Smoking Policy

Are You Going Up in Smoke?
There's no good reason to keep smoking

I want to tell you a story, one like everyone has heard. My Uncle Jim, who was 3 years younger than my mother, died from lung cancer at the ripe old age of 57. He started smoking and drinking when he was 12 or 13. When he was young it didn't matter. He was extremely good looking and full of it. He was so addicted by the time he was 50 that he could not stand to come to my house or go anywhere he couldn't smoke. Dr. Ham operated on his lung near the end. He said it was the most delicate thing he had ever done, trying to sew the remaining tissue back together. Uncle had to quite smoking for a couple of months. Then the Knot Head started again.

150 years ago Ellen White had visions from God about the evils of tobacco. For more than 100 years after that people thought Adventists were some strange cult because we believed in Biblical temperance and other intolerable beliefs straight from the Book. (Some still do!) Drinking and smoking and other wicked vices were overcome through the power of conversion and a new heart. Or maybe just a wilderness experience. There are many stories of people all over the world that won the victory through faith and perseverance. Many quit cold turkey, laying in bed with cold sweats, tremors, and delirium. Willing to die rather than disobey God, in a time where doctors prescribed smoking for emphysema!

Now, society has become almost totally inhospitable to smokers. It's not cool anymore, it's not tolerated, and in a lot of places it's illegal. What happened? Medical science is beginning to catch up with the prophet. Not only has smoking been proven to be suicidal, it's been proven to be deadly to everyone around it. If you really study it out, you'll find that it breaks every one of God's commandments.

Besides this there are other implications. A no smoking policy helps to elude a host of other problems; health problems, drinking problems, financial problems, performance problems, attendance problems, learning problems, safety problems, etc. These are all essentially a result of a lack of self control. Which is how it all started in the first place.

We have to be careful though. How would God like us to treat poor slaves to tobacco? If we are not careful we end up breaking what He calls the second greatest commandment. That is the second tablet, the last six commandments. "Love your neighbor as yourself." The fact is we are all poor sinners in a hopeless situation. It's easier to sit here on my high horse and criticize than to help someone. Some things you have to draw the line though. How do you prevent people from smoking themselves to death? Everyone knows you can't help anyone who won't help themselves. What can we do? My motto is "There's always a way." Naturally there's a simple solution. It's called money!

Many companies now offer various different incentive plans for employees to quit. It makes sense and saves everyone's time and health and money and makes for cheaper insurance. What would you think if I said I was going to cut your pay to save your life? Not a bad deal, huh? What if I said, "When your ready to start living, I'll start paying you more money." That's an unbelievable deal, isn't it? In reality I'm paying you to quit, smoking that is. Actually I'm not going to cut your pay, I'm going to freeze it. No advances, no bonuses. If you continue to smoke on the job, then I'm going to cut you down. Not a pretty picture if you are afraid you can't quit.

This may sound hard core. However, if people are so much in love with their addiction that it means more to them than work, or life, or family, or friends - they are a liability waiting to happen. They can find some other company that likes to invest in foolishness (Lawlessness).I have to repeat myself. "This is not a suicide assistance facility!"

A few more quotes, "God accepts us as we are, but it's not acceptable to stay as we are." “When you quit learning, you quit living." And, "The greatest deception of the human mind is. I'm good, I'm fine, I belong to the right club, I have need of nothing." E.G. White (paraphrased). In other words they see no need to go through the wilderness. The reality is, that's where they are and that's where they stay.

I actually like people that smoke. They're good down to earth people for the most part. I like the common people. Of course I've always been "Criminally affectionate!" The last thing I want is to become any kind of a snob. (I think they will be the first into hell! No matter what they profess.) At the same time I see so many people, as the Bible says, "dying for lack of knowledge."

Don't give up! "I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in good health." 3 John 2.

