Tim's Top 12 Favorite Songs of All Time (as of August 2022)

 This post will cover my personal top 12 favorite songs.  The motivation for this post is a little bit odd:  Sports Talk Radio.  Specifically WWLS 98.1 FM "The Sports Animal."  Specifically, afternoon hosts of the "Dominant Duo" are Jim Traber and Al Eschbach who talk music as much as they talk sports.  It's my afternoon drive home thing I listen to.

Anyway, Jim and Al recently had a Friday afternoon feature where each of them listed their Top 12 favorite songs of all time.  I thought I would do the same.  

Honestly, it's a tough task.  

First of all, what is the scope and how exactly do you define favorite?  Favorite - in my framing - is not necessarily synonymous with a. quality, b. popularity, c. entertainment value, d. frequency of listening.  

Second of all, as I have mentally constructed my tentative lists, I have easily had 100 different songs come into my head.

Third, if there's a music history expert who can opine with expertise, there must be literally millions of songs.  Picking 12 of them is just daunting.

Fourth and finally, I must emphasize my list would change within the hour, when my mood changes, and certainly by next year.

In the end analysis, my list of 12 favorites is likely loosely translated into my 12 most favorite and meaningful songs.  You won't find a lot of 'chart toppers' in  my personal list.  It's not necessarily this bizarrely eclectic list, either.  The songs that are my favorite typically have these characteristics: lyrically creative (usually serious, but sometimes light and clever); musically well structured (verse and chorus and bridge, etc); well performed (example: some of my selections are a duality of both song AND artist; some of my selections become my least favorite if performed poorly); complex but defined melodies usually with major tonality; and finally, they just have some sort of intangible appeal to me.

And by the way, where do the 'background' American standards fit into ANYONE's list?  Songs like: Happy Birthday, Auld Lang Syne, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, God Bless America, Star Spangled Banner, etc.  They're not on my list, but those songs are sure important to all of us.

Before getting to my list, I will just bang out very quickly a  PARTIAL listing of honorable mentions.  Songs that were on some of my tentative lists that didn't make my Final 12.  In no particular order, those songs (or groups of songs) are:

• La La Land, Entire Soundtrack
• The Dance, Garth Brooks
• What A Wonderful World, Various Artists
• You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile, Annie Soundtrack
• Make Someone Happy, As Time Goes By, Jimmy Durante
• With Imagination/Don't Get Around Much Anymore, Harry Connick Jr.
• Hey Jude, Beatles
• Oklahoma, Rodgers and Hammerstein
• Favorite Son/other selections, Will Rogers Follies
• Brown Eyed Girl/Moondance, Van Morrison
• Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?, Van Morrison, other artists
• Desperado, Eagles
• What I'd Say, Ray Charles
• In Christ Alone, Keith and Kristyn Getty
• Dozens of hymns
• Dozens of show tunes
• Dozens of Disney songs

And now, for our feature presentation, my list of twelve, presented in reverse order:

NUMBER TWELVE

    "It Had to be You", Harry Connick Jr.

This is a last second insertion.  At the last second, my exacting - and entirely arbitrary -  preferences bumped "Desperado" by the Eagles back down to #13.  If anything, it is emblematic of how difficult it is to pick a top 12.

NUMBER ELEVEN

    "Oh Holy Night", performed by David Phelps, and the Gaither Homecoming Singers.

Chills.  I had to include a Christmas song.

NUMBER TEN

    "Georgia On My Mind", Ray Charles

Ray Charles's "America the Beautiful" was also near the top.

NUMBER NINE

    "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love", the Blues Brothers

Pure fun.  And I love songs that get audiences involved.

NUMBER EIGHT

    "I Feel Lucky", Mary Chapin Carpenter.

Rationale: This song is just pure fun. It's just a fun, singable, country blues number with a clever premise and some of the tightest musicianship and production you will ever encounter.  I've linked a live version with the extended piano outro performed by the Grammy award winning pianist Jon Carroll.

NUMBER SEVEN

    "One Day More", Les Miserables

I coulda shoulda put a lot more show tunes on here.  But the limit was 12.  I'm not sure this one is my absolute favorite on every day, but it's at least a good proxy to represent a whole series of wonderful Broadway show tunes.  This one, of course, is especially excellent for the multiple, overlapping, lyrical voices from multiple characters in the musical.

NUMBER SIX

    "American Pie", Don McLean

This is certainly a favorite song.  On any certain day, it might be a notch higher.  But also, as I point out above, on certain days, it might fail to make my top 50.  In the end analysis, I noticed my list lacked greatly from American pop/rock of the 60s, 70s, 80s, and I thought this was a good proxy to make sure that genre was included. 

NUMBER FIVE

    "Bridge Over Troubled Water", Simon and Garfunkel

I'll link to the classic recording of it from Simon and Garfunkel.  I will add that the self accompanied cover of it by Audrey Assad is also memorable.

