Blogtober #30 Short Story Part 2

     He noticed the missing sidewalk before anything, but eventually realized the park, houses, the stoplights, and in fact all the lights of his neighborhood were just...gone. Well, all the lights, that is, except for the fires he saw in the distance. Little campfires, seemingly unattended in the distance. Being 15 and out past dark wasn't out of the question for him, but these questions he had and the fact that he no longer could see his, or any other, house for miles was a little worrisome for him. So, he decided that since he couldn't find his house, he might as well search for some answers. He decided to proceed to the nearest campfire to see if he could get any answer about what had happened.

    He turned to walk towards the closest campfire, which was about what would normally be about 3 blocks, he noticed that without lights and houses, nothing looked right, or at least nothing looked like it used to, like he wasn't even in his hometown anymore. Even as the thought was entering his mind, he could hear movement off to the right of the campfire he was aiming at. The movement seemed like pounding earth. He was preparing to run away when his eye caught sight of something small and... fluffy? Like a cottonball with legs and a face. He trotted over to see this thing, this creature. Within a few steps, this creature was simply a sheep, well, a whole pen full of them, maybe a dozen or so. The sheep were not interested in him at all, though they might have been if they could see him. But they didn't. Their eyes, along with their hearts, seemed to be fixed ahead of them. He could see it too, torches bouncing in the distance, connected only to disembodied arms, because of the surrounding darkness.

    The arms actually were connected to men who were walking with some excitement away from the sheep pen and headed into a group of smaller buildings that could have been a town, not the boy's, but still a town. Maybe the group knew what was happening, or maybe they knew more than he did, and he was really hoping for answers. He started to sprint, then quickly changed his mind because he worried that he would frighten the group or that they might not be welcoming to some kid running towards them in the dark.

    He approached the small group to ask if they knew why everything got dark so quickly, or if they might know where all the houses, lights, park and others went. It was then that he noticed something else that was strange, as if there weren't enough strange things at this moment. These men were wearing ancient-looking robes and had a traditional shepherd's staff from the first century. He thought this had to be some sort of trick or possibly a group headed to a dress-up party in that town down the way. While this was running through his mind, and he was running up to them, they noticed him. They must have thought something about him was strange to them, but almost at once the look disappeared, and they started asking him questions before he could get to his own.

    One asked, "Please, you must know where the child is!" Oh, maybe this was a search party for a lost child... Just then another asked, "Are you here to tell us about more signs? More than a child in the feeding trough, wrapped in swaddling cloths. Which remind us all of the flatbread without the typical starter to make it rise or puff-up during the Passover meal, and that we heard about in temple. The first Passover, the dough was carried in kneading troughs, wrapped in cloths, and carried on shoulders."

    The boy just stared blankly. Are they talking about Jesus? Are they doing a reenactment of the first Christmas? It wasn't even near Christmas!  He was just about to ask them his first question when another of the men commented, "You must be here to tell us something else! Why else are you here?!" All the boy could do was realize he wasn't in his hometown anymore, but His, the very night He was born. Not sure how, not sure why, but he was here. So, he simply pointed toward the town, the little town, and they ran with all their might as they left the boy standing there, just wondering about all he saw and what it could possibly mean. 

    After the group had departed, the boy decided sitting was a better option. Less likely a chance of him passing out or vomiting, which he was sure would happen any moment now. As he started to sit, he thought if he were to lose any lunch, maybe being on his knees would be a better option. The moment his knees touched dirt, the brightest light he'd ever seen came into his field of vision. As he looked up to see where the light was coming from, he realized it was from this man standing directly in front of him. Too terrified to speak, the boy simply bowed his head, more like a duck-and-cover position.

    With a voice as sweet as sugar, but as powerful as the churning of many waterfalls, said simply, "No need to scream, nor fear!" And then said, "Rise." So he did, with some difficulty, while staring at a lighted fellow. His knees didn't know the meaning of stillness, as they attempted to support his full weight. The boy's eyes teared up, without really knowing the reason. The missing house, lights..hometown, weren't the real reasons, though they played a part. Something deeper within felt like he was seeing something that he felt he missed, but also felt he never knew, not really. It was a flavor of missing something or someone one has never known. 

Blogtober #29 Short Story part 1

     He was only 15 years old, not old enough to drive, but old enough to be alone. Like today, like most days. This particular day, he was alone in an open field near his house. While he lived in a very populated area of Southern California, there were still pockets of open fields untouched, or at least recently untouched, by human hands. He came out here often. He liked to watch the nature that went typically unnoticed. He liked the wind blowing his hair, the feeling of walking up a small hill that felt like a mountain. It was as if he accomplished something every time he reached the summit, even though it wouldn't count as much to anyone else. 

    This day, when he summited, he did what he did most days when he reached the summit, stopped to take a 360-degree look around him. He took in the sights, the sounds, the effort that was made to get him here. Standing on top of this dirt mound, surrounded by dry brush and hidden animal life all around, he felt lonely, but not disconnected. A type of connected solitude. That may have more to do with his relationship with God than his relationship to others. He liked being out here to listen to God in general and also what He was saying to him specifically. Today it seemed strangely quiet on that front. Though there was a sense that something was drawing him to the hill across the way. He'd been there before, even named the hill Dark Leg, after the tarantula he saw there the first time he visited. Again, today it felt different. 

