Church, a really large snake, holiday weekend

Mama and I got to go to church last night. The sermon seemed to be just for us. It was the direction and encouragement we need right now. I am sure others felt the same, but it was nice to be there in person. We have been using a cell phone to stream the services and until last night that has worked well enough. But last night the cell phone dropped the app and shut down the broadcast. Pastor was every near the end of the sermon when it happened, but it demonstrated the need to get a better system in place. The app was opened and restarted fairly quickly, but the interruption was painfully obvious. Pastor did his best to finish once the broadcast service was restarted, but you could tell it really fragmented his train of thought. Now, if you look, there are two recordings on our website – unless our foundling technicians deleted the one cut off by the interruption. So many people commented on the page about losing the service that it was impressive to me. Maybe that added to the difficulty of getting the signal started again. Maybe not. It was all good. We average about 400 hits per broadcast from as far away as Africa and India. That shows the reach of such a simple electronic app.

Immediately after church, Mama made the calf’s bottle as I changed. Sadie was ready to eat. She downed the entire bottle in a couple minutes as I tried to swat at mosquitoes. Feeding her, closing up the chicken coop and turning off the lights in the well house – where we have the chicks – is part of a normal night routine. It takes me about twenty minutes to get all that done so I was surprised when I went back inside to find Mama still in her church clothes. She was waiting on Ernie and Raylinda to come. Raylinda was picking up something from Mama and Mama did not want to be in her PJ’s when they arrived. They were taking longer than she had expected and when they did arrive, they pulled part of the way into the drive and stopped. When Mama went out to greet them, she saw why.

There was a snake that stretched almost all the way across our driveway. It was about seven feet long. Impressive. So, Mama called me out to look. When we interrupted the snake from getting where it was going, it was not happy. Since it was at a disadvantage being on the ground, it climbed up the fence and started slithering along the top rail of the fence. Showoff. From that position it made several threatening moves toward me and Ernie, but it was basically defenseless. On Mama’s insistence, I went to the shop and got a piece of 2x4 to kill the snake. I did not kill it but I knocked it out for a few minutes. Long enough to let all of us disperse. I may have injured it sufficiently that it will die from those wounds, but it is hard to know with snakes. They are very resilient. I did notice that it was very thin. Not fleshed out. It has probably just come out of hibernation only days ago and was hunting its first meal in months. It is always a shame to me to have to kill them. Snaked do us a great, albeit, unseen favor controlling the rabbit and rat population. When they get tot the chicken coop, unfortunately, they have to go.

Tomorrow is a holiday. Praise the Lord! Our observance of Good Friday. This will be an unusual Easter nationwide. Mama and I will get to attend the service but most of our congregants will attend electronically. Hopefully, we will be able to use the video camera we have at the sound booth in the back of the church for future broadcasts. A stronger broadband service was installed in the church yesterday afternoon which will allow us to live stream services for the foreseeable future. Our shut-in community is thrilled about the prospect. Pastor is okay with the idea, but he has resisted it for some time. Now it is happening. I think overall, it is a good thing. We still have a few technical items to work out, but by Sunday, we ought to be able to begin a live stream that will continue every service.

Now we just need the right people in the sound booth to handle the more technically advanced needs of live streaming.

Goat trimming, unexpected doctor’s call, a great catch, Mama’s mower mishap

Foremost on the agenda yesterday was getting one of our young bucks to the vet to have them trim back a horn that was curving downwards into the skull. This goat, along with six others was dis-budded several months ago, but the horns still showed some growth on three of those six. It does not look horrible but, it is disappointing to see any growth. On this one, Mama has been worried for some time about one of the little horns curving sharply back toward the top of his head. The vet was able to schedule the appointment. I was home to catch the goat and put him in a cage in the back of the truck. Mama was free to make the appointment. The vet was able to easily remove the growth. She even showed Mama what we could do in the future to remedy the situation. So, it all worked out. Getting those appointments scheduled right now is a bit tricky.

