A freedom we take for granted

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Despite the best efforts of modern-day “liberals” (or “progressives” or whatever other branding they apply to themselves), we will always be a country that was formed on Christian principles. The quote above is from our second President, written after he signed the Declaration of Independence. It’s amazing to go through old writings of our founding fathers and find that that yes, without a doubt, this is a nation with a Christian heritage. It doesn’t matter how hard people try to deny it.

That’s why our country is so blessed. That’s why we have such hope, such energy, and such prosperity. It was made evident to me in the presentations given by a bunch of the young ladies in our church who joined a missionary organization on a trip to Poland a couple of weeks ago.

This man (above) became a Christian while in a concentration camp at Auschwitz. He survived and prayed for sixty years that someone would come to his home city in Poland, bearing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This year, they came. During their week or so stay, over a hundred thousand copies of John & Romans were handed out, and people were invited to a meeting at the end of the week.

The missionaries, and participants from around the US who had joined them, didn’t know what kind of a response they’d get. Decades of communism kills the spirit of the people; they aren’t like we are here. Tough soil to plow, I guess. But when the night came for the meeting, the auditorium they’d rented was filled to capacity! When the attendees had the opportunity to get a free Bible at the end of the meeting, it was nearly chaos. They were so excited, and so accustomed to having to press the lines to get anything, that they rushed the tables. Everyone got their Bible.

The picture above brings tears to my eyes every time. Despite his age, this man is holding his first Bible. He had never had a Bible before, and he’s kissing the one he just got. Shouldn’t God’s word be that precious to all of us? We’ve got it so good here in America that we lose sight of what we have.

I’ve got my study Bible, one in my truck, one in the trunk of my motorcycle…and I don’t read them nearly enough. Jesus said, “to whom much is given, much is required.” I haven’t lived up to that lately. What it takes is to see what it’s like to have lived one’s entire life without that gift. To see this man’s joy in finally getting a Bible, in his language at that, is very convicting.

We live in a country where we don’t get arrested for having a Bible. If we don’t have the five measly bucks to get one at Wal-Mart, someone will give you one. They’re in the dresser drawers at hotels. Maybe that’s why we don’t spend much time with our nose in that book. Take a few seconds to put yourself in the shoes of these people, who were desperate at the thought that they might not get a Bible that night. Then thank God that you live in a country that was founded on the faith in God, who provides all the many freedoms and blessings our country enjoys today.

Mandan’s annual July 4th / Rodeo Days parade

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Today was the annual parade in Mandan, and our cameras (both of them) were there. This is a huge event for Mandan — its biggest — and I bet they wish that they could have people streaming over from Bismarck in these numbers all the time!

The crowd was huge. I did the usual “show up 20 mins early and sit on the east end” routine. It’s the fastest way in and out of town. Simply park over by Bonanza, walk a little ways, and catch the parade participants as they make the turn onto Main Street.

Of course, we started with the honor guard. It was great to see that a lot of the crowd actually had an idea about flag ettiquette; removing hats, that sort of thing. I always think of a picture I saw from a parade one time…the color guard was going past with the flags, and the ONLY one standing at attention was an old man in a wheelchair, who still managed to stand for his country’s flag. That’s deplorable…we should all display a sense of honor, duty, and patriotism when those colors fly.

Naturally, all the kids were lined up for the candy. All the spectators were so enthusiastic that the police had to keep reminding them to stand back. This was especially imporant around the corner; a lot of the equipment has difficulty turning in a confined space like that.

Of course, there were lots of people handing out candy as well. Many just threw the candy down and let the kids dive for it. This girl preferred the one-on-one approach.

Here are the heroes of the parade. Whenever a group of soldiers would go by, the crowd clapped, cheered, yelled “Thank you!” and waved their appreciation. There was a group in the parade marching to honor our fallen soldiers as well.

These are the unsung heroes of any parade; the people who follow the horses. It’s not a pretty job, but someone has to do it. Things could get pretty ugly (and fragrant) if these guys weren’t volunteering to swing a shovel!

There was a martial arts display as well. I used to take part in this one, it’s a blast. Throwing someone around on a trailer like that is a blast…one can really piledrive an adversary into the mat and the springs on the trailer take up all the impact!

Some of the BNSF guys were able to stop for a little bit and take in the parade as well. This train had a lot of loaded coal cars on it and there were apparently some cars being removed on the other end, so these guys got to see part of the parade.

