Category: Uncategorized Page 5 of 6

My Thoughts on The Chosen TV Series

On June 28, 2021

This week I am taking a side trip with my blog. Instead of focusing on Bailey or my family or my journey to become an author, I want to talk about an amazing television series, The Chosen. ( Click here: The Chosen TV Series (angelstudios.com)) The series created by Dallas Jenkins focuses on the life of Jesus as seen through the eyes of those who knew him. It is said to be the largest crowdfunded media project of all time, and currently has two full seasons available for streaming with additional seasons planned.

I am not a film or media critic by any means, nor am I a biblical scholar, but I have been a Christian for most of my life and have read through the Bible several times. My personal belief is the scriptures were written as a tool for each of us to understand God’s will for mankind. This means we don’t have to have a degree in theology or require a professional theologian’s interpretation to understand the Bible. At various times in my life, I have taught Sunday School and led different church ministries. So from this background, I want to offer my endorsement of The Chosen television series.

Several months ago my wife and I watched season one. We typically would watch it on Sunday evening and go through two to four episodes at a time. We were very disappointed when the channel we were using did not have the second season available, though it was complete. We learned from a friend that she was able to watch the second season so I did a search on my Roku device to see if it was available. It was and I added the channel so we could watch season two which we started last night with the first three episodes. I find the program emotionally moving in its representation of Jesus and those around him. It is, of course, a work of fiction providing fictional back stories to the characters from the gospels. What I like most about these back stories it they present the characters in a truly believable and appropriate manner. There is resentment among the disciples especially against Matthew, the tax collector, whom some of the Jewish disciples view as a traitor. Their expectations of the Messiah don’t agree with the truth of His mission and they don’t always understand His willingness to accept and associate with Samaritans or even Pharisees. Even small things, like the women followers having to fix the meals for the rest of the disciples, lend to the believability of the program. It also seems scripturally accurate in the events and words of Jesus, and a familiarity with the gospels will add to the enjoyment of the program. I highly recommend the series to every Christian, especially those who, like me, struggle with much of the mainstream media’s politically correct representation of Christian values. If you click on the link above to find The Chosen, there will be a tab to Pay It Forward, where you can contribute to the crowd funding effort for future seasons.

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Father’s Day Fish Stories

By Charles Jones

On June 22, 2021

In Uncategorized

In honor of Father’s Day, I thought I would write something about my father like I did on Memorial Day. My brother and I were lucky enough to have a father who was always there and took an interest in us. Though I don’t remember him every saying, “I love you.” He showed his love through his actions. He took us fishing and camping, coached our little league baseball team, and was the leader of our Cub Scout troop. He worked hard to support our family, and I think one of the best gifts he gave me is a strong work ethic. Unfortunately, my father died of cancer in 1992 just before his sixty-second birthday. One of the hardest days I have ever experienced was when he sat with me and my brother and asked us to take care of my mom when he was gone. (I am trying to write this with tears in my eyes.) But, I do not want to focus on the sadness of losing him. I want to focus on the happiness of spending time with my father.

My parents were from Missouri and almost every year we would load up the car and make the thirteen-hour trip from Colorado to Missouri. We would often spend the evening at my aunt and uncle’s house with others from my dad’s side of the family, and they would all reminisce with a lot of fish stories. Even though they told the same stories every year, I never got tired of hearing them. As I got older and spent more time fishing with my dad, and uncle when we were in Missouri, I experienced my own fish stories. Some of these are told occasionally at my own family’s gatherings. One of my favorites occurred when my father and I were fishing a small lake on the eastern plains of Colorado with a couple of his buddies. I don’t even remember how many fish we caught that day. The lake was shallow and my dad waded out in front of the rock face of the earthen dam to get his line into deeper water. When he was done there he turned and started wading back to the bank but stopped because he saw a snake coiled up in the rocks where he planned to get out. He could not tell if the coiled snake was a rattlesnake or a bull snake so he poked the snake with the end of his eight-foot fishing rod. The snake turned out to be a bull snake which can be very cantankerous. Dad’s poking infuriated the snake that came out of the rock swimming after my dad. It was hilarious for us watching my dad trying to wade backward in the thigh-deep water thrashing at the pursuing snake. Of course, the snake was only around three feet from him and he had an eight-foot-long fishing pole so he didn’t have much luck actually striking the snake, but did do a good job of keeping it angry. He was eventually able to wade back to the bank where the unfortunate bull snake met his demise.

