It’s 0700 and I have a roaring fire in the wood stove to warm our hearts. It’s been a rough few days for us here. I had a health scare which fortunately has been figured to be the lesser of the evils. Good but exhausting. Then last night our son had news that one of his high school classmates had gone the suicide route. Someone we knew. We have had a rash of young people taking their live’s in the past few years. Hard to handle for me and for us.
You will remember that when I was in Spain I had three of those wrist bands on to remind me of things. One was for a wonderful young US Army Officer that was killed in the recent fight against terrorism. I knew him. Second was a wonderful young young man that went the suicide route here in the neighborhood and I knew him. And the third bracelet was from the hospital to remind me to talk to people about colon cancer.
Somewhere on my way back from Spain I cut these all off because they …. Well, they were too heavy for me, if that makes sense. I had bought the pilgrim bracelet and I had to go with that for a while.
Please say a prayer for our neighborhood. Ah, I look up and the fire has died down and we need some more wood. Let’s keep it all burning. Love, Phil.
I almost didn’t read this because it has the same picture as another blog post, so I thought I already read it. Glad I noticed it was actually a new post! I love that you write every day! It is always so great to read about your thoughts. You have an impressive way of always finding something to write about. I can’t believe there was another suicide on the island. It’s getting to be unbelievable and surreal at this point. I heard that you made a huge batch of meatloaf for everyone to munch on tomorrow. That’s just so great dad. Your newfound cooking abilities are a wonderful way to nurture people. Food is the best medicine, truly. Aside from, or along with fresh air and walking of course. Speaking of food, we just watched the film, Food Inc. It came out many years ago and I had never seen it. I think I was wanting to stay in the dark about some things, so I was subconsciously avoiding it. But since we watched it–and I don’t regret this–we are making some changes in the way we buy and eat food, trying even more to stick with quality, small producers if possible, and local. You should check it out. I hope you guys have a good day tomorrow with the football and the meatloaf. I love you!
Hi T – thanks for checking in. I know it is the same pic but I like it. There is something very comforting about it for me. It is a stockpile of warmth that is all ready to go and available and pretty to look at before that moment comes. It’s money in the bank. Yea.
Yea, I whittled out a couple of meat loaves. I am really enjoyng my new cooking hobby. First and foremost it is a outgrowth of my love for those around me and a way to give a gift to them. One of the things that I came back with. It’s giving the gift of hospitality to those you love or will love. And also I was looking for something to do on the long winter evenings coming up to keep from just falling asleep.
Yes, we had another susicide and it was a young man that I had worked with at archery camp and was in Wiley’s class. This is so hard to deal with. My own personal attempt at fighting this is to get close as possible to everyone that I can. My personal attempt involves getting personal.
OK, hello to everyone and glad that Mom is there. Love, Dad.