Well today I had my interview with HR for Wall Drug and I am pleased to announce that I have been accepted to work there next summer. Here is my offer letter in case anyone in the future wants some information about working there:
Dear Bret,
I am pleased to have the opportunity to offer you summer employment at Wall Drug
Store, Inc. Your first day of work will June 1, 2020 and the last day of work will be August 16, 2020.
Working at Wall Drug will give you a huge insight into the business world and customer service as it relates to the traveling public. We see between 15,000 and 20,000 customers a day during the season; Wall Drug has a staff of 200 during the summer and 100 of those employees are students from across the United States and Abroad.
You will be paid $11.00 an hour for the first 40 hours of regular time and $16.50 for any hours worked over 40. The rate for housing is $50.00 per week and there is a $100 deposit due upon arrival. If you leave your room in the same clean condition it was when you arrived, you will receive your $100 upon your departure.
Wall Drug offers a free swimming pool and exercise room for employees. We have fun playing volleyball and basketball, and Wall Drug Store hosts 8 Get-Acquainted Parties during the summer. Wall is just 45 minutes from Rapid City where there is good entertainment and shopping. The beautiful Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore and other Black Hills Attractions are 70 miles away and all provide great opportunities on days off. You will be given a VIP Card that allows you to enter other attractions at discounted prices and in some cases, admission is FREE. The Badlands National Park is 10 minutes from Wall and is very popular in South Dakota. Wall has a beautiful new golf course and there are tennis courts in the City Park. The Wall Clinic is located one block from Wall Drug.
I look forward to hearing from you and hope that you decide to join the Wall Drug Team in 2020!
Sincerely,
Anne Jo Spotted Bear
Human Resources Director
Wall Drug Store, Inc.
This is a blog set up by me, Bret Hobbs, so that those who are interested can read about my adventure of working in Yellowstone. As well as other things I have written. Maybe one day when I am dead and gone my kids and grand-kids will be able to read this blog because I don't see Google going away soon.
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Yellowstone Adventure 2019 Ends a Little Quicker Than Planned
The 2019 Yellowstone Adventure is over. I was supposed to work from August 12th to November 3rd 2019, but ended up leaving on October 13th 2019. This was due to the fact we had 5 people working in grocery and in reality only needed 3. The store hours were reduced to 9AM to 6PM and the weather closed the park a few times and the store had limited hours during those times. The last week I worked there I managed to only make $49. So I talked to Ron, the head of grocery, and he said there was no problem leaving early as they had the work covered OK. I wanted to make sure he was OK and that I was not leaving anyone in a bind. One thing that I always worry about during limited hours is taking the hours away from someone that needs the money. Since I am retired I don't need the money as much as a temporary worker that this is the only job that they have. I then talked to the store supervisor and he had no issues with me leaving early and understood why I was leaving. Little did I know that he had issues and that HR policy should have been discussed concerning ramifications about my continued employment. As I found out after I got home that I was now black balled by Delaware North because I left my contract early. They indicated that I would have to take a year off before reapplying for a job. Which means next year I will have to find other employment. A little on this later. I emailed HR back and forth several times on this issue and made no headway. I explained to them that I saved Delaware North money by leaving as I would have just been taking their money and doing very little work. I also felt that if I stayed much longer I would have been paying them to stay there, as the dorm fees, EDR fees and clinic fees would have added up to more than I was making. This made no difference. My final plea was for them to look at my evaluations over the past 4 years and decide if my record as an employee overcame their inability to communicate the consequences of leaving early. That made no difference either. So God must want me somewhere else next summer. That brings me to Wall Drug. I have applied to work there next summer and will be interviewing shortly. I will keep the blog posted on how the process goes.Yellowstone highlights for 2019 included:
- Getting bear sprayed accidentally by a Taiwanese kid who was attempting to demonstrate how to use bear spray to his girlfriend. Not a pleasant experience.
- Hiking trails I never hiked before. Hell Roaring Creek, Natural Bridge and Storm Point
- Hiking when 6 inches of snow was on the ground.
- Visiting the ghost town of Banneck.
Well all good things
must come to an end. Today was my last day of my Yellowstone 2019 adventure. I
am leaving a couple of weeks early mostly because business is too slow to
employ 5 people in the grocery section.
As always I wish to
first thank God for blessing me with the opportunity to be in such a beautiful
and interesting area.
I wish to thank my
wife Cathy, whom I missed dearly, for letting me fulfill my bucket list. Now
Cathy you will have to move your car over in the garage so I have a place to
park. :)
I want to thank Ron
once again for allowing me to work in grocery. As always you are great to work
with, even though you are a St. Louis Cardinal fan. I will continue to pray for
your Mom, you and your brother.
Thanks to Kathy,
Jim, Janine and the whole EDR crew. The meals were fantastic, as always. Your
caring for the health and well-being of the crew really shows. Of course making
me eat broccoli was not a highlight. :)
To my friend Jack I
wish you good health and may God grant you a well deserved rest this winter in
Colorado. Abide.
To my co-workers
Mark and Ryan. Thanks for the laughs. It's great working with people that make
the job fun. I am still pushing for the establishment of the 5 foot 10 and
under grocery union. You tall guys are a menace. :)
To Mary thanks for
introducing me to Farkle and take care of Mark. Be a good navigator on the way
home. I am sure you will spot a lot of wildlife.
To Bob and Patrick,
it is good to see you both again and I wish you both well in your winter
endeavors. So sorry for my Colts beating your Chiefs Patrick. Well maybe not
too sorry. :) Bob I will continue to pray for your health.
To Judy, John, and
Grace. Thanks for keeping the place clean. I know it is a hard job and you and
your whole team did well. Thanks Judy for the Godly example you were to those
around you. John I pray you finally get over your cold.
To Hazel, Mary, and
Lisa (aka Perky). Thanks for all the great work you did and it was fun working
around you all.
To Dan and Bill,
thanks for your leadership in herding the cats this year. I know there are
times when things were tough, but you both came through with flying colors.
To Pam, Kay, Sam,
Mariah, Nick, Denis, Shannon, Christine and any other I have failed to
remember. It was great working with you all. Take care and stay safe and well.
To the 448,525 steps
I have taken since I have been here, and yes I kept track. I thank you for the
20 pounds of weight loss. Let's hope I can maintain the weight and the steps
when I get home.
To all my Facebook
friends that put up with my posts and pictures and videos. Thanks for coming on
this adventure with me.
To all those tourist
that have crossed my path, one last time.
- Old Faithful goes off every 90 minutes.
- It's just a short walk to get to it.
- The bathrooms are just to the right.
- No I don't know which wine tastes the best.
- Yes, I know the store prices are too high.
