tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12214260320198206242024-03-13T05:59:40.373-07:00Bishops on the Road Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.comBlogger1540125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-29870281951864960972023-09-05T17:17:00.006-07:002023-09-05T17:17:00.146-07:00Japan 2023 Last Noteworthy<p> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">One
noteworthy observation—there is almost NO litter in Japan. It was
so rare that I was tempted to photograph the little bit I saw.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Besides
the noticeable cleanliness and the computerized restaurant meal
ordering, the “no-touch” payment option for cash was impressive.
Likewise, the cleanliness of the trains and public areas highlighted
their high standards. Though restaurant meal prices were pretty
similar to the USA, the fruit prices were shockingly high. The houses
are nice, but the lot sizes are quite small and every house I can
recall had spaces for more than one auto, mostly covered.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
was impressed that there were few fat Japanese. I saw only one obese
person who appeared to be Japanese in 2 weeks. The food seems
generally highly nutritious, but everything seemed to have much less
sugar. Even the ice cream seemed more creamy and less sugary.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
neighborhood organization is taken seriously and is quite complex.
Not volunteering for helping with the community operation and
celebrations is a serious faux pas. Everyone in the neighborhood
knows everyone else, except those who don’t volunteer are shunned.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now,
I am biased, but in truth David’s two daughters, ages 9 and 6, are
terrific. They play extremely well with each other, they are quiet,
and obedient. In two weeks, I only heard David raise his voice to
them about three times and never heard Rie call them down. The
youngest loves to cook and can cook eggs and pancakes at age 6!</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
noted above that my Fitbit recorded less than 4 hours sleep the first
night back. BUT, the second night back (night of 9 August) I set a
personal record I think with almost 14 hours in bed and 12 hours 42
min of actual sleep!</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Most
noteworthy were the many prayers offered up for us. This trip went
extremely smooth from start to finish. As I write this I am unsure of
our recovery from jet lag. In retrospect, our jet lag in Japan was
hardly noticeable. Thanks be to G^d for his mercy and grace, and
thanks to Him for a great trip, and thanks to you for your prayers.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thanks.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6tdf9EzsaFjNOylzxn8P-XHcqb9lWLG3sF7w_Xy5c94agGgdiECqOJ7BAlWzJQVFX4ga45xORrlftV2dna3dnvNfKKjzUA2xAQx9-0SXY2VccYXriQfU7gKZzI2fSZ1b42Zo55d8YmzsfPAHn5T5uD6SICzSTLTrYH_qvkQUGRSvAYbyJycOH2COnpM/s2048/Japan%20Fuji%20no%20clouds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6tdf9EzsaFjNOylzxn8P-XHcqb9lWLG3sF7w_Xy5c94agGgdiECqOJ7BAlWzJQVFX4ga45xORrlftV2dna3dnvNfKKjzUA2xAQx9-0SXY2VccYXriQfU7gKZzI2fSZ1b42Zo55d8YmzsfPAHn5T5uD6SICzSTLTrYH_qvkQUGRSvAYbyJycOH2COnpM/s320/Japan%20Fuji%20no%20clouds.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></p><span style="color: black;">This is elusive Mt. Fuji that is mostly obscured by some clouds.<br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><p></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-1352526974038572082023-08-31T17:14:00.004-07:002023-08-31T17:14:00.163-07:00Japan 2023 Part 7<p> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our
trip home involved almost 27 hours of travel. A bit after 10AM, David
carried us to the bullet train station, about 20 minutes. Bre had one
last rice ball, and we only had about a 15 min wait to board our
train for Shinagawa. I tracked our movements on my GPS, and we got
off the train right on sched. Fortunately, our baggage was much less
on our return home, having dropped off a lot of USA-items at Davey’s.
The walk to the exit of the Shinagawa train station was pretty long.
We saw the queue for the taxi and took about a 20-min trip to
Terminal 3 for 5.6k yen. We had a little trouble checking our 19-Kg
suitcase, but we got it checked and had a leisurely trip through
security to our gate. We spent our last few yen on a sandwich and 4
donuts and a soft serve ice cream. Once again, the service on ANA was
excellent and the trip time passed unusually quickly as we slept some
unknown amount.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Customs
was pretty relaxed in Seattle, with no forms to fill out and not even
a question about what we were bringing in. We flew Seattle to Denver,
and had a long walk from Gate B6 to B67. We landed about 10 min early
in BHM and Bre’s carry-on, which we checked in Seattle, along with
mine, was the second bag delivered. Our other two came promptly and
we had only a short wait before Andrew picked us up. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
made it into bed a bit after 11PM (1 PM Thursday in Japan). We
“slept” until 1030AM Wed.—later than we can recall sleeping. My
fitbit recorded less than 4 hours of total sleep from the plane and
our bed combined. But, we are thrilled at the success of our trip.
