A Bit About Our Characters

The fictional Characters of SONG are the cultural and intellectual forerunners of the freedom-loving Peoples of today.

These interlocked circles represent the Legacy they inherited, the Legacy they have passed on to us generation after generation after generation.

Writing about this fictional family as it grows, getting to know the Characters, it's impossible to not realize the connection between those generations and our own. All around me, every day, I run into people I've never met before and often blink and say to myself, "Here is an Alianora," or "That's a Danann if ever I met one," or "What the heck, there's a Sass!" I have met in the flesh many of the current generations of the Characters of SONG. Which makes me smile because we are living proof that they succeeded in protecting and preserving for us that Legacy.

They lived, fought, and died protecting OUR freedoms, because we are their Future.

Now it's our turn.

As an American I know full well where this story line is taking me - but never EVER do I forget, as the lineages first spread out and then reunite, where those lineages began, where they have gone, what other lineages have added their strengths along the way, and where all of those lineages now are ... which is not solely America by a long shot.

Every freedom-loving person in our world who is ready, willing, and able to plant their feet, take their stand, and hold their line shares something with the Characters of SONG. 

Faith

Family

Friendship

Freedom

Future

If you recognize what those words mean, you are a Keeper of the Legacy.

What you Choose to do about that is entirely your Choice.

THIS. Memorial Day is a Day for Grief and Gratitude

As we honor our fallen, it's impossible not to remember 

what they lived, fought, and died for.

THIS is what it's all about, what it has been all about from the beginning.

Faith

Family

Friends

Freedom

Future

The United States of America

Feel free to read on if you choose, but the above pretty much says everything that's in my heart on this day.

Add THIS to the mix:

I pledge allegiance

to the Flag

of the United States of America

and to the Republic

for which it stands - 

one nation under God

indivisible

with liberty and justice for all.

If you can say the above, and mean it heart and soul, you are welcome here.

This next bit is for the Illegals among us, and for We the People of the United States of America.

We are not 'out to get you' unless you are out to do harm to us or anyone else within our borders, including each other. 

We realize that for the most part you were sold a bill of goods by some charlatans using you as a puppet population. 

Please know that We the People of the United States of America were NOT behind that. 

Please know that one of the reasons we've now chosen an entirely new and different administration for our nation is the result of at last seeing and recognizing what has been going on behind our backs and in front of our faces for a long time, including the lies told to you and the injustice perpetrated on you as well as on us.

No, we did not invite you to come here illegally. Somebody did, but it was not We the People of the United States of America. You, and we, have been used by the same charlatans.

We want you to know that the 'innocent' among you are NOT the babies we want thrown out with the proverbial (and in this case SWAMPY) bathwater.

The bad seed, yes. We want them gone from among us all, including you the 'innocent'.

No, you are not entirely 'innocent' because you broke our law by coming here illegally. For that yes, a penalty must be paid. 

But, once paid, let that be the end of it. Work here, live happy lives here, contribute to our culture and our society here, earn your way the same as the rest of us - and you will find your way to the welcome we were not expecting to extend but which we will extend if you do your part too. 

That Flag up there, that Pledge of Allegiance - they mean something. 

They represent what our families came to this continent to build for us, the Legacy they lived, fought, and died to protect and to preserve. 

And so I say to you: One day your own families will be able to say the same, if YOU give them the chance. 

Our families did not sneak - there is no pride to be taken in ancestors who snuck in through the back door instead of using the front one. 

Give your descendants pride in you. Fix what you have broken so they can live with pride instead of shame. 

You took a big risk in coming here. 

Take another, for the sake of your generations to come - the ones who will be proud Americans who know the meaning of that Flag, that Pledge, with their whole hearts and souls because you choose now to give them a gift. It's the same gift we Americans all share: a common Legacy.

For me, having Faith means not only Faith in the Creator, but in the Creation as well. In us, in you. Because my Faith has three parts I myself think that those three parts are important: Justice, Mercy, Peace - in that order.

Many of you have already paid a steep price to the charlatans who lied to you. They encouraged you to break our law and they are guilty. But you went along with it. Another price, a penalty, must be paid. Mostly by them, but also by you as you are also culpable. 

That's the Justice part, and Justice must come first.

Mercy can only come after Justice has been served.

Then, and only then, will there be a chance for Peace.

To my fellow Americans who might not agree with me on this particular issue I say:

It's all a matter of perspective.

To those who would welcome all and sundry, including the bad apples, I say a very blunt NO.

Period.

To those who would remove all and sundry, including the 'innocent', I say an equally blunt NO.

We can and we will find our Balance here, friends.

All things considered, our good neighbors wish us no harm. The bad neighbors, those who DO wish us harm, will be sent back home. 

We in the United States are among the fortunate of the world. Although we have had, now have, and will have charlatans among us, we have also a Legacy of which we can be proud, a Legacy that gives us the tools we need to do what we have to do when we have to do it.

I refer of course to our Constitution and our Bill of Rights.

We cannot blame those less fortunate for wanting to share in what we take for granted. 

We can and we do blame them for making rotten choices if they break our law in their quest to share the Legacy our own families have lived, fought, and died for. 

Hence Justice before Mercy.

But our ultimate goal is PEACE. 

Without Mercy there will come no PEACE.

God Bless the USA!

They've Already Told This RICIMER Tale

The histories have already SPOKEN, the story-tellers have already HAD their say, the documentaries have already been DONE, and the movie-makers have ALREADY addressed the issue. The verdict is in.