Thursday, August 8, 2019
Yellowstone Adventure 2019 Begins Tomorrow
The truck is all packed and ready. The grandkids have all been hugged. Cathy and I went out to eat today at her choice of restaurants, McAllister's. So I am ready to head out tomorrow at 6am. I have already set up my hotel reservations for the next three nights. The longest day will be tomorrow, as I travel 646 miles to get me almost out of Iowa. Then next stop Rapid City SD and finally Bozeman Montana. I have to check-in Monday at 9am.
I appreciate all those that have prayed over me and for Cathy also. I pray I will be a Christian example for those around me and a good worker for Delaware North.
I appreciate all those that have prayed over me and for Cathy also. I pray I will be a Christian example for those around me and a good worker for Delaware North.
Monday, July 15, 2019
20 Days Til Yellowstone Adventure 2019 Begins
As I sit here I am wishing that the days would travel faster. The Indiana humidity and heat and pollen is really getting to me. Also I have been having some health issues that have been stressing me out. Mostly the tests have stressed me out and not their outcomes. I am looking forward to getting to Yellowstone and getting a little more active. I need to bring the weight down again and I need to eat a lot better than I am right now. Yellowstone cures me of both those conditions. I am looking forward to working until the end of the season on November 3rd. I am anxious to see Yellowstone as winter begins. I am also excited to see some old friends and to make some new ones.
T Minus 20 days and yes I am counting.
T Minus 20 days and yes I am counting.
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
A Dream That Kept Bugging Me Until I Wrote it Down
Sitting in my living room one evening I was listening to the rain and the
thunder. It had been raining for most of the day and flash flood warnings
had been sounding out on my cell phone several times during the day. My
dog Sammy did not like the sound of the storm and was happy to sit in the chair
with me as I read a book. The evening was filled with the sounds of
thunder rumbling and the snores of Sammy. Then came the sound of a phone
ringing, but this ringing did not come from my cell phone. Sammy awoke
and whimpered as we both looked across the room as the ringing came from the polished
brass bells of the antique wall phone. I had mounted this phone on the
wall of my living room soon after I purchased it from a local collector several
years ago. The man who sold the phone to me had said it had been in their
grandparent’s house in Marco for many years. It was a 1930 Western
Electric wooden wall phone. The phone would only ring when the hand crank was
turned generating power to the bells. It had never been connected to any
external power source, but there it was ringing out. The odd thing was it
was not ringing like any phone I recall but ringing in a pattern of three long
rings followed by two short rings. This pattern had repeated several
times since it began ringing. The curtains lit up with a flash as another
round of rolling thunder echoed all around the house. I gently picked up
Sammy and sat him down on the floor and got up out of my chair. As I
approached the phone I noticed that Sammy stayed by the chair and was not
following me as I approached the phone. That fact did not help quicken my need
to see what was going on with the phone I can assure you. As I reached
the phone I placed my hand on the receiver and lifted it slowing from the hook
switch. The ringing stopped as I placed the receiver to my ear.
What I heard made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The voice
was of a girl and she was crying out "Hello. Hello. Is anyone there?" I
leaned into the metal arm holding the mouth piece and shakily said
"Hello". The girl responded with "Please help me. I want to go
home." I responded "Who are you?” She responded "My name is
Samantha! Please I want to go home!" Just then another bolt
of lightning hit close to the house and the power in the house dipped off, but
was restored a second later. I looked back at the phone and yelled into
the mouth piece "Where are you calling from?", but there was no
response. I pushed the receiver switch up and down several times but the phone
was as dead as it had been for years. I placed the receiver back onto the
hook and turned the crank. Sure enough the bells rang as they have since
the day I mounted the phone to the wall. Looking down I saw that Sammy
was by my side. Evidently he felt the danger was over and needed my
comfort from the storm.
I picked Sammy up and we went back to the chair to think this through. Now I am a college graduate and not given to believing in the unbelievable, but I was not dreaming what just happened. I also know that if I told anyone else I would possibly be labeled as "one of those nuts". So I just sat there stroking Sammy's neck and thinking. The rain continued to come down and my cell phone went off again warning me of flash flooding in the area. I was surprised that I was not more freaked out by what had just happened, but I was more interested in why. I don't even want to get into how a 1930 Western Electric wooden wall phone, not connected to any power source or network, could all of a sudden act perfectly usable.
As I sat there I thought of when I purchased the phone. It was one of those estate sales and the man running it had many old items from his grandparent’s estate. I liked old phones and after viewing all the items I stayed to bid on the phone. When I won the bid I waited to collect my new property. The phone was in good shape but the wood was very dry. When I got it home I went to work cleaning the phone and putting some oil on the wood to bring it back in shape. The generator in the phone was in good working order and the brass bells were in good shape and looked great after a little polishing. Thinking back to the cleaning brought back another thing I had not thought of for a long while. When I opened the phone to inspect the generator I had found other items stashed inside the phone. Inside were some spare wires and the dry cell batteries that powered the phone. There was also a small printed phone book. I took the wires and batteries out of the phone, but after looking over the phone book I just left it inside of the phone. Placing Sammy once again on the floor, I went to the kitchen to retrieve a regular screwdriver. The whole front of the phone was on a hinge and opened like a small door. Taking the screwdriver I loosened the screw that held the door closed. Once the screw was loosened I opened the front of the phone. The inner workings of the phone looked as they had many years ago when I mounted the phone to the wall. The small phone book was sitting on its edge in the cavity where the dry cell batteries would have been installed. I retrieved the phone book and closed the phone back up by tightening the screw once again. Sammy was once again by my side and giving me a strange look. I picked him up and once again we sat down in the chair to examine the phone book. The phone book was for Lyons, Marco and Switz City and was printed under the direction of the "Lyons Co-Operative Telephone Company". It was dated spring 1931 and had advertisements from various local businesses. Running the length of the side was the name "James A. Miller" and he was listed as a "Dealer in Hardware, International Implements and Auto Supplies" of Lyons Indiana. The top advertising was for "Lyons Bank & Trust Co". With a declaration of "Interest Paid on Time Deposits. Make Our Bank Your Bank". In the middle of the page was the advertisement for "Lyons Garage Voris Gounds, Prop." The bottom advertisement was asking the reader to "Try Fitz Bakery Co. and their Butter Toast Bread". Their slogan "Fitz on the label, quality on the table" was very catchy to me. Opening to the first page I saw something that made my heart jump. The first page contained directions to the phone's owner on how the ring system worked. Evidently back in 1931 the area was on a party line system. A system where a phone would ring across the whole party and it was up to the individuals to only answer the phone if it was generating their particular ring pattern. The pattern consisted of a series of long and short rings of the bells. That is why when the phone rang it was not ringing as I know a phone to ring today but rather sending out a series of rings to indicate a specific party. The phone book went on to explain that each house was assigned a number followed by their specific ring. If you wanted the operator to reach a certain party you would tell her the exchange then the number and then the ring pattern. The example they gave was Lyons (exchange), (subscriber No.) nine, three; ring one long, and two short," and was written as “Lyons 93R12. So when my antique phone went off it rang 3 long rings followed by two short rings and then repeated it after a short pause. Which meant I was looking for a Lyons exchange number that ended in R32. I flipped through the aged pages of the Lyons customers and found there were only around seventy five listings. In the listing for Lyons I found the only number that ended in R32 and that was for a Mr. Delbert O'Haver. The aged phone book only listed numbers and names. There we no addresses linked to any customer number. About that time thunder blasted again and the lights dipped and went out. Sammy whimpered and I figured our time investigating would have to wait until the next day. My cell signal was out also and that gave me an indication that the power outage would be widespread and probably a long one. So Sammy and I decided to call it a day.
