"You

can't stop us on the road to freedom

You can't keep us 'cause our eyes can see

Men with insight, men in granite

Knights in armor bent on chivalry

She's as sweet as tupelo honey

She's an angel of the first degree

She's as sweet as tupelo honey

Just like honey from the bee"

Proverbs 3:5-6

Proverbs 3:5-6

Luke 11:33-34

Luke 11:33-34

Love you

"This is my dream; this is what I will work hard every day the rest of my life for because I want YOU, all day, every day, the rest of days...peace."

Nite.

"All

day everyday till the end of days Dollbaby."

And you thought I was kidding.

Silly girl.

I

wanna go there someday.

Mount Athos

You'll be all like:

"Oh hell no, you'll convert and I'll never get ya back."

Love ya Lucy.

PS, Putin recently visited.

Never

even heard the term till bro joe mentioned it.

Religious pluralism

Feel more Sufi or Sikh than I do anything somedays.

I have an affinity for the Sufi's.

No doubt about that.

Love you Lucy.

Romans 12:12

Romans 12:12

1 Corinthians 10:13

1 Corinthians 10:13

Jeremiah 29:11

Jeremiah 29:11

Psalm 32:8

Psalm 32:8

John 11:40

John 11:40

Matthew 11:28

Matthew 11:28

Revelation 21:4

Revelation 21:4

Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28

2 Corinthians 5:7

2 Corinthians 5:7

Psalm 147:3

Psalm 147:3

"Oh

you look so beautiful tonight

Oh you look so beautiful tonight

Oh you look so beautiful tonight"

Harrison Ford

when asked, 

"What's your philosophy toward  women?"

"I just wake up and start apologizing."

"For what?" asked the interviewer with a snicker.

"For whatever I'm going to do today that's gonna piss her off."

Love you Bambi.

Nite sweetheart.

Oh

well.

If nothing else?

The flatulence protocols have been established :-).

Love ya Lucy.

You

liked that, "I'd rather be with you on your worst day than anybody else on their best" business didn't ya Bambi?

Know why it hit such a cord sweetheart?

Cause its true and you know it.

Love you.

Hittin home

today.

No one knows what it's like

To be the bad man

To be the sad man

Behind blue eyes

No one knows what it's like

To be hated

To be fated

To telling only lies

But my dreams

They aren't as empty

As my conscience seems to be

I have hours, only lonely

My love is vengeance

That's never free

No one knows what it's like

To feel these feelings

Like I do

And I blame you

No one bites back as hard

On their anger

None of my pain and woe

Can show through

But my dreams

They aren't as empty

As my conscience seems to be

I have hours, only lonely

My love is vengeance

That's never free

When my fist clenches, crack it open

Before I use it and lose my cool

When I smile, tell me some bad news

Before I laugh and act like a fool

And if I swallow anything evil

Put your finger down my throat

And if I shiver, please give me a blanket

Keep me warm, let me wear your coat

No one knows what it's like

To be the bad man

To be the sad man

Behind blue eyes

Apparently?

"We were born before the wind

Also younger than the sun

Ere the bonnie boat was won

As we sailed into the mystic

Hark, now hear the sailors cry

Smell the sea and feel the sky

Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic

And when that foghorn blows

I will be coming home

And when the foghorn blows

I want to hear it

I don't have to fear it and I want to rock your gypsy soul

Just like way back in the days of old

And magnificently we will flow into the mystic

When that fog horn blows

You know I will be coming home

And when that fog horn whistle blows

I got to hear it

I don't have to fear it and I want to rock your gypsy soul

Just like way back in the days of old

And together we will flow into the mystic

Come on, girl

Too late to stop now"

is aint so easy :-).

Love ya Dollbaby.

Blah...

Blah...

Blah...

Ya know?

All I ever really wanted was a date.

Bahahahahahahaha.

How about I have one for the rest of my life?

How about that Lucy?

Reminds

me of Nich these days.

Bro Joe

gave a great explanation as to why we feel "nothingness'.

Know what I'm talking about right?

"Man, I get that car I'll be set.