NUMBER FOUR

    "You Put This Love in my Heart", Keith Green

One of several songs I considered for inclusion from the late Keith Green.

NUMBER THREE

    "Creed" by Rich Mullins

This song by the late Rich Mullins is a melodic, specific, and orthodox statement of faith for my Christian faith supplemented by his rich melodic composition and his even richer instrumental accompaniment, specifically highlighting his virtuoso skills on the hammered dulcimer.

NUMBER TWO

    "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"

Many excellent performances.  For this song only, I will highlight and link to two.  First is the late Eva Cassidy's performance where she essentially rewrites the entire melody but on the same chord progression.  Second is the American Idol performance of it by Katherine McPhee.

NUMBER ONE

    "Battle Hymn of the Republic" at Ronald Reagan funeral.  I get chills just thinking about the performance of this song.

So, there you have it.  My top 12 - at least as it felt to me today.  I invite comments here or where I post it on social media.  Were there songs here you'd never heard of?  Do we have similar favorites?

Thanks for reading.  Tim

Leadership From the Trenches - Issue 01 - "Scope, Mission, Disclaimers"

This post will have no meaningful content.  It will serve as a link-able repository of why I set this up in the original and what disclaimers need to be mentioned or considered.  Here goes.....

Scope:  The scope will be fairly limited.  I don't intend to post a lot.  I don't have huge readership metrics.  Not even close.  But what I do write and will write will be well thought out, experience based, and intended to be helpful.

Mission: I intend to have this as a repository of thoughts on leadership issues.  These will include: organizational leadership; handling difficult people; handling difficult situations; leading through change; fallacies; and several other topics relevant to leadership.  If or when an external stakeholder wishes to know my thoughts on leadership issues and aptitudes, I can possibly point them to the posts I plan to write in coming years.

Disclaimers: 

1. I write for myself.  My thoughts are not representative of the policies or actions of any of my full-time or part-time employers, past, present, or future.

2.  Experiences will prompt thoughts leading to blog posts.  Those experiences may originate in my personal workplace.  I will do everything possible to generalize the situations and thoughts prompted.  I will try to temporally separate the prompting issue from the actual blog post. I will anonymize people, places, etc.   I won't be perfect in this effort.  If a reader detects any connection and believes I am passively aggressively trying to win hearts and minds on a workplace issue, they should immediately cease such a belief.  Usually, I have spoken out on the workplace issue already.  I'm fairly direct....not passive aggressive.  And yet, if the casual reader comes along and makes a connection and it helps them, then any progress made is a wonderful benefit.

3. I'm no leadership guru.  I have participated in a number of high profile leadership trainings, experiences, camps, etc.  So I do believe I have something to offer.  I will welcome feedback, either on the blog, or via social media if this is shared.

4. I retain authorial copyright for all original thoughts, examples, anecdotes, ideas and ways of explaining things.  Let me remind you - just link to the post.  No need to steal intellectual property.

5. "From The Trenches" is first of all just a colloquialism.  But sorta specific to me, it implies that I do a lot of uncredited leadership from the trenches.  I've been overlooked for a lot of leadership posts - volunteer and employer-based - that I really deserved, so I'm stuck 'in the trenches.'  I do get some things done in the trenches, and sadly, often see others take credit for what I did, but it is what it is, and I hope some day the good Lord allows it to change.

Thanks for reading.

Respecting Elders: An Intersection into Church Music Programs

 "No.  We're not going to add you and your song to the program this Sunday morning."

And, with that, an elder statesman with considerable musical talents and experience was pushed away (again) from his home church - a church he served for about 40 years as Minister of Music.  No explanation.  Just a "No. We're going a different direction."

I recognize - that for any casual reader of Facebook or blog posts in our busy culture - that I've got about 30 seconds to grab your attention.  I did not witness this firsthand, but that's how this sad development went down, and I'm upset enough about it to record my thoughts.

I'll flesh out the details of my friend's denial of involvement in a few moments, but for now, I wish to point out that I have no strong centering point for this long-ish essay.  Instead, there are three centering points: 1. Respect for elders, 2. Shifts in church 'worship' programs, and 3. "Brothers We Are Not Professionals."

A few more details on my friend's dilemma and my awareness and involvement.  Briefly, my friend is the recently retired, long-term Minister of Music for a small town church.  I have no idea if he will read this or not, but to be faithful and true to all sides, I will describe my friend with candor.  Musically, he has a wealth of experience, a moderate amount of formal training, and possesses a moderate amount of natural talent.  I served under him as a piano accompanist for a number of years and have a strong working relationship with him.  Approaching the Christmas season, he wished to sing his favorite Christmas special - "Mary Did You Know?" - for a Sunday morning service at his home church, and he asked me to accompany him.  I indicated I would accompany him, but then found out his offering to participate in his church's regular order of service was denied.  No reasons were offered.