The next day I woke up to my clock flashing twelve indicating a power loss overnight. I checked my cell phone and it was now showing a signal and the time to be eight fifteen. I got up and took Sammy out for his morning constitutional. While he was out I decided to call a member of my church who I know lived around Lyons. Don Elliott was ninety years old and spent quite a bit of time in the area growing up. So I figured if anyone would know about a Delbert O'Haver he might. After a few rings Don answered the phone. I told him who I was and he remembered me from a few Sunday school classes we attended together. I did not go into the details on how I came to want information on Mr. O'Haver, but I just asked him if he remembered a Mr. Delbert O'Haver. After a moment or two he said yes he remembered that name as a man that lived around the Lyons area. He went onto say that the guy was a farmer, as were most of those in the area, but not a very good one. Don said Mr. O'Haver never liked to take advice from the local farmers, who wanted to help him. He was seen in town quite often but not in any local church. Don said Mr. O'Haver never had any family and rarely had any visitors, other than a local farmer stopping by once in a while. Don said he remembered Mr. O'Haver moved away sometime in the 1950's and never sold the place. He thought it went to a tax auction sometime in the 1970's. The property did not get too many takers because a few years after Mr. O'Haver left the place burned to the ground. He said some thought it was lightening and some thought it was kids messing around the abandon property. I asked Don where this property was and if I could get to it with my truck. He said I could get there in my truck but I would have to walk a short way. He indicated that what was left of the house was just off county road 300 south and close to Four Mile Creek. He also warned me that with all the flash flooding that happened recently to be aware that some parts of the road may be under water. I thanked him for the information and told him I would see him at church Sunday. After hanging up I was grateful Don did not ask me why I was interested in Mr. O'Haver. Sammy completed his morning duty and I brought him in the house. He looked up at me and I figure he knew we were going for a ride shortly.
Getting dressed I collected Sammy and some other items that I may need when I got to the house location. I loaded Sammy and the extra items into the truck, and set out for Lyons. Sammy was contented to look out the window as the road passed by, but my thoughts were on why I am doing this. From the time the phone rang I felt a calling to help. I don't know why I felt this way as I have never been a brave person, but something was urging me to find Samantha. Going to a place that has been deserted for years to help a girl who called me on a phone that does not work. I was beginning to wonder if I really was losing it. I looked over at Sammy as I drove and asked him, "Sammy what do you think, am I crazy?" Sammy turned to look at me and then turned back to look out the window. Well at least he did not think he was in danger riding around with a crazy man. I headed south out of town and quickly found myself driving into the small town of Lyons. Lyons once was a fairly active town when the farms and the coal mines were more active. Over the years the mines have shut down and many of the family farms have sold out to bigger less personal outfits to till the land. The town was still nice but like all small towns around here there was very little commerce left. Passing through the town I used the GPS in my cellphone to help me locate the county road I needed to take. During the drive I really noticed the amount of water from the flooding we had over the past few days. I was getting worried that once on the county road I would be faced with the prospect of water being over the road and making my way impassible. Having to back up on a county road for a distance was not something I was looking forward to. The GPS indicated that the county road was coming up in a half mile and I started looking for the sign indicating 300 south. Sure enough the sign was there and my confidence in the GPS was increasing, as I did not know if Google maps did well on non-paved county roads. I turned onto the road and quickly realized that the road was very soft from the constant rains over the past few days. I stopped the truck and looked at the GPS map trying to locate where Four Mile creek was from where I sat. Sammy turned to me and he seemed to be asking me if we were getting out soon. I said, "No Sammy we are not getting out, just getting my bearings." The GPS indicated I had 5 miles to go before reaching the creek. I put the truck into drive and headed east at a lot slower pace than normal due to the road condition. Water was racing along the side of the road and heading in the direction of the creek. Some sections of the road had been washed out and that made me rather nervous. After several minutes of slow driving I came to a hill that gave me a better look at where I was heading. I stopped the truck and let Sammy know to stay where he was as I would be right back. The view from the hill showed me Four Mile creek in the distance. It also showed me the vast amount of water that was racing to join the creek. The creek appeared to be more like a river with all the flooding. Just down the hill I saw the remains of a path that led to a skeleton of a home. The foundation was there and half a chimney pointed to the sky. A barn and another outbuilding were still there but mostly a pile of decayed lumber. A stream of water separated itself from the road and was racing through the back of the old foundation. The stream then headed back to the road and onto the creek. After examining the situation I figured I could take the truck to the path into the old property and park there. I also figured that I should be able to back out to get turned around when I wanted to leave. I returned to the truck and a dog that was happy to see me. I headed down the small hill and toward the old property. The road was getting softer and my wheels were sliding a little, even at the low speed. I was grateful for having four wheel drive. I pulled onto the path and only went as far as I needed to be able to back out and turn around. I stopped the engine and told Sammy that he would have to wait. The look he gave me with his head tilt made me wonder if he indeed thought I was crazy. Before exiting the truck I lowered the passenger window some to allow Sammy to keep an eye on me.
