Friday, April 30 from Hawaii

We arrived in Maui this afternoon and finally got checked in at our place in Kapalua.  It’s 7:30 PM here, but my body time says it’s 11:30 PM.

So, this will be a short post.  But, here’s a picture of Betty on our deck just after we checked in.

Aloha, Y’all

As you read this, we’re flying on US Airways to Phoenix and then to Maui to start our Hawaii vacation.

It might be a day or two before I get back on to post something so be good.

Our flight is a 7 hour trip so the cartoon below is very appropriate.

Switching Gears

We got our friends, Bob and Molly, off to home today.  It was a great visit.

Now, Betty and I are switching gears as we get ready for our trip to Hawaii.  We leave Friday morning.

We’re going to spend a week in Maui and then a week on the Big Island, Hawaii.  We’re primarily going to celebrate Betty’s 65th birthday.  On May 4 we’ll be at the Old Lahaina Luau for her birthday.

I plan to take my laptop and, if we can get a signal, I’ll occasionally blog some pictures from our trip.

Tomorrow, Thursday, is packing day.

Visit to Another World

We drove over to Chaco Canyon today.  It was something that Betty and I have wanted to do for 5 years now, but never got around to it.  Having Bob and Molly visit and be interested as well gave us the incentive to make the 2 1/2 hour drive.  It was a beautiful day with just a little wind.

Chaco Canyon is a very impressive place and well worth the time and trouble to get there.  The last 13 miles are over pretty rough roads in spots, but that made it all the more fun.

Here’s a video of one of the large kivas.

And some pictures from today…
 

A great place to visit if you haven’t been there.

Sunday Reflection – Love

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."

The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."  (John 21:15-17)

The New Testament actually has three different words for ‘love,’ – ‘agape’ which means a sacrificial love, ‘phileo’ which means an affectionate love, to be kind to, and ‘eros’ which means a physical love such as found between a husband and wife.

When Jesus asked Peter the first two times, “Do you love me?” He was talking about agape love, a sacrificial love.  When Peter answered each time, “Lord, you know I love you,” he was talking about phileo love, a kindness, an affection.

Basically, Jesus was asking Peter, “Will you love me in a sacrificial love?”  And Peter would only answer, “Lord, I will always have a kind affection for you.”

Finally, the third time, Jesus lowered his standard for Peter when he also used ‘phileo.’  He asked Peter only if he would have a kind affection for him.

Jesus asks us if we can meet him at his level of love – a sacrificial love that gives its all.  When we come up short in our love, the best we can do is a kind affection, Jesus doesn’t turn away from us.  He meets us at the level of love that we can offer.

I have often wondered if horses can love as we understand it?  Betty and I love our horses, Morgunn and Sugar.  It’s probably a ‘phileo’ love – one of kind affection for our horses.

Do Morgunn and Sugar love us back the same way?

After a lot of observation, reading and thought, I don’t think so.  There is no question that horses can show affection for each other, but I don’t think there’s a love basis for their affection for each other – at least as we understand love.

My latest thinking is that for a horse, to trust and respect another horse or a human, is their form of love.  Whatever their ‘love’ may be for us, we meet them at their level of love just as Jesus meets us at our level of love for him.

Trust and respect.  That’s not a bad place to start when we think about loving someone else.

Taming the Wild Frontier (Restaurant)

After a quiet morning, we drove down Central Avenue so Bob and Molly could see some of the Route 66 ambience.  They also wanted to see the Sunshine Building that is the “Government building” on the TV show, “In Plain Sight” that’s filmed here in Albuquerque.

After our drive we stopped and had lunch at the Frontier Restaurant which is an experience in itself.

To work off some of those Frontier calories, we took a short hike along the Rio Grande in the Corrales Bosque.
 

All in all, a good day.

Gathering of Nations 2010

One of the things our friends Bob and Molly wanted to see while they were here was the Gathering of Nations. So we headed down to the UNM Stadium this morning.  Other than terrible traffic getting in, it was a good day – full of incredible colors and sounds.

Here’s a video of the Grand Entrance where all the dancers come together to start the event.

Here are some assorted pictures from today’s event. (Warning, lots of pictures.)

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 

A great event showcasing a great people.

Home on the Range

We had a nice, quiet day with our friends Bob and Molly from Ohio.  This morning we went out to show them Galloping Grace Youth Ranch where they met Max.

