed about how many different titles we had to address each other by, from Sir Knight to Frater, Pilgrim and even Companion. Jimmy wasn’t about titles or rank, he was a friend whom you truly enjoyed being around. Many people will tell you that they have the highest respect for Jimmy; I am one of those people.

My first experience with Brother Jimmy Howell was not a face to face meeting. I first met with a stack of five by seven notes cards. Sixty-eight hand-written cards he used to study and learn the famous Camp Lecture from the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite. Jimmy was late for this particular reunion because of his work, but he made it. I was thankful, because I was told I was going to have to read it if he didn’t arrive on time. Watching Jimmy Howell recite that lecture was like no other ritual I had witnessed before. Throughout the years as I watched him recite this lecture; he only got better and even expanded it with explanations to add to the candidate’s education.

I discovered that he wasn’t just a Masonic ritualist; he was a student, believer and seeker of more light. Jimmy dug deep into the history and background of what we commonly refer to as the ancient mysteries. He studied the connection with religion and ancient societies such as the Druids and Mithras to the development of modern Freemasonry and beliefs. Jimmy introduced me to various pathways of study within the Masonic order. He led me to the Rosicrucians and the Knight Masons. We discussed many concepts and theories which required an open mind and ability to listen without making judgment. A group of us, who spent most of our time in the balcony at the reunions, would meet after the final degree at a little restaurant in Corinth and discuss various aspects of the degree work. Those were treasured times we will always remember fondly. I once asked him about petitioning an affiliated group to Masonry. Jimmy told me that it was my decision alone but he didn’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to seek out more light. That was Jimmy, he was a seeker.

From my many conversations with Jimmy I know he was a true believer in God. Even though he could discuss various pagan societies and controversial religious history, he told me once that he knew that everyone passed through the arms of Jesus. The fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man was indeed a concept that Jimmy Howell understood. We shared similar circumstances and shared counsel with each other on several occasions.

To his family, my father passed away at age 63 after an extended illness. I understand.

My empathy leads me to tell you that you will carry on and you will miss him. There will be times when you feel deeply that you sure could use him with you at the moment. You will remember what he taught you and benefit from him. Then eventfully you will find yourself saying the things that Jimmy said to you. Realizing afterwards who first said that.

I lost another very close friend just three years ago, he was also 63. I was thinking yesterday that this very fact would have surely opened a discussion with Jimmy about the numerological significance. I am now at that stage with this friend where I am saying I sure could use him here right now. He also knew Jimmy and held him in the highest regard. It’s not easy to lose someone this close to you. You will remember him and everyone who knew the man, Jimmy Howell, will be thankful for having him among us. I understand your feelings this day and please know that because of my friendship with Jimmy, I am also your friend.

We will all remember Jimmy Howell. He was a man with minimum ego and one that showed true respect for everyone. He treated everyone as an equal. We gather here today to say goodbye and honor him. Jimmy will always be there as an example of how we should treat others and how we should seek out more light in this life. Loss is never easy, but if I know Jimmy Howell, he is seeking and finding more of that knowledge and learning of the mysteries we are not yet allowed to know on Earth.

From now on when these words are spoken, they will always belong to Jimmy Howell.
“…… no doctrine or faith or knowledge is of value to a man except as it bears fruit in action. If what you may learn here should warrant you on setting a higher estimate upon yourself, you should be thereby led to aim at nobler ends.”

Thank you for allowing me to be here to honor my good friend. We miss him and remember him always as a friend to many and truly a good man.

Internet Junkie I Am

Since my last blog entry I have be riding up and down the road attending various Shrine Club officer installations taking pictures for the Potentate. I am trying to do a good job as temple photo-grapher this year. The good part is we have a Potentate that has three grandchildren who have been Shriners Hospital patients. He knows what Shriners are really all about. A Shrine Temple is a group organization which requires more than one person to make it successful.

There is a move on-going to move the Temple out of Meridian into Marion which is just above Meridian so basically they aren’t moving the temple more centrally located in the Hamasa territory. This may cause a problem internally in Hamasa members, not all of the members but some main players. I have decided to become neutral in this issue. I am active and live in the North and I have been to several meeting with members from the South in the North but we can’t get members in the North to attend anything in Meridian. I don’t have the answers. Some believe that once Hamasa moves into a new building and the money gained on the sale of the old building, Hamasa will go under. Some believe that moving into a new building will allow us to be back on our own. Many card holders really don’t care. If Hamasa was a college football team more people would care.

I didn’t write an article for this month’s newsletter but I did make an editorial note:

Editorial Note: I receive e-mail news alerts on published articles with the word “Shriners” included. Several times a week I see stories children being helped by Shriners Hospitals, whether it’s a burn victim or a child with orthopedic needs; I see reports of your philanthropy making a difference in the world. Shriners sent a medical team to the fire disaster at the daycare center in Mexico City and now we have a team helping in Haiti. This is you. This is every man that owns a fez, every woman married to Shriner and every child with parents involved in Shriners. You are making a difference in our world. You are improving the lives of thousands daily. This is not a self-serving fraternity, this is a world serving fraternity making a difference and the more we have involved, the bigger difference we make. Don’t just believe me, look for yourself and you will see what being a Shriner really all is about.