I walked around to the back of my truck and lowered the tailgate. This gave me a place to sit while I put on some snow boots, as I figured I would be slogging through mud. I also grabbed a hiking stick I had thrown into the truck bed. I sat there on the tailgate and looked around. Even though the sky was clear and the sun was out I had a feeling of dreariness. I don't know if it was all the water around or the fact that I was on a mission that seemed to be hopeless. Shaking these thoughts out of my mind I hopped down from the tailgate and tested my boots for fit. I then headed to the old foundation. Sammy whimpered at me from the truck and I called back to him to ensure him things would be alright. The well-trodden path was mostly mud and my boots sank down about two inches on each step. The boots made sucking sounds with each step as if the path was trying to stop me from progressing forward. I reached what was once the front porch area and stopped to look into the remains of the foundation. The house that once stood on the foundation was not big as farm houses usually go, but was shaped like a cross. I assumed the kitchen would have been on the left and the bedrooms on the right of the foundation. With a living room in the center that was accessed via the short porch area. I also guessed that the house would have had an upstairs or an attic area. I am sure the house also had an outhouse around on the property somewhere, but there was no sign of that anymore. Inside the foundation was some charred wood and quite a bit of empty beer cans and cigarette butts. It seemed that the local kids used the place to have some parties in the past. The land sloped a little toward the back of the foundation and that was where the water I spotted earlier was streaming by. The back of the foundation to the right of the old chimney had also crumbled down. The hole in the foundation was probably created by the water that was running by and has probably been eroding the foundation for several years. I stepped up on the foundation and started to walk on it around to the right as I wanted to get a look at the stream to see if I could cross it to examine the other structures. As I was about to make it to the back of the foundation I heard Sammy let out a stream of yelps. I glanced back at him in the truck to see that he was not barking at me anymore but his attention was on two coyotes that had come down the road and now was on the path to the house. They must have been walking on the road due to the water and were interested in exploring the old house. I steadied myself with my walking stick and looked around the foundation for something I could throw at the approaching animals. I stepped down into the foundation and sunk a few inches into the mud. Sammy kept his barking up as I looked for a loose brick or rock to throw. I used my walking stick to poke around in the mud and finally found some brick chunks close to the hole in the foundation. I managed to pluck one out of the mud and stood to give the coyotes my best Nolan Ryan pitch. I yelled at the coyotes as I stepped and threw my projectile. The coyotes froze in place as my throw was not only out of the strike zone, it never made it to the plate. The coyotes saw the water splash in the mud several feet in front of them, but never considered it a threat. I stepped back closer to the hole in the foundation and dug around again for another rock. Sammy was getting a little hoarse as he had not let up his barking since the coyotes arrived. I frantically used my walking stick in the mud until I hit another solid object. Reaching down I pulled up another, but smaller piece of brick. This time I took my time and heaved the object at the animals. The brick piece this time made it to the strike zone and struck the lead coyote on its front leg. The animal let out a yelp and began to retreat back toward the truck and the road. Not wanting to be without ammo in case they changed their mind I rooted around the mud again for another projectile. I grasped another larger brick and pulled, but the brick seemed to be caught on something. I tugged hard and managed to pull up the brick and the edge of what looked like a burlap sack. Straightening up I held my new brick in my hand and looked for the coyotes. I was grateful to see that they had turned and were heading down the road toward Four Mile creek. Sammy also seemed happy that his barking had scared the coyotes away. I yelled to Sammy that he was a good boy and that I would not be too much longer. That seemed to settle him down some and he continued to watch me through the window of the truck. I threw the old brick out of the foundation and turned back to examine what I pulled up. I grabbed the section of burlap and tried to pull but managed only to pull up a few more inches of the old clothe. I looked around for a better foothold as I was sinking into the mud. Water from the stream behind the foundation was pouring in and creating a lot of mud. The stream was also taking a lot of mud with it as it passed by. I assumed that the foundation had lost a lot of soil through that opening during the past flash flood. Once I had a more stable footing I used the walking stick to dig around the old clothe. I pushed more mud closer to the hole and let the water take it away as I tried to excavate around the cloth. Once I had more burlap showing I stuck my walking stick into the ground and grabbed a bigger handful of cloth and pulled. This time I was able to pull more clothe up but then I heard a ripping sound and the cloth separated with me holding about two feet of the burlap. I looked down in the mud where the cloth had separated and what I saw made my heart jump. What I was staring at was the top of a skull. The skull had no hair but I could see the beginnings of the eye sockets. I dropped the piece of ripped burlap and practically fell back to a sitting position on the old foundation. I stared at the mud and my mind kept repeating "Samantha. Samantha. Samantha." After a few moments of getting my heart beat back to normal I grabbed my walking stick, stood up and climbed back up on the foundation. I worked my way back to the front porch area and the muddy path to the truck. Reaching the truck I tried to calm Sammy down a little by petting him through the window opening, but I think I was also trying to calm my spinning mind down also.
Moving to the tail gate I once again sat down to think things through. A call on a dead phone leads me to explore a deserted farm to find a body buried. How this could have happened to a college educated God fearing person. I know I will have to call the police but what will I say to them when they ask me how I happen to be here. What will I say that won’t get me as lead story of one of those grocery store tabloid magazine? I can see the headlines now "Local Man Gets Call from the Dead" or "Local Man Accepts Long Distance Charges from the Great Beyond". I also know that there was a reason for this. I used my walking stick to knock the mud off my boots and then reached into my pocket for my cellphone. I was grateful to have a signal as I did not want to leave the area to make a call. I dialed 911 and got passed to the local county sheriff's department. The county sheriff did not have many on his payroll, so I did not know how long it would take to get someone out here. When the dispatcher for the sheriff answered I calmly told them of finding a body. The dispatcher was very professional and required me to answer several questions, such as who I was, where I was, when did I find the body, etc.. After answering all the questions the dispatcher said that they would be sending someone out to where I was as quickly as they could. I put the cellphone back into my pocket and thought about what I would say. I was not going to lie but I certainly was not going to tell the whole story. I went back to the truck cab and let Sammy out so that he could do his business, as he has been in the cab for quite some time.
About forty five minutes later I heard sirens coming down the county road. After a few moments I saw three SUV's coming over the small hill with sirens wailing and lights flashing. My heart sped up by several beats as they surrounded my truck and killed their engines. The lead car contained just the Sheriff, who I recognized by his election posters. The other two cars contained a deputy apiece. The Sheriff approached me an introduced himself and those with him. I introduced myself and the Sheriff quickly got to the point. "Where is the body?” he asked. I told them all that the mud is pretty bad but to follow me and I would take them to it. I was grateful that Sammy was only looking not barking at the visitors as we all approached the old foundation. We all stepped up on the foundation, and like a conga line of tightrope walkers we made our way to the back wall of the foundation and the opening to the small stream. I stepped down into the foundation, and once again sunk down in the mud, and approached the small burlap clothe I left behind. The Sheriff followed me and the deputies just stayed on the foundation to get a better view. I used my walking stick to clear out the water that pooled in the area with the skull and show the Sheriff what I saw. He bent over and all he said was, "Yep we have a body." He then requested a camera from one of the deputies and began to take several pictures of the area. After taking a few more pictures he requested a deputy to take me me back to my truck and to take my statement. The deputy and I managed to slog our way back to the truck. We both sat on the tail gate of the truck to get our feet out of the mud. He then pulled out a digital recorder and very professionally extracted my statement. The statement consisting of a trip to see the flooding, spotting the property from the hill and wanting a closer look and the battle with the coyotes. The statement did not consist of the phone call or the fact that I knew who used to live on the property. The deputy seemed satisfied with my tale, but reminded me that driving around flooded areas was not a wise thing to do. I told him I had always been an adventurer and was interested in seeing the flooded areas that I had heard so much about. He then yelled over to the sheriff and told him he had completed with my statement. The sheriff yelled back, "OK you can go but do not leave the area in case we need more information." I thanked the deputy and shook his hand. He got down from the tail gate and headed to his vehicle to clear me a space to back up into. I threw my walking stick into the bed and removed my snow boots. I went back to the cab and stroked Sammy on the head telling him were heading home. I put the truck in four wheel drive and carefully maneuvered around the sheriff's vehicles to get back on the county road. Heading back down the road I was able to reach the highway without any issues. It was not too long before I was passed by the county coroner's vehicle and another county sheriff vehicle pulling what looked like a backhoe.
