Bike with Ham Radio

Got the antenna and Yaesu FT2dr added to the bike today.

Works really well.

Sugar Grove Cemetery, Wilmington Ohio 45177

Miss you every day!

The Sword of Truth

Wizards Rules

1. "People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they're afraid it might be true. Peoples' heads are full of knowledge, facts and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool." - Wizard's First Rule, page 560[1]
2. "The greatest harm can result from the best intentions."  - Stone of Tears, Chapter 63, page 886
3. "Passion rules reason." - Blood of the Fold, Chapter 43, page 360
4. "There is magic in sincere forgiveness. Magic to heal. In forgiveness you grant, and more so in the forgiveness you receive." - Temple of the Winds, Chapter 41, page 318
5. "Mind what people do, not only what they say, for deeds will betray a lie." - Soul of the Fire, Chapter 28, page 205
6. "The most important rule there is, the Wizard's Sixth Rule: the only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason. The first law of reason is this: what exists, exists, what is, is and from this irreducible bedrock principle, all knowledge is built. It is the foundation from which life is embraced." — Richard - Faith of the Fallen, Chapter 41, pages 459-60
7. "Life is the future, not the past. The past can teach us, through experience, how to accomplish things in the future, comfort us with cherished memories, and provide the foundation of what has already been accomplished. But only the future holds life. To live in the past is to embrace what is dead. To live life to its fullest, each day must be created anew. As rational, thinking beings, we must use our intellect, not a blind devotion to what has come before, to make rational choices." - The Pillars of Creation, Chapter 60, page 549
8. "Talga Vassternich. Deserve Victory." - Naked Empire, Chapter 61, page 626
9. A contradiction cannot exist in reality. Not in part, nor in whole. - Chainfire, Chapter 48, page 489
10. "Willfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one's self." - Phantom, Chapter 12, page 127
11. "The rule of all rules. The rule unwritten." The Unwritten rule. Knowledge is earned not given. - Confessor, Chapter 65, page
12. You can destroy those who speak the truth, but you cannot destroy the truth itself. - The Omen Machine, Chapter 70, page 446
13. Life gives dimension to time. - The Third Kingdom, Chapter 26, page 175.
14. “There have always been those who hate, and there always will be.” - Severed Souls, Chapter 47, page 306
15. “In this world, everyone must die. None of us has any choice in that. Our choice is how we wish to live.” - Warheart, Chapter 52, page 389

Time

All we have left to decide is what to do
with the time that is given us.
                        J.R.R. Tolkien, Gandalf

All That Is Gold

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

                J. R. R. Tolkien

Train of Life

At birth, we boarded the train of life and met our parents, and we believed that they would always travel by our side. However, at some station, our parents would step down from the train, leaving us on life's journey alone.

As time goes by, some significant people will board the train: siblings, other children, friends, and even the love of our life.

Many will step down and leave a permanent vacuum.  Others will go so unnoticed that we won't realize that they vacated their seats! This train ride has been a mixture of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, goodbyes, and farewells.

A successful journey consists of having a good relationship with all passengers, requiring that we give the best of ourselves. The mystery that prevails is that we do not know at which station we ourselves will step down. Thus, we must try to travel along the track of life in the best possible way -- loving, forgiving, giving, and sharing.

When the time comes for us to step down and leave our seat empty -- we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who continue to travel on the train of life.

Let’s remember to thank our Creator for giving us life to participate in this journey.

I close by thanking you for being one of the passengers on my train!

I received this via email from a friend today. Its' author is unknown to me. I thought this was worth sharing.

Kathleen Botka

Rhonda Rose - Dad

Rhonda Rose: Here are some of my favorite memories of dad

Seeing the beauty in ordinary objects was a lesson that dad taught us from a very early age. When I was in college my professor encouraged me to enter a photograph in a juried show. As we discussed the composition, focal point and the sharp contrasts of the black and white images, he asked about the subject matter. I told him it was garbage. “No, no,” he said, “It’s quite good.” I laughed and explained that it was actually garbage, trash, junk from my dad’s barn. My dad’s 100 year old, two story, wooden barn was crammed full of all kinds of odds and ends he would collect from all over. He looked at each object as a treasure. My mom saw a lot of junk and every few years she would organize a “clean out the barn” day. The first few “clean out the barn” days we filled 10-12 Hefty bags and dragged them down the long, gravel drive to the curb. Eventually, she learned that my dad, being a city employee, could rent a large dump truck for only a few dollars. Late Friday night the truck would rumble down our drive and stop in front of the double door of the barn. We would work the entire weekend cleaning out the junk and organizing the tools. Late Sunday night we would emerge, filthy and exhausted, the truck piled high with broken lumber, rusted tools, aged appliances, and bags and bags of trash. My mom would sigh heavily, smile and head into the house. My dad would stand staring into the cavernous barn, tools hanging on the wall, floors freshly swept. With a devilish grin on his face he would turn to me and say, “Now I have room for more stuff.”

There were a few items in the barn that even my mom knew were off limits. Sitting on a dusty wooden shelf was an assortment of vintage glass bottles. These were reminders of our bottle collecting days. I only have vague memories of these special Saturdays because I was quite young. But I remember the cool of the woods, the rancid smell of decaying leaves, and the babbling of tiny creeks. We trudged through mud and muck, using sticks to turn over cans, old newspapers and leaves in search of glass bottles. Most of our trips were fruitless, but once in a blue moon one of us would get lucky. The fortunate child would run to dad with the treasure and hand it over, eager to learn of its history and value. The most beautiful bottles were blue or green with faded labels or raised print, hinting at their origins. Dad would hold it up to the shafts of sun streaming through the branches, and we would stare in wonder as it glowed like a precious gem. We learned to appreciate beautiful things. We learned that damaged items were even more precious because they showed the signs of living a full life.

As the years passed, dad traded bottle collecting for shell collecting. Each trip to the beach was another opportunity for discovery. In the early mornings you could find him out on the beach with his net scooping up the sand, searching for that perfect shell. Even at 72 he still saw the world full of wonder, as if through a child’s eyes.

Years ago when my children were young we had made a table runner for Thanksgiving dinner. Kevin and Elizabeth had used their finger prints to paint the turkeys and I had brought markers for everyone to write what they were thankful for. Grumblings could be heard as we gathered around the table. “I don’t know what to write. I’m not creative. This is corny.” But mom coerced everyone into doing it anyway. A few days later I was home unpacking from our trip, and found our holiday craft. I sat down and read what everyone had written. I came to dad’s name and thought, “Oh, this will be short.” My dad was not big on public displays of emotions, or even private displays of emotions. I figured he wrote something like, “I am thankful for family.” Or, “I am thankful for my children.” Or, if he was in an ornery mood, “I am thankful for beer.” What he wrote surprised me and made me smile. He had written, “I am thankful for a world full of wonder and adventure.” I am thankful that I had a dad that taught me to appreciate a world full of wonder and adventure.

William Penn

For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity.  —William Penn

Isaiah 40:31

Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength;

They will mount up with wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary.

Ruth Etta Lansing

Ruth Etta Lansing
11/18/1945 - 1/9/2019

Sue Anne Bullen

Sue Anne Bullen
7/19/1941 - 10/16/2007

2020

Austin Wyatt Rollins

Austin Wyatt Rollins
7/12/2000 - 3/20/2018

Chester Arnold Lansing

Chester Arnold Lansing
7/23/1942 - 4/10/2015

"I am thankful for a world full of wonder and adventure.”

The Beatitudes

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The Lords Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
  hallowed be your name,
  your kingdom come,
  your will be done,
  on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
  as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
  but deliver us from the evil one