Man I get that girl my life will be complete.

Man I get that house...

If  I could just get that job."

Blah blah blah on and on ad infinitum.

Then what happens?

We get what we sought out and a few months later?

Back to feeling the same way.

Needing something else to make us feel complete.

The only thing ever gonna make you feel complete is God's love for you that he gives freely so you can give it to others.

Anyway, the reason for the feeling of nothingness?

Because we came from nothing.

From dirt, dust, stardust.

And to it we shall return.

So of course there is a void there that needs to be filled.

Almost like it was made to be that way huh Lucy?

Love you Dollbaby.

Be awesome today.

Like you can help it :-).

This

the song you were looking for earlier?

What

I mean by:

"it's own members who don't live or follow the teachings of Christ like they think they do'

is they don't show others the almighty's love, grace, mercy and forgiveness that they themselves don't deserve.

Okay, movin on lol.

Bro

Joe said the three biggest threats to the church are:

Materialism.

Sexual Immorality.

Religious pluralism.

I disagree lol.

Go figure right?

I think the biggest threat to the church is it's own members who don't live or follow the teachings of Christ like they think they do and it turns others away.

Thats just my two cents Lucy.

"I'm

not afraid to die

I'm not afraid to live

And when I'm flat on my back

I hope to feel like I did"

Exactly.

Why

wouldn't the baddest woman on the planet marry me?

Been askin that question for years.

Nobody can give me an answer.

Know why?

Cause she's going to.

Thats why.

Love you Bambi.

"If

you should ask,

then maybe They'd tell you what I would say 

True colours fly in blue and black 

Blue silken sky and burning flag. 

Colours crash, collide in blood-shot eyes. 

If I could, you know I would 

If I could, I would let it go. 

This desperation, 

dislocation 

Separation, 

condemnation 

Revelation, 

in temptation 

Isolation, 

desolation 

Let it go 

and so to find away 

To let it go 

and so to find away 

To let it go 

and so to find away 

I'm wide awake, 

I'm wide awake, 

wide awake 

I'm not sleeping Oh no, no, no."

Sounds

about right :-).

I

always loved your atoms too knucklehead :-).

Always

remember, you're banned from Parking Garages :-).

Bahahahahahahaha

1 Corinthians 10:13

1 Corinthians 10:13

Sounds

familiar.

Yep

Pretty much

Ephesians 6:12

Ephesians 6:12

Lol

Damn

Morning

sunshine.

Love you.

"I

could taste

I could taste you even then

And I would chase you down the wind

You can go there if you please

Wild honey

And if you go then go with me

Wild honey

Did I know you

Did I know you even then

Before the clocks began time

Before the world was made"

"I

have kissed honey lips

Felt the healing in her fingertips

It burned like fire

(I was) burning inside her.

I have spoke with the tongue of angels

I have held the hand of a devil

It was warm in the night

I was cold as a stone."

Like

24\7\365.

Who knew :-) ?

"I'll

show you a place

High on a desert plain

With no sorrow or shame

Where the streets have no name"

It's like it's own kinda prayer.

To me it is anyway.

Yep...

Morning

Sunshine.

Love you.

RNM

"I know I am benefit to the people, you know. 

That's the only consciousness I have on myself."

Yeah.

I Know :-).

Some of them anyway.

Somebody

said something about dead flowers this am ;-).

This is my tribute to haters as well lol.

"And you can send me dead flowers every morning

Send me dead flowers by the US mail

Send me dead flowers to my wedding

And I won't forget to put roses on your grave"

Kentucky Bourbon

KENTUCKY BOURBON PRODUCTION SETS 48-YEAR RECORD

May 18th, 2016

Excerpts from the Kentucky Distillers Association Press Release:

Kentucky Bourbon is one of the Commonwealth’s most historic and treasured industries, a thriving $3 billion economic engine that generates more than 15,400 jobs with an annual payroll topping $700 million and pours $166 million into state and local coffers each year. 

Kentucky’s iconic Bourbon distilleries filled a whopping 1,886,821 barrels of amber nectar last year, breaking production records all the way back to 1967, the Kentucky Distillers’ Association announced today.