I had a surprise video call from my doctor yesterday. She had been given the results of my recent cardiology visits and wanted to talk with me about those findings. She also wanted to put me on a cholesterol drug immediately. I am not in favor of taking the medication, but I will follow protocol for a few months until we can get another blood test to determine if my cholesterol really is high. One test is not conclusive to me. The doctor agreed. She is being a bit more aggressive in my treatment since there is a clear indication that I had a heart attack already. I was not surprised by the news. I can remember the time it happened. I do not remember the calendar date, but it was a Sunday morning. We were getting ready for church. The pain, the sweating, the anxiety, the nausea were classic symptoms, but it passed in about fifteen minutes. I changed my shirt and t-shirt and finished getting dressed. No real issues since then – until now. Once the societal panic over this virus has calmed, I will be scheduled for an angiogram to determine if there are any blockages that need to be dealt with. It is a wake up call for me to start eating more healthy choices and lose weight.

Pastor and I went fishing yesterday afternoon for about three hours. We caught about thirty bass and crappie. I took a fish basket to put the fish in as we caught them. When we filled that up, Pastor started using the one he had brought. When we filled his up, we got out a stringer and began to fill that up. We set out three juglines but did not catch anything on them. It is probably just as well. As pastor set out the out the juglines, I caught five fish. I caught three more before he started hooking some bass. By the end of the three-hour tour, we had both caught to our heart’s content. we found another place I can access from the bank that is populated heavily with crappie. I may check it out Friday morning since we are off that day. Pastor took all the fish home with him to fillet out. Both our families will have enough for several fish dinners over the next week or two. It is a good thing fish are on my heart-healthy list.

When we got back and sowed the boat, I ate a sandwich as Mama described her mower mishap. She was mowing in the nanny goat paddock when she drove over a cable hidden in the deep grass. The cable has been there for the entire time we have owned the farm, but we never paid much attention to it. I believe I had at one time wound it up and placed it on a knot on the tree, but obviously, it had fallen down and been dragged out by the goats. The mower was sitting where she had shut it down.

Since I did not want to work on the mower in that tall grass, I took a hacksaw and cut the cable away from the mower so we could move it to the shop. Once that was done, I got the car ramps and Mama drove the mower onto the ramps. That put it high enough for me to position myself under the deck to look at the tangle of cable around the blades. I actually like those kinds of puzzles and it had not gotten would too tightly. It was all unwound in about ten minutes. There was no visible damage to the mower since Mama had reacted quickly to the event. She finished up mowing the paddock and even mowed a bit in the boy’s paddock, parking the mower just at dark.

It was a good evening all around.

Plumley’s request, Honduras needs met, A simple poem

Mama and I had a very busy day yesterday. Nothing urgent, just one thing after another. It was a little frustrating, but at the same time it was kind of nice. Nice to be doing. Nice to be needed. Nice to be busy. I am encouraged by the help Mama is getting on her Color Street business. She has been carefully guided through several issues which all have been quickly resolved. When her sponsor does not know how to resolve an issue, she knows who to call. Last night they tracked down an issue for Mama that turned out to be a simple typing error in a website address. Mama did her little “happy dance”. Of course, it is only an upper body happy dance, but the resolution of the problem earned both a Yeah and Woo Hoo. It was a big deal.

Somewhere during the day Bro Plumley called Mama with a request. He left a message on Mama’s phone that he needed her to do something for him. It was not until Mama and I were out getting some supplies to finish cleaning the coop that she called him back. We did not get started on the coop cleaning until about 5 pm and found that we had no lime to put down on the floor of the coop. Tractor Supply was closing early so we ran to another feed store in our area and bought some specially processed straw Mama has used in the past to put down instead. Anyway, Mama called Plumley on the way. He took a minute to state what he needed, but it made me and Mama smile. “Would you bring be some fried potatoes and onions? I haven’t had any in a long time and I just got to thinking about that.” Of course, we will. He is being observed more closely right now because he took a short walk yesterday and got in trouble for leaving the nursing home. Everyone is more than slightly paranoid about the current new virus. This too shall pass, in fact, we will look back on this some time from now and ask ourselves, “What were we thinking?” Mama set the delivery date for the special breakfast item for Thursday morning.

