failure to thrive

We Need Strong Meat

I was reminded today of a child I once had in Day Care. The little girl’s mother had been too preoccupied with her own life at the time when the child should have been learning to eat solid food. It was more convenient to give the little girl a bottle than to take time to sit down and deal with the mess of poking food into the baby’s mouth and having it squirt back out and repeating the process until the baby got the hang of swallowing food from the spoon.

This little girl, at that crucial point in her development, had never been given solid food. At four years old she still didn’t want anything that could not be sucked through the holes in a sippy cup. She was thin and weak. She had no energy and was very lethargic. Her coloring was poor. And she looked ill.

After repeated examinations, doctors could find nothing wrong other than the fact that the child had never been given solid food and consequently didn’t like to eat it. Mom had given her chocolate milk, juices, various liquids (Carnation Instant Breakfast type foods) to stimulate her appetite in other directions. Serious measures and special schooling finally had to be put into effect to force her to take solid food because her health was being adversely affected by her refusal to eat anything with any texture or consistency.

Paul uses this same situation as an example of the Christian who wants to linger at the threshold of Salvation, never wanting to go on into a deeper walk with God. They merely want to be saved, to avoid hell. They don’t want to lay aside the bottle or the habits of life and the petty sins that keep them from growing. They prefer only the ‘milk’ because it is easier to keep returning to the cross for forgiveness with every slip into sin than it is to struggle against their flesh.

The meat of the word that Paul is speaking of requires us to work, not only to consume it but to stand against our little sins and bad habits. Milk is merely a matter of swallowing and it goes easily down our throats to nourish us. Like the little girl, we may find that way easy and it is ‘good.’ But it is only efficacious for the beginning of life. The meat that gives us strength requires that we work a little harder. We must study the word to find what God requires of us, then use it to stand against sin in our flesh. The easy way, drinking milk, is not the best way. Paul wants his followers to learn to stand against sin and defeat it in our fleshly bodies so that we can grow spiritually. Without the strong meat we are weak Christians, always defeated, always seeking forgiveness, never able to stand against Satan, never able to lift the shield of faith or effectively wield the sword of the spirit.

The little girl’s health and her very life depended upon her learning to eat meat and other solid food. So it is with us spiritually. The Christian who only wants milk, who wants to linger on the threshold of Salvation will soon find himself weakening and if measures aren’t taken to remedy the situation, he will die again in trespasses and sins. Let’s partake of the strong meat that requires we put effort into our Christian life and defeat the enemy. That is the spiritual food that enables us to grow in the Lord.

"For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. " (Hebrews 5:12- 14)

there remaineth a rest

In all the stress of this last week, from Gabriel's injury to Rachael's accident and the horrific expedriences accompanying it and even still her slow recovery, I could only think of the verse in Hebrews 4: 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. In spite of all the turmoil and upset, the worry about Gable and Rachael's pain, the hassle of not having a second vehicle, during all of it, there was still a peace that stayed constant.

To paraphrase Deuteronomy 33:27 The eternal God is [my] refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: That is what allows us to rest inspite of

problems and upsets. The unmoving arms of the eternal God do not tremble under us. He keeps us secure and at rest, at peace.

It isn't that late (for me, I'm usually a night owl) but I'm tired tonight.

I bid you peace.

one thing and then another

Early Wednesday morning I was awakened by Michael on the phone calling to tell me he was picking up Rachael at the JAIL! Talk about being shocked awake. RACHAEL?! In JAIL!! What on God’s green earth was going on!

Driving home Tuesday evening Rachael had hit the back left side of a car which had swerved into her lane. The events following were like something out of a Godfathers movie.

You know, we kind of turn a deaf ear to many of the reports regarding the behavior of law enforcement personnel that we read in the paper or hear in the news. Usually I think we assume that it is the criminal element exaggerating events involving arrests or other interactions with Police Officers. After all, our police have more integrity that that! Well, not me! I will never assume that again. In fact, I might tend to err on the side of the criminal.

After these last 48 hours and the actions of one frouzy female cop, I will never again disbelieve such reports. In fact every ounce of respect I had for law enforcement authorities has drained out the bottom of my bucket into the sewer. Just listen.