All I'm doing is presenting a different point of view (and a fictional one at that), not arguing with the experts.

Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, in their right mind, in any of those industries is going to want to touch this story's point of view with a ten foot pole, not in the world in which we live in today.

At the very beginning of writing the books of SONG I thought I might make the Catholics and the Baptists mad but so far they've not been critical of the 'truth' as it seems to me: by definition you CANNOT have a Father and a Son without a Mother - so how can that third Person of the Holy Trinity be anyone except the Mother? It's pretty obvious who a person's mother is at birth. There have been cases where fathers' identities haven't been all too clear, though. Female lineages are a lot more clear and easier to track, if you ask me. That's a scientific fact: mDNA is way easier to work with. It's consistent and accurate, relatively speaking. Point being that women are at least as important as men. If you find that threatening in some way, oh well.

Be that as it may be, I take the Mother's place in the Trinity as a given, something patriarchal ideologies could take exception to so I guess I'm lucky to be ignored.

And the women of Celt ancestry still bow to no-one. Ever.

So there's that to not worry about.

Not being overly fond of ideologies that go around trying to shove their beliefs down people's throats, and separating said throats from bodies and heads if opposed, yes I've taken a dim view of Rome's usurpation of the Faith they could not manage to eradicate in 300 years of trying. That they then weaponized it while denying half of the human population equal representation doesn't set too well with me, either. Being a descendant of the ones who held out, never gave up, never gave in, and won in the end, maybe it's something in my DNA that refutes the right of any to dictate to any other, let alone all.

Maybe it's because the church came to its senses in the end, after too long a time and too much brutality, that my condemnation of the early practices of the Roman church isn't being lashed out about.

Maybe it's because the peoples of Europe did, in the end, form themselves into strong independent nations once Rome's boot was off their throats - again, not quickly and not easily and with too much brutality - but they did it. And the very peoples who had held Europe for millennia before Rome came calling were back in control of their Continent. Fussin' and fuedin' an't nothin' new, folks. The factions of the Celts had been perfecting it for thousands of years already. That they'd HAD thousands of years TO perfect it says something about the stability of their culture, appearances to the contrary be damned. They were fussin' and fuedin', not trying to own everybody else body and soul.

So there are two more things to not worry about since who's gonna argue with what's already done and over with, right?

Right.

So far, so good.

The kicker here is that while I'm writing all this stuff about the past, there are a few things going on in our present that are liable to become obviously connected to said past. That's what's gonna keep me safe from media, from politics, from religion, and from invasive ideologies. Ain't nobody gonna want to go out on THAT limb I tell you true.

Writing fiction about ancient times is one thing. Connecting it incontrovertibly to current events is not gonna fly. So it's a good thing I just want to tell the Story and am not ambitious.

Because what motivates Ullin of Iona, RICIMER, and all the rest of our Characters is what lies at the heart of our current situations.

These Circles mean something:

That center Circle is FAITH

The rest of them represent

FAMILY

FRIENDS

FREEDOM

FUTURE

They're our Legacy.

This symbol, which you haven't seen as much of, means something too:

It's a pretty design, this is true.

It's also a warning.

This is the way it is NOT supposed to be.

It will not work.

Here is a representation of the underlying design by which our world is governed:

I call it the Father Phi Spiral.

That's for a couple of reasons.

One is that the line through the middle makes the Spiral look more like the symbol we recognize as PHI.

Phi is the blueprint of our world.

You can look it up if you doubt me.

The second reason is that it's one of the oldest of all symbols preserved by humankind. 

It means something.

It has always meant something.

It has always meant the same thing.

CREATION

GOD

1.618

BALANCE

And you know what the building blocks of the Spiral consist of?

TRIANGLES

What I'm about to suggest might make every religion except for maybe Buddhism and Hindu mad as hornets but I don't particularly care.

[WARNING: SIDETRACK]

Because it's not 'just' that the Holy Trinity has to have a female function if creation is to continue to procreate, which it most assuredly will, with or without humankind.

It's not 'just' that I find it personally offensive, what has been done in the name of 'religion' for all this time.

As a matter of fact it doesn't have much of anything to do with 'religion' at all, because people get to choose what (if anything) they want to believe.

What it has to do with is that attempts to twist the Spiral out of balance have caused, are causing, and will cause literal harm to innocent folk.

Half of us can't be heading in one direction and the other half heading in the opposite direction, and any of us expect balance to be maintained. It hasn't worked yet and it ain't gonna EVER WORK. Our universal - literally - governing principles will not allow it. [sidetrack inside sidetrack: speaking of governing principles, the Constitutional Republic government of the United States of America is fundamentally based on PHI.]

Look again at this warning symbol:

Say you're on one side of this 'twisted spiral' thing and I'm on the other, just walking along.

Where are we going to end up?

We'll either hit a dead end

or collide in the middle.

Either way we lose.

Plus, that spiral ain't gonna stay twisted like that because by design it CAN'T stay that way.

One side or the other is gonna flip back around so it's all in balance again.

So what in the heck do we think we're DOING?

May as well stick with the PHI thing and not lose our balance in the first place, if you ask me.

Which I realize you didn't.

[END SIDETRACK]

I think that maybe, just maybe, the significance of triangles and spirals and such clear back as far as we can track humankind has to do with something we ALL instinctively KNOW somehow.

There's no conflict between Science and Faith. They're the same thing.

Which is another thing to not worry about because Science is zipping right along to prove it and Faith is plodding reluctantly to accept it.

So what's the worry?