This afternoon Bob and I went to have a coffee at Satellite Coffee while Betty and Molly had a massage.  I’m not sure who had the better time, but Bob and I had a good time drinking our coffee and talking.

Tonight we went to one of our favorite restaurants, The Range in Bernalillo.  Always good food in a good setting with good service.  What more can you ask?

Friends Coming In and Riding Video

Two of our best friends, Bob and Molly Dutina, from Batavia, Ohio, are coming in tomorrow for a visit.  They will be here for a week.  We hope to go to the Gathering of Nations Powwow on Saturday and maybe get up to Chaco Canyon.  Beyond that we don’t have too much planned.

In any case, my posting may be sporadic over the next week.  If we do anything interesting I’ll try to post that, so maybe check in once in a while to see what’s going on.

Yesterday, Betty and I rode the horses in the back again.  Here’s video proof of how good Betty is doing with Morgunn (I never got him to do this and she gets it right every time -- way to go my cowgirl!).

Monday Video – Stop Motion

I think stop motion videos are a lot of fun.  The old science fiction movies that used monsters shot in stop motion were my favorites as a kid.

Stop motion is a fun animation technique. This video does it really well. Knowing how it was filmed is even more impressive. A still camera was attached to the ceiling, pointing down. The actors and props lay on the floor below.  Each small action was shot and then actors and props were moved just slightly for the next shot.  This took a lot of work. It paid off.

Enjoy.


Sorry I'm Late from Tomas Mankovsky on Vimeo.

Sunday Reflection – When the Earth Moves

I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. (Revelation 6:12-14)

I’m not an end of the world person.  I believe it will come as the Bible predicts, but I leave that in God’s hands.  However, 104 years ago today the people of San Francisco may thought this prophecy was coming true.  The video in the left frame shows a street car going North on Market Street in San Francisco about 4 days before the quake.  The video in the right frame shows a street car going the same direction on the same street a couple of days after the quake.



Here's a picture of the city showing the after affects of the quake.

Friday Funny – I Love Chocolate

I confess – I’m a chocoholic.  I love chocolate – especially dark chocolate.  In fact, chocolate is so important that when God rested on the seventh day he made fudge.

Vet Time

We took Morgunn and Sugar to the vet today for their Spring shots and to have their teeth floated (points filed off their teeth).

We haven’t asked them to go into the trailer since last Fall, but both loaded up just fine for the trip to the vet.

We got there and our vet gave each of a little shot of happy juice to make them more mellow.  It’s funny watching their heads slowly lower and their lower lips slowly begin to stick out like a big pout.

After giving them their shots he used that mouth contraption to hold open their mouths while he filed their teeth.  The mouth contraption looks like something from Silence of the Lambs.

Morgunn normally is a little more reluctant to load going home.  I think he likes being out.  The happy juice made him even more reluctant as he had trouble just keeping his balance.  Betty was very patient with him and with a little encouragement (tapping his hip with a riding whip), he eventually walked into the trailer.  Sugar walked in with no problems at all, but she was a little shaky as she put her front feet into the trailer.

We gave them some extra hay when they got home so they’re happy.

Dog Whisperer

Betty and I have recently started watching a show on the National Geographic Channel called The Dog Whisperer featuring Cesar Milan.

Cesar says, “I rehabilitate dogs and train people.”  Mainly, he teaches people to be the pack leader for their dogs – to maintain a calm, assertive posture, attitude and energy no matter what their dog is doing.

His philosophy is “exercise, discipline, then love.”  In other words, our dogs need exercise and discipline and should be in a calm, submissive state before we show them love.  Many people think they can treat their dogs like children and love their dogs into good behavior.  It doesn’t work that way.

It’s also important to understand that by discipline he means being the leader of the animal and he doesn’t mean punishment.  Discipline is redirecting the dog’s attention and energy away from it’s bad behavior to a more calm, submissive state.  He does this primarily through touch as a mother dog would do it with her pups.

The reason we enjoy it is because a lot of what he says and demonstrates is applicable to working with horses as well.  Horses need exercise and discipline.  They need to understand that we’re they herd leaders.  We need to always have a calm and assertive posture, attitude and energy whenever we’re around them.  When they’re calm and submissive to us then we can show them affection.

If you haven’t seen it, I encourage you to give it a try.  It’s amazing to watch him turn dogs around in a fairly short amount of time.

It’s on each day at Noon and new shows are on Friday nights at 7:00 PM.