“Yinney” Chapter 34

angelwings On the eighth day a rare occurrence was happening in Frank’s hospital room, even though he was unaware. Rachel, Clara, and all three of Frank’s sons were visiting him at the same time. It had not been planned, it just happened.

Over the eight day period, Rachel had met the young men one by one. They all knew of each other, but had never met. Tommy had been the last to arrive to NYC after having to take personal leave and arrange a flight. He was involved in building some road somewhere in another country. Frank had mentioned his son that he rarely saw due to his job. Rachel had not given it much thought as to exactly what he did. He was still young and wanted an adventure, Frank said. Probably not a career path for him.

The older two sons, John and Dave, had moved farther out of downtown proper, but still came to it on a regular basis. Clara, Rachel’s daughter, had met none of them until now, so you can imagine the noise level of finally having everyone together for the first time. Even Frank seemed to be there, though he wasn’t really.

As everyone began settling into a more normal flow of conversation, of course Frank became the main topic.  The sons all admitted they expected something like this to happen. New York City is just too dangerous a place. How could their dad take such high risks for so many years and not have it catch up with him? So the news had not been a surprise, but it still hurt just as much. And would they ever have a conversation with their dad again?

“I have a confession to make,” Rachel quietly said, and all other talk ceased. After a short pause to gather her thoughts, she continued. “I have been afraid to love your dad. I know I’m in love with him, but I’ve held back and been afraid to go forward because of this very thing. I just couldn’t imagine kissing him good-bye every night knowing what he was leaving to face, and wondering what might happen? How did you boys live with it?”

John, the oldest, was the first to answer, “You could say we didn’t have any choice. We just had to accept dad might not come home one day. Of course, it didn’t even occur to us till we got a little older. But we always had each other, and we were brave together.”

“Yeah,” Tommy agreed, “But mom always said she would have grey hair early, and she was starting to turn, but…well…that ended up not mattering.”

Clara tried to imagine what these boys had been through, but they had parents who loved each other. They had grown up being loved and knowing what love was about. They did not fear their dad, only the fear of what could happen to him. Perhaps by someone like her dad had been.

The conversation revolved around this topic of learning to live with the fear, for the sake of love, for a while. Then Dave said, “But someone has to do it, right? I mean, what if everyone just said it’s too dangerous, too hard, too ugly, and the darkness took over? It’s a calling, I think. Some answer the call.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, and then Clara asked, “But what about now? You know your dad better than us. How will he handle no longer being a cop? Perhaps even being confined to a wheelchair?”

“He’s gonna do just fine,” John answered. “Dad always said the ability to adapt is the number one survival skill, and dad’s a survivor.”

“Yeah, but,” Dave added, “he’s gonna need something, or someone, he can find meaning in. Dad’s always been about purpose and passion, having a mission, a vision. If he fails to find a new purpose, he will wilt on the vine like a dying flower.”

“I think Dave’s right,” Tommy agreed.

“Or maybe a rotting tomato,” John interjected. “Dad’s too rough around the edges to ever be compared to a flower,” That statement caught everyone by surprise and laughter broke lose in the room again. They all knew how true it was, and the brothers began relating stories. “Remember when…” each brother would begin. “Or what about the time he caught you, Tommy, skipping school?”

“Oh man,” Tommy moaned. “That was bad.”

The noise level once again raised the roof when a low but deep voice was heard, “Hey… what’s all the noise about? Hold it down everybody. I got work in a few hours.”

“Frank?!”

Dad?!”

Everyone was on there feet in an instant! The button was pushed calling for a nurse or doctor to come quickly! “Dad, can you hear us?” John yelled in his excitement.

“Yes.” Came the answer, though he did not open his eyes. “Why do you think I’m saying hold the noise down?”

Cheering erupted in the room even as a male nurse burst in. Frank couldn’t make sense out of what was going on. He just knew he was very tired. Must have been in a very deep sleep and the fog still hanging on. His alarm had not gone off yet, so he still had time, but why was everyone in his room? It just didn’t make sense and he was too tired to worry about it. He just wanted more sleep, but now someone was roughing him up! What’s going on?

“Wake up, Frank!” the male voice was insisting. “Your family is here to see you. You can’t let them down.”

