Fear of God at foot of the mountain

    Do not let fear of God make you tremble like a child who touched the cookie jar, or the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai. Such fear keeps you from internalizing a healthy Fear of God. We should dread disappointing both God and ourselves by not keeping his law close to our hearts, and expressing it in our every thought and deed.

    This healthy Fear of God is what moves families by generation to generation to know and love the Lord. It is this Fear of God which builds Faith, gives Hope and binds us through Charity to other God Fearing people and families. Together we must build an earthly Body of Christ outsiders will recognize as a Catholic (I.e. universal) sign of God's glory visible in the world. We can do no less in our pursuit of the prize of heaven for ourselves and posterity.

-ehw

The Harvest of Salvation

    Many modern Catholic theologians, and clergy, assert the world’s population has a reasonable assumption of reaching heaven.  This theological viewpoint by nature runs over quite quickly into how they interact with the world through preaching, parish life and politics.  Although I am just a novice in understanding grand theological ideas; the assumption cannot be true due to conflicts with sacred scripture, Church Fathers teaching, and natural law.

    We are created in the image of God and built to share in knowledge and the life of God (CCC356).  Our capacity to do so however depends on each of us freely choosing to offer back to God all of the creation he provided to us (CCC358).  The stain of original sin on our nature makes it impossible to do be completely intimate with God without constant reliance on our Lord’s sacraments and teaching (CCC 402-406).  This results in the “hard battle…” of life in the real world where one who lives in ignorance of man’s wounded nature “gives rise to serious error in the areas of education, politics, social action and morals.”(CCC407)

    Our Lord also clearly repeats this theme in scripture through his parables.  In the parable of the sower we find all the seed is good.  The seed just lands on different ground.  The seed only thrives when it can find enriching soil and few external dangers.  Some ground is easily fertile, some is fertile but full of thorns, and some falls on rocky infertile soil.  The end result is two thirds of the seed yields very little healthy wheat.  Meanwhile the fertile soil thrives with the fewest plant failures.  The moral of the story becomes the minority of people grow into wheat the Father takes into heaven.

    Now the great philosopher would reply, any man can have their own faith in God which generates hope.  The same person could then use their intellect, and observations of nature to do good works of charity for others.   So therefore the scripture, tradition and sacraments are not required for assumption into heaven for eternal life.  So therefore reasonably people can assume God has a wide entrance to everyone to obtain heaven.

    The philosopher would err however in his final assessment.  By relying solely on our own intellect for decisions, we in fact prevent ourself from submitting our intellect to the will of God.    This fact, in and of itself, means the person living alone is not ready to become one with God.   No being ready to form complete union with almighty God prevents us from obtaining the gifts of heaven.  Giving back everything to God includes submitting all of our intellect to the words and commands of Jesus for introspection.  

    The lone person also becomes one against the fallen world, with all of its physical and spiritual dangers. With no community in which to find refuge from hostile forces, the lone person must fight alone and will be unaided by the wisdom of others on their quest for heaven.  So at the end of the lone journeyman’s life, it will not be a final chance to beg for God’s mercy (which those who submitted our lives before hand may possibly receive).  It would be a complete act of mercy from God to grant mercy to someone who did not submit completely to his rule, and is still defiantly saying they are their own judge on matters of faith and morals.

    We have scriptural evidence for this when Jesus himself tells Saul his work of persecuting christians hurt his body, and he needed to change.  Saul becomes the Apostle Paul, and every day begged for mercy he did not deserve.  Paul submitted his teachings, and service to the guidance of the other apostles in Jerusalem to insure their continuity with those of the remainder of Christ’s body.  Paul celebrated the eucharist with the rest of the church as daily nourishment for his journey.  Paul did this because the Body of Christ on earth was the church, and its sacraments is God’s life blood poured forth to the nourishment of the individuals in that body.

    If men as great as St Paul and other church fathers realized how thin the path to heaven was, then the historical and theological evidence clearly comes down against a “reasonable assumption” for each person to reach heaven.  It is time to recognize how this carefree attitude hurts moral decision making in our daily lives and the governance of our church.  If we recognize the real rocky path towards heaven, maybe we’ll re-acquire the missionary zeal of those first christians once again.

