Author: Ira Paine

The Saga of Miles Forrest

by Ira Paine, Posted on
The snow was still falling hard and fast, at least the wind wasn’t blowing hard or it would be a real blizzard.  I looked back over my shoulder to see if Molly was still following me.  I was riding Hawk and we were blazing a trail through the deep snow so that Molly could get to the diner.  I had my doubts if anyone would be out, but if so it would be a refuge for those who did venture out in the snow.
       A person who didn’t know it was Molly behind me would have thought it some kind of animal following me.  She was all bundled up in coats and blankets.  Thankfully Hawk didn’t mind real bad that he had to get out of his stall and help me.  The train had made it to Silverton, but it was stuck there until who knows when and the telegraph lines were down also.  It was a real humdinger of a storm.
       I tied Hawk to the post at the back of the diner else he might try to go back to his stall and threw some hay out for him.  I’d get him back shortly, but wanted to help Molly get the stoves going.  She’d put on a stew and coffee for anyone who might be out.  It was cold inside the diner; Molly went to the range in the kitchen and I got a fire going in the stove in the eating area.  Soon the room began to warm and there were coffeepots going on both stoves.
       While Molly was working in the kitchen, I went around to light the lamps and candles.  If the weather wasn’t so bad it would have been kinda cozy.  “Miles, see if you can shovel out front,” came her voice from the kitchen.  I went to the front door, scraped away the frost to peer outside.  There was no way I would be able to open the door from the diner so I headed back to put on my coat and out the back door with a shovel that was sitting next to the woodpile.
       For the next hour I worked on clearing the walkway in front of the diner and then a path out to the street.  Looking up and down the streets I didn’t see any of the other businesses open except there were lights on at Solly’s, but he had an apartment above the store.  Way down the street I did see Moses Vexler out trying to get the door open to the livery.  I hadn’t seen snow like this since the time I spent the winter up north of Meeker helping Juanita and her mother through the winter.  
       With that thought I stopped for a moment to rest on the shovel.  I hadn’t thought of her and that winter for a long time.  I referred to it as the winter of the wolves, and a lot of other things.  It was rough going that winter with the snow, the wolves, and the extreme cold temperatures.  Right now I couldn’t recall their names, but I had to kill some renegade men.  That was also the time I made friends with Lot Smith.  I gave a grunt thinking that I still hadn’t got over to see him to hunt wild horses.
       “Miles, hurry up or you’ll be frozen to that shovel,” the sound of Molly’s voice broke into my thoughts.  “Finish up and get back inside!”
       From what I could see I was finished.  I wasn’t about to shovel the road, nor the whole boardwalk.  Enough was good enough so I headed back to the diner, this time going through the front entrance.  I put the shovel over in the corner at the front entrance as I reckoned I’d probably need it again then headed back to pour me a cup of coffee.
       Molly came to join me so I filled her a cup up as well.  We both sat close to the stove and I added another log to it.  “I’ve got some biscuits in the oven; when they’re ready I’ll make some gravy.  We might as well enjoy our coffee.”
       “I’ll eat breakfast then take Hawk back up to the stable.  He’ll be wantin’ to eat as well.  It’s one thing to stand in the cold when sheltered, another altogether out in the open.  At least the snow is keeping the temperature from fallin’ too low, but when it stops it could get down around freezin’.”
       We sat and chatted for quite a spell when Molly got up to get the biscuits.  Right as she left, the door opened and Doc Jones walked in.  “Smelled them, did yuh?” I asked.
       “Smelled what?  Oh, the biscuits…” he replied coming to the table and taking off his coat.  “Ever seen a snow like this in December?”
       “It’s bad, but at least not terrible cold,” I remarked.
       We stared at each other holding the hot coffee cups in our hands.  I think we were both thinking the same thing when Doc remarked.  “I wonder how much snow they are getting up in Silverton?”  What he really meant was, “I wonder if Charlie is all right?”
       “It will definitely be a lot more than here,” I replied, then stood to refill my cup from the pot on the stove.  “I’m going to check on Marta right after breakfast.”
       I had just filled my cup and set down when Molly came out with two plates filled with biscuits and sausage gravy.  “Thought I heard Doc out here.  I suppose you already ate,” she said teasing him with a plate letting it linger near him.
       “Stop it Molly, and put that plate down!”  She placed it in front of him then went back to fill a plate for herself.
       We had almost finished eating when the door opened and two bundled up creatures walked in.  They looked our direction then walked on over to the next table from us that was close to the stove.  Worn out, out of work miners from the looks of them as they began to unwrap themselves.  Molly was already getting them coffee…

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

It was a mighty fine thing setting there getting the feel of the night, a kind of stillness like you never felt anywhere else but in the far-off wilderness. There was no vanity here, nor greed, there was only a kind of quietness.”

