View Liquid Gold Glacier Water

Fresh water is only 3 percent of the earth's water. Most is locked away in glaciers.
[With the huge growth in human population, that makes an ETF (electronically traded fund) like PowerShares Water Resources PHO a good long-term investment.]
Here are some my June 2008 family vacation photos and videos of Glacier National Park where that fresh water (and the plant and animal life it creates) lives and thrives and reminds us Who is really in charge of this unique, water-blessed planet.
When we were riding horses for 4 hours through the Park, my horse's saddle was not cinched correctly. The Appaloosa I was on did not care for that and began to take off, bucking me sideways. Seeing I was going down and could hit a tree or the ground, I choose the ground. It then ran and bit my wife's horse which ran into the forest.
Rather than hit trees, my wife jumped off her horse and landed on her back. The horse then ran in fast circles and she had to jump out of it's path. As in all emergency management, sometimes you have to choose the least painful way to survive which is not always the ideal way.
On the white water trip, the waves that strike the boat are powerful and can upend you at any time. Fortunately, we had an experience guide who directed the boat, and us, to adjust it to the shifting currents and around the various obstacles.
Glacial National Park is a biologically diverse and rich natural world that has to be seen to be believed. I wish you all that chance someday to experience it's glory.
In the meantime, here are a few snapshots from my family's visit.

STC Philly Visual

St. Michael the Archangel

St. Michael the Archangel of Poplar Springs, MD

Mystery

Always, there is the mystery

that confronts you everyday.

An angel appears,

or Christ visits,

no one is sure to this day.

But a Protestant farmer

in remote Poplar Springs, MD,

hears him make a request:

"Please allow a small group

of Catholics to worship

in your farm house living room

and celebrate the Mass

from this Sunday forward.

I will be back to help them."

Against all logic,

the farmer does as requested.

A small gathering starts

Mass is celebrated.

The mass goers wait

for the Archdiocese of Baltimore

so far away in 1846 miles

to send the priest who visited

the Protestant farmer…

but no priest appears.

So they write the Archdiocese

to ask when the priest who visited

will return to say Mass for them.

But the Archdioceses, so heavy,

like the government , with bureaucrats

replies that they know of no priest.

Like the government,

sensing opportunity

to extend its territory still further,

in the earthly realm,

and concerned about the flock’s

sacramental and spiritual salvation

it eventually does send a priest.

and Mass is celebrated

Sunday after Sunday.

The Protestant farmer,

aware of the mystery,

converts,
and gives his land

to the One,
Holy, Catholic

and Apostolic Church

A small church

is built on his land,

and named "St. Michael the Archangel"

Despite the church building,

and the other church buildings

added over the years

the territory added

to the earthly kingdom

the mystery continues.

The mystery always continues

to confront you

in the birth of a child,

the death of a parent,

the disease of a spouse,

the love of a spouse,

the survival of democracy,

the horror of the jihadi's war.

It is a mystery,

but one that with faith,

eventually gives the answer

in this life

or the next.

October 6, 2002

Written in the St. Michael's parking lot about the mysterious origins of the founding of St. Michael the Archangel Church in Poplar Springs, MD

Learn about NIMS and an EOC

For more tips on prepardness, check out incaseofemergency blog.
An EOC (Emergency Operations Center) is found in over 4,000 counties in the United States of America.
Every day plans are made, volunteers are trained, plans are exercised, equipment is purchased, technology is mastered, communication systems are upgraded, mutual aid agreements are signed, politicians are briefed, emergency personnel are trained, and contacts are established...all to reduce the loss of life and damage to property due to man-made and natural disasters. History is the record of such events. EOCs are the anodyne. NIMS is the theology.
Volunteer for CERT, learn about NIMS, save lives and protect property. These are pictures of my EOC and its support facilities. Yours will be different, but the mission is the same. Together, we can protect, preserve, and continue this great American experiment.
On 5.23.2008, I took my ICS - 100: Introduction to ICS class. The instructor was Lenny Yox (he's the gent in the tan shirt). Like so many in this field, he brought years of experience fighting fires, saving lives, setting up emergency operations, understanding human nature and history, and wisdom to his tasks. There are tens of thousands like him throughout this great land, and I thank God they are out there.
He made the point that 99% of what you will deal with is due to nature and only 1% the jihadi's, which is the same percentage when I used to do civil defense work in the 80's with natural disaster being the majority and the Soviet nuclear threat the 1%. However, like then, the greater threat in terms of catastrophic damage is those who hate us and want us dead.