Me, I'm not worried because I'm just a little old lady with no real stake in much of anything - nothing to lose that I haven't already lost or don't care if I do lose.

But there are folks in our world who would likely not appreciate having people's attention drawn to parallels between historic fact and current events.

The divisions caused by 'identity politics', for example, mean that twisted Spiral is already out of balance. And I don't have to tell you who's been pushing that for a while now. I doubt they know what they're doing, but maybe they're hoping that when the time comes it will be the other side of the twist that will swing around and the Spiral will balance itself in their favor.

On the other end of the spectrum, but on that same side of the twisted Spiral, are the folks trying to shove the EU down the throats of the peoples of Europe. They don't want anyone reminded of how that ended when Rome tried to do it - twice - once via military and once via ideology. Neither ended well for Rome although Europe, once recovered from the ravages inflicted by the attempts, came out of it with those strong independent nations that Ullin and RICIMER and the others were betting on. Rome struck out twice trying what they're trying now.

Yet another loser in this equation is an ideology that can't seem to wrap its head around either the Holy Trinity OR that a Mother is required if there are to even BE a Father and a Son - OR that what they're trying to do has already failed more than once.

None of those people want to be challenged to explain how on earth they think they're going to take two failures and turn out a success by trying the exact same things. It's not like math where two negatives can produce a positive.

Honestly.

What did they do, look at history and say, 'Hey, check this out! This thing here FAILED spectacularly, and that thing over there FAILED just as spectacularly! Let's put them together and they'll be GREAT! We'll rule the world!'

Considering that the goal of both examples had been to 'rule the world', and both FAILED spectacularly, success by combining the two doesn't exactly seem very promising.

My point here, and in the books, is that our fictional folk (some not quite all the way fictional) SUCCEEDED in what they set out to do, not because they themselves were masters at what they did (although they were) but because their goal was WHAT THE COLLECTIVE, INSTINCTIVE, WILL OF THE PEOPLES AFFECTED WANTED.

So the moral of the Story is: the EU is doomed, and so is that invasive ideology. One is trying what Rome tried first; the other is trying what Rome tried second. Against the exact same populations of people. For that matter, some folks in the States are trying to do do what Rome also tried: pitting folks against each other. That, if you recall, resulted in something called the Barbarian Conspiracy, which didn't work out so well for Rome in the end did it?

Mamm of Dunnottar, fictionally speaking, asked Attila, "How stupid are you?!?"

Me, I would never think of asking anyone any such thing.

Out loud.

I might wonder it to myself, though.

If you're going to try stuff, you might want to first do a little homework so you know a little something about the people you're up against.

Not to be a spoil sport or anything, but at least three quarters of the citizens of the United States of America are probably descendants of the peoples Rome FAILED against - twice. The percentage in Europe is likely higher yet.

Fussin' and fuedin' is one thing Rome thought was more than it was.

Leave off the crap and leave our Legacy alone. 

Our instincts are still intact.

Believe me.

Go play in the rest of the world, and quit tryin' to mess with our Circles.

RICIMER MIGHT COME BACK.

And see how you like them apples.

Corrections and Updates

For the moment at least, and hopefully for all time, the updates and corrections to the Mamm Books and DANANN are as complete as I'm going to get them.

Thankfully HELL AND HIGH WATER has relatively independent story lines (WHEW) and I'm not going to fret about them right now.

As for why I've fretted about getting these fine-edited right now, it's because I read them all over again in preparation for the writing of RICIMER and found a couple of things that I wanted fixed.

So I fixed them.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the new files submitted for print, and the Kindle editions will be fixed at the same time. None of the Story Lines changed, mind you - just a touch-up here and there.

When they're all ready I'll post links.

Fun Review Time

I just spent some time going back through some of the early days of SONG - the development of setting, people, accessories, activities, historic events, etc.

Some of the story line ideas got changed along the way, the Characters developed their own personalities that surprised me now and then, and at one point I had to go back through all of the previous books to write in a Character who showed up on the radar of my research out of the blue unexpectedly - but he could not NOT be a part of our Story, so ... in he went! As it turns out, he's ended up being key further down the line, and an all-around favorite of many!

As RICIMER progresses, my mind is already jumping ahead to the Short Stories that are on the horizon.

When I finally quit reining them in and give them their heads, our fictional world is liable to burst wide open with the places and times our Characters will throw at us.

From here on out, once RICIMER is in print, we'll be free to roam at will, wherever and whenever our Characters choose to take us!! Wherever and whenever there's a hearth available for a Story to be told, we'll be right there.

If you're familiar with the younger generations of our fictional family you might have some idea about what we might be getting ourselves into. That's a fair warning that all may not go exactly as planned all the time, and that we could just happen to run into some folk of myth and legend at any time, any place.

Going through the chronicles from back then (not so very long ago but it sure seems a lifetime), all the struggles of today balance with the struggles of yesterday - and one way or another we'll come out of it all smiling.

RICIMER: Bad Boy of the Western Roman Empire - or was he?

The histories are pretty consistent in their opinions regarding Ricimer.

They don't like him very much.

Me being me, once I found out he's a relative of our fictional family, I took a closer look.

(The Back Story, establishing Ricimer's maternal connections)

Remember when we needed a worthy husband for our own Mamm of Dunnottar? She couldn't go through life all alone, and had a family heritage to add to. She needed a mate.

Fretting about it, I distracted myself by doing one of those on line quizzes: Which Conqueror Are You? Not exactly being 'conqueror material', and not really wanting to be, I didn't expect to find any matches.