It must have been a pretty hard crash, both of the Honda’s airbags deployed. Here’s the wild part. Rachael was arrested for drunk driving and JAILED. How amazing. I have known verified, repeat drunk driving offenders who were not jailed for accidents. For whatever reason (I have my own thoughts on it) this “female officer,” after having Rachael blow not one, but TWO, breathalyzer tests (both of which were negative) arrested her and falsified information on the accident report.

Michael was there to see the woman cop (I refuse to use any politically correct designation for her job) having Rachael do the “walk the line” test. He said the cop kept the flashlight focused in Rachael’s eyes, blinding her and part way through the test, she yanked Rachael’s arm, spinning her around. She jerked her arms behind her and ‘slapped the cuffs” on her with enough force that Rachael’s wrists were still swollen yesterday evening. All the while Rachael was cooperating. Michael told me later that she was in no way resisting or even struggling or yelling (lol Kind of a unique behavior for Rach, who ordinarily has no compunctions about speaking her mind! By that I know she was definitely cooperating. )

As he followed along, trying to get information, Rachael was put into a police car. He was standing just a few feet away as Rachael, with her hands cuffed behind her, tried to get her long legs into the limited space in the backseat of a cop car. He SAW the cop kick Rachael’s feet into the car and SLAM THE DOOR on her knees before she was in. Both tried to get information from the cop who refused to tell either of them anything- not where she was taking Rachael, not even her name!

(Somewhere along here I should say for anyone who doesn’t know Rachael, or even me very well, Rachael wasn’t drunk. She had proven this not one, not TWO or even THREE but FOUR times—twice at the scene and twice more at the jail. The first two, the cop said she ‘refused’ The second two they said she ‘wouldn’t cooperate’ Rachael blew ALL but the first one. For that one she didn't have enough breath and ran out of air. She had to take a second breath to finish. When the result was negative, (NO alcohol in the sample) the cop said that wasn't the way to do it. So Rach said, "Okay, I'll do it again." The cop fiddled around a little bit and then did let her do it again. Guess what. Another negative sample! That irked the cop just a bit and she reported that Rachael "refused" the breathalyzer. if you 'refuse' the brethalyzer in Columbus, it is grounds for arrest. Isn't THAT convenient.

Michael, with no other recourse, came home for a few hours, I believe, I was asleep by this time. At any rate he was awakened at five-thirty AM and told to come and pick up his wife. He rushed out of the house, locking the dogs in the bedroom. He rushed out to pay the fine or bail or something and go get Rachael. After paying the fine, he was sent to get her, but not to a holding area or even a “drunk tank” Oh no. The cop had taken her to the County Jail for honest-to-goodness offenders-prostitutes, druggies, assault offenders, and so forth. He told me he sat in the parking lot for a minute thinking, “What in the world IS this!”

He went inside and told them why he was there. They were oh-all-right-we’ll-be-through-in-a-little-while. The one officer at the desk told him frankly that he didn’t understand why she hadn’t been released to him at the scene! Three hours later he ran home to let the dogs out because he knew I couldn’t get upstairs to do it. He still hadn’t been able to see Rachael or have her released to his custody.

The story goes on and on, one unbelievable event after another. And all because of a traffic accident and a cop who decided to demonstrate her authority. The same cop gave her only one out of three onsite sobriety tests. The first she passed, the second she hadn’t been allowed to complete. The third hadn’t even been administered, although the cop filed a report stating she had administered all three.

I later found out that if the breath test fails or is in question, the accused is supposed to be given a blood test to prove the DUI. It wasn’t done. Nor was any medical assistance given or even offered. It turned out that Rachael had a concussion. (I later thought, “No wonder she was being so calm. She was only half conscious!” What an awful thought for a mom, but as I said, Rachael has never been timid about speaking out.) About noon Michael succeeded in picking her up. She rode along while he made arrangements to have the car brought to the house and then brought her home. They had only bits and pieces of information. Michael went immediately and called an attorney. Then he took Rachael to urgent care to be checked out.