Why am I concerned enough to write a public blog?  To be clear, the decision is/was final, and even if it could be overturned, it's now in the past with no available resolution.  Also, I'm not personally offended - I don't think my involvement was even mentioned.  Further, I am mentioning the involved parties anonymously and very broadly.  Those who know me best (and actually read this) will know the gentleman, the church, and perhaps the identity of the naysayer.  Again, I do not write to change their decision and I have no intention to publicly identify the church in my analysis of their decision.  And finally, why do I write?  After all, taking up someone else's offense can be complicating.  I write because I think my friend's experience originates from some very odd priorities in the modern church worship movement, and I believe these experiences - in similar and dissimilar contexts - are sadly occurring far too frequently.  So I write to express my thoughts that various pendulums have swung too far and to those in church leadership positions, it's time to inject some common sense into the decisions you make.

I think their decision was wrong.  My friend is too strong and full of integrity to publicly complain, but I could tell his heart was broken by their decision.

1. Respect for Elders.

My main centering point to support my claim that their decision was wrong is just simply: "Respect for Elders."  I'm no sociologist and I cannot quote numbers, but my perception is that our society has swung very hard toward honoring celebrities and youth, and systematically, I find that honoring elders is a lost ideal.  Honoring elders is more than an individual decision.  Companies, churches, organizations, etc should all be in the business of honoring elders.

If an administrator/leader/supervisor is faced with a difficult decision regarding an elder, I strongly believe the elder should always get the benefit of the doubt.  "Helping the little old lady across the street" is not just a Boy Scout story....it's supposed to be engrained in our cultural and Christian ethos.

Job 12:12 (HCSB) states: "Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life."

Unless they wish to share their wisdom in song, I suppose.

2. Shifts in church 'worship' programs

From a Baptist perspective and mindset, the 'music leader' for years looked like this: Title: Minister of Music; Skills: Some degree of training; Activities: Choosing hymns for worship service and 'special music' after the offering; usually the organization of a choir; Attire: Shirt and tie, often a jacket; Conduct: Introduce each song, wave arms in some semblance of conducting, and hold the arms up high for all the Baptist fermatas.

Then things changed.....

We adopted technology; we got rid of hymnals; we got rid of 'special music'; we surplused our church organs; we started calling it 'praise and worship'; our suit-clad Ministers of Music became flannel wearing, flip flop wearing, guitar strummers; we started endorsing and singing any song put out by a modern, 'industrialized' machine of praise and worship music; we developed praise bands; we developed praise teams.....

And we got 'professional' and started making our efforts 'exclusive' in many respects.  The modern praise/worship went from largely participatory to largely spectating and listening.  It's really sad.

And although it's always 'been there' in rare churches at low levels, I noticed upward trends in selection measurements to be involved - auditions for 'special music', auditions for 'praise team', auditions for 'worship band', and for churches who retained them, even auditions for choir.

When my friend told me his disappointing news, my VERY FIRST thought went to this old Gospel quartet song.  I think my parents had a cassette tape that played this song on side B all the time.  (As I'm returning to learning blog skills, all I could do was link to it, instead of embed it.)  

"Please Let Me Sing in the Choir"  (YouTube link, opens in new window)

The song "Please Let Me Sing in the Choir" musically tells the story of the man with a rough voice and no musical skills seeking to join his home church choir, unsuccessfully auditioning "34 years in a row."  In the climatic verse and chorus, this man finally is a no-show at church.  He has passed away, but miraculously, his heavenly voice is heard during the church's worship service where he sings from heaven: "I've found me a church that will let me sing....now I'm singing in the choir."

Sad, but miraculous.  Fictional, but illuminating.

To be fair, my rejected friend sings very well.  That part of the comparison does not fit.  But, his being rejected by his church is what resonated to me.  He - and no one - should have to wait until they get to heaven to be allowed to sing.  Please let me sing in the choir....indeed.

The song story is sad....he was rejected so often.  It's also miraculous, but note the TWO miracles.  I'm sure you noted the obvious miracle - his voice coming into the church auditorium miraculously from heaven.  The second miracle is much more subtle - that miracle is the duality of the patience of a man who would try out for the choir '34 years in a row' and even more, that a church with that set of practices would even exist for 34 years.  A church that would deny a man 34 years in a row from singing in the choir just cannot exist for 34 years.   And though the song story is clearly fictional, it is illuminating that there exist churches that would fall all over themselves to present a professional, rehearsed worship service BEFORE they would let someone sing publicly who might cause someone to cringe, to change the channel, to snicker, etc.  

But, I think that's what happened to my friend.  Though his singing is more than adequate, I believe there were conscious decisions and priorities that exclude anyone that might hinder the church from reaching the consumer mindset of so many potential parishioners.  After all, the Sunday morning worship service is THE primary consumer product - if it's slick and full of talent, those churches tend to grow (numerically).  I think they wanted a fifth praise-worship song led by the praise band as opposed to an old man working his way through "Mary Did You Know?"

