Had an interesting thing happen on our journey north, we had come out of the Chugach Mountains and down into the flats, driving by the eastern edge of the Cook Enlit, when we crossed over a river's bridge and what do we see....a dead whale lying on the muddy riverbank. Yes, it was at least 25 feet long and truly, it was a whale. How it got so confused to be going up a river and got itself beached is beyond me. No one was around it, but it had been there a while. Passing by it on way home there were some 30 people nearby looking the whale over, cars parked along the roadside. But by now, being under the sun all day the air was filled with a nasty fragrance. We didn't stop, what we could see was enough. I've read where some 60 whales have died along the west coast this year and this was the 3rd I believe for the Alaskan coastline. Makes you wonder what's going on with the whales? Pollution maybe, with all the garbage we have out there. I recently read where a deep water probe was studying one of those famous deep underwater trenches and came across acres of human trash, as if barges might be illegally dumping their garbage in the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean. Man, humanity needs to get a handle on this before we turn our planet into one big trash dump. Recycling is being stopped because of the cost, but we continue to make plastic bags, bottles and other containers. I really hate to think of what the world will be like for my great-grandkids when they are adults.
Still currently working on "Night Shift", now set in Whittier for the Exxon Oil Spill. I'm going to wrap this chapter up and put the book on hold for a month. I want to do my final edit for "The Finale Challenge", Book 2 to "A Coming Storm". This is set when Satan has been released from his thousand year prison to once more tempt humanity and ends with the Battle for Jerusalem. Once I'm done I'll send it on to my editor. By then I'll feel refreshed to go back and finish "Night Shift". Still not sure about that name. My story "Homeland Security" is receiving its finale editing and once done it will be released for sale.
We hit a couple of thrift stores in Anchorage and Mona and I both picked up a few books. I love going through the book shelves and finding books I do not own and picking them up for 10 cents each. Though I do think about the authors whose work is going so cheaply, but then someone had once paid for price for them. I keep waiting to find one of my books in a thrift store and then I'd know I had really made it as an author and my stuff is being sold alongside some great writers. I own just about everything Clive Cussler, W.E.B. Griffin and Stephen Coonts have written, mostly picked up at thrift stores or yard sales, and I continue adding to my Louie L'Amour collection. The man wrote so many books.
Anyhow, it was a good day in town and by the time we got home I was ready for bed. Actually slept 8 hours, which is really unusual for me now. We had lunch at the Golden Corral, treating ourselves and this is another interesting eatery in Anchorage. A mob of people go through there and being like the Royal Fork smogesboard, they offer so many different dishes. I had a whole plate of fresh salads and then some Chinese grill. Great place to go if you're hungry- on south C Street. Mona and I seem to get into a lot of conversations with total strangers, meeting some nice people. She is always inviting people to come to Moose Pass and stop by for e coffee or tea. Met a Navy vet outside Salvation Army, who had fought and won a battle over alcoholism. He had been off the shores of Vietnam, working on a destroyer that was rescuing refugees off the beaches in 1975- the final pull-out. That's when they were shoving helicopters off the deck of an aircraft carrier to make room for my people running from the communists. Had a nice talk with him about CBD oils and other topical pain relieves had he was fighting constant leg pains following surgery. We often talk about what the Lord has done for us with strangers and make new friends. Sometimes people will just smile, wave us off and walk away, but that's rare. A lot of lonely people out there nowadays. had been dreading this trip for over a month, but had also been praying and the Lord truly provided us with a great day. Also saw a moose the day before so I know the whole population hasn't been wiped out. Not used to going so long between signs of wildlife. Used to have moose and bear in our year quite often, but that stopped a few years ago. Pastor has a 160 pound Irish sheep dog and its barking is probably keeping them away. I think its an Irish sheep dog, but anyhow it's big and doofy. Very likeable.
