More on Linda G's Home

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LL has the info, here.

Linda G Needs Our Prayers

Linda G, a blogger and frequent commenter here and on many blogs, had her home destroyed by a tornado.

She and her husband, both U.S. Air Force veterans, along with two sons and four cats, lost their 130-year-old farmhouse during the storms in Louisiana. Fortunately, due to a bout of insomnia, they were both awake and in a different room when the twister hit their bedroom.

She writes that the "Roof is mostly gone. The ceiling and roof are gone. Can't even get out of our yard because of downed trees. Emergency people are out on the streets. God kept us safe though. I said a prayer when I felt the pressure in my ears, and He kept us safe. 

"House pretty much a loss. Too old to insure though so not sure what our next step or God's plan is. 

Garage collapsed so we can't get to our generators. Would appreciate you keep us in your prayers."

The bedroom where they had been sleeping.
They were elsewhere when the tornado hit.
(Photo courtesy of Linda G.)

You heard the lady. Let's thank the Lord for her survival, and pray for a speedy solution to all the damage and resulting homelessness (both for her family and all the others who were affected in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana).

Urgent Prayer Request

All: please pray for my friend Barbara M. and her family. Her husband Chuck, 64, is being taken off of life support and sent to hospice today.

The End Is Near

The ninth anniversary of this blog will be on the 29th, and it has been a joy ... a pain ... an occasional drudgery ... and a joy again.

I've "met" many, many friends, including a few face-to-face. Some of those have stopped blogging, since. I'm pretty sure it's not my fault. :)  However, it has become a struggle to find things to write about, and it often feels as though I'm repeating myself.

Rather than drag this out, it seems 'twould be easier to simply pull the plug. No heroic measures, and all that.

I will continue to post, from time to time, when/if things of interest come up. It's nice to have the platform, and I love hearing from all y'all. And of course I'll still be lurking around the 'net, reading blogs and commenting here and there.

But times goes by, and everything changes. This is one of those things.

In the words of the old Scottish blessing,

May the blessing of light be on you - light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine on you like a great peat fire,
so that stranger and friend may come and warm himself at it.
And may light shine out of the two eyes of you,
like a candle set in the window of a house,
bidding the wanderer come in out of the storm.
And may the blessing of the rain be on you,
may it beat upon your Spirit and wash it fair and clean,
and leave there a shining pool where the blue of Heaven shines,
and sometimes a star.
And may the blessing of the earth be on you,
soft under your feet as you pass along the roads,
soft under you as you lie out on it, tired at the end of day;
and may it rest easy over you when, at last, you lie out under it.
May it rest so lightly over you that your soul may be out from under it quickly; up and off and on its way to God.
And now may the Lord bless you, and bless you kindly. Amen.

Caring For an Alzheimer's Patient

A lady whom I met through the 2008 Presidential campaign - she was a huge Sarah Palin supporter - had recently lost a dearly-loved companion due to Alzheimer's.

Lynda Armstrong spoke about Alzheimer’s Disease on KENS 5, a CBS affiliate out of Texas. She shared her experience of being a caregiver for a close friend who died of the disease. Thus, Alzheimer’s hits close to home and statistically will hit close to home for many of you reading this.

She wrote The Face of Alzheimer’s As Seen From the Heart of a Caregiver, after taking caring of a loved one. She watched as her friend’s mind slowly disappeared, and she no longer knew family and friends.  It’s a book that will tell you things you can do as a caregiver, and how you as the caregiver survive when your job as a caregiver is over.

You can buy The Face of Alzheimer’s in paperback for $6.99 or an e-book for $4.99. The e-book is available at the same price as an Apple iBookstore download for use on iPhones and iPads.



Note: Lynda is an extraordinary lady, and I provide this link as a favor to her. No money was exchanged nor promised, nor will it be. This book is a reflection of the knowledge gained through the heartache of watching her friend slip away. I hope you never need it, but if you do, this will help.

Two New Books From Friends

Those of you who have been reading these scribblings for any length of time will know of Old NFO and Bayou Renaissance Man, whose blogs have been on my sidebar since ... well, forever.

Each of them has just published a new book, and both are worth a look.

Old NFO, better known as Jim Curtis, has just released Rimworld - Stranded, and it's a humdinger of a military/sci-fi adventure, with a protagonist I think I encountered many times in my Navy days. Jim is a Navy retiree, among other accomplishments, and knows the gent even better than I.

It's a fast-paced story, but worth every moment you spend looking over the guy's shoulder. :)




Bayou Renaissance Man, Peter Grant, has released a real, honest-to-goodness western novel that reads like Zane Grey, only better IMHO. Brings the Lightning is a historically accurate post-Civil War novel.

If you know the firearms, technology and accoutrements of the era, the attention to accuracy will be pleasing. If you just want a good yarn, that will please you, too.

An Achievement, and a Loss

Two major events this morning have kept me away from the computer this morning. The primary thing was a walk-through of the entire facility with reps from the new owners' insurance company, doing risk assessment.

It went very well, they made few comments, and were very complimentary about the condition and management of the building. It probably doesn't need saying (but that's never stopped me before): that made me feel pretty good.