-ehw

Faith from the Shadows of Life

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."  Hebrews 11:1

    Shadows may give us a little insight into the theological virtue of faith.  In a shadow we have evidence of things unseen.  Scientists use the observation of a shadow on the moon during an eclipse to begin a search for the substantive event causing the eclipse. In the photo of a person's shadow we have evidence that something resembling a person blocked the sun's light from hitting the ground directly.  In both of these examples, if we desire to search for truth, we must freely give our entire intellect towards understanding the substance of the event we witnessed.

    Freely giving one's intellect to the search for truth means we must look at all potential theories for the substantive event we witnessed.  Then we must objectively test the theories, and discard those proven false.  At the end of our objective testing we will come up with a few questions which we may not be able to prove in any way with a scientific approach.  Those remaining theories may need subjective testing to provide us the most reasonable answer to our question as to what was the substance of the event.

    It is in the subjective analysis in which we will make observations of the world around us to form an opinion on what substantively occurred.  The resulting final opinion will be our "best reasonable guess."  The decisions we make off that "best reasonable guess" becomes our guide for future actions or opinions in our lives.

    If the scientist reviewing either of our events held back on their search for truth, and allowed a predisposition to properly evaluate and answer, they will not find the truth.   No matter how hard the seeker tries, any supposition based on a falsehood cannot be true.  This is why Thomas Aquinas says: "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible."

    If we subject ourselves to the mission of discovering God's will for our lives, we must give ourselves over to faith.  We must submit our lives to totally seeking truth, discarding falsehood, and applying faith in our lives through charity.  There will always be countering theories to the ones proposed by the Catholic Church for what constitutes a "good life" which will obtain for us eternal rewards.   The subjective analysis of the shadows Saints of the church left on the earth says both objectively and subjectively their faith was well placed.  

   I will learn from their shadows, and keep my faith in Jesus Christ through the Church of the Apostles.  I hope you will too.

-ehw

Six Months and Going Strong

    Amidst the winter illnesses and stresses of life comes one great story...John Paul celebrated six months Friday!  He continues to excel in the growth department, weighing in around 19 pounds and long enough to DEMAND twelve month duds.  As the bib says, he is heaven sent and on a mission to be 100% cuteness (so others besides the Dad says).

    I cannot believe we are so lucky to have John Paul.  I cannot believe the love the other children show him, and the care they give him every day.  I am so blessed to watch the creation of new hearts open to life and the work required to bring it to fruition.  It is a series of observations which through pretenses of materialism into the shredder, because their work for John Paul demonstrates the power of agape love.  John Paul detracts nothing from the older kids, and in the big kids work for John Paul they glorify God.

    We still need prayers for Mom to get fully healthy, but for just a minute I want to bask in a moment of God's Glory captured in a digital form.  I hope it gives you as much hope and joy as I get when I see it.  For if our lives are to be full of toil (or so says Proverbs) seeing a moment of God's makes the work worth it to survive to see another day.

-ehw

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Iron Mike in War and Peace

    Growing up men like Iron Mike were my not just folk heroes, but were real people to admire in my life.  From my adopted Grandfather "Easy" Smith (a five combat jump 82nd Airborne trooper), Uncle Walter Betley (WWII Europe, Korean War, Vietnam), Uncle Bernie (WWII), my DjaDja (WWII USN), my wife's Granddad (WWII), My Father in Law (Vietnam), my Dad (Desert Storm), my good gunner (SSG Thornburg Bosnia/Iraq/Afghanistant), and countless others I dare not forget in my prayers...taught me about what strength and courage really were.  I also learned in the peace one needs just as much strength.

    Easy Smith, my Airborne Pathfinder friend, told me of his missions and the leadership needed to accomplish them.  He instructed me on the personal trials of fire I would face in combat, and what qualities to try and cultivate in myself to prepare for the supreme tests of leadership in combat.  I was never a great army officer, decent/honorable but not GREAT.  I never faced the test so many of my relatives and friends did. I often wonder if I would pass that test of combat...but in reality my life is still young.  The ultimate test could come at any time in this wild wild west world we live in today.

    Easy told me of his Army career, and then work on the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra.  He rehearsed all day, stayed up all night and got very little sleep.  The work was exhausting.  Like many musicians he turned to alcohol and became dependent on it.  He got to the point where one day he had to have a talk with God.  He knew he lived or he died based on his reaction to the temptation from the devil he would deliver in bottle.  He lived if he left the bottle behind.  He died if he picked it up again to drink.

