A little about Ranger…

   About me….thats a hard one, after all, does it matter? I suppose, however, that a little info is in order. After all, when you read, hear, or see me; (on this site or elsewhere) I can see your thoughts turning to “who does this guy think he is”. Well, what a more perfect place to find that out than in something with the the title “about me” and written by, well; me. All that being said, I really dislike talking about myself, never liked tooting my own horn, not even in a job interview. Here goes, I’ll break this into two parts: a quick bio, and my motivation for yakking at you.

 A Quick Biography :

   Ive travelled over 50 trips around the sun (each rotation celebrated with a cake) and Im still of fairly sound mind. Ive been married for 30+ of those trips (she might not be as confident about the soundness of my mind). We raised two children together, and they are both fairly well adjusted, in fact, we homeschooled them; so their adjustment is of a higher caliber than state schooled young people (in my opinion). I was educated beyond high school at an institute of technology, but Ive done many different jobs since. The jobs Ive done have been mostly physical, and all involved tools and getting dirty. I grew up in a home that was full of love, but not necessarily full of money. If one wanted something, one worked for it.

    My family rarely had a television in the house, and we moved often when dad changed jobs, that meant moving schools. I am not a product of media culture or my peers. My years have been full of books, learning, and discussion. Ive always had a curiosity about psychology and human interaction, Ive been a quiet people watcher since a boy. History has also always fascinated me. Some of my fondest memories were table discussions (about life, politics, history, religion, etc) amongst the adults, my formative years were spent aspiring for the day I could contribute positively to those discussions.  

    I’ve always wanted to live a rural life, never liked cities much, so I’ve spent my life in that pursuit. My grandparents had a cattle farm, I loved spending time there. When I was in high school, while the other guys were dreaming about fast cars and faster girls, I dreamed about 40 acres and an old pickup truck. In the fog of energetic youth I was convinced I could load my pack, sharpen my axe, sling my rifle, hike in any direction; and carve paradise out of a patch of wilderness. I have my patch of paradise now, grow much of my own food, I have a small herd of cattle; life is a blessing.

Motivation:

   This portion is a little more interesting (at least to me). I actually had to do a little soul searching. I guess I could boil it down to a simple statement; I have something to say. The interesting part is in the details. 

   Ive always enjoyed teaching, I already mentioned I had a hand in homeschooling my kids. Ive also taught some bible classes (youth and adult) and even done some lay preaching in my time. But that’s not my motivation. I guess you could say I had a couple of epiphanies.

   The first epiphany was slow acting, watching the world slowly spinning apart, watching crazy people smashing at the very foundation that supports us all. Its like watching a horrible atrocity in slow motion, the mind screams “surely we’ll come to our senses, surely a backswing of the pendulum will right the ship before it’s too late”. Not so far, the madness and self hatred of our culture only deepens. One would think that the next generation would pull back from the brink, if only out of self preservation. But the second epiphany made me see how deep we’ve  descended. 

   My second realization came to me in an eye blink. It was the realization of getting old, and what that meant, that is why I often talk in the generational sense. You see, I realized my place on that scale, as a Gen- X, I sit in the middle; and Im observant. My generation remembers their grandparents, the generation that struggled through world depression and global war. Gen-x remembers the irritating boomers as know-it-all teens that were convinced they could make the world a better place. Gen- xr’s can also observe the youth in front of us (millenials and Gen-Z); and see how faaaaaaar we’ve fallen as a society. From courage to cuckoldry, storming beaches to seeking “safe spaces”, stiff upper lips during depression to drooling and quivering over “micro aggressions”. The destruction of a great society is laid out before me like a panorama, the tools of its demise still strewn about haphazardly. Bottom line, I felt it was time to speak up.

   Some would say it was past time, too late even; but there is more. There were people shouting warnings of demise all along, nobody listened. Blinded by greed and lust the “smashing of the old” and “worship of the new” continued. Always those demi-leaders of opposition shouted “the government must….abc” or “WE must….xyz”. The time for collective action against the destructive madness has almost waned, but the time for commanders to lead survivors out of the rubble has not yet come. So, how does one encourage future cultural survivors? Well, that is the endeavour in which I strive; to scout, to range over the carnage of post-modern civilization and provide a glimmer of reality brought from the past. To encourage and embolden the individual. To hand out tools of knowledge that can fight the nihilistic madness. Im not here to argue, nor debate; I am only a scout. Those that can hear… will listen; to those who won’t?      ….. Vaya con Dios.

-Ranger