Thanks again for praying.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">(This photo of us on the Shinkansen--bullet train is from our trip to David's, but is the only one we got.)</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7PksDrbRrz4IkRz3AagV4IoD8W3sxq8deFYb0winXcRpHPEDx2FTKYJGw33mbgImmDUtxYRN6DqUBgtyO1pEg63AjMRO0ILJeCztjQekKxQd94WrRqPOQq2HDTxO1Zaz_LHm0U3AoJavyfQaEsd8xOLFNWPJ_J1VU18HMEGnzsFMjsB556ilAE2vDmk8/s2048/Japan%20bullet%20train.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7PksDrbRrz4IkRz3AagV4IoD8W3sxq8deFYb0winXcRpHPEDx2FTKYJGw33mbgImmDUtxYRN6DqUBgtyO1pEg63AjMRO0ILJeCztjQekKxQd94WrRqPOQq2HDTxO1Zaz_LHm0U3AoJavyfQaEsd8xOLFNWPJ_J1VU18HMEGnzsFMjsB556ilAE2vDmk8/s320/Japan%20bullet%20train.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><p></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-7192109526869393302023-08-29T17:05:00.007-07:002023-08-29T17:05:00.168-07:00Japan 2023 Part 6<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvtR3XT3N2xVn7va6g1vdh1XOWNetx2SRwfESOsDYUn4Z7nY0rHsrLtLsRz2C0sGoXo4EZDSmTCciWO2lB87BtVQdXszERwJlINibF8zuS5d4CFuVf1L3EZarcrwVgyrOgflNhGngyDyo9VfBylUBInzO4AVg8TLJHdXGc6fayON9_pQRuFOauCWYbJM/s2048/Tea%20Harvest%20i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzvtR3XT3N2xVn7va6g1vdh1XOWNetx2SRwfESOsDYUn4Z7nY0rHsrLtLsRz2C0sGoXo4EZDSmTCciWO2lB87BtVQdXszERwJlINibF8zuS5d4CFuVf1L3EZarcrwVgyrOgflNhGngyDyo9VfBylUBInzO4AVg8TLJHdXGc6fayON9_pQRuFOauCWYbJM/s320/Tea%20Harvest%20i.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">On
Saturday, one of the guys who had invented a tea processing unit
invited us to come to his home on Sunday for me to drive a tea
harvesting machine. So, at 0930 in the AM, we trekked just under a
half mile to his home. After a warm welcome and some iced coffee, he
let both Davey and me drive the harvester down a row. It was
interesting and extremely sensitive in the steering. Afterwards we
picked some of the tender tea shoots—it is harvested 4 times per
year. The friend’s wife fried up the tea leaves in tempura and
served them along with cookies made of green tea. The tea processor
has several acres of tea bushes—that last about 100 years. He also
grows rice and strawberries. The wife served us up a sweet dessert
composed of shredded frozen strawberries mixed with a little sugared
milk. The farmer had eaten so many strawberries as a boy that he no
longer eats them. He also showed me the very elaborate shrine to his
ancestors inside his home.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">For
Sunday lunch we went to Jolly Pasta, a very popular local Italian
restaurant. It is Nene’s choice for her birthday celebration. The
cheese fondue with little toasted pieces of bread was very good. For
dessert I ordered us a banana pizza with chocolate sauce and a small
scoop of ice cream. It was good, but not quite as good as it sounded.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">For
4 adults (Bre and I shared a meal) and 2 kids the bill was 8360 Y=
just over $60! When I checked the median household income to be a bit
over $39k, it shocks me what food costs.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYNU52rHYRdrGstfxfln6knjmf_UIo3nwIDKQMMbRrM66C5ROOKj9OH9e4CvPs-ebuTI6EvdW0Q8hWX1wOkUbyB_y0Ui8BkpqF6Hts5VtC_p5SwXeN4Miiq2ZR_fiGUMaGKFSVc-uyZl-HdnuQTKwhrUN4-4p0jZJ311wl3KsUj6YvnP6Bt8e8HB3o-Jg/s2048/tea%20young%20leaves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYNU52rHYRdrGstfxfln6knjmf_UIo3nwIDKQMMbRrM66C5ROOKj9OH9e4CvPs-ebuTI6EvdW0Q8hWX1wOkUbyB_y0Ui8BkpqF6Hts5VtC_p5SwXeN4Miiq2ZR_fiGUMaGKFSVc-uyZl-HdnuQTKwhrUN4-4p0jZJ311wl3KsUj6YvnP6Bt8e8HB3o-Jg/s320/tea%20young%20leaves.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="color: black;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dGcqkOtwXKREKTXEnFvSqXSIZ35MkP_GdFWFoQcwQf3g6VElNZ790I8v029yJwR7mWGQEheG6VpKyi0GkcUZiekmXt07ARxHpm2rjQfWUjY9NRWpAy9sY53EWOsWPhdDh8aW7A0LQitd7cebOPrNZnYAl3q2qS3gwxX6DPSOJw8FW4hL_LfHZteLh-Y/s2048/tea%20leaves%20fried.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dGcqkOtwXKREKTXEnFvSqXSIZ35MkP_GdFWFoQcwQf3g6VElNZ790I8v029yJwR7mWGQEheG6VpKyi0GkcUZiekmXt07ARxHpm2rjQfWUjY9NRWpAy9sY53EWOsWPhdDh8aW7A0LQitd7cebOPrNZnYAl3q2qS3gwxX6DPSOJw8FW4hL_LfHZteLh-Y/s320/tea%20leaves%20fried.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><p></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-74244847736903024852023-08-24T17:01:00.004-07:002023-08-24T17:01:00.144-07:00Japan 2023 Part 5<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS8kAzgn1uYImp-yQyQyDvirkUaZu8yTqJNLDqCE-xm-NS5jqeC3giSyn6U9sv7-BRS6QRiqrDRpp34EiIfY3sGRNkG2VTLUEz0Pv2ozxPh3Hq6j6Ta1rMY02XXZqt88amPS1Jw2hT1NzSkcqE9P0cAuO474Ns45D99sn9DjqaR5LD6rzfDB7yNNs6-to/s2048/BBQ%20David's.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS8kAzgn1uYImp-yQyQyDvirkUaZu8yTqJNLDqCE-xm-NS5jqeC3giSyn6U9sv7-BRS6QRiqrDRpp34EiIfY3sGRNkG2VTLUEz0Pv2ozxPh3Hq6j6Ta1rMY02XXZqt88amPS1Jw2hT1NzSkcqE9P0cAuO474Ns45D99sn9DjqaR5LD6rzfDB7yNNs6-to/s320/BBQ%20David's.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Saturday
was a special day in Davey’s local community. He and his young
colleagues spent a few hours cleaning up their highly decorated and
sophisticated cart. This was immediately followed by an all-day
cook-out. Though it was pretty hot, we spent the day eating a variety
of grilled foods:</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sweet
garlic roasted.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Scallions
dipped in miso. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Barbeque
diaphragm—very good.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Chicken
wings</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Chicken
on wooden skewers with onions between</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Barbeque
tongue—a bit tough, but tasty.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
variety of beverages are drunk, a few of which were non-alcoholic.
The drinks included potato wine, plum wine, sake, and a variety of
beers.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Especially
noteworthy was that most of these young men- all under 40, mostly
smoked or vaped. They were very hospitable and most of them made a
point of spending some time chatting with me. Another noteworthy
experience was how highly esteemed my son Davey is in this culture.
