From Mom's Note Book #5

Intro by Peter Salmond
This I believe will be very fitting for Christmas, because many people miss loved ones during this time, those from being separated by miles and those that are separated through death. We must realize at all times that our life on earth is what we allow God to make of it. He makes things so that...........

LIFE IS NEVER HOPELESS
(taken from mom's note book)

Life is never hopeless,
When there is someone needing you.
Life is never futile, when there is something you can do,
Or something you can say that will lighten someones burden
Or brighten someones day.

Don't give away to loneliness,
Depression or despair.
Just because you find you have
To face an empty chair,
You need to put someone there.

The world is full of people
There is much for which to live
Someone needs you.
Someone one wants the things
That only you can give.

My thoughts on the Subject
Christmas is a time to make new memories, with family and friends, we need to make memories that will count and linger in the minds of those we leave behind when we are gone. Things that will last forever in the minds of future generations. For me, Peter Salmond, one of the memories I have is Dad Salmond sitting in front of the Christmas tree on Christmas Morning and reading to us the true meaning of Christmas from God's word the Bible. Luke Chapter 2, then we could open our gifts.

A Joint Adventure

The Cub Twins

I used to ride a lot with my brothers and my cousins, we did a lot of crazy things together. This time I was not alone. But that did not matter, it was no exception, whenever the Salmond boys were out, they were out to have fun, no matter what they were doing. Well this particular day they were out checking fence and making sure we had no sick cattle at the lease land we used for pasture. When they just happened upon a mother bear and two cubs.

Bears were a pretty big problem to cattlemen those days, so cousin Henry took out his rifle took a bead on the old girl and let her have it. I’m sure he never got her with the first shot, but none the less, when the air cleared she was dead, and her babies were up a tree or two. Two little black bear cubs up a tree without a mother. What were they going to do? Number one, what were the cubs going to do, and number two, what where the boys going to do? They had gone and gotten themselves into a pickle. We may have been a trigger happy bunch, but no one wanted to shoot the baby bear cubs.

Their final decision was to shoot one, and take the other one as a captive, and just see what they could do with a wild black bear cub. Smart, maybe not, but it was a cool idea. So, they roped him, and pulled him down out of the tree, on the end of the rope, and tied all four of his feet together so he couldn't scratch anyone, and throw him onto a saddle in front of one of the guys. Then they all headed for home with cub package. Well, Cubby had a bumpy ride home, and he was about to start a whole new life on the Sampson Ranch. He had a small chain put around his neck at first, and then as he grew, a little bigger chain was put on, just to keep him from breaking loose.

I didn't have to much of a hand in raising him, other than, when my cousins were gone away to the rodeos in the summer I would be asked to do chores, and a part of those chores was, you guessed it, I had to feed the bear. By this time, Cubby was much bigger, and did not like being a captive in the least.

So here was the way I had to feed him. He was tied to a tree on a chain that was about twenty feet long, so his life consisted of about a forty foot radius around the base of that tree. At times his feeding pail would be about ten feet or better inside that radius, and whenever a human came inside that radius, Cubby would attack them. So I had to play a little cat and mouse game with him in order to get him fed and watered every day, whenever I was doing the chores. I would give him just a little bit of food on the side farthest away from the dish, which would keep his attention while I ran around the circle, snuck in up to the dish, pick it up and then run as fast as I could to get out of the way before he finished his snack and wanted to add me to it as well. Once that circus was out of the way, then I could give him his water at leisure as he was busy eating his lunch I had just given him.

Well, now he was getting too big and to hard to handle so what were they to do. He could not be just set free, for he did not have a clue what to do on his own out in the wild, so some hair brain idea had to be thought of. Did I say hair brain, well here is what they decided, put him into an empty truck and nail him into a corner with a piece of plywood, put a load of horses in the rest of the truck and take him to the rodeo and find a new owner for him. But would it work, yeah, someone, given the right deal, would take him off their hands.

So it was, that a group of First Nation guys did just that. They paid a small amount of money for the bear, bought 2 cases of 24 beer and gave the bear all he wanted to drink, got him good and drunk. Then, loaded him into the back seat of their car and took him home. I hope he (the bear) slept all the way home because if not, I would think those guys had their hands full of drunk angry bear.

From Mom's Note Book #4

The Sun Is Always Shining

If we but look, we will always find
That even the darkest day
Holds a little ray of sunshine
To guide us on our way.
We can find it in a friendly smile
Or in just a warm - Hello
We will find it, if we are looking
Almost every place we go
And once we've found the little ways
To let the sunshine through
Will I find there to guide us
In everything we do.

Sent to me from Pat S.

From Mom's Note Book #3

What's a Mother

A mother is someone who knows all of our needs
Our hopes and our dreams and desires
With a genuine interest in all that we do
Someone who guides and inspires.

The heart of a mother is full of compassion
Is generous, kind and forgiving
The smile of a mother is loving and tender
And it adds so much gladness to living.

A mother is someone with infinite patience
Who soothes all of our troubles away
Someone with limitless faith in her children
And a love for them day after day

A mother can make a home out of a house
By being just thoughtful and sweet
By her warm understanding and gentleness, too
That, makes life more rich and complete.

A mother is full of true wisdom and strength
Of loveliness, insight and grace
She's someone whose love we will cherish forever
Yes, -- -- no one can take mother's place.

From Mom's Notebook #2

Help Me As A Mother

- Lord help me to love and to support my children's father.
- Help me not only to hear the words of my child but also his feelings.
- Help me never compare my child with another.
- Help me to allow my child to express the reason for his actions.
- Help me in all that I do to be a good example to my child.
- Help me to guide him in his relationships and to be loving and excepting of his friends.
- Help me to be thankful for the way that you have designed my child.
- Help me to strengthen my child's self image through praise.
- Help me to take pride in meeting my child's physical needs.
- Help me to guide my child in resolving the conflicts he will face in youth.
- Help me to be consistent and fair in my discipline.
- Help me to allow my child the freedom to be what you want him to be.
- Help me in my business to hear my child's needs.
- Help me to be supportive of my child's interests and activities.
- Help me never to expect more of my child then his abilities will allow.
- Help me each day to remember my child in prayer.
- Help me to instruct my child in your ways and to encourage him to see you as a loving Heavenly Father.
AMEN

1 Corinthians 13 taken from Mom's Note Book

Love Changes Things

The weather might be cold and rough
The times be hard, conditions tough
Most of us feel, we've had enough
Love changes things

Are we at odd with spouse or boss
The children cranky, baby cross
Sleep does not come, we roll and we toss
Love changes things

Are there effects from battle scars
Inflation, turmoil, riots, wars
Some things hurt, or bans and bars
Love changes things

Love conquers pains, the woes and ills
It helps in work and climbing hills
Love leads to peace, to joy and thrills
Love changes things

3rd Bear Story

Up A Tree and No Where To Go

When I was very young , I started into the life of a cowboy. One of the things I really enjoyed was riding the range. Kind of like the fly, I was at home on the range. I know my kids would say, “Dad that’s so corny.”

