Trains

This past Christmas I had the opportunity to give my dad a gift that would tap into some of his kid-like emotions. Anytime trains have ever come up in conversation while my dad is around, I see him get this nostalgic look in his eye and he will say something very simple and sincere like, "I like trains." I like trains too. I don't fully know why my dad likes trains so much. I think it has to do with childhood though. As I recall, he had a train set when he was a kid. Maybe that's why I like trains too. I had two different train sets when I was a child. One of them was a GI Joe army train, and it came complete with lots of little GI Joe soldiers who were willing to fight with their lives and sacrifice their frail little plastic bodies to valiantly battle against the blue plastic guys who fought for the evil Cobra Commander. I had another train too. But they both pretty much went to the same destination. They just rode around in circles. I always wished I had more track. Lots and lots of track. Enough track to run the perimeter of every room in our little Texas house and duck under a few tunnels beneath beds and furniture too. But alas, I had to settle for the circle. The gift was worth it though. It was fun to see my dad get down on the floor and just watch that little train go around in circles. I mean, it was a pretty cool train. It even blows smoke and has a real whistle. Dad is pretty cool too. I'm glad he likes trains. And I'm glad he likes the train that I got him for Christmas.

I had the opportunity to go on a real life train this past week. Luckily our train didn't ride in circles. It almost did though. It actually rode in a straight line and then back again. But I enjoyed it. While my dad got his little Lionel train for Christmas, my girlfriend Emily got me a dinner reservation train ride on the RJ Corman dinner train in Bardstown, Kentucky. This train ride came complete with a white tablecloth dinner, great service, good company with other table guests, and an entertaining little murder mystery play. I've included a handful of pictures for your own enjoyment. If you ever feel the urge to take your toy train fascination and upgrade to the full-size deal, head over to Bardstown and enjoy a ride and a fabulous dinner. You can even buy yourself a matching toy train in the gift shop when you return!

The White Crayon

Did you ever have one of those fancy boxes of crayons as a kid? Maybe as an adult? :) I loved crayons when I was a child. At some point in my childhood a family member gave to me and my sister who is close in age, a very large set of crayons that had every imaginable color, and then every color that would occur if every imaginable color made love to the other imaginable colors and created a bastard crayon child. Me and my sister both used and abused the crayons, coloring just about everything in site. This set of crayons met their unfortunate demise on the nylon backseat of a 1980's Chevy Impala on a hot Texas day. Who knew that the boiling point for crayon material sits somewhere around 98 degrees fahrenheit?

Did you ever have a white crayon in a crayon box set? I never really understood the white crayon. It frustrated me. It stands to reason that just about every coloring book in the great library of coloring book literature has white pages, or off-white, or dark-white. White. So in what case would I want to use my white crayon? I guess if I had more artistic ability as a 4 year old I may have seen the opportunity to use it as a highlight on a blue sky to compliment a scene with some fluffy clouds. Maybe a cat could have had a more interesting furry coat of cat hair. But mostly I just used the white crayon to attempt to color people who were, well...white. They just never looked right though. The white of the crayon didn't seem to match my whiteness as a white guy. Some of you out there may be a closer match to the crayon.

As I was driving out of my driveway this morning I noticed how white it is here in central Kentucky. We have had snow for about three straight days now, and we haven't had a daily temperature above 30 degrees in at least a week. In short, we have a good stack of snow on the ground. I like snow a lot. Most people don't seem to like it much. I guess because it is inconvenient. But it seems to me that the most beautiful places in God's great creation are also inconvenient. Most of the lovely places I have seen in God's world have required a hike, or a climb, or a drive. They usually aren't found right in front of my doorstep. Well snow is a little inconvenient I suppose. Although me and Nacho (the name christened to my beautiful and glorious four wheel drive truck) seem to do pretty well with it. But I like the way that snow sort of outlines everything in the world. The steps leading up to the front door of one of the nearby Victorian style houses is a bit more interesting because it is outlined with white. The tree branches could all be counted in the dim morning light because they are also highlighted by the thin line of snow that has been carefully drawn along its edge. The bushes and shrubs display a more creative artistic approach, as they are gently sprinkled with patches of white, like the frosting on one of those 6-per package sugar donuts that you get in a moment of weakness on an early morning road trip, or at least the spots that such donuts leave on your jeans during the drive.

I have written too long of a blog in order to convey this one simple point, God is a lot better at using the white crayon than I ever was. It always seemed so empty and meaningless to me. It was the crayon in the box that never seemed as worn down as the reds and blues. Around here God seems to save the white crayon for special occasions with us as well. We only see a good snowfall about three times per-year. But I enjoy the white crayon in God's hands. I will gladly be inconvenienced today in order to let Him continue his wonderful work of art.

Do You Know Any Dead Men?

I suppose there are abundant reasons why a person might choose to start a blog. To be honest, I don't think much of blogs. They seem kind of boring compared to the other online networking tools out there which seem far superior in entertainment value. But, for the time being, this is what we have to work with. Why this blog? I'm not sure. But let me see if I can bring you up to speed on the social developments which have resulted in this endeavor.

I am a person who has struggled with a lot of, shall we say, personal obstacles. Or to quote the pastor of my small but great church community, I might call these obstacles "hurts, habits, and hangups". I enjoy writing. I don't seem to be the only one either. Other people seem to have enjoyed my writing on occasion. So a few years ago I shared with some guys the idea of writing in a more deliberate and purposeful way. I guess if I really had it my way (and I rarely do), I would love to see a greater collection of literature out there for our contemporary world that communicates a greater vision of manhood and masculinity. If I were a thirty year old man in today's American culture, and hypothetically I was completely ignorant of what it meant to be one, I may pick up some masculine publications to research what American manhood is supposed to look like. There are a handful of men's magazines out there that you are probably already aware of. If I were to use these magazines as my primary source of information, I think I would determine these statistics: 10% of manhood is about working out, following sports, and looking as amazingly sexy as my body can possibly manage. Another 10% of manhood should be directed towards becoming a power player in my career, willing and able to do all that is necessary to climb to the top of the success ladder. The remaining 80% of my being should be geared toward sex, obtaining it, perfecting it, and getting it as often as possible.

So you're telling me that, as a man in today's America, my purpose for living is looks, power & achievement, and sex? I suppose that success in these areas would be fun, and I would certainly have a lot to work on. But I don't really believe that these three endeavors tap into some of the deeper desires of a man. What about honor? What about our instinctive desire to defend and protect? What about the romantic part buried deep inside of all of us that wishes to be the knight in shining armor for some epic beauty, and to rescue her heart rather than simply bed her?

The vision of Dead Man Rising may not appeal to men who simply wish to achieve the cover spot on GQ Magazine. But, for some men out there in the world, perhaps there can be a way to explore that deeper quest that seems to have been planted into the core of our desires. Do you want to explore it? Would you make a contribution in writing? Would you make a contribution of your time? Would you make a contribution of your heart in exploring the possibility that there is more out of life then what we have all been told? If so, then keep checking back. I would love to have your listening ear, and your voice as well.