Thursday, Jan 22, 2026 at 1:34 AM

From Almost Getting Shot in Front of My Youngest, to Taking a Shot at Talking About God, Jesus and Country

Locally there is a piece of land that had been overrun by drug addicts, homeless, and had been used as a party place for years.

Recently it has been cleaned up and the people that weren’t respecting the land have been removed.

What has helped with this is having someone that lives in a camper being stationed on property over night.

About a week ago I’d noticed there was a pile of pallets stacked in front of the gate to the property that had a NO TRESPASSING sign prominently placed.

Having the desire to build a wood shelter for my recently acquired wood, I knew I could put the pallets to good use.

If I could only find out if they were available to be picked up, as I didn’t want to steal them if not.

So today I had picked up another load of firewood from the freshly cut down trees.

After I’d unloaded the firewood and since I had the trailer hooked up, I decided to take a chance and see if there was someone to talk to regarding the pallets.

As my son and I rolled up to the gate facing directly at the ominous NO TRESPASSING sign I noticed the camper van on the other side of the fence.

Hoping there was someone to talk to I stepped to the side where massive cement blocks were placed to prevent cars from entering.

Now I knew this was a potentially risky choice so instinctively I went in with both hands empty and palms facing up and towards the camper as I slowly approached.

To this a man springs from the camper, one hand in his pocket, positioned to take action if needed.

Seeing this and still keeping my hands up and viable I said, “Hi, I’d noticed the stack of pallets out front and was wondering if I could have them”.

Still with his hand in his pocket, approached a battle hardened looking man wearing a US Navy hat adorned with an American flag.

I said again just so he knew why I was there, “I was wondering if the pallets were available to pick up”

To this he replied, “Oh yes, they are”

And “I wasn’t sure what you were here for” as his hands came out of his pockets and he began to soften a bit.

Having lowered my hands but still keeping them in plain sight I told him that my boy and I were wanting to build a wood shelter for the wood we’d recently acquired.

This opened the conversation up to how he’d worked armed security for the U-Haul across the street and had been attacked by someone that had attacked him with a saws-all that he had to shoot.

At which point he said since he didn’t know what I was doing there I had this with me to which he then showed me the .38 special he had tucked away within his pocket.

I totally understood after knowing his previous experiences why he was extra careful around unknown people.

This got us talking about his encounters with the police, his mistrust of them and how wild things were around town only a few years ago.

We talked about the state of the nation and how because God is being taken out of our country, we are not only losing our national identity but that evil is being called good and good is being called evil.

To which I said, “looks like it’s time for Jesus to come back. And if not than at least for more people to have God and Jesus in their hearts”

To which he totally agreed.

As we talked more, I found out that he is a retired Navy special forces operator.

To which I adamantly appreciated him for his choice to serve our country, both in the ways that are known and unknown.

As we parted ways, he left with a smile, and I left with a trailer full of pallets and a new friend.