More than one of these guys made a point of telling me what a fine
fellow he is and how highly he is respected.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
mothers and school children were all at the Nagoya Aquarium on a
field trip. They had between 4 children and two.</span></span></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-69400719907923492642023-08-22T16:40:00.010-07:002023-08-22T16:40:00.147-07:00Japan Trip 2023 part 4<p> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdVioUNkXLOFS9bdyQLiNFFE8gpYv_cfPLDq2Tv0kFf56q4Jtw6ZVm42hhqyN_P4kDScL2k0-KjJrUeb-CxHJhHQKaFJAF-00zwfCLVOR1x-67DFDAiPQEzLbFpZ-2L6O4xd1BNR3lY-Oajg3I33mNYotM6yzzIsaNH5w--jvoAGXnpNjpEWGkIDJLGs/s2048/Anna%20a%20bus%20sta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdVioUNkXLOFS9bdyQLiNFFE8gpYv_cfPLDq2Tv0kFf56q4Jtw6ZVm42hhqyN_P4kDScL2k0-KjJrUeb-CxHJhHQKaFJAF-00zwfCLVOR1x-67DFDAiPQEzLbFpZ-2L6O4xd1BNR3lY-Oajg3I33mNYotM6yzzIsaNH5w--jvoAGXnpNjpEWGkIDJLGs/s320/Anna%20a%20bus%20sta.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">At
2:50 sharp we put Anna on the bus for Terminal 3 of Haneda Airport in
Tokyo. As we stood waiting on the bus, I heard clear English and
struck up a conversation with a young man from San Bernadino, CA who
moved to his native country of Japan to teach English, just like
David.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Anna’s
return trip was stressful. Her bus encountered heavy traffic, which
was built into the schedule, but Anna had no way to know that. Her
plane was late taking off and her layover in Seattle for clearing
customs was only a little under 2 hours. Her checked bag never
appeared, but she, along with about 10 others were allowed to board
their Denver flight despite the doors being already closed. In Denver
she made a long walk to her BHM gate, but was able to grab some food,
which she needed.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bre
and I and David’s family returned to Kakegawa, and the girls
mourned the loss of Anna to return home. We did too!</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span><p></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-88524851964253434172023-08-17T15:37:00.005-07:002023-08-17T15:37:00.155-07:00Japan 2023 Part 3<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpYjMf3pTy9zFMDUk6mfSbihYKdkDXGqnex1bnTmVfai4PKcjYIqdupT5jSLz-6g7_Acc6fpueDfsnAozwWf5HbpmF9GmMosZr9q3bkRGISZLwZJwUL2ZUOLC7r7lv-up6ImW5OKuvIZ81K4lrXqyqdEM7Pf0pos_91t9aNYhoJS8ATsTmcQWEea8_W8/s2048/Japan%20blog%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpYjMf3pTy9zFMDUk6mfSbihYKdkDXGqnex1bnTmVfai4PKcjYIqdupT5jSLz-6g7_Acc6fpueDfsnAozwWf5HbpmF9GmMosZr9q3bkRGISZLwZJwUL2ZUOLC7r7lv-up6ImW5OKuvIZ81K4lrXqyqdEM7Pf0pos_91t9aNYhoJS8ATsTmcQWEea8_W8/s320/Japan%20blog%203.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
was HOT in Japan in July and early August—one of the key reason
David runs at 0400. After sunset, it cooled nicely. </span><strike><span style="font-size: small;">Later,</span></strike><span style="font-size: small;">
When we went up near Mt. Fuji the weather there was much more
pleasant, though still sunny and warm.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">On
Saturday we went to the Kakegawa Castle and did a wonderful, albeit
hot, tour. We followed that up with a visit to a “conveyor-belt
sushi” restaurant. Here you ordered off an I-pad menu at your
table. You order, the food arrives via conveyor belt and you get
billed. As you empty dishes, most of these fit into a slot where they
are whisked away. This technique of ordering food via computer at
your table seems very efficient. Noteworthy too, no one tips in
Japan. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">On
Sunday we three visitors led a worship service in David’s home
featuring 1 Jn 5:1-12 and “Jesus Loves me.” It was sweet and I
kept it very short. The lack of Christian visible presence here is
again remarkable.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">On
Monday, 31 we drove up to near Mount Fuji. Even the drive up was
interesting for us visitors. The drivers “pull-off” we stopped in
was entertaining with an elaborate sales center. We bought soft-serve
ice cream, which was tasty. It seemed not as sugary as ours, and was
a bit pricey.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
spent some time in a tourist area reminiscent of Gatlinburg, Oshino
Hakkai. It had Fuji-supplied cold clear water with lots of trout
spread out in 8 ponds. One of the treats was a shop filled with
deer-leather goods. That aspect got real when we saw some spotted
deer on our drive to the wonderful resort, Sanctuary Villa which had
a wonderful view of Mt. Fuji. We had the clearest view we have ever
had, and David took a photo showing lights on the mountain as people
climbed towards the top at night.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Monday,
31 July we also got to visit the Yamanashi Prefectural Fuji-Spring
Fed Village Aquarium—whew! It was great. They had hundreds of fish
and some very neat displays.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
boarded two paddle boats, one shaped like a duck and the other shaped
like a swan (—sort of). The lake there, Yamanaka-ko, made a
beautiful display at the bottom of Mt. Fuji. This was definitely a
popular tourist area.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDk6C0TWZf7HQV1itURFi4m1pla8ojuND0NXH7qSLOkGa-bXxE4ZoSmfycn3TihDSR9N93P4PG4TCRsEgiWaFRzAEmChgmIxhiwGynNgl7edFMYs3yPq8TemB_G5MJhm_UZPvGUOzCxgePgZOLKXn5WZYcSB6_x9qv0uiBcPuoYtW0ngI_msfr7bM792E/s2048/Japan%20Fuji.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDk6C0TWZf7HQV1itURFi4m1pla8ojuND0NXH7qSLOkGa-bXxE4ZoSmfycn3TihDSR9N93P4PG4TCRsEgiWaFRzAEmChgmIxhiwGynNgl7edFMYs3yPq8TemB_G5MJhm_UZPvGUOzCxgePgZOLKXn5WZYcSB6_x9qv0uiBcPuoYtW0ngI_msfr7bM792E/s320/Japan%20Fuji.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="color: black;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><p></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-47365135311572981302023-08-15T15:33:00.005-07:002023-08-15T15:33:00.142-07:00Japan 2023 Part 2<p> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">On
Thursday AM (we left on Tues, 25 Jul but lost a day at the date
line), we took a taxi from right outside the hotel, and for 7k
(1.38.39 Yen/$=$50.58) Yen we 3 made it to the Shinagawa bullet-train
station in good fashion despite much traffic. From there we took the
bullet train to Kakegawa. The trains are very clean and run on time.
Our 10:04 train arrived in Kakegawa at 11:34. Finding the train took
some help from friendly Japanese travelers, but wasn’t tooooo hard.
