Better Words Than I Have----

If you love knives, click on the link on my sidebar.  http://bowieknifefightsfighters.blogspot.com
Check out the comments for March 10 2011.  England is trying to find a new source to blame their internal problems on.  We are following England's example with gun control and knife control is on the horizon.  See England, see your future.  It isn't nice.

The Sun Is Warm And The Wind Is Sweet

The wind doesn’t cut like a knife.  Sunglasses aren’t worn to prevent snow blindness.  Any sand we have is to run between our toes and not for traction.  Why?

I’m not in Cleveland today.  I’m in sunny Florida were the natives are bitching about how cold 78 degrees is.  Me?  I think it’s Heaven.  Especially after during our winter.

I’m down here celebrating my father’s 90th birthday.  He and my mother decided to leave the northern states and move to Florida after he retired.  None of us kids live down here, so they established a beachhead and grew into the community.  They’re happy, but I still worry about them.  My wife is able to help her mother with daily activities but not only can I not help my parents, I don’t get to visit them either.  Florida is just too far for a weekend jaunt.

My father gave me his father’s knife.  At one time it was nice and new, but like a lot of old timer’s knives, the blades are literally sharpened away.  Still, I’ll treasure it as it is.  It is one of the few connections I have to my grandfather.  I’ll get a picture up later.

I like this group of people outside of Chili’s.  They look like a nice family so I took their picture for my blog.  Well, it was either them or hire actors for a family shot.

Really, this is part of my family.  I’m still missing a brother and sister.  They haven’t arrived yet.  I hope they are alright.  Travel can be hazardous.

One of the reasons I think Florida is heaven besides the warm winters is the botany and biology.  This is one of the little guys I see hangin’ around the house looking for a quick meal.

Flies?  You got flies, maybe yes?

Warther Expo Recap

The Warther Expo is over for this year.



Was it a success? I’m taking a page from Bill Clinton. It depends on your meaning of success. If success means getting friends and other knife aficionados together under one roof, it was a success. If you define success as high attendance and foot traffic resulting in sales, the answer is no. Reasons and excuses aside, attendance was down. But it was still great fun!


For those who did attend, great deals, wonderful knives and outstanding sausage sandwiches were available. Here’s some of what you missed.

 Communication was difficult in the large open room we occupied. We soon came to depend on the man known as The Voice.

I didn’t know you could still buy Warther combat knives with the metal sheath. They are, I’m told, a special order but one can be made for you.





 James Pengov was set up at one table with his lovely engravings and tools. James makes knives, but his engravings are spectacular.

Work in progress   Jim@pengovinc.com

My spies tell me (I talked to his father) James is working on achieving national recognition and is close to completing his apprenticeship. Expect his prices to jump, but they will still be worth it.

I showed you one of Jack Hatton’s miniatures in a previous post. Here’s one of his small decorative knife handles.  (For reasons not understood by me at least, Jack's miniature is at the bottom of this blog, at least it was in my previews.)  Jack can be e-mailed at hattongwy@aol.com


 I can't begin to figure out how someone carves a figure this small and so nicely.

Warther knives were quite well represented; after all it was the Dale Warther Memorial Expo. I didn’t know Dale very well, but he always said hello and I miss seeing him at the knife club meetings.

I am always surprised at the stories people tell of finding a Warther treasure at a yard sale or flea market. You see them on eBay once and a while, but these knives have developed quite a following in Ohio. It was a great chance to see the displays.
 

But don't let me confuse you. There were plenty of other knives.

If you couldn’t find something to your taste, well, you weren’t looking hard enough.












And if by some strange chance you have acquired all the knives you want (How can this be?!?), there were wood cases to display your collection.



Well-made wood boxes and cases always remind me of my mother’s father. He was an old-world cabinetmaker. He came over after the First World War and could make magic with wood. He would have never allowed it, but I sometimes wonder if I should have taken a year or two off between high school and college to study under him. Boy, talk about paths not taken and only dimly understood.


Even in the middle of the hubbub and excitement, you could find knife makers lost in thought thinking about their next creation.

See you next year!
 

Knives and Hearts

Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and if you missed giving that someone special a gift or at least a card, you have to wait a year.  Better still, do it sooner, or that someone special may not be in your life that long.

The day was originally named after Saint Valentine in 496 by Pope Gelasius.  The saint’s day was removed from the Roman calendar in 1969 by Pope Paul VI.  Not exactly a cutting edge holiday, it has shown remarkable staying power.  Most nations have some custom or celebration marking the love between two people.  They go by various names, but I like the Guatemalan day, “Dio del Carino” or Day of Affection.