On Thursday morning, armed with a dose of valium and vicoden, Rachael went for some advice from her attorney and her hearing. That’s when they discovered all the mis-stated (I’ll be nice and call it that) information on the police report. Michael was livid. Rachael wasn’t happy but she was pretty laid back about it. That, too, was strange for Rachael. She pled ‘not guilty’ and had the case remanded for a court hearing. And get this, her driving privileges have been suspended until after the court date because of the dui charge! Amazing. I, personally, have known CONVICTED dui’s who still had driving privileges for work. Ab-so-lute-ly surreal.

By Thursday afternoon, Rachael was having trouble remembering the events of the previous day. Her short term memory was poor and in the middle of a sentence she would stop because she had forgotten what she was talking about. She was having trouble breathing. Michael called urgent care back and they advised that she go to the emergency room for X-rays and Cat scans.

He took Rachael to the ER. She had a concussion and whiplash and something else she couldn’t remember. This was in addition to the bruised chest and collar bone and probable cracked ribs the urgent care doctor had found on Wednesday.

I got a little bit of a chuckle out of the concussion diagnosis because the injuries negate the lies the cop put in her report. She was trying to fabricate information that would corroborate her DUI allegation. Instead she added fuel to Rachael's allegation that she wasn't drunk. Any confusion she was claiming to see because of alcohol is explained otherwise. The lack of coordination she attributed to alcohol is attributed to the concussion. Even the accusation of not properly completing the breath test by ‘blowing incorrectly” is canceled by the cracked ribs. In fact rather than make Rachael look guilty, she convicts herself of dealing inappropriately with an accident victim. Instead of conducting herself honestly and correctly she gave sobriety tests to a concussed victim in order to demonstrate she was 'drunk'. Had she not falsified the report, her failure to provide medical attention would have gone unnoticed.

What is scary is the amount of power we have given our police. This babe of a cop ( short and frouzy, Rach said.) had, I think, made up her mind out of pure jealousy that she was gonna nail her for something, as soon as she saw Rachael sitting in the car (or "wandering around in the street" as she stated in her report.) Why? Quite honestly Rachael was everything she wasn’t. Tall, attractive, long flowing dark hair, self confident. (plus, you know what, she looks exotic—maybe Hispanic. Oooooh! many Hispanics are illegals and cause a lot of grief. Time to prove a point! And chalk up a couple brownie points with fellow officers.)

It boggles my mind, not just that Rachael should be “railroaded” in this way, but that ANYBODY CAN BE TREATED THIS WAY, without any defense or recourse. Rachael had an absolutely clear driving record, running back ten years. (Ten years ago she had an accident) No DUI’s, no speeding tickets, no reckless operation, not even any parking tickets! She was driving home and had a TRAFFIC ACCIDENT. And for some reason the cop decided she must be drunk. I was just talking with Kerra and we said that with a concussion, Rachael may well have been confused and some what incoherent leading the cop to conclude she was drunk right off. Slam dunk. Easy conviction.

The thing is: it was a crash severe enough to deploy the airbags. This isn’t the same as stopping someone for erratic driving and giving them a sobriety test. Any negative results there ould be attributed directly to alcohol. In a crash, the first consideration would logically be whether or not there is a medical reason for the results.

I don’t know, maybe I’m overreacting.

Maybe I sound like a mother hen flying to the defense of her chick.

Maybe I sound like a crazy old lady.

But I’m still amazed at this cop’s behavior and attitude— rude, abusive, arrogant And it is not that I’m taking Rachael’s word for it, because that could be construed as "of course she is going to believe her drunk kid mothers always do."

No. I’m going on Michael’s eyewitness statements regarding the woman’s actions, as well. Is this really what America’s law enforcement officers are like? If it is our country is in much worse shape than I ever suspected.

Thank the Lord!

Thank the Lord! My little Gabriel walked outside by himself to potty! He was walking better and actually lifted his leg to water the tree! These last couple days he could barely stand up steadily enough to piddle. If you could have seen him you would have understood how bad he was. I do praise the Lord.

