What you will find here

This is a place to examine plans filled with hope; plans which promise a refuge from chaos; plans which will shape our futures. Veterans with and without PTSD, Pentecostal Presbyterians, Adjudicated Youth, and Artists-Musicians-Writers: I write what I know. ~~~ Evelyn

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012 



A happy couple enters the war...

Xiang

It’s a small universe where truth connects to truth.Xiang


Scriptures from A Filker’s Companion to Bedina’s War

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012 



The parasols were a wonderful help in the hot sun, but I do believe Ms. Massey got sun-burnt.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012 



This was a very nice woman who worked with the Book Seller.  Her friend made his dress for her.  It was beautifully detailed!

He chose the burden rather than the trial.







Saturday, October 27, 2012

Friday, October 26, 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012 


Silent Courage

Silent Courage
Sung to “The Water is Wide”or “As the Hart Longs”

The laundry's done, the chicken's fed,
The cows are milked, kids put to bed.
I sit alone, the darning's done.
What joy to me to know the war is won?
My lover lies beneath the soil
Of some uncharted ancient world.
The battle cry did lure him off,
And now he hears me not when I call.
"Oh Brave and True!' cry one and all,
And still my baby will not sleep.
His father's smile he'll never see,
And Death alone found victory.
Merciless, Seductress War,
How men do blindly follow thee!
What lusts have you to offer them
To steal them from their families?
I've heard it said, 'Brave are the men
Whose strength and might destroy all foes.'
I tell you this, that isn't so;
How is it brave to cause such pain and woe?
For though the man girds sword and shield,
And so, with friends goes off to war,
The woman feeds his crying child,
And silent courage waits behind each door.



Songs and Stories from A Filker’s Companion to Bedina’s War

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012 


 
Left to right:
Author Linda G. Davis
Book Seller Sherri Smith
Author Misty Massey


The Few, The Brave, The Homeless


“There but by the grace of God, go I.” I’m sure you’ve heard that admonition before. You may have even said it a time or two. If you tend towards the dramatic, you may have emphasized the ‘there!’ and then punctuated the alliterated g’s of Grace, God, and Go. This statement is often times accompanied by such phrases as “wretched thing” “poor creature” and “bless her heart”. The more tender-hearted (or menopausal) of us sometimes wonder who they might once have belonged to, or if they have a mother who prays for them every night. The more practical ones of us question aloud if those being observed might not be able to get a job – any job – rather than pan-handling. Despite scriptural requirements (any religion’s scriptures) to give them money when asked, we refrain, for fear that the money will be used for booze rather than food.

We speak, of course, of the homeless. “The Homeless.” Like the Irish-Americans, the Disabled, or the Aristocracy, ‘the Homeless’ has become a title, not defining, but definitely labeling one section of society.

Once labeled, we can put thoughts of them aside, for we have dealt with them in a logical sense. They are not someone else’s son or daughter, they are not fellow soldiers tortured beyond sanity by the things they have experienced, they are not actually “us”, they are “them” – the homeless.

I live in a small southern town in the US. It has been quietly affluent, nurtured by phosphate mines, cattle ranching, and citrus. Last week, there were 169 homes that were going through foreclosure. These are tough economic times: 169 soon-to-be homeless families.

During the Great Depression, men would wander from town to town, seeking food, jobs if they could find them, and a sense of who they used to be, before the Crash. They were homeless. My mom told me that her mother would hand out food to anyone who came to the door, but her dad used to invite them in and sit them with the family at the dinner table. My grandfather was a banker before the Crash, and learned how to cobble shoes after it.

According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, 26 out of every 100 homeless men and women are veterans. Thirty three out of every 100 homeless men are veterans. 89 percent of them received honorable discharges. Almost half of them are aged 45 or older.

What happened to them? How did they get to be in this condition? There are four generally accepted risk factors of homeless veterans. The first is combat-related stress. The second is the same for men and women – 75% of all homeless veterans at one time suffered from sexual trauma (23% of which occurred while they were in the military). Half of them suffer from substance and/or alcohol dependency. One third of them suffer from mental illness.

Women veterans become homeless four times as often as non-veteran women. Four times.

Well, what can be done for these? There are many services available to help our homeless veterans – 500 Veterans Affairs-run homeless shelters, 300 of which accept women veterans. There are 15 VA-run homeless shelters which accept only women or have facilities for women separate from men (an important environmental situation for those suffering from sexual trauma). There are no homeless shelters available for women veterans with children. The House of Representatives has just passed the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program Act of 2009 (HR 1171) which, for about $10 million dollars annually over the next five years, will help provide job training, counseling and shelters. You can donate money, food, clothing, time, and compassion to any of the shelters and organizations which have been established for our homeless veterans. Do a Google search and pick one a month. Support the troops while they are still in the service, especially those stationed in combat zones. When they return to the states, visit with them, help them, listen to them; don’t let them slip into that realm of “the homeless.” They fought for you; it’s time for you to fight for them. Because, quite honestly, there but by the grace of God. . .

