A month ago, I had the chance to make another redneck pilgramage to West Monroe, the home of the hit show, Duck Dynasty.

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(July 3, 2021: I'm next to the wood carving featured in Statue of Imitations (S10xE2))

While I first watched it and saw its merchandise while I lived in Alaska, it has been in syndication in my family for the years thereafter. I've caught a lot of the broadcasts of their Unashamed podcast / study and for fun filler, I'll watch the Duckcall Room. I've even read the books below:

Phil Robertson

• Happy, Happy, Happy: My Life and Legacy as the Duck Commander (2013)
• *unPHILtered: The Way I See It *(2014)
• The Theft of America's Soul: Blowing the Lid Off the Lies That Are Destroying Our Country (2019)

Willie Robertson

• The Duck Commander Family: How Faith, Family, and Ducks Created a Dynasty (2012)
• American Hunter: How Legendary Hunters Shaped America (2015)
• American Entrepreneur: How 400 Years of Risk-Takers, Innovators, and Business Visionaries Built the U.S.A. (2018)

Others

• Jase Robertson's Good Call: Reflections on Faith, Family, and Fowl (2014)
• Si Robertson's Si-cology 1: Tales and Wisdom from Duck Dynasty's Favorite Uncle (2014)
• Jep and Jessica Robertson's The Good, the Bad, and the Grace of God: What Honesty and Pain Taught Us About Faith, Family, and Forgiveness (2015)
• Al and Lisa Robertson's A New Season: A Robertson Family Love Story of Brokenness and Redemption (2015)

In many ways, the Robertson's have been like a second family to me. They remind me that truth matters—the TV show is silly, of course, but I'm speaking to getting to the sources beyond that. As for me, never in my life have I felt that systematically, things that are wrong are so quickly cheered and encouraged and it's good to realize that I'm not alone in seeing how this society's rebellion in sin does not lead to freedom, but brokenness.

A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

John 10:10, HCSB

I watched this short clip with Phil talking about these times. When I'm on point, I'm right there...when I'm not, I'm working toward that way:

YouTube Link

It's time for me to back off from what everyone else in the world seems to be harried about. It's time for me to set aside the news and sports medias—news, because it's never really news about my sphere and sports, because I'm not participating—and CLEARLY, it's no longer about interpreting analytics wizardry! I want to take on the attitude I took last year as I made such powerful gains in my weightloss and fitness regimens.

For a time, I felt I was in a post Facebook space. I tried, of course, to return to social media earlier this year, though I found it to be a challenging minefield with explosions all about. It was taxing to maintain neutrality and be a beacon of "winning" (with flailing attempts at wit). I left, as I do, throwing my hands up in exasperation. And yet, I'd like to make another return—oh, not now, but perhaps upon another New Year's Eve.

For these recent months, I didn't know what I wanted to do with this website. I considered torching the whole thing...or starting over. And yet, the best choice is a continuation. The Expeditions go on, don't they? However, instead of being infused with music, I want soul. When I advance in fitness, I recognize that very little of it is about the body. It is about the heart and the mind. For all of the attention we spend on our body regarding fitness, I find it curious that we focus on merely the reaction the body has toward the behavior of the heart and mind. Heart, of course, inspires action and the mind is the knowledge we possess. Sometimes, we don't know any better—potentially a fatal failing.

I envision this site as a notebook for my thoughts and rolling cabinet to keep my tools. Perhaps one day, I'll convert the whole thing back to jekyll and feed the geek in me.