Does your body language say: “Come and get me?” or “I can take care of myself.”

“Belly Dancer” 11 x 14 acrylic on panel

You are a walking advertisement. What are you selling? Young women often “strut their stuff” searching for a date or a mate. But what are they really saying with the way they dress or act? Probably that they’re looking for sex. If you’re dressed like a hooker, don’t be surprised if that’s the only kind of invitations you’re going to get.

What kind of friends do you want to attract? Are you casual and athletic, or are you more the theater and stage kind of person? Do you love to read and are up on current events, or do you just slide by and prefer small talk and gossip?

“Reggae Night” acrylic on canvas

Every time you go out in public, you send a message about yourself. Are you confident and poised, or insecure and “needy?” Are you pushy and demanding or are you courteous and thoughtful of those around you. Some people are afraid to show their soft side for fear that they’ll be taken advantage of, and there is some truth to this feeling. But if you act confident and sure, you are more likely to be ignored by someone who is looking for a “soft touch.”

The bad guys study your non-verbal clues. They know who’s an easy mark and those who may put up a fight. Of course, if there’s more than one attacker, it’s best to give them what they want, unless you have a concealed weapon of your own that is.

As people debate this issue, just imagine yourself in the above situation either on the street or in your home. Are you just going to surrender to mutilation, rape, or robbery, or are you going to scare the hell out of your assailants and send them on their way?

“Broken” 11×14 mixed media (SOLD); prints available.

It seems our whole country is being overrun by gangs and weirdos who are able to purchase weapons illegally, and use them against us. Why should law-abiding citizens be denied the right to defend themselves against the lawless who don’t mind skirting the law? Since the 2^nd Amendment is very specific about this freedom, the discussion should be over.

Did you know that the government is buying up ammunition hand over fist? They figure if they can’t confiscate all the guns, they can at least keep the guns from firing. This unconstitutional act should be challenged if it isn’t already.

History tells us that in every dictatorship that has come to power, one of their first acts is to confiscate all the guns. As a free people we should not allow this. Statistically the odds for getting killed by a gun are slim to none.

Self-defense is an important tool. In Fort Myers, several elementary school girls have escaped the stalking and invitations of would-be rapists simply by screaming at the top of their lungs and running away.

Unfortunately, one young woman was grabbed by a man who stuffed her into his trunk so fast, she didn’t have time to react. Learning the techniques of self-awareness, environmental awareness, and some simple methods to disarm or disable an attacker has saved more than one person’s life.

Your job is to be as prepared as possible in the event something like this should happen to you. The very young and the feeble old are assaulted in greater numbers because they are weak and often defenseless. Paying for lessons for you and your children on self-defense to build up your knowledge and skills is well worth the money.

When Hope is Gone we Cease to Dream; we Stop Living

“Ibis on a Perch” original drawing

Our church is a praying church. People in the community and friends of members often ask for us to pray for them. A school teacher requested prayer for her daughter who was a drug addict. When she went missing, there was general panic in their circle of family and friends.

Sadly, the prayers were too late. She was found dead in her car at a shopping mall. The car had been sitting in the same place for seven days and no one even noticed. She died from an overdose of heroin. Oh, the risks people take. The dangers they ignore. The willingness to dip their toe into deep waters until they sink in so far it’s too late to turn back.

They’re caught in a vice. They lose control in a downward spiral that ends badly. Their names are found on missing person’s reports, in obituaries and on tombstones. Others try to help, but cannot supply the will to live nor the decision that plunges their loved one into a gut-wrenching tragedy. Warnings have no effect. Peer pressure drives their actions. The end game is sometimes final.

“I Stand on the Brink” original drawing.

Like most teens, I walked that narrow ledge. What kept me from crossing over? I didn’t want to hurt my parents. I knew that a failure on my part would crush them. Their love kept me close and harnessed my wild flights of fancy.

The state of the family in 2015 is a sad one. Children are disobedient and disrespectful to parents and they disdain authority. Gangs are taking the place of family in some communities. Parents, for the most part, are working to keep the family financially afloat. They are absent and uninvolved in their children’s activities. Rampant divorce has created homes without fathers and mothers who try to be both.