Redefining the meaning of the term “Service Charge” — and its limits — for over 150 years!

This was a great time and the weather was beautiful. Although it was in the low 90s today, it didn’t feel that way. There were some neat floats, but for the most part it seemed it was vehicles with advertising stuck on them. I’d hoped for more homemade floats. There were a bunch, though; for instance, Leingang Siding & Windows had one in the shape of a big cake celebrating Morton County’s 125th. Savvy skate & snow shop had a neat display too, and an army of skaters performing along the way. Earl Pomeroy was there, hoping nobody remembered that he voted NO on a bill in the US House declaring “that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror, the struggle to protect freedom from the terrorist adversary.” Governor Hoeven, on the other hand, was walking with North Dakota soldiers. You’re not fooling anyone, Earl.

Time went pretty quickly…it’s not that hard to spend a couple hours out in the sun when there’s such a sense of community in the air. One thing you can count on with Mandan’s annual parade, thousands of people will show up in unity and celebrate our nation. It sure was a great day to be an American!

Got a flag hangup

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I was going to take a nice shot of the American flag flying proudly in front of the North Dakota state capitol. But I was unable to do so, as there was a bit of a debacle at the top of the flagpole:

I walked into the capitol building (they’re open until 4pm on Sundays, if you didn’t know) and told the tour guide. She called security, and one of their guys came out to try to straighten things out. Grabbing the lanyard and trying to tease the flag into coming unstuck proved futile. Then I grabbed my telephoto lens and looked more closely.

It was already obvious that the flag was hung up on the brass eagle atop the flag pole. Unfortunately, closer inspection of this photo showed that our worst fear had come true: the wing tip of the eagle had poked a tiny hole in the flag, making it almost impossible to get free without a crane. So we were forced to give up.

Hopefully, since there will be a skeleton maintenance crew on duty Monday, they’ll be able to get the flag situation repaired for Independence Day on Tuesday.

First Annual “The Campout”

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Saturday night was a great night of music, hangin’ out, campin’ out, the works. My musician buddy Luke Graner organized the first annual “The Campout” at a location that remains undisclosed here. So what was the campout?

Basically it was a big ol’ open tent with a bunch of amps and stuff set up, with local musicians jumping in and out of the mix. Stacy and I didn’t camp because we had church early in the morning, but we did get to hang out for plenty of incredible, experimental music.

In addition to Luke and his friend Neal Peterson, both formerly of Curious Yello, members of local bands Fat Dad, Gypsy Foot, and Public Market rotated in and out of the jam, which was pretty much non-stop. It was great listening to them sit and brainstorm and gel. Many people brought blankets to hang out and listen, setting tents up in the periphery.

I particularly liked when the sax and trumpet kicked in, and there was one point where the bass line was driving a mellow groove with the keyboard dancing around in there. Each session was a journey, not necessarily one with a destination. Thanks, Luke! Even without bring our camping gear, we had a great time.

You can find out more about these bands at cozymusic.net.

City of Bismarck resumes annual program to maim motorcyclists

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…who knows, maybe this year they’ll kill one!

I’ve got a really big chip on my shoulder, and my arms, and my legs, and my helmet, and a few other places about this issue. The issue is called “chip seal,” and it’s an extreme hazard to motorcyclists.

I took photos today to illustrate my story, which transpired last night. I was out for a leisurely cruise on the big bike when I came around the corner at the south end of Sertoma park…

Note the absence of any signs indicating that trouble might be lurking around the bend. Note how far from the actual corner the streetlight is placed. A motorcyclist would have no apparent need to think that anything is amiss in this corner…would they?

Here’s what greeted me at the exit of the corner. I will be the first to admit that the photo is underwhelming. It’s just not possible to convey a patch of gravel like this, especially not in a picture 500 pixels wide. But put a motorcycle on it, especially one that is leaned over coming out of a corner, and it’s like throwing a guy on a sea of marbles and giving him a good shove. Imagine how much fun that can be…especially with all those curbs around!