   Easy left the bottle forever that day.  He became an active man of God.  As a God fearing gentleman he mentored hundreds of youth in his third career as a Sheriff's Deputy in Northern Virginia through baseball, music and church ministries.  If you ever visit the E.G. Smith Complex in Manassas, Virginia you will walk on the grass of my adopted Grandfather and personal embodiment of Iron Mike.

    The men I mentioned above all fought through war, but thrived without conflict by living out God's commands in peace.  In the list above I know of church councilmen, Knights of Columbus, a man baptized in his Episcopalian faith as an adult, and a non-denominational Christian who raised families with love and taught honor to them.  I am proud to know them, learn from their example, and try to carry it on one more generation.

   While it would be nice to have world peace, I am not foolish enough to think it will come without a miracle of the second coming of Christ first.  Until then I will pray men will continue to be Iron Mike's in both war and peace.  Just as strong to face a bullet as the challenges of peace.

-ehw

Just Because I Can

Just because I can...and want to share a set of tender moments. The picture will say it all.

Wonderful Time of Loving Labors

    When you see the photo of an adorable, 100% cute child you think of the wonders the child brings to the world.  When he is your child, and you meet him at 1AM for a quick diaper change and handoff to Mom a few other thoughts run through your tired mind about the same child.

    Nothing good in life comes free.  Nothing great comes without great cost and sacrifice. This is not only true of life, but of the path we need to take to heaven.

   Jesus lived a hard life, and so did his disciples.  He even had friends he loved suffer and die!  He was our king, and died a painful death on a cross he carried on his shoulders after a brutal set of beatings.  Yet despite these facts, I think most people imagine Christ in his gloriously transformed body by default.  A transfigured body he only obtained by passing through the painful death on a tree.

    So the next time you see 100% cuteness, don't forget the work it takes to get there.  Also know the moment of glory is worth every sacrifice it took to make a glimpse of heaven on earth.

-ehw

Christ the Judge in a World of Noise

       The world is full of manmade noise. Noise, sounds and vibrations with no Godly organization, only serve to distract us from our ingrained mission of finding and loving the Lord.  This means if we want to draw ourselves to the Lord, we must through force of will, ignore the world's noise so our souls can make music in harmony with God's intended design for the world.

     For example, take a look at tomorrow's March for Life in Washington, D.C.  There thousands will walk as a result of a court decision literally made up from the air the justices breathed, and created with little factual evidence or legal precedent.  The whim of men created "rights" which did not exist ever before, denied the humanity of a child in the wound established with natural law at the dawn of time, and to this day results in the extermination of so many people it is actually fulfilling Margret Sangster's dream of the ethnic cleansing of "lesser" peoples.  Oh the thoughts of this are nauseating to God fearing people everywhere!

    In the thousands of words the people attending will hear tomorrow, very few will change the hearts and minds of committed abortion supporters.  Why?  Abortion rights supporters will constantly deny the humanity of the child in the womb by shouting their own words over anyone opposing them.  They will continue trying to convince themselves their own destiny must not include the life they helped create.  They know they cannot avoid the consequences of their own actions, but they will shout themselves horse trying to convince themselves otherwise.  In a way it is a perfect demonstration of evil madness to try and deny physical realities in such a way.  The thousands of words hurled by the protesters will only be added noise to these abortion supporters.

    What caused these abortion supporters the most fear?  It is the mandatory waiting period, and ultrasound machine testing.  Why?  Because in the quiet of a doctor's office, with the noise of the world isolated from the room, the reality of natural law confronting hardened hearts wins over far more souls than continue to deny there is a new life in their womb.  Abortionists loathe the requirement any person listen to the heart beating while they see the face of their child before they kill it.  

    The sound of natural law runs naturally in the heart of the unborn child, and speaks with a clarity to unsettled souls like no other sound on earth.  Oh how I wish we could mandate put the father in the room as well!  Maybe the natural music could save three souls at a time, and help make a proper family.

   So the next time you find yourself lost in a sea of manmade noise, find a place where you can slow down and hear the pulse of life.  Let the pulse remind you of your place in the cosmos as a child called to God.  Then follow the call of this music to build his kingdom in word and deed.  Then maybe it will be easier to get a smile out of Christ the Judge when the time comes to meet him.

