So, I’m finally getting around to reading the book that swept across the world a couple years ago. I get behind on some things. I mean, there’s only so much keeping up with the culture around you that one can do. I guess being busy keeping up with the music culture is a big enough task of its own. I like movies. I like gadgets. I like books. I even like being able to converse about the “hot topics” of our day. Of course, I’m talking about the retail chain found in malls all over this land.
Okay, I was kidding about that last bit. I am not mall-core. I am hardcore.
Anyway, finally checked out a book from the library. I’d heard a lot of good things about this book. I heard that God was portrayed as a large black woman. My wife read it and was kind of “bleh.” Not that impressed. She wasn’t offended by the God as a mother idea (which isn’t really the point). She just didn’t enjoy it as a book. She’s an avid reader. I’m trying to get her to read the novel I wrote, but so far no dice.
I mentioned in a tweet that I was surprised by the sad story that served as the background for this story. Wow. I was not prepared for that. Sad, tragic, but unfolding quickly, it’s definitely a “pull you in” kind of plot. I enjoy that. Now I’m at the place where the main character, Mack, is talking with God. Very interesting. Very cool.
I think it’s interesting how mysterious and, yes – even mystical – that faith is. One can say that it’s hard to prove and that’s a good point. I like the reference that God in this story makes about Him not being “male nor female,” which is a biblical reference to the angels. Gender is something God is beyond. The fact that Jesus refers to Him as a Father is a great, tender and affectionate term. I’m sure the topic will be discussed more in-depth as I get further along.
I plan on taking some pictures and showing more of a glimpse what deadline is like for us at HM Magazine. Perhaps Monday I can fulfill this promise with some snapshots. It’s a condensed time of extra effort to finish a multi-detail project. I usually come away exhausted but very satisfied in accomplishing a big goal.
Anyway, today I got a phone call. I’m at home, but Daniel, our latest intern, is staying out at the HM Ranch. This facility is a prison for music lovers… Okay, I digress and kid some more. This place is really a 5-bedroom mobile home on 11 acres out in the middle of Texas. The master bedroom suite has a nice bathroom attached with two sinks, shower and a large sunken tub. I love that thing. Anyway, this makes for good living quarters for an out-of-town intern, which is usually the case. So Daniel calls me and tells me he has a funny bad news story. Our beloved (and sometimes hated) jackass, Douglass, escaped his inside-the-yard pen into the greater yard, but still inside the property. 10 of the 11 acres is pasture right now, with some new oats growing. We haven’t let my neighbors livestock or Douglass graze on it until it gets tall enough for the roots not to be yanked out by enthusiastic eaters. But Douglass actually opened the gate and got out onto the road.
‘What a drag to discover that,’ I think as I imagine what Daniel woke up to this morning. Douglass walked way down the road towards the West, where he grazed on some of the grass on the side of the road. Gotta hand it to Daniel, because he solved the problem before he called me. He enlisted the help of our neighbor to the North – a warm, friendly cabinetmaker named Jose Sanchez. Jose roped Douglass and brought him back into the yard. I’ll have to put up with the hassle of the donkey in the yard (eating trees, pooping everywhere and climbing up onto the porch to steal the cat’s food…) for a while longer until it dries up some more and the Western neighbors bring their livestock (that Douglass is used to) back over.
I found out that Douglass tried to kill one of the Western neighbor’s calves not too long ago. And now these neighbors have two rather large and nasty bulls that will “team up on him” and kill him. So, it’s not safe for Douglass to join the herd next door right now.
A little bit of drama. Now Daniel the intern is Farmer Dan, because he’s actually got some farming experience under his belt now. A little bit of humor, too.
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