Ha.

Up popped the only 'good guy' conqueror in the history of humankind: Alaric.

He did sack Rome in 410, this is true, but he wasn't mean about it. Mamm was at his side, and this was to be their final military campaign together, although they didn't know that at the time.

Alaric gave orders to not hurt anybody except in self defense. He insisted that the holy places be left alone, and everyone who got into them. Rumor has it that some of his men found a cache of wealth in the home of a little old lady. She told them it had come from one of the churches for safe-keeping. They gave themselves an escort, hoisted the wealth on their backs, and themselves carried it across town to return it to the church, with a crowd going along with them singing psalms and such. The other story that has survived is that one of his men found a woman alone. Instead of ravishing her he escorted her safely to the church where her husband had found refuge. Alaric gave his warriors but three short days to collect what they wanted, and then they were off - leaving to Rome almost all of the stores and supplies in the warehouses that had been held secure by his armies, and much of their wealth.

[Bear in mind that in the armies of Alaric were thirty thousand Getae warriors whose families had been ordered massacred by Honorius. Bear in mind that also in the armies of Alaric were tens of thousands of Getae who had been enslaved and earlier freed from their Roman owners by Alaric. So no, the sacking of Rome was not bloodless - but these folk were disobeying Alaric's orders, not going by them,]

Previously, he had held Rome under siege twice in the past two years.

THAT's the significant part, from our current perspective.

One of the negotiators for Rome was Aelia Galla Placidia, half-sister to the Emperors East and West, Arcadius and Honorius respectively.

One of the negotiators for Alaric was his brother-in-law Ataulf (Mamm's brother).

Turns out neither of them ended up being a lick of good in the negotiations, being as the two of them were locked in each other's eyes and busy falling deeply in love.

When Alaric left Rome that last time, Placidia went with Ataulf.

Skipping ahead a bit, Placidia and Ataulf ended up leading Alaric's people to settle in their new homeland: Aquitaine in Gaul. They were married and had a son. Then Ataulf was murdered. Placidia returned to her brother Honorius' household in the Western Roman Empire and was forced to marry the ambitious Constantius (the architect of the murder of Ataulf) and produce two children for her new husband. She ended up being Regent/Empress after Honorius died, while her son was a minor (Valentinian III - he was heir to the throne).

NOW we get to the part regarding RICIMER.

Mamm of Dunnottar, if you remember, has four brothers: Davidson of Chattan, LittleEthan of Tarnos, Ataulf of Dunnottar, and their younger brother Wally of the West (born to their parents after they sailed into the sunset to the Far Western Lands once Davidson, LittleEthan, Ataulf, and Mamm had been settled in where they needed to be).

After the murder of Ataulf, Wally of the West was chosen King by Alaric's people, as had been his brother Ataulf before him.

Wally's daughter Anna married Rechila King-apparent of the Suevii (NW part of what is now Spain, and just across the Pyrenees from Aquitaine).

Anna and Rechila had a couple of sons and a daughter.

Their second son was RICIMER.


[If you think I'm telling you a lot of stuff, you should see what all I'm leaving out!!]


The point here is that Ricimer's grandfather was the younger brother of Alaric's wife Mamm of Dunnottar and their other brothers, including the murdered Ataulf whose death left Placidia a widow. She would have been Aunt to Ricimer's mother Anna.

Family connections frequently made for the fostering of young ones by family members who were best suited to bring up certain young ones to fill certain niches.

Ricimer, being a second son with his elder brother slated to be a king, needed a career.

There's more to it than that, of course, but RICIMER went into Placidia's household during the years that she was reigning as Regent/Empress of the Western Roman Empire.

Placidia was Ricimer's foster mother during his developmental years, from young boy-hood through early adulthood. She was his great-aunt, although young enough to have been his mother as he fell in age smack between her son Valentinian III and her daughter Honoria. He would have been in his early thirties when she died at about age 60.


What most historians seem to dismiss out of hand is that Placidia had left Rome to go with Ataulf, apparently of her own free will as we don't hear of any negotiations having been made at the time for her ransom or return. Later, yes. but not during the first years after she left. What they mention but seem to not find all that significant is that, when she returned to Honorius' household, she was accompanied by a lot of Alaric's warriors as her Personal Guard. She refused to relinquish them and they refused to leave the side of their Queen.

Me being me, fiction writer that I am and having the Characters that we do, my interpretation is that Placidia and Ataulf were a love match from the get-go. She was Queen to his King and together they led the people of Alaric although neither was related to any of them. Placidia was Roman royalty; Ataulf was from Albann (now Scotland). Yet the people of Alaric chose Ataulf, and apparently were just fine with Placidia as their Queen. What does that tell you?

At any rate, Placidia was indeed best suited to prepare RICIMER for what was ahead of him.

Meanwhile ... 

There is, as always, a bigger picture to take into consideration.

Fictionally speaking, Ricimer is born to fulfill a Destiny not many would have been able to handle. Perhaps in reality as well, but fiction is our purview, not reality unless it fits into our Story Line. Just sayin'.

At practically the hour of his birth, our own Ullin of Iona claims RICIMER to fulfill that Destiny. From his earliest memories, Ricimer is well aware of what he will be called on to do, the reasons behind the demands, and the consequences should he fail.

Ullin of Iona, for those unfamiliar with him, is a very tall, very skinny, very bald, and VERY powerful Druid leader. His goal over the entire course of his very long life is to protect and preserve Freedom of Individual Choice for all of humankind, among other things. That he has issues with the Roman Empire is a given. That he might have issues with the direction Rome is taking 'Christianity' is a complex question.

