Thoughts About God

 

Thoughts About God

I am not a religious man.  I believe there is a powerful force that is responsible for life.  Based on the beauty around me this force could not be evil. 

I was raised Christian.  Do I believe all I was taught?  Truthfully, no.  What I was taught came from other humans.  I believe Jesus was a human.  A very special human.  Son of God?  Maybe…what do I know, and why do I believe just because I have been told so?

I do believe in a powerful force.  Let’s call it God.  No matter what science can explain, eventually all answers come to God.  The first molecule…where did it come from?  Has to be God.  That molecule evolved into the world as we know it?  

God apparently has lots of time and lots of patience.

Anyway, that is my religious belief.  I hope there is an afterlife, that would be nice, assuming of course I have lived well enough to go up and not down.

So, I do believe in God, but beyond that I have no idea what he has in mind for us or if there is anything else beyond what we currently know.  I was fine before I was born…I guess...so, when the time comes…

I do pray, or try and talk to God from time to time.  Recently I have been asking for help to get a few friends through some difficult times.

Then I have been reading about people in cultures that have difficulties which make problems of mine and my love ones seem like less than nothing.

If God chooses to help the truly unfortunate, my friends, family and myself need to pick a number which is not likely to be called…EVER!

I had this thought as I was enjoying some nice wine, and a fine cigar, while sitting by the ocean and watching my grandson try and catch fish in the surf.

What am I asking God to do for me?  I have had some difficult times.  I have been kicked in the teeth a few times, but on the whole, I have all that most people could ever want.  What nerve for me to ask God for anything.

And so, my prayer turned from “Please help this person” or “Please get me through this issue” to:

THANK YOU!!  Thank you for all I have and for all you have given me.  I’ve done nothing to deserve what I have while so many have so little, so THANK YOU!

I grew up hearing “Ask and you shall receive” and I think for many that sentiment should really just be “Thank you for what you have given me!”

Maybe I’ve just had a bit too much wine.

 

A CRANKY PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

 

A CRANKY PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

 The following endorsement is unsolicited.  This cranky old man has received no remuneration for this post.

For 15 years I have had an arthritic hip.  It was not medically diagnosed, so maybe it was something else, after all, I am not a doctor.  However, I am also not a meteorologist but I can tell when it is raining…so…I think the condition was arthritis.

My hip issue was not debilitating, but I could not run, sometimes walked with a limp and especially noticed it when walking up or down stairs.  I learned to live with it.  I could still play golf and bowl, I seldom needed to run anywhere and, so I limped going up and down stairs not a big deal.

About one year ago, Mrs. C saw an add for a pain relief product, “Hempvana.” Mrs. C will purchase just about anything she sees on TV.  UPS has our address on speed dial.  Most of the stuff she buys is crap.  Sometimes she finds a winner.

I tried the Hempvana.  I applied it several times a day for a week.  Then I stopped.  I stopped because I didn’t think about it.  I didn’t think about it because my hip never bothered me.  I did not limp.  I could go up and down stairs without issue and if chased by a bear, I think I could even run.

Why it is called HEMPvana I am not sure.  Hemp does not seem to be the major ingredient.  Applied topically it does not give you a “Mary Jane high” it just makes pain disappear.

My hip is basically cured.  Sometimes I use it on my neck and I have one knuckle and a big toe that is arthritic…works for them as well.

I assume the stuff either works or it provides a placebo effect.  Either way, who cares.

I have since mentioned it to several friends who complained about similar aches and pains.  My son, who is a physical fitness teacher and health fanatic, complained about a shoulder problem. 

He tried the stuff.

Three times a day for a week.  Problem gone!

Best I can tell the stuff is just a topical application of aspirin that gets to the joint.  Who knows…it works for me.

As several people upon my recommendation have found relief from joint pain, I am offering this endorsement as a public service.

Friends who have spent lots of money on chiropractors and physical therapists have found real relief from this stuff.