Anyhow, I loved riding out, and checking fence, and checking the cattle, watching for sick ones or lame ones. Sometimes, from time to time, I would find a cow that had just dropped a new calf, and I would have the privilege of working with this small newborn calf. This always was a treat, the idea of new life always gave me a thrill. Today, I rejoice when I hear that someone is born new into the family of God, and have that exuberant new zest for live, as they start their new life in Christ.

The other things, I enjoyed about this, was riding alone in nature. The wind blowing softly through the trees, the birds singing their song, somewhere out there in the midst of the forest. It was so peaceful and quiet. It seemed at times, and many times it was, just me and God, out there enjoying His creation. That was a time when I felt very close to my God.

I, also, was a bit mischievous and I liked to have fun. One day, I was riding along in a patch of new land, the trees had been cleared away, and the new grass was trying to take ahold before the cows came and eat it off too short, or pulled it out by the roots. There was brush piles in long rows, and at times you would come upon a hole in the ground, where the roots of a tree had been at one time, before it had been uprooted during the clearing process.

Well, it was in one of these holes, that I spotted my fun for the day. It was a young bear, about two years old or so. He was down in one of those holes, getting a drink of water, left from a recent rain fall. His head was down and his tail up. It was then, I realized, he did not hear me coming, that he never had a clue that anything, or anybody, was anywhere near him. So I thought that I would give him a scare of his life.

So, I brought my horse into a full gallop, and came upon this bear at a very fast pace. As I approached his drinking spot, I let out a blood curdling scream. Well, I had never seen a bear move so fast before in my life. He was off, he went from 0 to 50 miles an hour, in about two seconds flat. Making a break for safety, he headed straight for the nearest stand of trees. Then, aimed at the biggest tree, he made this gigantic lunge, landing on the tree at about six feet in the air. Then he proceeded up the tree with another five or six big jumps. Then, he turned and looked down at me as much to say, "Ha, ha, you didn’t catch me." But boy, was it close.

I laughed so hard, I could hardly stay in my saddle. He looked so funny hanging up in that tree. He was so scared, and little old me, had scared this ferocious black bear. Or, so I thought, at that time in my life. It was fun for me. And at the time, all I cared about was, that I was in control of the situation, and that I was having fun.

Yes, I was in control, and I was on the ground. He, on the other hand, was up a tree, with no where to go. But, I do realize now, that God was the one that had control, I was just a part of the big picture.

Another Bear story

Barely Prepared
You may not believe this, but one year on my dad’s homestead, we had an oat crop that in places stood over six feet tall. That is until, the bears decided to invade the crop. I think we counted as many as 6 to 9 bears that made that little field their home.

We were poor those days, and we had been hunting bear for a while already, and we had run out of rifle shells. Then one day, dad said to my older brother Chuck, “Go and shoot at those bears again, and make sure they aren’t back in the oat crop. Take the old double barrel shot gun and use it. It should make enough noise to scare them away.” So my brother took the old gun, loaded up both barrels. He put extra shells into his pants pocket and headed away on foot, to scare or hunt bears.

He arrives at the field and walks along the edge of the crop, up to a place in the field where, when working the field, we had to work around a willow bunch. As he walked around it now, he just happened to walk between an old mother bear and her cubs, who just happened to be there as well. They really startled each other, and the old she bear started her advance towards my brother, while he proceeded to bring the old double barreled shot gun into action. As he leveled the gun to his shoulder, took careful aim, and pulled the trigger, not realizing he was pulling the scatter barrel trigger. It goes off and only sprays the old she bear with pellets, and now, she is really ticked off, and continues her advance towards my brother Chuck.

By this time, she was getting a little too close for comfort. So he pulls the trigger for the plug barrel and all he hears is a click. The gun had misfired. Without hesitation, he broke the gun open, the old gun jumped the unshot shell out of the chamber into my brother's waiting hand, which immediately latched onto it and slid it into the other chamber. Snapping the gun back into shooting position, cocked the hammer back. And now, all he could see of the old she bear, was tongue, teeth, and lips. So, in one smooth motion, he lowered the gun down, and pointed it right into her mouth and pulled the trigger once more. The old gun jumped into action, and the old she bear turned tail and disappeared, into the bush, following her cubs, who had been gone for a bit already.

Chuck never waited to see if he had got her or not, the minute she turned tail, so did he. I don’t think he slowed his pace once, he ran the whole half mile home, and never slowed down until he hit the front door of the house. Puffing, and very much out of breath, he tried to relay the story the best that he could. Well, that’s the way I remember him telling it to us. And I remember that as he came through that door, he was still as white as a ghost.

Bears

Bears

When I was growing up we had many encounters with bears. I am not sure which one to start with but I guess the funniest and the scariest would likely be the best. There is actually two that come very close in this category, The one that I am going to start with I will call:

It Was Barely A Bear

This story begins in the fall of the year, very likely late July to mid-August, we, my brother Chuck and I, were out haying a fare distance from home. So we had taken our tent along, it was one of those big cabin type tents, that slept about six to eight people. So we had all of our stuff packed into the tent for safe keeping. Encluding all of our food, pots and pans, dishes and the works.

We had worked hard all day and we were very tired and had gone to bed at a decent time that evening to get a good sleep, so we could get a good start the next morning. We had to get repairs done to the machinery every morning, while we were waiting for the morning sun to burn the night dew off of the swaths of hay before we could start baleing again.

Our cousins were haying just across the road from us, but they were a little farther ahead of us and they were already hauling their hay home. They had taken a load of hay home, and were coming back to get another one, why they were hauling hay all night long I will never know. But they had stopped in town and had picked up some ice cream. Now you must understand, we loved our ice cream very much. It so happened that either they had bought too much ice cream and they couldn’t eat it all, or they were being nice and decided to bring some out for us. I'm not sure which.

But it was 1 A.M. in the morning and we were sound asleep. So their way of waking us was very inventive. Roy, their hired man would act like a bear, and scare our shorts off and then they would give us our ice cream. Roy, being part Indian, could do a real good imitation of a bear.

Here’s how it all played out. Remember now we were sound asleep in a dark tent, but the moon was shining bright outside. Roy comes in towards the tent on his hands and knees, grunting like a bear, he feels along the side of the tent, until he finds where we have a bunch of things piled along the inside of the tent. With a loud woof, and a big grunt, he swings with all his might, smashing into the pile of pans and dishes, sending them flying all over the tent. You can only imagine our fright.

This brought my brother and me, sitting straight up in bed, wondering what on earth was going on. Was it an earthquake or what? It was then, that we saw the shadow of the bear, big and black outside our tent. It was about that time, that he smashed his hand into our grub box, sending things once again, flying across the tent. I almost met myself coming back as I sprang out of bed.

