Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Mr. Hockey

Gordie Howe was born on March 31, 1928 in Saskatchewan. He is regarded by many as the greatest hockey player of all time and is referred to as "Mr. Hockey."
The Hockey News listed him as third behind Gretzky and Orr, but Bobby Orr said that Howe was the greatest.

Mr. Howe's accomplishments on the ice were spectacular and one should read a bit about him, even if not a fan of the sport. He finally hung up his stick at the age of sixty-nine.
(Reference Wikipedia article for a concise summary of his life and career.)

Howe's wife, Colleen, to whom he was married for almost 56 years, passed away on March 6 this year. Gordie survives.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Fifth Sunday in Lent


These are the scripture readings for the lesson this Sunday. Complete citations given with partial text included here. Grab your Bible.

Jeremiah 31:31 - 34 (excerpt, v. 31): After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Hebrews 5 :7 - 9 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.

John 12:20 - 33 (excerpt, vv.23 - 26): And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

Psalm 51 (excerpt, v. 10): Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Happiness Is a Beach











Yesterday we drove to the beach at Port Aransas. We walked on the beach; we lolled on the beach. We flew kites. We watched the ships in the channel passing the jetty on the way out to sea. Tired, we napped for about an hour. Then nature treated us to a fantastic thunderstorm and deluge of water for about ten minutes.
We drove to the bird sanctuary and saw lots of God's smaller creatures. Among the prettiest was the little blue heron which posed for me not more than a dozen feet away. The camera was in the RV. Idiot! We did meet a guy "shooting" a great blue with a camera that no doubt cost him five figures. That's to the left of the decimal point. Also, he had driven up in seven hundred series BMW. That's what? Eighty grand? Nice work if you can get it. Hope he wasn't a recently "retired" AIG guru.
Back across the water on the ferry and the short drive back to Rockport followed by fried chicken, biscuits and gravy prepared and served up by BBBH. Whatta day!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

There Are Scorpions in Texas

I don't know that she is friendly, but she's not hostile. Which is to say I leave her alone and she leaves me alone. So long as she stays outside, things will stay that way.

[I am an arachnophile. I have a hard time, though, keeping BBBH from skooshing spiders and such. I once read that one is never more than three feet from a spider. We might as well learn to live with these fascinating creatures.]

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

American Artist


March 25 is the anniversary of the birth of Gutzon Borglum, noted sculptor. While there are many of his works on public display in the United States, the most famous is the Commemoration of the first 150 years of US history, the sculptures on Mt. Rushmore, SD.
Reading the story of this man's life and of the construction of this marvel is well worth the time.


Gutzon Borglum 1867 - 1941 RIP
[and Happy Birthday, Verla]

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Ancient Oaks

Our stay here at Ancient Oaks is very pleasant. This entire area has been blessed with an abundance of live oak trees, many of which are indeed ancient. It is said that some of them were growing here when Lief Ericson landed on North America's shores. That may well be, for some of them have magnificent girth.

It is also said that the oaks along the coastal area all lean to the northwest because of the prevailing southeasterly winds. It is true that many of them do lean and mostly all in the same direction; but "all" is a misused term in this particular instance. Some of them are quite straight.

Here is one just inside the RV park, and it does lean to the northwest.






These are a couple of the largest trees on the property, surrounded by many smaller ones.
[and Happy Birthday, Heide]

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Fourth Sunday in Lent


Today is the fourth Sunday in Lent.

The Gospel reading is from John 3:14-21.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. (v. 16)

The Epistle is from Ephesians 4:2-10.

Brothers and sisters: God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ — by grace you have been saved —raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.

The word from the Old Testament is 2 Chronicles 36:23.

All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, let him go up, and may his God be with him!

The response is Psalm 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6.

Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you! (v. 6)

Friday, March 20, 2009

Spring!


This is the day! It is the first day of Spring, the intro to that time of year we all so eagerly await.
My excitement is immense, intense, and tempered only by the fact that, thanks to the Good Lord, we have been enjoying spring-like weather since January. That is to say, South Texas is not Indiana. Though we will be in Texas yet a few weeks, we look forward to spring north of the Mason-Dixon line. It is one of Indiana's greatest seasons, along with fall and summer. Skip winter. Oh, we do, don't we?!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Picture Meme

Answer each query with a picture. Saw this on blog of Secondary Roads and so here goes.

1. Age at my next birthday.



2. A place to which I would like to travel.
3. Favorite food. 4. My favorite place.



5. Nickname.

6. Favorite color.
7. College major.
(Western philosophy)



8. My beloved's name.

9. My hobby.

10. Bad habit.
(and this is GREAT stuff!)

Bible Hero and the Birds


March 19 is St. Joseph's Day in honor of the spouse of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This date has been recognized as Joseph's day in some calendars for more than a millenium. This day is also Father's day in Iberia, Belgium and Italy.


