Just a brief video update of how my year’s kicking off.
Author: Derek
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Coyote Keeth’s RV Park
We had a chance to stay at Coyote Keeth’s RV Park just outside Clayton, NM recently. Here what I had to say on Google with some additional info:
This little park is super easy to find, super easy to get into a spot (they’re all large pull throughs), and super easy to get out of when it’s time to go.
Our 40′ trailer and pickup had no problem fitting in our site. I wish the hook-ups had been a little further back in the site but that is really a minor thing. We just parked the truck behind the trailer.
For us, it was the perfect place to stop midway to our destination. The whole park, including their bathrooms were clean.
The folks there seemed to be a mix of one night stays and people in the area to work. No junky trailers or sites were there. The New Mexico surise from our site was a beautiful way to start the day.
I stayed at an RV Park once where there were some junky trailers and long timers that had beat up lawn furniture and grills at their site. When we left I was glad to be out of there without witnessing an act of domestic violence. Sure way to get a pass from us when we’re travelling.
I’d give it a five (as an overnight stay) if not for the train tracks right across the street. I’d easily recommend it for people that just need to pull over for the night though.traveling.
I liked the train tracks a bit. They took me back to my youth when we stayed in some places near tracks while the family traveled. I could have used fewer passing throughout the night though.
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Smoked Mixed Peppers
7 ounces of hot, smoky, powder.
That represents an entire summer of growing and several pounds of peppers. A mix of jalapeño, poblano, and serrano peppers.
It also represents 6 hours on the smoker followed by two days on the dehydrator at the lowest setting. That was followed by a morning of cleaning/sorting and grinding.
It may seem like a lot of work for a small amount of spice but man, is it worth it! One small bit of this to anything adds a hint of smokiness and a bit of heat that comes on slow.
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Living With Back Pain
So… after being alive for over half a century, and being grateful that I didn’t have back issues like people around, and younger than, me. My turn has arrived. It is amazing how quickly one can still learn new things, even at my age.
For instance, in the span of just two days I have learned, and will never forget, not to put anything I ever want to hold in my stubby little fingers again on the floor. If I do, it will lay there, out of reach taunting me. Much like the cord for charging my phone did for hours this morning until I figured out an alternate way to pick it up.
Also, don’t sit down, or stand up, unless you will be in that position for a while. It just isn’t worth it. I say this as I sit outside (the weather is beautiful) eyeing my empty tea glass and wondering when getting up to get some more tea will be worth it.
I have also learned that I always remove my eyeglasses with my left hand. Well, more honestly, I used to always remove my glasses with my left hand. Apparently, my back has suddenly decided I am not allowed to let my left hand approach my face anymore.
Follow this post for more great learning experiences so you can learn from my mistakes instead doing something stupid like thinking you can put some socks on like you used to.
Update 09.20.21
Back pain can make you feel child-like. How? When I got out of bed this morning, very slowly, I couldn’t even recall the last time in my life I was happy to put socks on without any help. Now? I can. It was today. How strange to feel satisfaction over such a small feat.
Update 10.05.21
In the last two weeks I’ve learned I have a torn meniscus and some alignment issues. It’s amazing to me how well our bodies are actually designed to work. A small thing gets slightly out of whack and it leads to so many other, unrelated (to the untrained eye) issues. I’ve been to a chiropractor and have already noticed some improvement. So much better to be able to move slowly, and have little pain, than experience it all day long no matter what. I’m sure I look funny to anyone who happens to be watching though.
Update 10.18.21
Thank The Good Lord! Most of my back pain has subsided. I still have moments where I wince and am reminded sharply, “Don’t do that!” But, mostly, as long as I move deliberately I can get by without many issues.
The past two months has given me new sympathy for those with chronic back pain issues. It is so debilitating to your routine and I never fully appreciated it. I’ve known a few folks over the years with long-term back issues and have a new respect for them pushing through their pain as they did.
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Lunch
Soup made from tomatoes, onion, basil, and serrano peppers straight from the garden. Keto-friendly grilled cheese had a total of two carbs. -
Sometimes, Life Really Stinks
I woke up this morning and immediately these thoughts came to me with the incredible urge make a post. Today. This morning. So here it is.