On a personal note, I found out a couple weeks ago that the man who was the principal owner - and my boss before the sale, last month - is terminally ill.

Yesterday, I was told that he has only days to live. I wanted to go see him, but they said he wouldn't know I was there. Dang it.

He was a mover and shaker in this community until just a few years ago, and it's hard to picture him any other way. So that's how I will remember him: a vital, dynamic man who established foundations, trusts, and built businesses.

He leaves behind a wife, several children and grandchildren, and a lot of friends and former employees who will be shocked when they find out.

Hug your loved ones today, and tell them how much you care ... often. None of us are guaranteed the next breath, and you don't want to miss an opportunity.

Life is precious, my friends. Enjoy what you have, and make sure those who matter know how much they mean to you.

A Winter's Day: Visiting Merrill Field

Merrill Field, Anchorage's first commercial airport, is located east of downtown, in an older part of town. For those who've driven here on the Alaska Highway, it's the airfield you passed while heading toward downtown.

As a follow-up to an earlier post, here are more of the aircraft we looked at ... and in.

Somebody had a REALLY bad day

You don't fly these; you wear them

WASP engine

A post-war Taylorcraft - I understand the Army Air Corps used these as trainers. This one was subsequently flown to the Midwest by a friend.

Aloha and Good Morning

We landed at 6:30 last evening, and reached the hotel an hour later. I woke up at 02:30 yesterday, so by the time we checked in, was nearly incoherent. 

Things are better this morning, but I need a nap. Good thing we're on vacation, eh?

I need to be on my toes this evening, as we'll be dining with Old NFO. 

I'm looking forward to it. :)

49 in Dog Years: a Blogiversary

For what it's worth, I just realized that I carved out this niche seven years ago. A few epic rants, some middlin' preaching, and a lot of nonsense later, it still sputters along.

I'm grateful for you that have come along for parts of the ride, and for the on-line friends who've come my way.

A couple of folks (Brigid and joated) have been here almost since the beginning. In fact, joated was the first person to comment on a post I'd written, and linked to it from his blog. The rest flows from that link.

Fewer still are those with whom I've had the pleasure to meet in real life: one or two very well-known, and three who were Alaska-based bloggers, although two have moved away, and we're the poorer for it.


The rest, as they say, is history. Whether it's a distinguished history is up to you to decide. For my part, I'll keep chipping away at the writer's block, and we'll see where things go.


I mentioned the bloggers whom I've met, few in number primarily because of my remote base of operations. I know the midwestern/Indiana-centric crowd sees a lot of each other, as do folks in the mid-south and along the east coast. Not so much, up here.

But in that vein, I will have the very good fortune to meet with one next month in Hawaii, unless his plans change, and it's my understanding that another will visit us here, later this year.

I'm NOT name-dropping; just quite happy to be able to finally met folks with whom I've corresponded for months or years.

But most importantly, I want to thank you, Gentle Readers, for your daily presence in this little corner of the 'net. I'd have given it up long ago if not for your comments, e-mails, and support.

Thank you, my friends.

Another Busy Day

First, please say a prayer for Brigid, her dad, and their extended family. Her big brother has left us; may he rest forever in the arms of God.

* * * * *

I went out early this a.m. to get the snow tires removed from my sedan; I hoped to beat the inevitable rush - the deadline for getting it done is April 30 - but was number 12 in line. There were another 20 or 25 folks behind me before my wife showed up, so we decided to do hers another day.

After getting that taken care of, we went to Lowe's, Wally World, Sam's Club, Fred Meyer (a Kroger-owned department store), and Safeway. Then we rearranged and cleaned the garage, installed three shelves and a clothes rod in the guest room closet.

And now it's time for lunch.


Brigid, we're thinking of you today.

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 
  
According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

~ 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, NIV

Peter Grant's New Book is Out

"Adapt and Overcome", part 3 of the Maxwell Saga, has been released in e-book format. The author, Peter Grant, is known to many of you as Bayou Renaissance Man, a blog linked on my sidebar.

Parts 1 and 2 were good, and by all accounts this one is ever better! I'll let you know as soon as I've read my copy, downloaded this morning.

The Gingerbread Village - Annual Anchorage Tradition

Joe Hickel*, pastry chef & one of the owners of the Hotel Captain Cook in downtown Anchorage, has been building elaborate gingerbread villages in the hotel lobby for decades.



I'm proud to say that Younger Daughter, who works for Joe, helps with the village. Aside from helping to roll out the huge sheets of gingerbread, she also made all the trees you see in the video.


* The late Walter J. Hickel, former Governor of Alaska, was the patriarch of the family which owns the hotel. Joe is one of five brothers. :)

Prayers for One of Our Own

Sandy over at Oklahoma Transient lost her dad this morning. Please remember her today, and pray for her and the whole family.

Tuesday's Stuff

I checked out the supplies at my favorite, out-of-the-way sporting goods shop, and a miracle happened! They had Winchester White Box .45acp in both 50- and 100-round quantities. I'm comfortable with my personal supply; not trying to arm a third-world country, myself, just be able to adequately defend myself and my family. Still, I bought a box, because you never know.