Regardless of his personal take on the matter, Ullin of Iona serves the Mother of the Holy Trinity (The Father and the Son too, by association and the fact that the Trinity is unequivocally and inextricably ONE entity). His sight is far-reaching, to significantly understate, and he knows a lot more than he ever lets on.

When Ullin says something needs to be done, and bothers to explain himself, few are going to argue the point.

What Ullin sees in the future for the Peoples of Europe are the resulting outcomes should History take one course or another.

1) Should the Western Roman Empire revive itself and continue the course it started down so long ago, one outcome could be expected.

2) Should the Church of Rome gain ascendancy and move toward power, and control of Europe, a different outcome would be expected.

3) Should the various Peoples of Europe, the Getae/Celts go to war among themselves, still another outcome could come about.

4) Should the Vandals conquer all, something else would happen.

5) Should the invading folk from the East be given free rein, the result would be entirely different.

As RICIMER grows up in the household of Placidia, Ullin comes and goes frequently, teaching and training the young boy, the young man.


Between what he learns from Placidia about the ruling of an Empire, what he learns from Ullin about exploring options, and what he learns from Aetius the Roman General once his formal military training begins ... Ricimer is pretty darned well educated pretty darned early on.

Given that Ricimer is an apt student, the compelling goal of Ullin (to protect and preserve individual free choice for all) takes precedence. That it is a goal shared by Placidia might be an understatement. That Aetius is in accord with the concept is apparent from the fact that he's got a 'barbarian' for a wife and hasn't chosen a Roman woman. The women of the Getae/Celts bow to no man. Ever.


So all three of Ricimer's primary mentors share a common goal.

The goal itself is clear.

It's how to make it happen that needs to be fine-tuned.


The Peoples MUST forge themselves into strong nations whose people have steel in their backbones - steel powerful enough to turn aside the attacks that are to come, if they are to survive, if their culture of freedom is to survive.


The Future of the Peoples of Europe and beyond lie in the choices, and the hands, of one young man - RICIMER.

How will he choose?

Will he have what it takes to do what he has to do when he has to do it so that the Future will become what it will need to be when it needs to be it?

We'll find out.


NOTE: The five interlocked circles represent what all of our Characters live, fight, and die to protect and preserve:

Faith

Family

Friends

Freedom

Future

FAITH IS THE CENTER CIRCLE

Here Come The Bad Guys

A note to our Readers regarding the ‘new’ Characters who will soon be showing up in the short stories of SONG: 

You know how I’ve often told you to look for yourselves among our Characters because it is you, the people of today’s world, who are the living Characters on whom the fictional ones are based? Do not look for yourselves among this new batch because you will not be there. The Readers of SONG are not the sort of folk to be found there … and it is not for them that SONG is written, but for YOU.

If by chance you are one of those others who think you might find your own representation in the followers of Aduan, the ‘bad guys’ of SONG, know that you may well run across somebody who reminds you of yourself in some ways. But know also that you will not search for long, because you will not want to look further. We’re fine with that, because it is not you for whom these stories are written in the first place. We already know that you will not like what you find in them; you aren’t supposed to like it.

People of Peace we and our Characters may be – but there are hate-filled folk in the world who do not find the concept of Peace the least bit appealing. If you are among those folk, SONG is not for you. The battles of SONG are fought at times against naturally occurring events and the aftermath. More often they are fought against intolerance; against subjugation of women (or anyone else); against anyone who would restrict the freedom to choose one’s own life-path and follow it; against violent aggression aimed at innocent populations marked for ‘submission’; against individuals who have no qualms at all about seeking to destroy the life of another by any available means; against those who would deny the sanctity of the Holy Trinity in Its true form; against any and all who seek to harm others for malicious reasons.

Hiding our faces from those who follow the above path is not the way of our Characters, or of we ourselves. At times, yes, prudence dictates strategic retreats. But there is always a line beyond which our Characters, and their representatives in today’s world, will not be pushed. Harm none and you are safe among us. Raise your fist or a weapon against any innocent one, and all bets are off. Our Characters are in general an easy-going lot. Almost anything goes and everyone’s rights are equally respected – but nobody has the right to attack the equal rights of others. If/when that point needs to be made, it will be made by the Characters of SONG – past, present, and future.

So here is the line drawn.

Readers, you will find your own self among the Characters we have already met (but for Aduan). 

We are about to introduce the ‘bad guys’. 

Do not look for yourselves among them. 

You’re not there.

Held at Gunpoint and Denied Necessary Medical Care

My Experience of Being Held at Gunpoint 

and Denied Necessary Medical Care

By Nathan Pitchford; Martin North Dakota USA (posted here with his permission)

During the afternoon of Wednesday, April 6th, 2016, after calling 911 for an ambulance, I was ordered out of my house by men brandishing machine guns, forced to stand outside in the cold with inadequate clothing for an extended period of time, and denied the medical care that I believed to the best of my knowledge I was in urgent need of. These are the events as exactly as I can reproduce them in writing. Times are only approximate, since I did not have a watch: however, the 911 transcript, as well as the report of Sheridan County Deputy Delbert Hoffman, will assign a definite timeframe to the events.

Approximately 2:00 PM
I was in the garage, trying to start my four wheeler, which had a bad battery. I had my 1970 pickup running roughly, with the garage door open. It was putting out voluminous exhaust. I was able to start the four-wheeler and proceeded to drive it out of town.

