Sign in Mount Vernon, Illinois: The Healing Virtues of Bacon

This is a picture of the sign in front of the Walgreens in my hometown in Mount Vernon, Illinois. What strikes me is that they are selling bacon at a pharmacy. However, this is consistent with the Midwestern view that bacon is underrated and is actually good for you. Besides, eating bacon also benefits the local economy and the hog farmers appreciate it.

So get yourself a pound of bacon, fry it up in a pan, and experience the healing properties of bacon!

My First Book Has Now Been Published

My first book, Touching Other Worlds: A Collection of Poems , has now been published. This collection of poems was primarily inspired by my visits to Flat Rock Brook Nature Center in Englewood, New Jersey and a two-month special assignment for UPS commuting to New York City. (You can get a lot of writing done while riding a bus to and from New York City.) It is available online through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Click here to print version of Touching Other Worlds on Amazon Click here to Amazon Kindle version of Touching Other Worlds on Amazon Click here to see Touching Other Worlds at Barnes and Noble Click here to LIKE Touching Other Worlds on Facebook

Letting Go of Parcels

Today, I am feeling “off” in an “everything is fine but I still don’t feel right kind of way.” It went on for a few days until I finally became so desperate that I needed to go and sit on a boulder next to the constant roar of the swooshing brook at Flat Rock Brook Nature Center. I'm trying to let the sounds of the water drown out all of the oppressive thoughts in my head. Sometimes it takes a while. This is the view of where I station myself, and I think the video captures the sound. (I know some people use this kind of soundscape for sleeping, but I use it today to combat oppressive thoughts.) However, one unoppressive thought is conflicting with the rest in my head, a quote I used in the class I'm teaching this semester: “A man whose hands are full of parcels cannot receive a gift. " C. S. Lewis Lewis said this about spiritual dryness, and I guess this is a good description of where I am right now: spiritually dry. And my hands are full of parcels, which resonates wi

I Heard the Voice of Robert Plant Say, “Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down”

The other day, as I prepared for my 30-minute commute to my office, I let Spotify pick a playlist for me and off I went to work. You may remember in recent years, I commuted in an older car , a 2002 Mercury Sable with a few quirks that made life interesting. But now I have a 2016 Honda Accord with Bluetooth. It starts all of the time, doesn’t break down and require towing, and this means I have to look for other forms of excitement while commuting. This newer car also meant my music went from cassettes/CDs to Spotify Bluetooth in a remarkably short time, so I’m sticking my hand deep into the musical candy jar each day with Spotify (yes, I heard about it from my children). On this chilly April morning, a few songs into my Daily Mix 1 playlist, Robert Plant , the former lead singer of Led Zeppelin , came on singing the lyric, “Satan, your kingdom must come down . . . Satan, your kingdom must come down . . . I heard the voice of Jesus say, Satan, your kingdom must come down.” I had list

Rainey Blogs on Some Days

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