It's sad. It bears reminding that the church leader who made the decision did not provide a reasoning.  One can only assume that failure to provide reasoning likely translates into a rationale that is weak and potentially embarrassing if one were to admit to it.  This leader had opportunity to provide the reasoning.  Though my piece includes much speculation, I write with an inner conviction that I'm right.  The leader was just too embarrassed to give his reason.

So, to return to my second point, church music programs have changed.  Much change has been needed and useful.  The technology is amazing.  Getty's modern hymns will stand the test of time.  Some of the modern praise-worship music may also be long lasting.  Contemporary musical styling with praise bands is overall neutral to good, and certainly appeals to a different demographic.  But the unwelcome changes are largely centered in the exclusivity and implicit appeals to professionalism.

Far above in this ever lengthening essay, I indicated I believed these movements were systemic and widespread.  I served as a ministry intern at a church while in college.  Though this church had a board of elders and some ministerial staff, it was really 'run' by one man - the pastor.  I had a good friend who also served with me as a ministry intern, and he had recently performed a 'special music.'  For a church that regularly had "Miss Oklahoma" winners provide the 'special music', his musical offering was decidedly a step down in quality.  To my pastor supervisor, it was way too many steps down.  One day, he privately confided to me: "I don't want ___________ to sing solos any more; we need to have some polish on our Sunday morning service."  I was shocked then.  I'm more shocked now (and embarrassed) that I didn't have the courage to call him out.  But, I add this additional story to show that I've now indirectly observed the mentality twice, and I have suspected it hundreds of times over.

3. "Brothers. We Are Not Professionals"

This third, and concluding point, is headlined by the quoted phrase, which originates from Pastor John Piper's book with that title.  It's a book I've only skimmed, so I cannot comment with great specificity on this book and its contents.  From the Amazon blurb on this book comes this explanatory excerpt:

We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry,” he writes. “The mentality of the professional is not the mentality of the prophet. It is not the mentality of the slave of Christ. Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry. The more professional we long to be, the more spiritual death we will leave in our wake. For there is no professional childlikeness, there is no professional tenderheartedness, there is no professional panting after God.

“Brothers, we are not professionals. We are outcasts. We are aliens and exiles in the world. Our citizenship is in Heaven, and we wait with eager expectation for the Lord (Phil. 3:20). You cannot professionalize the love for His appearing without killing it. And it is being killed.

- end excerpt -

When it comes to a church choir requiring an audition to join.....when it comes to a church leader turning away his very own 40 yr, retired Minister of Music from singing 'special music' at his HOME CHURCH....."Brothers....We Are Not Professionals." 

As mentioned and implied above, I have a LONG history in Baptist music ministry.  I've been a church pianist in 4 churches, provided voice and instrumental 'special music' in many churches, served as a ministry intern, spent 3-4 years in music ministry in Baptist Student Unions, served as part time or fill-in music minister, served as part of a small, touring youth and music ministry performance troupe, and play several instruments.  I've seen all sorts of quality when it comes to people participating in church music programs.  And through all of this experience and observations, I will shout this conclusion from the rooftops: "I'd rather listen to a person sing in church that has 30% talent and 100% sincerity ANY day over someone who has 100% talent and 30% sincerity."    

I believe I am an accurate judge of the character of people who are 100% sincere.  I further admit I likely misinterpret motives of some who I judge to be less than 100% sincere.  But, across hundreds of those observations, I am certain I have seen more than a handful of people who are up on stage because they sing like a bird and look great in a dress, but haven't otherwise been involved in the church they are singing for. 

Beginning to close, I've had this argument before with well-meaning and very sincere people who are equally involved in church music.  For balance, I need to acknowledge and attempt to include the opposing view.  The counter-argument usually goes thus: 

1. God wants our best.  Shouldn't that also apply to the quality of events in the worship service? 

2. It is disrespectful to people who practice and rehearse to let someone on stage who is untrained. 

3. Those people have other talents - they should utilize the talents they do have instead of the talents they do not have.  After all, we don't let any Tom, Dick, or Harry come up and preach!  (My counter-argument:  Apples - meet oranges.  Don't compare a public worship effort with a spiritual gift and church office as prescribed in Titus and elsewhere.) 

 Bottom line:  I'm sad for my friend.  He is an elder statesman that should be respected and given the benefit of the doubt.  He is an accomplished musician whose only musical fault is that he has essentially failed to fully adopt the modern praise-worship movement.  He has essentially fallen victim to the 'professionalism' mindset that has infected so many of our churches.  For his desire to sing "Mary Did You Know?", his talent and appeal to the audience demographic the church leader targeted may have been too low, but I promise you that my friend's sincerity was 1000%.   

