of People and Pixels - Life

An Adventure in Wilmore's Wilderness

2011-06-04T07:27:24Z

Hilary went out with some friends tonight, so it was just me and my boys: Caspian (almost 5 yrs) and Perrin (2 yrs). The first question of an evening like this is: pizza, pizza, or pizza?

It's the beginning of the weekend, and pizza would kick things off right, so I had to evaluate our options. Hilary had the car, so we couldn't simply run out and pick up a pizza. We didn't have any crusts to make one at home, and delivery is always a last option now that most pizza places charge a delivery fee. There was one good option remaining: Hunt Brothers pizza at the local gas station.

I love Hunt Brothers pizza; the crust is delicious, the toppings are unlimited, and the price is right. But the gas station is about a mile from our house...could a five and a two year old walk there and back? I did want to wear them out so they'd go to sleep quickly, so I ended up deciding to give it a shot. Pizza and a hike? Sounds like a winning combination!

We started out walking our subdivision's sidewalks until we reached Jessamine Station Road, a country road which heads into town (over a railroad) and creates the intersection for the first of Wilmore's two stoplights. Having never walked into town on this road, I wasn't sure if there was a sidewalk over the railroad, but I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to head off the road and cross the railroad on foot. Luckily, there turned out to be a sidewalk, since the areas around the railroad bridge were completely overgrown.

It's been too long since I've truly been out in nature. Yeah, I've gone on walks down to the "creek park" with my family, but out in the wild? It's been years. The wildflowers overgrowing the sides of the bridge were my first taste of wild nature in a long time, and they were beautiful, especially the thistles. Caspian and Perrin had never seen thistles before, so they were amazed at how tall and spiky they were, but I was simply reminded of the stark beauty of a plant with such a contradictory nature (and these were some of the tallest thistles I'd ever seen: some were over eight feet tall).

After our brief wildflower stop by the railroad bridge, we continued on into town to the Clucker's Marathon where our pizza awaited us. We ate, did the potty thing, and then started back home at 9:00 so we could hopefully make it before dark. I got the leftover pizza bagged for easy carrying, grabbed my boys' hands, and headed off toward the cemetary.

We passed the cemetary coming down the hill to Clucker's, so of course Caspian was begging to get to walk back through it on our way home. Why are cemetaries so fascinating to kids? Perhaps because death is such a foreign concept to them? Caspian & Perrin didn't really understand the reverence of a cemetary, but that's ok, they've got time to get it.

As we wandered amongst the gravestones, I thought about the route we would be taking to get back home. I really didn't want to walk home the same way we came; the sidewalk on the railroad bridge was a bit narrow, and there were other ways to walk home that didn't seem all that much longer than the country road route. There is a creek that runs through Wilmore, from the north side of town, southeast past Clucker's out the east side of town, ending up not too far from our house. I wondered if we could simply follow the creek home? There was a portion of its route with which I was unfamiliar, though. The creek winds past the cemetary, across a playground, and then through a tunnel under the railroad tracks. Once it gets on the other side of the tracks, I wasn't sure what happened to it for the next thousand feet until it gets to the "creek park" which is near our house.

I was feeling adventurous! I hadn't gone hiking or trailblazing or even just wandering around the woods in years (pretty sad for an Eagle Scout, huh?), so I asked Caspian if he would like to go on an adventure, and with his enthusiastic support, we set off. First we had to get from the cemetary to the playground where the creek was most accessible. I remembered from my childhood that there used to be a shortcut out the back of the cemetary, so I took the boys through to see if it was still there. It was somewhat overgrown but still passable, so with my five year old hanging on my back, and holding the leftover pizza and my two year old in my arms, we plunged through the undergrowth for fifty feet to come out on the gravel road behind the playground.

At the playground, we dropped down into the dry creekbed and followed it across to where it meets the twenty foot high railroad track embankment. Just before disappearing into a tunnel through the embankment, the dry creekbed merges with a flowing creek, so we couldn't walk in the creekbed any longer. We waited beside the stream as a train thundered past, then followed a short trail down to the creek to see what awaited us. It was approaching dusk, and the tall trees and steep embankment on three sides cast the tunnel entrance in shadow. At this point, the creek was nice and shallow, with plenty of rocks for crossing, so with Perrin in my arms and Caspian following close behind me, I carefully crossed the creek.