Another favorite, though not funny, was April Fool’s Day in 1967. My dad and I went fishing one of our favorite sections on the Platte River, Eleven Mile Canyon. After I got old enough to drive we would often ‘tag team’ with one of us getting out to fish and the other driving the truck down to the next pull out. When the one that was let out got to the truck, he would drive it down to the next spot, and we would go down the length of the canyon. On this particular day, I was let out and was fishing down. When I got near where I thought the truck would be parked I looked up and saw a lot of cars parked there with people standing on the side of the road. I climbed up to the road and as I walked down around a curve in the road I heard a yell and looked across the river to see my dad holding a huge trout. It was an eleven pound six pounce brown trout that my dad had mounted. It still hangs on my home office wall along with the smaller rainbow trout I caught a couple years later. These are only a couple of the myriad of stories but I hope they give you a sense of joy I got fishing with my dad.

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Bailey Almost Dies

By doesbuck

On June 14, 2021

In Uncategorized

When Bailey was almost two years old, she got very sick. She was vomiting and not eating or drinking. She became so lethargic we thought she was dying so we took her to an emergency vet clinic since it was Saturday and our regular vet was closed. The vet examined her and could not find any obvious causes either by physically feeling her abdomen or by looking at her x-ray images. They gave her fluids intravenously and sent her home with some probiotics. On the following Monday, we took her to our regular vet because she was getting worse not eating or drinking. The vet again examined her physically and took X-rays without finding any obvious causes. He wanted to keep her for observation with plans to do an exploratory surgery in a couple of days. Early that afternoon, the vet called to get approval for immediate surgery. He had cleared part of his schedule and thought she was sick enough it would be best to operate sooner rather than later. After the surgery, we were told that Bailey had intussusception in her intestine. The condition is when one section of the intestine telescopes into another section of the intestine causing a blockage. He cut out the affected portion of her intestine and reconnected the remaining sections. The bad portion of the intestine already showed signs of dying and the vet believed if he had waited the planned two days, Bailey would have died. (For more information on intussusception in dogs go to Intussusception In Dogs: Symptoms, Causes, & Treatments – DogTime)

Bailey recovered from her surgery and is a happy healthy dog. But it was not that easy for her. For the next eighteen months or so she would get sick and vomit not eating or drinking. Of course, after our experiences, we took her back to the vet right away. We were in the vet’s office about every six weeks initially. They treated her with anti-nausea medication and we watched her closely. The spells lasted a couple of days, then she would recover. The time between bouts gradually increased and it has been over a year since we last took her to see the vet except for regularly scheduled examinations and shots. Having a vet who is familiar with your dog is very important since they get to know the dog and its behaviors as well as the owner’s concerns.

If you enjoy my blog, please subscribe and comment. Next week I will take a break from Bailey and write something in honor of Father’s Day. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Bailey the Watchdog – German Shepherd/Cattle Dog Mix

By doesbuck

On June 7, 2021

In Uncategorized

I think I have mentioned in previous blogs, that our rescue dog, Bailey, is a German Shepherd – Australian Cattle Dog mix. As a mixed breed, she exhibits characteristics from both, though many of their characteristics are similar. Both breeds tend to be loyal, intelligent, watchful, and territorial to strangers. Bailey exhibits all of these characteristics. Physically she resembles the German Shepherd coloring except for the white blaze down her nose. At 52 pounds she is larger than most cattle dogs and smaller than the GSD. She sheds twice a year, April to October and November to March. (All of the time.) I have never seen a dog shed so much. She also has what I call Teflon fur, it never seems to get dirty or stay dirty unlike some of our previous dogs.

She has a natural herding instinct and will herd smaller dogs, though I have not had a herding instinct test performed. I take her to a local park several times per week, and she has made friends with some of the dogs we have met. Like cattle dogs, she is wary of strangers whether they are dogs or people, especially if they approach too fast. One of her friends is a small mixed breed dog named Millie. Millie looks like she is part Chihuahua and part Dachshund. They have known each other since they were young and will run and play if they are off their leashes. Millie is usually walked by her ‘mother’, but occasionally by her ‘father’. The first time I saw Millie with her ‘father’, they started running and Bailey began herding Millie. Eventually, Millie lay down and submitted. Bailey stood over Millie and put her mouth over Millie’s head. Millie is small enough, her whole head fits in Bailey’s mouth. Millie’s ‘father’ had never met us and I thought, “Oh no! She is going to hurt Millie.” But she did not, she let Millie up and they played some more. Bailey, like cattle dogs who were bred to use their mouths on the wild cattle of Australia, is a mouthy dog, though she has learned excellent bite control.