By this time we were getting pretty scared. My brother reached over and grabbed the big butcher knife, that was in a grub box close by. Lifting it up over his head, he then turned to me and said, “Before I take him on with this knife, I am going to yell, and see if that scares him away first”. With that, he let the wildest, and loudest blood curdling scream I had ever heard. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but he said something that showed everyone on the outside of the tent that we were very scared. Whatever he said, made my cousin realize, that they might be in a dangerous situation, if we had a gun in the tent with us, because chances are, we could of shot first and ask questions later.

At that, he, my cousin started to laugh, and then we were ready to kill them. As they came to the door of the tent, and saw my brother holding the big butcher knife, well, the little Indian went almost as white as one of us pale faces. Later, we had a good laugh about it and then, enjoyed some now very melted ice cream, but it still tasted good even in the middle of the night.

Just Face It

Thistles In The Face

Once again it was fall, dad was again doing the job he was supposed to be doing. He was hauling in the loads of sheaves, to the threshing machine, to retrieve the grain from them, and then, store it in a bin. My dad had been working hard all day, had put on quite a sweat. It was a very warm day in early fall.

It was middle of the afternoon, and as dad was bringing in his load, he noticed the threshing machine boss was laying down beside the tractor, and was having a sleep while everyone else was working away running the loads of sheaves through the thresher. So my dad was kind of a prankster anyhow, so he looked back at his load wondering what he could do. When he noticed that he had a number of real thistle bundles on the very top of his load. Perfect, he thought, as I drive by, I will reach back with my fork, and dump a bundle off on top of him, that will fix him for sleeping on the job.

So as the front wagon pulled away, dad moved passed to pull into position so he could put his load through the thresher. And as he passed by the sleeping thresher operator, he reach back with his fork and rolled a bundle off. Well, you would not believe how good of an aim he was, as he looked over the edge of his load to see what damage he had done, he saw the bundle land right up side down and land right in the guys face. The thistle part of the bundle is what landed in his face. Boy, was he ever spitting thistles for a while.

Dad realized that he had just better go about his business and not say a word, and maybe the threshing boss would just think that the bundle had fallen off on its own accord. Believe it when I tell you, that my dad was very happy, that is exactly what happened. The guy either knew that he shouldn’t of been sleeping on the job, or else he just thought the bundle had fallen off by it's self, because he never said a word about it. But he also didn’t sleep on the job right away again.
So he might have had a hunch that maybe, just maybe, that bundle was helped just a little bit.

Chucks Life Stories

Taking A Fit?

I do not know this story real well, other than when my brother was little he developed this habit that if he didn't get his way or something made him up set, he would start to cry, hold his breath, turn red and then send himself into a convulsion. This caused him to fall to the ground, trembling and shaking and trying to get his breath back. This would scare our mother, and being a young mom at the time, she didn't know how to stop this ordeal from happening and was scared he was going to kill himself.

Well, this one day, they were all outside in front of the house doing something in the yard. It was during that time something happened to Chuck and he got angry at the world and went into one of his fitful rages, started to shake and proceeded to fall down on the ground in a convulsive state.

Mom, ran towards him, I am sure wondering what to do this time, that might help her son get over this habit he had worked himself into. As she ran towards him, she saw the rain barrel full of water, just on the other side of him. So she bends down, grabs him by the heels, runs to the barrel and dunks him head first into the barrel of water, and then just as quickly pulls him out again.

Well, guess what? When he came back out of the water, he had his breath back, you might say he was cooled off, but not only was he cooled off, he was also curred, because I understood that he never again through himself into a convulsive state, for the rest of his life.

Now, I do not recommend this treatment for all convulsive babies, but in an emergency, this one time it worked. The moral of the story, if nothing works, use whatever you have on hand to solve a problem that is worth fixing.

Are You A Grouch

The Grumpy Old Man.
Another threshing story for you. This story is told by my dad, about my dad and his days traveling around with the threshing crews from place to place each fall. It takes all kinds of men to make up a threshing crew. Some of them are patient and kind and there are those who try the patience of the rest of the crew. Some good and some bad. Those who can hold their temper and those who would lose it easily. There was good natured men and there was ornery men. This story is about a good natured man and an ornery man.

My dad was young at the time, good natured, but not yet to the place where he had very much patience. Also at that time in his life, he did not have the Holy Spirit there to help him. I can truly vouch for him that he later made that decision and he did receive more patience. I will tell the story as he was at that time.

This takes place when dad was in his late teens, early 20's. He was working on a threshing crew including other members of his family. Also, a number of their neighbors were working with them. This thrashing crew would travel from farm to farm, threshing each other sheaves.

Each crew had a threshing boss, he was the guy that owned the machine or had been hired by the owner to run the machine. Then there was the field boss, he looked after the loading of the sheaves out in the field. Then there was all of the hired hands, these guys came and worked all day hauling the sheaves from the field to the thresher with their own teams and wagons.

One of these old guys was known as the Old Crank, or ornery as a she-bear with three cubs. He drove his own team, just as my dad was the driver of his own team. This old guy was never happy and was always getting down on the other teamsters, was always up-set and always getting on everyones case. Not on their tractor (case) either.

You see it went something like this, All of the teamsters would head out to the field in the morning to get loaded, and the first one loaded would be first in line to unload. Each teamster was paid according to how many loads they hauled in a day. Each man for himself, they would let the team walk along the rows of sheaves and the teamsters would walk along side with fork in hand and put their load on. When you had on a load you would take your place on top of the load and head for the threshing yard. Most of the time there would be a long line up at the threshing machine. Sometimes as many as 5 or 6 wagons at a time. A lot of times the drivers would fall asleep while waiting, and after the wagon in front pulled out of the way, the next guy in line could be caught sleeping. Well if it so happened that Mr. Ornery was behind you, the sleeper, he would hauler and yell and really get on your case, until you woke up with a start and got going up to the feeder of the threshing machine. He would use cutting remarks like , “Come on you sleepy head, get your lazy butt in gear, come on I don’t have all day, get those old lazy plugs going before the sun goes down. Or do I have to come do it for you." And so he would rant on and on, just grating on your nerves.

Dad was one of the young guys that got railed on lots. Usually he would retaliate with a few choice words and then move up to where he was supposed to be, and get unload as quickly as possible, and then get on out of there as soon as possible again. Then he would just carry on about his day, was the normal response.

One day as dad pulled up with his load he noticed that he was third in line. Just guess who was in second place? Well, it was Mr. Ornery himself. Guess what? He was sleeping, as sound as can be and the guy in front was almost done. Dad sat there for a bit with the sun shining down nice and warm on his back, when all of a sudden he got a very bright idea.

Quietly getting down from his load, he made haste in carrying out his plan. He went around his own team, past Mr. Ornery’s wagon load of sheaves and up to Mr. Ornery’s team. He ducked in behind the team and reached out quickly and with one swift movement he pulled the draw pin from the Whipple Tree and stuck it into the sheaves at the front of the load. Stepped back out and headed back to his own team, he mounted his load and prepared to carry out the rest of his scheme. He just sat and waited, watching very closely, for just the right time.