It took only a day before the local paper called me and wanted to ask me a few questions about the body I found. I was hoping the Sheriff would not give out my name but this is a small community and things travel fast when it is ear candy. I stuck to my story in my statement and they seemed to be happy with what I told them. The story broke in the local paper the next day and it provided me a little more information about what the Sheriff was doing. It seems that they excavated the site to extract the body. This job was hampered quite a bit by the flood waters, but in the end they were able to get not only the body but several other items that were buried. The sheriff indicated that it would take several days for state forensics to finish their examination and generate a report, but he did indicate that the body had been buried there several years ago. He said possibly forty or fifty years ago. When pressed if the person was murdered. He said he would not discuss any possibilities of how the person died until the state finishes their job. The detail that I knew was coming and was not too surprised was when I read that the sheriff indicated that the body was that of a woman or young girl.
As the days passed the news story spread farther than just our little town and county. The Associated Press picked it up and it was on the national news as one of those snippets that they do when they want to fill in when big news does not go far enough in their broadcasts. The local TV station called me several times to get my side of the story. I just let them go to voicemail and hoped that they would just use the statement from the Sheriff.
Finally the news broke that the state had finished their forensic investigation and sent the report to the sheriff department. The local TV station and several local papers were on hand for the Sheriff's press conference. I decided to personally attend the press conference as a spectator because I wanted to hear the story myself without having it filtered through the local news sources, as they sometimes were not very reliable to get the facts straight. The Sheriff opened with thanking the state for their professional work as they could not have done it without them. He also thanked those in attendance for being there. I was beginning to think the Sheriff was running for office again, but then I thought that this would not hurt his reelection. The Sheriff began with the information that made my knees weak. He said the body found was a 17 year old girl named Samantha Reeves. She was born in Terre Haute in 1940 and disappeared from the Terre Haute area around April of 1957. He went onto say that the evidence showed that she was killed by blunt force trauma to her head. So as of now the case is listed as a homicide. The Sheriff stated that his office and the state will continue the investigation. He finished his statement indicating that the body of the young girl was returned to Terre Haute and will be interred in the cemetery where her parents are buried, as they had a plot next to them already prepared in case their daughter was ever found. Samantha had a brother William who was contacted and will oversee all the arrangements. William was saddened to hear of Samantha's death, but was happy to know that Samantha will finally be able to come home to be next to her Mom and Dad. The sheriff ended his statement and then opened up for questions. I did not stay for the questions as I had heard all I needed to hear and I went home.
Once again I was sitting in my chair with Sammy and my thoughts turned to what had happened and tried to reconcile all the mysteries in my mind. The dead phone working. The dead girl speaking to me. The coyotes happening to scare me into excavating. I stroked Sammy's head a few times and said, "Well Sammy we got Samantha home and understanding what went on is really not as important as that."
I picked Sammy up and we went back to the chair to think this through. Now I am a college graduate and not given to believing in the unbelievable, but I was not dreaming what just happened. I also know that if I told anyone else I would possibly be labeled as "one of those nuts". So I just sat there stroking Sammy's neck and thinking. The rain continued to come down and my cell phone went off again warning me of flash flooding in the area. I was surprised that I was not more freaked out by what had just happened, but I was more interested in why. I don't even want to get into how a 1930 Western Electric wooden wall phone, not connected to any power source or network, could all of a sudden act perfectly usable.
As I sat there I thought of when I purchased the phone. It was one of those estate sales and the man running it had many old items from his grandparent’s estate. I liked old phones and after viewing all the items I stayed to bid on the phone. When I won the bid I waited to collect my new property. The phone was in good shape but the wood was very dry. When I got it home I went to work cleaning the phone and putting some oil on the wood to bring it back in shape. The generator in the phone was in good working order and the brass bells were in good shape and looked great after a little polishing. Thinking back to the cleaning brought back another thing I had not thought of for a long while. When I opened the phone to inspect the generator I had found other items stashed inside the phone. Inside were some spare wires and the dry cell batteries that powered the phone. There was also a small printed phone book. I took the wires and batteries out of the phone, but after looking over the phone book I just left it inside of the phone. Placing Sammy once again on the floor, I went to the kitchen to retrieve a regular screwdriver. The whole front of the phone was on a hinge and opened like a small door. Taking the screwdriver I loosened the screw that held the door closed. Once the screw was loosened I opened the front of the phone. The inner workings of the phone looked as they had many years ago when I mounted the phone to the wall. The small phone book was sitting on its edge in the cavity where the dry cell batteries would have been installed. I retrieved the phone book and closed the phone back up by tightening the screw once again. Sammy was once again by my side and giving me a strange look. I picked him up and once again we sat down in the chair to examine the phone book. The phone book was for Lyons, Marco and Switz City and was printed under the direction of the "Lyons Co-Operative Telephone Company". It was dated spring 1931 and had advertisements from various local businesses. Running the length of the side was the name "James A. Miller" and he was listed as a "Dealer in Hardware, International Implements and Auto Supplies" of Lyons Indiana. The top advertising was for "Lyons Bank & Trust Co". With a declaration of "Interest Paid on Time Deposits. Make Our Bank Your Bank". In the middle of the page was the advertisement for "Lyons Garage Voris Gounds, Prop." The bottom advertisement was asking the reader to "Try Fitz Bakery Co. and their Butter Toast Bread". Their slogan "Fitz on the label, quality on the table" was very catchy to me. Opening to the first page I saw something that made my heart jump. The first page contained directions to the phone's owner on how the ring system worked. Evidently back in 1931 the area was on a party line system. A system where a phone would ring across the whole party and it was up to the individuals to only answer the phone if it was generating their particular ring pattern. The pattern consisted of a series of long and short rings of the bells. That is why when the phone rang it was not ringing as I know a phone to ring today but rather sending out a series of rings to indicate a specific party. The phone book went on to explain that each house was assigned a number followed by their specific ring. If you wanted the operator to reach a certain party you would tell her the exchange then the number and then the ring pattern. The example they gave was Lyons (exchange), (subscriber No.) nine, three; ring one long, and two short," and was written as “Lyons 93R12. So when my antique phone went off it rang 3 long rings followed by two short rings and then repeated it after a short pause. Which meant I was looking for a Lyons exchange number that ended in R32. I flipped through the aged pages of the Lyons customers and found there were only around seventy five listings. In the listing for Lyons I found the only number that ended in R32 and that was for a Mr. Delbert O'Haver. The aged phone book only listed numbers and names. There we no addresses linked to any customer number. About that time thunder blasted again and the lights dipped and went out. Sammy whimpered and I figured our time investigating would have to wait until the next day. My cell signal was out also and that gave me an indication that the power outage would be widespread and probably a long one. So Sammy and I decided to call it a day.
