It may not seem like I have been reading a lot purely based on my blog output as of late. Truth is, I have been reading a lot, just having troubles finding time to actually write about it. There are actually three books that have already been read just sitting on my desk waiting for me to take the time to write up a recollection. That isn’t even including the featured book for today’s post. The main reason this one is ready is thanks to it being a dog show weekend giving me some down time to write up the takeaways. At this rate, thinking the others might make it sometime around, oh well, let’s go with October. Featured today is a book Left Standing: The Miraculous Story of How Mason Wells’s Faith Survived the Boston, Paris and Brussels Terror Attacks by Mason Wells, Tyler Beddoes and Billy Hallowell. It is a bit of a departure for me. Although it is a book that focuses on the evils that exist in the world. Okay, that part isn’t the departure point, but this read was about how faith allowed Mason Wells to come to terms with being either near or directly involved with three terror attacks – the Boston Marathon bombing, the Paris terror attack and in the middle of the Brussels airport bombing. Think I heard about it from an interview Hannity did with the author. Sounded interesting enough to spend some time with it (around 160 large spaced pages made for a quick two night read). From a summary perspective it had a bit more on the faith element and less on the terror survival aspect that I would have preferred. From a survival perspective, he was technically at or near the Boston and the Paris attacks, but surviving feels like a stretch. Now, the Brussell’s airport, no doubt about it. He was severely maimed in that ordeal being at the heart of the blast while standing in the check-in line. This left him severely injured requiring seven surgeries, three hundred stitches, two hundred staples and several skin bandage changes All of this and he was still able to deliver on his childhood dream of entering the Naval Academy and serving his country. Always admire individuals who overcome adversity and reach their goals (one of the reasons this book sounded intriguing). Turns out Mason was at this tragedy while on his missionary work for his Mormon faith. Through all these trails, Mason believed his God had a plan for him and he accepted and made the decision difficult decision to follow it. The stunning aspect, it is his faith that allowed him to forgive those that perpetrated these acts of barbarianism. For this I’ve determined that Mason is truly a better man than I. If there is one fault that I readily admit to, it’s my lack of compassion for those that want to initiate harm upon others. My “bad list” are well known by those that know me – make it on that list and you might be able to make amends to get off, but you will never be forgotten. Hard pressed to believe that turning the other cheek is the appropriate response when it comes to terror. There are instances when you just need to cut the cancer out.
Hit the jump for my takeaways.
This year, the race coordinators introduced the long sleeve tech shirt. Definitely more appropriate seeing as how this race is always wet and cold. Not sure I am a fan of the logo or the color this year, however, the medals are OUTSTANDING. Not only are they solid/heavy, they are always very artistic. Think this was the 10th anniversary of this race.
Howdy everyone! It’s been a rough couple of days for me due to a medical procedure that I had to have today. Definitely not one of those experiences I want to go through again anytime soon. The good news is it over now and everything came out good. The doctors want me to take it easy until the effects completely wear off which is good news for my readers – nothing better for a night of relaxation than typing a few paragraphs out on the keyboard for another post. Oh, by the way, the doctors did recommend I avoid going to places like Amazon until my head clears all the way – might end up buying a year’s worth of jams from around the world hehehe. So I Thought I’d feature a topic that didn’t required a lot of prep work and thus going with a recollection from a recent photography seminar Linda and I went to a couple of weeks back. Since it covered both landscape and wildlife topics, went ahead and put it on my wildlife blog as well.
Whew, it’s been a long road to get to this point. As mentioned previously, my spare time lately has been spent running between the digital darkroom and wildlife posting with multiple side jaunts to the reference library. With the Audubon talk officially wrapped up, things are starting to get back to normal – well, at least a little more routine for me. Seems like something is always happening around here that needs attention. Unfortunately, a lot of that “happening” involves some fix or update to the house or outbuilding. This is likely why one of my guilty pleasures is watching the DIY and multitude of flipping shows – of course, some of that is a direct result of the rapidly growing number of entertainers that have earned their way onto my LIST (running out of channels that have anything I want to watch). One of the flipper shows has always stood out from the rest and appropriately named Fixer Upper. Chip and Joanna Gaines have managed to get me addicted to their show due to a mixture of interesting design, truly talented constructions skills and humorous banter. Not sure how, but I discovered that Chip had a book out that gave an opportunity to learn a bit more about his life, what makes him tick and hopefully gave some background on how the show came to be. That book, Capital Gains: Smart Thinks I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff quickly made its way into my Amazon cart. Chip definitely gives some deep insights into the experiences that set him on his life course. From the shows, it was obvious he was into sports, so it seemed fitting when he told the story about his Dad being his baseball coach and how that led to playing for Baylor University (for his freshman year). At the same time he was cultivating an entrepreneur spirit which led to running 3 businesses which included flipping houses.
Life Intrigued 