Bailey watching something out the front window.

Bailey is constantly on the alert. Her two favorite places in the house during the day are on the loveseat looking out the front window, or on the chair in the back room looking out the window for birds and squirrels in the back yard. When she watches out the front window, she will bark at anyone, especially if they have a dog, that walks by the house. I am trying to train her not to bark so much, but it may be a losing battle because of her breeding and her age. Cattle dogs are quick to sound the alarm and can be stubborn, and both cattle dogs and GSDs are protective. In this regard, Bailey is an excellent watchdog. Unfortunately, the postman is a prime target for her barking and protective instincts. I asked the trainer one day about training this out of her and he said it would be difficult. It seems the immediate feedback, of the postman coming to the house and leaving immediately after she barks, reinforces her behavior. She is doing her job by chasing him/her away. Lately, if I am in the room and can talk to her, I can reduce the amount and intensity of her barking whether it is the postman or someone else walking in front of the house, which is progress.

If you enjoy reading about Bailey, please subscribe and comment. I am still trying to figure out how everything works to ensure there are notifications for new posts. My website mentions Christian Science Fiction. I am currently writing my first novel and do not have enough material for writing a blog about that, though I will tell of my writing journey on occasion. Writing the blog is one way to help me improve my writing, and Bailey seems to be the most popular topic. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Memorial Day 2021

By doesbuck

On May 31, 2021

In Uncategorized

Today is Memorial Day, May 31, 2021. It is a day set aside to honor those who gave their lives defending our freedom. I am incredibly grateful to every veteran that served and died as well as all of those who served and survived. I am reminded of the excellent book The Greatest Generation, by Tom Brokaw. Most of my generation can relate to the people in the book because they were our fathers. My father enlisted in the Navy at seventeen. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the war ended before his service began. He was a radar operator on an aircraft carrier, the USS Boxer. He served between WWII and the Korean conflict. He left the Navy to marry my mother before the ship sailed to Korea.

Like many of those profiled in the book, he rarely spoke about his service to his kids. He told of being on a reconnaissance flight in a two-man plane and looking down at the carrier from the plane before landing. He said it was like trying to land on a postage stamp; the carrier was so small in the vast ocean. He also had a tattoo of an eagle on his bicep. This is not unusual for sailors at the time or for anyone today, but my father discouraged his boys from getting any. He said he knew it would be a mistake to go on liberty with one of his shipmates, but he did and ended up with a tattoo.

My father was an honest, hardworking man who did the best he could to support his family financially and emotionally. He coached little league baseball, helped with cub scouts, and took us fishing and camping. Though my dad did not give his life or serve in the military during wartime, his enlistment showed his willingness to die for our freedoms. That is why I think of him on this Memorial Day, and I know there are countless others whose willingness is the key to our freedom, even if they did not serve during wartime.

Wiley Coyote

By doesbuck

On May 24, 2021

In Uncategorized

One thing I looked forward to doing when I retired was going fishing in the middle of the week. However, in the seven weeks since I retired, I have only gone fishing once. I do not know if this says more about my priorities or about how busy I am. It is probably both. My priority when I retired was to write, hoping to finish my novel. I am making progress, but I have also been extremely busy with other things. One of the other things was having cataract surgery. This consumed two to three weeks with the surgery and time for my vision to clear. Then it was time to put in the garden. I had to replace two of my raised beds and hoped to add a third. I replaced the two beds, but I did not have enough dirt to fill the third, though I placed it. I finished planting last week. Now that those things are complete, I should have time to go fishing. But I promised another Bailey story.

After Bailey broke my wife’s leg, I walked her, and took her to obedience classes. Bailey usually gets at least two walks each day, morning, and afternoon. While I worked from home, this was easy to do much like my current routine. I would take her to a park a few blocks from the house where we would walk around it. When I went back to work, I needed to walk her before I left the house at 6:30 in the morning. This meant I was walking her at around 5:30 AM. During the summer this is not an issue because it is light out. But later in the year it is dark.

