New Shots That Made Me Go "Wow!"

Carnival Atmosphere

Carole and I have just returned from Highland Oaks' annual parking lot carnival. It's really a big deal. Numerous giant inflatable games and exhibits are brought in. There is face-painting and tossing balls at stacked bottles. The food is free. Literally thousands of folks buy a $3 ticket for admission.

The purpose, of course, is to build goodwill in the community and hopefully make a few contacts that result in positive spiritual benefits. In other words, use the carnival to introduce people to Jesus.

Is something like this a wise use of the congregation's money? Perhaps it's worth discussing. It costs a bunch of money...I'm sure just buying insurance for such a big event is staggering. But it does introduce, even in a small way, the community to Highland Oaks. They know we're here and they know we're a friendly bunch. My question to the readers is: Even if none of the thousands of guests ever darkens the doorstep of the church, is such an effort still worth it because of the goodwill created in the neighborhood? Is it worth it just for the sense of teamwork it builds within our fellowship? What do you think?

I know this sounds like I'm negative toward the annual project. But actually I'm not. I just don't know enough about whether actual productive contacts are made and I would like to know that before I decide. Again, what do you think?

Tough scriptures: Part 2

36"But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

How many words do we speak in a day? Kinda depends on the circumstances, I guess. When I taught school, I'd come home some days unwilling to utter even a simple sentence like, "I'm unable to fathom the hopelessness of my task at hand!" I wonder what the average number is for the average American - 10,000/day?

What terrifies me is the realization that most of my words may be careless in nature. Of course, Jesus is probably referring to important situations where words will have impact, either positive or negative. "Honey, I'll get the mail" probably doesn't qualify. But we'd no doubt be surprised how often we can alter situations or relationships with our choice of words. I certainly am turned off by negative folks who spew negative words constantly. And how many of us have learned after the fact that something we said flippantly turned out to have stung someone to the core?

My greatest careless word problem has to do with constantly trying to be witty and to make people laugh. This probably means I have deep insecurity and feel the need to win acceptance through humor, as though I couldn't get it any other way. The problem is that I often cross the line by becoming sarcastic, trying to cast someone in an unfavorable light by putting them down...anything for a laugh, you know. It's high time I reined in this dangerous habit. As the verses in Matthew 12 say, there are consequences, eternal consequences.

Plane Nuts

Reporting in on Saturday's airshow. Best thing I could have done was have Steve Leaming alongside. We talked about everything and his ridiculous puns kept me in stitches. Before we parted ways, I told him how much I appreciated his company. That I sometimes go months with no one to talk to about aviation and that it kills me. He answered the need.

The weather would have been okay but for the wind. It howled so much that the Army paratrooper performance had to be cancelled lest some of their jumpers land in Kansas. We stayed for the last group, the Blue Angels. Imagine going 400 mph on a windy day with 3 other jets 15 inches from your wingtips and then imagine banking that way in a tight curve. These guys are beyond great.

More to say, but I've got jury duty tomorrow and I'm worn out from yesterday. Maybe I'll have something interesting to report about from the Rockwall courts soon.

Plans for Saturday

Just a note that on Saturday, I'll join good friend Steve Leaming and head to Ft. Worth for the 2007 Alliance Air Show. I've been to one in my life and it almost killed me. The miserable story of that experience is here.

Hopefully, we won't have any trouble with the heat. Also hopefully, I'll get good shots of the amazing Blue Angels and bunches of other daredevils.

Devilish

Two things have conspired to leave me a bit down lately. One is the stuff I see on a daily basis in the bus pick-up areas. The other is the rash of grim news stories in the past few weeks from just the Metroplex. It causes me to ponder about the unseen battles going on between the forces of good and evil.

What I have to guard against is the idea that Satan is winning. I do see so many apparent victories for this agent of darkness. Families being ripped apart, infants being discarded or killed, folks taking delight in causing hurt or harm.

But I try to remind myself that there are just as many, if not more, victories for God and his angels. Often, they have defeated the enemy in some unseen, unrecognized way - and thus I'm unaware of what has happened. Sometimes, however, the victory is obvious. I won't detail it here, but I've seen several situations lately where I said a prayer, urgently begging for His angels to do something very specific. And against all earthly odds, the good guys win. What a joy rushes through me when I see tangible evidence of God's power!

Of course, in the end, Satan will go down for the final time. Evil will be eliminated from everything, replaced by God's consuming presence. All will be love, light, and joy. Every fiber of our being, every nerve ending, will be wired for eternal ectasy. No more pain, disappointment, anger, or fear. An eternity of glory! Bring it on!

Tough scriptures: Part 1

22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Colossians is filled with practical Christianity - tons of a advice on how to exhibit Christ on a daily basis. I'm fine with all the inspired guidance except for this above challenge from the 3rd chapter. If I were to put it in today's vernacular, it might go something like this:

Listen. At the work place, work as though your boss is Christ himself. Never take advantage of your employer. Work the same whether your boss is looking over your shoulder or on vacation in Cancun.

Most of my time with DISD, I gave my all. Most of the time. But there were plenty of times I shirked responsibilities because I knew I could get away with it. As the years piled up, I got more and more cynical about my bosses downtown and my immediate superiors in the building. So I justified my actions by saying to myself, "They are stupid in educational matters and indifferent to my plight as a teacher. Therefore, I have every right to slough off whenever possible and even sabotage their efforts".

