Merry Christmas

'Tis the season for a great many things:  for family, for friends, for thinking a little less of oneself and little more of others. But amidst the glitter and the bustle, we often spend far too little time remembering the reason we celebrate at this time of year. Now before you think you've predicted where we're going and quit reading, you might be surprised where J and L found a bit of Christmas Cheer hiding this year.

This has been a year of highs and lows for the partnership of J and L. Very high and very low -- and without putting you through the tedium of detail, let us just say the year has at times put our faith to the test and then resurrected it again and again. We've gained more than we've lost and as the end of the year approaches, we grow more reflective.

Which brings me to my message. It is at this time of the year that we gather together to celebrate Thanksgiving not because we particularly like turkey or participate in great harvest festivals any longer, but because we have so many things for which we are grateful. We take the time to remember this and do so with our families. Even when family gatherings are somewhat reminiscent of a B-movie. And we remain together in spirit and rejoin with our families at Christmas to celebrate our Lord's birth, sometimes traveling significant distances.

And this tradition is perhaps the purest form of love we share as a witness to those beyond the Christian community. We gather together at family functions, at work-place parties, at assorted shin-digs. The last hereditary leader of the Blackfoot, Mountain Chief, perhaps said it best when he described Christmas in 1896. "Was it because the cold weather came, we sit around in our lodges and feast and give honor to each other...or is it because this is when the white man's God was given to all people... born to this man and woman, a baby boy."

This season, let that love be your witness for all who enter your home. May strangers, coworkers, friends and family all feel the spirit of love which unites us more at this time of year than at other. We know full well that this date is arbitrary and yet, by choosing to remember Him at this time, we create within ourselves a renewing of the light He brought into this world during the darkest time of the year. This Christmas, slow down, embrace your loved ones and count your blessings. Isn't that what it's all about? Taking time from the busy schedule of life to actually live and to love one another.

So, from both of us at J and L, we wish you have a Very Merry Christmas and a New Year which brings peace and prosperity for all of you.

Prepare for the Unexpected

On a recent Sunday afternoon the partners of J & L were heading home from their cabin in Big Bear, a small mountain community about a hundred miles east of Los Angeles, driving north on Highway 18 toward Lucerne Valley when they were surprised by an extremely rare event. Right in the middle of the road less than fifty yards from the Toyota FJ stood a large animal which at first appeared to be a deer but within seconds we realized we were looking at a Bighorn Sheep.

There was not only one Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis) but a herd of eight slowly coming off the steep mountain to our right and boldly crossing the two lane black highway. It was amazing as we watched these animals; two must have been well over three hundred pounds, packed with muscle and long thick curling horns, making their way down the steep rocky hillside without any problem.

Pulling the FJ over safely to the side of the road and putting on the hazard lights, we got out of the vehicle to start snapping photographs. Being prepared with a camera for moments like this is a must and as one explorer to another it was truly an unexpected and exciting sight. Living and exploring Southern California for decades there has always been this certain mystique with these elusive and famous sheep which roam the hinterlands of the dry desert mountains. One of the more famous areas to view these animals, if you actually can, is in the Borrego Desert west of the Salton Sea. It is here where many have reported seeing these great mammals but the chance of really seeing them in the wild is generally pure luck. Many a remote camping trips in the unforgiving deserts and mountains of Southern California have always ended as they had begun: not a sight of these beautiful and rare sheep.

The sure footedness of these animals simply amazed the observers as they bounced up and over boulders and then landed on some ledges only a couple of inches wide (the sheep not the observers). It was a real treat to watch these Big Horn Sheep for minutes and understand that we were being treated to a vision few will ever see in the wild.

If the reader ever sees a person stopped on the side of the road in a wilderness area furiously taking photographs of a mountainside, slow down and take a moment to wonder if that may be a good time to stop and investigate. And, as always, be prepared for the unexpected.

Want to learn more about Bighorn Sheep? Try one of these websites:

www.desertusa.com/big.html

animals.nationalgeographic.com/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bighorn_sheep

"Our Hearts Are Broken"

As the children around the world prepare for Santa's arrival, something wicked arrived in Connecticut. Whatever turns up in the law enforcement investigation, whatever the ultimate reasons beyond what have already surfaced, the results cannot be argued:  the lives of so many families have been tragically and unalterably changed. These families, these children, these teachers, these policemen and other responders will not be able to experience the holiday joy the rest of us feel. Not this year. Perhaps not ever again.

We at J and L avoid the political. There will be no comment about guns, gun control or anything else, but having just written about teaching, it seems timely to mention that we consider education a calling, rather than a job. We know that we are in our positions which call for us not only to educate but to serve in parentis absentia or in loco parentis -- that is, we are charged with keeping our students safe as if we were their parents. But none of us, teachers, parents, or leaders, are prepared for this.

Our hats are off to President Obama who came out shortly after this horrible and tragic incident and spoke to our nation as one from his soul. He was not a politician but simply the leader of the strongest and most powerful nation the world has ever seen and he cried. He was a father, a husband, and one who felt the pain those poor parents will feel during this Christmas season. The gifts purchased that will never be opened by children who are no longer with us. This was a very tough day for America but as always we as a nation we will move on because as history has proven we come together at times like this. Of course that moving on means with large holes in our hearts for the little ones murdered without cause and questions which will never be answered why someone would do this. Perhaps there is no answer.

Count each day precious. Hold your children close. Give them an extra hug tonight.