Nightmares. I hate nightmares. Not that anybody likes nightmares. I was awoken by them at 0200 hrs this morning (actually a few minutes before, but hey, what’s a few more minutes of sleep?). I got up and decided I would be productive with my time, since I knew I couldn’t fall back asleep until at least 0800 hrs. It’s now 0926 hrs and I still haven’t been back to bed. I guess I’ll either catch an afternoon nap or go about a semi-usual day and be so tired I’m drooling out one side of my mouth with my eyes half-open at 1500 hrs. Either way, it’s a day. I did get some things that I wanted to do done, though.
First, I unpackaged my new set of Scriptures. Now, for some of you, if you’re not into Scriptures or religion or anything new that you’ve saved to open for a special occasion, you can skip this paragraph. You might miss something neat, though, like a particularly good description. I understand if you don’t want to hear about it, though, so that’s why I’m giving you fair warning! Pick this post up wherever you wish! Okay. My new set of Scriptures. The softest, most supple, and comforting genuine leather cover I’ve ever held in my hands on a brand new set of Scriptures was revealed to my senses underneath that protective plastic covering. And the odor of leather unleashed…nothing can beat that! I read the instructions on how to break in my new set of Scriptures and took my time doing it. First, holding the spine in my left hand, I fanned the gold-gilded page edges through my fingers, forward and backward several times, first at the bottom, then at the top. Then I laid the spine flat on the table top, book closed, and took approximately 100 pages at a time, first from the front, then from the back, and alternated laying them down until I got to the center and the Scriptures were laying open to the middle. The spine on this particular set of Scriptures is perfect, too. I’ve just never had a set of genuine leather Scriptures that were this great brand new!!! I sat there and took in the the sight and the smell and the feel of my new Scriptures for a while. I just wanted to hold the book, to read it, to turn the silky, thin paper pages, and then to fan them so that I could feel the air faintly on my face. Materialism at its best, haha! This book has more than a few things to say about materialism, that’s for sure! It was a nice surprise, though, and I spent the wee hours of the morning picking up my Scriptures, reading them a bit, flipping through them, and setting them down again. The reason I bought this set of Scriptures was so that I can mark, using eight different colors, doctrinal categories that the verses fall into. A verse may fall into more than one doctrinal category, and I’m using a color-coded system devised by Mark Hale for this project of mine. I’ve done it once before, but with just a portion of my Scriptures. This time, I want to complete the color-coding on an entire set of Scriptures, which is going to be quite a task! I gave the other set that was partially color-coded away to a woman in the hospital who needed them. This new set of Scriptures is the perfect set to undergo the process of being doctrinally color-coded so that I can more easily reference and see relationships between different parts of its contents. It’s also the perfect set to keep clean, and I couldn’t bring myself to begin the process of color-coding them yet this morning. I did dig out the first guide to color-coding the verses and sorted out my Crayola colored pencils to do so with, however. Oh, yes, and the pencil sharpener. I found that, too. There are four guides to color-coding my Scriptures, one for each section of my Scriptures. I bought more than one set of colored pencils (trust me, I’ll probably be buying a third set by the time this is all said and done). The system is quite good, though, because it provides an at-a-glance look at what the verse pertains to doctrinally, while still allowing you to read the text. Each color takes up the width of three letters, so you can easily cross-reference more than one doctrinal category per verse and still read what it says. It was a very useful tool in the section of Scriptures I had done it with before. It was neat and tidy, as well, and it ends up being very attractive in the end. It’s a LOT of work, though. Very tedious process. I do one color for the verses it pertains to all the way through the section I’m working on before I switch to the next color. By the time you’re finished with a section, you’re tired of that particular color, haha! That, and the fact that you’ve sharpened the colored pencil lead, which doesn’t stay sharp long, and you’ve broken the lead, and you’ve taken great care to mark the Scripture just right so that you don’t have to try to erase a color or correct any mistakes you might have made… It’s a very intense process! And no, I’m not a perfectionist. If I’m going to take on a project like this, though, I want it done right!!! It’s something that a person might consider paying someone else good money to do if you trusted that they would do it right the first time and that the color-coding would be done correctly. The work that goes into it, though, is what makes it so special. When you’ve successfully color-coded a section and complete the color key at the front of the section yourself, you’re very appreciative of the extra work that went into such a sacred book, and it becomes that much more valuable to you, both to read and to guard with your life! It’s something that would make a very precious gift, if given to a family member, close friend, or someone who desperately needed it and would appreciate it.
Next, after I spent some time with my Scriptures, I changed out my watch band. I have a watch band that covers both the face of the watch to protect it and the entirety of the tattoo on my left wrist that I sometimes need to make sure isn’t noticed by anyone. I went through life without a tattoo until I was 35 years old. Yes, that does mean that I went through the military as an MP and a deployed machine-gunner without getting any tattoos. There are times that I wish I hadn’t gotten this one. Given the choice now, I wouldn’t have any tattoos. Ever. Life changes you, and tattoos don’t change. They’re permanent. Too permanent. If you’re into tattoos, go for it! I like body art. I just don’t think I would like it on my body, given how I feel about the single, small-but-powerful black tattoo on my left wrist. That, and if I had gotten an eagle tattooed across my chest in the Service, then it would be morphing into a turkey vulture by now… HAHA!!! Imagine the nursing home residents in 30-40 years!!!
So, having changed out my watch band and put the new one on (which I’m wearing as we, well, you read), I took some notes from the last few days on my iPad Pro and then penned in my schedule for the day. So far, my day isn’t going as planned, but that’s what plans are for – not to be followed!!!
Well, it’s 1026 hrs now, and I’m getting hungry for some lunch. I contacted the missionaries to find out what time the church service that I want to go to tomorrow is happening, and where, so I have a rough idea of tomorrow’s schedule for an hour and a half. I’m happy with that, and I’m going to go grab a bite to eat! I’ve got to stay awake for another nine hours, at least!!! I see climbing in my future!!!
CLIMBING 4 THE REST OF US 