The trains don’t tarry long, so you have to be ready when the doors
open. Wrestling our 9 bags wasn’t too hard, and fortunately there
was only one small suitcase already on our train. Cost from Shinagawa
to Kakegawa was a bit over 14,000 yen for Bre and I (=$102). Davey,
Rie, Nene and Juno met us at the Kakegawa train station in a van and
coupe to hold all of us and our baggage. It was about a 25 min drive
to Davey’s house. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
first morning, Friday, at Davey’s house we made a 5-mile (6mile on
my Fitbit) run at 0400. The area is suburban and there is a long hill
at the 1KM mark. We did not encounter a single auto until the last KM
of the run. We did see two people out walking for exercise. At about
0830 we were headed to the beach. The sand is dark, similar to
Galveston beaches. We only paid about $4 to park. We left there after
about 45 min due to the strong currents. Parking at the second beach
was free. Neither beach was crowded.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Friday
night dinner was at Sawayaka. For 7 of us, total was about $71 for
dinner (no tipping here). Their specialty was ground beef cooked
rare with a salad and some vegetables. The meal was delicious and
their sweet potatoes were especially good.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
first night of sleep at the hotel was 6:49 hours with a score of
73—which was good for being jet-lagged and getting no sleep on the
trip out. On Friday night (2</span><sup><span style="font-size: small;">nd</span></sup><span style="font-size: small;">
night in Japan) my sleep score was 83 on 7:31 hours of sleep. This
was an increase from the 7.0 hours of sleep and 71 score of the first
night at David’s. All these traveling mercies I attribute to G^d’s
blessings.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6TfPMPedtTTt58hrZHBD1XjylggBu89_Bd7OvfpOSTtjD2Y6TEdThSykW8PZuQRGOKgcgWBHWtgaUY0ThuleZ94q6QMpZyOyqoZsTb_82huNh_Er4uALa_2LfriM4eQDuz-CIf2OQYPkm4skBrq6q2wB5pEx1Od9qWyO2DUCHtCf-HvqVDvOv97gncxg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6TfPMPedtTTt58hrZHBD1XjylggBu89_Bd7OvfpOSTtjD2Y6TEdThSykW8PZuQRGOKgcgWBHWtgaUY0ThuleZ94q6QMpZyOyqoZsTb_82huNh_Er4uALa_2LfriM4eQDuz-CIf2OQYPkm4skBrq6q2wB5pEx1Od9qWyO2DUCHtCf-HvqVDvOv97gncxg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-45219144018093468352023-08-10T15:33:00.001-07:002023-08-10T17:26:15.133-07:00Japan trip 2023 Part 1<p> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Japan
Trip Report 25 Jul-8 Aug, 2023</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Had
a very smooth trip from </span><span style="font-size: small;">the </span><span style="font-size: small;">USA
to Tokyo—thanks to the prayers of our friends and the provision of
G^d. The plane to Chicago landed right on time, which only gave us
about 20 minutes to travel to and wait at the gate. Nice.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
12.5-hour flight to Tokyo on ANA-All Nippon Airlines—was probably
the nicest ever (remember this!). The food was good and the service
excellent. I did NOT want to sleep due to the time zone change, and
the discomfort of trying to sleep in an airline seat. The trip went
by quickly, which surprised even me. It took a while to work our way
through Tokyo customs at Haneda Airport, but it was only a short and
convenient walk with our 3 bags each to get to Villa Fontaine Airport
Hotel. Our rooms were small (Anna Grace traveled with us and id’ed
the hotel so we could make reservations.) but functional. We got into
the hotel at about 10 PM. You are automatically booked into your room
and given a key by a machine similar to the modern airport kiosks.
There was no breakfast or room snacks, but they did have pour-over
coffee available when we checked in. It was very easy to use and
tasty.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdQzrDgmzv5UzxJmrpr5xL71xDhNbuIL_6FA5H2UPAsga7ogUKhkf18d8JGdptlmSnKYloz59YG3vf_G1qLeUkmLst_j6nKugRq0NBbOy4RQ2Wtg74329MICAd6o0j7bSxD6Vlk9DviQhjtNNVT_zjKwDjTbGlDEvmGx2YWmtp5vqpZinY88We1vFdZts" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdQzrDgmzv5UzxJmrpr5xL71xDhNbuIL_6FA5H2UPAsga7ogUKhkf18d8JGdptlmSnKYloz59YG3vf_G1qLeUkmLst_j6nKugRq0NBbOy4RQ2Wtg74329MICAd6o0j7bSxD6Vlk9DviQhjtNNVT_zjKwDjTbGlDEvmGx2YWmtp5vqpZinY88We1vFdZts" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: black;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pI8YWvPlAx6ngsWY2qTaPFgWY3cuiZFhKc-XQu56cv5KAybVwQItLEWDclid1XjVZK39zNd-RGlzad5QfGlfv3P_V_u8y5wybl-lYMlpxN0Z5Bqt3P-o5RMjNBcgT1o3uzADwPkZJJ8gYLGM_GiZxtvOcgJjy1B64Ssuz62mRQ4EWfY1c2C-e3Wh0QM/s2048/Japan%20aquarium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pI8YWvPlAx6ngsWY2qTaPFgWY3cuiZFhKc-XQu56cv5KAybVwQItLEWDclid1XjVZK39zNd-RGlzad5QfGlfv3P_V_u8y5wybl-lYMlpxN0Z5Bqt3P-o5RMjNBcgT1o3uzADwPkZJJ8gYLGM_GiZxtvOcgJjy1B64Ssuz62mRQ4EWfY1c2C-e3Wh0QM/s320/Japan%20aquarium.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggPxvb6hBfRdorh0OKNSVXf3y0RcCbPIprjjAQrZj_cpoJOdw73H8E_Sp7KjotFbTJZxIwILXXb-JkHsB9SbDr5TWnsq0tfR9zXvi5DQJB5p0ipP-4GJQ9d0PODJb2QDisKIIiOgz5jnR2b2N3Zdn-xrPhnSehcUQG5cyKfLnHM6g0OYJZB1-nCa84G8M/s2048/Japan%20bullet%20train.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggPxvb6hBfRdorh0OKNSVXf3y0RcCbPIprjjAQrZj_cpoJOdw73H8E_Sp7KjotFbTJZxIwILXXb-JkHsB9SbDr5TWnsq0tfR9zXvi5DQJB5p0ipP-4GJQ9d0PODJb2QDisKIIiOgz5jnR2b2N3Zdn-xrPhnSehcUQG5cyKfLnHM6g0OYJZB1-nCa84G8M/s320/Japan%20bullet%20train.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iGMMCrcKJgotalBOOC_6QNhIzrXVcvvbTgwdmvxvpvX0v3deJuvrhzljmDYYEzUGNZciyHY23cKoQJAQz-jses7ow4t8SNA5y1N5bzFR-9vlwgZKvnTilSSeSxk_HQmVq0g3Z5fDSSClWmiMNE-ruYgDxTJGVt14ho7z0yrEPtffk4pO4se3j0NfI7I/s2048/Japan%20Davey%20Anna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iGMMCrcKJgotalBOOC_6QNhIzrXVcvvbTgwdmvxvpvX0v3deJuvrhzljmDYYEzUGNZciyHY23cKoQJAQz-jses7ow4t8SNA5y1N5bzFR-9vlwgZKvnTilSSeSxk_HQmVq0g3Z5fDSSClWmiMNE-ruYgDxTJGVt14ho7z0yrEPtffk4pO4se3j0NfI7I/s320/Japan%20Davey%20Anna.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><div><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><br /><br /></span></span><p></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-54578486352866464462023-06-30T09:37:00.011-07:002023-06-30T09:37:55.048-07:00Reflecting on AI<p>My Initial Reflections on AI</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Most of us can remember when the FIRST
word-processors came into general use. I have spent most of my
professional life writing scientific papers. My earliest papers were
typed on a typewriter with the typist committing her novel errors in
addition to my own. I was among the first graduate students to type
my own dissertation, with my wife's help, on to an Apple IIe computer
with tractor-feed paper. Thus, having already experienced the many,
many advantages of word-processors, I was frustrated that my research
university was slow in adopting it. I know well that word-processing
made my career so very much more productive and enjoyable than it
would have been with typewriters.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">We are now so accustomed to
word-processors that few of us have seen a typewriter in many years.
One aspect of the word-processor is that all programs now have
“Spelling and Grammar” checking options. As a University
professor, I do NOT recall anyone having ethical reservations about
using spell-checkers on word-processors.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">With AI generation of written work, we
see word-processing “on steroids”. Now we have much, much more