                    –Louis L’Amour  (Treasure Mountain)

       “Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.”
                    –Luke 2:8 (NKJV)
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Words–it’s the main way in which we communicate.  They can change or they can mean different things in different places.  I remember when we first moved to Florida years ago people talked about “gopher races.”  Now, to me, I had in mind those pesky little rascals that run around and live in holes in the ground.  Oh, but I was wrong.  A gopher was a turtle and they would place them on hot payment and watch them race against each other.  Where I lived, something you used to put goods in was a sack, but back East it was a bag, yet my Grandma called it a poke.  Sometimes, especially in our postmodern world, words have purposely been deconstructed to mean something altogether different than originally intended.  The carol I want to share with you this morning has some words with meanings that have changed over the years.
       It is one of the earliest carols written and is over five hundred years old.  It was written in the fifteenth-century for and by the common people.  It was sung for hundreds of years before it was actually published in the nineteenth-century due to Queen Victoria.  Before we look at the carol, I want to draw your attention to a verse of Scripture, “And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him [Gideon], and said to him, ‘The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!'” (Judges 6:12, NKJV)

            God rest ye merry gentlemen,
            Let nothing you dismay.
            Remember Christ our Savior
            Was born on Christmas day,
            To save us all from Satan’s pow’r
            When we were gone astray
                       O tidings of comfort and joy,
                       Comfort and joy,
                       O tidings of comfort and joy.

       This was the plight of man–we had gone astray and Satan was destroying mankind.  Yet the Lord appeared to give comfort and joy.  Now, let’s look at that very first line.  We cannot possibly understand what it is saying with the meaning of the words in today’s vernacular.  “Merry” had a very different meaning than just being “happy” and “carefree.”  It actually meant men of “great” or “mighty valor.  A mighty ruler was a merry ruler, thus “Old King Cole was a merry old soul…”  A gentleman was a person who was “gentle” meaning he was a person who took “appropriate action.”  Now look at the word, “rest.”  It means to “keep” or “make” and the punctuation should be slightly changed.  That first line in today’s English would read:  “God make you mighty, gentlemen.”

            From God our heavenly Father
            A blessed angel came.
            And unto certain shepherds
            Brought tidings of the same,
            How that in Bethlehem was born
            The Son of God by name:

            “Fear not,” then said the angel,
            “Let nothing you affright,
            This day is born a Savior,
            Of virtue, power, and might;
            So frequently to vanquish all
            The friends of Satan quite;”

       Contemplate those words.  The composer, unknown to us, had a good grasp of the Christmas story.  Instead of a helpless babe in a manger, look how he describes the Lord–“a Savior, of virtue, power, and might,” then he tells of His purpose in coming to earth.  The shepherd, at first terrified, then in awe, listened to the words of the angels and hastened to Bethlehem.

            The shepherds at those tidings
            Rejoiced much in mind,
            And left their flocks a-feeding,
            In tempest, storm, and wind,
            And went to Bethlehem straight-way
            This blessed babe to find:

            But when to Bethlehem they came,
            Whereat this infant lay
            They found him in a manger,
            Where oxen feed on hay;
            His mother Mary kneeling,
            Unto the Lord did pray:

       Mary knew a little of the story because of the angel Gabriel.  All through her life she would add tidbits of truth to what she had been told and what happened to her on that blessed night.  She knew, I believe, that this child was to be the Savior of the world (whatever that meant at the time), and she was comforted.  There had to be an inner peace within her heart that night as the shepherds came to visit.
       
            Now to the Lord sings praises,
            All you within this place,
            And with true love and brotherhood
            Each other now embrace;
            This holy tide of Christmas
            All others doth deface…

       The world scoffs at the meaning of Christmas.  They demean the words of the prophets, the songs, and the message of Christmas.  It was the same when this carol was written, but has become much worse.  The world would seek to sully Christmas; dirty it up, make a mockery of it and change it to mean something entirely different.  Therefore, o man of God, o woman of God–God keep and make you mighty…  Go through the season with faith and joy and comfort in your hearts and minds.  Say–“Mighty Christmas!”
            
(reference, Ace Collins, “Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas, Zondervan, 2001)

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

The sun shone bright and cold and only the round-and-round growl of the coffee grinder, the rush of a steady wind, and the crackling of the hay sounded in the lean-to.”