I was seriously injured in an accident due to a similar situation: chip seal gravel spread several inches thick on the crest of a hill, in a corner, where there was no illumination from streetlights. I was the first rider in a group, the only one without a passenger. I hit the gravel leaned over into the corner and almost saved it, but the bike went out from under me. I won’t give you a description of my injuries, because they’re pretty nasty. I’ve got photos and horrible scars to prove it. If I had not been wearing my helmet I would certainly have died…I slid straight toward a curb, hitting it hard enough to take a chip out of the concrete. I was able to push away from the bike at the last instant, thankfully. The gravel rolled up the sleeve of my riding jacket, allowing lots of damage to my arm. It also sliced right through my pants, and that was even worse. The rest I’ll leave up to the imagination. Thankfully we had a doctor, and RN, and a surgical technician there that night…I think God was really taking care of us that evening.

So, along comes the City of Bismarck, spreading gravel in dark corners with no signage. They own thousands of dollars worth of big orange signs saying “FRESH OIL – LOOSE ROCK” but only put them up in well lit areas around downtown. They won’t put them where real danger exists. A couple of years ago I saw a crew chip-sealing Fox Island Road, including the tight unlit corner at the end. I saw the foreman sitting in his truck, rolled up on my motorcycle, and asked if they were going to be putting signs up at either end. I explained that the gravel is dangerous to motorcyclists who can’t see it that easily in the dark. He gave me some smart-ass answer and just stared at me with a stupid grin. These are the people entrusted with our safety, and I guess the signs stay on the truck.

This is an annual thing, obviously. Those of us with a lot of motorcycling experience know that mid-June means surprises are even more likely around every corner in town. How many new riders know that? They stand to learn a very important, possibly painful, lesson that motorcyclists must always be twice as vigilant as your average cage (I’m sorry, car) driver out there.

With all the rich folks riding Harley-Davidsons™ these days, it’d be interesting to see some high-priced attorney lay down his Hog on some unmarked gravel, then heal up just enough to sue the living pants off the city. I’m not a fan of liability litigation, but I’ve been making noise on this matter for over ten years. Nobody’s listening. So if you’re a motorcyclist and are reading this, be warned: the City of Bismarck, in its negligence and carelessness, is setting the traps for you. Pay extra attention when you’re riding out there.

Yellow is the perfect color for this magnet

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An elderly die-hard Democrat in my neighborhood is sporting this yellow magnet on his car among his Dorgan, Pomeroy, and ND Peace Coalition stickers. It’s no wonder to see this sort of thing from the ND Peace Coalition; after all, they’re pretty misguided.

Their website indicates that they believe such moral gems as “…one person’s terrorist being another person’s freedom fighter” or “Terrorism ranges from crackpots or right-wing conspirators such as a mailbox pipe bomber to Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, to anthrax postal terrorists to hijackers crashing airplanes into skyscrapers, all the way to actions by governments who employ large numbers of troops and weapons.”

Of course, you won’t find any mention of ecoterrorists anywhere in there, only right-wing crackpots. For instance, when I worked for ski patrol at a ski resort in the Rocky Mountains, we had to inspect our ski lift towers for sabotage from people like this. Loggers had to inspect trees for large nails, put there to make saw blades explode in the faces of loggers trying to support their families, before cutting. But those aren’t crackpots, I guess. Would the peacenik clowns trying to sabotage a ND missile silo last week fall into that category? Of course not…they’re part of the agenda.

Think of the cowardly silliness in this magnet. Protect our troops by bringing them home? What kind of creampuffs do these idiots think our soldiers are? We aren’t sending the Girl Scouts overseas…we’re sending some of the most courageous Americans on our behalf.

I’ll use Alex, a young man from our church, as an example. He’s in basic training right now. He enlisted because he wants to serve and protect his country and its citizens. When he announced his decision, he didn’t say “but I sure hope they keep me somewhere out of danger.” None of the men and women of the Armed Forces did…they volunteer to face danger of all kinds so we don’t have to. I think they’d be offended and insulted if you told them we were bringing them back to US soil so they wouldn’t be in danger.

I’m proud of people like Alex who, while our country faces casualties in war overseas, volunteers because he wants to help and loves our country enough to risk his life for it. I don’t see any of these peaceniks risking their lives for anything…they just sit back and enjoy the freedoms that people with real courage earn for them. Deranged, yes…but it’s their right.

Pelicans and Potholes

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As I drove through the “Prairie Pothole” region east of Bismarck, I noticed that the water levels in a lot of these tiny lakes are VERY low. We need rain badly. I also saw a lot of these big white fellas. They were apparently in a pretty good mood, too, because normally I haven’t been able to get near them with my camera. I’ve tried at a number of wildlife refuge areas around North Dakota.