The Beast of Revelation

Do You Worship a Beast?
The Mark of the Beast vs. The Seal of God

Does anyone understand Revelation? It is reportedly the "revelation from God to Jesus Christ to show His servants the things that must come to pass." Revelation 1:1

There is a lot in the book of Revelation. Most of it corresponds with Daniel in the Old Testament, that was written 500 years earlier. Let me tell you what I think is the most profound prophecy in the Bible. Daniel 12 : 4, "Shut up the book until the time of the end: many shall run too and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."

Daniel and Revelation are the key to understanding the prophecies concerning the last days of this earth's history. "He who hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches" is the recurring chapter ending. Knowledge has increased exponentially since the beginning of the industrial age, in the 1830's. With the advent of the train there was no turning back. This reminds me of the quote, "Man has lost the ability to foresee and forestall, he will end by destroying the earth." Albert Schweitzer. In Revelation God says He will come and destroy them that destroy the earth.

To begin to understand Revelation we need to begin to understand who or what is the beast. There are a multitude of interpretations surrounding the last book of the Bible. For example, Rev. 18 talks about the warning for God's people to come out of Babylon. Most scholars interpret the word Babylon to mean confusion. How many are confused today about the simplest plainest truth's of the Word of God. Why are there over 1200 Christian denominations?

Let's try to get the basics nailed down first. All through the Bible the big issue has always been idolatry, and it makes it clear that the majority in the last days will be the most idolatrous people that ever lived. In other words, irreverent and disrespectful of God and His creation. So, just what exactly is idolatry?
It's real simple. It's man in place of God. It's man's worship of himself. It's anything we put before Him.

There are many beasts in Revelation that represent various man made powers both now and in history. The beast we are studying, is described well in the last verse of Chapter 13. "Here is wisdom, the number of the beast is the number of a man, 666." Six is man's number. God's number is 7. Man was created on the 6th day. Man falls short of perfection. Three is also God's number. 666 is man in place of God. The beast is man made religion with all of its false science and doctrine. Yes, this includes all of our Frankenstein science, tampering with nature, artificial fertilizer, and so on. These are violations of the 2nd Commandment, not to make anything in the likeness of anything God has made. This, of course, includes the number one idol in the world, the automobile.

When fuel prices escalated last year, it was reported that 1000 more vehicles were hitting the road every day! That's 365,000 a year! A lot of this is because everyone in every poor country wants to be like the Americans with a machine to do everything while they sit and get rich and fat! All we have to do is figure out something else to burn in them and then everyone in the world will be spared the misery of manual labor.

Now don't misunderstand me. I drive a car and do what I have to do to survive. The difference is, I wish I could walk or ride my horse. I don't worship man or the junk he has made. Not his junk science or his junk religion. Revelation 14: 9-10 says, " If any man worships the beast and receives his mark in his forehead or his hand, he will drink of the wine of the wrath of God." You've heard of the Mark of the Beast, most likely. What is it? The forehead and the hand means believing in that man made system and practicing it. You receive the Mark of the Beast when you reject God's sovereignty and authority and worship man (the creation) rather than the Creator and His Law.

What will be the outcome? The plagues of Revelation are God's judgments on the gods of this world. Just like the plagues that affected Egypt at the time of the Exodus of God's people from that heathen land. Just like Pharaoh, no matter what happens, most will "not repent" Rev.16:11.

Grandmother's House

Sister Dawn, Mark, Aunt Lena, 50 yrs. ago.

The Good Old Days
Old Fashioned Efficiency

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the time I lived with my Grandparents. Almost 4o years ago in Weiser, Idaho. I spent a lot of time with them growing up. My dear Mother, bless her heart, would leave me with them when she was busy dealing with her own problems. From my earliest memory it seemed to me they were always so happy to have me. I always thought I had the greatest Grandparents in the world. No one else had Grandparents like mine. I didn't really know that we were just poor, hard working people. The most exciting thing in my life was when they would show up. When I was with them I felt like I was rich. Maybe the fact that I was the oldest of all the grandkids on both sides of the family had some significant meaning. My mother was the first born in her family and so was my father, and so were their fathers. Biblically speaking then, I should have had a great inheritance.