Naturally, I didn’t forget my wife.  How could I?  She grounds me, lifts me up and has my back.  I would not be who I am without her love.

So what did I get her?

It’s a neck knife made by Gary Bucklew.  The small 2-inch 440c steel blade has a dyed giraffe bone handle.  The knife and its dark leather sheath is supported by a tiger conch shell necklace.  I think it’s lovely and she likes it too.  Or, at least she’ll wear it.

I got a partial mystery knife.

It’s a sailor’s knife with non-lockable marlin spike, sheepsfoot blade and can opener.  The main blade is stamped Coricama and is claimed to be (here’s the mystery) 1950-ish Italian navy issue.  I haven’t taken the time to research it.

I like odd knives.  Not any oddity, but oddity as a result of function.  Doctors’ knives are the perfect example.  A proper one has a spatula for compounding and mixing, a slender blade for lancing boils and other minor surgery and a metal base for grinding medical ingredients.

Sailor knives are the next best example.  A spike for working knots free and splicing lines, a blunt tipped knife to prevent injury while working on a rolling ship and can opener for survival rations are often the key components.

I’m already looking at other sailor knives and wondering if there’s a book or website where I can learn more.

Dale Warther Memorial Knife Expo - 2011

I found my Spyderco Salt.  We both looked at it but it was hidden under several flat bags of disposable ear plugs.  My wife claims I keep them around to block her out, but the truth is I take them out of my pocket at the end of the day and forget them the next day.  Somehow the Salt slipped under a few pairs and was overlooked.

You can imagine my chagrin when I moved the box of Kleenex next to the ear protectors and noticed a hole looking out at me.  So, Lassie has come home and I for one was glad to see my knife.

The Dale Warther Memorial Expo is in full swing.  Several club members have their Warther knife collections on display, but the family is showing knives which may have never been seen in public.

I find these closet knives very interesting.  Don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I think there are 5 maybe 6 basic patterns to the depth of the Warther knife universe.  This is clearly wrong.  On display is a one of only four sets ever made of three knives.  One of them is a Bowie with the traditional Warther jeweling.  I hope to find out more about them tomorrow.

Here are a few images to enjoy.  Frankly, if you’re a knife person and you’re within two hours, it would be worth your drive.  Sunday is our last day until next year.

One of the knife vendors specializing in factory new

.

Flint handled knives by Joseph’s Designs

Ohio has some of the most colorful flint in the States, possibly the world.  The patterns are one of a kind and I love look into the handle by way of translucent patches of stone.

The entire knife is under an inch and a half!

Miniatures are hot!  The three or four Jack Hatton had were gone within hours of the opening bell.  You can see why too.

By the end of the day the customers had petered out and there were more vendors than buyers.  This makes for good deals if you know how to bargain.  Sunday promises to be a good day for buyers.

Behind every successful event there is a core group of worker bees to keep everything running smoothly and on course.  One of the many the show can’t do without.

The Missing Knife

I find myself in the same predicament Little Bo Peep did.  Oh sure, I know where my sheep are, but I’m missing a knife.

There are many knives like this knife, but it's not my knife.

I’m not sure it’s lost.  Things aren’t really lost until you stop searching for them.  Just because you can’t find your car keys doesn’t mean it’s time to call the dealership and order a new set.  It just means you have to look a little more.

I’m missing my Spyderco Salt.  I got a fully serrated Salt several years ago when they first came out.  I remember packing it in a salt paste to see if I could get it to rust.  After 12 hours of keeping the paste moist I cleaned it off and found a clean blade.  But I wasn’t surprised.  It’s a Spyderco.

My nightly knife ritual varies.   During the week when I wear the same pair of pants to work, I leave the knives clipped in the pockets.  (Yeah, I carry two knives, different tools for different jobs.)  If I go out that evening or even if I don’t, two different knives are clipped into the after work pants.  On laundry day I have a different ritual.  Everything comes out of the pockets and goes on the counter.

My wife has a simpler ritual on laundry day.  She checks my pockets because she knows I’m forgetful.

Superbowl Sunday morning she discovered I was missing a knife.  I did a quick tally (Let’s see…one SOG, one CRKT, one Endura, two byrds….Where’s the Salt?) and found out I was missing one.  Call out the dogs!!

The seat belts in our cars tend to catch the clips when I get out, but the knives usually end up next to the seat.  Checked both cars, no dice. 

