The changes brought on by COVID-19 are having a huge negative impact on businesses all around the country.
In Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee said…
If a mandate is proclaimed to keep everyone in the Volunteer state home, it could mean stricter enforcement of new rules or regulations.
The Mayor of Nashville already asked that bars shut down, but many have remained open. The Governor stated...
A fire on Friday destroyed a family home in Murfreesboro, TN...
The fire occurred just two days after Melissa Ashford lost her husband Herbert who was known by friends and family as Roho.
Ashford told us that she was not home when the fire happened.
Ashford's family believes that someone started the fire on purpose. They told us that the Fire Marshal's investigation looks to be leaning towards arson.
One year prior to her husband dying and then her home being destroyed by fire, her son Zack died. Ashford recalls how he loved football at Oakland High School where he played...
Now, Melissa Ashford is forced to not only pay for her husband to be properly buried, but to also rebuild her life as her home and everything in it was completely paid for - but she did not have ANY insurance to cover everything that was lost, including her home.
HELP Melissa Ashford:
Friends of Mrs. Ashford have set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to pay for funeral expenses.
FULL INTERVIEW AUDIO:
I had a chance to sit down and talk to Melissa Ashford outside the charred remains of her home on Monday (2/17/2020):
I also talked to Mrs. Ashford about the loss of her son about one year ago:
Once upon a time families could travel across America on Route 66 and make stops in small towns along the way for ice cream and burgers.
Today, that is no longer the case as the old roadway is either grown over or completely removed in certain areas.
However, in some small towns you still travel on Route 66 which was once the main artery through a bustling town. While the road may still be the main thoroughfare, the businesses along the way show that towns are no longer alive and well.
Dwight raises his 2 year old by doing one simple thing... Spending time with his son. Dwight is 59 years old and doesn't even have running water, but his son is above average in every category.
Two years ago I visited with a 57 year old man by the name of Dwight Teagarden. At the time, his younger wife had just given birth. Back then, Dwight talked about how important it was for him to be present in his newborn son's life.
This month, I thought it would be interesting to check back in with Dwight, who will be 60 next April.
Hear the entire 7 minute interview below:
Above: Dwight’s “Wall of Love”
There is no turning back at certain points of life, other than to remember the past as opposed to living the past.
Behavioral Scientist Dr. Steve Maraboli has studied life and talks about the difficulties that are presented to each of us, "Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient."
The author also wrote in his book "Life, the Truth, and Being Free," “Sometimes life knocks you on your ass... get up, get up, get up!!! Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them.”
Today, don't look back with regret and what-if's, but instead look forward with what you learned from the past.
The Ministers Treehouse, completely imperfect yet amazingly different… just like those around us. All imperfect and amazingly different.
Horace Burgess a landscaper by trade, purchased a few acres in Crossville, TN in the early 1990's where he decided to build a giant treehouse. But, it was not just any treehouse he had plans for - Horace wanted to build the world's largest treehouse. Needless to say, Horace started to build.
After spending an abundant amount of time on his project, he ran out of building materials and the treehouse came to an abrupt stop.
Life continued and Horace moved on from the idea... until he turned his life over to God and decided he would continue his treehouse project. Horace often commented in past interviews that God told him that if he were to continue building, he would never run out of material - which is what stopped him from continuing his project about 10 years prior. So... he continued.
In 2004 the treehouse was complete.
Today, visitors stop by the treehouse to pray, inspect, walk, rest and vandalize. Horace told one reporter that many do far more damage to themselves than they do to the treehouse. But, the treehouse still stands while some of those visitors are no longer standing due to self-destruction.
The treehouse is closed to visitors today due to a visit by the state’s fire marshal a number of years back. However, the fences surrounding the property don’t prevent the curious who likely sing the tune of Tesla (originally by The Five Man Electrical Band), “Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs. Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind. Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign.”
We are beautifully imperfect, just as the treehouse.
Normally, one would say that a graduation was a packed house. In this case, graduation was a packed homeless camp.
A Rutherford County, TN Judge did something a little different last Friday afternoon...
Judge Barry Tidwell held a Mental Health Court Graduation outdoors at a homeless camp in Murfreesboro. A man by the name of Thomas graduated after a lengthy, yet successful completion of the courses offered by the Rutherford County Judicial System.
Thomas became homeless after his mother died a few years ago. Apparently, her home was foreclosed on and he was pushed to the streets.
Despite living in the woods, Thomas made his campsite as nice as possible by adding landscaping, a rock path, plants deliberately placed and more. His camp was welcoming and clean.
“Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how you're going to live your life.” - Joel Osteen
Today, by the time a child is a senior in high school, 70% have already tried alcohol. 50% will have tried some type of an illegal drug. 40% have smoked tobacco or used a nicotine product. 20% of children will have used a prescription drug for a nonprescription use. Despite these numbers, we look at the broken who live on the street with discourse in thinking, "They choose their addiction which landed them on the street." The relation to childhood drug or alcohol use to adult addiction is overwhelming.
The environment around a teen greatly impacts teenagers choosing to experiment with drugs or alcohol. Violence, physical abuse, sex abuse, emotional abuse all play a role in the temptation of alcohol and drug use. Personality traits such as ADD and ADHD also increase the likelihood of a child trying something that will have a negative impact on them.
If a child experiences trauma at a young age and / or becomes addicted to drugs or alcohol, it will change the growth pattern of the prefrontal cortex. That said, the impact will last a life time. Addiction can soon set in and life is forever changed.
The other side of addiction:
On top of the above information, addiction equals a lack of human “meaningful” interaction. In other words, the addicted may interact with other users, but at a very surface level while clean or sober.
Furthermore, the addicted man or woman who lives on the street usually has zero healthy relationships nor knows how to form one while addicted.
So, could adult addiction be a combination of child trauma, lack of relationship? My thought would be yes.
Why? The damaged prefrontal cortex, that was damaged in childhood, is the planning region of the brain. It is where personality and expression originate from. Most importantly for continued use of negative behaviors, the prefrontal area is where decision making takes place along with moderating social behavior.
Knowing how sections of the brain function further verifies that addiction and lack of social interaction and healthy relationships go hand in hand. Especially when you dive into damage to the brain caused by childhood trauma followed by alcohol or drug use.
Many on the street do not know how to have positive connections with other human life. More so, their brain does not know how to cope with life without medicated help. The addicted brain related to childhood trauma does not know how to navigate behavior and life.
Of course, it is much deeper than my above words once you mix in mental illness and depression. That is an entire book on information.
She sat alone inside a small city bus shelter too timid to use the bench. It was as if she had been told one thousand times before to not sit on the bench, it was for "riders."
As she tried to talk she could not stay awake. In between words she would fall asleep, never completing a sentence.
The Bible remained open as she lacked the strength to turn the pages.
“Tired, tired with nothing, tired with everything, tired with the world’s weight he had never chosen to bear.”
If you like to argue and get nowhere, then search out this fella in Washington DC. He is parked inside his tent of humanity across from the White House. You may even agree with him, but he will still find at least one conspiracy theory that proves you wrong – which would prove him wrong if he agrees and then disagrees with you.
“People’s minds are changed through observation and not through argument.”
Below: Same tent, different person on shift in year 2015, February.
Standing in front of the White House with signs in hand mentioning North Korea and South Korea spelled as "Corea" is no mistake.
Sure, I could have read deeper into the small protest of two, but I was more confused as to why “Korea” was misspelled – or was it?
The accepted push for such a change from “K” to “C” was given the nod of Korean Scholars and Politicians as a drive to make the English spelling begin with the "C" instead of the "K."
But why?
The thought was that the Japanese changed what was originally a "C" to a "K" at the start of their 1910 to 1945 occupation because the "J" in Japan comes after the "C" in what may have been the original English spelling and Japan would not stand for such... Therefore, Japan went with the "K."
Looking back to year 1890, Korea was spelled "Corea" on the cornerstone of the British built embassy in Seoul. Early evidence in English books, maps and other printed material also display a "C" instead of the "K." The change to the "K" came on strong in 1910 and the rest is history.
People don't always look as you may assume they should look: He has met past presidents, worked with troubled youth, served our country in the armed forces, helped prison inmates, led a church and more.
His name is Daniel Kingery and he travels the country picking up trash while displaying his sign “CleanHonestGov.com.” The website is a mix of his views, ideas and information on the government.
Originally from Iowa, the 2007 Presidential candidate goes from state to state talking to anyone who is willing to listen.
The former U.S. Marine was once the owner of several junkyards and a laundromat in the past, according to the “The Rock Island Argus” Newspaper. The paper also wrote in '07 that he stayed in the Kansas City Mission for a short period, and has served jail time for various contempt of court sanctions regarding disagreements with various city or community officials.”
To say he has seen some interesting things while being homeless would be an understatement.
In 2018 the 58 year old Kingery was homeless in the area of the White House. There, he has sat through extreme weather conditions, religious protests, public demonstrations, and white pride marches... He was not said to be a part of the rallies, protests or marches – only at the right place at perhaps the right time to witness history unfold in a small way. When interviewed by “Street Sense Media” reporter Christian Zapata he stated, “He looks at such events as opportunities to “learn from those who might be an enemy or have been taught to be one.”