March 19 is also the traditional day of the returning of the swallows to the Mission of San Juan Capistrano. They are pretty much on time, never missing by much their awaited return from their winter in Argentina.


Photo by John Triana


(and Happy Birthday to granddaughter Elizabeth
and to great granddaughter Josslynn)

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

An Award! Pass It On


I have received this award from Secondary Roads. I thank you, SR. You are most kind. The blogosphere has developed into a community for me where I get to visit with new friends each morning.


“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”


Paring the choice to eight recipients is difficult indeed. Here goes

Hoosier Reborn: Hoosier Happenings


Bitty: the couch










Tuesday, March 17, 2009

As Predicted

(See "Bye-bye P-I" post, March 10)
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer will print its final edition Tuesday and become the nation's largest daily newspaper to shift to an entirely digital news product.
- Over 146 years, we grew up with Seattle
- seattlepi.com to continue

Coastal Texas


See the teeny little red dot on the southeast coast of Texas? That represents Aransas County. We are now in Rockport, which is the county seat of this bailiwick. Rockport is about 30 miles northeast of Corpus Christi. Aransas County covers an area of 528 square miles, of which 252 square miles is land. And with more water area than land area, it stands to reason that fishing, both sport and commercial, boating and other water activities are big deals here.

The principal industries are in fact seafood production, oil production and tourism. The population of Aransas County is just under 25,000, of whom just under 7500 reside in Rockport. The population balloons, of course, when the Winter Texans arrive from the cold, cold northland which they seek to escape, basically from December to April.

It is our intention that this will be our home until mid-April!

Lá Fhéile Pádraig

Today is St. Patrick's Day. In America, it seems to matter little whether or not one is of Irish descent. It is just assumed that this is a good holiday to be celebrated. And noisily, with gusto. There is so much information available about this holiday and its honoree that it would be redundant for me to post any of it here. Look it up. Have fun.




(And Happy Birthday to granddaughter Tasha)

Monday, March 16, 2009



James Madison was born on March 16, 1751. He was active in Virginia politics and when the US Congress was established, he served in the House until President Jefferson appointed him Secretary of State in 1801.

Madison succeeded Jefferson as President in 1809 and served two terms. His wife,the former Dolley Payne Todd, was noted for having brought a sparkling social life-style to the White House. Though the war of 1812 against the British took place during his administration, Madison is not considered to have been highly competent in his management of the war; and the British actually took the capital city in 1814 and Madison fled to Virginia.

Though he had resisted Hamiltonian policies earlier in his life, he eventually signed bills to establish a Bank of the United States and to impose higher protective tariffs.
On completion of his terms of office, he retired to Virginia and died in 1836.

James Madison 1751 - 1836 RIP


(James Madison appears in my family tree where he is listed as "Spouse of third cousin, six times removed.)

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Don't You Care?

Park Church at Ancient Oaks this morning.

Special solo by soprano, "I Come to the Garden Alone."

Pastor Ron explored the question we often ask of God, "Don't you care?"
Scripture lesson from Mark 4:35 -41, the passage in which we see Jesus lying asleep in the boat as the storm raged about. The disciples, awakening him, asked, "Don't you care that we perish?"
In Luke 10:40 we hear Martha ask, "Don't you care that my sister won't help me?"
And so do we often ask, Don't you care?

Yes, He cares. How do we know? Because He said so. Throughout scripture we are reminded that God cares for us.
Exodus 6:6 - 8 Leviticus 26:12 - 13
Deuteronomy 4:20, 26:18 -19.
And in I Peter 5:7, we read, "Casting all your cares upon Him for He cares for you."

He shows us He cares in answered prayers, infilling of the Spirit and in guidance.

When we come to the garden, He comes with us, stays with us and when we leave He goes with us.

(Lunch at Chili's with good friends from Ontario. Good food, good conversation about the works of our wonderful Lord. Safe travels, D & G.)

Third Sunday in Lent

The scriptures for this Sunday are listed here, with an excerpt from each passage. We must study the scriptures.

The Gospel: John 2:13-22. Verses 19-21: Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?21: But he spake of the temple of his body.

The Epistle: Romans 7:13-25. Verses 24,25: O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Psalm: Psalm 19:7-14. Verse 7: The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul.

The Law: (The Commandments) Exodus 20:1-17. Verse 6: And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Northward Bound

I actually wrote a clever, witty account of our trip from Edinburg to Rockport today. But because I am not so clever and a total computer klutz, I lost the entire passage.

So, BBBH and I have played Scrabble, walked to BBQ joint and watched "The Mentalist" and now it is off to bed. (For me, at any rate. BBBH will probably watch this "Cold Case" rerun.)