As I approached the tunnel entrance, I could see that it was a sizable tunnel (a small car could easily drive through), so I pulled out my LED keychain flashlight and peered into the tunnel to see if it was passable. Somebody must continue to cross through the tunnel occasionally, because there was a meandering path of large rocks going through the tunnel to allow easy pasage over the water. The water was only a few inches deep, so even if we fell in we would only get wet, but falling in a creek—regardless of its depth—could be scary for a young kid, so we played it safe and kept to the rocks. With only a few balancing errors, we managed to pick our way through the tunnel without soaking our feet, and on the other side emerged once again in the twilight.

Now we were faced with a choice. There were woods all around, so it wasn't immediately apparent which way we should go. I knew that if we were able to continue following the creek, it would lead us to the park, but I wasn't sure if we would be able to follow it owing to the dense woods surrounding it. On our left, however, there appeared to be a path worn into the overgrowth, so I gambled on that being the better option.

Growing up in the Boy Scouts, I went on regular outings to the Red River Gorge as a boy. Of all the different hikes we went on, though, the ones I enjoyed most were when we just hiked cross-country without a trail. Crashing through the forest, making our way over mountains and around fallen trees, we were a piece of the wilderness for a weekend. I believe God created us to be a part of the natural world he created, in all its wonder and wildness, and when I'm able to spend time out there in the wild, my sense of awe grows to unspeakable proportions.

All these memories and my sense of wonder came alive again as I led my boys along the little worn path through the wilderness in Wilmore. All around was dense woods and weeds as far as we could see, so we just continued along the path, avoiding the poison ivy as best we could. I knew we were heading in the right direction, so I figured we'd come out somewhere recognizable sooner or later.

Pretty soon we came upon a clearing. As we emerged from the tall weeds into the clearing, I began marveling at how such a long stretch of wilderness could exist in the heart of a small town like Wilmore. The clearing was long and narrow, just wide enough for a large truck to fit in, with tall woods stretching out on either side. It apparently went on for quite a while, but was very directional, so we followed the clearing in the direction it was headed.

As we walked, I noticed it was getting pretty dark, so I kept up the pace and looked about for signs of light. Although I saw some streetlights a ways off through the trees, the lights I noticed the most were the fireflies. The tall woods and dense undergrowth seemed to contain and reflect their light...and there were thousands of them! As far as we could see ahead of us down the clearing, hundreds and hundreds of fireflies flashed to each other in the fading daylight. I stood for a couple minutes and simply soaked it in. It was beautiful.

Eventually, we had to keep going since it was almost dark, and after a bit longer we came to a gate at the end of the clearing. Thankfully it was standing open, so we went through the opening, and came out of the woods smack in somebody's back yard! We walked around to the sidewalk in front of their house and I took a minute to get my bearings. We were exactly where I wanted to be, just a hundred feet from the "creek park," at the entrance to the road that led most directly up the street to our house. Incredible. I had been afraid that we had overshot our street and would have to backtrack a bit, but we were right on the money.

Ten minutes later we were home, showering and getting in bed while waiting for Hilary to arrive home from her outing. Perhaps we didn't hike twenty miles across the Cumberland Ridge (as I did many times in Boy Scouts), but it was every bit as enjoyable, and I got to share God's wilderness with my boys, right here in the heart of Wilmore.

SuperRed Hosting

2009-11-10T21:33:41Z

My new website hosting and maintenance service for Mary Kay Sales Directors, and Nationals.

Warped Breakfast

2009-06-01T23:51:04Z

My friend's humor blog. You'll love the videos, images, and bits of funny awesomeness!

Hospitals Don't Want to Help You, They Just Want To Make Money [1]

2009-06-10T20:35:08Z

I apologize for my several month absence, but we had a baby! It’s another healthy boy (that makes two of ’em), and it’s directly related to my topic today: how hospitals are really just businesses trying to maximize their profits and don’t really care about you other than that they can make money off of you.

Let me start by saying that we have a Health Savings Account (HSA), and we love it! If you don’t know what HSAs are all about, read about them at Wikipedia. Because of the deposit arrangement with my employer, the net effect is that we’ve had no out-of-pocket healthcare expenses since last July (that’s right, none—we don’t have copays). I recommend that everyone look into HSAs if their employer offers one—they’re awesome!