The lead team was now just finished and was pulling out of the way, and his fun was about to begin. Mr. Ornery’s team never moved. So dad yelled, "Come on, you old grouch, get those lazy old nags into place." The old man awoke with a start, planting his feet against the top of the front rack of his wagon and yelled at the old team, who in turn settled into their tugs. You can only imagine what happened next. No, I guess I will have to tell you.

The old team took off, the pole dropped to the ground, the grumpy old man was not very big and with the weight of the team and with their strength, the grumpy little old man was seen disappearing down behind the front of his own load, being drug about fifty feet before making his feet again and getting his team stopped. Needless to say this grumpy old man was very quiet for a very long time after this. I'm not saying that dad was right in what he did, but he never had to listen to that grumpy old man any more. The grumpy old man never asked and no one ever told who was the guilty party that pulled his draw pin.

If I ever become a grumpy old man, I would hope that someone would try and become my friend, and in so doing, maybe having a chance to take my grumpiness away. Helping me realize that the whole world isn’t out to get me. That I could actually be someone who could be nice, if I really wanted to be. In my dad's later years, I believe that is what he would of tried to do.

The Heart Of The Matter

A Merry Heart

A joyful heart is good
Like a medicine
Soothing out the rough spots
Soothing away life's woe's

Bringing a light to the face
Making it shine
Let your voice be heard
Dancing before the Lord

Yes, laughter is good for the soul
Bringing healing to the heart
Sorrow may last for a night
But joy comes in the morning

True happiness is yours
Just reach out and take it
Then let it show on your face
Don't walk around with a dim light

So laugh my friend laugh
For we are laughing our way
All the way to heavens door
Where we will live forevermore

Once we have entered through........

By Peter C. Salmond

Short Memory Not That Good

If you think you may have heard a story like this before, well you would be right, if you have been following my blog for a while. This was one of the first things I wrote about. Yes, this is the same story, sorry I forgot that I wrote it before.

So it is that, I haven't written about my memories for a while, well here it is again, and I personally will never forget it. Maybe you won't either after hearing it twice. I hope you enjoy it again as much as I enjoy telling it. Watch for more in the days ahead. New ones, for sure. If this doesn't get comments, I guess nothing will. (It's age, I think.)

BLOWER, That’s His Name!

I am the age where I don’t remember much about the threshing days, throwing bundles, filled with thistles and all. But this is a story that I will never forget. It was the day our cat Blower got his name. This was a very funny story, but believe me it was not funny for the cat. I am sure glad cats are supposed to have nine lives otherwise old Blower would have been a goner.

You see, as fall was approaching, we needed to get ready for threshing time. So the old threshing machine had to be checked over from top to bottom, grease nipples had to be greased and all of the chains had to be oiled. Then finally, we would finish by running it for a while just to supple it up a bit and clean out it’s insides of all the chaff and dust and dirt that had collected over the year. Just to clean it up a bit more before the first threshing day came along.

We had brought a few sheaves in just to run through the system to make sure everything was working. I remember watching as my dad and brother pulled the team and wagon up along side of the old tractor we had on the threshing machine. Then, dad started it up, the old machine ground and squealed and finally jumped into motion. What a racket it made as all of the belts, chains, wheels, slates, cogs and paddles started moving very slowly. It was always a fascinating event in the year.

Chuck was about to put in the first bundle and that was when, what I both seen and heard next will never leave my memory. It was a ball of fur, a grey hair ball, a chunk of gray mass, no it sounded like, and it was a cat. It came flying out of the blower spout where the straw usually came out of. But this time ahead of the straw came a cat, that had obviously been hunting mice inside the old threshing machine. He must have been sitting on one of the blower paddles, because he was not even hurt but I won’t ever forget the size of his tail. The hair on his tail was standing up all over his body and his tail was almost half the size of his body. He was flying through the air like a torpedo and if I didn't believe it before, I believe it now, that cats always do land on their feet. He hit the ground feet first and moving very fast, never before or since, have I seen a cat move so fast. That cat no sooner hit the ground and he was off like a lightening bolt, streaking off across the yard. In about 2 seconds flat he went from the threshing machine to the barn, and I believe we never saw him for a number of days. When he did make his next appearance, he automatically became known as BLOWER the cat .

Friendship

May I call you friend
Come winter, spring, summer or fall
A friend walks with me through them all
So, may I call you friend

May I call you friend
Come rain, wind, snow or hail
A friend would walk beside me up every hill
So, may I call you friend

May I call you friend
A friend would face what I face
Yes, they would do them all
So, may I call you friend

Dear Lord, I do not ask a lot
But may I ask for at least one
Or at most a few who would dare come close
Oh Lord, may I have a friend so true

This friend or friends, I would ask
That first off, they would be
Loyal and faithful to You
And then they would be a friend to me

So, may we begin a friendship
Is the cost too high
Death for the Lord
Was what He was willing to pay

To start a friendship with me
May I call you friend

By Peter C. Salmond

Friend

What an honor to be called friend
What a name to live up to
To gain a friend you first
Must be a friend

A friend will listen
When my heart is breaking
And will never blame me
For having a problem

A friend will stand up for me
When an enemy attacks
Taking the brunt of the blast
Shielding me when I am weak

A friend will rejoice with me
When I succeed at a hard task
But will also cry with me when I have failed
Then lending a shoulder to cry on

A friend is not afraid to give
To me wise counsel as needed
To keep me from making
A fool of myself

A friend will risk making me angry
If the need arises
In order to make things right
A friend is a friend at all times

The good, the bad, and the ugly times
A friend will be there through them all

By Peter C. Salmond

Revival Of The Heart

Fill this heart of mine
With an everlasting love
Loving those at hand
With your love

Lord, fill this heart of mine
That I might show that kind of love
To those who need their souls rekindled
With your mighty saving love

Yes, fill this heart of mine
Rekindled, aflame, a burning from within
A fire ablaze and hard to contain
With a far reaching gracious love

Fill up my cup to over flow
That I might be a harbor, a cove
A resting place in a time of need
Were the weary can drink in your love

So Lord, lift me up, let me stand
Leading the way to your throne
So many may come to the promised land
Making these choices their own

By Peter C. Salmond

Under His Wings

Under His wings, under His wings I rest
It is there, I find refuge from all my sorrow
My heart hungrily turns to the best
For under His wings it finds it can rest

Under His wings, oh, under His wings
When this earth has no strength for my healing
There I find comfort and strength through the tests
For it is there under His wings I can rest

Under His wings, yes, under His wings I rest
For my God holds me close in His arms
As I lean on His everlasting breast
For it is under His wings that I rest

My friend, rejoice always, pray without ceasing.
In everything give thanks, for this is the
Will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16, 17, 18

By Peter C. Salmond

The first morning after I went to spend a few days with my oldest sister who was very sick and had just gotten home from the hospital. I had some quiet moments and as I thought about this poem I had just wrote, I knew it was so true in many of my own experiences in life. This became my prayer for her, that she too, would find her strength and rest in God, protected under the shelter of His wings.

