I've Got A Peaceful, (un)Easy Feeling

Driving home from work today, I spot a massive cloud of smoke in the approximate vicinity of where our home would be. 

It was much more obvious in real life than it is in the pictures.

This is a good distance out from our house yet, but like I said, it was much more obvious to the naked eye.

A bit closer and definitely more pronounced!

I was getting a bit nervous here because our house is just to left (North) of this road!  On top of that, Caleb should have been home and did not return my calls prior to me leaving work.

Now we're roughly a half mile from home and I can relax.   It's clear that the smoke is WAY off in the distance and beyond our house.  I believe they are probably burning of the Neil Smith Nature Preserve some good many miles away.  Oh sure, if it was a house instead of prairie, it would have been a much darker smoke than this!

Fuzzbutt

Hound doggy the terrorist...   I joke as this dog fit the old phrase, "hell on wheels" as a puppy.  However, she is coming around to being a sweetie. 

And a great snuggler too!

Sweet.

Snuggly.

Sun bathing.

Taking care of her sick boy.

And finally, the terrorist at work!!

He Is Risen!!

Mark 15 New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Before Pilate

15 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.

² “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
³ The chief priests accused him of many things. ⁴ So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
⁵ But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
⁶ Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. ⁷ A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. ⁸ The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
⁹ “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, ¹⁰ knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. ¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
¹² “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
¹³ “Crucify him!” they shouted.
¹⁴ “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
¹⁵ Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

¹⁶ The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. ¹⁷ They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. ¹⁸ And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁹ Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. ²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

²¹ A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. ²² They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ²³ Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴ And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
²⁵ It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶ The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.
²⁷ They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. ^{[28] [a] 29} Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, ³⁰ come down from the cross and save yourself!” ³¹ In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! ³² Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus

³³ At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ³⁴ And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).^[b]
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
³⁶ Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
³⁷ With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
³⁸ The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹ And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,^[c] he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
⁴⁰ Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph,^[d] and Salome. ⁴¹ In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

The Burial of Jesus

⁴² It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. ⁴⁴ Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. ⁴⁵ When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶ So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. ⁴⁷ Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.

Footnotes:

1. Mark 15:28 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Luke 22:37.
2. Mark 15:34 Psalm 22:1
3. Mark 15:39 Some manuscripts saw that he died with such a cry

Mark 15:40 Greek Joses, a variant of Joseph; also in verse 47

Mark 16 New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Has Risen

16 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. ² Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb ³ and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

⁴ But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. ⁵ As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
⁶ “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
⁸ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.^[a]

---

[The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9–20.]

⁹ When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. ¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. ¹¹ When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.

¹² Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. ¹³ These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.
¹⁴ Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
¹⁹ After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. ²⁰ Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

Footnotes:

1. Mark 16:8 Some manuscripts have the following ending between verses 8 and 9, and one manuscript has it after verse 8 (omitting verses 9-20): Then they quickly reported all these instructions to those around Peter. After this, Jesus himself also sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Amen.

Random Happenings from the 'Hill - March 2018

A few loose ends have been meandering about so I thought I would tie them up.  We've found the end of Robby swimming and playing basketball as well as Caleb's volleyball and a Tae Kwon Do break before and a bit after his recent surgery.

One would think that would allow for a bunch more free time, and there is some, to be sure, but other things happen and it's all good.

Stuff keeps happening and it's way better than if it did not!

This is the lovely Robert James Schmitz at his 13th birthday dinner.  He picked the restaurant Malo for his dalliance and proceeded to order the calamari for an appetizer, a FULL order of the Tat'chos (to his right) and the Shrimp Diablo w/Pork for the remainder of dinner.  Luckily for us, he shared everything and we still had GREAT leftovers for a few lunches and snacks well after the fact.

At the campus with the boys.  Caleb is happy to be out of the house for the first time after his surgery!  He was pretty cautious, which I appreciate, and he eventually found a buddy from school and played some serious ping pong.

Robby was the catalyst for the Altoona Campus visit and was quite happy to get some basketball in.

Mr. Caleb as he and I were awaiting Robby getting out of the bathroom so that we could head off to the Bass Pro Shop to do some target shooting with the lazer guns.

Get Well Cards for Caleb

Caleb's Tae Kwon Do peeps made him some get well cards for after his surgery!  I thought it was pretty awesome!

Hawaii Vaca, Post 23 - Day 8 Part 4 - Shopping, Poipo Beach and More...

After our lovely dip in the former sugarcane plantation irrigation ditches and Wailua Falls, we went on some adventures that were short and somewhat sweet. 

We HAD to get Robby to a beach.  He would revolt and ultimately disassemble if he did not have some water to climb into.  We did some shopping and also hit up the Spouting Horn area... which you will see. 

It was kind of nice to get our "scheduled thing" of the day done early so we could just explore and do things that we thought looked interesting.  It was nice to walk around in some little shopping areas and also fun to (over) hear locals talking with each other and, well...   gossiping. 

Of note, I may have the order of the day messed up a bit as we technically hit the shops twice and frankly, I just don't remember.  

But I SWEAR that we did everything that we have pictures of!  😒  

First the shopping.  Caleb found a buddy and since we were all missing our hound dog, Juno, he got to pet the "dog".