To some it may seem foolish or even sacrilegious to pray for a dog, but the Lord heard and answered this prayer so it seems to me that anything which touches the hearts of His children touches the heart of God. And every answered prayer, even for a dog, strengthens our faith.

once I was young, now I'm old

One of the things we often hear is “Oh, he’s just young. He’ll settle down.” One Christian sect even expects their young people to run wild for a while before they settle down and join the church, but the “Preacher” says, Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. (Ecc. 11:9) No matter how accepted it is for young people to be wild and do their own thing, as the preacher says, let their hearts cheer them and walk after their own heart but even though it is accepted and even permitted, we must let our young people know that God will still judge them.

How much better it is to be raised in a family that teaches the babies from birth to obey and take joy is doing the will of God. We need to be conscientious about doing our job as parents. We tend to see ourselves as permanently, oh maybe “middle aged.” We are sensible enough to know that we cannot be “young parents” when we have children who are twenty-one and twenty-five; we just don’t like to see ourselves as getting old, but in God’s scheme of things, it is a very natural process. And how glorious it is to be able to have lived a life that has allowed us to grow in grace and be blessed with the wisdom that only a life for the Lord can give.

Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come. Psalm 71: 17-18

David asks of the Lord that he be allowed to live long enough to be a witness to his children for the wonderful power of God and the blessings He bestows. He has learned that through obedience, hard trials, and victories won. He describes himself as “old and greyheaded.” Many of us want to be able to carry that witness without that final part of growing old. We have bought in to America’s obsession of youth which finds no value in age. However we must be wise enough to understand that the only way our words can carry weight is when young people can look on us and see a long and godly life we have lived. There is no way to fake this. I have seen men and women on TV who stand professing to be strong witnesses of the gospel, but when we look at their personal lives we see selfishness, pride, greed and self-righteousness. In the long term, their words are empty.

We need to keep in mind that just as our parents had the blessing of being able to raise us in the bosom of the church and then go on to be our role models and to the ones we relied on for the power of their prayers, we have that same responsibility for our children. Our jobs don’t stop when we have prayed for our babies and raised them to walk close to God; we must go that final step and become—“old.” Only by doing that can we complete the full cycle and become the strong bastion of support for them that our parents have been for us.

eventful couple of days

Oh grief. My little Gabriel came in Sunday night all crippled up. He must have taken a tumble with Maxim and gotten really stove up. He hurt his back a couple years ago jumping up on the cat table to steal their food. Now he has hurt it again, plus a little more.

He insists on believing that he is just as big as Maxim; but 15 pounds up against 85 doesn’t balance out at all! Poor baby, he is really having trouble walking and can’t jump up at all. He is very careful about how he lays and stands. Rachael and Michael have to carry him up the steps and we have to lift him up on the bed. He is so pitiful and very anxious when Maxim comes near or someone walks by too fast and he knows he can’t get out of the way quickly.

I have everybody I know praying for him. The Lord has healed our animals time after time. I have no reason to doubt Him now!

Oh a happier note. The turkey vultures returned to Hoover Reservoir today! I saw a flock of about 8 circling over Smoke Burr this afternoon. The song birds have been back for about a week. Going outside in the early morning is like walking into an orchestra pit during preliminary tune up. Now if only I could woo some of them to my window my life would be complete.

Also, last fall Rachael and I and Kris and I planted bulbs. ( lol I’m being generous with myself. Rachael and Kris planted. I sat on my stool and shared my gardening lore. Heh. Heh. Being crippled up does have its perks!) Anyway, a whole slew of daffodils, tulips, crocuses and iris got shoved in the ground. Today we suddenly have crocuses blooming across the from lawn— little dabs of color in the still winter browned grass. Rach and I got a big charge out of anticipating Michael’s expression when he sees those crocus sprinkled through the grass. He knew we planted the daffodils and tulips, but he didn’t know about naturalizing crocuses. He didn’t see them today. He left before sun-up for work and he won’t be home until ten this evening. So the soonest he’ll see them will be tomorrow afternoon. I can’t wait.

We put those old dried-looking, brown, papery, onion-y looking things in the ground last fall with no guarantee that we would have anything in the spring. They were “ sown in dishonour” and now they are being “raised in glory” I wish you could see those golden and white blossoms in the wintery grass. We see the Lord’s examples of His resurrection all around us.

Oh good grief!