A Poem From A Daughter

In a Note to HER dad a daughter, lovingly said,

"Dad"
There are so many great memories of good time we had when I was growing up
Even though I'm grown and have a life of my own now, I still cherish the memories of the good times with you.
So much of how I live my life and of who I am today is a result of your influence.
You've always been one of the most important people in my life.... and you still are.
So, even though we may not spend as much time together as we once did, I want you to know that you're always with me, right here in my heart.... where you belong.
Written by Larry S. Chengges

Here is her Fathers Response

Dear Daughter
I too, have so many fond memories, of all the fun times we have had over the years, as you were growing up. But now you've done gone , and done it, grown up I mean. Making a life now of your own. But you can count on it, I will always remember those good times, I had with you. So much of who you are, has a lot to do with mom and me. As to how we lived our lives before you, and who we are today, will make a big impact on you in a very big way.

You will always be my favorite daughter, yes my one and only. You were that then, now and always. Don't you forget it! So even though your not sitting on my knee, as much as you once did, I want you to know that there will always be a place for you there, on my lap that is. But where my heart is concerned, you will always be there. Even though we are hundreds of miles apart. You will be there where you belong, very near your daddy's heart. P.S. I love you. Written by your Dad with love on March 26/98

The Joke Is On You

I believe my Grandpa used to tell this story. It was about a sheep, a male sheep, or otherwise known as a Buck/Ram, I believe he especially was called a Ram, for a very good reason as you will see as I go on.

The story goes something like this. A neighbor had a flock of sheep, in that flock was an old Ram, the owner had trained him to charge (ram) from the time he was a little lamb chop. You see the whole little game was to trick the lamb into charging, and then send him flying head over heels. He now was no longer a lamb, he was a full grown bald-headed daddy sheep.

It was a very funny peculiar sight to watch one of these fights. What was peculiar was how the fight happened and with whom. My understanding is that the fight went something like this. My grandpa's neighbor would get down on all fours in the middle of the barn yard and begin to paw dirt up over his back with one of his hand and making a deep 'baa'ing sound. Well, making this charging stance would always get the old Rams attention and it would make him mad, after all he was the head sheep around here.

It never ever took very long before the ram would hear or notice him, and without delay he would come a charging at his opposition who had challenged him. As the ram got with in striking distance the old neighbor would duck his head down to the ground, just in time so the ram couldn't stop and every time the old ram would go head over heel across the yard. And every time he would get up shake himself off and go back to whatever he was doing before the fight began. But always, you could tell by his actions and the look on his face that he was saying to himself, “Some day, mister, some day, just you wait and see. I will get you back ” But Mr. Neighbor was so proud of his record, in all of these years he had never lost a fight. Everytime it went off without a hitch.

Then one day in late fall, maybe around Thanksgiving an old friend of the neighbor came by to visit. He had been gone for many years and had come home for Thanksgiving, and had just dropped in, as the custom was back then. It happens that as they were 'chewing the fat', Mr. Neighbor asked, “ Have you ever seen our fighting ram?”

“No,” was the reply, “what does this ram fight with, another sheep, a dog or what?”

“Me,” said Mr. Neighbor, “come on out to the field and I will give you a demonstration, as to what my old ram can do, or not.”

So after coffee and cake, the two families took the team and wagon and headed out to the field. In the fall of the year the farmers always had their livestock out grazing on the stubble fields. After getting out there, everyone lined up along the fence to watch the show. Oh my, and what a show it was going to be.

Mr. Neighbor crawled through the fence, and as he had done so many times before, got down on all fours and started his game. Got into a charging stance and started throwing dirt over his back, and made that gruff 'baa'ing noise down in his throat. Getting the rams attention was easy. The ram turned, lowered his head and charged without even thinking twice about it. He got within striking distance, Mr. Neighbor ducked his head as he had done so many times before, but this time Mr. Neighbor, jabbed a straw up his nose, something he had never done before. Mr. Neighbor threw his head back up, this too was something he had never done before, and never before had Mr. Sheep's head ever met Mr. Neighbor's head either, so you might say that they were now going to meet head-to-head for the first time ever. As was said before, THE JOKE IS ON YOU MISTER Neighbor. He who laughs last, laughs the longest.

I think you can only imagine the rest of the story for there is really no words to describe it, how embarrassed he must have been with all of the spectators looking on. All I know is that I would not have wanted to be him at that very moment. I believe for the next few days you might say he was a real Mr. Sorehead.

The Submissive Wife

I’m not sure where this story came from but I heard it as a boy and I have never forgotten it. It’s a story told about a man who needed to fix the roof on his house. It needed new shakes.

Now his house had a very steep roof, a man could in no way just stand up on this roof, he would need some assistance of some kind. He put it off as long as he could, but the little lady kept after him, finally one day early in the morning he decided to fix it, and have it ready for winter, while at the same time pleasing the little woman.

He decided that his assistant would be his trusty old lariat and the bumper of the old Model T
Car. With a couple twirls of the rope he proceeded to throw the rope easily over the peak of the house, tying the end still in his hands to the bumper of the car. Then climbing to the peak of his house he tied the other end around his waist. Now he was safe and secure.

Then, with shake in one hand and hammer and nail in the other he began his days work. He was so pleased with himself, for by the noon hour, he was almost finished the near side of the roof, after lunch he would have to move the old car back over into the driveway so he could then do the far side next to the bush. As he was coming down for lunch he noticed that he was almost out of nails. But then, hunger over took him as he smelled the wonderful food cooking indoors, he forgot all about more nails. He headed straight to wash up and then straight to the table, he was a hungering.

Not remembering again until he had gotten back up on the roof and had secured himself and started nailing away once again and then he remembered, "Man I need more nails." Not wanting to climb all the way down again, he moved over the roof to the chimney and cupping his hands together, he yelled down the chimney. “Dear, could you run down to the hardware store and grab another couple pounds of 3/4 inch coated nails for me, I want to get this done today and it sure would save me a lot of time if you could do that for me."

The little lady, being the submissive wife that she was, said, “Sure honey, I’ll go as soon as I finish the dishes!" Five minutes later as she was leaving to get the nails, she hollered up at him, “I’ll be back as quick as I can dear." With that she jumped into the old Model T.

As she started the noisy old car up, she never heard her startled husbands' cry as she drove away. As he crested the peak of the house he gave one last desperate yell, but to no avail. He was dragged kicking and screaming all the way to the edge. Then before she shifted gears into second gear he managed to jump or lung off over the edge by the help of the rope and the car, which was now picking up speed. Well, he managed to land on his feet and managed to stay on them for a little way, but his wife now gaining momentum, he lost his footing and down he went, as he was pulled down the driveway kicking and screaming all the way.