The next day I woke up to my clock flashing twelve indicating a power loss overnight. I checked my cell phone and it was now showing a signal and the time to be eight fifteen. I got up and took Sammy out for his morning constitutional. While he was out I decided to call a member of my church who I know lived around Lyons. Don Elliott was ninety years old and spent quite a bit of time in the area growing up. So I figured if anyone would know about a Delbert O'Haver he might. After a few rings Don answered the phone. I told him who I was and he remembered me from a few Sunday school classes we attended together. I did not go into the details on how I came to want information on Mr. O'Haver, but I just asked him if he remembered a Mr. Delbert O'Haver. After a moment or two he said yes he remembered that name as a man that lived around the Lyons area. He went onto say that the guy was a farmer, as were most of those in the area, but not a very good one. Don said Mr. O'Haver never liked to take advice from the local farmers, who wanted to help him. He was seen in town quite often but not in any local church. Don said Mr. O'Haver never had any family and rarely had any visitors, other than a local farmer stopping by once in a while. Don said he remembered Mr. O'Haver moved away sometime in the 1950's and never sold the place. He thought it went to a tax auction sometime in the 1970's. The property did not get too many takers because a few years after Mr. O'Haver left the place burned to the ground. He said some thought it was lightening and some thought it was kids messing around the abandon property. I asked Don where this property was and if I could get to it with my truck. He said I could get there in my truck but I would have to walk a short way. He indicated that what was left of the house was just off county road 300 south and close to Four Mile Creek. He also warned me that with all the flash flooding that happened recently to be aware that some parts of the road may be under water. I thanked him for the information and told him I would see him at church Sunday. After hanging up I was grateful Don did not ask me why I was interested in Mr. O'Haver. Sammy completed his morning duty and I brought him in the house. He looked up at me and I figure he knew we were going for a ride shortly.
Getting dressed I collected Sammy and some other items that I may need when I got to the house location. I loaded Sammy and the extra items into the truck, and set out for Lyons. Sammy was contented to look out the window as the road passed by, but my thoughts were on why I am doing this. From the time the phone rang I felt a calling to help. I don't know why I felt this way as I have never been a brave person, but something was urging me to find Samantha. Going to a place that has been deserted for years to help a girl who called me on a phone that does not work. I was beginning to wonder if I really was losing it. I looked over at Sammy as I drove and asked him, "Sammy what do you think, am I crazy?" Sammy turned to look at me and then turned back to look out the window. Well at least he did not think he was in danger riding around with a crazy man. I headed south out of town and quickly found myself driving into the small town of Lyons. Lyons once was a fairly active town when the farms and the coal mines were more active. Over the years the mines have shut down and many of the family farms have sold out to bigger less personal outfits to till the land. The town was still nice but like all small towns around here there was very little commerce left. Passing through the town I used the GPS in my cellphone to help me locate the county road I needed to take. During the drive I really noticed the amount of water from the flooding we had over the past few days. I was getting worried that once on the county road I would be faced with the prospect of water being over the road and making my way impassible. Having to back up on a county road for a distance was not something I was looking forward to. The GPS indicated that the county road was coming up in a half mile and I started looking for the sign indicating 300 south. Sure enough the sign was there and my confidence in the GPS was increasing, as I did not know if Google maps did well on non-paved county roads. I turned onto the road and quickly realized that the road was very soft from the constant rains over the past few days. I stopped the truck and looked at the GPS map trying to locate where Four Mile creek was from where I sat. Sammy turned to me and he seemed to be asking me if we were getting out soon. I said, "No Sammy we are not getting out, just getting my bearings." The GPS indicated I had 5 miles to go before reaching the creek. I put the truck into drive and headed east at a lot slower pace than normal due to the road condition. Water was racing along the side of the road and heading in the direction of the creek. Some sections of the road had been washed out and that made me rather nervous. After several minutes of slow driving I came to a hill that gave me a better look at where I was heading. I stopped the truck and let Sammy know to stay where he was as I would be right back. The view from the hill showed me Four Mile creek in the distance. It also showed me the vast amount of water that was racing to join the creek. The creek appeared to be more like a river with all the flooding. Just down the hill I saw the remains of a path that led to a skeleton of a home. The foundation was there and half a chimney pointed to the sky. A barn and another outbuilding were still there but mostly a pile of decayed lumber. A stream of water separated itself from the road and was racing through the back of the old foundation. The stream then headed back to the road and onto the creek. After examining the situation I figured I could take the truck to the path into the old property and park there. I also figured that I should be able to back out to get turned around when I wanted to leave. I returned to the truck and a dog that was happy to see me. I headed down the small hill and toward the old property. The road was getting softer and my wheels were sliding a little, even at the low speed. I was grateful for having four wheel drive. I pulled onto the path and only went as far as I needed to be able to back out and turn around. I stopped the engine and told Sammy that he would have to wait. The look he gave me with his head tilt made me wonder if he indeed thought I was crazy. Before exiting the truck I lowered the passenger window some to allow Sammy to keep an eye on me.