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012 

Left to Right
Author Misty Massey
Author Gail Martin
Author Linda G. Davis
Book Seller Sherri Smith of Park Road Books

Spa'Lab

Harm no child, by volition or omission.Spa’Lab


Scriptures from A Filker’s Companion to Bedina’s War

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012 

Lincoln Logs

by Evelyn Rainey

From a photo by Dennis Allen





Lincoln Logs







Ninety degree angles

Logs can only fit just so

Walls are a standard width

A standard depth

A standard length

They can only be as high as you have logs to build them



There’s no softness allowed

No curves

No gingerbread

No gables, turrets, bay windows



This was the kit he was given

As a child

To build his home

His life

His expectations



So he planted calico flowers in the back yard




Monday, October 22, 2012

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012

Carolina Renaissance Festival Oct. 2012 
Beautiful hand-painted paper parasols saved us in the hot sun!!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Pics from Carolina Ren Fest 2012 - Dawn & I


'Longers Lament

‘Longers Lament
Sung to The Pilgrims’ Chorus by Wagner

Once more Banyan I with rapture behold thee
And greet the Tree who shall sweetly enfold me.
With‘longer’s staff I here return
My passage through the Tree ensure.
I have been true to kith and kin,
My ranch, my strength,
My heart, my friends.
The Tree shall be my rest eternally;
Until I wake, I will sleep in peace.
Until I wake, I will sleep in peace,
And dream of trees and grass and skies.
I fear no dark my soul to face,
I lay serene in the Tree’s Embrace.
Once more dear Banyan, I rest in thee.
Hallelujah.Hallelujah. Until the next Song.


Songs and Stories from A Filker’s Companion to Bedina’s War

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Pics from Carolina Ren Fest 2012 - Dawn Dilts


Why I Write for Veterans


When I was six years old, my father sat me on his lap and told me he was going back to Viet Nam. He said if he didn’t go back, little children just like me would be made into slaves or killed. He said he hated to leave us again, but he had to help save these children.

I have lived all over the world as an officer’s brat and witnessed the traumatic adjustments of veterans returning from battle and the sometimes devastating transition to civilian life. I watch in amazement as my mother deals with the many facets of being a veteran’s widow. I personally support two veteran charities – one of which received the first 2009 CNN Hero award – Stand Down House. The other charity is the Prayer Shawls for Fallen Soldiers’ Families organization.

I am experienced in veteran issues as a daughter, sister, neighbor, teacher, co-worker, supporter, and patriot. As the editor of BellaOnline’s Veterans site for three years, I was proud to serve as an advocate for women whose lives are tapped by the daily interests, issues and challenges of veterans.


One of my favorite sayings is from Beowulf, “Each of us must look to death and he who can should do mighty deeds before it comes.”

Just like everybody else in this world, I’ve tasted death and despair and betrayal and injustice and heart-ache and unanswerable questions. And still I find grace in the eternity of nature, joy in the love of friends, and hope in each word I type, because each word leads to another and together they create a life that can be shared with many and will live on beyond my physical mortality.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Ancient Old Earth

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.Old Earth


Scriptures from A Filker’s Companion to Bedina’s War

Monday, October 15, 2012

Friday, October 12, 2012

Orchidean Eyes

Orchidean Eyes

Sung to “The Long-horn Cow”

I’m going to leave Orchidea,
To fight the monsters far away.
Farewell my children and my herds,
‘Til in the Tree’s Embrace I lay.
The slavers thought to capture me
While on the banks of Cousteau I fought,
But first I stabbed and then I flew
And never by the slavers got caught.
My ship was captured by salvagers
And though they sold most of the crew,
The monsters took one look at me
And women began to form a queue.
For my loins were Commonwealth
And well bountiful were my seeds.
I reckon most of the births on Noviskaya
Were the result of all my mighty deeds.
DamLince claims they won the war
But we’ll never believe their lies,
For one hundred children on Noviskaya
Have Orchidean faces and Orchidean eyes.

Songs and Stories from A Filker’s Companion to Bedina’s War

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Algonquian

Foreigners who can laugh together speak the same language in their hearts. Algonquian


Scriptures from A Filker’s Companion to Bedina’s War

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Life Equation

by Evelyn Rainey



I don't think there's a difference between

People who seek

Scientific truths and people who seek

A greater understanding of God. 

I think the only thing is

The way they go about it. 

Scientist sees X+Y-5%/2Qx97 = 158 and finds

Meaning in life trying to establish

A value for every part of the equation. 

Spiritualist sees X+Y-5%/2Qx97 = 158 and finds

Meaning in life celebrating the mysterious

Flow of the problem and its sure solution. 

Same equation. 

Same answer. 

Different ways of enjoying it.


Monday, October 8, 2012


Could a man really love a woman so much? One word, one phrase from her lips, and they would be changed forever.


http://Evelyn-Rainey.com/Minna_Pegeen.html

Friday, October 5, 2012

Orchi Cadence

Orchi Cadence
(Done in a marching cadence)
Leader: Oolongs are ugly and oolongs smell
Group: But I’d rather kiss an oolong than rot in jail.
Leader: Scorps are poisonous and scorps do sting.
Group: But I’d rather be scorped than speak Alliang.
Leader: Crocs are fierce and crocs run well.
Group: But I’d rather kiss a croc than lift a monster’s veil.
Leader: Stinkvine strangles and makes you wince.
Group: But I’d rather live in stinkvine than in the Dam’lince!



Songs and Stories from A Filker’s Companion to Bedina’s War

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Erinyes

To learn how to live, one must first learn to die.Erinyes


Scriptures from A Filker’s Companion to Bedina’s War