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. God expected me to be the same worker every day, and it shouldn't have mattered that I couldn't work up any respect for those over me. It shouldn't have mattered that often their course of action was totally wrong. It was incumbent upon me to work as though I were reporting to Christ himself every day, which, of course, I really was doing.

This is such a challenge for us. So few of us work in ideal situations. Most of the time, there is an ogre somewhere above us in the organizational flow-chart. God says it doesn't matter. The implication is that through our commitment, we will win over the ogres.

Tough scripture, eh?

Just some things I've been thinkin' 'bout...

!. I've written a bit about the extreme poverty I see every day on my bus runs. One of the sadder sights is a Tuesday and Friday occurrence. Those are the trash pickup days in the Grove, and every household rolls out their City of Dallas-issued garbage receptacle to the curb. This attracts a pitiful horde of shabby guys who push grocery carts around, going from bin to bin, digging for aluminum cans, food, or anything that has value. It is truly life on the edge.

2. My mom's doctor is a source of endless angst to me. For the last two appointments, he has finally seen her exactly 1 hour, 20 minutes after her appointment time. We see him again on the 23rd and if he pulls this again, I plan to stand up to him like a man, whatever that means.

3. I had a field trip to Fair Park last night, taking a volleyball team to a district game. I had the opportunity to look at folks leaving the Fairgrounds after a full day of merriment. They were the most beaten down folks I've ever seen.

4. I spend entirely too much time worrying about language and usage. I wonder if anyone ever says "wreak" (pronounced "reek") without using the word "havoc" after it. And why is it pronounced "reek"??? Does anyone anyone ever say "quagmire" without sticking "veritable" in front of it?

When we see Him...

I'm pleasurably rereading a book entitled "Deadline" by Randy Alcorn. I thought I'd share a striking passage found on page 50. It describes what is seen by one of the book's characters after entering heaven and seeing Jesus:

"This was the ageless one, the Ancient of Days, who is eternally young. He stepped forward, and at his first move the crowd quickly and reverently made way for him, as flimsy shacks make way for a hurricane. This was a good hurricane, but no one mistook goodness for weakness here. He who had spun the galaxies into being with a single snap of his finger, he who could uncreate all that existed with no more than a thought, extended his hand to Finney, as if the hand he extended was that of a plain ordinary carpenter. Everyone knew he was anything but ordinary. His riveting eyes commanded their full attention. All eyes were fixed on those eyes. For the moment, it was impossible to look elsewhere, and no one in his right mind would have wanted to.

'Welcome, my Son! Enter the kingdom prepared for you, by virtue of a work done by another, a work you could not do. Here you shall receive reward for those works you did in my name, works you were created to do.'

.

And then, with a smile that communicated more than any smile Finney had ever seen, the Great One looked into his eyes and said with obvious pride, 'Well done my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord!'"

Kinda got to me.

Hard Lives

Every school day, for a couple of hours, I see them. They are the castoffs from an affluent society and they are more numerous than you think. Their lives are immeasurably tougher than you can imagine.

There is Pleasant Grove and then there is deep Pleasant Grove. I see both. The former is bad enough to be intolerable. The latter has to be seen, smelled, and heard to be believed. Deep Pleasant Grove is awash in the detritus of what had been a middle class area in the 1950's. The Main Street of deep P.G. is South Buckner Boulevard, a thoroughly ugly artery that has a new check-cashing store added each week. I counted 28 used-car dealers between Lake June Rd. and Elam Rd, a distance of less than two miles.

It's the people that alternately touch me and disgust me. I've seen a certain woman three times now on the peculiarly named "Antoinette" St. She is an elderly white woman whose gait and mannerisms fairly shout mental illness. She appears to weigh 80 pounds at the most. She is always carrying something in a plastic bag. My guess is that she is returning from a trip to the convenience store up the street and that the bag contains the bare essentials of her food supply. It breaks my heart.

I see welfare mommas entering the campus of Frederick Douglass Elementary. Since this is my fourth year to run this route, I've come to recognize many of them. They are perpetually pregnant. More often than not, they are also hand-in-hand with two toddlers...and they're arriving at the school to pick up the child(ren) in kindergarten. Their faces bear the marks of struggle...not necessarily physical marks, but displaying defeat, remorse, and anger. They don't know life, they know survival. They are ill-equipped to reverse or even slow down the cycle of poverty, children, and transient boyfriends.

I am as far away from a solution to all this as east is from the west. Where would you start? I mean, what is the first thing that needs to be done? Should we be more concerned with their physical plight or their souls? I haven't even a whimper of a clue. I do know how good it feels to get in my car and return to the land of plenty. And how bad it makes me feel.

The Purest Joys

Try as you might, you can't have better experiences than these:

Reading a great book and still having half of it to go

A hot shower after a tough day

Sinking your taste buds into a Reese's peanut butter cup and knowing you have one of them left

Observing from a distance a son or daughter doing something exceptionally well

Having your spouse alongside to share special moments with

Hearing hundreds of voices praising God. You can almost feel yourself drifting closer to God.

Holding a baby that's been smeared with baby lotion

Holding a baby, period

Anything for a Date

I had a field trip last evening, taking the Woodrow Wilson volleyball girls to Loos Fieldhouse. About 30 minutes before their games were over, a very pleasant young man appeared at my bus and asked if he could put a sign on the side of my bus. I inquired as to what kind of sign - he said there would be a message on it asking one of the volleyball girls to go out with him to Woodrow's homecoming game. Since I was bored, I said, "Sure!"

