Happy New Year

 Wishing all my friends a year filled with love, happiness, peace, and joy. 

Evening Meditation

Touching base.

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810. black coffee

Papa sat the deck, steaming black coffee in a white porcelain cup. He drank and breathed in what appeared to be one motion, his chest rising and receding in step with the gentle waves reflected in his steel blue eyes. Our house faced north. The back deck oversaw the sweep of ocean south. Sometimes I would join him in these early hours, two half-moons taking watch. He would smile and I would sit church quiet with my coffee milk and dangle my slippers above wooden planks laid with his calloused sweat.

We never talked beyond a simple good morning and the mandatory nodding of heads. As if the words could only be released at the proper angle. Walking was for talking he would say. But I could never quiet my mind and what from the outside seemed peaceful was, for me, a deafening emptiness. Somewhere out there was a another man. But what he loved was not me. And no amount of sitting was going to change that.

to know not

Night comes of starry softness, this whimpering of day, this orange draining of inkwell gloaming. The wind too has rested. Rain is coming. Cows lie in open fields of dewy slumbered wildness. Even the owls betray by silence, this place of knowing that neither hoot nor howl, fin or feather can stand against. Still, we build our houses and dream our dreams. God bless our bliss to know not the sun's notching, to know not tomorrow's absence, not of her sweet release from our daily concerns.

Happy New Year

2011 was a year of wonder, joy, challenge and change. New city, new job, new house, new car and the return to family while embraced in the arms of the love of my life. Wishing all a Happy New Year!

Lake Charles 9/11 Commeration

I am honored to be a small part of Lake Charles' Commemoration of 9/11. The program starts at 6:00pm on Sunday near the 9/11 Memorial on the Civic Center Grounds. Should inclement weather prevail, the program will take place in the Buccaneer Room and will last approximately 30 minutes. Join us if you can. Below is the program schedule:

– In Memoriam –

We reverently remember those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.

At this time let us also remember the countless acts of bravery and kindness that followed.

Russell Keene

Killed in the attack on the World Trade Center

Kevin Yokum, USN Killed in the attack on the Pentagon

— Program —

Welcome........................................................ John Ieyoub, President–Lake Charles City Council

Guy Brame, President–Calcasieu Parish Police Jury

Presentation of Colors ................................ LCFD & LCPD Honor Guard

Pledge of Allegiance.................................... Boy Scouts Troop #5

Prayer............................................................. Pastor Todd Schumacher Chaplain, LCFD

Pastor Steve James Chaplain, LCPD

National Anthem......................................... Melissa Vaughn

Introduction of Guests................................ John Ieyoub

Remarks......................................................... Chief Keith Murray, LCFD

Chief Don Dixon, LCPD

Reflections..................................................... Ed Nelson

Beulah Yokum

Moment of Silence

The Day Our World Changed........................ Trée George

Written by Dr. Kirsti A. Dyer

Remarks......................................................... Mayor Randy Roach

City of Lake Charles

Amazing Grace............................................... Piper-James Dean

Benediction................................................... Rev. Dr. H. Leon Williams

Taps................................................................ Dave Scott, Ricky Peters