The park is next to a floodway that runs North of our house. To the East, the floodway runs by a large open space, Austin Bluffs. It runs down and empties into Monument creek. This is a highway for wildlife like deer and coyotes, and occasionally a bear or moose.

The lower parking lot is next to the floodway. There is a city owned swimming pool next to the lot. Above the pool is a large open field with a baseball field on one end and playground on the other. Up a hill from the field, are tennis courts and another parking lot. One fall morning I was walking Bailey at the park just before sunrise. It was just light enough to see large objects. Bailey was off leash and we were crossing the field. Suddenly, Bailey took off running, and I saw a coyote chasing her. I called Bailey, but she did not stop or come. I tried to run after them, but they were too fast. All I thought was, I have lost our dog. If the coyote did not get her, I would never find her in the dark. I continued to call for her as I walked back to the parking lot, but she did not respond. When I got to the lot, Bailey was at the car and the coyote was not in sight. Though thrilled to see me, she could hardly wait to get in the car and go home. Since then, we do not walk in that park early in the mornings. We go to a park with more lights, or we walk around the neighborhood.

It surprises me when I think about how smart Bailey was to go to the car and wait for me. She is highly intelligent. She is also very fast and just like the Roadrunner, she avoided the Wiley Coyote. If you enjoy stories about Bailey, leave a comment and sign up to receive updates on new posts.

Like an Old Man In a High School English Class

By Charles Jones

On May 17, 2021

In Uncategorized

Before I retired, several people at work said I would miss working and become bored. In my mind, I agreed with them. I told them I had a plan, that I was writing a book and would spend my time writing. It has been six weeks since I retired, and I honestly have not missed going to work. I have a daily routine that wrote about in a previous blog.

Writing new material is often easier than editing existing material. The advice I received from various books and articles said do not worry about mistakes when I write, so I correct a lot of mistakes in the editing process. Plus, I am learning about things I did not know. I feel like a 70-year-old man in a high school AP English class trying to catch up. I did not know about “sticky” sentences or glue words. It makes me wonder if I can really write.

However, I have had this book idea in my mind for over six years. I do not know if God has given me the idea, but I feel like it is His will for me to continue writing. I do not expect to make money doing it. In a recent workshop I attended virtually, the leader said that I would have to spend over $5000.00 to self-publish my book and that I should not expect sales to cover the cost. Regardless, I intend to press on with the writing despite the financial obstacles and my age. After all, Abram was 75 years old when God called him to leave his family and journey to Canaan. (Gen. 12:1-5) If his faith allowed him to live as a stranger in a strange land, my faith should help me endure learning to write. Like Bailey had to learn to trust me through the training process, I have to trust process to learn to write.

I apologize if you wanted more about Bailey. The next blog will have another Bailey story. Please comment and sign up to receive notifications when new blogs are posted. Thank you.

Bailey Becomes My Dog

By doesbuck

On May 10, 2021

In Uncategorized

I would like to thank everyone who commented on my last post “Bring Home Bailey.” As a rescue dog, she was a challenge when we first brought her home. Especially, as I noted, house training her. But also in other interactions. She was afraid of everything. Initially, when we wanted to go to the park, we carried her to the car. She wouldn’t go out the door, and when she finally did, she wouldn’t jump into or out of the car. We spent a lot of time and money training her. She needed to behave on the leash so my wife to take her on walks. A few months after we brought her home that plan suffered a major setback. I got a call from my wife while I was at work. She told me she had fallen in the park and couldn’t walk. When I asked if we needed to call an ambulance, she said no that I needed to come to get her. So, I left work, went to the park, and took her and Bailey home. We called our orthopedic surgeon for an appointment. The x-ray showed she had a tibial plateau fracture. (The flat portion at the top of the tibia on the knee joint had a vertical fracture.) It didn’t require surgery, but she could not put any weight on her leg for weeks to allow it to heal. During their walk at the park, they met a man with another dog. When she tried to introduce Bailey to the other dog, Bailey shied hitting the outside of her knee forcing it in, and her femur down onto the tibial plateau causing the fracture. It turns out pets are a major cause of injuries for older adults.

As a result of my wife’s injury, I worked from home and took care of her, and Bailey became my dog. I took for walks at least twice a day and training classes. Though she is still skittish especially with dogs or people that approach too quickly, she is much better. She has learned to trust me and if she is uncomfortable, will often lean against me for reassurance. She is by far the most affectionate dog we have owned. Today my wife walks her on occasion, though it took a while for her to overcome her fear of falling.

