Forty Five Years

Ardella and I celebrated forty five years of marriage yesterday. It doesn’t seem that we have been married that long. Marriage is about teamwork and some give and take. I have learned a few things like not suggesting a shortcut when we are hunting in the mountains. I also learned a number of years ago to not buy your wife a chainsaw for an anniversary present. I was redeemed when I took her to Alaska for our thirtieth anniversary.


So by now you are probably wondering what we did on our special day. We went up to the woods and I pulled out logs with my tractor for firewood. That’s romantic isn’t it! The evening before, we went out to our favorite restaurant. We came home after wood getting and cleaned up and went to dinner at our friends Ken and Dee. Today we had dinner at Connie and Thane with the rest of the family and then everyone watched Thane drive a race car at the track in Post Falls.

I’m fortunate that Ardella likes the outdoors as much as I do. It helps to marry someone with similar interests. See, I’m smarter then you thought.

When Tragedy Strikes

Tuesday morning I turned on Fox news and saw that a plane had crashed north of Dillingham, Alaska. That is where I flew out of during the five years I was a hunting guide so my anxiety level shot up and I knew I wouldn’t be okay until more information came forth. I know the pilot and his wife from one of the flying services and the outfitter that I worked for is still operating both fishing and hunting camps in the Wood River Park. While I was there I got to know other outfitters and guides so the news really hit home. I said a prayer for the people as they indicated there might be survivors. About two hours later I found out the type of the plane and thought it probably didn’t belong to anyone I knew. That didn’t end the twisted feeling in my stomach because someone was out there in the wilds in need of help.


Alaska’s weather is very unforgiving and can change in minutes. I found out that it isn’t the brown bear that is the most dangerous thing in Alaska, it is the weather. I have seen storms rip tents to shreds, pick up a boat with a motor and toss it one hundred feet. Alaskan storms can last for days and stop everything from moving. An Alaskan storm can definitely improve one’s prayer life. The storms were often devastating on some men’s morale but I looked at them as an adventure and realized the power God can unleash in nature.

It is hard for us to understand why tragedy happens. It helps me to go back to the Garden with Adam and Eve when the serpent entered the picture. Until that time everything was at peace and God walked the earth and sought a close relationship with them. Sin caused separation and chaos. Jesus Christ came to bridge that separation between us and God but we are never fully immune from tragedy. We are required to walk by faith no matter what happens.

It is important that we pray for people that experience a loss of someone and ask that they will seek comfort from God. My prayers go out to the families in that plane crash and may they find the peace that only comes from God.

Random Thoughts

I haven’t written for a while as life has been extremely full. For those of you wondering how our horse Spud is doing, I’m happy to say he is walking much better. Spud is still on a diet to lose about one hundred pounds. He is on a high vitamin and mineral supplement that seems to be helping his hooves.


I have been busy carving birds and trout for the art show at our city beach today and tomorrow. Over one hundred vendors will be there and usually a large crowd shows up and our weather is forecast to be great. We no longer have a website, instead Ardella created a blog site which we can have for free and she can change easy. The new site is woodnwings.blogspot.com.

Ardella is on her way to Iowa with our daughter Connie to visit relatives. They are already missing the mountains.

Yesterday I turned sixty five and thought back to simpler times. I remember when:

Gasoline cost twenty nine cents a gallon. A handshake was a good as a written contract. All stores were closed on Sunday. When I looked under the hood of my car I knew what everything was. Our country honored God. Prayer was allowed in schools. Fountain sodas at the corner drug store were five cents. Doctors made house calls. A milkman delivered milk to the door.

We need to pray for our neighbors, town, country and people in this world that don’t know Jesus. These are dangerous times but we can have faith that God is in control. The Apostle Paul always had complete confidence in God even in the darkest prison. Paul could see the victory no matter what happened to him. We need to ask God for the same confidence in our lives. Have a great week in Jesus Christ.