“When they judge you, yawn.
When they misunderstand you, smile.
When they underestimate you, laugh.
When they condemn you, ignore.
When they envy you, rejoice.
When they oppose you, prevail.”
― Matshona Dhliwayo
SURVIVAL: He came to the Washington DC area in the early 2000's for a construction related job. He told me the job went well, he got an efficiency apartment and life was good. The market eventually went sour in 2008 and the job was cut, the apartment was yanked away and life led him to the streets.
Some of us overcome obstacles while others only survive, grasping at the strings of the rope to remain afloat.
42 Year old Gail Carriger stated during an interview, “I suspect it may be like the difference between a drinker and an alcoholic; the one merely reads books, the other needs books to make it through the day." I think that sums up the difference of surviving verses living.
In Tennessee we have Lookout Mountain where you can see seven states. In Israel, they have where you can see Mount Hermon, Beit She’Arim, the Kishon River, Judea – Samaria, Jerusalem, Ramat Hashofet, Ein Masmofet, Kibbutz Dalia, Tel Aviv and Netanya.
Standing on top of the Muhraka Monastery on the highest peak of the Carmel Mountains you can see a forest on one side and dirt and sand roads on the other.
As an Italian who appreciated the artistic body of a fine automobile, Ferruccio Lamborghini had the income with tractor production in his pocket to buy a Ferrari. So, the man who grew up with little soon bought a few Ferrari's.
In 1963, tired of dealing with the mechanical maintenance of Ferrari, tired of poor customer service, Mr. Lamborghini decided to build his own super car.
Automobili Lamborghini officially born. Possibly, the true underdog in the supercar fight.
Simply look and you too will be amazed at life.
“Look deeper and you can find some stuff which will amaze you!” ― Deyth Banger
The Grand Canyon 2018
Sometimes the real looks more unreal.
I shot this photo in Arizona where this is a similar site along the roadways and trails. The rocks look more like walls and the mountain peeks look more like statues.
“Life without any wonder left in it is flat and stale.” ― David Eddings
At the Valley of Fire in Nevada the rocks are amazing shades of brilliant red, some almost pink in color.
Some of the mountains of red sandstone can easily crumble to the touch while others have lasted for thousands of years.
Scientist suggest the Aztec Sandstone formed 150 million years ago from shifting sand dunes.
The park was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1968.
The park in its brilliant red has reached record temperatures in the summer of 117 degrees.
Record lows have bottomed at 12 degrees during the winters.
The average temperature in the summer is between 100 and 105 degrees (June, July and August). The average winter low is 38 degrees in both December and January.
“Man needs colour to live; it’s just as necessary an element as fire and water.”
A tree of twisting and turning with roots that grow deep into the desert inching along for water that other plants cannot reach.
The tree has leaves that stab like little daggers.
The Joshua Tree is named after the Prophet Joshua from the Bible. Like the tree, Joshua was known to be a man of strength. He was the leader of the Israelite tribes up until Moses died.
The trees only grow in one place... The Mojave Desert. That massive land area consists of 47,877 square miles and is the driest desert in North America.
Amazingly, the Joshua Tree can survive for up to 1,000 years.
The English name of Joshua means “Yehoshua” in Greek. The word Yehoshua means Yahweh in Hebrew and “Yahweh is Salvation.”
“Desert sky, dream beneath the desert sky. The rivers run but soon run dry. We need new dreams tonight. Desert rose, dreamed I saw a desert rose. Dress torn in ribbons and bows. Like a siren she calls (to me)”
In the song that was written by lead vocalist Bono, the desert is used metaphor for "spiritual drought".
Gates of Hades
Strolling through the ancient town of Caesarea Philippi near the Syrian and Lebanese borders you will find seven pagan temples. The cave pictured above was nicknamed the Gates of Hades, also known as the Gates of Hell. Creepy would be an understatement.
The Tomb Temple of the Sacred Goats
In 220 BC under Emperor Elagabalus, goats were sacrificed as part of rituals. The bones of the goats were then buried inside a rock building that once stood on the grounds. The tomb for the animals was called, “The Tomb Temple of the Sacred Goats.”
Elagabalus was said to be one of the most corrupt emperors in Roman history. Bloodshed was common under his rule. Upon becoming emperor he took the name “Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus.” He was called Elagabalus after his death. He was 14 when he became the emperor and was remembered for not only bloodshed, but also sex scandals. He was 19 when he died.
A column from The Tomb Temple of the Sacred Goats