None of it was making any sense. “Who is this guy? Am I being attacked?” Against his will, Frank forced open his heavy eyelids and tried to focus. Everything was a blur. He saw Tommy first. “Tommy?” Then he saw Rachel and Clara. “What are they doing in my room? And who is this ugly guy?”

It took a couple minutes, but he finally realized he was in a hospital room, and then the killer in the park and the fall all rushed back into his mind. It was actually painful as it hit him with such force. He laid his head back, raised his hand for everyone to quiet, and said, “Okay everyone…I remember now. Must be pretty bad if you’re all here. Especially you, Tommy. I guess I’m going to need some bringing up to date. How many days have I been out?”

“Eight,” Rachel answered, as she stepped forward to hold his hand.

“Wow…I never been out that long before. And I had the strangest dream. Something about a sloth.

Everyone in the room were smiling. They were just so happy dad was back. Then he speaks of dreaming about a sloth? Once again emotions overflowed in laughter, tears, and hugs.

“Welcome back, Officer Frank,” the nurse said. “You’re still in the land of the living.”

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“Lot was a Righteous Man”

20171202_173614 The story of “Yinney the Sloth who needed to Poo” is going great and will continue, but I have felt led of the Lord to take a small break and share some thoughts I’ve had relating to the Yinney story, Predator Cities, and Predator People.

The nephew of Abraham, Lot, has always intrigued me. By his own choice he found himself living just outside the gates of a predator city, and he was very involved with that city, even choosing to sit at the gates. Which was a strategic place to be, where the powerful and rich usually had some kind of presence, keeping tabs on what was coming in and out of the city, and political power.

Lot had a very questionable history of walking with the Lord. When Abraham, his uncle, who had been good to him in so many ways, gave Lot a choice of which land to take, he took the best for himself and left his older uncle with the worst! Hardly seems like the Christian thing to do.

Soon we find he has made his home outside the gates of a very wicked city called Sodom, as in Sodom and Gomorrah, and he sits at the city gate. When two angels show up to see how bad the city has become, he persuades them to stay at his house and not enter the city. Sodom and Gomorrah were definitely predator cities full of the kind of people who want to eat you! (I’m not talking cannibalism, but murder, rape, thievery, and sin of every kind was rampant.)

He even ends up offering his two virgin daughters to the angry mob who confronts his home desiring the visitors be handed over. Things were different back then, but I do find it somewhat surprising when II Peter 2:7 says: “But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. Yes, Lot was a righteous man …”

II Peter 2:9 tells us he was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he heard and saw day after day. Now I hate to say it, but I have experienced the same thing here in America. Perhaps the whole world is becoming this way. Lot chose to live near Sodom. He had a choice, but do we? Or are we stuck in this Lot situation with little choice in the matter? Admittedly, it’s very hard.

This is one reason I’m so interested in Lot, his story, and the details of his rescue. I am convinced we are more and more surrounded by a world turning into Sodom and Gomorrah. Are there things for us to learn from Lot? Important things? Jesus speaks of Lot when speaking of the last days. (Luke 17:28) We do know that angels were very heavily involved in the rescue of Lot and his family. Are we mindful of our angels?

So we see that Lot was surrounded by wickedness, even by his own choice, and his soul was tormented by what he heard and saw every day, and yet somehow he remained a righteous man in the eyes of God. So I guess we can too! That’s encouraging.

The other night I went to a video store looking to rent a good movie. This is a perfect example. I could choose not to watch movies or TV, but I have not and I entered this gate of my own choice, just like Lot?

If you want an example of how far the mind of man can sink into depravity, just look at the awful movies some people are making and a certain percentage of our society love to watch. Hate, violence, sex, violence, murder, sex, gore, violence, dark grossness, sorcery, violence, revenge, stealing, sex, nudity, violence, gore, darkness, wickedness, sickness, depravity, and more violence.

Now folks, even if you’re not a religious person, it’s pretty scary to think of a growing population of people out there, who love things of that nature. Perhaps you are not a predator. You just want to live and let live. You’re a wonderful person who simply wants to go on a date with the person you love, have a nice meal out, see a good movie, but we have to be aware all these other people are out there too, and who knows what they might do? Even if we don’t believe in God, is that the kind of world we want to live in? But without God, how can we even say what is wrong? How can we say there is a normal, or a standard? And if society as a whole sinks far enough, eventually anything becomes your truth, your right, your delight.