Cori let us know last night that several churches in the Stated have sent extra monies to the missionary families on her team. Enough money that they have been able to supply meals to over 500 families in their church and the areas where they typically run their busses. Somewhere they were able to buy some staples in sufficient quantity that many have been provided for. They are calling it their COVID-19 Ministry.

Their team leader, Matt, has a special pass that allows him to move about the city while the rest of the city is under a very strict quarantine. Grocery stores are closed to the public, but Matt has connections through the church that give him access to food goods that he can purchase to be given away. He also called several church families who he know would have extra to share and they each quickly gave of what they had to be distributed to the families they wanted to help but could find no way to do so. It is impossible to know what the Lord will do with this simple ministry, but when a family has no food available to them, the supply that Matt and Nate were able to give is miraculous in its timing. Life sustaining. Praise the Lord!

My company has made several HR adjustments during this unusual time and I wanted to say thank you to our management team. The Lord gave me a poem and my manager sent it out to those individuals.

He Knows my Needs

When times are hard

And hope seems lost in knowing.

He knows my needs.

When life is hard

And I struggle to keep going.

He knows my needs.

When neighbors fear

And I their fear am showing

He knows my needs.

His blessings coming now.

I know I’ll make it through.

He knows my needs.

Some of those needs

God met for me through you.

He knows my needs.

Your willing heart

Is something that He knew.

He knows my needs.

You gave to me

Far more than I was due.

Because He knows my needs.

Thank you for all you have done for me.

Timothy O Kline March 2020



Feel free to use it if you can as a thank you to those who have helped you.

God is good!

Dreary weekend, actual church

Mama and I had planned to drive to Lawton Saturday, but we backed out given all the unknowns caused by the state and local quarantines. We need to go as soon as it is feasible to do so, but yesterday did not seem like the right time. Mama and I could not be certain that we could meet with our realtor. He ahs been somewhat evasive. Nor could we be certain that we would find places to get gas and go to the bathroom. We probably could but you never know. Nor are we certain that we are allowed to travel interstate without express permission. Weird times. The United States is looking more like Europe than the United States. Having made that decision, we accepted Trace’s request to keep the kids while he and Krystal spent the day together shopping. It is the only full day they have had together in three weeks. The boys are not a problem and Victoria and Mama love having a baby in the house.

It was raining off and on all day Saturday. Temperatures never got out of the forties. The winds blew hard throughout the entire day. When I worked in the shop, I was dressed for winter with all the doors closed. It reminded me that I need to take the time and seal the openings over the roll up doors on the north and south end of the shop. Even the chickens did not venture too far out of the shelter of the coop. They were hunkered down inside the building until late in the afternoon. When we opened them up to forage outside of the coop yard, they flooded out in spite of the drizzle. We have adopted the practice of leaving them in the coop yard until late in the afternoon. Partly to keep them out of the garden and partly to keep them closer to the coop so we can steer them away from the coyotes. The longer they are out, the farther they roam from the coop. Making them easy prey for the scavengers. Even still they go too far afield to satisfy Mama.  When the Lord gives us the money, we will install a better fence on the south and west sides of our property. That will help us control the predators a little better that the rickety barbed wire fence we now have in place.

Mama has chicks in the garage. Two batches that are about a week apart and the slightly older batch is at the point that the tote we have them in is not adequate to house them. So, I set up the large cage we typically use in our progression in the swell house for her to house the chicks until we move them to the Banty house and then to the coop. Integrating them into the coop is always a traumatic experience for Mama. Per her request, I installed two roosts per side in the large cage. That will help the little ones find space to sleep without squatting on the floor of the cage. Mama does not like that arrangement. That transition will happen today. At least with the first set of chicks. I have installed the cage in the coop in times past, but Mama was not thrilled about that idea this time around.