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Bringing Home Bailey

By doesbuck

On May 4, 2021

In Uncategorized

Writing a blog turns out to be a lot of work. My original thought was to post every week to ten days, but I have actually posted about every two to four weeks. Everything gets in the way. In the last post, I talked about getting into a routine. Unfortunately, writing the blog is not yet part of that routine. I think I need to focus on a more specific topic. The original topic being my writing journey. I am progressing in that journey but I am not generating much interest in the blog. Even my family shows little interest, and they are the only ones who currently receive notifications of new posts. If you are reading this, I need help developing a focus until I actually become a published author. The comments I received indicate the two most popular posts are “Old Dogs” and the “Adventure Begins”. When I asked my wife what would be a good topic for this blog, she said to write about Bailey.

Bailey after we first brought her home in April 2017.

She is a German Shepherd and Australian Cattle Dog mix and looks like a miniature German Shepherd. We got her shortly after we put down our previous dog, Lizzie. We were out and my wife said, “Let’s go to Petco and see if they have any puppies.” I reluctantly agreed. I didn’t want a puppy, I wanted a two-year-old dog that was already housebroken and possibly trained. When we arrived at Petco, they had this litter of puppies. They told us the dogs were feral when they found them. My wife wanted a female, and when they showed Bailey to us, she fell in love. As soon as she held Bambi (as she was called at that time), I knew we were going to get her. We took her for a short walk and sat at a picnic table behind the store. We talked about the forgone decision that we would take her home. ‘Bambi’ was a very frightened puppy. When we walked her behind Petco, all she wanted was to get back to her littermates. When we brought her home with us, she was so frightened she would not go outside by herself. This made her house training a long and patience-building ordeal. Even after four years, she still wants one of us to go outside with her.

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Getting into a Routine

By doesbuck

On April 20, 2021

In Uncategorized

The initial two weeks of retirement felt like a vacation. Although, I started to develop a routine for my day. I set my alarm for 5:45 AM each morning. (One hour later than I did while I was working.) I get up, make coffee, and read the paper. At around 7:00 AM, I take Bailey for a walk. After the walk, I sit down at the computer and work on my book until lunch, (11:00 – 11:30 AM). During that time I will either write new sections or edit existing sections. When writing I have a goal of at least 500 words per day. When editing, I try to do one chapter per day. After lunch, I plan on working on my office remodel, but the last two weeks were the UEFA Champions League and Europa League quarter-finals, which I watched.

During this time I submitted a 2500 word section from one of the edited chapters to the local ACFW (www.acfwcosprings.com) critique group. It was a real learning experience. My first mistake was the initial submission. I typically write in yWriter and export it to a Word document. I thought I submitted a Word .docx file, but actually submitted a text file (.rtf). When I converted it to the .docx file, I lost some of my formattings. The three people who critiqued my submission all noticed. Regardless, the feedback I got from them on the other issues was good. I had too many punctuation errors, and I still need to work on showing not telling. I am working on punctuation and other grammar errors during my editing sessions.

I downloaded the Grammarly (www.grammarly.com) free edition and also use the included Word Editor. Both give slightly different suggestions. One of the people who critiqued my submission also suggested ProWritingAid. Unfortunately, the free version limits you to 500 words, but I found a 40% off offer and purchased the full version of ProWritingAid (www.prowritingad.com) which I really like. I did not submit anything this week but will submit more in the future. One of the requirements for the group is for you to provide as many critiques, to other members, as the number of critiques you receive. I received three critiques, so I had to critique submissions from three other members. This was my first attempt at critiquing. I did receive positive feedback from them, but it is a learning process.

I also attended the monthly Zoom meeting of the local ACFW. The topic “How Not to Be Toast When Moving from Writing to Publishing” covered a lot of information on the time and money required to actually get a book published after it is completed. There is a lot of information floating around on self-publishing, but not much on the costs associated with it. It seems the Pareto Principle for writers is 80% of the money from selling books is earned by 20% of the authors. There are not many J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Beverly Lewis, or George R.R. Martins selling books. Regardless, as writers, we dream of making money selling our stories.

If you liked this post, please leave a comment on the contact page and subscribe to get notifications of future posts. By the way, I used Grammarly Free to edit this blog post.