The little lady, with her mind set on the task at hand and the urgency of it was not looking back. Therefore never saw hubby lose his feet and that he had started to be a real drag at this point. About four blocks along her way she happened to look into her rear view mirror and couldn’t believe her eyes, what was her husband doing, being a tag along, then she realized he had no other choice.

Quickly stopping she ran back to where her husband lay badly browsed and bleeding with a number of broken bones and many lacerations on his face and body, not to say anything about major road burn. She untied him and helped him into the back seat of the model T, she then drove him to the hospital, where he would spend the next two weeks.

While he was in there, she had to finish the roof, also she had remembered what he had said about getting the house painted on the inside and out before winter as well. So she decided to surprise him and get that all done while he was away. So she set to work, for the next week and a half she was like a busy little beaver, painting all day long, cleaning the brushes out and then dumping the clean up down the outhouse hole. This went on day after day. It was oil base paint I might add. She had done a wonderful job and she was very proud of herself. She had it all done with a couple days to spare so that the fumes would be all gone by the time her hubby got home from the hospital.

On the day she left to go and get her husband, the fumes were almost gone, the house and yard were in great shape and everything was set. Oh, he would be so pleased with her. She was right, he was so happy, he loved her so much, there would be new rule in their house from this day forward, he said, "From now on there will be no more smoking in the house, we want to keep it smelling nice and new as long as we can."

So that evening after he was settled back in his room, and was ready for night, he went out to make a pit stop before going to bed, and to have his evening fix. Entering the outhouse, he parked on the throne as he had always done, pulled out a stoggie and light up a match, lighting his stoggie he then threw the still burning match down the hole.

The next thing the little lady heard was a very loud explosion and then a blood curdling scream and as she ran to the door she saw hubby rolling around in the grass trying to get himself unlit , and then he laid still, with only a few whiffs of smoke still sifting up from his motionless body.

Needless to say, she was on her way to the hospital once again, this time he had third degree burns of a different sort. But still, even if she wasn’t nearby at the time of the explosion, well just the same it all happened by her hands once again. All because she loved him and was a very submissive wife.

A Muddy Day At The Corral

It was Spring, only it was miserably wet and cold, the corrals where a mucky mess and they only got worse as the day got longer. We were tired and the cows were getting very miserable and did not want to cooperate.

When we worked in the corrals doing cattle we each had our job to do, that we were to do during that day like it or not. Mom was the secretary, as we needled the cows, read their tag number, screamed out the number above the bawl of the herd.. and then Mom, believing that she heard us right would then write it down in a record book .

The place where she sat, was always nice and dry, but not always warm. In the little barn we had set up right close to the head chute where we would catch the cows so that we could do work on them. In the end of the barn was a window with a lid, which could be flipped up for such a time as this.
Chucks job was to read the tag numbers, take off the horns, put the tag in if the animal didn't have one or had lost it, and do all of the heads up stuff.

My job was pushing the critters up the shut and playing around twisting tails and causing a distractions while Chuck done his thing at the other end. You might say I got the tail end of the deal. Many times I got my feet stepped on and sprayed with water mixed with a lot of other brown looking stuff. (POOOOOp) One time in the spring I remember getting the brownish green stuff directly from the source. I had ran up behind her and kicked her in the bottom, I should of known better, that sure did get her going. If you know what I mean? Well she got going alright. With a long juicy squirt of poop right down the front of my unsnapped western shirt. You got it, it ran right down my bare belly, and you can imagine where else Yuk!!


The girls and Bubby would make sure the chutes were kept full. They were younger and always done what they could to help out. They were not very old, but even at their young age they could put in a pretty good day.



Dad always gave a hand where ever he was needed. Those years he was fighting cancer and it was tough on him and he couldn't do as much as he once had, but he was always there for us. He was our guide and teacher, he made sure we were taught so that we would know how to work so we could look after ourselves when he was gone. He never stopped pulling his load of the work and always joined in with our fits of laughter when ever they happened to start.


Well, like I had said earlier, things were getting pretty muddy around the old corral, and the old cows were getting tired of being pushed around. So things were getting a little tense. As Chuck let another old cow out, I pushed an old black Angus brute up the chute to the head squeeze, and with a rattle and a shake of the head gate, a clatter and a bang she was caught. “There you old cure”, I said, “that’s as far as you go for now.” As I gave her another big kick just for good measure.

Now it was Chucks turn, he could start his doctoring the old gal. But she would have none of it, she through her head this away, she through her head that away, she through her head up, she through her head down. But as I said, she was going no where special at the time. A couple of times she and my brother almost met heads, and once or twice she almost throw him off his feet.


Now back in those days Chuck had a bit of a temper as did I, so watch out anybody or anything that was close by because there would be fur flying if you no what I’m a get-en at if anything got in our way. I was right there a watching close being yanked back and forth as I tried my distraction tactics, on the tail- end. I held onto that old poopy tail for dear life just a twisting and a shouting, not sure I was doing any good though. But what next? The old girl wend down on her knees and started to pray, and my brother by this time was every thing but......... Praying-that is.


I need to stop and let you know that the owner of the cattle we were doctoring was helping out as well, and watching all of the commotion. As this hole episode unfolded his eyes got bigger and bigger with anticipation as to what would happen next.


All of a sudden Chuck lost it and with a big swing of his foot and a scream that would of curdled milk, he kicked the old bag (cow) right squarely in the side of the head. As his big boot met her face a large piece of mud mixed with all of that poop and what have you, fleeewwwwww off of the toe of his boot and went spiraling to wards that open barn window where our mother was setting keeping books.
Just as the mud was passing through the open window, mother opened her mouth to yell something to Chuck, but you know what none of us are sure to this day what it was she was going to say. Because it was about that time that the spiraling clump of mud and all of it’s added ingredient entered mothers mouth . Well you have never seen anything so funny in all of you live long days. There was a spitting and a sputtering going on like you have never seen before. While she was spitting and sputtering, the rest of us got into one of those laughing spells, that is all of us, but the owner of the cow. He was as serious faces as can be, for a long time but when he seen no one else had stopped laughing, he to caught the bug and we all had another belly jiggling laugh. Including mom, she laughed too once she got the mud spit out all over the little barn walls. Let me tell you, that was one year we didn’t have to chink any cracks in that barn.


But the owner could not believe that mom wasn’t mad, and there was no cursing or swearing going on at all, just a lot of laughing. He said, “ I have never seen such a family as this before. In most families this would have caused a big fight. But not you guys, you just laugh. Well none of us likely thought at the time as to why that was, but I know now it was because we loved each other and Jesus God’s own Son was very present in our home. So I know it was God who should have gotten the glory that day. It was because of the love of Jesus, that is why we are like we are.


I know it was almost dark when we finished that day and as we sat around in the little line shack that evening eating supper, the talk would very often go back to the not mud in the eye episode but to the mud in the mouth and we would all burst out laughing again.