Approximately 2:30 PM
I became horribly ill. I was violently puking, my whole body became so weak I could barely keep myself upright, and my thinking became cloudy and confused. I was terrified. I didn't know what was happening to me. I stopped my four-wheeler and stumbled off of it and lay on the ground moaning. A pickup came on the scene and stopped. Two young men exited and asked me if I was all right. I responded, “I'm not all right. I feel so sick.” I asked them to drive me home to Martin. One of them drove me home. I was kneeling in the floorboard of his pickup, loudly moaning. I remember repeatedly saying, “I'm so sorry,” and “You're so kind to me; thank you so much.” The other one drove my four-wheeler home. I stumbled out of the pickup and crawled into the house.

Approximately 3:00 PM
Although I'm still only estimating times, this is where the 911 call can affix an exact time to the occurrence. I called 911 right away. I was obviously in severe distress and not always coherent. I remember saying things to express my agony that could be reasonably construed as suicidal. I also remember explicitly saying that I did not want to hurt myself, and that I needed help. The operator began asking me if there were guns in the house. There are always guns in my house, since I'm a hunter; but I told him they were unloaded and put away. After what I'll very roughly estimate to be fifteen minutes (but again, the 911 transcript can confirm exact times at this point) the operator directed me to the front door. I looked out the door and saw two men in body armor, holding machine guns. I told the operator that there were men there with machines guns and he denied that it was true.

Approximately 3:15 PM
When I cracked open the front door, I saw numerous vehicles parked along the street. I also saw the two men in body armor, holding machine guns. They raised their machine guns to a ready position, ordered me out of the house, and asked me if I had any weapons. I replied, “No! I have a flashlight.” Then I realized I was still holding the phone I had used to dial 911. I frantically said, “It's just a phone! It's just a phone!” They approached me, grabbed the phone out of my hand, and turned me very roughly around and very roughly patted me down and removed a very small pocket knife from my pocket and a Gerber multi-tool from my belt. They also put handcuffs on me, very tightly. When I was finally allowed to enter the ambulance, much later, the ambulance crew saw how red the cuffs had made my wrists. I can personally testify that when I took a bath after 10:00 PM I could still discern two small red marks on my left wrist where the cuffs had been.

Someone standing there, either Sheridan County Law Enforcement, Wells County Law Enforcement, or one of the unknown men brandishing machine guns, asked if he could put the items they had removed from me into my house. At first I said, “Yes”. Then, immediately afterward, I reconsidered and said, “I'm calm and respectful but I do NOT invite you into my house.” The person holding the items said, “It's ok, I'll just set them inside.” Then he stepped into the house, set the items down, and stepped back out. No one else sought entrance into the house after that.

At this point, one of the men standing by introduced himself as Derek. Another man immediately introduced himself as Matt. I believe this one to be Deputy Matt Lisic from Sheridan County. No one else introduced themselves. Neither of the men holding me captive at gunpoint ever showed me a badge or told me who they were. They just continued to stand there with their assault weapons at the ready, refusing to let me leave. The ambulance was parked on the street for an extended period of time, but none of the crew was permitted to evaluate me until quite a lengthy period of time had elapsed.

I began saying, “I'm calm and respectful but I'm so cold. I wish I had a coat.” I said this many times, but received no response from my captors. I was visibly shivering and my nose was running quite voluminously. It was snowing at the time. I was still forced to stand there in the cold, shivering, without adequate clothing.

After I had begun to request warmer clothing, two neighbors, Gina Klein and Mackenzy Klein, walked up to me in the driveway and remained with me until I was finally permitted to warm up in the ambulance. A little later, Stan Klein also arrived. I believe that I heard them advocating for me to receive medical attention, or at least be brought somewhere warm. They are available to confirm their role. Still, no coat was given to me and I was neither brought somewhere warm nor granted a medical evaluation. Finally, after a period of time that I will estimate to be at least half an hour, Doug Helm, operator of an Auto Body Shop in Martin and also a first responder, proceeded to the ambulance from which he brought back a thin blanket to put around my shoulders. I'm not exactly sure for what period of time he had been there; but I remember that he did talk to me, seeking to assess my mental status. I remember he doubted at one time whether I was capable of making a rational decision. I also remember him asking me if I would have hurt myself if I had had access to a weapon. I assured him that I wouldn't have. I expressed to him that I knew I was very ill and needing help and so I made the best rational decision I was capable of, and reached out for help by calling 911. He agreed that that had been a rational decision.

Finally, I was allowed to go into the ambulance to warm up. I was still in cuffs which were very tight and making my wrists ache. The ambulance crew was very considerate and respectful. They took my vitals, which were good. At first, my blood pressure and pulse were somewhat elevated, but after I sat there for a few minutes, they came down to well within a normal range. By this time, the confusion had largely worn off. One of the crew members questioned me about smelling exhaust while I was on the four-wheeler. I remembered the running pickup in the garage. He thought carbon monoxide poisoning might account for the symptoms but no further tests were done.

Deputy Delbert Hoffman arrived next from Sheridan County. He handcuffed me very loosely with my hands in front of me, which was much more comfortable. He then directed me to his patrol vehicle, where I sat in front with him. I informed him of the events. I told him that I had been out gathering prairie crocuses. I assured him that I had not been drinking, nor had I taken any prescription medications or illegal drugs. I told him about my practice of gathering medicinal weeds that grow in the area. I told him that I could provide him further information on species of plants and methods of preparation that I used. I offered to undergo field sobriety tests. He declined. He gave no indication that he doubted my assurance that I had not taken any drugs or alcohol.