My friend Donna has some cute little smileys that she uses in her emails. I liked them and when a link for them came at the bottom of one of her emails, I decided to down load them. Yaaagh! Famous last words. I downloaded them okay! Them and a NEW homepage and a NEW tool bar. And STILL couldn’t find how to access the cute little smiley pictures.

Not only that, but this presumptuous webpage wanted me to use THEIR email service and I couldn’t get to my good old google mail! I had to go through the ‘uninstall’ process TWICE to get them gone and then I had a BLANK homepage! THEN I had to reset it for Google.

What ever you do, don’t be tempted to download those cute little Crawley-site smileys! The are very invasive and persistent!

Got my day off to a depressing start. It’s better now though.

singing a new song

This morning ( do you get the idea of what I do in the early mornings?) I was studying a sermon transcript and was so blessed to consider that we can sing a “new song” Some of us have been singing it for many years now, but it is new every day as the Lord shows us greater blessings and opens new truths to our understanding. Salvation’s free glad joy to all of Adam’s fallen race/ We’ll tell to all both far and near of saving, keeping grace/ there’s joy, glad joy, now flowing from above/ There’s joy, glad joy, in the fullness of His love! No one can sing that song but the born again, dedicated, sanctified child of God!

And then later in my study, I found new thought on the concept of the harpers harping on their harps from the same texts in Revelation. Consider the scriptures: And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps.” Revelation 5: 8-9

And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. Revelation 14: 2-3

Since the odors are “prayers of the saints” (redeemed people), then the vial would symbolize the vessel which contains the odors. Perfect harmony existed between the redeemed souls, God, and the angels. This is symbolized by harps. When the child of God tunes his heart to the great heart and will of God, he is “harping on his harp.” Nothing is more music to the ear of God than a group of saints with their hearts and souls in perfect tune with the Word and Spirit of God. How necessary it is to keep our heart (harp) in perfect tune with the great heart of God! There must not be any discord, for it is easily detected, even as a discord on a literal instrument when one string is out of tune, it will spoil the music. Let us be sure our heart is in tune with God at all times. This is the secret of holy living. Praise God forever!

Isn’t that a beautiful thought!

lots of boxes

Whew! I'm tired tonight. Rachael started bringing up boxes from the basement to unpack. All of the stuff from my house is there and hasn't been touched or sorted through yet. Before I left Dover, I sent a ton of things to Goodwill and gave another ton away and finally advertised on the radio, some good things that I had no way of moving but couldn't bring with me. People were waiting in line for my queen-sized bed and mattress set and headboard, the hidabed sofa , some twin sized mattresses and beds, a desk, some chairs...I don't remember what else. They just wanted to walk in the house and take them!! Thank goodness Rachael was there that day and had no qualms about telling them they'd just have to wait until the men carried them out to the porch.

Today we tackled the stuff from the cupboards--three generations of glassware, china and decorative things. As Rachael unpacked all of the old dishes, I was responsible for looking things up online to see if they were worth keeping!! I found one little pitcher that was worth 245 dollars!!! MY HEAVENS! Lots of things I couldn't find. Probably because I didn't know where to look. But we have just scratched the surface--moved a couple minor stones in the mountain of boxes.

The first two boxes she opened were packed in 1986! and have been moved THREE times without being unpacked! They were filled with things that belonged to my mother's mother and my father's foster mother. Rachael's great grandmas! It was neat to see those old dishes and serving plates and think who they had belonged to...sometimes at first I couldn't remember. Then after a few minutes, I'd get a connection and 'see' them on grandma's table or in ma's china cabinet or cupboard or connect them somehow to the person... The human mind is a wonderful thing.

Ultimately Rachael did all of the work while I sat in the chair and clicked computer keys. Why is it that I'm so tired?

We Have a Hope

Have we any hope within us of a life beyond the grave,
In the fair and vernal lands?
Do we know that when our earthly house by death shall be dissolved
We've a house not made with hands?

Blessed hope we have within us is an anchor to the soul,
It is both steadfast and sure;
It is founded on the promises of Father's written word,
And 'twill evermore endure.

Since we've walked the strait and narrow way our path has ever shone
Brighter brighter, day by day;
Hope within our hearts assures us it is better farther on,
It is brighter all the way.

