Monday, January 30, 2012

Daddy Frank

Daddy Frank was born in 1903 and raised in Midland City, Alabama.  He and Maw had seven children to survive to adults.  They were all girls except for my father.  Daddy Frank was a strong man with an even stronger personality.  If ever he caught you doing something he thought you shouldn't he would put those eyes on you and the fear would freeze you up.  I never knew of him physically disciplining anyone, but we all had respect for him.  Arthritis ate him up later in life, but as a young man, he was a force to be reckoned with.  One night after a few drinks, he and Maw were walking home on the dirt road.  The power company had made him mad someway.  Each power pole that he passed, he would bow up against it and push it over.  The next day, the power company employees were busy putting the poles back into the ground.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Wood Carvers


This is my dog Starbuck, (I am his human) carving a log and the final result.  He had watched me carve wooden Indians for so long that he had to try it.  Pretty good for a beginner, huh?

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Coon



Just relaxing in the sun.  This is a cedar carving of a coon, that I just completed.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Gate

I used to play on this gate.  It was across the dirt road in front on grandpa's house.  This is the one that the red headed rooster was sitting on when he tattooed my bare chest.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

The End of Hell part 6

     Now that the darkness of hell has been turned to the light of day, I can see and understand.  I built that personal hell.  The darkness was my trying to do everything on my own, and I shut the light of God out.  I really needed help with all my problems, but no, I can do it all by myself.  I can fix this, was my attitude.
     God was an important part of my life, but more for the afterlife.  I did not want to include Him.  I would pray for his help, but did not have the faith required to bring the prayers to fruition.  The chains were there to protect me.  The frigid cleansing floods did not know me from a piece of crap.  The chains kept me connected to the rock of my salvation, and I was not swept away with the rest of the crap in my life.  There was a lot of things happening that kept me in the pit of darkness.  After several decades, my business was on the brink of collapse.  I could have weathered that.  My children turned their backs on us.  That was exceptionally hard and the more that I tried to fix it, the worse it became.  My father died in the middle of all this.  My wife and I had to deal with this alone.  My niece Sandie, was a big help during this time.  But with all this crap, I was never able to grieve as I should.
     That old demon, suicide, had pushed me to the edge several times, but the chains connecting me to the rock of my salvation were just short enough to keep me from jumping over the precipice.  I used to wonder how someone could take their own life.  Now that I have been to the edge and back and seen the misery and heartache, I have a better understanding and sympathy.  When I turned and knocked him out, it was the Strength of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ that flattened him.  At that point I was ready for some help and that was the key.  He works when we give up. 
     The vision of seeing my grandchildren was real.  It came about during the Christmas break.  We were able to spend some time with them.  The youngest one spent the day and night and next day with us.  What a glorious time to be alive.  God does not work on His own time as I believed.  This thing called "free will" is just that.  Four years was really a short time to bring four different people together.  Some times a life time is not long enough.  Thank God, that in this case it did not take that long.  Again, I say, What a glorious time to be alive.

Friday, January 6, 2012

The End of Hell part 5

     It was unusually busy today.  Try as I might, there was no sleep to use as an escape.  I could hear long wailing screams, starting off in the far distance, getting louder and closer.  The scream finally touched my ears, hesitated for a moment, raced through my ear drum and exploded into my brain.  The pain is intense, red hot and unbearable.  Just as I think I will lose consciousness, the sharp pain in my foot revived me.  I had been so focused on the scream, that I did not hear the click-clack of sharp pointed feet on the hard rock floor, sneaking up on me.  In a split second the beast stomped on my soft foot with his hard, sharp, pointed heel.  It nailed me to the hard slick rock.
     I had begun to relive some happier times, but hell would have none of that.  There was no escape today.  I tried to move my foot away from the pain, but it was no use.  The pain almost made me pass out.  The more I struggled, the more intense it became.  As I settled down, the sharpness subsided, leaving me with just a dull ache.  I guess the beast grew tired, for I could hear and feel him stir.  He removed his heel from my foot and hurriedly scurried off.  I should be relieved, but I am not.  He was just getting out of the way of a more formidable entity.
     This one I could see, for he had an eerie orange aura around him, and his eyes were glowing with a neon green light.  With the light he was giving off I could see my surroundings.  It was a death pit, with the bones of lost souls, reflecting the orange and green light.  It sent chills through my body.  He did not know that I had spotted him.  As he was sneaking up on me, the putrid smell of death, was making it difficult to act nonchalant.  Nausea and fear swept over me as he came closer.  As he touched me, I swung around with the chain wrapped around my hand.  The weight of the chain and the energy of my spin, caught him off guard.  I connected with him on the lower left jaw.  All the energy continued on it's upward motion to his brain and knocked his ass out.  I knew that I was in deep dookey when he woke up.  I needed help.
     For years I had prayed continuously for help in this situation.  I always thought that He would answer, but I was impatient.  I guess that I was finally ready for help and this time He decided to answer me.  "You have wallowed in self-pity for four years now.  You have tried to fix this problem by yourself and that showed a lack of faith.  Charles, you have done all that you can, now I will take care of it."  At that time, He allowed  me to hear those wonderful words "Grandpa".  For four years, I had not heard those words or seen those children.  In a vision from Him, I saw that we were back together again.  All this worry, self-pity and depression gained not a thing.  Just a colossal waste of time.  With these words and revelation, the chains were loosed, the darkness replaced by light and the walls disappeared.  At that moment hell dissolved and with His help will not return again.