As a result of having an HSA, we’ve been learning what things actually cost and what doctors and hospitals are actually charging for things. We have had two all-natural births, but after watching The Business of Being Born, I was made more aware of just how serious this hospital-business problem has become. Here are some samples from the itemized insurance statements:

My wife’s room and board: $1700
This is pretty outrageous, but is the most justifiable expense on the list. They could conceivably be lumping in a bunch of expenses like nurses, etc. But still…$1700 for two days and two nights? That’s like staying at the crappiest, most expensive hotel ever!
My newborn son’s room and board: $1400
What!?! He was in a bassinet in our room ALL OF THE TIME except when they took his pictures and tested his hearing! And he breastfed! What in the world is this charge about!?! It's highway robbery!
10-12 motrin: $150
Are you kidding me!? Where are they buying this? Is it coated in 24 karat gold?
4-6 percocet: $550
I’m speechless. Perhaps we should take our unused percocet prescription and sell it on the street! Oh, wait…percocet is actually dirt cheap. WHAT!?!

Wow, I didn’t like hospitals before, but now I really hate them. We also had a similar experience last autumn with the emergency room. My wife stopped in because she was pregnant and was having abdominal pains, and after making her wait for hours before deciding she was perfectly all right, they charged us over $1000!

What a bunch of scum-sucking vermin.

PS. don’t even think of suggesting socialized/single-payer healthcare. Read this testimony by a Florida neurosurgeon to see why. What we need is a real, free market system unencumbered by government regulation and insurance mandates.

Why Is Separation of Church and State Not Embraced By Christians?

2009-03-10T16:25:29Z

As much as I love the internet, I am really annoyed by how many myths and mistruths are fostered by it. I’m not really sure where this particular myth got started, but it was probably even around before the internet age. Which myth? I’m sure you know the one: “the United States began as a Christian nation.”

Ummm, No.

That’s wrong, and no amount of believing it will make it so. Was the U.S. founded with Christian moral principles in mind? Mostly. Was the U.S. founded by people who believed in God? Yes. Was the U.S. founded by Christians? No. While a few of the founding fathers were Christians (most notably George Washington), the majority were deists.

The “age of enlightenment” was still going strong, and French enlightenment philosophy had a strong grip on the minds of our founding fathers. This meant that they wanted to found the nation on a belief in God, but they believed in not locking the entire country down to one religion, so it wasn’t The Christian God.

Thus the newborn republic was imbued with the concept of “separation of church and state” right from the start, even though that particular phrase wasn’t used at first. A country in which men were truly free had to be one where no particular religion could be favored or forced upon the people.

A Concept Distorted

One current problem with this concept is that some people on the liberal end of the spectrum think “no religion” means “no God” and are trying to force the mention of God out of public life. This obviously wasn’t the view of the founding fathers, since they themselves believed in God but simply didn’t want to force their views on other people.

Another current problem is with conservatives reacting to the liberals’ position. Since liberals are trying to completely remove God from public life, conservatives are fighting back by trying to insert Christianity everywhere possible in public life. Now, I’m a Christian, but this is not the right way to go.

This is exactly what the founding fathers didn’t want to happen! If the current majority religion gets thrust upon everyone, whether or not they want it, then it sets a precedent for later generations. Just because Christianity is currently the majority religion doesn’t mean it will always be so. What if someday another religion gains a majority following in the U.S.? We wouldn’t want that religion thrust upon us, so why do we think we have the right to thrust our religion upon others? What happened to the golden rule?

The core problem lies in the misinterpretation of Christ’s teaching that He is the only way to get to God. While I believe this to be true, it is frequently misinterpreted, e.g., “since what I believe is true, then I have the right and obligation to show everyone else how wrong they are…and since their religion isn’t true, I won’t allow them to practice it.” While I may be disappointed that other people believe in wrong and kooky things, I will defend their right to believe them, since each person is ultimately free to make his own choices.

One last observation puts the nail in the coffin (for me, at least). Christ Himself wouldn’t want Christianity thrust upon people unwillingly! While He was on Earth, He never forced himself upon anyone, which is part of the reason He didn’t want to be involved in government. His message was (and is) all about a change of the heart, not a particular practice or group policy.

My Tumblr

2009-01-23T17:56:27Z

A micro-blog containing little bits of my life for family, friends, and posterity.

Were You Destined to Read This Article?

2009-01-19T18:42:38Z

What is Destiny? It's an interesting question that everyone has an opinion on, but opinions vary widely. Some people are worried by the concept that another force controls their life; we Americans like to be in control of our own destiny, right?