I'm sad to have heard this story.  I'm sad to relate it to you.  I'm relieved to record my thoughts onto a blog none of you will read. 

As I conclude, I have this final post script thought:  My friend's experience is the musical equivalent of the widow's mite story.  She put her two coins in - all she had - and several quietly mocked or snickered as they gave more money from their larger wealth.  My friend - musically trained, but older and not possessive of "The Voice" level of talent - put his 'two coins' in (his desire to sing for Christmas) and was quietly rejected without the dignity of an explanation.  The main thing my friend's story lacks is Jesus coming along and rebuking those with the incorrect attitudes. 

Finis.

One Health and Veterinary Medicine - More than Infectious Disease - A Boy Receives a Life-Saving Diagnosis.....At the Vet Clinic!!

Fundamentally, I just want to share someone's story of a borderline medical miracle....on a human patient....by a small animal veterinarian.  I saw it on Facebook on a private page.  I received permission to share it, but wanted to do more than just share it.  I think it needs some context.  The medical miracle is not an exaggeration, but let me set it up briefly.

There's a movement out there amongst the broader health community termed 'One Health.'  Technically, it's not new as it was advocated by Rudolf Virchow - the father of pathology - in the mid 1800s.  But the idea of 'One Health' experienced a resurrection in the recent 25 years, especially with respect to some infectious disease events - Ebola outside Washington DC in the early 90s with vets running to the rescue; West Nile Virus in New York 1999 with the human medical experts squashing the correct answer offered by the Bronx Zoo veterinary pathologist; the anthrax events of 2001; and on and on.

The simplest construction of 'One Health' is that there is a continuum of human health, animal health, and environmental health and true health success must address all three elements.  Again, for obvious contemporary events, the infectious disease angle has been the easiest element of One Health for people to understand.

But, let's stay in 'One Health' but move away from infectious diseases.

Here's the medical miracle - human patient - animal doctor - with anonymized names and animal circumstances, as told - excerpted verbatim with permission - by Dr. Dan Harmer.

<Begin excerpt>

Had a fantastic case that I just had to share!

8y/o pitbull came in with vestibular disease. When my assistant came out of the room, she told me that she could smell ketones very strongly (I can't smell them, so she always gives me a heads up).

Anyway, I worked up the vestibular problem and ran blood work to check for diabetes. It was completely normal, so I was really confused. I went in and talked with the family. The mom said something like "well, at least it's not diabetes, 'Timmy' has diabetes and it's miserable."

So, I look over at 'Timmy', her teenage son. He's really quiet and sort of a gray, pasty color.

Me: "Timmy, what's your blood sugar this morning?"

Him: "136"

Me: "BS. What was it really?"

Him: "250-something"

I didn't believe that one either. Anyway, I told the mom that she needs to take him to the ER right now. Owners are terrible about following our vet advice, but do believe our medical advice. Haha. She took him in. Today she came back for a recheck. The kid was in DKA and they are still treating him. (The dog is ok, too).

<End excerpt>

For the medically unacquainted, a few things defined:

1. Dog with vestibular disease.  This is a nervous system disorder.  The dog likely had an unexplained head tilt.

2. Ketones.  The most commonly recognized ketone is ACETONE.  Most of you know this as fingernail polish remover.  Ketones are produced by human and animal bodies in situations of insulin deficiency or resistance.  Blood sugar cannot be turned into energy, and the body begins to burn fat and turns this into ketones.  When the body has reached a certain level of bad/abnormal ketone production in the blood, it can be detected through our breath.  Bottom line: If a human or an animal smells like fingernail polish remover, then it is a medical emergency.  The ketones in high levels can contribute to an acidic blood profile that can be fatal.

3. Blood sugar: 136.  In most instances, that's on the high end of normal or low end of an elevation.  "250-something" is very high.  When ketones are detected via smell, blood sugar is often 400+.  I recall several cases of cat blood sugar being 600+.  That's why the vet knew 'Timmy' was lying.

4. DKA.  This is an acronym for Diabetic Ketoacidosis.  It is diabetes that is so uncontrolled that blood sugar is high (cannot be metabolized), ketones are produced, and ketones are produced in high enough levels to produce an acidic blood characteristic.  It can be and often is FATAL.

"Animals Get Diabetes?"

Yes, animals get diabetes.  Lay people are often surprised at that, and that is unsurprising.  But here's a surprise ----  I've lost count of the number of veterinarians who have told me their personal physician (M.D. medical doctor) had no idea that animals get diabetes.

(Guess which side of the veterinarian-physician divide is the strongest advocate for One Health.)

An important 'rabbit trail' into CLINICAL REASONING and the ART and SCIENCE of MAKING A DIAGNOSIS.