He walked off to get the sign and reappeared later with a professionally-done, heavy paper sign that must have been 15 feet long. In big red letters, it said,

Heather Smith

H O M E C O M I N G?

Reed

I helped him tape the sign to the side of the bus. By now, the girls were due out any minute. He asked if he could wait inside the bus with me so he could see her reaction. Of course. I wouldn't miss this! Directly, out came the girls and there was instant high-school girl squealing. Reed laughed as Heather put her hands to her face in joy. He ran off the bus and Heather jumped into his arms, yelling, "Oh, Reed. I love you!!"

Crazy kids. Cute kids.

Signs and Wonders

Here's an article that has caused me to want to study it further:

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/1991/1498_Signs_and_Wonders_Then_and_Now/

Fascinating topic, don't you think?

Recovered Weekends

When I reflect back on my weekends as a teacher, I get a knot in my stomach. Toward the end of my teaching career, I was swamped with students. It was nothing like the beginning of my career when I had small classes and not a lot of take-home work to do.

But just two years ago, I was teaching six straight classes without a break, save for lunch. And I had so many students that extra desks had to be brought in to hold them. I believe I topped out at 193 students. Just between us folks, that's several carloads too many.

So by the first weekend of the school year, I was bringing home mountains of work to grade. When you have that many in a room, you just don't have time to even begin grading papers during the period. So my weekends consisted of sitting in the recliner with a seven-inch tall stack of papers, grading them one by one. Often, I didn't have enough time to finish, and I'd begin the week in arrears. Those ungraded papers would hang over me like Edgar Allen Poe's pendulum, slowing slicing away at my outlook on teaching.

It was one of the main reasons I retired a couple years ahead of when I wanted. Needless to say, I enjoy my Sats and Suns so much more these days. I have my life back.

You have to read this...

Forget that it's written by a baseball player. Just read it.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/features/264668.html

September is a good month...

If you're fairly old, you remember Harold Taft, chief meterologist of Channel 5 for a couple of decades. Harold, bless his soul, was keen on truisms...like, "You can't get a cold front in north Texas with a hurricane in the Gulf." Well, I'm not exactly the weatherman Brother Taft was, but I have a saying that is famed inside the Perkins walls: "The first cold front of any magnitude will hit September 21."

And what joy it brings. It usually means the end of upper 90's temps. It ushers in nighttime temperatures in the 50's. It usually means rain, as cool air and warm air don't get along and bang against each other knocking rain from the clouds.

There are other changes. The routine of school is now firmly established, ending the awkward nervousness in August felt by students and teachers alike. People seem invigorated again, showing signs of life after another oven-baked summer. The Fair opens. (I must digress. The Texas State Fair has as much attraction for me as the Dallas Museum of Arts...meaning less than none.)

And, grocery stores start creating their annual Halloween aisles. Wouldn't be surprised if by September 30th, Thanksgiving aisles aren't also displayed.

And, if you lived in northern Vermont, you witness the beginning of flaming fall color, something that has to be seen to be believed. Carole and I have seen it 3 times together. Our fantasy has been to have a house on a hillside in Vermont, looking out over a valley awash in color. Oh, well. One can dream.

It all worked out in the end...

For those of you who've been tossing and turning, unable to sleep, worrying about my little job situation...you can pillow your head with a smile on your face tonight.

There are numerous details, meaningful only to me and maybe Carole, which I will mercifully omit here. Long story short, I am getting one extra bus run every morning and afternoon until a replacement driver can be hired for those routes. Turns out it's the all-girls route that is identical to the all-boys route I have. I couldn't be more relieved. The girls are well-behaved and the route is fairly quick. I've satisfied the bus people who wanted me to take an extra run and I've gotten off rather easily. They could have assigned me, say, a Skyline to South Oak Cliff run...probably an extra hour every morning and every afternoon.

Had I made you privy to all the details, you would see a bunch of answered prayers. Honestly, there are times I look skyward and laugh out loud. God can come up with more solutions in such imaginative ways! Hey, He's God!

2 Down, ? to Go

It's been a wild two days on the school bus frontier. It turns out that a boatload of drivers quit over the summer. Wonder why? (heh-heh). So the rest of us are pulling double and triple duty, showing up at strange schools, transporting strange students to strange places. In the heat. My bus is air-conditioned, but it's also 8 years old and when the temp is 98, it's still stifling inside the thing.

Yesterday I drove from deep Pleasant Grove to MacArthur Blvd. in Irving to rescue a driver whose bus had broken down. This was during the afternoon rush hour. While highballin' down Stemmons, the "engine hot" light and buzzer came on several times and the temperature gauge was pegged out on 230. Water still boils at 212, right? I decided I'd keep going until I saw steam or smoke from beneath the hood. Finally got there and someone had already rescued her...

Today, I doubled back to Hood and picked up a group of very wild students and spent the next 30 minutes shuttling them to their various stops in far eastern Pleasant Grove. The warning light came back on after they boarded the bus, causing me to think that the light is mysteriously hard-wired to my stress level.

I'll give this a few days. If it doesn't improve, I'll change back into my starched shirt and tie, pick up my briefcase, and start substitute teaching at Dallas Christian. It doesn't pay nearly as well, but the environment has to be better. Just has to be.