One of the things that made it so special was the fact that they produced my Aunt Marlena, in 1956 - the year after I was born. It was and is the most wonderful thing that happened. Grandpa was 52. My little sister was born a year later in 1957. We all kind of grew up together.
My grandmother's maiden name was Trent. She was the next to the youngest of 11 children. The Trent's were good looking English and Scotsmen. She was often compared to Ginger Rogers. I remember, it was when they lived in Anderson CA. I was only 7 or 8. She would have me operate on the corns on her feet. I was always very articulate with my hands and I still have good close up vision. Grandma would say, " Look at the way he handles that razor blade. He's gonna be a surgeon when he grows up!" Then she would grab and hug me and try to kiss me, I would always squirm and resist. She would say, " Oh you Marco Polo, Gramma loves you." No one would have guessed that someday I would become a Tree Surgeon.

Probably the best experience in my young life growing up, was going with my Sister and my Aunt and Gramma and Grandpa, picking with the Mexicans. Grandpa had a heart attack and some other disabilities, but he just couldn't sit still. He essentially wore himself out working. Grandma always said no one ever worked as hard as he did. They had a 1964 Ford pickup with a camper. We would camp near the job by the Willamette River. The mainstay was pole beans. Three cents a pound. They said it had been three cents forever. If I worked long and hard and steady I could make $10.00 a day. That's 333 pounds of hand picked beans. Marlena would always pick the most, but the little Mexican kids would out pick any of us. An interesting note here. This was right at the time when they were starting to develop the machine to pick the bush beans. A few times we had to pick those because the machines went back to the drawing board. That was not as bad as picking strawberries though. Even us young kids would feel like our backs were broken at the end of the day.

Then there were all the camp chores when we got back. The camper was a kitchen during the day for cooking and canning. Gramma was a wonderful cook. She took the green beans we picked and new potatoes and made the best dish. It was so good. We never got tired of it. Then the camper converted to a bedroom at night. The table made into a bed for the old folks and Marlena and my sister slept in the little bed over the cab. I slept in the cab of the truck.

Later we came to Southern Idaho. It seemed like paradise. We picked cherries in the spring. I would always work the tallest ladder and get all the high cherries. If it rained, the cherries would split. Then everyone was sad, the farmer and the pickers. We thinned apples. I think that is done chemically now. In the fall when it started to frost we picked apples. You would have to wait in the morning until it warmed up enough. You could hear them snap, crackle, pop. We all fell in love with Idaho. Our family all lived in California. My mother was born in Kansas in 1934. She contracted dust pneumonia as an infant. Grandma and Grandpa packed her up and came to California in 1935, in the middle of the Great Depression. Idaho was a great discovery for all the family. The ones that didn't move here loved to come and visit. It was so wonderful. Everything was cheaper and better. We could glean for free all the potatoes, onions, apples, and produce we could can or chuck in the cellar.

Real estate was at an all time low. They started off buying one little house to fix up and sell, and then another. Two or three thousand dollars at first. Then four or five thousand. We cleaned them up and fixed them up. Gramma loved to paint. We re-roofed and remodeled. Then about 1970 they bought the grand old house in Weiser for an astounding $15,000. It would become the real foundation for them and all their kids and grand kids. The meeting place for the whole family. Two stories with a big cellar, a big front porch and a back porch where you went into the basement. There was a separate garage that became the work shop, as well as a nice big yard. We had chickens in a portable pen we moved around on the lawn. This big old house became our base of operations. When we weren't fixing houses we were demolishing and salvaging them. I was very proficient at tearing things down and tearing them apart. With a claw hammer in each hand I could drive the claws of one in between the wood with the other and pull the nails out. We didn't throw anything away. If we couldn't use it I cut it up on the old table saw and we burned it in the cook stove in the kitchen. About 1971 the Dutch Elm Disease hit Weiser. Every Elm tree in town died that summer it seems. We filled the cellar with Elm wood. Cut and chopped ready for the wood cook stove. I remember we would cook the potato peels on the wood stove so the chickens would eat them. I can still see Grandma hanging clothes on the line, so beautiful, and hear hear yodeling, Eddy Arnold's Cattle Call.