than spell-checking. But, hopefully we having learned a bit from the
popular adoption of word-processing, I would suggest:</p>
<ol><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">AI text generation is here to
stay.</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">AI use in writing is extremely
difficult, though not impossible, to detect.</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">It is an amoral tool—though my
friend, Dr. Richard Edlin, does point out that AI creators do have
moral & ethical positions and it would be impossible for those
not to manifest in AI products.</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">AI is a tool, like
word-processing, and it, like the computer itself, like electricity,
like most technology, has good and bad aspects. E.g. The World Wide
Web has made it possible to minister the Gospel worldwide in
seconds, it has also make internet pornography a very convenient
means for serious sin.</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">AI is a tool, and it should be
utilized for the good of mankind, with acknowledgment that it will
also be abused to the detriment of mankind.</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The only ethical restriction I can
envision, is that like plagiarism, we must not use AI's words
without rightfully acknowledging them. (Note that we did not require
that of word-processing use, but it was adopted so fully that
everyone knew it was being used—perhaps AI will be the same and
only when it is NOT used would that be noted.)</p>
</li></ol>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">AI is a tool that is here to stay. Let
us explore ways to ethically use AI to help us all. As Ecclesiastes
1:9 tells us, “There is nothing new under the sun!.” G^d is not
surprised by AI. Mankind is clearly fallen. I predict, with
certainty, that AI will be used for evil, and for good. AI may
contribute to the end of the world, but G^d is omniscient, omnipotent
and still interested in mankind, and in charge. We don't put our
faith in technology but in the G^d who created man, and everything in
the cosmos (Gen 1:1).</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">For a deeper, fuller discussion of
these issues see, Edlin, Richard (June 2023). It’s a matter of the
heart: Thinking Christianly about ChatGPT & AI. It can be found
at,</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">All of Life Redeemed.
https://www.allofliferedeemed.co.uk/RJE2023ChatGPT.pdf
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-19218673884561417572023-05-13T05:34:00.000-07:002023-05-13T05:34:04.011-07:00Mother's Day Tribute 2023<p> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Dearest Brendy,</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I love you so much, and this Mother's
Day I wanted to remind you of what a GREAT mother you are.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Here are a few examples that come to
mind:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<ol>
<li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">You birthed five wonderful babies
and only one was colicky and one had to get emergency treatment at
birth!</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">You home-schooled them very
successfully producing 2 National Merit Scholars and 5 college grads
with two having advanced degrees!</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">You moved successfully to:
Lexington, VA; Athens, GA; Houston, TX, Highland Falls, NY;
Ostersund, SW; Gaborone, BW; and from East Sunrise to Main St. to
Milledge Circle to Valley View to Bellwood to Allums, to Lakeside
Pl. Whew, you've moved a LOT!</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">You raised 5 kids to adulthood
with no deaths or life-threatening injuries.</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">None of our kids have felony
convictions...yet!</p>
</li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">You have put up with me and my
wild ideas for over 50 years of marriage plus 2 years of courtship!</p>
</li></ol>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I could go on, but I want to point out
that you are GREATLY loved! Your children rise up and call you
“Blessed”. See verse 28 below:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Proverbs 31 (KJV)</p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in;"><a name="en-KJV-17295"></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>10
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Who
can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17296"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>11
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have
no need of spoil.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17297"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>12
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She
will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17298"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>13
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She
seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17299"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>14
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She
is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17300"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>15
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She
riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household,
and a portion to her maidens.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17301"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>16
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She
considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she
planteth a vineyard.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17302"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>17
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She
girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17303"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>18
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She
perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by
night.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17304"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>19
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She
layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17305"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>20
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She
stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her
hands to the needy.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17306"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>21
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She
is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household
are clothed with scarlet.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17307"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>22
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She
maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and
purple.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17308"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>23
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Her
husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of
the land.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17309"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>24
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She
maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the