This is also the story of Yinney. Every seven days he needs to leave his tree, go to the ground and poo! All he wants to do is poo in peace! But there are predators down there. It is the most dangerous thing he does.

I ended up renting a movie called “The Bookshop”. That movie would probably bore a lot of people to sleep, but I found it most interesting and left me with much to think about. I love a movie that leaves me thinking. But it was slow moving; the hopes, dreams, and interaction between characters was the glue that held you. Nobody was murdered, but there were predators, and a dream did get murdered. We can be attacked and die in many ways.

This one old lady and her husband, but she wore the pants in the family, they were definite predators, but they used money, manipulation, politics, and power to get what they wanted. Unfortunately for this one peace-loving lady with a beautiful dream, she got in their way. Her lovely dream got in their way.

This paragraph: spoiler alert! This lady was brave and fought back, but she did not have the teeth and claws they had. She became their victim. She loses everything! (But her life.) And as she is sailing away in sadness, the movie projects forward something beautiful is still born out of the sacrifice she made. We just never know.

So let me say this, predators may not know it, but they never win in the end. All us God-fearing and God-loving people? WE DO WIN! And it can be seen even in the present, not just one day in heaven. The predators will never admit it, but theirs is a very sad and empty life. LOVE really is the only way to live and be happy. We win every day. I was so happy I actually found a good movie that strengthened my spirit man, rather than attacking it. That movie was a win in my book.

In “Part 2” of this article I want to look more at the details of Lot’s rescue. I’ve seen the trailers of movies I can’t believe anyone would want to make or watch. Those people are out there! They are a growing population! If the Church don’t get her act together, we will be in the days of Lot as prophesied! It won’t be pretty! Only the predators will be loving it until they realize, that those who eat others, eventually get eaten themselves, and it is a horrible way to die, that is the sting of death! Think about it.

But if I am right about the last days growing all around us, then Lot is someone we would do well to consider. His story has much to offer if we are the kind of person who like being “prepared”. It may not be pretty, but God does know how to deliver his people. That is what God’s word says. But do we know?

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“A Bird Called, Flapless”

casey-horner-552263-unsplash So it’s Monday night and another weekend is over. On Sunday morning we opened up a link to our story of “A Bird Called, Flapless”. Please read details in previous article. This is just a shout out for all those so busy on the weekend they had no chance to catch the announcement. Lots of pictures included with the story. Hope you enjoy. Link connect set in previous article.

Feedback on the story is welcome. Hope you enjoy.

“Death of the Old Man”

20170430_132246 It has been my hope that I’m not taking this journey alone. It has been my hope that when others would see strong evidence, provided by the early church fathers, and confirmed in our Bible, that there would be those stirred from our modern comforts of mediocrity to join in this journey. Jesus walked the Red Path so we could walk the White! Do we feel that? Do we identify and embrace it for ourself? Do we show our love for Him in the same way He showed it for us, by our cross? Are we Americans “blue light special christians”? (small “c” intentional.) Is that good enough for us? Is that what we want to be as we embrace the pleasures of this world?

Why is it so important that Polycarp stood up against the change Rome wanted to bring to the “Christian Passover Supper”? Why is all of this so important? Do we not care that we’ve been sold a weak and sickly cow, instead of a strong and healthy bull? We’ve been told, “Buy into this! This will make you strong in the Lord!” But like Jesus said to the church of Laodicea: “…and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:”

I did not know I would discover a “Master Key”. God in his wisdom provided a Master Key, and he made it the Lord’s Supper! (How incredibly like God!) Once I saw the change of emphasis that for some reason Polycarp seemed to be so intense and distraught about, everything else began to unfold. I had explored some false rabbit trails that wasted my time, twisted my mind, left me near ready to give up; but when I began trying to understand what Polycarp was so upset about, the MAZE started opening!

The Cross! “By faith Moses when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt…” (!)