    He made his way over to Dark Leg as he was instructed by his innerds. Each step made him draw a breath even deeper than the last. Was he excited, scared? He wasn't sure if it was either. He just felt strange. The sun, he noticed, was dipping under the previous hill, creating a halo around the cactus family gathered near the top, where he had just been. The last step brought him to the hillside. Here it was even more silent, with less animals around. With the last step something also seemed to change all around him. 

    All at once it seemed darker than it had been just the second before. In this moment, it was more than a fold of darkness that ran the height of the large mound, it was now all-encompassing. The darkness that seemed to come from nowhere straddled not only him but the hillside. He decided this was more than just a little strange and started back to his house at quite a brisk pace, not exactly a run, as he wouldn't be able to keep it up all the way back. There were still the two hills to get back to and then the long walk back to the house on the sidewalk path. 

    He was still confused by the sudden darkness, but as he crested the final hill, he was even more confused that the lights from the other houses and nearby park weren't lit up either. He really couldn't make out anything this far out in the darkness, but he knew the way up the sidewalk path that led back to his house. But when he arrived at where it should be, which usually landed him within 300 yards of his home, he saw nothing but a few crackling fires in the distance. No homes, no park, no people, no sidewalk path...just those few campfires in the distance. 

Blogtober #28 29 Years

 Today is the 29th anniversary of my older brother's death from the rare heart and lung disease that also took my younger brother and father. The same disease that my sister and I have. It's weird to think that my brother has been with the LORD longer than he was here on earth. He lived to be 24 years old, so 5 years beyond how long he lived. I will soon be over twice his age when he passed away. I miss my brother, as I'm sure his wife and daughter do as well! But just like with my dad, I missed things when he was alive, too. When I went to a school in Colorado, I didn't know that when I said goodbye to my brother and gave him a hug, it would be the last hug I'd give him this side of eternity. When he told me he was sick over the phone and wasn't sure about the outcome, I didn't really honor his fear in that moment, not that it matters 29 years later, but in that moment I could have been there for him better! I also think of my own mortality and what, if anything, I leave behind, besides my wife and child, of course (and this blog haha). When my youngest brother died in '83 at the age of 4, I think my whole family started to think this way. That there are things we do every day that matter and there are things that don't, sometimes it has been difficult to tell which is which. I have had difficulties being a good friend through the years because of all this. I have struggled with having and maintaining friendships; sometimes I hang on too long to a friend who doesn't want to be, or I don't give enough attention to those who do. At the core of it though, I want to have good friends, and I want to be a good friend. I'm not saying that those who are my friends aren't good, by the way, no, they are awesome, and I'm thankful to all of them! I guess I'm thinking about the idea of leaving a legacy. My hope is that I'm instilling in my son the ability to see things with an eternal perspective because this life is ultimately fleeting. Not without the idea of doing what you can with while you can, but also knowing that money or fame or accolades aren't what makes your time valuable. It's like with gems and precious metals, it's the rarity that makes them valuable. It is a delicate balance between thinking that the few moments that we exist, in the context of eternity, is barely a blip, the bible calls it a mist: one sec here and the next we are gone. In the 29 years that my brother has been gone, there has been so much life, but even within that life and life since his passing, it's like the blink of an eye. 

Blogtober #27 Ducks Game

 We went to a Ducks game this evening. It was a fun game to watch, even if I don't know much about the game. There was a free giveaway of Ducks hats. We were all hoping for a hatrick on the ice. Because the Ducks scored 5 goals, everyone got a free Chicken Sandwhich from Chick-Fil-A! That part I do understand! It was a lot of fun to see Karla in her happy place, despite the loss in overtime. It was also great seeing an old friend and his wife there! Here's a picture of us at the game with our hats!

Blogtober #26 The Visual Cooking Lab with Karla

 Today Karla and I finished uploading the first 4 videos for her YouTube Channel, The Visual Cooking Lab With Karla, along with an intro and promo. I'm hoping that it reaches the right audience! I'm looking forward to all the other videos that will be posted over the next several weeks. Tomorrow the intro and first promo will be available to see on YouTube (
www.YouTube.com/@TheVisualCookingLabWithKarla). Please check it out and let us know what you think!!

Blogtober #25 The 5th, well 25th

 Today we visited Karla's dad in the hospital because he fell and possibly sprained his leg. He will have to get physical therapy to recover, something he's not excited about doing. At church today the sermon was about honoring your parents and I think Karla did a great job at this! At one point her dad looked like he was trying to stay awake for our benefit, but also seemed really tired. So, we pretended to fall asleep for about 3 seconds, but that was all he needed, permission to sleep. So, he did. We stayed for a while to keep him company, but about 30-45 minutes later we thought we'd say goodbye and let him rest more. He was able to awake from his rest to say goodbye, but also seemed able to go back to sleep easily enough. 

Blogtober #24 Evolving Narrative

Tell Me Your Story is evolving from just a friendship that needs realignment to realizing the person who changed or moved was most likely me. When writing the song I was imagining a restoring of a friendship because someone decided to step away, but through the evolving of this song it's turned into me having a conversation with God and wondering where He's been, when it was I who moved, not Him! As the song is evolving so are the ideas of the instrumentation, and I'm enjoying this process of change to express the song, hopefully in a deeper, more compelling way. I guess we will see when it's finished.