The previous all-time high was 1,922,009 barrels filled in 1967, the KDA reported. Since the turn of the century, Kentucky Bourbon production has skyrocketed more than 315 percent (455,078 barrels were filled in 1999).

That gives the Commonwealth a total inventory of 6,657,063 barrels of Bourbon, the most since 1974 when 6,683,654 new charred oak casks were gently aging in Bluegrass warehouses. There are now 1.5 barrels for every person living in Kentucky 

(census population 4,425,092).

Distillers also are paying $17,814,134 in ad valorem barrel taxes this year, another all-time high. Revenue from this tax funds education, public safety, public health and other needs in local 

communities where barrels are stored.

 Production in 2014 was 1,306,375 barrels. That means distilleries filled more than 580,000 barrels in 2015 over the previous year (44 percent increase). That’s the biggest difference in year-to-year production since 1967 and triples the previous record.

      The tax-assessed value of aging barrels this year is $2.4 billion, an increase of $299 million from 2015 and a 135 percent increase over the last 10 years.

The KDA’s world-famous Kentucky Bourbon Trail® and Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour® adventures also set an attendance record last year with nearly 900,000 guests touring an all-time high of 19 participating distilleries.

"I've

been in every black hole

At the alter of a Dark star

My bodys now begging

Though it's begging to get back

Begging to get back

To my heart

To the rhythm of my soul

To the rhythm of my consciousness

To the rhythm of yes

To be released from control"

Maya Angelou.

"Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God."

"We're

still building and burning down love

Burning down love.

And when I go there

I go there with you

(It's all I can do)."

"The

city's a flood, and our love turns to rust.

We're beaten and blown by the wind

Trampled in dust.

I'll show you a place

High on a desert plain

Where the streets have no name"

"We're

still building and burning down love

Burning down love.

And when I go there

I go there with you

(It's all I can do)."

"I

wanna feel sunlight on my face.

I see the dust-cloud

Disappear without a trace.

I wanna take shelter

From the poison rain"

"I

wanna run, I want to hide

I wanna tear down the walls

That hold me inside.

I wanna reach out

And touch the flame

Where the streets have no name."

"Every

beauty needs to go out with an idiot

How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?"

"It's

not a hill, it's a mountain

As you start out the climb

Do you believe me, or are you doubting

We're gonna make it all the way to the light"

"She's a

rainbow and she loves the peaceful life

Knows I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight

There's a part of me in the chaos that's quiet

And there's a part of you that wants me to riot"

I'm

blessed to have a family that understands their sacrifice helps a whole lot more people than just themselves and has the faith to know that things will take care of themselves and that somehow someway things will work out for the best and be okay for everyone.

I'm proud and blessed enough to have raised a son who understands at a very young age, planning, thinking long term,

short term suffering for long term gain, sacrificing for others and a whole host of other things as well. 

That's from the horse's mouth.

Anybody else ever says anything different?

Well?

 They don't know what the fuck they're talking about and they aint the one livin this.

Everybody's family situation is different.

Every child is different.

They all learn and mature and become responsible at different times.

What's right for some may not be right for others and so on.

Go figure that right?

Hard to imagine I know.

:-).

.

"A-yeah!

… A-yeah!… A-yeah!

Never let her go

She’s a lightning bolt

Never let her go

She’s true

She's rock 'n roll

She's a lightning bolt

Uncontrollable

Like you"

Had

an older gentleman tell me to my face that he doesn't see how I can be a follower of Christ since I don't really care who uses what restroom.

I promise you I did lol.

I don't bring this garbage up.

I just don't.

I don't talk politics or religion or any sensitive issues unless somebody else brings it up.

But if somebody else wants to start talking nonsense?

I'll shoot it down in a heartbeat.

He is the one that brought it up.

Like always lol.

All I said to a prior comment he had made was, "I really don't care who uses which restroom, it really doesn't matter to me at all, they could all be unisex for all I care."

I guess I wasn't supposed to feel that way or something.