It is interesting to see the difference in the breeds of chickens. The first set of chicks is wild and flighty. Mama cannot fool with them without them squawking and flailing around. The other group is so calm, they will approach Mama and hop into her hand. They seem to love the attention. We will see how they grow, but it is an interesting dynamic to see in such little ones. The wild ones will eventually calm down somewhat. They always do, but for now, you can expect a panic every time you approach them.

Pastor called me Saturday to ask if I would be willing to lead a couple congregational songs for each service. Of course. I was praying he would ask. So, yesterday, Mama and I actually got to go to church for both services. There were only a few people there. Less than ten. Mostly the “film” crew, the pastor, me and Mama, and a couple men there to cheer on the pastor. It was wonderful. We had all gone to the church Friday night so Victoria could update her new computer and so Mama could get a party on the books electronically. We needed a faster internet connection than we can get at the farm. I told Mama it was nice to be in church even though we were not there for services. So, when the pastor called, I was ready to agree to his request. We will continue with that arrangement until we are able to have regular services. Hopefully soon.

This week will be another worked largely from home. I think most everyone at this company is ready to get back to work in the office. I know I am.

No fishing, Mama goes live, a good dunking

I thought it was strange that as the day drew on that the Pastor did not contact me about fishing. It was a dreary day yesterday. Windy with patches of rain followed by times of bright sun. It may not have been the best day to go fishing, but it was not much worse than a couple other times we went out. About 3 pm I texted the Pastor. No response. Then I called. No answer. So, when I got off work, I fed for Mama and got some things together so I could at least retrieve the juglines I had set out. I had located the juglines on my lunch hour, and was fairly certain that three of the six I put our were empty, but I did not want to leave them out in case there was a fish on them and it died solely because of my carelessness.

I fed for Mama because at 4 pm – when I got off – she was going live on Facebook for the first time ever. She had spent the day dreading the moment. She wrote out a script for the occasion. She debated not doing it at all. But finally, she resolved to go through with it. Showered, did her makeup, dressed to the nines – earrings and all – and got set up to be seen online. She chose a spot at the dining room table with the coffee bar in the background. We could not find a good way for station her phone to have her hands free for the presentation. Nothing came to mind, so she had to hold her phone throughout the short presentation. About ten people joined her live stream. The whole idea behind the live stream was to draw a winner for the contest Mama had put on and to get word out about her business. It worked well. Now she has a bunch of new contacts and her first online party is now on the books. Mama is getting comfortable with the online portions of her business. She is not proficient yet, but that is sure to come.

Back to my excursion to the lake. There was so much wind when I was headed out, that I abandoned any thought of using the boat. Since I do not have a battery to use for the trolling motor, I would have had to use the small oars I inherited with the inflatable boats. That did not seem feasible. So, I took one fishing rod and climbed down the steep bank on the west side of the lake to get near the water where one of the juglines was resting. I was able to draw it in but just as I got the line in my hands the rock I was keeling on collapsed from under me and I tumbled into the lake. It was a very short fall into relatively shallow water. I had my life jacket on incase that very thing happened. So, I was in no danger at all. But I was soaked through instantly.

It took some energy to scramble up the steep bank. Once at the top, I sat down and drained the water out of my gum boots. There was one more jugline I thought I had access to so I sloshed over to that line and tried to retrieve it, but it must be caught on a branch or rock because it would not budge. Using the pole and hook I had with me, I snagged the jug several times without budging it. When I finally hooked it firmly enough to give it a really good tub, the line on my pole broke. I had to leave that one as well. I will get the pastor’s help retrieving the lines the next time we go out. At this point I am fairly certain I did not catch anything. However, there is still one jugline that was taken by something large enough to pull it underwater. That jug has not resurfaced.

Getting home was problematic because I did not want to completely soak the seat of the truck. I used a cold bag to keep me off the seat as I drove the truck back to the house. Even still, the driver’s seat got pretty wet on the sides. Hopefully, it will dry out before Mama needs to drive it. Victoria’s car is still with Roger, so the truck is our only transportation at the moment since Victoria is using the Sequoia to get too and from work. It will all work out eventually.

