SKYGARDENER ZENFOLIO

Occasional commenter John Riegsecker has a beautiful photography site that can be viewed here.  John has not linked his page to his name on his comments, so I thought that I would introduce you to his work - spend some time over at Skygardener.

 

CARGILL ON "BIBLICAL MARRIAGE"

Friend and colleague Bob Cargill discussing the concept of "biblical marriage."  You have to click on image and go to Vimeo to watch.

Biblical Marriage? (Cargill) from Bible Odyssey on Vimeo.

DR. DOUG

With the name Swartzendruber, many of my students will address me as Dr. S. and a few will use Dr. Doug.  Both are OK with me, but I am not one who will accept the growing practice of referring to professors by their first name - I am too old school I guess.  Besides, I am not their peer - they can call me Doug after they get their doctoral degrees :-)

But, this post is not about me, but rather about the REAL DR. DOUG.  

 

On a recent trip to Big Bend Country, we stopped by to hang out on the Terlingua Ghost Town Porch where Dr. Doug often holds 'office hours.'  We grabbed a beer and headed to the porch, and as our good fortune would have it, the Doctor was in.  There were two guys playing guitar and singing, a fellow from Missouri on a Harley road trip, and a couple of other locals - plus the four of us.  It was 104 in the shade, but we spent some time listening to the music and the wisdom being dispensed. 

Be sure to go to Dr. Doug's Web Page here, and browse around - entertaining.  As his sub-title states, "Dr. Doug's Mental Health Clinic - Guided Group Therapy on the Terlingua Ghost Town Porch."  And I guess this pretty his mission statement: 

Welcome to my Wide Open Mental Health Clinic here on the High Sierra porch!  Just go through that door over there and the nurse will provide your favorite ice-cold medicine for a small fee. 

Come back here with your medicine and find a place on one of those benches.  I'll guide you through this group therapy session, and I guarantee you will feel better very soon.

Now tell me... What do you think of the view from this porch... Did you know Terlingua is the world's largest open air insane asylum? Yes, and I'm the only mental therapist in this entire borderland region, as far as the eye can see when sitting on this mountain.  This is a task no other therapist will do, a fate of unending hardships. 

      But I'll do it, so let's get started.  Do you love your mother?  Is there something bothering you?  How does that make you feel?  I may be able to help you.

My advice is... Live free, take your medicine, and be very, very happy.

Hey, look over there... What a babe!

The Two Dr. Dougs

THE BIG-ASS TRUCK

It was rather like a heavy-weight world champion versus an amateur light-weight - a Dodge Ram pickup versus our 2007 Subaru Impreza.

 

Rhonda was stopped at a right-turn-yield type of intersection waiting for the Ram to proceed.  For unknown reasons, the fellow put it into reverse and roared backward while Rhonda honked in vain.  He said that he did not see anything in his rear view camera and there was no signal that there was anything behind him - whatever happened to actually looking??!!  Duh.....  Result - barely a scape in the rear bumper of the Ram and a totaled Impreza.  And a serious hit to the pocketbook for a new car.  Fortunately Rhonda was not injured physically but did suffer some emotional trauma, and naturally has some concerns when we pull up behind a Big-Ass Truck.

 

New Impreza, although we would have been driving the old one for some time to come.

SKA

Ska, The Music:

Ska, The Beer:

Being a lover of hoppy beers, the Modus Hoperandi is near the top of my list of favorite beers.

DEAD BEAT IN REVERSE

I am fairly sure that my cousin will not mind my re-publishing a bit of news that he submitted to a family newsletter - made me chuckle - and I hope he gets some money back!!!!

"Did you ever hear of paying a corpse? I pay spousal maintenance for my last ex-wife once a
month. I get a money order and send it to the local county clerk and they mail a check to my ex in
Arizona. In April I decided to drive to the courthouse and pay in person. The cashier pulled up the file and asked if I knew my ex-wife was dead. Quite surprised, I said, No, are you sure? (After the divorce, the ex insisted on no communication except through attorneys.) The cashier said there was a note attached to the file that she died, but because I hadn’t heard about it she thought it might be a mistake and someone attached the note to the wrong file. She said she would check it out and get back to me. 

I paid the money and left. Later that afternoon while at home, I got a call from the clerk office verifying that the note attached to the file was correct and my ex-wife was, indeed, dead. She died on April 19, 2013, over a year ago. I asked if I could get the money back I had just paid since she was dead, and the lady on the phone said No. She also verified that none of the checks sent to my ex since her death had been cashed.  She said they would have to put a stop pay on those. I asked about a refund of the year’s worth of overpayment and she said I would have to make a written request for that. That is government at work, folks. Am curious as to how many months/years I would continue paying had I not by chance stopped by the office in person."