Summer Fun!

School is out and learning is IN!

I have had a couple of friends from my High School days announce their retirement from teaching in public schools. The way that it came across sounded as if they had been released from the Siberian Gulag. 
I applaud them for their careers and investment of their lives in young people that will never forget them.

I am sure that their voices were drowned out by the cheers of the millions of school children who ended their normal year school terms.

School's OUT!

For what?

It seemed like they were putting their brains into "sleep" mode and the next few weeks were going to be dreamy fun and games - without much fun and very few games for most.

Some kids are going to camps.

I spent a couple of summers teaching archery and canoeing at an Ohio Y camp for inner city youth.

At least I had weapons and a means of escape.

We even had a small flock of German exchange campers that thought that Mr. Johnson was somehow nearly wild and would skin and roast them if they misbehaved. Ya.

Look around the Triangle and you will see every sort of camp, club and activity for children. Parents don't get summer vacations and must work and most everybody has abandoned the forty acres and mule for 40 square feet of grass and a yappy lap dog.

Teachers will be filling out paperwork for a few days and the useless test scores will be used to prove nothing again and promises made at graduation of forever keeping in touch have already been broken.

So, what useful things can kids learn this summer? All of this has to be age and level-of-responsibility dependent. This may challenge some parents, including the grands.

1. Folding table napkins. This presumes a communal meal around a common table. There are directions for folding table napkins and how to eat together in the same room in books and online. Primitive societies find that eating together strengthens the family bond. I am not making that up!

2. Gathering up and counting all the family loose change for a night out together. If there is no loose change, work toward getting some by doing odd jobs here and there.

3. Sorting through the cabinets and recycling the Armageddon-ready supply of margarine and Cool-Whip tubs. Enough. Families can occupy the spaces that these things are jammed into.

4. Clear one closet and straighten one room per week. Keep a camera and journal handy to tell the stories about the stuff you are parting with - but record it and say, "Ta!"

I just learned that Goodwill Industries (GCF) does not take much that is child-related: no toys, car seats, etc.

5. Check the energy level of all of your batteries in your flashlights. This is Hurricane Season. Rechargeables are better than consumables and batteries are better than burning the house down with candles.

Store some water, Vienna sausage and crackers. Don't eat that nasty meat, but you are supposed to have it for some reason.

6. Think about recycling books. Gift them or take them to a used book store.

7. Any child that is 10 years old or older can learn to vacuum and dust. Smaller children can be outfitted in clothes made of Swiffers. If the dry gets wet, you have made money.

8. Walk together when you are at home. Grab the gang. You may spend more time getting everyone together than in the actual walking (like playing in the snow) but this is what kids remember.

9. If the kids watch TV, insist that they tell you what they have watched and learned. This may kill their interest in TV altogether. It WILL make them pay attention and they will be talking and you will be listening - a great exercise in communication. You might even ask, "How did you FEEL about ..."

The heavens will open if they TELL you.

10. Involve them in meal preparation and cleanup. In the future they will brag about everything they complain about today.

11. Choose someone to send letters to each week. Beyond texting and Emailing is the written word, letters and stamps. Write a letter and let everyone contribute.

12. Perform a complete file and system backup on all of your computers. If you are not doing this automatically, do it soon in a manual mode. Get an external HD (Tiger is selling a 1T HD for $40!) or a pile of DVDs and do it. While doing your work, set your computer for regular auto backups and then do manual backups when you close your programs.

A file saved is a pile of tears uncried.

13. Have a family clean house marathon with prizes. Points for Cheerios, cat food, M&Ms, potato chips, Cheetos, cat litter, rings, hair bows, toothpicks, false teeth and pregnancy tests. The winner gets to pick the restaurant and meal. Most gross object gets a prize too.

14. Go to a park where the American flag is saluted and lowered at the end of the day. This teaches respect, patriotism and national pride.

15. Do something fun and safe with WATER. A family splash, water fight, pistols, balloons, guns, clown noses, just have some wet fun.

16. Have PIZZA for breakfast and Breakfast for dinner. Kids cannot say parents are boring after that. Crazy maybe, but not boring.

17. Have everyone in the family dress up (fancy or crazy) and go to a fast food restaurant. Everyone will talk and laugh at and with you.

18. Go to a street concert. It is free and loud and you get to choose how close to get.

19. Trade beds for 1 night. It is hard to walk in another's mocassins when one wears a 3 and another wears a 13, but one night in another bed will give everyone perspective.

20. Learn to tie knots. My dad was a sailor and a steelworker. There was only one way to tie things and the wrong way got a flogging. To this day I have never lost anything out of any load I have piled and rigged. Thanks Dad dammit.

21. If ever a moment of tension or an argument begins to break out, join hands immediately. Have your fuss, but keep focused on your love, respect and the precious thing God has placed in your life - each other.