By the way, the Pastor called me about 6 pm. He had forgotten completely about fishing and had been tasked with getting a large bale of hay to his son’s home. About a 90-minute drive from here. We have not scheduled a new date to get back out on the lake…but I am sure we will soon.

Quiet day, jug lines, services with Jake, needs

Yesterday was a very quiet day while I worked from home. I do not feel like I got a lot done, but overall, my group seems to be churning out the work on pace as if we were in the office. Our management is duly impressed by those outcomes. So am I. Sadly, it appears that an online version of the course I teach a couple hundred times per year was written and approved without a single note of input from me. I was disappointed to hear that, but that is how things have been done since I started at this company. It all works out well enough, because I will not be there much longer. But it would have been nice to be involved in the construction of the course that will eventually replace my position. I could at least have kept it from becoming too sterile. Which is what happens when management has too much input or control of the development.

Mama and Victoria spent a couple hours with Grandma at lunchtime yesterday. I stayed home of course. After that lunch meeting, Mama and Victoria took Victoria’s car to Roger so he can diagnose the issue she is having starting the car. Most times it starts fine, but sometimes it will start and them die. It has always successfully started and run eventually, but it dies often enough to cause us concern. Hence, Roger’s involvement. Hopefully, whatever repair is required will be simple and therefore will not be too expensive. God is good.

After feeding and getting straw for the calf yesterday evening, I took my six juglines and baited them with the skeletons left from filleting the fish I caught Monday evening. To set them out I stood on the bluff overlooking the quarry lake and slung the baited line as far out as I could into the deep water below that bluff. Of the six, I got very successful casts with three. Two of the six were barely successful, but the lines and bait are in the water. With the last one, as I slung it out, I heard the bait and weight attached to the end come loose and splash into the water far from the naked line. I have had trouble securing the lines to the jugs and hooks because of the line I was told to use. It doesn’t knot tightly enough sometimes. I did not catch that one before I cast it. That will probably result in the death of at least one catfish because I am sure the bait will be eaten by at least one catfish. To retrieve the jugs, I am relying on pastor and I going fishing tonight; using the boat to retrieve the juglines. Hopefully, at least a couple of those will have catfish on them. One jugline was moving just after I threw it in. After a few minutes, I was dragged underwater. If it resurfaces, we will definitely have something in it. Perhaps something big.

Last Sunday afternoon, Mama contacted Jake and let him know about the online services our pastor was doing during the social distancing rules we are following. Last night, Jake let Mama know that he was online for the preaching. Mama was very excited. We are trying to keep Jake as close to us possible – spiritually speaking. He has no contact that we know of with anyone in his area that could help him spiritually. That is a matter of urgent prayer on our part.

Another matter of urgent prayer. I got a note from Hope Children’s Home this morning letting everyone in contact know that the home in Honduras is struggling to feed the 28 children and staff they have in the home there. Since the workers are not allowed to travel outside of the city to buy in quality at their Sam’s equivalent, Pricemart, they are having trouble finding enough food for the home through regular grocery stores. The supply of almost everything is very limited. Not only food items but paper goods, cleaning supplies, and everyday toiletries like toothpaste, soap, shampoo and deodorant. I feel badly that I can see no way to participate in the need…except to pray. Fervently. Mama said this morning that she feels a little guilty about having so much while others are in such need. I can definitely testify that God has been good to us. Unfortunately, there are very few ways we can effectively share what we have with those at the home in Honduras. Please help us pray for that situation.

Nate has been able to go out to the grocery store recently. He was able to restock, at least in part, their very bare pantry. Like the home, they rely on buying in quantity from Pricemart to make their grocery items and paper purchases. Buying in smaller quantities and at a higher price, will be a strain on their budget. Cori has elected to stay at home throughout this health crisis. A wise move on her part based on her history with respiratory issues.

There is much to pray about, but we have a very big, very good Heavenly Father.