merchant.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17310"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>25
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Strength
and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17311"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>26
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She
openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of
kindness.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17312"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>27
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">She
looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread
of idleness.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17313"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><b>28
</b></u></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;">Her
children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he
praiseth her.</span></u></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17314"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>29
</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Many
daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17315"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>30</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Favour
is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Lord</span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
she shall be praised.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.14in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><a name="en-KJV-17316"></a>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>31</b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, apple-system;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Give
her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in
the gates.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">You are the BEST mother I know—and I
know a few!</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Thanks for your love and excellent care
for our family for these many years. You have weathered the storms,
withstood the trials, and excelled as a wife and mother.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">This is hardly adequate, but THANK YOU
for being you!!</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I lvoe you beyond these words.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">All my love,</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Philly</p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-59825763377846865132023-04-28T05:31:00.002-07:002023-04-28T05:31:19.072-07:00The Humor of Jesus<p> The Humor of Jesus</p><p>I recently mentioned to a friend that Jesus cracked some great jokes. here are a couple of examples.</p><p>In the middle of the sermon on the Mount, Matt 6:27 " <span class="versenum" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; position: relative; top: auto; vertical-align: text-top;">27 </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;">And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Noto Sans, sans-serif, Arial;">span of life?" this is a mistranslation. It actually says, </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 19.2px;"><b>"...</b></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;"> which of you by being anxious can add a single CUBIT to his </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Noto Sans, sans-serif, Arial;">span of life?" So why deliberately mistranslate "cubit"? We torture the word because we FAIL to see the humor that Jesus' audience likely clearly heard. It's a joke just like the carpenter who pulls out his tape measure and says, "How 'long' have we been here?" In our ear it might sound a bit corny but not in the time of Jesus.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Noto Sans, sans-serif, Arial;">Here's another example. In Matt 7:4 Jesus says, "</span></span><span class="versenum" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; position: relative; top: auto; vertical-align: text-top;">4 </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;">Or how </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;">can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;">speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye?" I am betting his audience giggled at this one too, as we often use ridiculous exaggeration for humor still today.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, Segoe UI, Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, Noto Sans, sans-serif, Arial;">A third example would have been a lot more subtle at the time---until a few days later. In Luke 16, Jesus tells this parable (cited here just in part). "</span></span><span class="text Luke-16-27" id="en-NASB-25641" style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;"><span class="woj">‘Then I request of you, father, that you send him to my father’s house—</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="text Luke-16-28" id="en-NASB-25642" style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;"><span class="woj"><span class="versenum" style="display: inline; font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; position: relative; top: auto; vertical-align: text-top;">28 </span>for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not come to this place of torment as well.’</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="text Luke-16-29" id="en-NASB-25643" style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;"><span class="woj"><span class="versenum" style="display: inline; font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; position: relative; top: auto; vertical-align: text-top;">29 </span>But Abraham *said, ‘They have <span class="footnote" data-fn="#fen-NASB-25643x" data-link="[<a href="#fen-NASB-25643x" title="See footnote x">x</a>]" style="display: inline; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: normal; position: relative; top: auto; vertical-align: text-top;">[<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+16&version=NASB#fen-NASB-25643x" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; min-width: 0px; vertical-align: text-top;" title="See footnote x">x</a>]</span>Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="text Luke-16-30" id="en-NASB-25644" style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;"><span class="woj"><span class="versenum" style="display: inline; font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; position: relative; top: auto; vertical-align: text-top;">30 </span>But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="text Luke-16-31" id="en-NASB-25645" style="background-color: white; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, Arial; font-size: 16px;"><span class="woj"><span class="versenum" style="display: inline; font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; position: relative; top: auto; vertical-align: text-top;">31 </span>But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’” Did you get that last gag? Jesus, who will be rising from the dead soon, is pointing out, in sad humor that many will still reject Him. Though those listening didn't get the gag at the time, in just a few weeks, they, at least those speaking to Luke, knew the joke here.</span></span></p><p>Is it possible I am wrong? of course. Is it possible that you and i have missed several other examples of the humor of Jesus? Of course.