Being a Blessing

Tomorrow morning, I start my 25th year of driving a school bus and my 2nd year of driving as a retired teacher. I never know the degree to which I impact the lives of my riders. It is probably negligible in most cases. After all, they are only on my bus for a fraction of their lives. Still, I will be presented with opportunities on almost a daily basis to affect lives positively.

I have two runs; one to a severely impoverished apartment complex where I pick up K-5 kiddoes, the other to take 6-8th grade boys to the middle school where I taught for decades. At the first stop, I encounter poverty that can accurately be described as scary. Many of these kids will go the whole year wearing only one or two separate outfits. They will sometimes board the bus in the dead of winter wearing only t-shirts. A couple of years ago on a 15-degree morning with howling winds, a kindergarten girl was at the bus stop with no coat of any kind. I had already figured she came from the worst possible environment since she and her clothing were frequently dirty. I told Carole about it when I got home that evening and we knew we had to get her a coat. When I gave it to her the next morning, I found out she a sister about the same age, maybe a twin. I called Carole from school and she bought an identical coat, rushed to Dallas to give it to me, and I gave it to the sister that afternoon.

But when any of my kids step onto the bus, I have no way of knowing if they slept well or were up all night listening to momma fight with her boyfriend. I don't know if they are content with life or fighting demons. I don't know if they look forward to me picking them up in the afternoon or dread the trip home because of the physical abuse that awaits them on a daily basis.

So somehow, I have to look for tiny open doors that I can step through, brief little moments where I see fear or aching. Since I certainly can't touch or hug a child in these litigious times, I almost totally limited to the words I say. Often, being a guy, I have no idea WHAT to say since I can't put myself in the role of a kindly grandmother easily. But I do believe in prayer and in the Holy Spirit. So I pray that the words will the appropriate ones and flow easily. And that I'll be gifted with eyesight keen enough to notice every opportunity. The task begins tomorrow.

Keep off the shoulder...

Just got back from the orthopedic doctor. Got my 2nd injection into the right shoulder. Will return in late September to start the paperwork for a scope that Dr. Aldrich calls a "decompression". The rotator cuff is frayed and there's a lot of bursitis as well.

I don't really have the time for this but realistically no longer have the option to keep putting it off. Being right-handed, I've been tormented for some time now as every time I try the simplest act involving reaching or lifting, I get the distinct sensation of being shot in the shoulder.

The doc said I'd have my arm in a sling for 10 days, have rehab for a few weeks, and be good as new in six weeks. He said he had one patient who drove a car the afternoon after the morning surgery. I'll be a bit disadvantaged in that every known school bus driver has used his right arm/hand to open the bus door to release the little angels at the bus stop. And, I can't afford to compromise safety one iota.

The best possible solution would be to have this injection somehow solve the problem. Not likely, but I'd welcome any relief.

On a scale of 1 to 10, this doesn't compare to cancer or severe arthritis, so I give it a 2 on the "problem" scale. But I do want it resolved. "No pain, no gain" is the stupidest slogan ever!

Ah, Autumn in the Air

It's as though a huge magnet is pulling me toward Hood Middle School this week. Fortunately, a counterforce known as retirement intervenes and keeps me firmly planted in my recliner. I feel so sorry for those who are showing up for orientation at Hood. They can easily be grouped into two totally disparate sections; the newbies and the oldbies.

The newbies themselves fall into 3 categories: those fresh out of college and ready to embark on their new teaching career; those who have some teaching experience and perhaps have moved here from, say, Kansas; and those who became dissatisfied with corporate America and are trying teaching as a way to get fulfillment. Regardless of which 3 one might fall in, I feel immense sorrow for what is about to happen to them.

I'm not a pessimist or a doom-and-gloom guy. I am a realist. To suddenly land in an urban middle school with high hopes and dreams is akin to Russian roulette. Ten days deep into this school year, those new to Hood Middle School will find themselves aghast at the avalanche of paperwork, amazed by the total lack of respect they receive from roughly half of the students, and astounded by the realization that the teacher is the lowest form of life in the urban ed gene pool.

By the end of the year, they will be beaten down physically and emotionally, wondering why in the world did they trust their idealistic instincts. So sad. And it explains why we no longer get the best and brightest as teachers. One of the most disturbing phenomena I witnessed in my final teaching years was the influx of teachers who weren't very smart and tended to be misfits. Another problem was hirees from west African nations...bless their hearts, they don't speak English well enough to be understood. Pity the poor students these days.


Oh, yeah. That other group of teachers...the oldies. I used to be one. Those are the ones who are pretty much locked in - they're there because they have no recourse. They are beaten down as well, but hang around because there are no better options in their lives. They wish they were somewhere else, and because of that, their teaching is substandard...many times, disturbingly substandard.


By now, I know you're convinced that I'm a bitter old man. Honestly, I'm not. But I have witnessed what I've described over and over again. In many cases, those who've been chewed up and spit out at Hood are wonderful, lovely people. But those qualities don't often work in the classroom anymore. In order for me to survive all those years, I almost had to adopt a different personna. I had to be tougher, more assertive and aggressive than my usual nature...all the while not compromising my Christian faith. In the end, I retired sooner than I wanted to. In the end, the environment won out, eroding my will to stay even though I was at the very top of the DISD pay scale.


