No Man is an Island

Perhaps you have guessed that today’s topic is EDC, or to spell it out EveryDay Carry.

You can find many a YouTube’r that has a video on everyday carry. Many are of the Prepper type, just some old school manhood idealists, or simply practical minded pragmatists.

A woman’s purse will not be categorized under the topic of everyday carry. What man could ever comprehend the depths or content?

One item that was common in days gone by was the handkerchief. This YouTube video expresses the reality of handkerchiefs, hard to find a quality American made product.

I remember ironing and folding handkerchiefs when I was young; grade school age. They were never perfectly square, though nowhere near as bad as those in the video.

I never used a handkerchief much. Do not generally carry one today. But my grandfather, my mother’s father, always had a handkerchief. I may have even bought a couple myself as a child though I would say most came from my mother.

So… no man is an island. We are all influenced and shaped by those whom have come before, especially those near and dear.

Everyday carry can tell much about a character in a story. When you see a character described, an author may call out one specific item which that character always carries; often for sentimental reasons.

Environment may dictate what a character carries or not. How one prescribes to those dictates may describe someone as wise, skilled or simply foolish.

The same can be said about background and tradition. Whether someone is reverent or… a fool or outright evil, can be expressed in what is or isn’t carried, or even how something is carried.

Happy Halloween.

I believe I mentioned here, or was it another blog, that after a long hiatus  from the north woods I found myself there once more, realizing I had not brought a knife, canteen, firearm or any type of fire starter as part of my every day carry. Hence I did not venture far from my vehicle.

And always carry a compass.

Then again, if I lived in Singapore, or by a miracle Hong Kong, would any of those items be relevant? A knife? Perhaps yes. A multi tool? Sounds plausible to me. An umbrella? They seem popular in some places.

A good belt? This is an every day essential that can be extremely useful in ways that may not be apparent until you need it.

And don’t you city slickers forget your handkerchiefs.

Yellow vest? You have seen the protests. Everyone has one because they are required in France, if not all of Europe, in one’s vehicles, in case of roadside emergencies as I understand.

So every day carry may reflect the dominance of higher authorities in one’s life or society.

One’s “kit” is often more than one’s every day carry as I understand from the context I have heard it used. It is not simply every day carry, but uniforms; usually referring to a soldier or some professional organizations that form teams or groups that require a uniform.

What we carry can influence the actions we take or do not take. A dynamic or lack thereof that can be used to hilight a character’s profession, judgments, knowledge and capabilities.

I could go on, but time is short. If you are an inspiring author or simply a student of the human condition I hope you found some value here.

I cannot end however without commenting on how modern society and technology have destroyed that symbol of independence and resilience embodied in a man’s every day carry.

You don’t believe that? Yes, Captain James T. Kirk’s EDC, or lack there of ,did not strip him of his independence or resilience. But that was fantasy.

…Have I gone to far? Crossed a line?

Thank you for reading.

OMG

Is it the end of the month already?

Honestly my writing creative energies are more focused on other blogs right now. You may have noticed posts on other blogs slowly coming out.

I have significant endeavors into healthy living and practices I desire to share on “It’s a Dog’s Life”.

I would be writing much more on “No Sanction” but I fear my posts would be taken down and threaten the standing of all my blogs.

FaceBook has become so oatmeal.

Demands of the city on our property would be history but for the waiting on some contractors who have no intention of ever working for us at all. But there are a lot of good contractors out there too. Just a whole lot of work to find them.

We hold our faith in high esteem and endeavors in that realm take more of our energies than possibly most can imagine.

But I am getting this post out before the end of the month.

So no whining!

“No writing!”, you accuse.

I hear you.

Patience grasshoppers.

Thank you for reading.

I Am Still Alive

I hope you all had a happy Labor Day; Good food and family.

An overbearing authoritarian local government has caused me to absolutely forget my August post deadline.

Actually, I did remember but for those last three days of the month, and then I experienced sudden recall after the fact.

Devastation!

Sorry for my tardiness. But I am still alive. Please stop worrying.

This post is for August.

I will be changing my West Allis Farmer’s Market schedule. Rather than Tuesdays I will be doing Thursdays. It appears Thursday are becoming the day vendors who do only one weekday favor. Not sure if they were directed that direction… but it sure makes me feel special. Me doing just Tuesdays.

One Family Urban Gardens: find us on Facebook.

At the Oak Creek Farmer’s Market, just on a whim, I decided to look for a free WiFi network; I do not have a data plan for my phone.

So I see a network among the many. It begins with a universally recognized acronym followed by: “_surveillance_van_89”.

That was good for some laughs and giggles. It was seeing the “van_89” after I clicked on the network; a network that seemed to appear and disappear randomly in the list, that furrowed my brow.

So I had been trying to get some legal help for my troubles. The Wisconsin Bar Association was a disappointment. You never know when someone else is listening.

This is our garage. In the words of a supervisor from Neighborhood Services; “I don’t care about your garage.”

So I paint and stain surfaces and bought some new windows rather than doing the work that really needs to be done; on my garage. Is it any wonder I called the city “incompetent, malicious and depraved”.

I had all the materials for repairing the garage, after closing a raze permit for the adjoining structure, was working on the drawings for a new permit when the city demanded I do what they say or else.

That was over two years ago. My plan was to rebuild the garage (materials already purchased), landscape the yard, raising the central walkway, because when the ground freezes our backyard is a lake for several weeks in the spring, and then remodel the whole house.