Maybe someone will read this and realize what our true purpose is as a fraternity. Too many people are narcissistic nowadays, only looking at things from the prospective of what they can get out of it for themselves. “I” want a title or “I’ want an award or “I” want everyone to look up to me. The biggest disharmony we have originates from people wanting to be someone they aren’t. I get tired of it, I wish all the titles, pomp and circumstance were removed and members all had the same position. But it didn’t work for communism and without individual achievement recognition no one would participate at all. If the good leadership refuses to step up, the bad leaders will happily do so and that leads to our failure.

Moving on….My wife calls me an Internet Junkie. I guess I am. “Internet Junkie” is a new term we all hear more about now. It is easy to get involved with Internet games and social networks. Now with the smart phone you can stay playing no matter where you go. I was riding to Louisville for a Shrine meeting and playing My Town on my iPhone. The traveling gave me new places to check-in with on the game. What confuses me is how people get into trouble using the Internet.

I am on the Internet all the time and I don’t come across any pornography. I also don’t look for it. Recently I saw a news story about some MSU football players that got in trouble for going to a strip club. How it was found out about them going to a strip club was they wrote about it on their blogs. That was just plain dumb. I realize that this blog doesn’t have that many followers and I don’t post but a couple of times a month, but it is still public. I have ridden by this strip club probably a hundred times and when it is open the parking lot is usually full, but we don’t stop. Why? The people I am with and I have no interest in going to such a place. Now if it was a knife shop, I would have stopped several times. I am not going to lie; I have been to a strip club. Two blocks from the White House in Washington, DC. Women dancing wearing nothing but shoes on the stage and I was bored. I have also been to a club in New Jersey that was the club from the show “The Sopranos.” At least these women were wearing clothes and all of them were NYU grad students according to them. I got bored and told these girls I was the Lt. Governor of Mississippi. That was fun. Still I don’t look for or find porn and the people that get arrested for having kiddy porn on their computer must be really stupid. Obviously they don’t watch the news and hear stories of all the people getting caught.

I know there are kids that are allowing their grades to slip because they spend too much time on the Internet. My question is this the same percentage of kids that would be smoking pot or drinking if they weren’t so involved with on-line activities? Facebook is a big factor now specially with all the games. Farmtown, Farmville, Fish World, Fishville and many many more seem to occupy the time of millions. Now with my iPhone I can play Tap Farm or My Town sucking the power of my battery as fast as I can recharge it. I can see how people get so involved. These games show success, don’t create personal drama and aren’t making you feel bad or accusing you if anything.

Now I have to get busy, run a few errands and get busy editing photographs and e-mail them off. Time to get busy; take care and don’t blog any criminal or embarrassing activity. I have been sitting on the couch watching TV and drinking coffee. I did have marble rye toast though. I hope that wasn’t politically incorrect. I need to check My Town first….junkie junkie junkie….

Being a Shriner

Tonight was the annual installation of officers and board members of the Lee County Shrine Club. We were pleased to have the new Hamasa Potentate-Elect drive up along with five of the seven 2010 Hamasa Divan members. I like the new Potentate-Elect and I think he understands more about what being a Shriner is all about than many preceding him. Leadership in the Shriners is a “service” rather than an “authority” and those that understand make the difference. I have a positive outlook for Hamasa Shriners in 2010.

As people we often are so bombarded with words and terms associated with a group or a topic, we allow the definition of these words to be taken for granted. Shriners are human and like all things human we also take some things for granted. The words, “Hospital” and “Children” get mentioned a lot in a Shrine event or meeting. Unfortunately many of our Shriners have never visited a Shriners Hospital or participated in transporting a child to a hospital. I understand that some men are unable to take two days out of their lives and drive a child to a hospital. They can be just as beneficial Shriners if they contribute the time and energy that can give and cause no unrest or disharmony. Shiners were born out of “fun” and “philanthropy” and trying to make it something else doesn’t work.

You can’t be a real Shriner unless you actually like children and have a desire to lend aid to someone that needs what we can do to help them. Since 1922, Shriners of North America, now known as Shriners International have helped hundreds of thousands of children with a vast range of orthopedic problems and burn injuries. No matter how small or how large. One of the things I particularly like out the Shriners Hospitals for Children is the acceptance requirements. A child must be between the ages of birth and eighteen and have a medical condition we can treat. Just that simple without complications; we actually seek children to help. I have seen more than once a child treated after their eighteenth birthday simply because our hospitals truly care about these children. One of our problems is that Shriners Hospital appears to be too good to be true.