All the sudden this guy transforms into Elmer Fudd with the red face and the steam blowing out his ears etc.

I guess he really wanted me to care.

I just really don't.

"You mean to tell me you don't care if....blah blah blah..."

"No, I really don't care."

It was just infuriating to him that I wasn't going to go along with his train of thought.

"Look, this been going on for years, you just never heard or thought about it till three weeks ago and now you're ready to go to war over it."

"Well what if you had a lil girl."

That one got me for a second, never thought about what if Nich would have been a girl.

I wouldn't have went into the ladies room so I guess what I would have done would be to have taken him (her) with me to the men's room.

Just never really thought about it to be honest.

Then he starts waving his smart phone around, "What if "they", love that word, had one of these?

"I got news for you, the guy in the stall next to you has one as well and for all you know someone may have taken a picture of you doing your business, what sex someone is or what bathroom they are in doesn't have anything to do with it."

More red face lol, more steam lol.

 I said let me ask you something

"Okay".

"You ever use the ladies room when the men's room was occupied and you have to go real bad? If so, what's the difference?"

Pause.

"I don't believe I have" he says.

Just the way he said it would have made you think otherwise.

I said, "China is building islands and militarizing them in the South China Sea where over 60% of the world's trade is going to flow through in the coming decades and were arguing about who should use which restroom in this country? 

Seems like a diversion if you ask me."

You guessed it, more red face, more steam lol.

"That's another thing, our military, Russian is doing fly bys blah blah blah..."

"The Baltic is a lot closer to Russia than it is the US. Do you think if there was Russian recon going on in the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic we wouldn't be doing something similar?"

Finally he could see this wasn't going to go anywhere and let it go.

I wish I would have went on and told him that in the overwhelming majority of instances it's not the transgender person in what someone might perceive as the wrong restroom that's gonna sexually molest your daughter, granddaughter, sons etc.

Most times, just like we've seen right here in this small lil community, it's a family member, a neighbor, a coach, a youth minister etc.

Someone with access that everybody trust.

But that hits a lil too close to home.

It can't be one of "us', (even though it is) it has to be one of "them".

"Them" of course being something someone doesn't understand.

Anyway, after all these years of going to church?

Apparently I missed quite a few sermons on how being a follower of Christ dictates which bathroom I have to use and not only that, apparently I'm supposed to be upset about which ones others use as well.

Cause, you know, that's Christianity for you in a nutshell.

Telling you which restroom to use.

Like I said

I don't bring it up.

And I really don't care.

Make 'em all unisex.

Fine with me.

Lover ya Lucy :-).

Guacamole

Oh you so funny lol.

You may never get any at this rate :-).

Love you.

I

just give thanks and glory to God everyday you know?

Youth Leader told me a long time ago, you don't have to close your eyes, you don't have to bow, you don't have to be on your knees, you can be just driving down the road by yourself, turn off the music, direct your thoughts, hopes and wishes to the almighty.

That simple.

Anytime you got a few minutes :-).

I've been asked more than once,

"You awake?

You gonna make it?"

I just look up and smile :-).

"Yeah...I'm awake...I'm gonna make it."

"The

future belongs to those who choose to follow the beauty of their dreams."

Saw it on the wall at Nicholas's old elementary school today while working the election.

I thought, "Yep."

:-)

Rumi

When I am silent, I fall into that place where everything is music.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

 Ecclesiastes 3:11

Love it

Acts 2:1-4, 16-212:1

Acts 2:1-4, 16-212:1 

Rumi

Knock and He'll open the door.

Vanish and He'll make you shine like the sun.

Fall and He'll raise you to the heavens.

Become nothing and He'll turn you into everything.

"The

stone was semi precious

We were barely conscious

Two souls too smart to be

In the realm of certainty

Even on our wedding day"

I think

The

"Morning Sunshine"

bacon and egg 

pic?

Is an all time classic :-).

Psalm 30:5

Psalm 30:5

Love you

More than you'll ever know.

It

never gets old :-).