Is there a place in America for someone who wants to teach? A place where they can truly teach and feel fulfilled at the end of the day? Sure! I've dropped in on the middle school down the farm-to-market road from us. No one is wandering the halls looking for trouble. When I peer into the classrooms, I see teachers teaching and students learning. No distractions, no danger. So I assume that if one moves away from the urban areas, situations like this can be found all over America. And, of course, there is the private school option. The only such operation with which I'm intimately familiar is Dallas Christian. I can truthfully say that the only singular way DC was like Hood is that both could be referred to as "schools". My three kiddos used their DC educations as a springboard to successful college careers and ultimately successful professional careers.

So now I'm mostly detached from the Hood environment, connected only by the fact that I drive a school bus there. I let the students off the bus and joyfully drive back to the bus lot, leaving the challenges of urban education to those who aren't as fortunate as I. God bless them.

Etc.

Carole and I are sitting here in limbo this morning. Our plan had been to go to San Antonio this weekend to see Brett, Jenny, and the grandsons. But then Tropical Storm Erin sloshed inland and dropped 6-12" in the Hill Country. So we delayed our departure, trying to decide if travel were prudent given the circumstances. Just got off the phone with Brett and he said things were calming down, so we will probably take off in a couple of hours.

If you are a steady reader of this blog (why?!!), you know that I started suffering with a frayed rotator cuff back in April. It calmed a bit with a cortisone shot, but now it is its own perfect storm, tormenting me by day and night. It's my right shoulder and I'm right-handed. I can't reach higher than shoulder level or reach behind me...like one does when driving a car and wanting to retrieve something from the back seat. At night, I'm forced to sleep on my left side, the same side where I've had two hip surgeries...and the result is that I rotate between my bed and the couch.

I need surgery, but now with my seasonal bus-driving job about to start up, I don't want to lose six weeks of employment. Wouldn't be fair to my boss. So I'm gonna try to get another injection next week and then tough it out for ten months.

Got to go pack now and head toward the eye of Erin. Reminds me of a Steven Wright observation: "Just imagine how high the oceans would be if it weren't for the sponges that live on the ocean floor."

The Grasshopper Chronicles

About five or six years ago, the eleventh plague descended upon our little patch of real estate out here in the country. When it finally abated about three years ago, I would almost rank it up there with loss of the firstborn. Of course, I'm referencing the dreaded grasshopper.

Back then the little critters were voraciously eating everything, especially the line of photinias that separate us from the property to the north. Walking out to the road to get the morning paper became a forced march through enemy territory as scores of 'hoppers jumped toward you, some landing on your clothing and bare skin.

I simply don't know why God created them. They have caused billions of dollars in crop damage in the past 100 years; probably billions of drachmas back in Egyptian times, too, or whatever their currency was. They're ugly, too.

I scarcely noticed them this year until I finally got around to putting in a flower bed in front of our house. A couple of weeks ago, I planted 208 vinca and about 4 days later, word spread throughout the grasshopper community that dinner was served. So, with powers vested in me as commander-in-chief of my property, I've declared war. My first weapon was Howard Garrettesque - diotamacious earth...a powderly white substance that makes microscopic cuts in the skin of insects and vermin, thus killing them over the course of 3 or 4 days. I would head out to the garden in the heat of the day, a time that the hoppers like to spend sunning on the bricks next to the flowers. I got 'em good, too.

But now, reinforcements are arriving. Not content to let these fresh guys live more than a couple of hours, I'm blasting them with straight shots of insecticide. It may be a protracted war that I'm getting into. I can't let the enemy get the upper hand.

(Do you really think that Albert Schweitzer picked up every ant that got in his way? Neither do I.)

Fallback

I've been spending way too much time outside, trying to keep my grass and flowers hydrated but letting the sun bake my bald spot. The result is a total lack of blog ideas. So, given the absence of my usual deep, intellectual verbage, I fall back on what excites me: brilliant aviation photography. To counter the brilliance of the following photos, I've included a few of my own. I urge you to click on them and get the full effect.

Very Common and Very, Very Wrong

The above picture will illustrate how I feel about a certain ubiquitous grammar meltdown. In my last blog I warned that I would be exposing the most egregious language mistake this side of Mima Williams, my "Advanced American Grammar" professor at ACU. Mima was an old, unmarried former Marine officer whose stare could drill holes in titanium. On my first day in her class, she paused while calling roll and said, "Is Jimmy Milstead present?" Seizing the opportunity to brown-nose a tough teacher, I pointed to a guy who had just stepped out into the hall and said, "That was him!". Well, dark thunderclouds instantly appeared on her brow and she was trembling as she shouted to me, "THAT WAS HE!". So began a tough semester.

Well, I digress. Everywhere Carole and I go, every time we are watching SportsCenter or listening to a game, we are beaten down by folks who don't know which pronoun to use as an object of a preposition. Ministers, teachers, congressmen, and athletes succumb to this train wreck of usage. Here are some examples:

"It was a secret between her and I."

"A very nice dinner awaited my girlfriend and I."

"There was discord among he and his friends."

Very simply, the object of a preposition must be of the objective case. That means you simply cannot use pronouns like "I", "he", or "she" in those situations. The funny thing is that some folks confidently toss in an "I" because they faintly remember from their early schools days that it is wrong to say, "Lester and me went fishing." "I"is given unnatural powers, becoming the always correct pronoun to use in any circumstance. So they assert, "Just between you and I, I'm getting married in June." And then they relax in the quiet satisfaction of knowing that they are grammatically superior to their audience.

