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Singing vs. Drinking: What Music Does for Us

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:18-20 God gives us what we need.   In the final three chapters of his letter to the Ephesians, Paul frequently uses a "not this, but that" formula:  Lay aside falsehood and instead speak truth.  Quit stealing and instead work so you have something to share.  Knock off the rotten speech, and start using your words to build others up.  Replace foolishness with an understanding of God's will.  Over and over, Paul tells Christians not to just give up the trappings of worldliness, but to replace them with God's good things.  The point is clear:  Yes, as Christians we have to leave some things behind.  But God, in His goodness, promises to replace the wo

My recipe for legendary venison stroganoff

A couple notes: This recipe started from the ancient and venerable "Game Cookbook" by Geraldine Steindler, but it has evolved considerably since I first learned it.  Traditional stroganoff uses the tenderest cuts of beef or venison, but I like to save those cuts for broiling or smoking, so this recipe uses less prime cuts. Also: Amounts are more like guidelines than rules. Don't get too uptight about it. Life's too short. Beyond that, you can tell I'm not a real food blogger, because I'm going to skip my life story, historical notes, and an essay on the spiritual meaning of stroganoff, and just get straight to the recipe. What you need: 2-3 lb elk or deer round , trimmed of all gristle (easier when it's still partly frozen) and cut into small strips or cubes  (beef will work if that's all you've got; I once was told it's good with sage grouse but I'm not sure I believe that) 1/2 c whole wheat flour 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp ground pepper. 1/2 c ol

Assorted Pictures

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 I'm going to use this post as a place to put a few pictures for posting on other forums, with no particular rhyme or reason.  Mostly bow tillering pictures.  Feel free to enjoy if you're interested in that sort of thing.  If you aren't, my feelings aren't hurt. This is a ruffed grouse.  My first kill with a home-made bow!  It was delicious . hickory pyramid bow on the tillering tree After whacking two inches off the top limb: More tillering 12-5-21 Braced. 24" draw.   Full Draw.  Looks a little stiff through the right mid. 12-9 Full Draw. 12-18 Full Draw.  After heat treating hinge on right side fade. 12-18 Full Draw with stiff spot highlighted 12-14 Full draw, after some work with the Gizmo to eliminate the stiff spot. A juniper stave.  My first locally-harvested bow stave.  Excited to try to get a bow out of this one. Attempting to chase a ring on a juniper heartwood stave Sinew on the back! I got it tillered to 30# before tragedy struck. Finally blooded Big Red

I released a CD. Sort of.

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The world continues to alternately shut down and open, but the music goes on.  I released a CD in March.  Sort of.  I had scheduled a performance right at the beginning of the covid mess, which I had to cancel.  As of right now, there's no realistic prospect of doing a live performance (my lead cellist is about to head off for college, among other things).  This makes me very sad:  Getting all those musicians together to do a live performance would have been absolutely magical. But, onward we go. So.  I actually didn't release it all. But it's done, and it's out there, and I'm fairly pleased with it.  It's been getting some play on Wyoming Public Radio and Pilgrim Radio (the regional Christian station), so that's good for the ego. The album is called Strengthen.  Some of you might remember that I lost my mom a few years ago; these songs were inspired (and a few of them were written) by her.  All of them deal with various aspects of meeting adversity with

A Few Points About Covid Masks

Point #1:  It's a health device, not a campaign poster.  I'm so libertarian I make  myself  uncomfortable at times, but when I go into a business, I wear a mask.  As far as I am aware, Wyoming residents are not required by law to wear them.  That means you aren't gaining any anti-big-government/libertarian/rebel/tough guy cred for going face-commando.  It's just a choice you make. Point #2:  The mask isn't to protect you; it's to protect people around you.  If you wear a mask it doesn't mean you're scared, and if you don't it doesn't mean you're brave.  Recent research suggests that a lot of people might be spreading Covid 19 without showing symptoms.  You might have it and not know it, and wearing a mask is a way of keeping your germs to yourself. When I go into a business, I don't wear a mask because I'm afraid.  I wear a mask because I'm trying to be courteous to others.  Do you wash your hands after you take a dump?  Same

On Grace

What is grace?  As a follower of Jesus, it's something I think about a lot.  It comes up over and over again in his teachings, not to mention in all those great old songs.  Did you know that in Koine Greek (the language in which the New Testament of the Bible was written) grace, favor, good-will, blessing, gratitude, joy, delight, and thankfulness are all the same word?  The word is charis .  It is a word of many conjugations and derivations, a word of rich, layered meaning, bringing to mind a gift, unearned and freely given.  And that's what grace is:  A gift, a source of joy and thankfulness, a state of living in delight and gratitude.  It's something I don't have to earn; I simply get to enjoy it. Christians often equate grace with forgiveness, and rightfully so:  Forgiveness is not something one can earn; it is a gift to be given with sincerity and received with gratitude.  But grace is so much more than that.  Grace is the meadowlark singing out in my back past

A Badgerling, a Bow, and a Perforated Milk Jug

Well, gentle reader, this corona virus/toilet paper apocalypse thing is getting to me a bit.  The night before last I was feeling pretty anxious about the state of the world.  I'm not usually a big worrier; I generally try to focus on the stuff I can do and refuse to think much about the rest.  But I have to admit recent events have been getting me down.  So, I was up a lot during the night.  I spent a lot of time praying, singing, trying to get my head on straight. Yesterday was a busy day.  Did a lot of school work in the morning.  I'm a teacher, and yeah, we're all having to re-learn how to reach kids in this new and hopefully temporary reality.  After lunch Katie (my 10 year old daughter) and I went for a long walk.  We saw new baby lambs, friendly people out cycling, a few drivers that waved and smiled at us.  We walked down the road a couple miles to North Fork creek, where we skipped rocks, soaked up sun (it being the absolutely tropical temperature of 51F), and wa