HOT SAUCES

 This is the 8th day of June, the year of our Lord 2026. Today would be a good day to explain why I am an embarrassment to most of my family and a few of my friends.

There are some things that I discovered about myself very very late in life. I know now why I am a musician and not a scholar. That's a complicated story so let me summarize. I like to be outdoors so much so that at the boy scouts summer camp I had not yet discovered the danger of poison ivy and I became known very early as the poison ivy kid. 

You would think with my penchant for outdoor exploring I would be a guitar player on cowboy but alas that was not to be. I started off on the keyboard which in the earliest days meant an accordion but after we moved out of the trailer court and into a real home on a foundation in Gary Indiana and the neighborhood of Aetna.

 From the beginning of our family the Dittmers, we were destined to be a musical family.. I was the keystone of the family in that I was the one who set the direction. I was the first one to the altar to pray and receive Jesus as my Savior and soon after very soon after my mother and father were also at the altar. 

At that time we were living in a small trailer 8 ft by 40 ft which had been moved from Hammond Indiana the home of the trailer industry too Manhattan Illinois behind Delaney's tavern and from there too Greeks grocery store and trailer court on deadman's curve on US 20 the home of a nudist colony before. 

When my parents decided to move to a home we moved as I previously said to the Aetna neighborhood which was rapidly growing past Clay Street.  The homes were being built in a cookie cutter fashion. They poured a foundation on Sandy soil and then framed it very quickly and put a roof on it and called it done. This is where my mother had the brainstorm of getting a piano for me. I started my piano lessons in downtown Gary with a jazz pianist called Clarence demass. I took two the piano like a duck to water. I think that's enough for this story today. Thanks to the internet I can do all my stories as a work in progress. Which is also the story of my life. Later Gators.

D DAY

 Today was, is, and always will be an important day to my family, the Church of the Nazarene, and the United States of America when the dimmer boys, let me repeat, the dittmer boys William Michael dittmer and John, who was this very morning 1941 on the shores of Normandy where so many men laid down their lives and my uncle John was about to drive a caterpillar after four men or three were shot off by Nazi snipers and my father, the wild child held together their tiny business and graduated from high school and after wards after having suffered polio like our president Franklin d Roosevelt began the journey of growing up, move into Springfield, and later he and I together attended Colorado springs Bible college where later my lovely wife Lynn with an e and I moved from California to North Dakota where I had the happiest 4 years of my life and my fearless leader and his wife became the couple that inspired us the most and I have met and worked with a lot of inspiring people. What a joy it is to be part of God's overall plan. I thought you were 20 or 30 years older than me and that's how much you inspired me. Thank you my dear friend. Mad dog aka Mike ditmer or William Michael dittmer Jr, whose mother taught me to never back down from a bully and threatened to break my fingers if I picked up my brothers guitar so I carried with me the most advanced Yamaha piano that I learn to play by ear so that I could direct my family into my arrangements of gospel music and lead a teen choir into soul winning across the Dakotas and I almost went back more than once. Later Gators.

JUNE BUG

 June 4th, 2026. Thursday. 

I'm wondering if my new nickname should be chief three sleeps. My mother, Carol, so named because she was born on December 18th and came home from the Springfield hospital on December 25th, was a night owl starting with her father because againWatson and his lovely somewhere from her early youth because her father Watson was a unionized printer probably before the turn of the century. 

Watson, and his lovely bride, had 10 children. Carol met Bill dittmer because she was the first of the Sinclair women to become a professional secretary. 

William Michael dittmer was the youngest of four. His father and I don't I don't remember the year of his birth but I do know that he was very impressed with Abraham Lincoln and grew up hearing stories that he would repeat. He was a Bible vocational amateur pastor and since around that time there was a clear delineation between cowboys and settlers his wife also was a keyboard artist back in the time when almost everybody in town if they had a hankering to learn the piano had one in their parlor. 

From a very early age it was obvious that I was drawn to the outdoors but also music and my first keyboard was an accordion. In the little town of Manhattan Illinois we lived in a trailer court behind Delaney tavern where my father and mother decided to settle down after moving from Springfield where they met and my dad, being the youngest, was also the wild child of the two ditmer with two t's brothers. 

Like the Democrats favorite president Franklin Roosevelt, Dad was pro Union. He also was a welder and an expert with dynamite and also came down with polio but since he lived in the country he was able to overcome his polio and many did not know that his one foot was a size 10 and his normal foot was a size 12. 

That's all for now boys and girls.

TABASCO

 My dad, William Michael dittmer senior was always the best cook in the family. Before he passed away he had a collection of jars that were filled with different pancake mixes by mixes I mean different grains. I always remember he had a jar of Tabasco sauce. 

My mother always loved being a secretary which in her days meant being able to take dictation and she used a system called shorthand and typed on a mechanical typewriter, and her recipes were always for Sunday because very early our family became a church going family and they figured out a way since Dad was always in a form of leadership that kept him busy on Sunday that Mom had to take up the slack. 

