I don't have any words to add to this, except get your tissue handy.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Posted with Blogsy
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Sunday Reflection - Tools of the Trade
My maternal grandfather was a hard working man. During his working career during my life he was a mechanic for Greyhound Bus Lines. However, somehow during his life he gained a lot of knowledge about woodworking.
When he retired from Greyhound he became a full time cabinet maker. My aunt was opening a Hallmark gift shop and he made all the display cases for her shop. We have a small table that he made and we use it in our tack room to hold our hay scale.
I didn't learn much about woodworking from him, but I did learn one important lesson -- a good craftsman takes care of his tools for without them he's in trouble. Cleaning and sharpening his tools was an important investment of his time.
As horse people our tools are our saddles and our bridles. We try to clean and condition our saddles and bridles every six months -- once in the Fall before cold weather hits and once in the Spring before the warm/hot weather hits.
That's what we did yesterday on Saturday afternoon. Cleaning and conditioning means taking everything off our saddles and bridles, applying some cleaner to get the worst of the dust off and working in some conditioner to keep the leather flexible.
If we don't do this regularly the leather will dry out and crack. Dry leather can even break and when you're riding you don't want your latigo (the long leather strap that holds the cinch to the horse's belly) to break. If that happens you can wind up riding under your horse because the saddle slips all the way under -- not a fun thing for you or your horse.
PS to our horse friends: Quite a few years ago we were in Ohio Amish country with some good friends. We found an Amish saddle maker/repairer way out in the country. I asked him what he used to clean and condition his saddles, especially the saddles he repaired. He recommended Bickmore Leather products. We used those almost exclusively since and find they do a great job on our leather items, including our shoes.
So, what does this have to do with a Sunday Reflection?
As we were cleaning and conditioning our tack I began to think about my tools in my Christian faith. There are several -- prayer, Bible study, gratitude, connection with other Christians, etc.
Like my Granddaddy's tools and our tack, if I don't take care of my faith tools they can get dull and dry.
Regular prayer makes for sharp and conditioned communion with God. Regular Bible study makes for a sharp and conditioned mind and spirit.
You get the idea.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Amazing!
In these days it's getting more and more rare to find young people who are willing to devote the long hours and hard work it takes to reach a level of precision in what they are doing.
Here's the Top Secret Drum Corp in Edinburgh.
I know there are great college bands such as Ohio State University's great band, but these young men put them all to shame (IMHO) ;)
Enjoy!
Friday, March 7, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Preparation
Ash Wednesday - the start of Lent -- a time of preparation.
During Lent we prepare our spirits and souls for the recognition and celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and what they mean to us. It's also a time to remember that holiness means setting aside ourselves to be consecrated by Christ's death and resurrection -- to be Christ's own in this world.
In the early church Lent was a 40-day preparation of new Christians for baptism which usually occurred on Saturday night during the Easter/Resurrection Vigil. When baptism finally occurred there was no confusion in the new Christian's mind and heart as to what was happening -- buried in Christ's death, reborn with him in his resurrection.
Ashes -- the symbol of death and the hope of new life.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Dolphin Stampede
One of my Navy stories took place while we were off North Vietnam in 1971. I always stood the 4:00 AM to 8:00 AM Officer of the Deck watch since I was the Navigator. I had to get up early to take a morning celestial fix using a sextant to establish our position. This was long before satellite navigation became common.
It was very common to see a few dolphins riding our bow wake.
One morning, just as it was getting light, we saw not just a few dolphins, but hundreds going along with our bow. There were hundreds on the left and hundreds on the right. It was an amazing sight and they rode with us for a half hour or so before breaking apart and eventually disappearing. Of course I didn't have a camera with me so it's what I call a memory photo.
It only happened once.
I just ran across this video and found out that what I saw those many years ago is now called a dolphin stampede. The first part of the video is very similar to what we saw on each side of our bow as we went through the water.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Monday Video - Humpback Whales
Betty and I have been blessed to visit Hawaii twice during whale season. Humpback whales go to Hawaii from Alaska to have their babies during December and January. They nurture them until the calves are ready for the long trip to Alaska beginning in March.
We've seen a lot of whales, but never from the perspective this family did with their camera mounted on a quadcopter.
Enjoy.
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