-ehw    

Miracle Photo of our Year

    This year was one of great sacrifice as we worked to bring John Paul into the world.  Sacrifice came in many forms.  Carrie labored daily fighting nausea which would bring me to tears, the children contributed to running the house more than ever, people took time to pray for us around the country, friends and family also dropped all to come and help in moments of need.  The work continues today as my wife recovers and the family adjusts.  We could not be more grateful for the sacrifice of others and health of John Paul.

    John Paul continues to be our miracle of a baby.  He smiles and brings out the best in all of us.  He truly is a gift from heaven teaching us to  live out agape love without restraint.   As a reward our hearts filled with more love from heaven than we could have ever imagined in our materialistic world.

    We'll pray your year wraps up well, and the next one brings you the spiritual direction needed to walk towards Christ with more strength than ever before.

-ehw

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Merry Christmas! Our King is Born!

Merry Christmas from Capturing His Glory Photography!

We must preach with words

    You also are blessed because you have heard and believed. A soul that believes both conceives and brings forth the Word of God and acknowledges his works.    A Commentary of Luke by St Ambrose Bishop, Divine Office 21 Dec

    A common phase we hear today is the St Francis saying of "Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary use words."  In our overly politically correct culture, we get bombarded with messages saying words of evangelization offend people and turn them off to the faith.  So any way out of explaining or evangelizing with words, is actually welcomed by those of us who fret we may not have all the tools to evangelize properly.   Giving into this fear however will not promote the gospel in anyway.

    Our early church fathers recognized all people can see natural law, and form lives which conform to it.  Natural law in this case being defined as the revelation of the Eternal Law of heaven in nature.  Aristotle, aka The Philosopher, remains one of the foremost pagan observers of natural law.  We find Aristotle referenced constantly by St. Thomas Aquinas and other Doctors of the Church as they framed their arguments about church doctrine.

   Despite the brilliance of observation by natural law observers, they often found themselves going astray because they lacked one vital element to guide their daily reasoning.  While these observers could see God's eternal law peeking out in nature, they lacked the other two legs of the trinity to guide their minds to full truth.  These men and women lacked the words of Christ, and the timeless inspired words of Wisdom gifted by the Holy Spirit we find in the Holy Bible.

    In today's man filled world of noise, the Bible must compete for time in people's thoughts.  Therefore, God really does call each each of us to advertise for him.  Our actions must of course be consistent with our thoughts and words (That is another blog topic), but we need to use words to form the invitation to know this Holy Bible is worthy of spending time with it!

    We do not need to be be a St. Ambrose, Augustine, Aquinas, Mother Teresa, or John Paul the Great.  We just need to live our lives, and then make the invitation to come to the book when the moment strikes.  When someone asks you why you were kind you can say, "Because I want to live as Christ wanted me to."  When someone is in need of support, or looking for guidance on a tough moral decision you can always offer to pray with them or for them.  

    When we don't know the answer to anything we are asked, we have legions of saints writings and active religious to reach for.  These faithful instructors to illuminate the word in different methods.  This allows the word to reach, and touch the souls, of those with different backgrounds and cultural references.

    Actions alone will never satisfy the soul's need for ministry.  We must preach with words to bring the word of God deep into people's hearts and minds.  This is where the mysteries can make a stronghold.  It will let new faith stand the tests of the world like a fire against a cold night with equal parts emotion and reason.

-ehw

Christmas Magic

    This morning was the first day our tree was up...we follow the old tradition of decorating at the last minute...and out of her room like busy bee on a mission sprang child number four.  Kellie ran to the kitchen, grabbed the stool, and without a skip of the beat sat before the well lit tree (thanks to Kevin lighting it before she got up). "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells..." and the partially remembered songs flowed through the house punctuated by "Kalen sing...Kev Kev sing....Baby Jesus!"

    This is the Christmas Magic we long for in our memory of ages past.  It was the time giants roamed the earth. Mom made magic cookies.  Hugs felt heaven sent.   In these memories, even Dad smiled as we enjoyed another magic tree tree lighting and train run.  This is the memory we wish every child could have, and we could share.  Experiencing it in our children makes our hearts warm and pulse quicken in joyous anticipation of seeing what St Nicholas left once again...