Life will end in joyful singing, "I have fought a faithful fight,"
Then we'll lay our armor down;
And our spirits freed from earthly ties shall take their happy flight
To possess a starry crown.

We have a hope within our souls,
Brighter than the perfect day:
God has given us his Spirit.
And we want the world to hear it.
All our doubts are passed away.

I woke up this morning singing this. Sometimes an old song can impact with renewed blessings. How blessed it is to have this hope within us and to know beyond any questions that some day “our spirits freed from earthly ties shall take their happy flight to possess a starry crown” Amen.

And that middle verse sings: “Blessed hope we have within us is an anchor to the soul, it is both stead fast and sure. It is founded on the promises of of Father’s written word and shall ever more endure’ Oh I thank him for that this morning.

God works behind the scenes

Kerra just called. She had her first day at her new job. She has done a lot of work with the middle school and the PTC during the last year and a half, working closely with school administration and the teachers. Not long ago a position for a parent liason opened up and the school approached her to ask if she was interested! Of course she was!

The road was prepared ahead of her. She went in for an interview and within in less than two weeks the job was hers.

I'm always thrilled over how God works things out for His children. Kerra didn't even have to apply for the job. THEY asked HER! When she went in for her fingerprints the lady gave her a sheaf of forms to complete then turned around and asked her what her name was. When Kerra told her the lady said, "Oh, you already have the job. You don't have to do those" and she took the papers back. That was the first definite assurance Kerra had that she had been hired.

Isn't it wonderful? In a time when people are losing jobs and searching fruitlessly for jobs, the Lord just lays one out for His child! Fantastic!

Memories and Life

Notah just sent pictures of Helen and Dorothy! And then I talked with them! He and Kerra and the kids are visiting them this weekend. Some times I miss Rock Springs so much it is a physical ache. It isn’t the same place I knew when I lived there, but the rocks remain and the huge blue sky does, too. The people are older but we have the same memories and the love is just as strong. Time doesn’t take that away.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone so much. The trip will be difficult with my knees and maneuverability but I’m simply trusting the Lord to work it all out. I always enjoyed the trip out to NM with the changing geography and the varied housing and building styles. I’m anxious to see what changes have come about. I was reading an article in Smithsonian about Old Route 66 that was once the artery of movement from the mid-west to the California coast.

I first began traveling to Gallup when only portions of the route had become interstate highway. The small towns had mom and pop diners and little four-or-five room motels and friendly people. We could stop almost anywhere along the road and find a homey atmosphere. I remember that Oklahoma had the friendliest people and how great it was after crossing the long empty stretches between the OK stateline and Amarillo to come in to town on old 66 and pass the beginning motels and groceries and souvenir shops and gas stations. Those scenes are gone for ever and now we look across the distance of the bypass and see only semi-deserted towns.

Now when I look for the favorite stops and places where I once walked my dog in the field behind the motel then walked across the parking lot to a cozy diner that had real steaks from local beef, I can only see those favorite places as boarded up motels and diners. It’s sad.

I remember a little town call San Jon NM, where there was a museum run by a tiny withered lady who had worked on paleontology digs across the south west. The things she had on display were things she personally had unearthed and labeled. The last time I pulled off the interstate the whole town was almost gone. The building where the museum had been was empty, the long murals on the outer walls were faded and peeling. The guy at the only local gas station said the old lady had died and willed her museum contents to the university that she had worked under. What a fantastic experience to be lost except in the memories of those who had visited. My grandchildren will never meet the woman who unearthed all of those amazing things. They will never hear the stories that she told as she gave personal tours. For the gain in convenience and speed we have lost deep and intimate experiences. The trip has been cut by hours, almost by entire days, but so very much has been lost.

(For a quick trip down memory lane.

check out: http://www.theroadwanderer.net/66NMex/sanjon.htm It isn’t as good as the real thing was, but this is as close as we can come.)

But at the end of the trip, the desert is still there. My memories fill the desert and the road in between here and there with lost people and rich experiences. That will never change. Now my son is giving his children a whole new set of experiences and memories, all colored by his own rich background. Life continues different but always full.