We were at a restaurant last night and it’s easy for a knife to work out of your pocket and onto the seat or floor.  We called, no dice.

Checked the couch.  I’ve lost and found knives there before.  No dice.

Checked the clothes basket.

Checked the counter, again.

Checked the workbench where I sharpen knives.

Checked the cars, again.

Patted the pockets of clean pants I just put on, just in case.

NO DICE!

I have one more chance.  I remember it at work on Friday.  I could have put it down by the microscope, or on my desk.  I don’t remember opening any packages, but that doesn’t mean too much.  I tend to forget the routine daily functions.  I hope I never get in real trouble -- (“Where were you the night of Dec 22 when Col. Mustard was killed with a candlestick in the kitchen?” The detective said.  “Ahhh, I don’t know,” I reply.)

Sure, I can order another one, but it won’t be the same.  I used that knife to publish an article.  I got it from Joyce who has greatly helped me in my fledgling attempts to publish knife articles.  For a lifeless lump of steel and plastic, it was a great comfort in my pocket.  It was a touchstone to so many people and events.  A new one wouldn’t be the same.

What to Celebrate in January

January is almost over and that means two things: The Dale Warther Expo Knife Show is coming up and January is almost over.  

To celebrate this winter milestone, my wife and I went to Russo’s (http://www.russoskitchen.com/) for dinner.  Let’s be honest.  It’s not cheap, but well worth it for a once-in-a-while treat.  I recommend the Navajo Taco, but you are forewarned: If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen and away from this dish.

What’s it like?  It’s a 90 mile an hour head-on collision between Creole and Southwest cooking!  The staff has very little control over the hotness of the peppers used in the recipe.  The wise diner asks, “How hot is the taco running recently?”  Enjoy!

We’re closing in on the Dale Warther Expo.  http://knifesearch.blogspot.com/2011/01/getting-ready-dale-warther-memorial.html  I’ve ordered knives for the table and now I just have to wait for their arrival.  Frankly, the show is a conundrum to me.  I want to sell quality knives and I’m willing to make a little less money to get a good knife in your hands.  But most of my customers seem to want three dollar knives.  There is by definition no such thing as a quality $3 knife!

I could sell more knives and make more money with junk knives, but I know they’re junk and you should, too.  If you depend on them, they will fail you. 

The Warther Expo has the potential to attract customers looking for quality knives, but if I overstock, those knives will not sell later at the gun shows.  It’s tough line to walk, so there isn’t any sense in complaining.

Personal note

I got the Spyderco Citadel I always wanted.  I approached the new owner (remember they bought the bag of knives?) and we settled in to negotiate the sale.  It was a tremendous bargaining session that degraded to arm wrestling and ended up with a spitting-for-distance contest, but I got my knife. 

Now can I carry it?  The police officer I spoke to just shook his head.  “Murky, very murky, the law is, young old Jedi.  Own you may, but neither sell or buy can you.”  (Yoda mode off!)  He suggested his department was more interested in activity and intent.  Of course, there is this if-you’re-not-noticed, you’re-not-noticed strategy.  If you use it in self-defense, you have more than enough problems, so carrying an automatic knife may not be of any significance to you at that point.

On the internet front:

My wife found a link on how pocket knives, specifically Gerber autos, are made.  I have always had a fascination about how things are made and I think this video is very interesting. 

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/science-channel/40579-factory-made-military-knives-video.htm

At the end of the video the narrator explains how this knife is just too deadly dangerous for us civilians to own.  Apparently how you open a knife is the defining feature that makes a knife deadly.

Last words…………………

Do you know who this person is?   

During toast to China's president (What?) Hu Jintao 19 Jan 2011

Sure you do.  It’s Hillary Clinton.  Up front I should say, I don’t like Ms. Clinton.  I think she’s a carpetbagger and that clinking sound you hear are skeletons rattling in her closet.  Real skeletons, not just bad acts.  But nobody without a trial deserves a photo like this.  It was taken by a professional news agency and frankly, they should have destroyed it.   

Treasure at the Gun Show and I Was There!

It was a pretty good weekend, knife related. I was at the Medina Gun Show and managed to sell a few knives and I had a lot of fun talking to people. Everything was going great and then a fellow walked up to me and said:

“Do you buy knives?"  He was holding a big, torn glossy shopping bag in both arms.

I used to say no, but now I say “Sometimes, but I’ll be happy to look at them.” He handed me the bag, and I was expecting low-end Frost and Iron Warrior. I can’t tell you how surprised I was. The bag was filled with unused Spydercos in excellent condition. He had a wonderful selection of both new and discontinued models.