One of my favorite things was to go to the dump with Grandpa. We would get rid of what we couldn't use, but we always hauled back more. To this day I am a scavenger and a pack rat. I can't stand to throw anything away. Grandpa loved to go to the auctions. He would always buy the pile of stuff no one else wanted. I can still hear the auctioneer, "Sold! Two bits, to the man with the cigar!" This is how I aquired my first set of quality Buckingham climbing spurs with long tree gaffs. 25 cents. I used them for 25 years. To me it was so fun to go through all this great stuff. Sort out the best goodies. Then of course we would put together a yard sale.
We had a television there in Weiser in the big house. The only thing I remember watching though, was Hee Haw and Lawrence Welk on Saturday nights. You might say it was a kind of rare treat once a week.
I would get up at 4:00 AM and go change sprinkler pipes for the farmers. It was always wet and sometimes frozen. Me and some other high school boys. We would watch the sun come up, laying those pipes straight. Then get ready and get to school. I only ate two meals a day. It was an old family tradition. It was too much work back on the farm to feed everyone three times a day. After school Grandma always had the best home cooked real food you could imagine. Then I would go back to the fields and work and watch the sun go down. Then on Sunday we did extra things on the farm, like bucking hay. I also had my own truck and did yard work and pruning and snow shoveling.
I haven't been able to get any high school kids to work for years. They all think it's something to be avoided. I still believe work ethic is everything. Doesn't matter if it's mental, physical, or spiritual. It's really sad. People need to develop their physical constitution when they're young. They say that on average you've reached your maximum potential by age 21. Then, that is the equipment you have for life.

Grandpa died in 1975. He was 70. Before that he told Grandma that I would take care of her. I had just come to Northern Idaho, Lapwai to be exact, in 1974. They had just bought this big old house in Craigmont ID. for $5,000.00. Grandma always had the Gypsy fever. Really they were following us kids and grandkids. After the funeral, everyone helped move truckloads and truckloads of stuff all the way to Craigmont. Then I hitchhiked back down to drive up another rig. With Grandpa gone she was not going to stay put very long. She sold the place and moved to Post Falls ID. to be near Marlena and her husband. We did the same thing all over again. I hitched hiked back again. Then she move back to Weiser and then to Payette ID. Each time she had a little less stuff.
I would have done anything she asked, and she would do the same for me. She would still try to give big hugs and kisses and say she loved me and I would still act like a little boy who couldn't stand it.
We went to see her in the nursing home in Payette. She aquired Alzheimers so fast it was unreal. It was almost like going to a funeral. She didn't know who we were until I brought out my guitar and sang some songs. Then we got her on the piano. She could still play.
After she died several years later. I had a dream. There she was. It was so real. I've had vivid dreams about all the one's that have died that were close to me. She wanted to give me big hugs and kisses. I grabbed her and squeezed and kissed her on the fore head and said, " I LOVE YOU GRAMMA."
It was so real. I sat right up in bed. My eyes were totally flooded with tears.
Sometimes I wonder why it takes 5o years to learn something. Some never do.

Financial Policy

50\ 50 is Fair
Money management and profit sharing plan.

I'm always telling everyone, " No matter what you do, the company eats up 50%. When I was young I never would have believed it. I had to run my own business. I wanted 100%. Now I am amazed at how much I am still learning about what it takes to build a real viable business.

In 1977 when I decided I was going to do this. Anyone could start anything anyway they wanted. Nowadays, ( Is that a word?) people are more informed and knowledgeable. More and more customers want an established reputable company. Especially in the high risk tree business. To make a long story short. I can train young people and get them started so much better, easier, quicker and safer, than what I went through.

Actually the standard has always been 1\3. Ideally you spend only 1\3 on labor. This leaves enough for building the business, acquiring equipment, and a margin of profit.