Availability, testing, cancelled trip, repairs

Mama and I made an early morning run to Sam’s yesterday. Very early. They opened the doors to senior citizens at 7 am. Mama and I were there when they opened. It was not really a mad house, but the line to get toilet paper and paper towels queued up quickly. Mama did not like the type of toilet tissue they were selling so we passed on that, but we did get a package of paper towels. I have to admit being impressed with the efficiency of the staff to get the packages of toilet paper distributed. Once they started to distribute the items, the line disappeared almost as quickly as it had formed. Mama and I were out of the store in about forty-five minutes. Some of the items we were looking for were purchased at Walmart since Sam’s was still out of those items.

Since we were so close, we stopped at Chick-fil-a to get breakfast. I typically do not get breakfast at Chick-fil-a so I am not as familiar with the menu offerings as Mama is, so when we drove up – there is no going inside because of the social distancing restrictions – I could not see the breakfast menu. Turns out that did not matter. When I asked about breakfast items, the server inside told us that the only breakfast item available was the chicken minis. That worked for Mama. The server also told us that all the all lunch items were currently available. That worked for me. I got a standard chicken sandwich. Mama and I never imagined them being out of food to prepare, but they were. That made the economic contraction we are in quickly personal. I was back in the office by 8:15.

I worked in the office yesterday until about 1 pm. I got a lot done in those few hours. Just a couple hours on the internet allows me to advance the projects I am working on in huge steps. Now I have the resources to continue from home from the remainder of the week. How long we will keep this up should be announced today or Friday, but it looks like it will continue through the end of April. It is not all bad, but I can see my role changing dramatically in the very near future if we limit our instructor led training. Maybe they will record me delivering the course and use that as a platform for online instruction. Time will tell.

I had a nuclear stress test at 1:15 pm. I did not know how long the test would last but my hope was to be done by 4 pm. That did not happen. I was initially called in to the exam room and an IV was started, medicine injected, and I was dismissed until I was called for. With the social distancing rules being observed, I was asked to wait in the car. So, I did. I was then called back into the office – about an hour later – to have some images taken of my heart prior to the test. Dismissed for a second time, I went back out to the car. On my third call, another hour later, I was put on the treadmill. I walked/ran for about ten minutes and was not able to achieve the heart rate needed to complete the test. I told the tech I had to stop, and he took me off the treadmill and gave me the medicines required to make the blood vessels in my heart dilate. That was an interesting sensation. Another twenty-minute wait, more images, set up a follow up appointment and I was finally dismissed. It was 5 :15 pm.

I had unwisely scheduled a fishing trip with the pastor for yesterday afternoon. Obviously I had to call and cancel. When I realized the test was going to take much longer than expected, I called to cancel a little after 3 pm. We rescheduled for Thursday. The beautiful weather should hold through then. Tonight, I will set out some jug lines to see if we can get some catfish. So far, we have caught multiple other kinds of fish. Large representatives of each f those species. I am curious to see how large the catfish are in the quarry lake. We will only catch them on jug lines since we do not fish more than a couple hours per visit to the lake. It is not a function of allotting time to fish. we limit the time because, so far, by the time we have been fishing a couple hours we have a very full stringer of fish that need to be filleted. That takes time as well.

In preparation for the anticipated trip yesterday I made a couple repairs to the aluminum boat the pastor has lent me Monday evening. I attached a sturdy board to the back of the boat, so we do not have to worry about hanging the trolling motor on the stern of the boat. It is far more than what was needed, but it was a scrap I had on hand that will serve the purpose for the remainder of the life of the boat. Plus, if I can find a small outboard for the boat, the new reinforced stern will certainly hold that. I also fixed a tear in the side of the boat. The tear was not an issue as far as serviceability. Getting cut on the tear was more of a concern to me. So, I closed it up and smoothed it out. I am happy with the repairs. Tomorrow, I will show them to the pastor.

Hopefully, we will have another very successful evening on the lake. At least, we know where to start this time.