I walked around to the back of my truck and lowered the tailgate. This gave me a place to sit while I put on some snow boots, as I figured I would be slogging through mud. I also grabbed a hiking stick I had thrown into the truck bed. I sat there on the tailgate and looked around. Even though the sky was clear and the sun was out I had a feeling of dreariness. I don't know if it was all the water around or the fact that I was on a mission that seemed to be hopeless. Shaking these thoughts out of my mind I hopped down from the tailgate and tested my boots for fit. I then headed to the old foundation. Sammy whimpered at me from the truck and I called back to him to ensure him things would be alright. The well-trodden path was mostly mud and my boots sank down about two inches on each step. The boots made sucking sounds with each step as if the path was trying to stop me from progressing forward. I reached what was once the front porch area and stopped to look into the remains of the foundation. The house that once stood on the foundation was not big as farm houses usually go, but was shaped like a cross. I assumed the kitchen would have been on the left and the bedrooms on the right of the foundation. With a living room in the center that was accessed via the short porch area. I also guessed that the house would have had an upstairs or an attic area. I am sure the house also had an outhouse around on the property somewhere, but there was no sign of that anymore. Inside the foundation was some charred wood and quite a bit of empty beer cans and cigarette butts. It seemed that the local kids used the place to have some parties in the past. The land sloped a little toward the back of the foundation and that was where the water I spotted earlier was streaming by. The back of the foundation to the right of the old chimney had also crumbled down. The hole in the foundation was probably created by the water that was running by and has probably been eroding the foundation for several years. I stepped up on the foundation and started to walk on it around to the right as I wanted to get a look at the stream to see if I could cross it to examine the other structures. As I was about to make it to the back of the foundation I heard Sammy let out a stream of yelps. I glanced back at him in the truck to see that he was not barking at me anymore but his attention was on two coyotes that had come down the road and now was on the path to the house. They must have been walking on the road due to the water and were interested in exploring the old house. I steadied myself with my walking stick and looked around the foundation for something I could throw at the approaching animals. I stepped down into the foundation and sunk a few inches into the mud. Sammy kept his barking up as I looked for a loose brick or rock to throw. I used my walking stick to poke around in the mud and finally found some brick chunks close to the hole in the foundation. I managed to pluck one out of the mud and stood to give the coyotes my best Nolan Ryan pitch. I yelled at the coyotes as I stepped and threw my projectile. The coyotes froze in place as my throw was not only out of the strike zone, it never made it to the plate. The coyotes saw the water splash in the mud several feet in front of them, but never considered it a threat. I stepped back closer to the hole in the foundation and dug around again for another rock. Sammy was getting a little hoarse as he had not let up his barking since the coyotes arrived. I frantically used my walking stick in the mud until I hit another solid object. Reaching down I pulled up another, but smaller piece of brick. This time I took my time and heaved the object at the animals. The brick piece this time made it to the strike zone and struck the lead coyote on its front leg. The animal let out a yelp and began to retreat back toward the truck and the road. Not wanting to be without ammo in case they changed their mind I rooted around the mud again for another projectile. I grasped another larger brick and pulled, but the brick seemed to be caught on something. I tugged hard and managed to pull up the brick and the edge of what looked like a burlap sack. Straightening up I held my new brick in my hand and looked for the coyotes. I was grateful to see that they had turned and were heading down the road toward Four Mile creek. Sammy also seemed happy that his barking had scared the coyotes away. I yelled to Sammy that he was a good boy and that I would not be too much longer. That seemed to settle him down some and he continued to watch me through the window of the truck. I threw the old brick out of the foundation and turned back to examine what I pulled up. I grabbed the section of burlap and tried to pull but managed only to pull up a few more inches of the old clothe. I looked around for a better foothold as I was sinking into the mud. Water from the stream behind the foundation was pouring in and creating a lot of mud. The stream was also taking a lot of mud with it as it passed by. I assumed that the foundation had lost a lot of soil through that opening during the past flash flood. Once I had a more stable footing I used the walking stick to dig around the old clothe. I pushed more mud closer to the hole and let the water take it away as I tried to excavate around the cloth. Once I had more burlap showing I stuck my walking stick into the ground and grabbed a bigger handful of cloth and pulled. This time I was able to pull more clothe up but then I heard a ripping sound and the cloth separated with me holding about two feet of the burlap. I looked down in the mud where the cloth had separated and what I saw made my heart jump. What I was staring at was the top of a skull. The skull had no hair but I could see the beginnings of the eye sockets. I dropped the piece of ripped burlap and practically fell back to a sitting position on the old foundation. I stared at the mud and my mind kept repeating "Samantha. Samantha. Samantha." After a few moments of getting my heart beat back to normal I grabbed my walking stick, stood up and climbed back up on the foundation. I worked my way back to the front porch area and the muddy path to the truck. Reaching the truck I tried to calm Sammy down a little by petting him through the window opening, but I think I was also trying to calm my spinning mind down also.
Moving to the tail gate I once again sat down to think things through. A call on a dead phone leads me to explore a deserted farm to find a body buried. How this could have happened to a college educated God fearing person. I know I will have to call the police but what will I say to them when they ask me how I happen to be here. What will I say that won’t get me as lead story of one of those grocery store tabloid magazine? I can see the headlines now "Local Man Gets Call from the Dead" or "Local Man Accepts Long Distance Charges from the Great Beyond". I also know that there was a reason for this. I used my walking stick to knock the mud off my boots and then reached into my pocket for my cellphone. I was grateful to have a signal as I did not want to leave the area to make a call. I dialed 911 and got passed to the local county sheriff's department. The county sheriff did not have many on his payroll, so I did not know how long it would take to get someone out here. When the dispatcher for the sheriff answered I calmly told them of finding a body. The dispatcher was very professional and required me to answer several questions, such as who I was, where I was, when did I find the body, etc.. After answering all the questions the dispatcher said that they would be sending someone out to where I was as quickly as they could. I put the cellphone back into my pocket and thought about what I would say. I was not going to lie but I certainly was not going to tell the whole story. I went back to the truck cab and let Sammy out so that he could do his business, as he has been in the cab for quite some time.
About forty five minutes later I heard sirens coming down the county road. After a few moments I saw three SUV's coming over the small hill with sirens wailing and lights flashing. My heart sped up by several beats as they surrounded my truck and killed their engines. The lead car contained just the Sheriff, who I recognized by his election posters. The other two cars contained a deputy apiece. The Sheriff approached me an introduced himself and those with him. I introduced myself and the Sheriff quickly got to the point. "Where is the body?” he asked. I told them all that the mud is pretty bad but to follow me and I would take them to it. I was grateful that Sammy was only looking not barking at the visitors as we all approached the old foundation. We all stepped up on the foundation, and like a conga line of tightrope walkers we made our way to the back wall of the foundation and the opening to the small stream. I stepped down into the foundation, and once again sunk down in the mud, and approached the small burlap clothe I left behind. The Sheriff followed me and the deputies just stayed on the foundation to get a better view. I used my walking stick to clear out the water that pooled in the area with the skull and show the Sheriff what I saw. He bent over and all he said was, "Yep we have a body." He then requested a camera from one of the deputies and began to take several pictures of the area. After taking a few more pictures he requested a deputy to take me me back to my truck and to take my statement. The deputy and I managed to slog our way back to the truck. We both sat on the tail gate of the truck to get our feet out of the mud. He then pulled out a digital recorder and very professionally extracted my statement. The statement consisting of a trip to see the flooding, spotting the property from the hill and wanting a closer look and the battle with the coyotes. The statement did not consist of the phone call or the fact that I knew who used to live on the property. The deputy seemed satisfied with my tale, but reminded me that driving around flooded areas was not a wise thing to do. I told him I had always been an adventurer and was interested in seeing the flooded areas that I had heard so much about. He then yelled over to the sheriff and told him he had completed with my statement. The sheriff yelled back, "OK you can go but do not leave the area in case we need more information." I thanked the deputy and shook his hand. He got down from the tail gate and headed to his vehicle to clear me a space to back up into. I threw my walking stick into the bed and removed my snow boots. I went back to the cab and stroked Sammy on the head telling him were heading home. I put the truck in four wheel drive and carefully maneuvered around the sheriff's vehicles to get back on the county road. Heading back down the road I was able to reach the highway without any issues. It was not too long before I was passed by the county coroner's vehicle and another county sheriff vehicle pulling what looked like a backhoe.