Now, let me explain then, how this works at 50%. This business is all about trees, but more than that it's all about wood. Sure trees provide shade and aesthetics, but while they are doing all of this, they are producing wood. This was the concept I had at the beginning, this is why I started the tree business over 30 yrs. ago. The real value is in the wood, and ultimately this would help pay for their care and eventual removal. Now I'm saying you're not really providing a tree service if you don't have a sawmill. Our goal is to have branch locations and these (little big) mills within a 300 mile radius of Deary. Also if we produce good arborists through our apprenticeship program we can establish them anywhere with a franchise and an advantage over the local competition.

What does this have to do with the 50 per cent? More than trees and more than wood, it's about people. Let me tell you the reasons I believe we can operate at 50%. I read the biography of Les Schwab. In fact, I strongly recommend everyone read it. When he started in 1952, the tire shops were owned by the big corporations that owned the rubber companies. The service was poor and the prices were high. There were times when he really stuck his neck out to develop his independent business. He did it with people. He designed and developed systems that allowed good wages which retained good people which in turn provided good service. The secret? Everything went into the business and it's people. No corporate conglomerate executives or stockholders pockets to line. The employees were the stockholders.

Now in this part of the country we really don't have to worry about huge tree service conglomerates other than the power line trimmers which we don't worry about any way. Here and in most areas of the US that aren't over populated the problem is the opposite. That is the small independents with one or two boom trucks and a chipper. It's all about them and their equipment. They hire seasonal grunts when they need them. They don't pay any wages or benefits. They make sure they don't learn any more than they already know so they never have to worry about paying them anymore. They would never pay $20.00 an hour for a climber. That's too slow any way. They're not too worried about the few jobs they might loose because they can't climb a tree.

You know the old saying, "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door." Finally, people here are starting to discover that we provide better service. Better quality, better performance, more options, and we do it all with a rope. How wonderfully simple.
Having said all of that, I want to lay out the vision I've had for handling the finances and providing incentives for workers through profit sharing.

50% goes into an account for all labor costs except for secretarial and administrative positions. Ultimately this will include all payroll taxes and expenses, sick leave, vacation pay, medical, retirement plans, and bonuses. This might sound like a lot, or it might not sound like enough. When you look at the expenses for the business, (the other 50%), it might seem the same, one way or the other. Don't become confused this way. There's only 100%. There's never going to be any more. Everything depends on efficiency and production. The 50% will always be proportionate to performance. In other words if efficiency and production are up, everyone is doing alright.

Also, in this trade, it is the best advantage for the trainees and the managers to own and be responsible for their personal equipment. This helps them to insure their own responsibility, and especially their own safety. Climbing gear, ropes, hand saws, power saws, personal protective gear, etc. This is also another reason we can pay 50% for labor costs. The company is not providing the personal equipment. This also, gives the workers a sense of pride in their equipment and they keep track of it, and they draw a better rate because they have it.

At 50%, there should accumulate a good surplus. Initially this will be applied to developing the benefits we mention earlier. Beyond that, we hope to be able to do profit sharing, especially with the managers, because they have so much to deal with and they have to know everything!
The one big problem I see with this is that it can be like working on a percentage, which has obvious drawbacks. Namely quality and safety. The quality and safety record of this company for 30 plus years is phenomenal and incomparable. In the past I always rejected the idea of working on percentages. In other words I took all the responsibility and personally made sure details were tended to. Everyone strictly worked by the hour. This is where the managers really have to manage. The managers will hopefully do what I did. They say the secret to success is, "To hire people like yourself." In the "Les Schwab" system, the ultimate goal was to work your way up, learn all the ropes, and become manager, while the manager you replaced started a new store.

Another reason we can pay out 50% for labor is that we have minimal equipment. In fact this is one of our primary safety rules. " Minimize equipment, most accidents are equipment related." As you can see we are paying more for people and less for equipment. This is backwards from the traditional American Way - more equipment and less labor. I would rather invest in people. I believe in people and people make the difference. Training the next generation. This is What Sustainable Is.