But throughout history, a lot of cultures have had conceptions of destiny, such as the three fates of ancient Greece. As a Christian, I believe that God controls my life. Not all Christians believe this...and some Christians don't really know what to believe in regards to the idea of God predestining some or all of our actions in life. I could write on and on, but ultimately it would be my opinion, since I don't really have any evidence to back up my argument except for a recent occurrence in my life.

I recently made contact on Facebook with a friend from high school that I haven't heard from since then (twelve years ago). Not only are both of our wives pregnant currently, but they are both using the same midwife (and delivering at the same hospital), and they're both due within a week of each other! Now, what are the statistical chances of all the above things happening? Pretty low…

Why Men Hate Cats [3]

2008-12-10T04:47:39Z

Ok, so how about a more easygoing type of question: why do men hate cats?

Now, that's definitely a generalization, because not all men hate cats. Single guys tend to like cats, and even married-yet-childless men like cats. But there's something about entering fatherhood that changes things—I would be willing to bet that most fathers don't like cats.

I've now crossed through all three categories. I liked cats ok when I was single, loved them when I was married-yet-childless (we had and still have two cats), but now that I'm a father, it's different. The cats that I used to love now drive me crazy. I wouldn't say I hate them, but I definitely don't like them. They're always underfoot, constantly meowing at the least opportune times, making messes I have to clean up, climbing on top of furniture and knocking stuff off, as well as clawing everything in sight and shedding everywhere! Need I say more?! The most interesting thing that I noticed after bringing our first kid home from the hospital is that my attitude towards our cats changed almost immediately, like a switch was flipped…but why?

I think it can be summarized in this: fatherhood is more stressful and time consuming than the other two categories, and cats are too smart for their own good—they always want our attention and love and aren't willing to be trained to forget that. It's almost as if all cats are hardwired with the love language of “physical touch.” So despite the fact that I don't have the time (or desire) to give them attention, our cats refuse to obey me because they want that attention regardless of whether or not I want to give it.

And dadgumit, It's annoying.

Ripping CDs - Can something be illegal and ethical at the same time?

2008-11-10T20:23:40Z

Music Piracy…this phrase sometimes invokes feelings in people, but sometimes not; sometimes people just don't care about it. I mean, after all, the RIAA isn't breaking down our doors, so it's not that big of a deal, right?

The big problem which is usually overlooked by pundits and analysts is that this apathy is created because “right” and “wrong” have changed from those ethics with which we've grown up. The law during the seventies, eighties, and nineties said that once you purchased a tape or CD, it was yours to do with as you wished, as long as you didn't try to sell dupes of it. This is a commensense approach; as long as you've bought it “fair and square,” you can listen to it in different ways.

Now, the law (as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) has been changed to say that when you buy a CD, you can only listen to it in its original form. In other words, you cannot duplicate the CD to keep a copy in the car, you cannot rip the CD to listen to it on your computer, etc. This is ludicrous! I've paid for it, why can't I listen to it however I want?

The underlying question is really that of “usage rights.” This used to not be an issue, because once you purchased content on a physical medium such as a book or record, there was no way to make you stop using it short of coming to your house and taking it back. But now that there are computers and easy ways to block content from being consumed, the big companies are thinking, “Hey, we can make more money off of this if we make them pay twice for listening to music in two different places!” When we buy music nowadays, we're supposedly only paying for the rights to listen to that music, we're not actually owning a copy of it.

Think of it like most End User License Agreements (EULAs) you get when you install software. If you've ever stopped to read one, you'll notice that when you buy software, you don't own a copy of the software, you own a license to use that software. Therefore, the software company has the right to disable or modify the software at any time, since they own it. The interesting thing is that in a recent California court case, a judge struck down the legality of EULAs in some situations, because they are contracts that are forced upon the user without the option of contract negotiation.

So, that brings me to the root of my title question: what makes something unethical? Is something unethical because the government says so? I believe that ethics are rooted in Truth, which is revealed by the supreme God of the universe, and they have nothing to do with government, except that government will reflect the ethics of those running it.

Welcome to My Brain

2008-10-02T16:50:37Z

This is where I will be posting about what's in my head. Whether it's an issue I ponder regularly, or just something I happen to be wondering about, this is where it will appear. It won't exactly be "stream of consciousness," but sometimes it may feel like it (^_^).

I tend to desire perfection in my creations, whether they're visual designs, code, or the written word. That means that I have a tendency to agonize over every grammatical structure in my writing, taking forever just to write an email (if it's longer than just a couple sentences).