And God chose “THIS MAN” (Moses!), to be the one through which the Passover Meal would come about! The choice Moses made, before he was then chosen, is symbolic of everything we are talking about. This is the choice we made at the altar that day we got saved! A choice to leave this world for the greater values of the Kingdom of God! But are we indeed doing this, or have we like so many others… slid with the slight-of-hand?

Let me show you this same shift in another way. It is amazing how many ways this “slight of the devil’s hand” has permeated everything. As in our short-form Lord’s Supper, which as we celebrate the Lord’s Meal, the Passover, has become a Resurrection service on Sunday, we call Easter. In most churches even Peter Rabbit comes to church on that particular Sunday, but that is not the item I’m talking about. Keep your eyes on “the shift”, the slight of hand. (Peter rabbit is just  by-product of the magician’s show.)

Did you REALLY understand the supernatural event your Baptism symbolized and testified to the world on that day? Assuming you were even told how important it was for you to get Baptized, and assuming you knew that meant complete immersion in water. I’m sure many of today’s Pastors would argue with me on this, because of the way we have been raised to think, the slight-of-hand; but the emphasis of that Baptism is the DEATH OF THE OLD MAN! Once again, the emphasis is meant to be DEATH! And why is that so important?

You may have been sold the sickly cow of “once saved, always saved”, but that simply is not true. If we thought we were being baptized into an easy ride to heaven, that simply is not true! If we don’t make the same choice Moses made, that resurrection is not yet ours! And this is all vividly shown in the Christian Passover Meal. What we have right now is that cross! The resurrection is future! He that endures to the end shall have it. And yes, nothing will separate us from God’s love. He will always love us even if we prove to be the sinner he has to judge on judgement day. He loves every person alive on this earth, and proved it on that cross when he died for the sins of “the world”! But we show our love for him through a death also, a death to our old man, and a life of sin, a life spent on SELF.

The DEATH is the important thing, because if the DEATH happens, the walking in the NEWNESS of LIFE will be automatic! (By that I don’t mean “easy”, just that it is sure to happen. A good tree will bear good fruit. Agape love.God’s love.) But God knows who we are, and our continual need to embrace a cross, and this only happens through the power of the Holy Spirit. Satan knows he’s got to divert our eyes from the cross, if he is going to pull off his evil magic show. The master of illusion, sucking us in.

ROMANS 6:3 > “Know ye not, that so many of us that were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?”

I was baptized at age of twelve, and even at that age, I wish I had been required to sit down with the Pastor and been taught “in detail” what that Baptism was supposed to mean to me, other than an escape hatch from hell. The scriptures go on to say we were baptized into his DEATH, “so that” we could be raised into a “walk” (present tense), that the world would say…Wow! Look at the change! Can you believe Moses has actually left us? He left all the pleasures we Egyptians gave him? He’d rather suffer with those stupid Israelites, who claim to be the people of God? Look at them! How stupid! Obviously our Gods are much more powerful than whoever their God is. Who would want to live like that? He deserves whatever he gets! After we were so good to him!

However…as they say…it is not he who starts a race well…but he who finishes well. I got to say…Egyptians are not known for finishing well in the Bible. And I guess they convieniently would not consider how evil they were being to God’s people, as they were being good to Moses. I’m so glad Moses had a heart to see the truth, and not serve self, even when his personal cost was so high! He lost everything but his life, and barely kept that.

I need to add one more thing before we close. As the Israelites were rushed out of Egypt that Passover night, God was not finished painting US his picture. That painting even goes into the Promised Land and unto David. But the first thing we see is the Israelites trapped against the Red Sea, and Pharaoh in hot pursuit! As I hope you know, the Red Sea became a picture of Baptism immediately following salvation. (As immediate as possible.) But it is a Baptism of DEATH!

Pharaoh and his armies die there, but also the Israelites are not delivered into the Promised Land on the other side, but into the WILDERNESS, where they will receive the LAW! And remember this, because they failed to “die to self” and trust God, the “OLDER GENERATION”, or “THE OLD MAN”, all died in the wilderness! (Except for the 2 who successfully died to self.) The wilderness is a picture of the old man dying! And then there is another “CROSS”-ing, (a 2nd CROSS), a picture of complete surrender, maturity, fullness of Holy Spirit, into the Promised Land. Wow! What a painting! But what has Satan done in his slight-of-hand?