                         –Laura Ingalls Wilder  (The Long Winter)
 
      Have yurself a seat, Pard.  Coffee’s on the way.  Say, did yuh ever read that book by Wilder?  Brrr, I read it years ago, and it made me cold jist readin’ it.  They went through some times, not jist Wilder, but all those who helped settle this great country.  Blood, sweat, tears, and death was the norm.  Hands were blistered and calloused, but they toughed it out.  Now we have those twinkies and snowflakes tearin’ it apart.  
      Here yuh go–ahhh, take a whiff of that aroma before yuh start yur slurpin’.  Breathe deep, close yur eyes–now take a sip.  Watch it–it’s hot!  This coffee sure ain’t for that woke crowd, yet it’ll sure get yuh woke up fast.  I saw where the alphabet folk got their way with their blusterin’, threatenin’ and degradin’.  I say degradin’ because they tear down the dignity of mankind, of God’s creation.  A small event with that transfer of criminals?  Nah, it could be the sound of another nail in the coffin.  They’re provokin’ a patient God with their shameful ways.
      But ‘nough of that nonsense.  Yuh like that coffee?  Folks from Coldspring sell it (Spring Ridge Roasters) and let me tell yuh, Pard, they’re good folk.  They’re genuine, not like some I’ve known.  Which reminds me, Christmas on the Square is today in Coldspring.  Weather the cold (ha, ha) that’s a joke, Pard.  We’ve had to turn on the air conditioner and it’s December.  Now me and my toes don’t relish cold weather anymore, but winter is supposed to be at least chilly.  I might have to meander down an’ see if there’s something I need to buy.
      I remember back in the time of my childhood lookin’ at the courthouse bein’ decorated and there was the annual Christmas parade.  Sometimes it would be cold and snowy, but the doin’s went on regardless.  It was all done to bring a smile to a child’s face.  Now they want to mutilate and confuse them.  Christmas should be a time of innocence, but there is evil lurkin’, sinister folk doin’ the biddin’ of their father the devil.  Yuh be doin’ yur part to keep Christmas in recognizing the birth of our Lord an’ Savior.  
      Best be on yur way, I’ve got to clean up and go downtown.  Think I might buy some more of that New Guinea coffee.  Don’t have to worry none ’bout sliddin’ off into the ditch because of snow, but I’ll be lookin’ for yuh anyway jist in case yuh forgot to check yur cinch and fell by the wayside.
       Vaya con Dios.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

If a person knows they are being directed by the good Lord, they can handle whatever comes their way. Call it faith, call it courage, call it stubbornness.”

                         –D.C. Adkisson  (Winter of the Wolves)

       “Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.'”
                         –Luke 1:30 (NJV)
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Does God play favorites?  Not in the sense that we would use that term, but if we read the words of the Prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…” (1:5) we might conclude that He has put in place individuals for special purposes.  So, I ask the next question:  “Why Mary?”  What made her so special?  Why was she chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus?  Questions that we really cannot answer, but there are some things we know or can conclude about Mary.
       She was not the choice of random selection.  She came from a small town, and did not stray from her humble beginnings.  When one reads the wonderful “song of Mary” we see her humility shine throughout.  We know she was a virgin to fulfill the prophecy of the birth of Christ.  She was a young girl and at first was troubled when then the angel Gabriel appeared.  He said she was “highly favored,” that the “Lord is with you” and that she was blessed. (Luke 1:28-29)  Gabriel further reinforced his saying, “you have found favor with God.” (1:30)  For some reason, she was chosen above all the others to bear the Son of God.  “God sent the ultimate Christmas gift, not just to Mary but to all of us.” (David Jeremiah).
       I would encourage you to read and contemplate Luke 1:46-55.  We have insight into this young woman.  She is visiting Elizabeth who is also pregnant with John and when John leaps in the womb of Elizabeth recognizing through the Spirit  that Mary was pregnant with the Son of God, she breaks forth into song.  We see that she is knowledgeable of the Scriptures.  We see that she believes in the God of her ancestors and must have come from a devout Jewish family (Ashley Hooker).  Her faith is seen, not only here in these verses but also in her response to Gabriel, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord!  Let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)
       Her voice rises in praise, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” (Luke 1:46-47)  She speaks of His mercy, His strength, His faithfulness.  Mary is ready to obey, and accepts the responsibility placed upon her; she knows that God has it all under control.  At first she questioned the possibility of such a miracle, but when convinced by the angel and in her heart she firmly follows God’s direction for her life.
       We hear Mary displaying an attitude of thankfulness.  “Mary could have focused on the situation and felt nothing but fear.  Instead, she focuses on the blessing within the turmoil.” (Hooker)  In the midst of this “confusing” situation she is full of trust.  As a young girl (possibly sixteen) engaged (betrothed) to Joseph, who has also to hear from the Lord, she has accepted this as part of her life–being chosen for such a time as this.  We don’t know all her thoughts, her fears, her questions, but we do know that she was obedient, faithful, and trusting with confidence in the Word of the Lord.  I like what David Jeremiah says, “She honored and obeyed the will of her Father, providing His only son a home from which he would emerge to launch the work that would define all of human history.  The child toddled behind her in his infancy.  Then, in time, she followed behind Him–all the way to the cross and the tomb.”  And I might include, beyond to the upper room on the Day of Pentecost.