The odor of ketones as detected by the vet's tech set off a second problem based hunt.  As a reminder, the dog was at the vet because of a head tilt (problem #1).  With the vet tech's sniffer, and the vet's mind, he reasoned that diabetes was likely (given the ketone odor) and also knew that diabetic complications could sometimes affect the brain.  So, he did blood work.  Blood glucose on the pit bull was within normal limits.  The vet KNOWS that severe diabetes resulting in detectable ketones does not happen with normal blood glucose.  Thus, the thought process.....perhaps he thought: "Hmmmm....who is removing fingernail polish right now?"  A quick glance around the room and the remainder of the clinic probably ruled out that brief - but appropriate - thought.  

But the vet remained 'confused.'  Sadly, we tend to negatively stigmatize confusion.  Confusing situations and signals SHOULD be expected in medical practice, and as a quick aside - I recommend anyone to be skeptical of any physician or any veterinarian who immediately declares irrefutable diagnoses.  It's just bad and dangerous practice.  It's important to emphasize it is absolutely OK to be confused.  Too often we react with: "Don't just stand there - do something."  Sometimes, the most appropriate response for a medical professional - vet or human - is to reverse that: "Don't just do something - stand there!"

To a modest extent....I believe Dr. Harmer just 'stood there.'  Oh....he went on about his appointments and his day, but I assure you - this perplexing case was occupying a tremendous segment of his brain while he performed other tasks.

So the vet updates the dog's owner.  I imagine the conversation went like this:

DVM: "Well, Fido's head tilt is what we call vestibular disease.  There are many possible causes for this.  We're checking some out.  My team and I thought it might be diabetes, but Fido's blood glucose is normal, so diabetes is ruled out.  We need to begin the process to investigate other possibilities."

Owner: "Well at least it's not diabetes. 'Timmy' has diabetes and it's miserable."

DVM: (thinking....no one is using fingernail polish remover.....)

DVM: (Looking at 'Timmy'....quiet....pasty....pale)

DVM:  "Timmy....what was your blood sugar?"

And the rest is included above in the original story.

Thus, back to CLINICAL REASONING....the vet knew that a diabetic patient was in his exam room.  He knew it was not the dog.  He saw no fingernail polish remover.  Presumptively, other boarding and waiting patients were a fair distance away.  Fortunately, the DVM education and training program is inherently COMPARATIVE - how else do veterinarians acquire expertise and confidence to treat more than one species.  It is imperative that we ALWAYS think comparatively.  And light bulb!  The vet knew that one of the human clients might be producing these ketones.  Whether from a dog, or a cat, or a bottle of fingernail polish remover, or from a human, ketones smell like ketones.  The vet knew this and exercised a "heuristic" - a problem solving approach - that via process of elimination, one of the humans in his animal exam room was producing these ketones.  A quick cursory examination and recognition of the quite, pasty teenage boy, followed by some brief, yet pertinent and focused, questions revealed the source.

"Get Thee to an ER!  Now!"

Dr. Harmer quite likely saved this boy's life.  DKA in 'Timmy' was confirmed at the recheck visit for Fido.

And so, we return to One Health.  It's not all about infectious diseases.  It's also metabolic diseases.  Vets know diabetes....they know and manage obesity in pets....and know it compromises the long term health of their patients in the same way that physicians know that it compromises the long term health of their human patients.

It truly is "One Health."  Thank your local veterinarian today!  Someday they may save more than your pet's life!

About Fire: Part 2...Some Personal Stories and Lessons Learned

This post is about fire.  It's a follow up to the post on the 70 yr anniversary of the Mann Gulch Fire posted yesterday.
http://tsniderdvm.blogspot.com/2019/08/about-fire-part-1-70-yr-anniversary-of.html

I'm a bit of a fire-bug.  I enjoy building the fire in the fireplace.  I enjoy building the fire at a campsite.  I enjoy controlled, prescribed burns.  I'm frequently burning brush piles.

I'm generally safe with fire, though my track record would testify otherwise.  Some of the problems with fire that I have encountered have resulted in life lessons.  Many of my memories of fire involve my dad, as well.  Some of those memories are, in no particular order:

