Reflections

I’m a proud American. Our founders created a wonderful nation. Although imperfect, they forged together a diverse group of people and created the experiment we call America. It’s quite amazing. In the continual process of creating this nation, we have had to make a number of course corrections. Today in a board meeting, I learned of a fascinating fact that hit home to me.   Consider this, in the historic town of Fredericksburg, Virginia, at the corner of Charles and William Street, there is a reminder of America’s tattered past. On this corner lies a stone that is said to be an auction block. This solid piece of rock is where  a person would be placed for observation in front of a bidding public.   Human beings were sold to other human beings for the purpose of work, the purpose of property and for the purpose of being a slave.   Sadly, in this era, it was not looked upon as the horror it is. In fact, it was considered a right. In 1857, Dred Scott who's case wen...

Some people hate flying. I'll admit, in my younger years, I was scared to death, tightly holding on to the arm rest, and having a racing heart at the slightest bump. Times have changed however. I have found the solitude at 30,000 feet is golden. My cell phone is off, people are quiet and the constant hummmmm of the engines become peaceful. Today, I took off from McCarran Airport in Nevada and just as we reached our cruising altitude, the captain said, "look out the window to the right and you'll see Mt. Zion National park as well as the Grand Canyon,  the Colorado River and Monument Valley." All of these are huge land masses, but at 30,000 you can see it great. I can't help but think it's the view God in heaven must see as he looks down from his kingdom. Today alone, we flew over Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Eight very distinctive and diverse eco-systems. Back to the flight; I learn a lot about busines...

 The Gift of a Rainbow Norman Maclean ended his beautiful novella with these words " The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters .” As I spent my second week in Montana this summer, something in me continued to hear the mysterious words "haunted by water". So it was in August of 2015, I took my son to the great waters of the Missouri and the bending rocky and conifer laden banks of the Blackfoot River where Maclean experienced a youth that inspired him to write "A River Runs Through It".  Being August, we knew that the days would heat up so we rose early to get on the river as the fish were longing for their rising tricos ( a common name given to Tricorythodes mayflies, which hatch most abundantly in August on trout rivers) and other winged dry flies. We met up with ...

Waking up to a sunrise beaming in the distance mountains of Jordan and reflecting off the Dead Sea, Elizabeth & I had a great nights rest. And get this.....Fox News!! Hungry early this morning, I literally ate 28 olives, 4 over easy eggs and water melon. Something told me that I would need a lot of energy on this windy day. Riding north along the Dead Sea, our first stop was Masada. My son Lewis told me the story of this battle to end between Romans and Jews. I honestly had very little knowledge about the story. I'll assume you are like I was and tell you about this epic story and magnificent place. Masada was the last bastion of Jewish fighters against the Roman army. The fall of this historic location signaled the destruction of the Kingdom of Judea. The story is a Jewish cultural icon and a symbol to its people of humanity's struggle for freedom and oppression. Built by Herod, who was the king of Judea, Masada is a mountain palatial fortification. The amazing fact ...