:-)

The "How it came to be that I wanted to be a Waffle House Cook saga"

Me, Dave and a buddy of his known to this day as "Black Cloud" went to the Tampa Bay Blues festival in 2005. 

There was a Waffle House in the front part of the hotel parking lot. 

I think it was Saturday night when we got back to the hotel, Dave and I decide to get some Waffle House.

Place is packed.

I mean out the door.

We finally get seats where we can see the cook.

We order, get situated etc and I start watching this guy.

It was like an octopus ballet with spatulas.

I'll make that make sense here in a second lol.

I tell Dave, "Hey watch this guy."

Dave seems unimpressed at first.

"Yeah, he's cooking"

"Look at this place Dave, it's packed, this guys is the only cook, griddle full of food, no tickets, everything's being called out to him, he's getting everything right, nobody is complaining and he's still finding time to clean and stock as he goes."

It's like he was a octopus, like he had eight hands all going at once, only he didn't.

There was a fluidity to his movements.

No wasted effort, every movement had a purpose.

We were just amazed.

We talk about it to this day.

So, fast forward to a couple years ago.

When it dawns on me that when Nicholas leaves for school I can sell the house and leave as well.

Go anywhere and do anything.

So, what has the most appeal?

Take the bike.

A few clothes.

And?

You guessed it, move to Florida and become a Waffle House cook.

Why not?

Go in early.

Get off early.

Ride all day and especially ride all day on days off.

Ride to the beach.

Sounds horrible right?

Fast forward a few more years and an opportunity presents itself to be a breakfast short order cook for a bit.

This place :-).

Between Lewisport and Owensboro.

Happening lil joint early in the AM most days.

Hardcore cigarettes and black coffee crowd mostly.

Truckers, Law Enforcement, Welders, Road Crews, Construction Workers etc.

Early crowd.

I used to stop in and get a breakfast sandwich sometimes when I worked in Owensboro.

Best half-pound cheeseburger anywhere close around.

It's not even close.

Used to pull in and get one of those sometimes as well.

Hillbilly's :-).

If I never get to work at a Waffle House in Florida?

At least I got my apprenticeship :-).

Stepped up to the griddle day one.

Mom ask, "Are ya scared?" right before breakfast rush starts.

I just looked at her and smiled...

"No..."

Never so much as cooked an over easy egg in my life.

Been rockin it ever since.

Love the sign lol.

Well?
Have ya?

Thats well over 15 lbs of bacon incase you were wondering :-)
It's sitting on a rack in a cake pan on a warming plate.
We open at 5 AM.
On this particular day?
By 6:30 I was cooking more bacon lol.
Four pieces on a plate, three to a sandwich.
Bacon and egg, bacon egg and cheese, sausage and egg, sausage egg and cheese.
They sell.
Like crazy :-).
Obviously.

This is the griddle back before we had the warming plate off to the side to hold the bacon.
Eggs and sausage are going into a crock pot for the sandwich maker to make sandwiches with.
Bacon grease, salt and pepper.
No wonder everything taste good.

Just your everyday "Small" Western Omelet lol.
You know, "small" as in bigger than the state of Rhode Island.
Takes two spatulas to get it off the griddle.

Breakfast Menu
Lg plate = two eggs, however you want them, bacon, ham or sausage, hashbrowns, toast, wheat or white and one biscuit and gravy.
Get four of those going all at once on one order with everybody wanting different eggs and dry this and extra butter that and no salt no pepper lightly toasted no tomato and...
Not to mention your bacon pile is running out and the crock pot needs eggs and sausage and theres a call in order for nine sandwiches and...

I think I made my point lol.
Not just anybody could do it.
I'm glad I had the chance to see if I could.

Breakfast Menu

Lunch Menu

I really enjoy a lot of the people there.
I really do.

Love ya Bambi.

Whats

left of the what was at one time, over a hundred button(s) collection.

The "I did it" one was for repelling off the wall of the parking structure at WKU.

Six stories :-).

Part of a "Basic Mountaineering" class they offered.

Two credit hours instead of the usual one for a PE class.

They told me about it and I was like, "Deal."