For $10 a jar it couldn’t hurt.  It is sold all over, I think Mrs. C got it at Walgreens.

If you try the stuff and it doesn't work, sorry I may have cost you $10.

If you try the stuff and it works; You're welcome!

 

 

FISHING WITH FROG one more time

 

FISHING WITH FROG one more time

Frog, Catfish, Cranky, Marty filling in for Joby (we're not so good at taking pictures.)

Readers of this blog that have been with me since the beginning may be familiar with the “Fishing With Frog” series.  These posts detail the many annual fly-fishing trips with old, and I mean old, fraternity brothers in various Western Maryland streams.  There have been several characters, but every year includes Frog, and Catfish.

My last trip was in 2016, I have been missing due to previous engagements, aching bones, and Covid, but in 2022 I returned.

If you have any interest in previous posts, and they are actually reasonably entertaining if you have no life, go to the upper left corner where the little spyglass thing is and type “Fishing with Frog.”  All the posts along with their links will magically appear.

 

This years trip, along with Frog and Catfish was Joe to most, Joby to us and Mr. Cady to neighborhood 8-year-olds.

We left on Wednesday morning for a 5-hour drive and stayed at a very nice soup to nuts condo/cabin that Catfish found.  It took twenty minutes and a lot of cussing before Frog mastered the complicated 6 numeric entry code and we were in.  I did say we were old, didn’t I?

As soon as we unpacked it was off to the first stream.  I caught no fish; I did manage to lose my wading stick which made getting back to dry land a bit dicey…I survived. Frog caught three rainbow trout, and Catfish nailed two fish, one a very large rainbow. 

Joby had little luck.

The next day we tried a new stream.  It looked nice, but there were no fish.  I know there were no fish because Catfish did not catch any fish.  Frog sometimes does not catch a fish, if Catfish gets skunked, it is because there were no fish.  That afternoon we retuned to the first stream.  No bueno. I think Catfish caught one.

Friday, we tried a stream a bit further away that Catfish, based on previous trips, was convinced would not have any trout.

Catfish was wrong. 

There were fish.  He caught several, even an elusive golden trout, as did Frog.  I believe Joby got a few as well, me not so much.  I did however manage to not lose a single fly either by a birds-nest cast or a snagged tree branch.  This was a victory for me. 

Before we broke for lunch, Catfish called me over to a productive spot, demonstrated a new technique, and tied on a new fly.

With his tutoring I caught three small mouth bass and a croaker.  Actually, Catfish caught the first fish while demonstrating how to present the fly, but he quick handed me the rod to reel it in, promising not to tell any one I did not hook it. 

We did get a picture.

There is too a fish in that net!

As many times as I have gone fishing, I am always shocked to actually catch a fish. 

We left the stream for a lunch break and returned later.

Frog and I tried a new spot on the stream.  It was not very deep.  The rocks were slick.  I know it was not too deep because the damn slick rocks caused me to do a full-on face plant into the stream…twice.  That was the end for me.  I returned to our car and climbed out of my waders and tried to dry off…not very successfully.  Oh, BTW I lost my driving glasses on the second slip.

I finished the day while the others ran into some very good dry-fly fishing, with a nice cigar which I smoked down further than a hobo and listened to the Yankee game on the radio.

Later, a shower, some scotch and a steak never tasted so good.

That is the thing about fishing, especially fly-fishing.  Part of it is fun, much is really hard and tiring, a whole lot is frustrating as heck, especially for a nubie like myself; but a shower will never feel better and a cigar, scotch and steak could never taste as good.

Will I do it again next year?  

Kind of like a woman who just had a baby…no way…

Then, you forget the difficulty, the frustration and the unplanned-on swim.  Eventually the thought of actually catching a fish, and the taste of a steak, scotch and a good cigar kicks in.

Like a woman who amazingly enough will have another baby, I suspect I will do it all over again. (The fishing trip that is!)