Now, for a few ideas about the other 50%. I know the list of company expenses is horrendous, but I believe it can work. As you can imagine it requires running a tight ship. The first and biggest expense is administration. Secretarial and accounting. Then you have equipment and fuel. Next, advertising, yellow pages, uniforms, signs, etc. Then, licenses and insurance. Then, of course, profit. Now you can see why you normally need two thirds to do all this. If managers or apprentices use there own heavy equipment(anything bigger than a powersaw) and fuel, they will be reimbursed from the company account. I'm thinking 50% of standard rental rate plus fuel. I think equipment rental companies have to charge double to cover all of their overhead, as well as the time the equipment is sitting. Obviously, if the company has to pay the outlandish rental rates, it would be better for the company to own everything.

Before I quit. There needs to be a third account for quarterly payments to make sure those funds are there when they need to be paid, which at this stage is quarterly. This includes payroll taxes, which come out of the labor account. Workman's comp insurance which is another labor cost. WA state B & O tax which is a business expense that goes directly into this account and is unrelated to either labor or business.

Just a word about cell phones and I'll get out of here. We encourage everyone to have a company phone. This way, not only is the phone cheaper on the group plan. There's no charge to call between all of us. However, to be fair to those who have their own. Employees are charged a minimal fee ( $25.00 \ mo.) for the company phone. Of course they have the use of it 24\7, so I presume this is logical and fair. One problem we have discovered is that all the phones share a pool of minutes, and if we use up the pool, which we normally do not, all the phones start racking up time. This can double the bill real fast. Therefore we do advise everyone to be conservative.

Before I go. Let me put it another way to help clarify. Example; If a manager and an apprentice do a job for $1000.00. They get 50%. That's $500.00. Let's say it took them 10 man hours. This is what we hope for our bottom price. If the apprentice is getting $10.00 an hour. The payroll cost for that is about $15.00. That comes to $150.00. The manager is at say $20.00 an hour. Payroll expense is about $30.00. That comes to $300.00. Now you are at $450.00. If the apprentice is making $15.00, there goes your $500.00. You can see why it is a well known fact. $50.00 per man hour is the minimum wage for legitimate contracting. You all know that we often make twice that, and this is where we make up for lost time, slack time, winter time, etc.
You can see though, there's not a whole lot of room for any mis-management. You can also see why most shops, and electricians, and plumbers charge $75.00 an hour.
On the up side. There is a lot of efficiency that happens with a bigger team. Shared rides, shared equipment, company backing for more equipment and human resources. Someone is always closer to a job when it needs to be done. Etc. Co-operation and teamwork is of inestimable value.
Keep up the good work. Godspeed.

Sunlight - part one.