It took only a day before the local paper called me and wanted to ask me a few questions about the body I found. I was hoping the Sheriff would not give out my name but this is a small community and things travel fast when it is ear candy. I stuck to my story in my statement and they seemed to be happy with what I told them. The story broke in the local paper the next day and it provided me a little more information about what the Sheriff was doing. It seems that they excavated the site to extract the body. This job was hampered quite a bit by the flood waters, but in the end they were able to get not only the body but several other items that were buried. The sheriff indicated that it would take several days for state forensics to finish their examination and generate a report, but he did indicate that the body had been buried there several years ago. He said possibly forty or fifty years ago. When pressed if the person was murdered. He said he would not discuss any possibilities of how the person died until the state finishes their job. The detail that I knew was coming and was not too surprised was when I read that the sheriff indicated that the body was that of a woman or young girl.
As the days passed the news story spread farther than just our little town and county. The Associated Press picked it up and it was on the national news as one of those snippets that they do when they want to fill in when big news does not go far enough in their broadcasts. The local TV station called me several times to get my side of the story. I just let them go to voicemail and hoped that they would just use the statement from the Sheriff.
Finally the news broke that the state had finished their forensic investigation and sent the report to the sheriff department. The local TV station and several local papers were on hand for the Sheriff's press conference. I decided to personally attend the press conference as a spectator because I wanted to hear the story myself without having it filtered through the local news sources, as they sometimes were not very reliable to get the facts straight. The Sheriff opened with thanking the state for their professional work as they could not have done it without them. He also thanked those in attendance for being there. I was beginning to think the Sheriff was running for office again, but then I thought that this would not hurt his reelection. The Sheriff began with the information that made my knees weak. He said the body found was a 17 year old girl named Samantha Reeves. She was born in Terre Haute in 1940 and disappeared from the Terre Haute area around April of 1957. He went onto say that the evidence showed that she was killed by blunt force trauma to her head. So as of now the case is listed as a homicide. The Sheriff stated that his office and the state will continue the investigation. He finished his statement indicating that the body of the young girl was returned to Terre Haute and will be interred in the cemetery where her parents are buried, as they had a plot next to them already prepared in case their daughter was ever found. Samantha had a brother William who was contacted and will oversee all the arrangements. William was saddened to hear of Samantha's death, but was happy to know that Samantha will finally be able to come home to be next to her Mom and Dad. The sheriff ended his statement and then opened up for questions. I did not stay for the questions as I had heard all I needed to hear and I went home.
Once again I was sitting in my chair with Sammy and my thoughts turned to what had happened and tried to reconcile all the mysteries in my mind. The dead phone working. The dead girl speaking to me. The coyotes happening to scare me into excavating. I stroked Sammy's head a few times and said, "Well Sammy we got Samantha home and understanding what went on is really not as important as that."
Monday, February 4, 2019
Ruminations
One of the things I do everyday is to pray for people I know that are undergoing cancer treatment. The list of names gets to be very long and at times I start to feel overwhelmed. It is during those times that I try really hard to remember that my God is big and his power is mightier than cancer. I morn when a name is taken off my list because of death, but I cheer when a name is taken off my list because they have been ruled clean. It is those cheers that turn to praises to God and that is what keeps me going in my daily prayer. Every since my Dad died of cancer I have really started praying harder. God knows I hate cancer and I talk very frankly to God about my feelings on cancer. For every name on my list there is also prayers for their family. I know what cancer did to mine and I ask God to be with the families of all those names.
Dear God please send wisdom and knowledge to someone to bring an end to this terrible disease that is striking down our family and friends. In Jesus name I pray this. Amen.
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Ruminations
Ruminations for Tuesday January 22nd 2019
As I was walking around the neighborhood tonight I thought of the stories that are being told by the houses in my neighborhood. The stories vary from happy to sad and from interesting to shocking. I see a house that is for sale where a family was raised and now the house is too large for a couple getting older. This I can relate to as Cathy and I sold our house shortly after I retired because it was too big for us and the three floors were getting a little tiring having to navigate. I also see a house that has been for sale for quite some time. The house was previously owned by an individual who came into a lot of money very quickly. He could not handle his quick wealth and it was not long before it was all gone and the house was on the market. Unfortunately the house was damaged by this person and his so called friends, who quickly abandoned him when the money ran out. I also see a house that has been empty since I moved into the neighborhood 4 years ago. I do not know what the story is, but I find it strange that such a nice house has been empty for so long. Someone does the mowing every once in awhile and cleans up the property, but everyday I pass on my walk I see a house that is dying slowly. I also pass a house that I refer to as the mystery house. I don't know who lives there as I have never seen anyone walking around the property. The shades are always drawn and the outside lights are on motion detectors. Someone takes very good care of the property and every once in awhile I see a vehicle parked in front of the house but it never stays. I have told my wife that this has to be a CIA or FBI safe house. :)
Sunday, January 20, 2019
Ruminations
Ruminations for Sunday January 20th 2019
Did you know ruminations also means "the action of chewing the cud" I guess that is basically what my mind does with some ideas/thoughts. So here goes some chewing that has been on my mind lately.
- I find it very hard lately to stay positive. My defense against this is to get away from people and the news. I also feel that this is not a good way to combat negativity but as I get older I have less time to spend with negative thoughts, people and situations. As you guessed it this means I also avoid the news and the news media.
- I have a very difficult time remembering people's names. I don't know why as I really try to remember the names of those I meet. I just can't seem to do it. I really envy those that can recall the first names of those that they meet days or weeks later. I think that this is also a gift from God because it can be used so much to benefit people.
- While walking one day I was listening to a Daily Tech podcast that told of the development of a device that will be used by the internet of things that will require no power source. This device will be able to draw all the power it needs from the transmissions in the air. That made me wonder if all the cancers that are affecting our family and friends are a result of us doing it to ourselves. All the transmissions around us, can they be slowly destroying our DNA and cells? Could it be found in the future that we actually were killing ourselves with all the new tech and new transmissions we are surrounding ourselves with. Think of all that goes through a person each data. WIFI, TV, Cell Phone, Electric transmission, Bluetooth, FM, AM, etc.. It makes me wonder as my prayer list keeps getting bigger with cancer concerns. More family and more friends are being stricken with this terrible disease.
- Finally for today I have been struggling with people that seem to make bad decisions even when they know that the decision will be harmful. What has happened to common sense? It breaks my heart when this happens and children are involved.
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