Listen, folks. This isn't hard. You will always use the correct word if you use the following test. Merely drop the other half of the prepositional phrase and see how it sounds using only the other pronoun. Let me illustrate:

"There were instructions waiting for Billy and (I/me)". You wouldn't say, "There were instructions waiting for I", would you? Naw, man. Hopefully, you would say, "There were instructions waiting for me". Aha! Bingo! There's the pronoun you need to use!

Let's try a second example: "The hosts were especially gracious to my wife and (I,me)." You have serious issues if you think , "The hosts were especially gracious to I." We all know you would use "me". So, then, "me" is the absolute correct choice in the original sentence.

Work on it, America. If we don't strive to save the King's English, our descendents will be speaking some conglomeration of mish-mash, disjointed ebonic code words that will bear no resemblance to our proper tongue. Speak and write correctly, America! Take pride in being linguistically pure as the driven snow.

Don't throw Mima under the bus.

Watch Your Language

Carole and I are fascinated with language and word use. When other couples talk about finances, vacations, or work with each other, we delve into the finer points of grammar, gerunds, and diagramming. We can kill a couple of hours on the road this way...and if for no other reason, she and I were meant for each other.

I pride myself on using the correct word form in any verbal or written circumstance. My mom drilled proper usage into me and fortunately, language fascinated me to the point that I made spectacular grades in any class where it was even remotely part of the curriculum. But I confess there is a word I use dozens of times a day that isn't even a real word. I'm not even sure how to spell it. I think it's "dudn't".

"Dudn't" is the natural contraction of "didn't" and "doesn't" and therefore covers both the present and past tenses. Some linguists feel it is mainly a Texas phenomon. Maybe the most commonly used sentence in Texas is, "It dudn't make no sense." Also helping in the use of "dudn't" are the acceptable words of "couldn't" and "wouldn't". Somehow to our feeble linguistic mind, "dudn't" should be the third word there in a natural trio.

Try as I might, and I have been trying hard, I can't eliminate "dudn't" from my speech patterns. I have this awful sense of foreboding that someday I'll suddenly be in the presence of the Queen of England, who then will ask me about the war with Iraq, prompting me to respond, "It dudn't make no sense". Actually, I wouldn't use the double negative there, but I'm sure the use of "dudn't" might cause the queenie to throw her tiara at my unclean lips.

Anyway, I'll keep working on it. And you be sure and stayed tuned for my next blog. Keeping with the language theme, I'm going to expose the single most common (and irritating) misuse of grammar in America today. It's positively scandalous. Just ask Carole.

Why I Like to Fly

See above photo. (be sure to click on it)

Those who don't like baseball...

...have never felt the crunch of their cleats on concrete.

...have never smelled green outfield grass.

...have never felt the sensation of hitting a ball so hard you don't feel it.

...have never experienced the joy of just playing catch.

...have never gotten excited over a home-team rally.

...have never known the feeling of an RBI hit.

...have never understood the purity of infield chatter.

...have never rejoiced at the start of spring training.

...have never appreciated the feel of a baseball uniform.

...have never known the comfort of a broken-in glove.

They're Among Us

What I thought was an urban legend was proven otherwise today. I was dutifully sitting at the back table in a large conference room at Dallas County Schools headquarters getting recertified to drive a school bus. Sitting to my right were two other bus drivers, one of whom I recognized as being the lady whom I had discovered last year could not read. She drives at my lot and I had to read some extremely simple instructions to her from some paperwork we had to complete.

Immediately next to me was a stranger, a gentleman about my age. I engaged him in conversation. He wanted to talk about fishing and I told him I didn't fish, but I asked him to tell me about fishing. He told me he was from Arkansas and that fishin' was real good up there now. Unfortunately, however, it was soon evident that he was a few lures shy of a tacklebox. But I enjoyed sharing stories with him and we were getting along nicely.

The fun began late in the session when the instructor passed out some simple forms for us to fill out. I thought they were self-explanatory, but the instructor had a dry-erase board up front and she drew an example of the form on the board. She added several horizontal lines. On the first line she wrote "Your Name" and then "07/30/2007" and finally "3SWB", the number of the conference room. She told us to be sure and use the name on our drivers' license.

I jotted down "Timothy Paul Perkins", "07/30/2007", "3SWB". Then I glanced over at my neighbor's paper. He had written (ready?),"Your Name", followed by the other two items. Not believing what I was seeing, I blinked hard and sure 'nuff, that's what he had written. Then he leaned back in his seat. I got to watch as the aforementioned lady, obviously not wanting to anything wrong, carefully, slowly, deliberately, wrote "Your Name" on her paper.

I couldn't bear to see them be embarrassed by anyone who would look at their forms. I gently told the gentleman to cross out "Your Name" and write, uh, "Your Name" in its place. Eventually, the lady also made the correction.

They are truly among us.

But we're all God's children. I hope that a miniscule bit aid helped them a bit. I really do.

Drudgery

We all have to do stuff we don't wanna do. Since I retired from teaching, there is far less of that in my life now and for that, I'm immensely grateful.

Monday, I have to get up early in order to drive to the far side of Dallas for bus driver recertification training. Has to be done every three years and this will be the 9th time I've sat through 8 hours of old safety films and first-aid tips. At this time in my illustrious yellowhound career, I feel I could teach the class. I'll handle the boredom as best I can and try to remember that every school day, I've got the most precious cargo one can have. That I've got young children whose parents trust me with delivering them safely.