    As parents we too often miss these moments.  Just minutes after I snapped this golden memory, I found myself assaulted by four excited children and one just wanting a diaper change.  The noise became defining...well for our house anyway...and I lost all sense of the magic moment.  I lost it until I developed my "negative."  When the image appeared, I felt the magic arise in my heart once again.

    Our childhood faith filled Christmas Magic images are glimpses of the promises in heaven.  Like the Star of Bethlehem, these moments can lead you to the home Christ prepared for us all.  This Christmas I pray you will find your moments, keep them close to your heart, and let them lead you home.

-ehw

Pray for Us!

    The First Lego League's first elimination round starts on Saturday at 7:30AM.  Our Regina Caeli Darebots will be there, and ready to compete.  Under the direction of Coach Les Levergood, Assistant Coach Fred Bunn and myself they grew a great deal...or maybe in spite of our coaching they grew!  If you want to catch up on their adventures you can visit them at the website Regina Caeli Darebots.  

    The team practiced two to three times a week since late August. Now after the long series of rehearsals they are ready to compete....for the first and possible last time!  Coach Levergood ran a tight ship this year, and Coach Bunn brought excellent programming instruction to the kids.  Solving the mysteries of the gyroscope was an incredible experience for the kids.  I helped them build out their presentations.   

    The team will do three presentations to judges Saturday morning.  The first will be their sales pitch for ways to improve collection methods of depleted uranium on test ranges and battlefields.  They will then explain how they grew as a group using the lessons from Core Values.  Finally, they will discuss robot design and programming methods.  In the afternoon they will run their robot Penguin through the course several times using different teams of Darebots.  At the end of the day, they will find out if they are in the upper third of 40 or so teams. If they are they may move on to regionals in January!

   Tomorrow Coach Levergood will guide the seven of them through six and half hours of final rehearsals!  So pray for Coach L and then the team!

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Here is Penguin the robot!

The Blacksmith of My Manhood

Give a lad a training suitable to his character and, even when old, he will not go back on it.

Proverbs 22:6 Catholic Online 

   Good fathers remain indispensable to every child on the planet.  A father is the person God entrusts to look at each child he gives them, and call them into adulthood.  Fathers should take the faith filled heart a mother forms, and steel it like a blacksmith works metal.  The steel must withstand every tempest the world will throw at it until our bodies fade to dust.  I am blessed my father did this for me, and I accepted his molding to form the man I am.

    From an early age I remember my Dad as a pillar of strength and determination.  He still gets up before dawn, works long hours, deployed at our nation's call for forty-five years, learned things from diverse resources way before the birth of the internet, demands honesty and gives it unfailingly, requires common sense be applied to all critical thinking, expects you to know a fact based history on what you speak, and displays a dogged determination to achieve which puts a bulldog to shame.  My father steeled my heart to respect my mother and her core values.  He then slowly built a frame around my heart to carry me into adulthood.  

    My father's greatest wisdom, in forming his children, was to ensure we knew how to think.  My father knew our world would be as different from his as his world was from his father's.  As a result, he knew his children needed well rounded educations grounded in those family core values.  This frame protected us, gave us limbs to build new futures, and a head to seek the wisdom of the Lord in new faraway lands when he was not there to guide us.  My father trained our character traits to last a lifetime.  

    After meeting many people with dads who failed to accept their duties as fathers, I know I am a blessed child.  I also believe this is why I am committed to do the mission my father does, but often shields from view of his own children.  My father throughout the years tended to lost sheep, and got them better prepared to meet the world.  He gave these lost sheep the blacksmithing their fathers should have given, or the sheep rejected out of the pride of youth.  Some responded well, others did not.  In any case he tried, and willingly gave of himself without desire for acclaim or fortune.

   I am blessed with a Dad who embodies God's call for father's to follow.

-ehw  

My Childhood Pillar of Faith

    Teach us to count up the days that are ours, and we shall come to the heart of wisdom.   Psalm 90:12 from Catholic Online

   While reading a great book called The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic, the author postulates a necessary part of raising families of strong faith is a pillar of prayer inside the extended family.  This person's prayer can sustain their children, draw grace towards them and be a beacon home to the Lord's wisdom.  I closed my eyes, and without any thought saw my mother as my childhood pillar of faith.