I have to admit, I immediately wondered if they were stolen. I’ve never seen such a treasure trove. He explained he was a collector and wanted to sell them as a lot.

He had a Citadel 83mm Spyderco Auto.

CPMS30V steel, aluminum handle, 3.35-inch blade, 4.8 ounces of comfort

I fell for the Citadel’s blade shape. The grip and blade are just right for my hands and I really think they have the best positioned release and lock.



The round gray button is the release while the sliding switch is the safety.

The only thing that could be better would be a small button safety and a current size beveled release button in the present locations. This way you could just slide your thumb over the safety and onto the release in one smooth motion. I’m a big fan of smooth, continuous motions. Let’s not be herky-jerky when working with tools.

Actually he had two.  I’ve only seen them at the Spyderco booth at the SHOT Show - where I couldn’t get one to write about for love nor money. I mentally added the prices and figured he had at least $1000 of knives there.

“How much are you asking?” I asked.

“What would give me?” He replied and added, “I know what they’re worth.”

I just don’t carry that kind of money with me. So I walked him over to my friends who buy and sell knives. After they dickered a bit they came to an agreement and money changed hands.

How much did they pay?

Sorry, you don’t get to know that. But I think they did well.

What did the old fellow have?

A partial list includes:

Police, plain edge C07

Citadel, C119P

Cricket, stainless steel C29

Dragonfly, plain edge C28BK

Native 3, plain edge C78

Scorpius, plain edge C87

Poliwog, plain edge C98

And perhaps the holiest knife of all,

The D’Allara Rescue.

9/11 found NYPD Officer John D’Allara on the phone to Spyderco. “I need knives, rescue knives. The searchers don’t have the right stuff. Can you help me?”

Of course they did. Who wouldn’t? People from all over the USA drove to New York City to help after the Trade Towers collapsed.

John climbed into the debris field and starting passing out the much needed knives. An unstable steel plate slipped free and crushed John.

As I understand it, Spyderco recovered that plate and used some of the steel plate in the building of each D’Allara Rescue Knife. And when the steel is used up, the D’Allara pattern will be retired, never to be reissued. I can’t think of a holier knife than that.

Well, actually I can, but Osama bin Laden hasn’t been captured….Yet!

Getting Ready: Dale Warther Memorial Expo

It’s been a hard day and a long drive home and the Muse has taken the evening off so I’m typing solo.  I think he’s out carousing again.  When he gets back I can smell beer and sawdust.  It doesn’t bother me too much, but I’d rather be out with him than at work.

The last couple days have been interesting; I put two knives up for auction on eBay.  I wanted to help out a friend who wanted to sell them, but didn’t feel comfortable doing it online.  

The pink Delica with a plastic clip had a reserve price and the bidding just, and I mean just, made the limit.  Spyderco hasn’t made a plastic clip knife in quite sometime.  This one was squirreled away in a dresser drawer and never carried.

The other was a nice NRA knife made by Benchmade.  I was hoping it would go for a little more, but my friend is happy with the sale.  I like the knife, but the position of the lock made the knife, in my opinion, difficult to thumb open.  Still, it’s made in America and a Benchmade to boot.  What’s not to love?

I thought both knives were worth more than the winning bid but I’ll concede you have to find the right buyer.  I am also reminded of the sign I saw at a flea market:

“Why is my stuff sh*t while everyone else’s sh*t is stuff?”  

I’m not sure it makes sense, but try selling stuff and I’ll bet you come to agree with it.

It was exciting to anticipate the bidding.  Most of it happened in two phases, one right after the knives got posted and the other in the last 10 minutes.  There is something addicting about watching the auction.  Every time you check you expect the bid or the numbers of watchers to increase.  When it doesn’t happen you worry and second guess yourself. 

 

Ahhhh, but let the price increase and it’s drinks-on-the-house happy.   During the last three minutes you’re constantly refreshing the screen, like a down-on-his-luck gambler sticking quarters in a Vegas slot machine.  We both are convinced this time will be the one.  Wow!  That’s a lot of excitement over a sale.

Speaking of sales - -  The Dover Knife Expo, now named in honor of Dale Warther will be this February 12 and 13 at the Dover Armory (2800 N. Wooster Ave., Dover, Ohio).  Use the link in the sidebar for WRCA for more information.  There will be a nice selection of used, new and custom knives on display and for sale.

