"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." - Mark Twain

I got a lot done today and my body is feeling the effects. I had planned to start on the truck first thing but it was too cold; my fingers wouldn't have worked well in 31 degree temps.

I decided physical work would keep me warm (turned out to be wrong on that one) so I got the peach and Matsu apple trees planted. Because I didn't have those holes already dug it took me all morning. Dig the holes, plant the trees, and then make the circular fence that protects them from the deer.

After lunch we were up into the mid-40's so I went to work installing the new blower motor for the truck's heater. That was a bit of a wrestling match and required some modifications to the generic motor, but by 4 p.m. I had the motor in AND it works. The glove box is back in place and the factory switch in and working.
That switch is a little scary. It has two speeds which is accomplished by cutting down the voltage that gets sent from the switch to the motor for the lower speed. How do we reduce the voltage? There's a tiny spring about the size of the kind they used to put inside a ball point pen, but with slightly thinner wire. For the lower speed the current passes through that coil which consumes some of the voltage.
The thing is, it glows bright red in the process. You would NOT want to touch it or have anything else come in contact with it while it's that hot.
I guess this is how things were done before they invented resistors?

I told Pam that working on the truck makes me sad to be selling it. I haven't had the opportunity to drive it enough to feel like I've benefited from all my efforts. Just maybe its replacement will help fill that void.
Stay tuned to this channel.

I haven't included any pics of the kids for awhile, so here's one I took this morning while planting trees. It's not the best, but goats don't know the meaning of "Stand still while I take your picture." The kids know me as the one who gives them their bottles three times a day and to Stella I'm Mr. Grain. So when they see me close they usually come running. They're quite tame.
This was taken from some distance away and then cropped. Asante is also up on the stump but blends in with the firewood. Picture Stella in the foreground squeezing through a 6" x 10" opening, about the size of your laptop's screen.

I've been struck lately by what I consider an extremely low level of biblical literacy in under-40 believers. Recently I asked a group of Christians, none of whom are newbies, for one verse that says Christ died to pay for our sins. One of them had a tentative response that came close. The rest seemed unable. That troubles me, and I wonder what accounts for what seems like a widespread problem. Is it the church's fault or these believers? (or some combination) And what dynamic was at work in each to devalue Bible knowledge?