I was reminded at the installation of an event that happened in January 2003. It was the day of Milton Collier being installed at Potentate of Hamasa Shriners. Milton loved being a Shriner and loved children more than anyone I have ever known. We definitely lost Milton way too early and could sure use him back among us. In spite of all the work that was needed to be done that day, Milton insisted we all load up and head out to an airstrip in Meridian to meet a special ambulance plane that came to transport a young man to our spinal cord unit in Chicago. I remember Milton being asked about the cost of this special plane and Milton saying he didn’t care about the cost. Helping that child was more important than anything else. This young man had a diving accident resulting in a broken neck. When I first saw him he was a total quadriplegic. I quickly remembered being confined to bed flat of my back for several months and to see this person, especially this young, paralyzed was extremely heart breaking. No local doctor or hospital could help him and he was on a stretcher with a metal “halo” screwed into his skull. One of the things I was reminded of tonight was that a local doctor had said that with God’s help and the Shriners he may be able to walk again. We watched that young man be loaded onto that plane, it departed and we continued on with our evening event. Three months later we hear that not only has the Chicago Spinal Cord unit has helped him, but he actually walked out of the hospital. The following November he got up out of a wheelchair and walked across the Temple Theater stage. We played a photo array on the screen that included photographs I had taken that day in January. We, as Shriners, witnessed an actual miracle. Without the Shriners, this young man could have been experiencing his seventh year as a quadriplegic. Now he returns to Chicago as a volunteer to help others that have suffered a spinal cord injury. God and the Shriners didn’t let us down.

I have also witnessed more than one parent in tears because finally their child was getting the help that was needed. It’s not about the money, even though Shriners Hospitals for Children don’t charge, it about getting the help a child with an orthopedic or burn injury needs. The misconception that care at a Shriners Hospital is free is not true. This medical treatment is not free; it costs plenty, over two million dollars a day. The reality is that since 1922, Shriners have amassed a sum of money that allows our hospitals the privilege of not having to charge. Of course with the most recent economic times our financial status has required new concepts like third-party pay, taking Medicaid/Medicare, collaborations with teaching universities and budget realignments. But all twenty-two of the Shriners Hospitals for Children are still in business helping children, at no charge to the patient. Shriners Hospitals provide top quality care.

Prospective is key to be a Shriner. You have to keep those images of these children in your head always as a reminder of why you do what you do and why you tolerate what you tolerate. It is still a fraternity with all the trappings of a Masonic order and affiliation. Except being a Shriner is different, it is not really about “You.” You have to have a true empathy for these Shrine children. I can tell if a Noble has any experience with our hospitals or not. You see a child with no legs or no arm or confined to a wheelchair it makes you realize how lucky you are and how much people take for granted on a daily basis. I have had more than one orthopedic surgery, my first at age eighteen, so I know firsthand the level of pain involved. To think a five year old having that same awful experience is horrible. I am not taking about a few minutes or even a few hours of pain, orthopedic pain in months and years of pain; deep crippling serious pain. I have known daily pain since January 19th, 1975. As an adult I can deal with it, but think about the children that also have to deal with a lifetime of pain. Some people, even Shriners don’t think about it.

Another aspect of orthopedics is the lack of abilities that most people take for granted. Long time ago before political correctness it was Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children. “Crippled” is a term that is still prevalent in the minds and hearts of someone with a physical disability. People can make you feel “crippled” by simply walking faster than you can. They don’t realize it, because they don’t have a disability and it doesn’t occur to them. It requires a certain attitude you have to maintain. I usually like to classify it as two types of disabled people, ones with a positive outlook not allowing a disability to control their lives. Then there are the ones that become total assholes because they feel like they have to prove something to everyone; that they are as normal as the next guy and even better in their own eyes. You can see it in their eyes they envy they feel of the ones that have no infirmity. This desire for self-worth damages them as a person.

Somehow, someone recognized this factor and the attitude of the hospital staff at a Shriners Hospital is that of we don’t tell a child he or she can’t do something. The child life programs and the way staff members act and react with our children infuses a positive attitude in these children. This positive reinforcement works. I have a lot of respect for Shriners Hospital staff because of the attitude they have towards our children. You have to love children to make it work. Peer pressure is just as prevalent among disabled children as among non-disabled children. Nobles working with these children have to do what they can to make a simple trip to a hospital a fun uplifting experience. Narcissism does not work, but Shriners are human and humans are fallible.

Now that I have made a trip to a burn center, my Shriner experience has grown. Horrific, extremely painful disfiguring burn injuries are very much heart breaking. If you can visit a Shrine burn center and sit in the clinic waiting room without tears forming, you have a serious problem my friend.

We can’t forget or assume what being a Shriner is all about. Being a Shriner is about being of service to others. I have high hopes for 2010, being that our new potentate elect is the grandfather of a Shriners Hospital patient.

www.shrinershospitals.org

If you know of a child we might be able to help, please call our toll-free patient referral line:
In the U.S.: 800.237.5055
In Canada: 800.361.7256

Shriners Hospitals for Children is an international health care system dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing specialty pediatric care, innovative research and outstanding teaching Programs. Children up to the age of 18 with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate are eligible for admission and receive all care in a family-centered environment with no financial obligation to patients or families.