    I saw my mother with her rosary in hand praying through her asthma attacks when no medicine existed to calm it.  I remember her praying when her children encountered challenges to our faith and souls.  I always remember her humility when she knew a complex problem exceeded her immediate knowledge, asking the Lord to show her the way through the maze ahead one step at a time through prayer and hard work.

   I know she received this the path of prayer from her parents.  My Nana told us to pray for the soul needing the ambulance when it raced past her house in Easton, Pennsylvania.  My Nana and Pappap said the rosary together every night when I lived with them for their family.  So it was generational...and a great gift.

    Now the challenge is to be the pillar for my children to remember, and know the way home always starts with humility before the Lord in prayer.  Until I get it all right I will know my Mom has me covered...

-ehw

A Lesson in Forgiveness for Thanksgiving

    A few weeks ago a most incredible person told me a story, a story of forgiveness which humbled me.  The story goes something like this...

    Years ago this person suffered a great injustice at the hands of another.  Bonds of trust broke, and a relationship broke into pieces.  The breakup effected more than the two inside the relationship.  The shattered relationship hurt many others, and still does to this day.  Defenses went up to prevent additional pain, but the grace of forgiveness remained open to the offender.  Not only does forgiveness flow, the offender gets prayers and encouragement to return to the church and obtain salvation from the victim!  

    I suffered a few injustices in my life, and I will admit my pride gets the best of me from time to time when the wound resurfaces.  When I asked the person, their response was "To hold on to the anger and hate is to condemn your own soul to Hell.  We can only move forward to Christ when we release the hate and let it fade away.  We can only achieve heaven when we wish for those who harmed to repent and join us again on the path to heaven."

    I prayed about this on a few nights since I heard this sermon of word and deed.  I realized how much more I need to grow as a person to reach this type of holiness...and I hope I can imitate their example with a few more years of practice.  Until then, I'll also pray this incredible person continues to show people like me the true path of Christ in this fallen world.

-ehw

P.S. The photo is of Kellie at the Antiedam Battlefield Museum.  It was a wonderful moment to watch her enjoy flowers, amidst the stories of war.  It reminded me of the decades it took to heal the wounds from the Civil War, and the lesson above being the path towards reconciliation.

Go home to Christ with the Holy Family

       Some of my favorite meditations during the Rosary focus on the Holy Family.  I find many lessons in their lives, mostly unsaid, which help us understand how we need to live our lives in this fallen world.  When God gave them each a unique mission for our salvation, each member of the family did as requested.  Take in a bride and adopt a baby as your own...St Joseph check.  Flee to Egypt and leave EVERYTHING behind in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT...Check.  Watch your child die on the cross, innocent of everything except being our just and holy savior...check.

    In our faith community of Regina Caeli Academy we had two mothers pass away during the past month in Texas.  One from cancer, and the other suddenly during delivery of her third child.  Each woman left behind a family lead my faithful men of the church.  For them I pray the example of the Holy Family provides a path to continued holiness, and reunion in heaven.     These husbands had strong families of faith, and now face a period where they may feel the heat and cold of a desert journey until they reach safety of peace in understanding the will of God.  In some ways it reminds me of Joseph and Mary as they carried their child Jesus to from Bethlehem to Egypt and back to Nazareth.  A long journey which must occur under the guidance of faith to succeed.

    As we gather for Thanksgiving, remember families like these two around the country.  Pray the light of Christ stays strong in them and their children.  May it be lit by their desire to obtain the graces of heaven, and rejoin their mother in eternal life.  It should be a prayer for all of us as well.  God wants us all to come home.

-ehw

Back In Time - At Home

    A busy morning, wife enduring a rude passenger at security, fast flight with a peaceful baby and hungry five year old, picked up by your Dad and Kevin's God Father....a logistics masterpiece of a day.  Arrived in home to do what all sons do when they get into their parents home...whether 20 or 44...fell asleep in the big cushy chair.

    The fall light on Foliage View Farm is a dream for photographers.  Long, warm light dances on the hills and remaining leaves.  It is instantly romantic, and the lack of noise from the city is enough to make you feel you've gone back in time.  Well the Model A running down the road with your son hanging out the pick up bed holding the dog really does complete the illusion!

    It is a good day to be home and going back in time.

-ehw