Today…many people think you can skip the wilderness, not die to self, and jump right into the Promised Land, which they picture as a place where they live in milk and honey. (Have you ever studied their life in the Promised Land??? Maybe we need to study in detail, God’s version of milk and honey?)

In Satan’s painting, a perverted image of the real, the wilderness is belittled and lost in all the talk of the Promised Land. Because Satan knows, if he can keep our eyes looking back to Egypt, we will be judged in that wilderness, and never make that second “CROSS”ing. Can it be any more plain?

I really wish more people would comment on how they feel about our modern version of Church. I’m looking more and more at Home Church, Micro-Church. This is a movement that doesn’t seem to be going away, and is growing stronger day by day. I will likely write about what I learn eventually, but my journey still has a lot of “checking” to do. I recently read a whole book on the “Church of Christ”. It did cause me to get a little stronger in defending my faith. But in the end, I still did not see what I’m looking for. (Not that they don’t have something to offer, as today’s churches go, but it still don’t fit what I believe is out there…somewhere!)

I know I’m not the only one having these thoughts about our modern church. But how many of us are actually making an effort to “change”? Learn, seek, and find. I do not know. If the amount of comments I receive on this site is any indication, then I would guess not many. Most are content in our modern mediocrity, or see no real problem. The sickly cow must be blind also. How convienient for the devil. If this article seems hard to you, compare it to our Lord’s words to Laodicea. You’ll find I’m a kitty-cat compared to HIM. Selah.

My journey continues. I think I got a long ways to go, but I’m not giving up, and I’m very excited about the progress I’ve made so far! I’ve seen so much I never saw before. We are doing a Christian Passover Meal at our house this 30th of March, starting at sundown and running to midnight. So far I’m having trouble finding anyone to do it with us. Some of my friends no longer trust me because I left “their” church, and since I have not found another yet. And then other people I know, don’t like the idea of being up so late with their children, and for something they don’t see the importance of anyway. I’m not discouraged because this is my first year doing this, a year for learning, and once I do find a church, it will be with a people who do see the value of such a thing, or I won’t be going there. Next year will likely be different.

I have done much research, study, and writing of all these things in previous articles. So if you have questions about how I got to the place I currently am, I have detailed pretty much every step of the journey. It’s all here if you have a desire to know. Our Lord willing…more to come soon…including our experience in the Lord’s Passover Supper. The Jews believe that night is the most powerful night of all year to be set free from something. Well…I know the name of Jesus is always FULLY powerful…but if something in that night increases my own faith, humility, and obedience? Well, who’s to say?

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“Fellowship of the White Path” / Grandpa White Feather.

Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness before his baptism in the River Jordan, the same 2nd River Israel had to cross. The Jews spent 40 years! Hhmmmm? (And then a dove decended, symbolizing the Holy Spirit. Wow! What a picture!)

 

“What’s in the Picture?”

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Hhmmm, Part II of “Eternal Bricks”. As I said, I did not plan this picture. So after I invited you to study it, I did the same myself, and was quite surprised!

I did not pay any attention at all to what was in the glass cabinet beside the table whereupon I sat the brick and snapped three pictures. Not until I began to study the pictures, and it was then I noticed the candle sticks lying on their sides, as if removed from their stands! And a glass eagle taking wing! And something over the table, the tip of which you see, but do not know what it is, but I do! This accidental picture is such an amazing message! (If it be true.)

“Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.” (Revelation 2: 5 – spoken by Jesus himself!)

The book of Revelation plays a big part in the things I will soon be sharing. I have never had such an incredible understanding of that book as I have had since embarking on this new journey. What were the odds that I accidently snapped such a picture as this, which so amazingly lines up with the growing message of this blog site? This picture is smarter than me. I would not have thought of this.

And what hangs over the picture? I am embarrassed to say. It is a relic of my past, that now has all new meaning! It is a Rod Parsley Covenant Partner sword. It has hung on my wall for years, even though I have not listened to him for years, for some odd reason I never was able to figure out. Oh the story that connects me to that sword!