I’m stocking up on knives for the upcoming show in Medina, OH this weekend.  So I came home to find the following waiting for me. 

I'll take one from the right, two from the middle and one from the front row!

  

It was a lot of work to get everything priced and entered into the inventory sheet but my wife helped me and it went fast.  I’m not really complaining about it.  You see, it was a lot like Christmas all over!

Cutting Down the Highways

It comes as no surprise that many traffic accidents are the result of divided attention.  Look down to change the radio settings and if someone steps out from between parked cars, you’re in trouble.  Many states have made it illegal to talk on a cell phone or text while driving equating them to driving under the influence.  Ohio tried to pass legislation outlawing texting and driving.  Unfortunately this didn’t pass.

Everyday on my migration from work to home I see evidence of texting and driving.  You can too if you look for it.  Watch for the slow but steady drift into another lane combined with the jerky head bob as the driver looks up to confirm he or she is still on the road.  This activity is occasionally punctuated by the texter jerking the car back into its lane.

But I saw a topper the other day.  It was a man driving an SUV big enough to have its own zip code with his elbows.  No, he wasn’t handicapped, well not physically at least.  He was holding an orange in his left hand and cutting into it with a knife held in his right hand.  See what I mean about how he might have another type of handicap?

I resisted blowing my horn at him to see if I could get him to cut himself.  I was afraid he’d lose control of his metal juggernaut and kill someone.  He still may have.

My wife just got a new knife.  Free!

She was our local supermarket and they were passing out promotional knives.  I’m not going to tell you who made it; I don’t want to give them any publicity.  It’s called Paring–Partner.  It sports a surgical stainless steel blade so dull that if it was used in surgery you’d have a valid malpractice claim.  It was so dull I’m not sure it isn’t really a spatula.

It's sooo dull and it isn't even sharp!

I probed around with a magnet (this stainless is magnetic) trying to find out if it has a rattail tang.  I think it’s a partial tang blade simply molded in plastic.  It’s made in China, and the retail price is $5.00.  I don’t know if anyone would buy this knife at five, but it does suggest reasons why I have trouble selling good knives.

My Hero

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Say goodbye to 2010.  It wasn’t a horrible year, but Lord knows it wasn’t a great year, and greet baby New Year 2011.  Good Luck to us all!

I have a new hero for the new year.  No, it has nothing to do with a knife, but it does have something to do with those irritating people who think they don’t have to follow the same rules as everyone else.

Now I’m not talking about wearing white socks with black wingtips or sneaking a 40-minute lunch when everyone else takes 30.  Those things affect you and not the people around you.  Zoom ahead in the closed traffic lane and then cut into line so you don’t have to motor along at 15 mph like everyone else and you deserve the one finger social salute.  Still, it’s a minor bump on the road of life.

But now, endanger a plane full of people by not complying with the lawful orders of the crew, I think you should be taken off in cuffs and prosecuted. 

So when the teenage boy decided he didn’t need to turn off his iPhone on takeoff as instructed by the cabin attendant he moved into that special class.  Now I’ve been told by crew members that we have to turn off electronic devices because during those dangerous moments of take-off and landing there could be interference with the communication and navigation of the plane.  True or False?  I don’t know, but the minor inconvenience in exchange for getting off the plane at my destination seems more than reasonable.

Should an evacuation be required after a hard landing, that hard plastic case could bounce off someone causing a head injury and making an already bad situation worse.  At best, you would have only one hand if necessary to help rescue yourself, delaying others.

So when this teenage rebel without a brain decided he was special, Russell Miller acted.  He “Gibbs” him.

You know, that open hand slap administered to the back of the head to tell you to wake-up and make better decisions.  The iPhone was turned off.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/12/29/idaho.plane.incident/index.html?hpt=T2

Unfortunately, Miller was arrested when they landed in Boise, Idaho.  So much for the western myth of the lone man standing up to wrong and people standing with him.  They arrested the wrong fellow.  The teenager should have been taken off in cuffs.

I urge Mr. Miller’s lawyers to move the case to the jurisdiction I’m in.  Give me a shot at the jury pool and I’d find him not guilty and pin a medal on him.

Strong words?  Maybe, but are we sheep or a nation of people who know the difference between right and wrong and support right? 

KNIFE FRONT

There’s a comedian who claims humor is all around us and we just have to look for it.  He's right.  Look and you will find.