I'll get paid $50 for my time.

35 and Counting

It was a sultry Thursday night in 1972 on this date. I believe the temp hit 100. We started the wedding at 8:00 so the auditorium would be dark enough for pictures. It was a Thursday night because the Cowboys were playing the College All-Stars on Friday night and we didn't want an all-female turnout for our big ceremony.

Mercy, it's been a great 35 years. It always helps when you out-marry yourself and I certainly did. Now we have 3 grown kids and 4.5 grandkids. It's such an endorsement of God and faith and prayer that we sit here tonight perfectly content. Through every trial (and there've been some, of course), God got us through it. There were times when we thought life had tossed us an insurmountable hurdle, only to have God pull us through it and provide an answer.

The product of our union is family...and nothing brings us more joy these days than our kids and g'kids. They dominate our conversations, and not just because we've covered every other subject worth discussing in these 35 years. Our three children love God and serve Him with diligence. And that brings us deep, deep contentment. We've not had to face the discouragement of unfaithful children that many couples our age have faced. Not that we were brilliant parents, but because of them and their commitment to the Lord.

Our kids do give Carole and me a tough time every year because we rarely celebrate anniversaries in exuburant style. I think last year we went to the Cheesecake Factory and then (hold your breath), I took my bride to Love Field where I took a few airplane photos. This year, we've moved back our "celebration" one day to Saturday because Carole has been sick with horrible sinuses. She got an allergy shot yesterday and should be good to go tomorrow. Current plan is to go to Jefferson, Texas on a day trip and enjoy the small town atmosphere. Yeah, I know. We're weird. Have been for 35 years now.

Airport Security

The infamous 9/11 attacks had horrid results; loss of lives, devastation to the airline industry, and shaking our sense of national comfort. But about the only tangible trickle-down effect on me (other than having to work harder for photos) occurs in the security check at airports.

Here was the procedure I went through on my recent trip to Tampa. (Not that I'm unique...I'm just trying to make a point.) I've got a couple of dozen folks behind me when I reach the conveyor belt. I take off my shoes and put them in a bucket. I take off my belt, keys, key-clip, and phone and put them in a tray. I remove my laptop from my carry-on suitcase and put it in a tray. I also remove the toiletries (all under 3 oz. per the law) which are in a 1 quart baggie and place them in a tray. I put the suitcase on the conveyor. I put my camera bag on the conveyor.

Sound simple? It ain't, because the early trays get ahead of you and start to mix with the stuff of the people just ahead of you. It is impossible to do so many acts smoothly, and yet you're trying to hurry because of the folks behind you. Getting flustered is easy. The TSA personnel are nice enough, usually, but they seem to expect everyone to be an old pro at the routine, and some people don't fly enough to have the routine down pat.

And this is if all goes well. What if there is something suspicious in your bag? Or your back? I've had the metal rods in my back set off the metal detector. On my first trip after 9/11, the titanium knee brace I wear set it off. I had to step behind a screen and drop my drawers to prove I wasn't a first sergeant in the Taliban. There I was...no shoes, no slacks, no belt, no dignity anymore...being checked out by a Middle Eastern TSA agent. Wow.

I believe the solution lies with the dogs of America. I would much rather be sniffed in dark places by a smiling bloodhound that is trained to detect dangerous contraband. That pooch should be able to ascertain my political leanings in 10 seconds, given the nature of their nostrils.

I'm serious. Let's start the movement!

Good news about Peter

I hope you've read the previous blog about young Peter. It's now late Monday evening and he is still in surgery. However, the major work is done and a plastic surgeon is closing him up (a one-hour-plus job). But the news so far is great! His vitals are good and they don't even expect him to go to ICU tonight.

Pray, pray, pray for this wonderful, brave young man. Also for his parents, who must be exhausted, but relieved.

Ewing's Sarcoma

Aren't disease names scary? Usually when you hear one for the first time, you know two things - it was named after the scientist who discovered it and...it is bad news.

There is a boy in the Austin area who has Ewing's Sarcoma. He's facing a 13-hour surgery next week. I just today found out about his fight with this particular form of cancer. He's a super kid from a marvelous family. I beg you to commit to pray for him and his family from now until he is pronounced absolutely well.

His story is here and is worthy of your time. God is omnipotent and will heal him!

Phillipians 2:3

I sometimes fall into a trap of trying to earn my salvation (mistake #1) by looking for grandiose things to accomplish for God (mistake #2). The truth is that we will have a constant, never-ending supply of opportunities as long as other people show up in our daily walk. So unless I become a hermit, I will be given scores of chances to "consider others" better than I. And it really takes very little effort to do something nice, say something nice, or go the extra mile.

I came across this story today...I hope it's true because it illustrates someone who carried out this great commission. Enjoy:

Listen to these words of a taxicab driver: Because I drive the night shift, my cab often becomes a moving confessional. Passengers climb in, sit behind me in total anonymity, & tell me about their lives. I encounter people whose lives amaze me, ennoble me, make me laugh & sometimes weep. But none touched me more than a woman I picked up late one August night.

Responding to a call from a small brick fourplex in a quiet part of town, I assumed I was being sent to pick up some partiers, or someone who had just had a fight with a lover, or a worker heading to an early shift at some factory in the industrial part of town.When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, then drive away.But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself.