By the time I was 12 we had started going to the Gary Etna that's a u t n a church of the Nazarene. Even back in those old ancient days at the end of the '50s in the beginning of the '60s there were Mexican immigrants who had gravitated towards the steel mills and the high paying jobs. This is where I learned the importance of Tabasco sauce for seasoning. 

By then, I had started using it to season eggs. Eggs are rather tasteless and boring until you put some seasoning on there and at that time at church potlucks which always included an odd mix of different family recipes somewhere in that timeline I had adopted or adapted my father's have it of generously sprinkling tobasco sauce on the different conglomerations of food including meatloaf. 

Since I am just now waking up on Wednesday June the 3rd of 2026 I think that's enough for this story. I of course have graduated two more complex bottled sauces including my new favorite Sriracha. That is all for now. Stay tuned.

TEXTING CHARLES XAVIER

I am a nuclear fusion night owl. My ex son-in-law whom I call Charles Xavier is now working for a chicken factory as a truck driver. He hits the sack at 9ish and that helps explain the following texts.

Charles: Tried to call back and you turned your phone off. 

Me: It's now 4:00 a.m. and this must be my new time to get up in the morning??

I turned the phone off because I checked in on Facebook and one of my Pakistan, Indian, and or Bangladesh gospel workers kept trying to call me on messenger. They don't understand why those of us who've had a phone for a while are not that excited about free international phone calls.

LESS THAN 10%

 I assume there's been no nuclear Armageddon today.

I was asked by my sensible daughter?? was I expecting one? remember we were taught to duck and cover under our desk if there was going to be a nuclear blast whereas if there was going to be a tornado we were taught to go run and hide in the hallway. 

Kids nowadays are taught to lock the door to the hallway if there's an active shooter in the school?

I put the probability at less than 10%. At 78 years old that's about the same probability I'll be alive tomorrow.

When I think about the dumb stuff I did when I was young I'm shocked I'm still alive. So is everybody that knows me.

My mother taught me two things. Never back down from a bully even if you get beat up badly. Today I have no teeth well, actually four and a half teeth because I faced Art and Fidel Castro, refugees from Cuba, at my rope and tumble high School in Gary Indiana. Mom also taught me how to yodel so loud but I could call a group together in the South Dakota mountains for practice at the Dakota youth camp in rapid City. 

My father taught me how to drive on ice which is a skill he learned driving on dusty back roads away from angry mobsters because they were caught stealing their liquor, The older version of the dittmer Brothers. 

He also taught me by example how to sabotage a group through laughter, so here I am. My name is Mike dittmer AKA mad dog. Later Gators.

BALANCE

 This week I had an episode of balance which is a very important part of my life. Fortunately, I was standing and leading against something very stable. Falling is very dangerous for me, for I am over 6 ft tall, and I am 78 years old. 

Unfortunately, if I fall to the ground, the first thing that is necessary for me is to call for the fire department. Because I am also heavy I can't just get up from a prone position. Gone are the days where I could push myself up from the ground and they weren't that many days ago. It's amazing how fast one can deteriorate, and although I am improving I have a long way to go. 

Fortunately, I am in a subsidized home, actually an apartment that is part of a complex that is made up of four apartments put together into a single unit. All of the apartments have no steps and you can either use a wheelchair or a rollator to keep balance. 

Also fortunately, I have at this late. In my life had plenty of challenging study ahead for God has enlightened me on what is happening now in history or as we say, current events. In the last century, which brought women into the voting fold, our politics have centered around them and although the direction has of course had flaws and mistakes, basically what has happened is that we have established that women get to choose their destiny. They have because of poverty been locked into relationships with men and it appears because of conflicting desires those relationships have had about a 50-50 chance of permanence. This of course has caused great mental distress in both sexes and lots of blame and bitterness, plus confusion and abandonment of children. 

As the world's wealth has built up expectations have also risen, and in the developed world, as seen especially in United States, it is now possible to a degree for women who are unhappy to separate and care for with the assistance of both willing men and the government to not be totally impoverished. But now at least in this country there is a changing of the guard. Politics have centered around lawyers, but now for a while it will be centered around warriors. 

Speaking of balance, it has been pretty obvious or any observer of history or biblical history or mental health history the two sides are needed. For the last 10 to 20 years the Democrats saw the possibility of ruling without the advice of the Republicans and literally tried to take over the world. Since I believe in God who is the ruler but also allows us freedom to choose our direction even if it's stupid, whenever one perspective decides to take over, over time God draws them up short and gives them a spanking and when you spank a civilization or system lots of collateral damage, I E tragedies happen. 

Charlie Kirk believed that free speech and the discussion of ideas was absolutely necessary, and conservatives and liberals had to be grown up enough to discuss these ideas openly and not damage other people's property personal safety or reputation. That, my friends, is balance. 