Here are some headlines: "U.S. Intel Warns Iran Plotting 'Tactical Surprise Attacks' in Gulf"...."U.S. Intercepts Russian Bombers and Fighters of Alaska Coastlines for a Second Day in a Row"...."Federal Judge 'Slams' Mississippi Over New Law Banning Abortions After 6 Weeks"...."New Study Finds Sea Levels May Rise Much Faster Than Predicted, Swamping Coastal Cities"...."TV Station Refuses to Air Episode With Same-Sex Wedding".... "Iran Refuses Trump's Offer of Talks Unless US Shows Respect"...."U.S. Intercepts Iranian Orders to Hezbollah to Attack Americans"...."China Delivers First JF-17 Fighter To Pakistan Air Force"...."Beverly Hills Bans Tobacco Sales"...."Senior Military Officers Rebel Against Trump's Plan to Pardon Troops Accused of War Crimes".... "Disco Queen Donna Summer Dead at 63"...."132 Tornadoes Reported in Midwest"...."6 Dead, 200 Injured in Protests Over Indonesian Election Results"... "U.S. Democrat LEaders Side With Iran Against Trump".... "U.S. Confirms Syrian President Assad Gearing Up to Use Chemical Weapons Against His Citizens- Again".... "Nearly 23,000 Tons of Garbage Hauled Out of Taiwan Rivers"...."Tornado Tears Through Jefferson City, Missouri's Capital- 3 killed in State"...."Holocaust Victims Photos Defaced with Swastikas in Vienna".... "Indonesia Arrest 257 Rioters in Violent Election Demonstrations, as Troops Flood the Streets to Regain Order".... "Philippines President Duterte Orders Government to Ship 69 Containers of Garbage Back to Canada".... "British Steel Collapses, Costing Thousands of Jobs".... "Maryland to Release MS-13 Gang Killers in Spite of ICE Detainer".... ""Pentagon's New Rules Encourages U.S. Navy Pilots and Sailors to Report UFOs".... "50 Children Saved After Police Bust Pedophile Website".... "British Prime Minister Theresa May Announces Her Resignation".... "Storms, Flooding and More Pain for Missouri and Oklahoma, as They Brace For Another Day of Tornadoes".... "Trump Approves Additional Deployment of Troops to Middle East to Counter Iran".... "A Vietnam Veterans Memorial Vandalized with Swastikas " .... "Shooting in New Jersey Bar Leaves 10-Wounded".... "Federal Judge in California Halts Trumps Plan to Build Parts of Border Wall"
And the world just keeps going around and around. I do not know about you all, but I am attempting to follow the world's progress with dealing with the oncoming massive asteroid headed into our solar system. Curious to see how close it will come, what the world's governments are doing to deal with it and if it will interfere with our gravity if it draws too close. One can see from all of our massive craters that our world has been smacked a few times by good sized rocks from space. This one is reported to be 1,100 miles in size. I have an interest in it because in my book, "A Coming Storm" I have a large space rock smacking into the earth in Southeast Asia. I wrote this part because it came to me in my dreams. Oh my, I had a lot of dreams about this book and what to write long before I put it on paper. Imagination or prophecy, can't say, but I was advised by a highly well--known prophet when he visited Anchorage and Mona and I were his runners, of how thousands of people had received the same prophecies. Only time will tell. Sometimes it is just dreams and other times....frightening. NASA has a site to keep an eye on things. Remember those two sci-fi movies and how Bruce Willis and Robert Duvall destroy those huge asteroids before they hit us? Maybe they'll be possible, but it is a shame we retired our space shuttles, which never made much sense. Now re rely on Russia to get us to the International Space Station and it costs us a fortune.
I once got inside the Enterprise, the first shuttle, when it was being tested at Edwards Air Force Base. So impressed with that bird, especially seeing it on top of a 747 and watching it take off. The whole 747 was filled with fuel bladders as that shuttle was heavy. Nearly had a catastrophe one afternoon when they attempted to haul the 747 with the shuttle on its back into the massive Weights and Balance hanger so they could get the total weight of the combination of the birds. At the last minute some guy began screaming to stop the tractor from pulling, they had suddenly realized the tail of the space shuttle was 3 feet taller than the roof of the hanger. Half the bird was already inside by then. But they got it stopped and then cut a 10-foot wide slice down the top of the hanger....I think it was ten feet, that allowed the tail to fit in. Edwards had a lot of really strange happenings there, I enjoyed most of the 4.5 yrs I was stationed there.
Will time to go. Work to do. May the Lord Bless Your Days. BILL