There are times in life when it really stinks, sucks even. Time when we’re in constant, unbearable pain. Sometimes it is physical pain, sometimes it is emotional pain. People all over the planet are facing the loss of loved ones, in fear of losing their own lives, being abused, and generally having terrible things go on in their lives. Sometimes the trial we face is the result of a sudden tragic event out of the blue while others are long-term difficulties that drag on for years.
We all know this, yet when were in the midst of our own storm, it doesn’t offer any comfort.
If you are in one of those seasons right now, I hope with all my heart that you are a believer. If you are not, I hope that you are open to believing. You see, the knowledge of where and what our lives are in light of eternity brings comfort. It doesn’t lessen our suffering. In fact, when you read the Bible it indicates that faithful Christians will suffer more because of their faith.
But… this life is fleeting, James 4:14 puts it best, “…You are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” Our trials and tribulations, if we are in Christ, cannot go on forever. An entire life of suffering, on Earth, though tragic, eventually ends. Eternity does not.
IF you are a brother or sister in Christ I pray our eternal hope and eternal home can bring you comfort in trying times. If you are not, I pray that you would consider Christ, His free gift of life and His love for you. He laid His life down to pay for our sins, and lifted it back to give those who believe in, and confess Him, life eternal.
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Drowning in Sin – We Should not Forget
The wife and I were sitting on the patio yesterday. She let out a slight exclamatory sound and then informed me there was a bird in our pool. I went over an look at this poor guy flapping like crazy to keep his head above water.
I got the net and scooped him out. I didn’t know if he was going to make it. He looked like a baby bird. Most of his skin was showing. He was weakened, visibly shivering, and mostly limp once he was out of the pool. In short, he looked pathetic.
I just laid the net on some ground cover and left him there. As my wife and I continued our discussion, I would look over occasionally and comment about how he was still shivering and hadn’t moved.
I went and picked him up again. I moved him to on top of a cloth shade we have hanging near the patio to keep out the summer sun. He was directly exposed to the sun and a little breeze. He shivered a while longer. He finally stopped shivering and I gave him a caterpillar to keep him company.
Shortly after I noticed the caterpillar was gone and he had moved a bit. Next thing I know he’s sitting on the roof tweeting away and looking fluffy, dry, and healthy. A moment later he flew away.
I sat and wondered how often we do that spiritually. We get caught in sin and we’re literally on our way to dying in it. No amount of our own effort can free us. Struggling only makes us more tired and pathetic. God, with no obligation to, comes, frees us, puts us where we can be safe, and gives us what we need to be healthy again.
How often does that happen? We feel like we finally got our life back in order and we fly off, never again to think of the great danger we were in. Forgetting, until next time, the God who rescued us.
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“Big Bang” Racism. Wut?
I spend between seven and eight hours commuting each week. Over the past few years I’ve subscribed to twelve podcasts and several YouTube channels to make this time useful (I only listen to the YouTube videos). Several of these podcasts/channels I only open once in a while and scroll through to see if they have any interesting content headlines. Others get listened to when they put out a new one. Only twice have I found content so good that I go back and start listening to older content.
That’s how I cam to be listening to an episode of the Just Thinking Podcast titled “Big Bang” Racism from December 2017 on the drive to work this morning. Once again, Darrell and Virgil drop truth bombs with pinpoint accuracy. As usual, those bombs are dropped from Scripture.
If you haven’t listened to them before, do it. What you will find is a couple of believers who, once they start getting into the subject, start driving points home like an M240 driving lead downrange and, also like it, they are smoking hot before they’re finished.
Two of those points in this podcast hit me. One was regarding social justice and the gospel. As I said, they always turn to scripture. Now, too many times I hear “woke” preachers talking about “Jesus saves and all that BUT… if you want the full gospel you have to ________ (insert current favored social justice issue).” I’ve read Romans 1:16 many times but never has it been pointed out so clearly that God’s Word tells us exactly what the gospel is for: “…it is the power of God for salvation.” There are no bullet points or list of other things it is for. It is for salvation.
This episode also drives home some truth about how we need to see the church. This was done in taking something I’ve been looking at all my life and making me realize I’ve not really been truly seeing it. Or maybe just reminding me of something I’ve grown so used to that I’ve forgotten.
I told you there were two things in this podcast that really struck me. I told you about one. The other one is about an event recorded in the Bible that many of us have read, but maybe, like above, we’ve not really seen all of it. You’ll have to listen to find out though.