So, when writing here, my goal is to not agonize and worry about every detail, but just write & post, write & post, write & post…only time will tell how that turns out. Stick around and find out!

NVIC

2008-09-20T22:20:02Z

(National Vaccine Information Center) One of the great healthcare travesties in our day is the conflict between both sides of the "vaccine war." Healthcare providers and decision makers need to be more honest about the risks of vaccines, and parents need to become more informed about all issues involved.

The Dailies

2008-09-20T22:08:25Z

My redhead's blog about our family (which right now consists of her, me, and our wonderful toddler, Caspian...he's also a redhead! We also have one more on the way.

What's the Proper Role of Government?

2008-09-14T22:16:40Z

Hi-di-ho, here's the content of the blog entry itself. I talk about a bunch of stuff, but there's not really anything here since this is a dummy entry. Why? Because I need some text to fill space.

Hi-di-ho, here's the content of the blog entry itself. I talk about a bunch of stuff, but there's not really anything here since this is a dummy entry. Why? Because I need some text to fill space. Hi-di-ho, here's the content of the blog entry itself. I talk about a bunch of stuff, but there's not really anything here since this is a dummy entry. Why? Because I need some text to fill space. Hi-di-ho, here's the content of the blog entry itself. I talk about a bunch of stuff, but there's not really anything here since this is a dummy entry. Why? Because I need some text to fill space.

Polygamy Polyamory—Why is Only One of Them Legal? [3]

2008-10-08T20:46:21Z

I was recently exposed to a philosophy that was completely new to me: polyamory. Polyamory is the idea that a person can have more than one "life partner" whom they love like a mate. This love may or may not be expressed sexually, although it seems like more often than not, it is.

Now, from a completely humanistic point of view, that sounds like it's a plausible concept. The problem is that based on my life knowledge and beliefs, it's not really workable or moral. First of all, we weren't designed that way. We were designed to only join to one person at a time. Second, I can't believe that polyamorous trios (or quartets, or whatever they may be) are immune to the jealousy that pervades the rest of humanity.

But debating the morality of polyamory is not the point of this post. The point is this: why is it legal to love two people, but illegal to marry them both? Since when is government the end-all-be-all of morality? Marriage and morality has historically been under the purview of the church, not the government. The U.S. Government has already accommodated the non-standard household with the "head of household" tax filing status, so this isn't a tax-related issue.

So my main question is this: why does government get the privilege of telling us what's moral and what's not? I don't trust government nearly that much. Government should reflect morality, not dictate it.

But that leaves another sticky question: does that mean that polygamy should be legal, or that polyamory should be illegal? Not necessarily either one...you'll find that sometimes there aren't easy answers to the questions I raise.

Testing August Life

2008-08-20T22:57:50Z

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Etiam pulvinar felis et odio. Donec rutrum lobortis elit. Nullam velit. Aenean vitae pede. Proin vitae felis. Vestibulum a eros. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Phasellus vitae nibh id odio dapibus luctus. Fusce scelerisque. Proin elementum lorem eu magna feugiat dignissim.

Phasellus bibendum, elit id vehicula placerat, eros velit facilisis lacus, sit amet fringilla nulla odio eget massa. Phasellus semper interdum eros. Sed vel nisl pulvinar justo adipiscing congue. Curabitur vulputate turpis vitae enim. Praesent vel nibh. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Quisque ultrices. Vivamus luctus rutrum massa. Integer odio. Nullam sed sem a erat semper consectetuer. Vivamus dignissim mi id odio. Quisque non quam in enim bibendum rutrum. Suspendisse eu diam.

Ut leo odio, dapibus vitae, vulputate at, ullamcorper a, ipsum. Vivamus dictum. Fusce non ligula in dui iaculis luctus. Vivamus eu nisl vel mi gravida vulputate. Nam euismod posuere diam. Morbi tempus, arcu vitae faucibus lacinia, tellus enim commodo neque, id dapibus metus ipsum quis lacus. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Cras nec nulla nec leo iaculis posuere. In sit amet risus. Donec in tortor aliquam nunc malesuada lobortis. Ut id turpis. Cras blandit sodales lorem. Morbi quis libero eget tortor porta pharetra. Aenean nibh. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. In arcu est, consequat eleifend, iaculis ut, rhoncus congue, leo.

Testing July Life

2008-07-20T22:59:25Z

Testing May Life

2008-05-20T22:59:55Z