Last year a distributor sent me a 13-month calendar with nice advertisement photos of knives and knife brands.  The last page is January 2011.  It sports a nice Blackhawk auto-knife, the CQD Mark 1 type E.  It’s a nice knife sporting a black AUS 8 blade in a high friction handle.  It’s marketed at the military and police, but even with the auto feature, a fine knife for civilians.  (None of your backtalk. - - Sometimes we’re not too civil ourselves.)

It’s lying on a suppressor (AKA silencer) and visible are the words “Front” and an arrow.  Well, it makes sense; it could have female threads at both ends.  But there’s more, the next line down says “Towards Enemy.”  I never thought we needed to remind people which way to point the gun.

Happy New Year and stay pointed on target.

Fine and Fancy Knives at Christmas

Another Christmas has arrived and departed and on the whole it was pretty good.  Not to say it couldn’t be better, but Lord knows it could have been worse.  I was with family of which most are friends; the food and drink was good, and the weather was good for traveling.  We were all warm and had homes to return to and jobs waiting for us today.  Having spent two Christmases in the last eight years unemployed I cannot tell you how nice that is.

I had a chance to handle a spicy little knife from Santa Fe Stoneworks.  The handle isn’t stone (surprise!) but dyed wood.  It’s from their Kaleidoscope collection.  Santa Fe still has a few pre-bankrupt Camillus brand 3-inch lockbacks which they are using up.  It’s a nice knife, especially since you can get it for less than 50 bucks.

Santa Fe Stoneworks Kaleidoscope

 

I was waiting for my mystery knife.   The clues consisted of a generic policeman and a woolly mammoth.  My Spyderco Police model with blue and green dyed woolly mammoth molar grip arrived!

Hurray!

It arrived as a fully serrated edge and not the plain edge I ordered.

Booo!

Molar from a woolly Mammoth - amazing, just amazing!

Still, it is a spectacular knife.

 Banging on the Door

Had a minor incident the other night.  Banging on the front door at twilight brought me around to the side door.  A fellow with a hard sell about shoveling and a calcium chloride treatment tried to convince me I wanted his services.  I wasn’t interested, but he didn’t want to take no for an answer.

One of my concerns is the “criminal interview.”  It’s like a shark bumping into you to determine if you’re lunch or another shark.  His hard sell felt like a shark bump.  Of course, standing there with a sharp CRKT Crawford/Kasper folder in his blind spot (with my thumb on the stud) made it a lot easier to bump back.

As my friend Tom says, “No blood, no foul.”

Lanyard Making

My wife has gone back to her oval-hole Benchmade Ascent.  It was made with an opening stud as well as a round thumb hole.  She has both the round and oval hole versions.  She has also discovered how nice a lanyard can be for retrieving the knife.  Since I like to do knotting and such she asked me to make her a lanyard and I was happy to do so.

First we picked out the colors and the pattern (square or spiral) and I went to work.  A lanyard should be fitted to the person and knife, so I started, first with a fitting to make sure the lanyard would lie flat when the knife was in her pocket.

Size does matter!

After a few trial and error starts I got the size of the loop on the knife right and then we were off to the races.

I’m reasonably happy with the way it turned out.  So is she!

A Christmas Wish - With an Edge

This year I’m not asking for my usual Christmas wish of Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men.  I’ve been asking for this for over 40 years and I’m still coming up short on the request.

This year I’m asking for Understanding, Prudence and Fear.

Understanding so that we understand the other person and they us.  From understanding we can begin to solve our problems or at least minimize our conflicts.

Failing understanding, I want prudence, the gift that lets us ask about the outcome of our intended actions.  Maybe then we will think more about the last drink for the road, planting an IED, or launching an attack.  All of which would lead to a better world.

No one should live in fear, but maybe a little fear about the consequences of our actions might make us a little better off.  Whether it’s building an IED, repeating a nasty story about your boss, or the decision to make your holiday money at gunpoint, a little fear about blowback might give you pause to try something else.

Christmas is a schizophrenic holiday.  

For many it is the beginning of a cycle that celebrates an opportunity to connect with our God.  For many of these same people it’s a time to indulge in lavish gifts and Dionysian bouts of eating and drinking.  Economic factors have forced decisions on many people to celebrate the holidays in what they must only consider as unnatural restraint, while others ponder the crushing weight of bills due in January.  And still there are those who choose to make the holidays a time to connect with friends and family. 

Mix all these people together; add the uncertainty of the New Year, spice with enough snow and cold to make doing anything difficult, and you’ll understand why the holidays are so tense.

Despite all that, have a Merry Christmas, and don’t take anything too seriously.  Nobody gets out of this world alive anyway.