Summer down everyone! This is going to be fun. © tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com

A NEW AND SAD NUMBER

A cold and horrible number has been reached in the war effort in Afghanistan. 1,000 United States soldiers have been killed in the conflict.
The dollar cost is nothing compared to the cost of human life. Out of these 1,000 are the young and healthy, best and brightest that volunteered and were trained for their jobs.
The went into harm's way and paid with their lives.
Most will be missed by parents and friends. Some will have left wives and children. Some will be buried at services in their home town and some will make their way to other National Cemeteries and some even to Arlington, most to Section 60.
Add this to the toll in the Iraqi conflict and the results make one weak in the knees.
We want to believe that we are taking the fight to global terrorists and that our efforts are protecting our nation. Perhaps so.
However, we let the Afghans grow and harvest their poppies that create heroin and that heroin makes for trouble wherever it goes. Its profits fund the terrorists and the drug makes addicts in our nation weak.
We have just recognized Memorial Day and I hope that you gave some thought to the price that was paid by veterans of past and current wars.
As I write these words, Dwight D. Eisenhower had given the command to begin the invasion of Europe - D-Day. Throughout this Sunday there will probably be some replaying of WW2 movies and some honoring of those surviving veterans.
1,000 WW2 veterans are dying each day now - they are aging out and joining the ranks of those that fell in battle many years ago.
One hateful thing that happens at some funerals is carried on in the name of freedom of speech and religion by the "Westboro Baptist Church" of Topeka, Kansas. These insensitive, judgmental, mean-spirited people send members to military funerals to greet mourning families with hateful chants and cheers that their sons and daughters, husbands and wives have died.
"Who could be so heartless?" This "church" group has decided that the deaths of our soldiers are God's judgment on America for our sins.
Because of abortion, homosexuality and other things they find most unforgivable as practiced in our society they celebrate the death of our soldiers.
There is nothing right with this behavior. It is not Christian, for we are compelled to weep with those that weep.
It is not American for America is greater than personal prejudices.
They are a club or cult hiding behind the label of "church" and are probably taking tax benefits as do legitimate congregations.
I have an idea.
Let's offer tickets of families with the heroes in Section 60 in Arlington tickets to Topeka. Let's invite a Gay Right's rally to be held in Topeka and then discover whatever the other items on the list might be that is bothering this petty little bunch of nits and march and surround them. Surround them, drop to our knees and simply not move.
Pray that God would give them true wisdom or smite them dead.
If any property is available around the church, buy it up and put VFWs and Veteran's rehab centers around them. Aids Service Centers would also make good neighbors as would Planned Parenthood centers.
Maybe a new National Military Cemetery next door would be possible. That would cut down on their travel.
This "church" will not last long. It has an agenda of hate. The Supreme Court will soon hear a case against them and I hope the nuthatches on the bench have the sense to rule against these people - free speech does not give people the right to assault grieving families. I have used quotation marks around any reference to this group. They are not a church. Gospel is the redemptive story of Jesus Christ and Jesus would not be doing what they are doing. They are really and truly committing treason - giving aid and comfort to our enemy.
I would have had a hard time when I was a pastor and giving comfort to a family and hearing seeing such behavior.
That's why I had linebackers for deacons.
In any case, these are the people who will, at their passing hear the ultimate voice and the Voice will ask, "Did you not see me weeping ... and you comforted me not."
1,000 and counting. Every US paper ought to keep this increasing number on the front page of the main news. It ought to be on the main page of every online banner page.
We ought to keep it fresh in our hearts - lest we forget. © tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com

Abraham Lincoln's Passion For And Command Of Language

Entering any enterprise begins by learning its vocabulary.

What people mean when the words hit our ear may not be what they meant us to hear.

My favorite euphemist, Antonio Porchia, observed, "I know what I have said ... I do not know what you have heard."

Any of us that have taught, preached and counseled have seen blank looks and imagined that our great and sincere wisdom was simply passing by or though the ears and minds of those in front of us. (I was going to say "audience" - but that implies "hearing".)

Much of what I see and read is deep and affecting literature, both in books and cinema.

At the moment I have rejoined Job and his friends during his trial at the garbage heap. Obvious to any reader is that there was much talking and little listening. There was also little true empathy or sympathy being shared for this hurting man.

On Wednesday I had my 6 month checkup with the physician that has been following my progress in my 5 post-cancer years.

I am now in a good way and now only have to see him on an annual basis. This is good. The cancer seems to be gone and this is one "digital" procedure that I won't miss.

At the same time I had visited Raleigh's National Cemetery and Historic Oakwood Cemetery and the inscriptions and sights do drive one into a thoughty way.

I had read this fine biography of Lincoln by Benjamin Thomas. It covered the massive figure of Abraham Lincoln in a scholarly and deep light. It was not that the material was new - it was just presented on a different level.

I did know that President and Mrs. Lincoln spent many Washington nights away from the White House. There was no peace for him there. War news, petty requests and a bickering congress - all after his attention.

He and Mary retreated to a small home on the campus of the Soldiers' Hospital. He found peace among the veterans and shared passion for the recently wounded.

There, he could count the high cost of the war being waged.

