I have been thinking of the last few months…. I moved my family from our farm building project in Oregon. I have a motor home so I am mobile. I have a suburban, horse trailer, and four horses. My dad, who struggles with diabetes, jumped a ditch, slipped on the frost, cut his shin and is fighting it to heal. I moved into his upstairs to be close and take care of him. I have been doing his cooking. I went through the Salad Master training with my wife and we have been selling cookware. She is doing most of that but I go to the dinner presentations with her. I am working on understanding social networking. I have spent a lot of time in the mountains. I want to be a mountain man. How do I serve the world being a mountain man? How does a 40 year old man with four kids at home, with a wife, with needy parents, no home or land of his own become a productive member of society contributing to the economy of our modern world as a mountain man? Yea, I know its not exactly a profession. But it should be! The mountains are so inspiring, so majestic to the soul, so empowering to the human spirit.
My mother has been coping with life for the last twenty years since her brain surgery. While being here in her home I have decided she has Celiacs disease. I am not a doctor but I have the internet. So the house is going gluten free. This will be an adjustment for my kids! Mom wrote some great books before her surgery. Some of the copyrights have run out. I have been writing everyday to finish a book inspired by my Great Grandfather William Ruesch called The Ditch Rider. Mom has become excited about books again. She is working on republishing them. I look out the window every little while, seeing the mountains and long for them. They call to me softly.
Living in my parent’s house was never in my plans but I am glad to be here. Looking at the mountains was never my idea of being a mountain man but I am happy to see them. Writing my book is my top priority. My parents and the mountains have helped me. My wife and kids are the biggest support I have. Vernie Lynn is working closely with me on my book. She is brilliant in her writing. She has a manuscript ready for publication called “Walking My Father’s Fields“.
The world has need for positive things. I want to give where I can and serve those in need. I hope to reach millions with our published works. I have been blessed with the writings of many good authors and I want to give back to the world the things I have learned. I want to bring the message from the mountains to the people. I want to share the messages of the past generations to the present. I have heard the voice of the creator in the hills of juniper and the forests of aspen. In the canyons of sandstone I have felt the love of the Great Spirit. Upon the waters I have seen the calm seas as if the Lord were there. I have witnessed the herds moving downward after a snow. I have beheld the Gods of creation in the geologic formation. I have felt his presence in my heart as I held the hand of a small child. Gratitude fills my troubled heart when I enter the lands he created and I am troubled no longer.