Lots of my buddies at the time came and watched.

Pretty cool.

We also did traversing a stream and ascending a rope.

Class was four segments but I can't remember what the forth part was.

We had been practicing on the ground, tying knots, using equipment etc.

We did two stories off the other building one day.

They let us know when that day was going to be.

One day walking into class and everybody's gear is in their helmet and the instructors were like, "Get your stuff, let's go."

Hardest part was climbing over the top ledge.

After that?

Two bounces and down :-).

But yeah, buttons, on an old army surplus jacket from the flea market at the fairgrounds, five bucks lol.

Desert boots :-).

Clark Wallabees.

Freak uniform of the time period lol.

Yeah...buttons lol.

They go well on a Levi's jacket as well.

Old hoodie.

Romans 12:12

Romans 12:12

Rumi

Put your thoughts to sleep, do not let them cast a shadow over the moon of your heart. Let go of thinking.

"Somewhere

on a desert highway

she rides a Harley Davidson

her long blond hair flyin in the wind..."

Love you.

Be awesome today.

Like you can help it :-).

:-)

Bro Joe

paraphrased today:

Fear and doubt are hindrances to faith.

When you overcome these two your faith becomes larger.

It's why the divine makes us overcome things sometimes.

Why does the divine expect us to live extraordinary lives?

To show his love to others.

Faith must be connected to salvation/eternity.

If not?

Whats it's point?

The whole point is salvation of souls.

By showing them God love.

1 Peter 1:9

1 Peter 1:9

Ephesians 6:16

Ephesians 6:16

Hebrews 12:2

Hebrews 12:2

It

was if the very finger of God touched down behind my buddys house.

Everyone said it was the biggest, brightest rainbow, or double rainbow, they had ever saw.

Unreal.

Love you.

Nite.

:-)

"I am the egg man, they are the egg men."

Seems

 

like I did take off to Baxter, TN one Memorial weekend a few years ago :-).

1 Thessalonians 5:18

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Besides lol

It wasn't just a Springsteen show.

It was the second to last show of The River Tour.

Born to Run broke him big.

Darkness got good reviews but was largely seen as pale in comparison to Born To Run.

The River solidified his position as an artist to continue to follow.

Double Album.

His first #1 hit in "Hungry Heart".

Big recond for my whole junior year.

Fall of my senior year.

Cincy.

Second to last show of The River tour.

You betcha.

Lets go.

Double date lol.

Mom didn't wanna let me go.

17 years old.

Off to Cincy?

On a school night?

Finally she relented.

"As long as you go to school friday".

Gotcha.

A 3:45 minute performance.

Played CCR's  "Who'll stop the rain?"

Played "Trapped" by Jimmy Cliff.

Years later a version of this appeared on the USA for Africa collaboration.

The show had like 14 encores or something.

It was crazy.

The last one?

A fifteen minute version of "Twist and Shout" with all the house lights all on.

Nobody's ass is in a seat.

Everybody's shaking their shit.

15 minutes.

Lights on.

14 encores.

"Twist and shout"

In a 3:45 minute set.

I'm seventeen years old.

I'm in prime physical condition.

We get back to the car and I am worn out.

Soaking wet.

I felt like I had just been in football practice.

That's how draining it was.

I couldn't believe what I had just seen.

I went out after I got out of school Friday and bought: "Greetings from Asbury Park", "The Wild the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, a poster and a river button lol. 

I think I still got the river button somewhere lol.

I was sold.

All in.

Blew my mind.

Changed my outlook on life.

Love you.

So?

Hows your day :-) ?

No phone

think I left it in Nichs car.

Find out here in a bit.

Love you.

How

do you know?

Maybe I am Bruce fucking Springsteen :-).

Give a boy a chance and he'll blow you your mind 24/7/365 chickenshit lol.

I think somebody was saying

Isaiah 9:2

Matthew 4:16

Acts 26:18

John 8:12

"The children who liveth in darkness

(Ahh)

Have seen the great light"

and...

"He floated back down 'cause he wanted to share

His key to the locks on the chains he saw everywhere"

today.