• Trash burning:  Growing up, my family didn't have a rural trash service between Cache and Lawton.  Like many, we burned trash in steel 55 gallon drums.  It was my job as a teenager, and I did it well.  I did it so well, I inevitably sought out new fire experiences.  Such it was one day when I thought I would burn some brush near the burn barrels.  I have no recollection of the wind that day, but it must have been breezy.  All I remember is a little experiment quickly grew out of control, and we soon had neighbors over at our place stomping, raking, and fighting my little experiment gone awry.  Lesson: Know the wind and humidity.  Be prepared with tools.
• Spontaneous combustion of bread products:  My FFA SAE project was raising pigs.  At my peak, I was farrowing 4-5 sows twice a year, which meant we ended up with about 40-50 pigs on feed that we were not showing.  This meant a massive feed bill for a small project, and I looked for ways to cut costs.  Circa 1984-1987, one could purchase 'racks' and 'half racks' of day old bread and other bakery products from the Lawton Wonder Bread outlet for pennies.  To reach some sort of economy of scale, we would purchase as many 'racks' a half ton pickup bed would fit, go home, and spend the evening stuffing old feedsacks with varieties of bread, Twinkies, donuts, gems, HoHos, DingDongs, and so forth.  Though we were initially discouraged from doing so, we (Holly and I) quickly learned that the day old sweets were still quite edible and bread night often turned into an impromptu (unhealthy) meal.  So, thus far in the story, I've outlined a labor intensive feeding strategy for pigs that was effectively free.  Summers in Southwest Oklahoma are BRUTAL.  One summer Saturday in the mid-1980s, post-lunch, Dad and I were doing some afternoon TV watching --> in rural 1980s Southwest Oklahoma with three channels, our choices were golf, an infomercial, or an old John Wayne movie.  So with the John Wayne movie halfway done, our day was suddenly interrupted by someone beating on our front door.  My dad rushed to the door to be met by a man with an urgent message: our barn was on fire, and my dad's pickup was parked right next to it.  The cause of the fire?  The high starch of the stuffed and compressed bread products, all stacked next to each other on a 105F Oklahoma day had spontaneously combusted and caught everything else on fire.  For those with hay experience, it was like putting up round bales of hay with 20% moisture content.  My most vivid memory is my dad heroically rushing to his pickup next to the fully engulfed barn, driver's door closest to the flames, him burning his hand on the hot door handle, and him driving the pickup away to safety.  Then, there was nothing left but to watch it burn.  And listen, too.....Dad's Marlin .22 was in there with about 200 rounds of .22 ammo, and it all started popping.  And smell, too.....about 600 pounds of burning bread and other bakery products.  Lesson: Know spontaneous combustion.  Don't stockpile bread in the summer time.
• Dad having a small heart attack fighting a fire in his 70s: I wasn't home for this one.  Dad had had heart disease the last 10-12 years of his life - stents and statins.  I think it was February 2017.  I don't know how the fire started, but I think it was similar to story #1 above.  Dad was hustling around dragging garden hoses trying to fight it.  Hours later, he was in the hospital with a reported mild heart attack.  Two months later, he successfully emerged from quintuple bypass surgery.  Lesson:  Don't fight fire in your 70s.
• Property clean up at my parent's house the day my father passed away:  My father passed away at 12:04am Dec. 16, 2018, in Lawton, OK.  After the initial bawling and grieving, I sought distractions that Sunday morning while awaiting the incoming visitors and family.  My distraction largely was to do what I was going to do anyway - clean up my parent's place around the barn.  Beginning around 7:30am, I had conquered a half acre unmowed field, and had a few round bale's worth of accumulated grass clippings in several piles, along with piles of limbs that needed burned.  Relying upon my success and experience with 100s of brush fires outside Stillwater, OK, I started a brush fire near the barn.  In Stillwater, OK, it is the land of "liquid air" about 300 days per year.  As long as there has been a recent rain and we are not in a burn ban, one can usually do any sort of burn in NE Oklahoma quite safely.  Indeed, there are some days you can't even get a fire started because the dewpoint is so high.  Not so in Southwest Oklahoma.  Drawing upon my teenage experience where I started a big grass fire, and also monitoring two different weather apps, I started the fire, got it 90% surrounded by black, had been spraying water intermittently on top of it and around it, and I thought I was making progress quite safely.  Needing a break and recognizing an increasing visitor count, I left the fire to run to the house to greet a few people, drink some water, and use the restroom.  Minutes later, glancing out the back door, I noticed that my fire had grown....and grown....and grown.  I yelled something and rushed out the door.  Long story shortened:  We got the fire under control.  My wife lost a pair of shoes. Some clothing was ruined.  The barn was intact. A fuel tank was melted and the 2 gallons of fuel remaining nearly ignited.  The lawn tractor was saved.  Examining the burn path of expansion from the central fire, it is clear that this fire tracked along the surface of dead thatch sitting ON TOP OF A PUDDLE OF WATER.  Lesson:  Just like oil on water, fire can burn grass sitting on top of water.
• A recent brush pile burn that did fine, but burned without my knowledge:  This happened just the other day.  North Central Oklahoma received about 3.5 inches of rain on Aug 2 and 3, 2019.  I tried to get a brush fire going in the morning of Aug 4 (Sunday).  I got the tinder and some feed sacks going, but could not get the brush (saturated from two days rain) to catch.  Eventually, I gave up, saw that it smoldered the next 3-4 hours, helped Julie with some goats from 11am-1:15pm, and at that point no smoldering smoke was detected.  I ate lunch, took a nap, watched a movie, went back outside 7pm.  Where has all the brush gone?  Sometime between 1:15pm and 7pm, this 'dead' fire with piles of rain-soaked brush fuel had ignited and successfully burned 90% of the brush.  With the pile surrounded by lush Bermuda grass and the atmosphere composed of about 3000% humidity, there was no chance it was going anywhere, but I was stunned that it caught fire at all.  Lesson: Where there's smoke, there's fire.  Indirect lesson: This is why Forest Service guides tell backpackers to DROWN a fire.