He found, in this slight retreat, a means of gathering his thoughts and a way to deal with failing generals and his own rising unpopularity.

He was our first media-aware president and learned to use the camera to his advantage.

He even made friends with experts in the field of retouching to deal with his harsh looks.

Looking into his heart, he felt deeply for humanity and his hurting nation. He wrote and carefully edited his letters and speeches.

His masterworks are The Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural.

His shortened second term was costly for the whole nation - but the legacy of his heart, mind and pen is ours forever. © tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com

NOT SO HOT, NOT NOW ... ANYHOW

The Krispy Kreme donut shop did reopen on schedule Monday morning and by the time I got there on Wednesday, the aromas has taken their old spot and things were pretty much back to normal.

However, although the HOT NOW sign was at its neon brightest and the staff and coffee were warm – the promised KK's were warmed only by the little fluorescent light and the result was less than a HOT NOW WOW experience.

In the old days the sign would have gone off when the production line was shut down and that way we customers could lower our expectations before going into the shop or entering the drive-through.

It was interesting to see some Krispy Kreemie looking folk back in the shop and a few smiles and handshakes between people who had missed each over the past few weeks of reconstruction.

The new shop is offering whippy ice cream and some upscale downtownish coffees, but the standards are what people are expecting at every visit.

There was a poster announcing a new summer lemon iced donut and some lemonade. That will wait for a hotter day and a fresher batch of offerings than were perched on the counter.

So, for now, I am happy the shop is rebuilt, people are back to work and there is the chance for a sweet, hot, hard to handle but great to bite into glazed bit of heaven.

But not hot, not now, not today.

© tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com

Back on The Bike & In A Thoughty Mood

Back on the bike!
It has been many a turn of the planet around the sun, but I have Schwinned it up and gotten a bike for my body and a helmet for my head.
The bike is a real treasure. It is a sophisticated 21 speed mountain/street affair with a great right and left hand transmission and on- and off-road capabilities.
It is all aluminum and the welds are still showing - a touch of pride in workmanship. The frame is light and tough.
The gears are smooth and the seat, with a few adjustments, have bonded to my parts.
My helmet is solid and has a light that can flash - letting people know that my big head needs room to cruise on by.
The leg and back muscles were happy to press and stretch and the air felt grand striking my face. I didn't catch any gnats on my bright teeth, so that was a good outing.
There is a rack for my Coke bottle and a rack for a camera.
I just don't leave home without one.
My truck cameras vary from 1 to three. I may carry only the ancient half-frame treasure that is a great rangefinder product. I may carry the Canon EOS Elan IIe because it is tough and has all the features of most pro cameras. Then, I may carry the digital - but with more care than for the film cameras.
That camera is fabulous because all the Asahi, Nikon and Tamron lenses fit the body using adapters. I shoot in manual mode anyway, so that is no bother.
Bike travel will change my pictures because it will change my perspective.
Pace, angle, perspective and time - all will affect the way I see and feel things and that affects the photos.
As I do on most Memorial days I walked the grounds of Raleigh's National Cemetery and then Historic Oakwood Cemetery. As a pastor I was the officiant at burials for many veterans at the National Cemetery and always tried to do justice with my words and prayers to their sacrifice and memory.
One of the burials over which I officiated was a veteran of the Spanish American War. He was a grand Christian gentleman, aged 94 when he died, and 18 when he was serving in the US Navy. Two years after his death, we returned to the same spot for the internment of his wife. He and she are together in the same grave and their names are on opposite sides of the grave marker. They are together in heaven.
Historic Oakwood Cemetery is a Raleigh treasure that will pull, twist and turn your mind and emotions.
There is history there. The old and some new monuments are wonderfully hewn of beautiful stone. The trees in the park are living sentinels among the graves.
Sunlight breaking through them strikes the tops and faces of the markers and the lettering comes alive with names and dates and brief stories about the people buried beneath.
There are some elegant memorials and some graves that have been relocated from road or building construction. In Oakwood, the old and the new blend seamlessly.
On one little curve is another Johnson family from another era. The mother and father lived long, full lives. They had two children who died in infancy. They had a son who lived long enough to be killed at a vicious battle in New Guinea during WWII. How heavy the hearts of those parents must have been as they carried their son to join the two little ones already in that cold ground. I pray that they were people of faith and that they are reunited in Glory.
These things you don't see while just "passing by".
I'll bet many people in Oakwood have never walked the cemetery and most folk in the RTP area don't know we have a National Cemetery.
My grandfather used to tell me that I would get "Thoughty" at times. He understood me. He encouraged me to write things down that I was feeling and I did. It has helped me many times to help weigh through some thick thinking.
Maybe getting back on my bike will put fresh air on my face and whistle some through my brain.
Maybe I won't get run over by someone in a hurry to get to the newly reopened Krispy Kreme while the HOT NOW light is on.
Watch out for me. I'll be the guy on the aluminum bike wearing a silver helmet, light flashing, pumping with dandy looking legs (not in Spandex) and probably having a thoughty smile. © tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com