Things are getting a little uncomfortable for me now. It’s one thing to share my experience with a church I do not name, and few people would know of whom I speak. It is not my intention to do harm to the body of Christ, but I must say, this ministry has been perplexing to me. His ministry has been such a major force for good in so many ways in this earth, and yet there are many Gentiles that I fear blaspheme the name of God because of ministries like this, and many more who are much worse, but I’m so sorry to say I have to include this ministry in the lot. This breaks my heart, and reveals how far I’ve come on this path. A path I have been on for some time, and did not even know, hence the reason I lost interest in his preaching, and his books. I didn’t know this picture was going to take me there.

I must admit I am bias here, and I want to avoid hard words, because this ministry was once very precious to me, a long time ago. And I must point out, this is only my “opinion”, being offered up as possible truth, because we are living in such perilous times. The “body” is divided. It is so very divided. But the five wise virgins were not, and they were in unison, even “one” in their answer to the five foolish. This so breaks my heart. I am a “nobody”. Who am I to speak such things?

How much should I share, Lord? What needs to be said, and what does not?

It’s a beautiful “looking” sword, but it has no edge; it’s rather heavy, it’s mostly ornamental, as it was meant to be. Perhaps for safety’s sake. I understand. But this sword with no edge, I did not buy, because our money was too tight at the time. I forget what was being asked for it. My mother bought it and ended up giving it to me. Boy, this sure takes me back. I’ve always had a problem with the way many modern ministries go about getting their money. Money and ministry is a big issue with me.

I’ve been to his church a few times, even a week of Holy Spirit Explosion, back in the day, which came at a critical time in my life. I guess it was right for where I was then, and where this ministry was at that time. But afterwards, eventually, I got tired of all the money gimmicks. I don’t know how else to say it. And his preaching lost interest to me.

Before writing this article I went to his site to see if anything had changed in all these years? If it has, it was not obvious to me. The ministry says God is going to do some special things for the Covenant Partners, and it is somehow connected to the fact that it is the year 2017, a number ending in “7”, which means certain things, so join now. But in my humble opinion, perhaps just a minion, isn’t it actually the number 17? How weird is that?

This saddens my heart. This ministry lit a fire in me many years ago, a fire still burning today, and I made a journey to connect with it because of a spiritual linage going all the way back to a man of God named, Smith Wigglesworth. Now I see another sign, because I still read Smith Wigglesworth, but have not this ministry in a long time. What would Wigglesworth think of this ministry if he were here today? I do not know. But I love reading Wigglesworth still today, and I cannot say the same for the other. That’s all I can bring myself to say in this matter.

There is an awakening happening, and no one said it would be easy, or painless. Who are the churches who’s candle stick shall be removed? I fear we travel this road dangerously, at great peril to our soul, but how can we be anything less than honest? Is not dishonesty also a great threat to the soul? And so I find myself bad-talking a ministry I loved, a preacher I admired, a ministry I still miss? This too, judges me, for better or worse. Others must judge.

Each of us will have to decide for ourself what the Spirit of the Lord is saying in this day and hour. I remember in a very small early morning prayer meeting, with the Pastor of the church of 800, I spoke words I thought very strange to me at the time, and others spoke too, words nothing like mine, and mine were “completely” ignored. I thought it all very strange, and filed it away in the back of my mind.

The words were…“You have to say “no” to the woman! You have to say “no” to Eve.” There were a few more words I don’t exactly remember, but they basically emphasized the same point. I was one of the last to speak that day, and yet it was totally ignored, and likely not even remembered by anyone there, but I remember it clearly. There was something about the speaking of it, and something about the ignoring of it. Time judges all things.

What a strange picture I took today. Is it prophetic like words prayed in an old prayer, once upon a time? Now that Pastor is on leave, and in counseling? Time will tell, I guess. I’m just glad to be out of the Americanized Christian mess, or at least struggling to be so. I’m still working on what all this means, and this blog site is recording my journey. One day at a time, as it unfolds, and I report it as honestly as I know how. We will see where this teepee is going. I certainly did not expect this today. This picture takes me by surprise.

But there is an eagle taking wing also, and in February I hope to be publishing my book, “A Bird Called Flapless”.  Stay tuned for more!

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