REVELATION CHRIST

 The Christ of Revelation is in charge. His instrument is breaking pottery with an iron bar and tariffs. Read the textbooks I E The books of the Bible multiple times, like I did in school during the first several weeks, then sit back and gaze out the window and long to be outside and listen to the stupid questions the scholars are asking. Never back down from a bully. Let him think you are absolutely insane. I am mad dog.

SPECIFIC PRAYER

 God answers our desires both spoken and unspoken, which is why we must be careful of what it is we desire. For example, even though it was not what God desired, the people of Israel desired a king like the other nations had and so it happened. Of course, the consequences were that their best people their best children would go to the Capitol and serve the king and be separated from their families in the countryside. 

Habakkuk 2:14 states for the Earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as a waters cover the sea. 

I have decided some time ago to make that verse a specific stated request as part of my prayer life. I invite you to do the same for God's grace is powerful infinitely so and can rain down on us through the power of the holy Spirit to bring about the answer. Will you join me, my friends and fellow prayer warriors? 

THE OVERCOMER

 In Revelation chapter 2:26 the resurrected Christ is speaking to John. He that overcomes and keeps my works onto the end, to him will I get power over the nations. Verse 27 continues. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers. 

I would like to ask some questions. Has Trump been announced overcomer? The next question is has he been given power over the nations? The third question is. Is Trump ruling them with a rod of iron? To me, the answers are obvious. 

I am not a scholar, nor a prophet. My
method of learning is to read all of the history and all of the Bible and sometimes God gives me understanding. I am not a teacher. I am a musician. But it seems pretty obvious that much of Revelation is coming true now, the prophecy of the wilderness in chapter 12, the spirit of suicide coming from the demon locusts, and now this ruling with a rod of iron. You must draw your own conclusion but it is obvious to me that God is in charge of world events. Later Gators.

PEACE THROUGH TARIFFS

 @realDonaldTrump thank you for all that you are doing bringing peace into the world through tariffs?! 20 years ago I began praying for a president who understood tariffs. Remember the gold coin in the fish miracle? And when you were coming down the golden escalator since I didn't like bosses that shouted YOU'RE FIRED I was going to yell at the TV when I felt an invisible finger on my lips. I realized that meant you were going to win and I was delighted at witnessing the power of tariffs bringing manufacturing back to the United States. 

Stick with me just for a moment I have a brilliant idea. Watching the no nonsense Germans handle the dumbass Palestinian protesters made me wonder. Could these former persecutors of the Jewish people be the best ones to head up a Gaza peace Force. Just a suggestion. Stay healthy. Later Gators.

HISTORICAL BIBLICAL ORACLE

 Good morning friends. Just read and shared Don's delicious post. It appears the memo that I received from upper management IE it's all set up. Appears to be on schedule. The book of Revelation in which the 12th chapter points to the Western hemisphere appears to be spot on. My blog THE SHEPHERD'S JOURNAL is increasing in popularity with weekly hits according to the stats from China and Russia. I am just a catalyst. If Don is the historical Oracle, then I am the historical biblical Oracle. Later Gators.

WOULD I BLINK?

 My favorite president is facing off against an ungodly world. Someone has trained him like my mother did to be a bully fighter. My mother promised me a bold of ice cream every time I came home beat up. This unusual training made me almost unable to back down when facing a bully and I have faced quite a few. 

My fame skyrocketed when I faced a bully teacher who was picking on a young lady who was a scholar. She had straight A's. One time she made a mistake and got a minus and the teacher laughingly brought it to everybody's attention and made her start crying. 

I had had enough. My skinny 8th grade body stood up and said MR KAPLAN, THIS HAS GOT TO STOP. I was unaware until later that I clenched my fist. Mr Kaplan jump from behind the desk and ran up confidently and got right in my face. And ask me to repeat myself, which I did. Mr Kaplan looked like a soldier and I suspect he was a veteran of the Korean war. A huge black kid came up behind me and grabbed me and took me out of the class then apologized because he said Mr Kaplan was going to beat me up. 

I went down and complained to the assistant principal. I told him I had just failed the class for the rest of the year but he looked entirely relaxed and said I think it'll work out which mystified me. I waited for the inevitable summer school notice but it never came. When I came back next year and stood in line to find out where my next English class would be, I noticed that I had been passed and sent on to the freshman class. Someone had changed the grade from four Fs to three and I barely passed. I also learned that the assistant principal for the rest of the year sat in the class and monitored it every single day. 

The reason I bring this up is my favorite president has been trained somehow by someone to be a bully fighter. He is facing the entire godless world. Will he blink? What do you think? I don't think he'll blink and I think God will be with him. Like every other class that I have attended I have read the text which includes the book of Revelation and all of our questions and speculations are silly. God is in these events. Providence is in charge. I was told it's. All. Set. Up. Later Gators.