Pelicans are neat looking birds, and large ones too. These guys were hanging out in a lake just east of Medina. Monday was a pretty nice day, sunny and lightly breezy…perfect for swimming and flying, I guess. While the birds kept a reasonably safe distance, they weren’t as shy or skittish as the ones I’ve encountered in the past. Still, I pushed my telephoto lens to the limit to get these shots of them.

Something so big can still look pretty graceful, can’t it? Notice how his feet are tucked in behind him…he’s got retractable landing gear! My little lovebird, Scooter, does the same thing when he flies. It’s pretty cool to see. This pelican circled around quite a bit, gliding and flapping those enormous wings. He looked very graceful…

Until he augered in on the landing. That would be me if I were a pelican…as soon as a camera comes along, I eat it trying to land in calm water. “I meant to do that,” as Pee Wee Herman would say. Oh well, I still think he’s a remarkable creature. He was able to compose himself and glide proudly along, preening his feathers as he bobbed around in the water. And I hopped in the truck with a smile on my face, ready to continue back home to Bismarck.

Canadians responsible for global cooling. er, warming. er, Climate Change™

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Al Gore would say it’s the percentage of gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs driven by North Dakotans, but it’s actually those darn Canadians. You see, this isn’t smog…it’s Metric smoke from the fires burning in northern Saskatchewan. The natural wind currents bring it down across the upper Midwest region of the United States, which means we’re now in the smoking section for a while. If you’ve had headaches the past couple of days like I have, this is likely the reason why. People with allergies and asthma are going to have a fun ride.

Apparently the Canadians have their own version of FEMA as they’re not seeing a whole lot of response in the area and are crying out for more help. It can’t be a lot of fun to fight a raging forest fire on the border of the Northern Territories, so I bet they’ve got their hands full.

In the meantime, it’s going to be a bit hazy as long as the wind brings the smoke in our direction. It makes for some neat sunsets but the haze brings more problems than anything else.

Clowns attempt sabotage at North Dakota nuclear facility. Really.

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Taken from this DefenseTech article:

Clowns attempt to sabotage nuclear missile near White Shield, ND!

Ya know, it takes all kinds. And I guess even North Dakota’s got ’em. After all, we’ve got a Bismarck Democrat comparing South Dakotans to the Taliban and then denying it, and removing his original post from his blog when he announced his candidacy for state House of Representatives.

As far as the clown wackbags, they’re lucky. I’ve heard tales of people who got their kneecaps shot out trespassing at nuclear facilities, and I think the rules of engagement are pretty serious up there if you pose a definite threat.

I’m not sure what to think about the Catholic priest playing the part of activist. He chose to quote the Bible, and out of context at that. I would politely point him to Ephesians 2:8-9 then, and ask him why he’s preaching that sacraments are necessary for getting to heaven. Or I Timothy 2:5, and ask him why he’s trying to usurp the role of Jesus. Perhaps he should spend more time reading his Bible instead of trying to paint missile silos.

Protesting is one thing, but this is treason. Free speech is one thing, trespassing on a nuclear facility is another. If you think treason and its prescribed punishment are too harsh, imagine if they could have possibly done some damage to the facility. That’s part of our nation’s defense system, a system that has helped preserve the right for these buffoons to be so stupid. Hang ’em high, I say.

Hopefully our new bridge will be this cool…or cooler

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This photo was taken on the bridge between Fargo and Moorhead, on Main Street. If you remember the old bridge, it was downright spooky. The new one is very nice and was well overdue. It’s also got a wide pedestrian area and the nice lit architecture shown in this photo.

There’s something similar planned for the new Liberty Memorial Bridge between Bismarck and Mandan. I can’t remember exactly how it’s going to look, though. My friend Alex did the architectural drawings for it, and I got some footage of it while videotaping the dedication ceremony, but I’m not sure where I put the pictures.

Because our bridge is a memorial to veterans, there will either be a monument in the middle, or one on either end. I’m fighting a migraine this morning, so I’m unable to think back far enough to remember.

In any case, it was neat to spend some time hanging out on the bridge in Fargo; it’s not just a walkway across the river, it’s a wide open area. There will be something similar on our bridge, and we’ve got a much nicer view than the muddy ol’ Red River.