</p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-57140551682369762222023-01-28T10:28:00.002-08:002023-01-28T10:28:18.426-08:00Deer Reflections<p> As we near the end of another season of Deer hunting, it is nice to think back to the many years in the woods. This was not one of my best seasons, only killing one doe. In fact, even in places where I typically see lots of deer, the numbers have been much lower.</p><p>But I can recall the day, Dec. 10, 2010 when I killed the best dear rack ever from one of my favorite spots in Hale County, AL. I just saw a photo of Andrew when he took his best buck, and recall the excitement when I spotted him with his antlers stuck in the ground and his nose pointing almost straight up. </p><p>I have greatly enjoyed hunting with many friends over the years. I started hunting with Bill Rogers in MD. Then I hunted almost 30 years with Bobby Mc. Over those same years, Mark S and I enjoyed hunting in several different locales including VA. My recent and favorite hunting buddy has been my youngest son, Andrew. Once when he was home for only a couple of weeks, we killed 8 deer in 2 weeks of hunting.</p><p>There was that 28 F morning in Jan, 2016 in Hale County when I heard from G^d directly about "loving" things but not "marrying" them. I have written a couple of books in the deer stand and revised my text book. I have read more books there than anywhere, rivaled only by time at the beach. Plus some good thinking an praying have happened right there on the deer stand.</p><p>I have had some great times in the woods, and have changed how I hunt and handle venison over these many years--dating back to about 1974. I still recall the buck I killed on Ft. AP Hill in VA, and the two does I harvested at West Point, NY.</p><p>Sweet memories!</p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-171168971966028772023-01-04T22:00:00.005-08:002023-01-28T10:20:22.576-08:00Memories<p><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-36750239573186608342023-01-01T22:00:00.006-08:002023-01-01T22:00:00.217-08:00Speaking to Responsive Audience<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I’m
guessing that I have written about this before, but for speakers, the
audience can make or break the experience. Recently I had the joy of
speaking 6 times to a good, reactive audience. They made eye contact
with me, they smiled, they laughed at the jokes. I may have mentioned
this, but I once had 52 Professors from the University of Herat,
western Afghanistan in an audience for several lectures. I was
shocked at their responsiveness. Likewise I was surprised, pleasantly
so, at this latest group.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
taught undergraduates for many years at UA. In most every class
(except one) there were a couple of responders, but it was rare to
have a whole class. In fact, I only recall one such group in 33 years
of professing.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Zoom
seems much worse than live speaking. In Zoom, even the normally
responsive folks are subdued. So, if you are in a ZOOM audience, give
a big smile—bigger than usual—and gives a thumbs-up or other
indications. Be a friend to the Zoom speaker—respond!</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So,
the next time you are in an audience—respond! Smile, nod, clap if
appropriate. Respond!</span></span></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-12865966081268435002022-12-28T22:00:00.001-08:002022-12-28T22:00:00.204-08:00Beautiful Leaves<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwD1JSoc7KBls_DL43TMVjdw6NIoGrouidH8ZBl1H0Kr6nQUUKCrmDdFOE8lD9v1i1zYaXDt4xXz-5o01th2CWlQ25FokZKsSmbIP4S20hAVOYcfH-1Q3LN7bEaU9di2Wnpo3Tl5X-KliHHdK3xaAZph222WyK_OH-NPK4fZh0nlvQ2QEvUo9-_-XR/s4160/IMG_20221127_142738284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwD1JSoc7KBls_DL43TMVjdw6NIoGrouidH8ZBl1H0Kr6nQUUKCrmDdFOE8lD9v1i1zYaXDt4xXz-5o01th2CWlQ25FokZKsSmbIP4S20hAVOYcfH-1Q3LN7bEaU9di2Wnpo3Tl5X-KliHHdK3xaAZph222WyK_OH-NPK4fZh0nlvQ2QEvUo9-_-XR/s320/IMG_20221127_142738284.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIv89-Vs3wKmz2c_7ah_2V3E_ZPQDgVDz3wsLRoJjhFnUDyUlSJmi4XdwheE_BlVts0BnOmTMgnl_0IkkuRnxQ-EZf9GFcJ32niTGBNrVg4VkgLXlsB4BULT5xNBS-bTZYPCZaDp7_n9p8dvXBEBDqW30oP3-Uf-DOV12t5uMDvkmG1b850081cLyv/s4160/IMG_20221028_163224672.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIv89-Vs3wKmz2c_7ah_2V3E_ZPQDgVDz3wsLRoJjhFnUDyUlSJmi4XdwheE_BlVts0BnOmTMgnl_0IkkuRnxQ-EZf9GFcJ32niTGBNrVg4VkgLXlsB4BULT5xNBS-bTZYPCZaDp7_n9p8dvXBEBDqW30oP3-Uf-DOV12t5uMDvkmG1b850081cLyv/s320/IMG_20221028_163224672.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZ4Oanb7pCFHRQUhc3ETs2tnQPqy-9GwmZRHoBWD_TkcnWmZmVvPuvoSU8OVx6Rqd7YzqORZTFVqgaLtkJqLlEuHadmG3082NPCT0IMTTnMsBtgfXUKcaObTo1ngDCWn1w8e_XmRFx8-rkOFeDq9lqD6Y-S7F_b-cWcsuM6jB6qvM7fNWMJJ0_tio/s4160/IMG_20221127_075848786_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZ4Oanb7pCFHRQUhc3ETs2tnQPqy-9GwmZRHoBWD_TkcnWmZmVvPuvoSU8OVx6Rqd7YzqORZTFVqgaLtkJqLlEuHadmG3082NPCT0IMTTnMsBtgfXUKcaObTo1ngDCWn1w8e_XmRFx8-rkOFeDq9lqD6Y-S7F_b-cWcsuM6jB6qvM7fNWMJJ0_tio/s320/IMG_20221127_075848786_HDR.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />Bre
and I drove up to Annapolis recently. We caught the leaves at near
peak color I would say. Some of them were magnificent, and the bright
sun magnified the effect.<p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
had a little color south of B’ham. The color got better and better
all the way to our detour in NC. From there northward it was
terrific. This same time last year we were driving between
Charleston, SC and Eu Clair, WI. We had great leaves that trip too.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">G^d
made a beautiful world indeed. Who would have thought to hide these
colors under green chlorophyll, and make the reds come alive with the
waning sunlight. I have heard it said that one of the most
frustrating things for atheists is to feel grateful and have no one
to whom to express it. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well,
Thank you L^rd for the beautiful Fall colors.</span></span></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-66702389918051780782022-12-25T22:00:00.005-08:002022-12-25T22:00:00.204-08:00 Beautiful North Carolina<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJTGXZc74uUZMnjnRnDnefMcpGlZTintseqX-Sv_jSDOGs1iv4R4-dujVJqWAKu272-hkBmmzMEiBNiYWbcMca0JnU6mN8vlqaEVohy6-XWJiRnQWdbeCovr0IjiQHfliOzN7Df-6qcbQI1_KEPBZZPu5tIJbX2UP6kRZsdUcv_bCTo2JZ1eT9dcxb/s4160/IMG_20221026_125257304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJTGXZc74uUZMnjnRnDnefMcpGlZTintseqX-Sv_jSDOGs1iv4R4-dujVJqWAKu272-hkBmmzMEiBNiYWbcMca0JnU6mN8vlqaEVohy6-XWJiRnQWdbeCovr0IjiQHfliOzN7Df-6qcbQI1_KEPBZZPu5tIJbX2UP6kRZsdUcv_bCTo2JZ1eT9dcxb/s320/IMG_20221026_125257304.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtRj2ME5ZICvp-9-eeO1InwVNffLTJLiJcuipW5_QEDsBAQg7cmkqsfKeeE4kxW4nrcWjldgB6M5OQ4TAsqRPtElN5xtB47ugLwEtIkbxvpatfVcjky_H1BFkqoASNpBbJVZXG9Ociaff_OpJ8uaDYWk6mibNXUNIyF32IeXyYweHAvWkVfwj0x9N-/s4160/IMG_20221026_130409208_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtRj2ME5ZICvp-9-eeO1InwVNffLTJLiJcuipW5_QEDsBAQg7cmkqsfKeeE4kxW4nrcWjldgB6M5OQ4TAsqRPtElN5xtB47ugLwEtIkbxvpatfVcjky_H1BFkqoASNpBbJVZXG9Ociaff_OpJ8uaDYWk6mibNXUNIyF32IeXyYweHAvWkVfwj0x9N-/s320/IMG_20221026_130409208_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2m-ew1M6APPNWhDJwrJTNPh5RIDbXUlXiWN42uroO5f_Ebe1nGYE3YTVawgmML1ZxhM7WLAlugJqbhTaJFYo5zciGCa1L1qhfnZl6Mp0JKW_sDOw1liRlusUhvUA1_mVaC03jMSztQkZ7ah1PW19G0nBGUtQGxfjBFIkGfTbxFXF8ReArIWL1xFne/s4160/IMG_20221026_141052725_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeyR-jUeJISIW3WXGn9ODCAUe7piZZLCh0gv-2JmgrHmMJN-j_kRhllYzL-cra4m3v36U26HwomK_F185GOfNLKxNwlT7C_LQhdlp8B7c6bA_S_y4waNZ3iLk2LLVrwrMIEsEqr53prFS10VfP1W1onJ_LomIn4do-YrPTJKFp-6iT3AbWI3bCzpSM/s320/IMG_20221027_074501725.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHqdO6ChK8NNgNckOpOQcN0SKq0frrr5p3JIuH53iLx6FtjJM5S_OYtFzyL3Up8eCBoKL1aU6tKaqGYTFW0HOPY1V3jS8oVdbCA6tpiEC_Mlylm8bhE-yqHm7vEoM5xz_Q-bIz1M6jtsOsjrApe-cOfiO4FzvA07QdHfwKw5taxvUATo0o8wVHSiG/s4160/IMG_20221027_074521278.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHqdO6ChK8NNgNckOpOQcN0SKq0frrr5p3JIuH53iLx6FtjJM5S_OYtFzyL3Up8eCBoKL1aU6tKaqGYTFW0HOPY1V3jS8oVdbCA6tpiEC_Mlylm8bhE-yqHm7vEoM5xz_Q-bIz1M6jtsOsjrApe-cOfiO4FzvA07QdHfwKw5taxvUATo0o8wVHSiG/s320/IMG_20221027_074521278.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />In