In the meantime, Gina Klein had driven to Harvey to bring back my wife, Nicole. When I saw Nicole, I asked Deputy Hoffman if I could go talk to her. He agreed, but first very briefly talked to her alone. Then, he released me and I returned to the house. By this time, most of the symptoms that were associated with the state of medical emergency I had been in when my captors were holding me at gunpoint had been wearing off. I did develop a headache that persisted for that night and into the mid afternoon of the next day. Since then, I have been symptom free. Other than carbon monoxide poisoning, I was offered no competing theory as to what may have caused my symptoms.

Approximately 3:00 AM, Thursday, April 7th.
I had not been able to fall asleep yet. The neighbors started their pickup and the headlights shone through my window into my bedroom. I panicked and nearly dove out of bed onto the floor. Since then, I have startled very easily and felt deeply ashamed to appear in public. I developed a bad cold the next day. I also slept very poorly the next night and was troubled by bad dreams.

Since then, I have been in contact with the Sheriff's office in Sheridan County and I have attempted to contact the Sheriff's office in Wells County. Deputy Delbert Hoffman gave me his personal opinion that the two men who held me captive were border patrol and that they were already in town for a traffic stop when the 911 call came in, and that they responded only because of their proximity to my location. I'm still trying to get definite answers to several specific questions:

Who were those armed men in my driveway?
Why did they order me out of my house at gunpoint?
Why didn't they ever tell me who they were or show me a badge?
When it was clear that I was unarmed and nonviolent, why did they make me stand there in handcuffs the whole time?
Why did they refuse me medical attention, when I had called 911 for an ambulance because I was so sick?
Why did they ignore repeated respectful requests for a coat? Why did they just make me stand there shivering and with my nose running?

I do not believe I was treated with respect for the rights that I should have had as an American citizen. I wish to find the answers to those questions. I seek justice and closure. Furthermore, my conscience will not be clear if I allow those two men with machine guns to continue the practice of holding American citizens captive, inadequately clothed, in the cold, without medical treatment, and without ever telling them the nature of their alleged offense or the reason for being held. I sincerely hope that a satisfactory resolution can be found to this troubling case.

CALL 911? Really?

A friend of mine had a disturbing experience a couple of days ago, which is an understatement.

He'd been out in his garage getting his four-wheeler ready for the summer season, jump started it with his pickup and took it out for a test run. 

When he started vomiting and feeling intense pain, he stopped and curled into a fetal position. 

A couple of guys in a pickup stopped to see if he was okay, which he was not; they gave him a ride back to his home in their little town. His family was off doing school and church things.

He called 911, in pain, confused, and knowing he needed medical help. The person on the other end of the line for some reason asked him if he had any guns. He said of course; he's a hunter. The guns are not loaded and they're put away. The person kept asking him questions until he was finally told to go to the front door because 'I have someone there now.'

When he opened the door it was not a team of EMTs he saw. 

It was several men in body armor with AK 47 rifles pointing at him.

They shouted for him to come out of the house, which of course he did. 

When they hollered at him about weapons he showed them his phone. 'It's only a phone!' They grabbed it from him and threw it off to a side.

Then they cuffed him so tight that the marks on his wrists were still there many hours later. They proceeded to search him thoroughly while he assured them he was being cooperative but was cold and would like a coat on.

Instead of giving him a coat or blanket, they kept him standing out there in the cold, unable to even wipe his nose because of the cuffs.

In the meantime, the ambulance crew wasn't allowed to render the aid he needed. They were there, mind you, but couldn't get out of the ambulance.

To back up just a little, the men with the rifles had been hanging around this little town for hours before the 911 call came in, several cars with their lights flashing the whole time. They'd been searching an out of state vehicle at one point.

Said cars with lights flashing surrounded this guy's house, soon joined by the ambulance and a vehicle from a County Sheriff's Department, from the next county over from the one this little town is in.

And there he stood, shivering in the cold, confused and wondering if they were going to shoot him, not knowing what in the world was even going on, for a good half hour.

Then the Sheriff from his own county showed up, un-cuffed him, and the men with the rifles went back to where they had been for hours before all this happened.

A friend showed up and wrapped him in a blanket. Another couple of friends came and stood close by, not able to do anything to help him. The neighbors were watching all of this from their windows, some of them coming outside.

Finally the ambulance crew got to do their job. They figured it had been the exhaust from the vehicles, even though the garage door was open, that had brought on his symptoms.

The symptoms of whatever had caused the pain and vomiting that had made him call 911 passed a lot quicker than the trauma of the results of that call will.

He never did find out, so far, who those men with the rifles were or what they were doing in that little town, let alone why they were at a medical emergency scene as the result of a 911 call. No badges were shown, no identification except for one man who called himself 'Derek', no explanation as to what the cuffs were all about ... nothing.

My friend will tell his own story in due course . 

I just wanted this in here because it's  important to me. It's only the bare bones right now. We'll no doubt have commentary on it when there's time.

For the moment I have a shift to fill at the job I share with this guy who is not only a co-worker but he and his family are friends of mine.


Signs and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning may include:

Dull headache
Weakness
Dizziness
Nausea or vomiting
Shortness of breath
Confusion
Blurred vision
Loss of consciousness

An Attitudinal Experiment

Enlisting the aid of all my favorite folk and embarking together on an experiment, yep.

We are going to make things better, yes we are.