So the five lessons I've learned from these stories:

1. Know the present weather conditions.  Have tools at the ready.

2. Recognize moisture contributions to heat generation and the possibility of spontaneous combustion.

3. Don't fight fire in your 70s.

4. Fire can burn things near or on top of water.  Not just oil....even grass.

5. Where there's smoke, there's fire.  Drown the fire when done.

About Fire: Part 1 - 70 yr anniversary of Mann Gulch Fire

This is the first post on this blog in nearly 5 years.  Originally,this post was supposed to be an all encompassing post about fire....it got too long and is being split into 2-3 posts.  As this is the first post in nearly five years, this post is something of a Phoenix, consistent with the theme.

Today, Aug. 5, 2019 is the 70 year anniversary of the Mann Gulch Fire.  Mann Gulch is a ravine in Montana that feeds into the Missouri River there.  Now, why would an Oklahoma flatlander take note or remember such a date for an event in Montana.  Answer?  The truth is I didn't remember, but it popped up in my Facebook feed from several other contacts.  But, my interest in it is genuine.  More on that in a moment from the book I read in my 20s: "Young Men and Fire."

Never heard of the Mann Gulch Fire?  Option 1: Read this post.  Option 2: Read the linked article.  Option 3: Read the book I will briefly outline at the end.

Mann Gulch Fire:  The brief (and quite likely butchered) version of this story begin 70 years ago today: Aug 5, 1949.  A forest fire broke out (due to lightning strike) in a remote region of central Montana.  The exact location was Mann Gulch, a ravine that fed into the Missouri River.  A plane full of Forest Service employees known as "Smokejumpers" were tasked with the duty to jump out of the plane with parachutes and tools, join up, and cut fire breaks and fight the fire.  While en route to a fighting point where they could safely position themselves between the Missouri River and the fire, the fire switched directions, the wind speed increased, and the fire 'blew up' accelerating up the mountainside, cutting off nearly all ways of escape for the Smokejumpers.  Thirteen of the sixteen Smokejumpers at Mann Gulch died immediately that day, and the lessons learned changed fire fighting strategies on into the future.

A story of commemoration from the Missoulian:

https://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/a-retrospective-on-montana-s-mann-gulch-fire/article_372068a9-aa59-5f97-adb8-19e9b13a9538.html?utm_content=buffer5774d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=LEEDCC&fbclid=IwAR310CVHHY3fWIdCE4lXpbbt6jFwD8nDCM97NImKok0Mo9TgLtXpGiJgClg

(If link becomes broken, the link was to a 8-5-2019 story about the Mann Gulch Fire 70 years later in the Missoulian, written by March Childress.)

How did I come to ever learn about this fire and its history?  I read a wonderful little book in my 20s entitled "Young Men and Fire" by Norman MacLean.  I don't recall how or who recommended it to me, but I'm so glad they did.  The book is non-fiction and is mostly biographical about the people who fought and died that fateful day.  And believe it or not, you've heard of the author Norman MacLean......."A River Runs Through It"?  The movie many of you love and enjoy is a short story written by Norman MacLean.  He wrote many other books.

Anyway, to bring this meandering post to a close, I truly appreciate firefighters.  Truly, all Americans hold a nostalgic spot in our hearts for all first responders, but I hold an extra measure of appreciation for firefighters, especially volunteer fire departments that service rural areas around the nation.  Living through the drought of Oklahoma 2011-2014, the volunteer firefighter should have been the Time Man of the Year one of those years.  By now, certainly 99.9% of the world has forgotten the Mann Gulch Fire, but this little post hopefully serves as tribute to our current firefighters and is a tribute to their bravery and to the bravery of those 13 brave young men that died that day, and hopefully, for the handful that read this, you might have learned something about some true American heroes.

You can fight city hall....you can't fight age and gravity.

About 10 years ago, the Stillwater hospital was expanding and needed to remove some trees to 'put up a parking lot.'

A lady protested. A lady chained herself to the tree she wanted to save. I'm unsure if hugging was involved.

If Google served me correctly, I think the story is archived here:

Woman Chains Herself to a Tree

The lady fought city hall and won.  The tree stayed.  Until now.  Yesterday, August 15, 2014, I was en route to work on 6th street - Highway 51, and discovered....

Age and Gravity wins.

 

 

Two major branches had broken and were in the rightmost, east bound lane.  The lane was closed and there were workers present to remove the large branches.

 

The picture above was shot later that afternoon and shows the main central branch missing and an additional branch partially cut back but otherwise resting on the grassy lawn.

 

Age and Gravity wins; Assist by 4 years of drought.