Something I told the city from the beginning… do what we say or else was their response. All instigated by our Alderman.

The purpose of this drive to refurbish and modernize our entire home is that we still hope to adopt, and I would like a really really nice home to raise a child in. And if left to my own devices the plan was to be into the remodeling this year.

We haven’t been blessed with children ourselves.

But the city is not the only problem in regard to modernization. There is a growing list of contractors who will not work for us, who will even make appointments to come to create an estimate and just not show, not just once but even up to three times.

This goes back long before our Alderman set his forces against us. I have been thinking lately that this may go back all the way to my days working in Architecture, professionally for some ten years.

“If the Lord is with me, who can stand against me?” so the Bible goes.

Apparently… everyone.

It is what happens next that is the exciting part, and if our mind is right, all for the glory of God.

And hopefully for the betterment of all.

But why do I burden you with my personal troubles? So sorry.

This blog is about writing, writing fiction to be more specific

But we can always draw from fact, stranger than fiction they say, to gain some inspiration for storylines and character building.

Add a bit of imagination and…

So let us take a hypothetical that a professional Architect is blacklisted from his profession, for reasons nefarious but not unheard of in modern society. Always treated well by their employers and the educational institution they exceeded in, the professional finds themself wrapped in a mystery.

As this professional works upon advancing their personal design dreams they find themselves closed off from the services of local contractors, leaving them to do the work themselves; a slow meticulous task as they are very knowledgeable but unpracticed in the various building arts.

This could be extremely challenging if your character is a woman.

The protagonists church could also be a back drop for intrigue.

Drawing again from reality we see that some of the richest families in Wisconsin reign over material supply empires.

We can extrapolate new angles.

How deep does the conspiracy go?

Follow the money, or in other words, the politics.

Seeking legal council our character runs into a he said she said issue with the local Bar Association and within a week of the controversy our hero starts receiving mail from let us say an organization like; SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration).

You can see that with a bit of imagination you can make quite an intricate and compelling storyline. Mix in a bit of Bigfoot or extraterrestrials and you have a guaranteed movie contract.

Hmmm. Extraterrestrial Bigfeet.

Kapow!

It is all about what happens next.

An extraordinary life we all dream of living, at least through a good book.

Thank you for reading.

I missed my deadline… Sorry again.

I Had A Dream

 I had a couple of dreams.

I have had several dreams; many a nightmare in times gone by.

And I have dreams. A lot of dreams.

“What!? At your age?” I hear you marvel. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready to die?”

But I had a dream. The gang at the Farmer’s Market were shoot’n the breeze and one guy says, “I am going to see a psychiatrist.”

Not to be confused with a ventriloquist, an obvious misconception in regards to psychiatrists, I answered, “Just talk to me man. That would be more useful than talking to some idiot doctor.”

Maybe not my exact words but it captures the flavor.

Psychiatry is big, like fake Christianity; a whole bunch of feel goodism.

And don’t be think’n I am some kind of Scientologist; no I’m not one of those.

People call me lots of things but that is not one of them.

So many problems need a comforting ear.

We all have parent’s, grand parents, siblings and friends who know us maybe better than ourselves and when all else fails there is always the ever present ever loving God.

All intimately related to our origins, our life’s journey, and where we will all find ourselves in the end. Where the problems begin and where the problems need to be solved.

So who among all those loved ones, our only support structure since the beginning of time, does the psychiatrist replace? That clinical mind upon which their business is based draws only from some institutionalized self perpetuating system.

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and I can guarantee they fear not the Lord, maybe.

Then again some religious, like certain Catholic priests, need some replacement.

I could be getting in trouble with some of my family members.

How does society come apart? At what point do we stop engaging the life we were created to live?

We lost our origins and in so many ways created a fake world.

I’ve been getting more writing done yet not much time to develop my thoughts here this month, but…

Thanks for reading.

More FUD

Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt; an acronym that all should know these days, particularly if you are into crypto currencies.

It keeps you from the important things. It manipulates markets.

We would all be better off without it.

So the city has been harassing us via inspections on our home. It can be a source of FUD. Their motivations appear suspect and certain neighbors feel empowered to exhibit their bigotries openly since.

It all can really muddle up everything you are working towards. It is also a window into the human condition.

It has effected the development of our businesses. It has seriously disrupted my writing most of all. I do have a post for one of my other blogs nearly ready, and I thought I would get it out this month.

I thought I would get to a fantastical telling on this blog, even though the month was coming quickly to a close.

Have you ever been in the New Yorker Hotel? A rhetorical question.

Then Monday, I go to our prayer room on the second floor to… pray. A reasonable assumption, as my spirit felt amiss. I needed to rally my powers.

Then I see it. Hanging wires outside the door to our second floor balcony.

My face turns askew. I am bewildered.

I go outside, onto the balcony. My gaze follows the wires, follows where the wires are supposed to run: wires to our security cameras.

The wires have been ripped out of their brackets, now broken.

The wires have been cut.

The police officer asked, “Have you ever thought of getting the Ring camera?”

“I have today!” I proclaimed.

I hadn’t asked for an officer to come out to our home; the dispatcher insisted. I was surprised she arrived after not too long of a wait and this according to her, when I asked, when her board was lit up.

Makes you wonder if your address is on list.

More FUD.

A day lost.

Thanks for reading.