So I walked to the door & knocked."Just a minute", answered a frail, elderly voice. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress & a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940’s movie. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos & glassware."Would you carry my bag out to the car?" she asked. I took the bag & then turned to assist her. She took my arm & we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness. "It’s nothing", I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated". "Oh, you’re such a good boy", she said.

When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?" "It’s not the shortest way," I answered quickly. "Oh, I don’t mind," she said. "I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice." I looked in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glistening. "I don’t have any family left," she continued. "The doctor says I don’t have very long." I quietly reached over & shut off the meter. "What route would you like me to take?" I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she & her husband had lived when they were newlyweds.She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner & would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I’m tired. Let’s go now."We drove in silence to the address she had given me. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous & intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.I opened the trunk & took the small suitcase to the door.

The woman was already seated in a wheelchair."How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse. "Nothing," I said. "You have to make a living," she answered. "There are other passengers," I responded.Almost without thinking, I bent & gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. "You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," she said. "Thank you."I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life. We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware - beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

Afraid of Heaven?

I've heard that some folks actually don't look forward to heaven. Reasons? They tend to think that an eternity of doing anything would get old rather quickly. Kind of like overdosing on apple pie here on this side of eternity.

I think we need to give God some credit here. (Funny statement, eh?) I prefer to believe that God has got that boredom problem solved. Sometimes we need reminding that nothing is too hard for God. He has fashioned an existence that will be eternal bliss. That's it. Case closed.

I enjoy reading about near-death experiences. Of course, many doubt their validity...and whether they indeed give us a glimpse of heaven remains to be seen. But I do find it fascinating that many "return" to this life after having experienced, albeit for just a moment, a profound peace, a joy beyond measure. If these NDE's do pull back heaven's curtain a bit, then it seems that God really has covered this base.

So much of our journey is yet to be lived. I don't know much about heaven, such as what "state" we'll be in or how we'll relate to our current spouse given that there will be no marriage there. But I'm exceedingly anxious to be there and to see what He has in store for me. Even if it takes forever.

The Top Five Days of my Life*

*With tongue planted firmly in cheek.

1. The day cable TV arrived at our house, sometime in the 80's. For some reason, Dallas was slow to get on the bandwagon and we were chained to a handful of OTA (over-the-air) channels. I had heard about ESPN but never experienced it. Then cable arrived at 5126 Breakwood and a new day dawned. I simply revelled in the luxury of watching a William & Mary/Weber St. basketball game or the 10 PM Sports Center. Nowadays, I have hundreds of channels and I've weaned myself from sports addiction. But trust me, it was huge when it happened.

2. The day I discovered a.net. I had always loved aviation and now I could look at pictures of planes to my heart's content. Little did I know that I'd ever post pix there.

3. The day I discovered that people would pay to have to their yards mowed. There was a guy who lived half a block down from us in the 70's. He and his wife had no kids and both were well-compensated at their jobs. He drove a Porsche and they had the only swimming pool in the neighborhood. Don asked me one day if I'd be interested in mowing his yard for twenty bucks. Sure! Little did I know that this would unofficially start an underground landscaping company loosely known as "Perkins and Sons", and would provide a stream of income for two decades, helping us put our kids in Dallas Christian.

4. April 26, 1976, the day I walked out of the National Guard armory on Northwest Hwy in Dallas for the final time. I had given our country six tough years of my life; it always seemed that my "Guard weekends" were on the best weather weekends of the month. And I never really enjoyed the Army. They begged me on that Sunday to re-up and give 'em 14 more years. Not a chance.

5. The day I dunked a basketball. I've been severely afflicted with white man's disease since birth. It was truly embarrassing going through life being 6'4" and unable to dunk. But one day in 1968, Terry Hawkins and I had just finished a tennis match at ACU when we wandered through old Bennett Gym on the way to our cars. I grabbed a basketball, dribbled toward the goal and leapt with all the albino genes I could muster...and cleanly dunked the ball. What was great about this was that I had a witness.

Of course, none of these compare to the REAL important days. Maybe that's another blog.

Quick Trip

I've returned home from spending 30 hours in Tampa, the humidity capital of the world. It must be a natural reaction of tourists to go places and exclaim, "How do folks live here?". I found that I could not stay dry when I left the gelid confines of the rental car. So anytime I wanted to eat indoors at a restaurant, I needed a shower first.

It also impacted my photo-taking. Yesterday morning, I arrived at my "spot" atop the airport parking garage and was immediately blessed with a great photo-op. I quickly got out my camera, attached the lens, stepped out into the damp air...only to have the lens to fog over upon contact with the outside air. Since you can't wipe a lens off with your shirt or a paper towel or somesuch, I was reduced to holding it over an opening in the hood of the car, where hot air was escaping with enough force to act like a blow-dryer. It took about 3 minutes but it worked. Of course, the shot I had wanted to take was long since history by that time.

Ironically, Tampa and the rest of Florida is in a drought. That, to me, is as puzzling as a lack of snow in Siberia. But as I awaited the flight home yesterday, a Dallas-like monsoon hit the area, causing perfect strangers in the airport to be embraced by giddy Floridians. Guess I brought them a taste of home.

Anyway, the reason I went there was to capitalize on the extraordinary photography conditions. It's hard to beat a silver plane on a deep-green background.