We as a family had fun at what ever we done, whether it was work or play, mind you there wasn’t much play so we just played while we worked. It was a lot of fun. There are many a story I could tell that relates to the corral at the Neeley Lake Co-operative pasture. Maybe as this book goes on you may just hear a few more.

The Barrel Jump

I was born when I was very young, and from that day on and before dad was the manager of a Cooperative Community Pasture, running about 1200 head of cattle every summer. The Neeley Lake Coop Pasture was where I got my cowboy training on the job. So because of that I started riding at a very young age. We had to ride every day in the pasture, checking the cattle for sickness and checking fences and so on.

I remember riding with my mom the most, and with dad when he was able. Dad was sick lots those days and so never rode as much as he once did. I had two brothers and four sisters, I remember riding a lot with them as well. My oldest sister was away from home already so I only knew her by her married name and from going to visit at their place. My oldest brother and I rode and did the most things together, more than I did with the girls. But even when my youngest brother came along I even got to ride with him a bit.

Well, I told you all of this to tell you that it was from these experiences together that these following stories derive from. After riding so many miles together and experiencing many adventures together, I figure a fellow should have just a few stories to tell. So the first one is one that I will call...............

THE BARREL JUMP

We were members of a 4-H club and we trained our horses to do different activities in our spare fun time. One of those activities was teaching them to jump over things. One of the things we had them jumping was two 45 gallon drums sitting on the end with a pole across between them. On this particular day my eldest brother Chuck was riding his horse Chub and I was riding old Shorty, Meachy was riding Dusty, Charlie was riding Skip, Marbles was riding Rudy and Bubby was riding on Socks.

We were all having a ball trying to get our horses to jump over all of the different obstacle's we had set up. All of the horses were doing really good on all of the jumps, except for mine, every time I came to the barrel jump he would, instead of jumping it, dodge it and would almost dump me off on my head. This had happened a number of times and I was getting very frustrated with him, finally Chuck said, "Get off the old brute and let me see what I can do with him." After all big brothers could do anything, so he would make him jump it.

So I got off and he got on, and was going to attempt to have Shorty jump over the barrels this time and not around them. Now you have to get the picture here a bit before I go on, my older brother is eight years older than me, he is taller and has longer legs, he is in his twenties and I am not quite a teen yet. Get the picture - long legs, short stirrups. Well, needless to say he didn't take the time to lengthen the stirrups, there he was perched up on Shorty like a jockey, ready for the half mile open and was about to make him jump close to a four foot jump.

Chuck rode out a little ways, back from the barrels and turned his mount around and charged full speed towards the barrel jump. He was fully expecting Shorty to dodge around the jump as he had done with me so many time before. So Chuck now poised and ready was he for the steed to bolt when to his surprise he did not, instead he arose to the challenge and jumped that pole that was in front of him, but Chuck even jumped higher than Shorty did, for as Shorty lunged over the pole, Chuck arose from the saddle and went as high as his little short stirrups would let him go and then came down head first over the head of his mount, Chuck landed and rolled first and then Shorty landed a second later, missing Chuck as he went rolling across the ground out of harms way, away from the pounding hooves of the steed he was riding. You had to be there to see how funny it looked, he was like a large frog being hurled through the air.

I don't think I had ever seen dad laugh so hard, well he laughed so hard that he sat down on the ground and just hooted and hollered and the rest of us joined in. No man or animal was hurt in this altercation, just Chucks pride was hurt a little, but proud of the fact that he did get the old horse to make a successful jump in the end.

I don't remember if I personally ever got that horse to jump over that jump again or not, but I can only imagine that I did because we didn't hardly ever stop trying until we succeeded in what we had started out attempting to do. I also know that I taught a lot more of our horses to jump and had a lot of fun doing it.

A Day In the Life Of A Handyman

The morning actually went pretty good, finished up the tub surround in the trailer I was working at, repaired the step and then started on the toilet and the shower it's self. That's when everything fell apart and nothing worked out, so at the end of the day I had the toilet fixed, I think, and the plumbing all taken apart, ready to start putting the new shower fittings in, but that will have to wait until Monday morning, then it will be a new day and the start of a new week. It will all go better then, I'm sure. But today was a very long day.

I can hardly wait until Wednesday, we are taking a few days off and going to visit our grandchildren in Albert, oh yeah, our daugher and son-in-law live there too, I guess we will visit with them too. lol, I am looking forward to seeing all of them, and to a change of pace and hopefully a little bit of a rest.

Our reno's here at home have slowed to a snails pace, another couple of evenings and I should have the first half of the baseboards on. Then to cut and fit the last half, then a second coat of paint and finally the last and final fitting with touch up painting to make the project complete. Maybe by the end of June we will be almost back to normal around our house.

Anyhow it has been an interesting day.
Hey, invite a friend to church and just see what might happen. I did and he has now been there two Sundays in a row. "Our God is an awesome God." Come on now sing it. I can just hear you now, you have it stuck in your head and you will be singing for the next couple of days.

KO by a Friend

May 31, 2009

I came over a hill along the road and walking along the side of the road was a man. He was carrying two hockey sticks and a backpack. He was hoping for a ride, so as I often do when I am traveling alone I stopped, and pick him up as I have done with many other young men over the years. It wasn't long before I found that this young fellow was hurting from the paths he had chosen in his life. He had been KO by a friend at a nightclub the night before, in a town where they had been playing a floor hockey tournament, so because of that fight he'd had enough and decided to walk home. This was the plan the Lord had in mind for him that day. So Him and I would have a chance to meet.

Sunday morning and I am on my way to a nearby town to preach that bright sunny Sunday morning. God knew I would still make it to the Church in time, even if I did stop to help this young man along the way. I found that he wanted to talk and ask questions about life. He said, "I am at a fork in the road and I have to make a choice, either I go the way of my ancestors or I go God's way."

His question basically was this, how can I be Scottish (or what ever race/nation you want to put in there) and Christian at the same time? If I follow God, will I have to give up who I am as a person? My answer was absolutely not, you may have to let go of some of the things you do, and your friends will likely change some what, but God only wants you to be able to find out who you truly are. He wants to make you better, and stronger as a person. God has a plan for your life, it is our job to walk in it. This begins by having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

He struggled with life and all of the obstacles his enemy the devil places in his path. How do I say no to the devil? Just pray, when you know he is tempting you, pray harder. The devil can't stand it when we ask Jesus to come into our situation, for he cannot stand to be in the presence of Jesus. Then Jesus will give us the strength to say no, because as a child of the King you have access to the throne of God.

My question to this young man and to you, are you at a cross roads in your life? Then pray, read God's word and seek Him, and He will help you chose the right path for your life. He will never leave you nor forsake you, He will always be by your side. All you need to do is reach out to Him.

Lord, Forgive Me When I Whine

My daughter wrote about being thankful for the freedom she has here in Canada, but also the freedom she has to make good choices that will help others and ourselves. As I read her blog, it reminded me of the above title. So below is the article that follows it. With personal thoughts of mine inserted.