Still no 9mm or .22LR, though. I've appealed to friends in the Midwest to grab a few boxes if they come across any. My older daughter, the Appleseed instructor, goes through a lot of .22 on those weekends.

* * * * *

The Bethel newspaper, the Delta Discovery, is soliciting Bigfoot stories from its readers. Yes, folks, ol' Sasquatch isn't confined to the Pacific Cascades down south. Read the story here. (Bethel is some 385 miles west of Anchorage, on Alaska's southwest coast.) In Bethel, Bigfoot is called "Hairy Man", and the stories persist.

* * * * *

AccuHunch WeatherGuess has thrown its dart at the portion of the dartboard that reads "major winter storm", and that means - if they're anywhere near accurate (bwaahahahaha) - heavy snow, blowing & drifting, etc etc etc. In other words, a typical Alaskan weekend. Unlike in places further south, we don't have the FTFF* syndrome which causes folks to hoard bread, eggs and milk.

When heavy snows are forecast here, what sells out first are snow shovels, ice scrapers, and ice melt chemicals. Seems a bit more practical than French toast.

* * * * *

That's all I have for now. I really do appreciate y'all coming by everyday, and I don't take that for granted. As always, I'm open to suggestions for Alaskan topics which someone might want to read about - or pictures to see.

Thanks for stopping by.


* French Toast Feeding Frenzy

New Followers

Welcome, Sandy!  You can find her blog at Oklahoma Transient, and it's worth a look. On that topic, I neglected to similarly welcome Garry - whose writings can be found here and here - and for that I apologize.

You're among friendly, mostly-like-minded folks here. :)  Thanks for stopping by & hanging around. I appreciate it.

UPDATE: Flier389 just clicked the "Follow" button, too.  You can find him at Granddad's Corner. Give him a look-see, and perhaps you can help with his Bob fund. (Now you HAVE to go, to find out what that is.)  :)

Tall Tree, Short Rope

Matt's back.  Get thee hence, and check it out.

Brrrr: A Range Report

Friend Jenny, daughter Sam and I went to the Wet Bunny Range this morning. It was 29 degrees - warm, for us - upon arrival, but the temp dropped slowly the whole time. Snow on undisturbed areas was at least a foot deep. There was an icy breeze off the mountains blowing in our left ears the whole time, threatening to induce frostbite. I think it's the first time I've used shooting earmuffs as a warming device.

I'll let you in on a secret: while Alaskans are acclimated to colder weather than most other folks, we don't deal with wind chill very well here in Anchorage. Since the city is surrounded by mountains, we don't get a lot of wind. When it does blow, it goes right through us.

AccuHunch was threatening us with two to five more inches of snow today (apparently wrong, at least so far, since the sun just came out), so we decided to stick with .22 caliber firearms. That turned out to be a good decision.

A footstep in 12" of snow

Snow on the firing line at the .22 range was untouched, so we spent the first 10 minutes clearing off the benches, seats, tables, etc, and arranging various pieces of equipment on which to lay the rifles & pistols, to avoid an icy build-up.

For 20 minutes, the shooting went quite well; I discovered that my rifle was shooting about 4" high at 20 yards, but that was quickly remedied. After adjusting the simplistic rear sight, it was hitting about 3/4" above point-of-aim at that same distance. Given the fairly coarse factory sights, that was acceptable.

The silvery button on the front blade neatly obscured the 2" shoot-n-see dots at the distance we were shooting, so I was happy to see those yellow spots appearing in the black, and especially when I realized I was achieving 1" to 1.5" groups with that technique.

Sam's target, after switching to the rifle. The pistol doesn't like the "golden bullets" that work okay in the rifles.

Sam was using her sister's pistol and rifle. We still don't know where the pistol is shooting (except "all over", with that Golden Bullet stuff), and that will need some attention in the near future. I could see that she was getting frustrated, and suggested that she put the pistol away, using the rifle instead. After a quick adjustment to her rear sight (just like mine), she then proceeded to shoot the center out of the target. :)

Friend Jenny discovered that the guy on the line next to hers was a fellow Appleseed graduate (from last month's course), and they chatted happily about things learned, and things still to learn. I'll let her continue that story at her own blog, if she chooses.

After an hour in that wind, we couldn't feel our trigger fingers, and the sight picture had gotten blurry for Sam and me, so we wrapped it up and went off in search of hot coffee. That was a good idea, too.

a snowy day on the firing line

Trudging out to the target line, one more time

A good morning, although a brief one. But any time spent shooting with my daughter and friend is a very good time. I'm a blessed man.

Bleg: Quilting Scraps

My friend UpinAK is seeking scraps for quilting, in colors matching a picture on her blog. Please go there, see if you can help, and she'll provide an address to which they can be sent.

Thanks!

Last Night

It's been a long time since I've stayed at a bar until closing. Okay, it was a coffee bar, and they closed at 9pm ... but still.

Good conversation, good friends who are rapidly becoming better friends, good times. Thanks, all.