The End Of The Road

The image of the road conjures up a vast variety of thoughts and emotions.  The Bible uses the road as both metaphor and setting for some key lessons.  There's the road to Jericho where the parable of the Good Samaritan takes place.  Saul of Tarsus met Jesus on the road to Damascus and had both his name and life changed.  Cleopas and another anonymous disciple of Jesus were on the road to Emmaus when they were joined by a stranger shortly after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  The stranger was later revealed to be Jesus himself.

There's often a sense of excitement when we set off on the road.  Even when we're sure of where we're headed there can be some uncertainty about what might happen along the way.  There could be disaster and redemption, such as was the case of the traveler set upon by bandits and rescued by the Good Samaritan.  Or like Saul/Paul an unexpected encounter could lead us to take an entirely different path.  And there are those trips who's true significance is realized only once the journey is over, like that walk Cleopas and his friend took to Emmaus.

Sometimes the road itself proves as much fun as the destination.  Ask anyone who rides a motorcycle.

And when the road ends we we're faced with a choice.  Turn around or blaze our own trail.  How you handle that one depends on who's map you're following.

Sometimes It Seems Like It Never Ends

My wife Teri and I spent a good deal of the Memorial Day weekend doing yard work.  My son Caleb helped me get a few trees out of the yard.  They'd fallen over the course of the past few weeks.  Then Teri and I cleaned up some of the smaller branches, cut the grass, blew off the driveway.  Teri even found time to plant some flowers. Coming home from work yesterday I was able to smile at how nice the yard was finally looking.

Then just after 3 o'clock this morning I heard that ominous "fooommp" from somewhere outside.  Almost instantaneously the power went out.  I grabbed a flashlight and walked the yard.  A large Georgia Pine had fallen across the street, knocking out the power to the entire neighborhood.  The power company was there within the hour, and nearly six hours later they'd restored the power.  And now I have at least another weekend's worth of work waiting for me in the front yard.

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Blue Light Special

No, this is not about your run-of-the-mill cut-rate department store five cents off a pack of 24 white tube socks blue light special.  This is about the magic elixir that is less than 60 seconds away when the blue light on the Keurig coffee maker is lit.  Now that IS something special.



One More Reason

Getting ready for the long Memorial Day Weekend and the unofficial start of summer.  Many of us will be on the road this weekend, despite the cost of gasoline.  One of the many reasons I enjoy riding a motorcycle is the gas mileage my bike gets.  I filled up this morning on my in to The JOY FM.  Today's National Photography Month photo is of the final read out of the pump.  Yes, only 3.622 gallons to fill up (my tank holds 4.1 gallons).  On that 3.622 gallons I managed to travel 200.2 miles.  That works out to 55.27 miles per gallon!  That 's actually the best gas mileage I've managed in awhile, normally I come in between 52 and 53 mpg.

There is one other calculation I've done, and it's slightly more sobering.  It's the miles per dollar (or mp$) number.  This one will vary much more than mpg, since gas prices fluctuate so much.  My 200.2 miles on 3.622 gallons at $3.479 per gallon works out to 15.888 miles per dollar.  Of course if you did these calculations on your car's mileage numbers they'd be even smaller.  Let's say your auto gets a respectable 30 mpg.  That same 200.2 miles would have used up 6.673 gallons of gas in your car.  At a cost of $3.479 per gallon you would paid $23.22 for that stop at the pump.  You would be getting 8.62 mp$ (miles per dollar).  Kind of makes you want to look into getting a motorcycle, doesn't it?

Pig Mania

My dad found this game around 30 years ago. It's so goofy that it's a blast. We've never played a game without going into hysterics.

The original Pig Mania, comes with a complete "history" of pig tossing.

Old Friends

I was looking through old photographs last night, searching for a couple of specific shots.  I didn't find either one, but I did come across quite a few that made me smile.  The one I've posted here (for today's National Photography Month entry) was taken somewhere between 1989 and 1994.  That was back before digital photography, so there's no metadata, no file on a hard drive to help me narrow the date range.  Metadata back then was added AFTER you got your pictures back from the lab and wrote on the back of the photo.  I was not very good at remembering to add metadata.

Because I rarely took the time to document those old photographs, sometimes I have trouble remembering who all the people in the picture are.  That is the case in this photo.  I have no idea of the name of the guy on the far left.  Working left to right, the next person is me.  Then guitarist extraordinaire Phil Keaggy.  And finally, Dave Cruse, currently of The Morning Cruise on The JOY FM.

Back when that photo was taken Dave was, I believe, still at a station in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  I was working at a station on Long Island, New York.  We were in my hotel room in Nashville, TN, during Gospel Music Association (GMA) Week.  Back then I'd do my morning show from the room, featuring artist interviews all week.  So that means that the un-named individual was probably someone who worked for Phil's record company.  Dave was there because somewhere along the line of seeing each other year after year at these GMA events we'd become friends.  Dave wasn't doing his show from Nashville that year, so he came and hung out with me.  We've both, Dave and I, changed some during those intervening years, especially our hairlines.  But we've remained friends and we're finally getting a chance to work together, though it's long distance, at The JOY FM.

Left to right: Can't remember his name, me, Phil Keaggy, Dave Cruse

Emergency Cache

I have never really known want.  Sure, there have been times that have been more prosperous than others.  And I have occasionally had to go without certain near essentials.  But I've never actually worried about where my next meal was coming from.  So my habit of stashing away foodstuffs is somewhat of a mystery to me.  Maybe it's something that rubbed off on me from having both of my parents being raised during the Great Depression.  Or perhaps the story of Joseph and his famine fighting grain storage plan had a bigger impact on me than I realize.

No matter the origin, there have been times when I've stockpiled various snack foods.  Today's photo was inspired by that habit and by a photo Matt Fields, The Morning Cruise producer, posted of one of his desk drawers.  Here's my photo for the day.

Ready For The Rain

Since I started riding a motorcycle five years ago I've become much more aware of the weather.  And I've learned that you can't always trust those "chance of rain" percentages.  I've ridden when there was a 20% chance of rain and gotten soaked and taken the car when the forecast called for a 90% chance of rain and not seen a drop all day.

So most days, unless it's actually raining or below freezing when it's time to leave the house, I'll ride the motorcycle.  But I am always prepared for any change in the weather.  Take today.  Got up this morning, checked the forecast.  Around a 30% chance of rain.  Then just after 3 PM thunder and lightning rolled in.  Then the showers.  I was ready for them.  There's always a rain cover for the bike and rain gear (pants, jacket and boot covers) for me in the saddlebags.

Sweet Summer Slumber

I know, summer doesn't officially begin for another month. But with the weather already warm I'm looking forward to some lazy afternoons in the hammock.

Work In Progress

My garage has become a motorcycle shop. My son Caleb is tweaking his bike. He's already painted it. Now he's adding a sound system and modifying the seat.