Today, upon the bus I saw a lovely girl with golden hair, I envied her, she seemed so happy. When she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle. She had one leg, and used a crutch. But as she passed, she smiled. Oh, my God, forgive me when I whine. I have two legs. The world is mine.

{Lord, I want to thank you, that I can still go for walks with my wife, and with my grandchildren romp and play. Oh yes, and I still can put in a full days work and get a full days pay. Yes, Lord with this author I must say, Please forgive me when I whine. For indeed the world is mine.}

I stopped to buy some candy. The lad who sold it had such charm. I talked with him. He seemed so glad. As I left, he said to me: "I thank you. You have been so kind. It's nice to talk with folk like you. You see," he said, "I'm blind." Oh, God, forgive me when I whine, I have two eyes. The world is mine.

{Lord, I want to thank you for my two good eyes. Your beauty to behold. The scenery that I have seen through out the years, has taken my breath away at times and those memories I have forever more. I have the privilege of seeing the smiles on children's faces as they play, oh to see that joy is really something to behold. Yes, Lord please forgive me when I whine. For I know that the world is mine.}

Later, while walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue. He stood and watched the others play. I stopped a moment, then I said, "Why don't you join the others, Dear?" He looked ahead without a word, and then I knew he couldn't hear. Oh God, forgive me when I whine, I have two ears. The world is mine.

{Lord, I want to thank you for two good ears. For each day that I awake, I can hear the birds singing in the trees or hear the honking of the geese over head. To hear the wind in the trees and to hear the water lap upon the shore. To hear the children's laughter as the play with me, and hear them say, "Grandpa, will you come and play?" Lord, forgive me when I whine. The world is mine.}

With feet to take me where I want to go, with eyes to see the sunset glow, with ears to hear what I would know .... Oh, God, forgive me when I whine. I'm blessed indeed. The world is mine.

{With my feet to take me, my eyes to guide me, and my ears to listen with, I have much to be thankful for. Lord thank you for your many blessing, and forgive me when I whine. I am blessed indeed and the world is mine. All I have to do is step forward and receive it.}

All of the inserts are written by Peter C. Salmond

Striving

"This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe." (1 Tim. 4: 9-10)

I have always enjoyed and loved spring, it is a time of growth and renewal, it's a time of new life and hope. My wife and I often go for walks together along an asphalt path along the North Saskatchewan River, the path starts just a block from our house, at times we have seen these little trees pushing up through the asphalt and reaching up to the sun. Those delicate little plants showed amazing power as they pushed past the heavy weight of the dirt and tar that stood in the way as they came out to greet the sun shinning down from up above.

All through the 20 years of working with children in Bible Camps in the Yukon and in Saskatchewan, I have seen children who have managed to survive and even thrive despite the very difficult home life they came from. Alcohol, drugs, physical and sexual abuse and poverty due to gambling and so on, who are now dedicated Christians, because Christians who cared have planted their love into these little hearts, and they in turn have responded to the gospel of Jesus Christ. These children are those who have strived to reach out for God's love, and now they in turn are giving that same love to their own people and to everyone they meet. I pray often that I, as a father, gave my children the desire to always want to reach out to God and His love, at all times not just in the tough times. My deep desire is to see this message of hope passed on to my grandchildren and on and on for many generations or until Christ returns.

My desire is to renew myself spiritually each day, that my character will manifest strength to overcome the forces that get in my way of growing into the light of God's gracious love.

At times I have fallen and made many mistakes, but each time I turn back to Him in repentance, I am graciously forgiven. I serve an amazing God.

My Ramblings For Today

Blower You Scat
Ever get a swat in the back end with a big paddle and lived to tell about? Well let me tell you about someone who did, Blower. As you may of guessed already, Blower is a cat. He was in quite a tough and tight spot one day. Yet all he was doing was looking for a bite to eat. This story dates back to the last days of the threshing machine days. So before they started threshing that warm fall day, dad started the thresher up to get it all cleaned out, and limbered up and wouldn't you know it old Blower was inside that machine somewhere, and as the old thresher jumped into gear and started to wind up, one of the big old blower fan paddles must of caught that cat a wicked slap on the back end with quite a whack, for what we saw next was a pretty funny sight. We saw a fur ball come flying out of the blower where the old rotten straw from last year was coming out. Well old Blower must have gotten quite a swat, because he came out of there with all four legs spread out like a flying squirrel and his tail was almost as big as his body. You know the saying, "a cat always lands on his feet" well he hit the ground on his feet all right, and he hit the ground running, well he made a beeline for the barn at 110 miles an hour, he was the fastest ball of fur I ever did see. And from that day on he was always known as Blower.

Without A Song

Those who want to sing, will always have a song in their heart, therefore as they sing, their praise will spring forth from the heart and it will be genuine and true. For whatever flows forth from the mouth finds its origin in the heart. Just some things that I heard this weekend that really hit home. Our words can either hurt or heal.

The Golden Girl

My love came floating softly down the hill
My eyes were not responding to my will
She lowered her head, she was shy
I could not look away, even when I did try

So I reached out to her, she was standing there still
My heart was pounding in my chest, I felt a chill
Only five, ten feet away, I let out a sigh
I thought I would surely die

My wildest dream had come true, oh what a thrill
It was so real, I was in shock still
In this place, this moment, this girl, I cry
Face to face with a beautiful girl, I will not lie

Making me feel completely whole, not my will
I reached down to my inner soul, with joy it did fill
As I looked into her eyes, I was floating high
She was the piece that made me a man by and by

I reached out and touched her golden hair, it was like a pill
Nothing can help me now, I will pay the bill
I understand now why I waited for God's timing, I did cry
I don't know what I would do, if I had to say goodbye

I would try with all of my might to her dreams fulfill
God has given her to me for she fit the bill
Yet priceless is the freedom that she gave to me, as I cry
I reached out and took her hand, together we did fly

A beautiful golden haired girl, a trophy to place on the sill
Lord willing we will be together a much longer time still
Silently we sat there close together, she is no longer shy
God had promised He will be with us, showing us why

She has made me forget everything by the thrill
I look back on that day, as being a part of God's will
I could not take my eyes off the one I love
Praise Him, He brought me my golden haired girl

I know that I have Him to thank
And I love you, and I always will.

By Peter C. Salmond

Hi!

Hi, Married to my wife of 30 years, she is my life long partner picked for me by my God. I am a father of four, a daughter and three sons. Now I am pleased to say that I am also the grandfather to 9-10 grandchildren, seven grand-daughters and 3 grand-sons. I was born and raised on a farm in north central SK, I love and always have loved horses, at one time they were my life, now Jesus Christ and my wife and family are what my life is focused on. My overall goal is to be the man that God wants me to be in every way. My prayer is to draw closer to Him each day.

My First Blogging Attempt

I am not sure where I am going to go with this but I thought I might blog my thoughts in some short stories from my past.