The chickens were taking over Kauai and some locals have found ways to make money off the silly things since you can't eat them!

A mama chicken and her chicks outside of the shops that we're perusing.

So we get to Poipo Beach to lob Robby into the ocean and we see that there are some elephant seals sunning themselves on the beach alongside the humanoids!  It was pretty cool, but being the man I am, I kept a keen eye on them with the thought that if they started moving towards me, I would shove someone smaller than me towards them whilst I hightail it in the opposite direction!  Thankfully, it never came to that.

That little girl has the right idea!  Keep an eye on'em!

I forgot my water shoes and the rocks were not comfortable for a chubby little land-lubber like myself, so I walked back out to the parking lot to get them and guess what I found?  Yep, more chickens.

Sorry everybody, but there are no pictures of Dear ol' Dad at the beach in my speedo so that's about all the pictures that you'll get...

So back in the car we went, listening to the Robby complain that he did not have enough time in the water, but on our way to Spouting Horn.  Happy for us, there were some street (parking lot?) vendors and the boys found the same rings that they liked at Volcanoes National Park only here, they were only $15 dollars instead of $110 - $120!!

This is the lookout point at Spouting Horn.  Basically speaking, the waves come in and find their way thru the old lava flow and it makes a burst of water come up thru the rock.  It was neat, but you didn't have to stay too long.  Once you saw a good "spout", you've seen them all.

This is the shoreline from where the pictures above were taken.

This is the Hanapepe Valley alongside the Kaumualii Highway.  The pictures of this do NOT do it justice!  It is so incredibly beautiful and amazing that there is no way a camera would capture it properly.

Two lovely little varmints!

After arriving back at the Plantation Cottages, we made some dinner and then guess what?!?  Robby wanted to go swimming!   It's not like it was a bad thing.  You can see the ocean in the background of the pictures and watch the sunset at the same time a fella might be watching the kids and enjoying a local carbonated beverage.  That's Robby in the orange shorts and Caleb in the water.   That couple to the right of the boys stayed for a while and I told the boys to give them space and be polite.  When they got ready to leave, we started talking and I asked them where they were from. They replied, "Marshalltown, Iowa.".  "No kidding, we're from Des Moines, well, East of Des Moines... Pleasant Hill.", I said.  The lady added, "We're really from State Center, but nobody knows where that is so we just say Marshalltown".  I laughed and told them that we used to live in Collins, which, if you don't know Iowa, those two towns are about 10 miles apart.

The beach ball...   It was in the pool when we got there and we used it, but I made the boys leave it there when we left.  Of course, the next day when we went back, it was gone.  I went into town and bought another one for $2 and brought it back.  I made them leave that one there as it was our last day on the island and we'd be leaving the next day anyway.  You would have thought that I told Robby to leave his right arm there!!!

That pretty much brings the 8th day in the Hawaiian Islands to a close.

Caleb's Latest Iowa City Adventure

Early March, 2018, was to be a time of extensive nervousness for Caleb.  He's had surgery scheduled for about 8 or 9 months at this point and reckoning day was nearly upon him.

Finally, on the 7th, we woke him up at 4:45a.m. to get him ready for the drive to Iowa City and more specifically, the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinic.  

The boy was N.E.R.V.O.U.S!!!

He announced that fact 77 times on the 2 hour drive and said little else.  Once you get to the pre-op room, they have every nurse, anesthesiologist, doctor and janitor come into the room to introduce themselves to the patient, ask and answer questions, take notes and so on.

They all entered the room, introduced themselves and then asked Caleb how he was doing.  His answer, nearly every time was, "I'm nervous.".

It was all at once cute, funny and a little sad. 

This is the 12th floor of the new children's hospital that was a big construction hole that I wrote about in 2012.  This is the area that's been seen on the news and won awards for Greatest Moments in Sports 2018 where after the first quarter of the Iowa Hawkeye's football games, the entire crowd waves to the kiddos and their families who are watching the game from this vantage point in the hospital.  A pretty cool gesture for the less fortunate!

After a successful surgery, we waited to visit the boy in recovery and eventually got to see his bright, shiny face.  He was doing pretty good, and even still, your heart about falls out of your chest to see your kid in that condition.  I cannot imagine what some of the other parents are going thru with their kids and far more serious conditions.  We thank God for the overall health of our boys as it's certainly not something to be taken for granted.  Anyway, after recovery, we made our way to our room for the remainder of the day, overnight and morning.  This is the view from Caleb's window overlooking Southwest Iowa City.

The sweet boy once he started feeling much better.

This is Caleb the next morning after they had released him to go home.  We're still waiting on some paperwork stuff at this time, but he was happy and READY to go!

Before we could leave tho, the lad wanted to go back up to the 12th floor and look out the window again.  They also had some wicked cool artwork up there and he wanted to show me his favorites.

We made our way out to the parking ramp, which has four layers underground, and we find our truck looks like it snowed dirt overnight! 

When we got out on the highway heading home, the dirt in the bed of the truck was so thick that it was truly swirling like light snow does!