Here Comes the Sun

Surviving Summer

Have you noticed how people feel better and look better in the spring, as soon as they get some sun? Have you also noticed how many people are hiding from the sun and look pale and sick? Like walking corpses? Some are out in the sun and their nose and face and ears and arms are fried. Others like to get a tan by getting maximum exposure every day with the least amount of covering (in spite of what you might have been told these are not the ones getting skin cancer.) Is there any kind of common sense solution for dealing with the sun? People are dying like flies from all kinds of cancer, especially skin cancer.
Sunlight is the second law of health, after fresh air. There are seven laws of health. All accomplished optimally by what is sometimes called the eighth. That is attitude. These are real scientific facts of Nature. Given by God. The God of Creation is the God of all true science. So, is sunlight good for you or not? All life on this planet comes from the sun. There are exactly 100 rays of light. 100 elements in sunlight. Do you think this was an accident? The proportionate amount of all the elements are in sunlight. Yes, there is gold in the sun.
Here, I want to set forth my hypothesis. "If fresh air and sunlight are the first laws of health, then most diseases are the result of a lack of fresh air and sunlight." Remember though, you have to connect all the laws of health to maximize the best way to get fresh air and sunlight. I told this to a farmer friend of mine. He said, "Tell that to my nose." His nose, of course (like a lot of people who wear duckbill baseball caps), is falling off. Ears too, you can imagine. I said, "That's right, lack of sunlight. You're only getting sun on your nose and ears, no wonder they're fried." Those hats protect your eyes but your nose and ears are toast. The worst thing is, you don't get a tan on your forehead. The only thing that will protect you from the sun is a natural tan, natural exposure. That's right, either take all your clothes off, or stay out of the sun!
Seriously, we need to pay attention here. Cancer is near epidemic. In 1900 cancer rates had escalated to one in one hundred. This was very alarming. Now it's 1 in 3 approaching 1 in 2! Let's try to think this thing through. What has happened in the last 150 yrs. or so, with the beginning of the industrial age? What has grown and increased with all our so called progress? For one, fewer people get out in the sun everyday. More and more people living and working in a cave, or in an automobile behind glass and steel. Did you know glass, being harder than steel, blocks out some 30% of the sun's rays? Cancer is like a mushroom. It likes a dark steady atmosphere, sealed up with the heater or the air-conditioner, and the windows shut. I like to get out every day working and sweating and drinking water. No matter if it's cold or hot out. It's so important to stress and purge all your systems. Still, it can be deceiving because some people, no matter what they do, won't get cancer. Their genetics might have left them with other faults.
Along with this, as we all know, there is a continual build up of chemicals and pollutants. Just another reason we need fresh air and sunlight. The best thing for everyone, especially kids, is to be out in the sun and the good clean dirt. With no clothes! Instead, kids wear their baggy T shirts and sunscreen (5 ingredients in sunscreen have been found to cause cancer).
They don't tan and their faces start turning red at 13. They will spend the rest of their lives getting sunburned. They say the average American now spends more than 90% of their time inside! Then the experts tell us the sun is killing us. Most people are brainwashed to think the sun is changing and becoming more toxic. Hey, there are still plants and animals and people everywhere that are out in the sun everyday, all day, NAKED!!!

Oxygen Level

The First Law of Health

Do you know the seven laws of health, usually called the eight laws of health? They are physical laws. Facts of life, you might say. Yes, scientific facts, as a matter of fact. Everyone lives and dies according to their obedience to these laws. Of course you have to factor in your inherent genetic qualities, or lack of them. According to the Bible we are designed to live to 120 on a flesh diet. In spite of our degeneracy most people would still live to their 90's if they followed these rules their whole life.

The common sense objective is to remain relatively functional until you're 90 or so, and then keel over without too much trouble. It is a most wonderful thing to achieve old age, be an example of health and fitness and enjoy the dignity of years.

Right now I want to talk about the first law of health. “Fresh Air.” I went to the doctor (Total Health Clinic) the other day. Something they seem to want you to do every once or twice in a while after you're 50. The first thing they had me do was put my finger in this harmless little device that reads your oxygen level, right through your fingernail! Mine was 99%. Not bad for an old wreck. A high oxygen level is important for so many things, especially for helping your resistance to disease. This was after they weighed me in at 150 lbs. I've weighed the same for almost 40 yrs. This is a really good indicator. Men when they mature and start to age, usually put on more weight in their chest and their head and nose and ears enlarge. My pulse was 60 and my blood pressure was 111 over 75. This is healthy like a teenager. Problem is, Rheumatoid Arthritis has been attacking me for 30 yrs. or more. They say there's no cure. It's an auto-immune disease, which basically means your body is attacking itself.

A doctor told me about 10 yrs ago that I needed to see the Rheumatologist, and gave me a prescription for some immune suppressant that's been banned since then. I've never taken anything, not even an aspirin or a vitamin. It's a real struggle for me to survive. Instead, I keep studying and learning and trying to practice the laws of health. I can still do most of the things I did 30 yrs. ago, but not for as long or as hard. I find I have to keep working it out. I feel it getting into my knees and ankles, and elbows, and I just keep working, hiking, playing tennis, etc. My shoulders are the worst. They've been trashed for 30 yrs.

