http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/2011-01-05-walking05_ST_N.htm The above link is an article about walking that is very interesting. Like all studies there are probably some unaccounted factors that also contribute to longevity in the study but I believe the basic premise to be true. The more we seniors push ourselves the more endurance we have so let’s challenge our current status everyday.  This applies to both our physical well being as well as mental.  I am a believer in the saying “if you don’t use it you lose it”. Keep challenging yourself to make that lap around the block a couple seconds faster than you … Continue reading Walking Speed and Longevity…

Happy New Year everyone. Yep, I made it into another year. I am busy finishing up my new years resolutions today. A couple of them are to travel more this year (that is if our health allows us) and another is to do more posts on this blog. I currently maintain three blogs and this one seems to often get the short end of the stick so to speak. Redletterliving.net is about God and spirituality and such; it seems to fill much of my time the last year or so. InTheSlowLane.net is mostly photos of my life both past and … Continue reading Happy New Year

It looks like I will make it through another year. That is if the Lord lets me survive for seven more days :) I admit I have been pretty lazy with posting here lately. I guess I just got out of the mood. But I do have some excuses in that we spent much of this week in Chicago visiting some of the Christmas sites. The picture above is of the Christkindlmarket in Daley Square. Continue reading It looks like I will make it….

After the flurry of posts around my leaving my church of eight years this two week respite has been refreshing. I will probably start up again soon. Via this post I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.  May we all spend a few extra minutes in the next days contemplating some of the red letters. After all that is what this day is really all about. Continue reading Merry Christmas…

  Now that winter is setting in let’s look at a picture of our July garden that my wife took. She is quite the flower photographer. Continue reading Winter setting in…

This post will close out my current thoughts on institutional purity. I have made it a point that institutional purity has done some grievous harm to the Body of Christ. I am therefore saying that we cannot insist that there are certain things you must believe in order to call yourself a Christian? In my mind yes there are some things that are fundamental but they are very few in number. Everything outside of this short list is small stuff. Here is a list of those essential things that I personally am very much attuned to. It is from a … Continue reading The Musts of Institutional Purity

I want to bring some comments from a previous post entitled The Right of Passage to the forefront so that the issue is clear.  It has to do with my leaving my church home of the last eight years.  As pointed out below I did short circuit the formal process at it’s beginning stages by volunteering to leave.  I chose to take immediate action rather than to pursue it through it’s  formal stages. Here are the comments from that blog thread: From Dan Martin RJ, I’m sad to learn of this. I have another close friend that has just been stripped of … Continue reading For Clarification….

There is now a thriving industry nicknamed Sick Day Bounty Hunters.  They are hired detectives who check on employees who may be abusing their sick day privileges. See the full article at http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_50/b4207093635068.htm .The article claims a significant growth in the number of people who fraudulently claim sick days when they are actually doing something else. When I started in the corporate workplace in 1970 there was generally a strong loyalty to the companies we worked for.  In fact many people would come into work when they were sick because they wanted to get the work done. What happened to … Continue reading Sick Day Bounty Hunters

Here it is the first real snow of the season. We got about three inches last night.  Our neighbor on top the hill behind us has been plowing our driveway since we moved here ten years ago. But, last year his antique tractor broke down and he has not been able to find any replacement parts.  So this year I bought a plow blade, wheel weights and chains for my new garden tractor. This will be my first time using it. As with most men I really enjoy my new toys. Even though it will be cold (I really don’t … Continue reading Trying out the new plow…

  We had our first snow of the season last night. But I am too lazy right now to dig out the camera and take a picture so this one was taken in January this year. Yvonne absolutely loves snow. Me, not so much but I put up with it for her sake. We have lived here for more than ten years now but I still very much appreciate this view out one of our windows. Continue reading First Snow…

In a recent exchange of comments with a reader of this blog he made the comment that I was demeaning other Christians when I say we are not doing a very good job of following Christ’s examples and words. By pointing out a supposed weakness in someone’s walk with Christ am I putting them down? Am I demeaning them? I think not. Am I possibly making them feel a little uncomfortable? I certainly hope I am. We should all be somewhat uncomfortable in our walk with Christ. Jesus told us as much several times in the red letters and I … Continue reading When you tell someone that they could do a better job of following Christ are you demeaning them?

This post is going to be about illegal aliens. No, I’m not talking about those who might be in the U.S. now. I am going to talk about those aliens who started coming here five hundred or so years ago. Those of us who have native American roots in our bloodline  know our ancestors were the real citizens of this country back then. When Christopher Columbus stumbled on our shores along with him came hordes of uninvited aliens who  eventually took over our country. They robbed us of our land with promises that were never kept. It took a few … Continue reading Illegal Aliens…..

  Here is another picture from our October trip to northern Wisconsin. We added about 40 barns to our photo inventory on that trip.  This is one of the more interesting ones. Continue reading Barns of Wisconsin

  Thank you Island House hotel for providing us with quality accommodations during our recent stay at Mackinac Island Michigan. Your one hundred year plus hotel is awesome. Continue reading Island House Hotel

I believe that to constantly harp about our sinful state is more harmful than anything it might accomplish. I believe that we should teach our children that they were made by God and God does not make junk. I believe that God means for each of us to accomplish certain distinct things while we are here on his earth. I believe that God is very displeased with the way we have trashed his kingdom on earth. Continue reading I Believe…

I celebrate the peacemakers of this world. One of those groups is certainly the Society of Friends known as Quakers. As a matter of fact they have even won a Nobel Peace Price for their efforts. According to Nobel’s will, the Peace Prize should be awarded to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses. That is certainly an apt description of Quakers and their journey in following Christ’s words. While the Nobel committee has … Continue reading I Celebrate the Peacemaker…

Here is one not too many people have probably seen. It is a small lighthouse in Neenah Wisconsin. The picture was taken in 1986 but it still looks the same today. Continue reading Lake Winnebago Light House

A close member of my  extended family died yesterday after a long and agonizing downward spiral.  For the last two years she was no longer of her own mind and became a very spiteful person. It was totally sad to see her in that state for so long.  It is not that she was a superhuman before that but she was not unlike many today in her very self-centered world view. I am relieved that she finally passed and went into our Lord’s arms. She can finally enjoy some peace. I know I have read several treatises about suffering in … Continue reading A Long and Agonizing Death…