Better for our own selves and better for those around us.

We are going to remember and we are going to remind one another that we are on a kind of quest, a journey toward 'better'.

We aren't looking for Utopia, just 'better'.

We acknowledge from the get-go that it is not going to be always an easy or fun journey - that's why we're going to remind each other when need be. We know that each and all of us are going to have struggles to get through, times we're going to need the strength,or humor, or compassion of someone else to help get us through. 

And so we are going to pay attention to ourselves, to each other, and to those around us. We want to be aware, alert to those subtle things that are cues for us to ask for answers from ourselves, one another, and those around us - and to stop being afraid to ask, and to answer.

'Howyadoin?Fine,andyou?Okay.That'sgood.' is not going to cut it any more for us. We each have our own things to cope with and the world around us isn't going to help our quest along much - so yeah - we're going to need to lean on somebody now and then. You can lean on me if you need to and I can lean on you when I need to. We can all lean on one another if need be, and nobody is going to let anybody else fall down, not if we can help it. 

Knowing that, just knowing it, makes all the difference.

We are going to make things better. Us. We are. Nobody else is likely to help us and so we are going to help our own selves. 

That, my friend, is our attitudinal experiment. Finding the good and building on it, in ourselves, in each other, in those around us. Every single day. 

And you know what?

It's already making a difference.

If you're reading this, feel free to join in our experiment. Look people in the eye and say, 'We're going to make things better.' Give them a grin to get it started and they'll smile back and agree - and it has begun!

*laughing*

If they ask, 'How are we going to make things better?' you look them in the eye again and tell them that smiles are magic that way. They'll feel good and so will you; you'll both be the better for it.

One day at a time, one smile at a time, one person at a time. Beginning with me, and with you.

There's more than plenty negativity in the world in which we live in - it needs to be balanced - and the only way to balance it is for us to provide that balance. 

Of What Faith Are WE THE PEOPLE?

See that center circle right up there? That's our Faith. All of those circles are linked and cannot be separated. All are bound by that center circle - Faith.

Now, what the heck, right?

We here in the United States have all kinds of differences in our Faith. It's the truth - we do have a lot of differences among us. And that's okay, has been okay, generally speaking, for as long as there's been a United States. 

There's room for the differences among us, so long as one basic rule is followed: Believe what you choose, but you will will not do harm to others.

Our witch-hunting days were short-lived and are long past. We do not burn people here. We do not behead people. We do not mutilate people. We do not consider deceit and murder admirable.

There are all sorts here. We've got Pagans, Jews, Christians of all kinds, Wiccans, Hindi, Atheists, Traditionalists, Non-conformists, Scientists, Futurists, Buddhists,  and every other kind of '-ist'  and '-ism' you could possibly think of, with variations abounding among each and all of them. Lots and lots of sorts we've got, all different from one another.

Beneath the differences, through them, over-riding them, is that one basic rule. That is our fundamental Faith ... in one another ... whatever our differences, however much we can and do rant and rave and cuss blue streaks if we want to, there's a darned solid line in place between your fist and my nose so to speak. You cross that line and you're in trouble.

See, here's the deal.

If I were by chance sitting in a church pew and you came in, I would scoot over to make space for you, no matter what religion you are. If you want to sit alongside of whoever else happens to be at that service, you're certainly welcome. If, however, you came in and started shooting, somebody would shoot you because you just crossed that line. Whether we scoot or shoot is entirely up to you.

Because, as the kids would say, that's just how we roll here in the United States. Generally speaking, at least.

Our Faith is strong - in God, in one another, and in our own selves.

Those of us who live in well-armed snoopy little communities, we aren't particularly afraid of much of anything. The fact that everybody in town knows everybody else's business can be annoying as all get-out. It is also very much an effective security measure. 

The bad guys are better off just leaving us alone here in Small Town USA.

For one thing, we aren't all that interesting to anybody except ourselves. For another thing we don't have much of anything that anybody else might want. But mostly, what kind of publicity would get generated for the bad guys if all we did was shoot 'em when they opened fire on us? No media hoopla, no big deal - just like if a coyote threatened one of our kids. Bang, and the varmint ain't gonna bother us no more. 

Then there's that 'snoopy' factor. We are downright nosy. Somebody moves into town, we're gonna know it. We're gonna snoop and poke and pry and watch to see if they eat the bacon we're all so fond of. Even 'just passing through' people get the same treatment, yep. Call us paranoid if you want; we're okay with that. We've always been like this, you know. My family moved here fifty-odd years ago and we're still kind of the new folks in town, relatively speaking.

So yeah, we have our Faith. We also have Family, Friends, Freedom, and the Future - all linked securely together.

Our own Small Town USA is kind of a microcosm of our much larger national community. We can fuss and fret and call each other bad names and poke and prod each other over piddly stuff and make fun of folks for whatever ... but when push comes to shove we'll up and shoot whatever bad guy takes a shot at any of us, even if it's the guy we felt like shooting our own selves just yesterday because he's so damn dumb about lutefisk and thinks everybody ought to like it just because he does. He's been harping about that lutefisk for forty years or more and ain't nobody shot him yet. We aren't about to let anyone else shoot him. Feeling like doing something is a far cry from actually doing it.

Now don't think we aren't compassionate toward those who don't get to live out here among us. We are. We feel right sorry for you. And you're welcome to come sit beside us on that church pew any time you want. You are not welcome to come out here and start shooting us. We shoot back. And we eat a lot of bacon; lutefisk not so much, although some people do claim to like it.