Anyway, I wanted to talk about how to keep your oxygen level up. Fresh air is so vital, but how do you get it? There's a lot more to it than just having fresh air to breathe. [The best air is under the trees and by the water.] It really has to do with all the laws of health. Kind of like the moral law. They are all God's laws. "If you break one you break them all." James 2:10. Also, it's like the moral law in the sense that you'll never be done learning it. "Sanctification is the work of a lifetime."

Now, let's look at the laws of health from the perspective of, “How to get oxygen.”

First: Fresh Air. The single most important thing you can do for your health, especially if you live and work inside is: Sleep outside! Bedrooms should be aired at night and warmed during the day to keep away the mold. Then, of course you want to get out and expand your lungs everyday.

Second: Sunlight.

to be continued...

Arboritecture Defined

Woodland Stewardship Institute
presents
Arboritecture:
The art & science of trimming for safety, structure & design.

The primary goal of proper trimming is not to prevent breakage, but to try to avoid major failures. In other words trees trimmed and maintained properly and periodically, should be self pruning without major breakage or uproot. The obvious solution to the tree butchers, especially in the not so distant past, was to just cut everything. If the tree was falling apart, just cut all the limbs off, or cut the tree down. Believe it or not we still have essentially the same problem. In most communities now they have tree programs that prohibit butchering. However, hazard trees are even more of a problem because trees trimmed improperly are often more dangerous than if they were left alone. Inevitably, mature trees reach the stage where they start to break down. It's only natural. Consequently, most are terminated simply because of the absence of any evidence of the true science of arboriculture and\or anyone capable or knowledgeable enough to perform the right kind of maintenance. Any one can cut a tree down. The only requirement is a stump. How many things get broken or people killed in the process, is just an after thought.
So, we want to look at the very basic principles of tree safety, structure and design.
First, it has to be Natural. Nature is the best teacher. "Never does Nature say one thing and wisdom another."
Second, we need to understand all the dynamics of wind and snow and ice.
Third, we need to understand all the various aspects of the structural integrity of the tree. The type of wood, limb formation, defects, etc.
Fourth, we need to know how everything around and within the tree affects the way it grows and responds. Every cut you make has a short and a long term affect. No matter if it's in the tree or near the tree.
Then you need to be aware of anchorage. How well is the tree anchored now and later.
Now, let's look at this a little closer.
What is Natural? Obviously, there are many grand specimens that have never been trimmed. Except by Mother Nature! What are the key factors?
Number one. Preserve and promote the lower limbs. The most common assault on trees these days is ravaging the bottoms of the trees. It's only human to cut the lower limbs. Not only is this unnatural, it creates serious issues. The lower limbs stabilize the tree and deflect the wind over the top. If a tree looks top heavy, "it is!" If a tree can retain it's canopy right down to the ground and dominate it's space, it will be tremendously stronger, healthier, safer, live longer, and be more productive. The lower limbs shade the root zone, and eliminate the competition. Trees are the answer, not shrubs, and turf, and yard ornaments, etc. So many times I've seen trees neglected. [A lot of times just because people didn't know there was any such thing a proper care and maintenance.] Only to be cut down and replaced with shrubs and turf and decorations and more air conditioning. All high maintenance. We need to keep the lower branches where we can. This will do more than anything to keep our arboriculture standard high.
Number two. Is the tree shaped for wind and lightning resistance? As we just stated. The lower limbs deflect the wind. As you will see. All these things are interrelated. However, now we want to look at how to train the top of the tree. Is it natural to top trees? As we just said, "Cutting the bottom limbs is unnatural." The worst thing that is happening. Mother Nature will often top trees. This is natural. Anything that grows straight up is vulnerable to wind and lightning. The best strongest specimens that survive, spread out with a low profile.
Number three. Identify and adjust structural defects and malformations. If trees are trained from the beginning with a natural strong design in mind, you would never need anything more than a hand saw. Some of the best survivors have never been trimmed. The large majority though need help. Most tree failures are predictable. Often times serious defects are neglected beyond the point of saving the tree.