Dr. Einstein


Albert Einstein was born March 14, 1879. Possibly the most famous scientist of all time, his work is legendary, and beyond the mental abilities of ordinary mortals. He worked until his death on the unified field theory, which he saw as a seamless and overarching theory of physics and its myriad laws.

Albert Einstein 1879 - 1955 RIP


(and Happy Birthday to Dick)

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Bye-bye P-I


Where is the watchdog when all the newspapers fold? The constitution gauranteed freedom of the press precisely because an informed public is an essential element of our governmental process. But as with all good things, we, in our impatience, kill the proverbial goose to get at the immediate gold. Then there isn't anymore forthcoming.
We allowed electronic media to drive print out of business because we are too hurried to get the full story. A snippet will do, thank you, and make it snappy. We will, of course, be sorry. But then it will be too late. Or maybe we won't be sorry because we have wallowed so merrily in our ignorance that we won't even know what we have lost.
This globe has turned for more than fifty years; but apparently it will be shut off this month, the city will become a one-newspaper town, and likely, as is the case in too many other cities, it will eventually become a no-newspaper town.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Blessed Assurance



Phoebe Palmer was born March 9, 1839 in New York City, the daughter of evangelists Dr. Walter C. and Phoebe Palmer.
At the age of 16, she married Joseph F. Knapp, founder and second President of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. She wrote the music to over 500 hymns and church songs. One of the most recognized of these is "Blessed Assurance," a tune she played for her friend, Fanny J. Crosby. Phoebe asked her what the music said to her and she responded, "Why, it says blessed assurance, Jesus is mine." Ms. Crosby wrote the lyrics for the hymn.
After Mrs. Knapp was widowed, she gave much of her very great wealth to charity and was engaged in the Lord's work until her death in 1908.

Blessèd assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Refrain
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long.
Phoebe Palmer Knapp 1839 - 1908 RIP

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Second Sunday in Lent.



The Old Testament reading is the account of God's require- ment of Abraham to do sacrifice, in which Abraham is directed to take his son, Isaac into the mount. Read Genesis, chapter 23.

The Psalm is the 116th.

The Epistle is Romans 8:31 - 34:

Brothers and sisters: If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?
Who will bring a charge against God's chosen ones? It is God who acquits us, who will condemn?Christ Jesus it is who died—or, rather, was raised— who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.


And the Gospel is Mark 9:2 - 10.


Think of that. Jesus Christ is the propitiation, the sacrifice, for our sins; and He intercedes for us!

The Great Dissenter


Oliver Wendell Holmes, jr. was born in Boston on March 8, 1841. Outstanding jurist, he served on the Supreme Court of the United States more than twenty-nine years. His pithy opinions are often cited.

He so often dissented in court opinions that he earned the sobriquet "The Great Dissenter."






(and Happy Birthday to granddaughter Anna)

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Spring Forward!


Before you fall asleep tonight, be sure to set your clock forward an hour, else you might miss church in the morning.
Then you can go around for the next six months pretending that you somehow "saved daylight."
Wanna bet? Wanna buy some 'oceanfront property in Arizona'?
It never ceases to amaze me, the ways in which we all corporately agree to play these foolish games which should fool no one, and yet we all pretend to be fooled.
We also pretend that we can borrow ourselves out of debt; spend ourselves into prosperity; and let the piper sing for her supper, so to speak.
Lordy, Lordy. Aren't we something?

Monday, March 2, 2009

Dr. Seuss



Theodore Geisel was born March 2, 1904.
Theodore Geisel 1904 - 1991 RIP
(and a Happy Birthday to grandson Jeffery, USN)

Grrrowl!

So the AIG more-losses lead our gummint to the conclusion that more money must be infused into this mortally wounded giant because "it is too big to fail." (I'm not making this up, for those of you who, like Rip van Winkle, have just awakened from a twenty-year nap. No. You are not still asleep; no, this is reality, worse than a bad dream.) Too big to fail? What happened to brontosaurus and T-rex? Why are they not still around? Surely they were "too big to fail?" Oh, I get it. There was no Nutcaseville on the Potomac back then.

I'm frankly just too angry to be nice today.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Jehovah Rohi


Pastor Jose's semon, the concluding one in his series on getting to know God, dealt with God as our Good Shepherd, Jehovah Rohi. This name is first introduced in the 23rd Psalm, but the scriptures contain many references to God as our shepherd. To truly know God, we must personalize God's leadership. As the Psalmist said, "The Lord is MY shepherd."


1) He leads us; that is he goes before us. We are to follow.

2) He guides us. He has a plan for each of our lives.

3) He provides for us. It is only in His provision that we are sustained.
Today was the last Sunday morning service of the season at Park Church. We closed, of course, with "God Be With You Til We Meet Again."

The Rest of the Story

Paul Harvey died February 28, 2009.
The man had standards.

Paul Harvey Aurandt 1918 - 2009 RIP