Love is not always enough. Parents often lack time and desire to give their children more of themselves. Unsupervised kids roam the streets and get into trouble. Children not only need to hear the words “I love you,” on a regular basis. They need to have it affirmed in action. When you spend more time with them, they see that you mean what you say.

Children today need hope in the future. Their lives need to be grounded in something larger than themselves. Secular parents prize what money can buy more than they do the lives of their children. Prayer is something they may participate in once or twice a year on Easter and Christmas or never. Faith is a word many have never heard of, let alone practice; some willingly and others from ignorance.

Parents need to get back to their roots. In addition to the love that should bind families, traditions and culture provide the arms that encircle us and link us to our ancestors. Foundations of faith, service and promise were once strong and sound. Today they are crumbling around us and we wonder what has happened?

History does repeat itself. If we want to survive in this dangerous world, we must learn its lessons and build our own dreams on the building blocks that those who have gone before have built for us.

Forward March “Hut, Two, Three, Four” . . .

A Flawed Foundation Weakens the Structure

“The Perfect Ending” 24 x 18 acrylic on canvas

As I enter the back entrance to my complex, I see cars backed up on both sides of the intersection to the elementary school. Turn signals blink for left on one side and right on the other.  I squeeze past, not with irritation, but empathy. Bus drivers in our area have been negligent putting children at risk and in harm’s way. Parents are simply protecting their prized possessions and trying to keep them safe.

When my own children were spread out between elementary, middle school and high school, I never worried that they would arrive at their destination or return home in the evening. Their bus drivers were long-standing employees that almost everyone knew. I rode the bus myself on field trips and extracurricular activities. The school system and the transportation were institutions we knew that we could depend upon.

“Beach Buddies” oil on 20 x 16 canvas

A whole lot has happened since then. Another school shooting blares across my T.V. screen. A small college town in Oregon this time. What has happened to our once safe nation? Why are the things we have trusted and relied on for ages now vulnerable and exposed to this treacherous form of evil?

I think back to my own upbringing in a similar small college town humorously called “happy valley,” where nothing serious ever went wrong and people seldom locked their doors. It wasn’t because we were “gun free” I can tell you that! We were a Western community, living in the shadows of the Wasatch Mountains. Almost every family owned guns.

In fall and winter there was deer hunting. Families depended on the hunt for food to put in their freezers. Hunting was not simply a sport, it was a necessity. My father and my uncle managed to stock our freezer with pheasant, deer, fish, and other game. My aunt and her husband supplied us with chicken which ran freely in their yard.

In spite of the fact that people owned guns, there was never any violence. Accidental shootings were rare. Sometimes a hunter who forgot to wear a red shirt may have been glazed on the first day of hunting season. What has changed since that long ago time?

• We have more people in our country, a larger population.
• Many of them come from foreign countries where this kind of violence is normal.
• We no longer confine people who may put others at risk.
• Mental health is ignored and safeguards are not in place.
• We no longer value human life.
• Moral depravity has become accepted.
• Honesty is for “other people.”
• Deviant behavior is no longer frowned upon.
• Anti-gun lobbyists try to keep the lawful from owning guns.
• Criminals manage to skirt the law and obtain them anyway.

One of the first things Hitler did when he came to power was to confiscate all guns. They were needed for the “Resistance” and to protect Germany. When some people complained about what Hitler was doing in their country, they were arrested and jailed. They had no means of escape or protection.

“With these Hands — Wonder” oil on 20 x 16 canvas

The Second Amendment to our Constitution protects this kind of obfuscation for this very reason. Should tyranny come to power, the people would have no means to defend themselves or to preserve their freedom.

Governments, businesses, corporations work carefully to build a solid infrastructure to support their entities through the highs and lows of success or in downturns. Like solid blocks, this foundation provides a strong footing from which to build.

Some would say America’s ground is crumbling; yet, they seem surprised? Have we not ignored the very values that made this country strong in the first place? We’ve pushed the envelope perhaps beyond the point of no return. Once freedom is gone, it is gone forever. Unless we can remember and restore what made America great in the first place, we will never get it back.