October we had the pleasure of spending a day and a bit with good
friends Pete and Nancy. They have a condo at Sugar Top, NC. These are
dear friends and we always enjoy being with them. We had a great time
on this stopover on our way to my 50</span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">th</span></span></sup><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
reunion in Annapolis.</span></span><p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
area is a MAJOR tourist destination, and we can see why. We visited
Blowing Rock, NC, which was the real town described as “Mitford”
by Jan Karon in her Series of books. The town was full of old
tourists because those with children are back at school.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
also drove to the top of Grandfather Mountain. It was cloud-covered
at the top, but was still great fun. We went to Boone, where
Appalachian State University is located. We also visited Banner Elk,
NC where Lees-McRae University is located. The high winds made it
cold, but the great friends made it warm.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
hope to return for another visit—it was definitely worth the
detour! </span></span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">G^d made a beautiful world indeed.</p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-76104897161611171672022-12-21T22:00:00.001-08:002022-12-21T22:00:00.194-08:00 Another Season Another Hunting Friend<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mark and I immediately bonded over deer hunting. We were in the same small Christian Church congregation and discovered each other’s love for deer hunting. I am unsure of where we first hunted together, but I recall a lot of our hunts.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The best I can recollect, Mark and I hunted just east of Moundville, AL. We then hunted near Panola, AL. From there, I recall us pursuing bucks in Demopolis, AL and over near Uniontown, AL. When Mark moved to Kingman, AZ, I managed to make a trip out there for—you guessed it, pursuing deer with my bow. After he left AZ, he made a great move to eastern West Virginia.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">We have hunted some great spots, and some not nearly as good. We have plotted strategies, and followed blood trails together. We’ve drug out each other’s deer and put quite a few in the cooler.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">On one of our last hunts in VA, a few years back, Mark had shot an 8-point. We typically bow-hunted together, but that day we carried rifles. The deer had immediately dropped, and particularly because I was in a stand nearby, Mark had just sat in the stand after the shot. When He finally slipped down to get it, it was gone.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Meanwhile, in my stand I had heard Mark shoot. This was a pretty good spot, and Mark always scouted thoroughly, so hearing him shoot was no surprise. But, it was a bit of a surprise when I saw a buck ambling along the edge of the woods almost due south of me. I didn’t think the deer was a shooter, so I didn’t get too excited. The deer was slowly working north, down the edge of the woodlot. He turned west and broadside to me. Then I saw it.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">There, just below his spine was a huge hole, almost as big as a soft ball. There was no decision to be made, I had to take this deer down. I was amazed it was on its feet and seemingly unfazed by the gaping wound. A shot to the spine put him down on the spot.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">That deer was very educational. It didn’t dawn on me yet that this was Mark’s deer. The deer had taken a big hit, just below the spine. The shock to his spine had put him on the ground immediately. Some time within the next few minutes, the buck had recovered enough to stand up and slip away without Mark noticing. Subsequently, the deer had wandered into my view. Again, when I first saw the deer, and during the time it took him to wander down to me and turn broadside, I had not detected even so much as a limp. Wow! Whitetails are tough!</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Mark and I had scheduled another whitetail adventure for the beginning of November of 2022. I had packed my gear for another great bow-hunting outing. Just before leaving home for the long drive to Mark’s, he texts me to say that his Chemo for his cancer had really set him back. His pain was also intense. The hunt would have to be postponed to later. I was disappointed, but I new how much Mark loved hunting. If he felt so bad he cancelled, I knew he had to be really sick.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Mark and I have many a joyous hour together. It is sad to see him so sick. But, G^d is sovereign and He is the one true Physician. Mark trusts in G^d, and so do it.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Get well soon Mark.</span></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-68184733211364946472022-12-18T22:00:00.005-08:002022-12-18T22:00:00.203-08:00Wordle!<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Yes, Bre and I have been bitten by, or bit, the Wordle bug. I you are one of the few who haven’t heard Wordle is a NY Times game that shows up each day. In Wordle the object is to guess a 5-letter word based on the game showing you which letters are in the word (yellow) and which letters are in the right place in the word (green). It takes strategy and thinking and it most commonly takes 4 guesses to get the word. Some of these words are not common in English—though I admit they are legitimate words—with only one exception (glyph).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">We typically do the puzzle first thing in the AM to share with our son in Japan who gets to do it 14 hours earlier than us. He does it most every day and posts it late in the afternoon before we get access the net morning. It is fun to share it with him—and also fun to be challenged to think of the right word.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I probably take it a bit too seriously. A few months back I created a “wordle” doc wherein I often write down the potential words in order to be able to pick the one most advantageous. I have words that start with each letter, and words that end with certain letters (e.g. “e”). I also have words excluding certain letters and including others.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s fun and I guess it keeps us mentally exercising…but
mainly it is fun.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><br /></span><p></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-24413367928218846042022-12-14T22:00:00.002-08:002022-12-14T22:00:00.201-08:00Grace Men’s Retreat<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFTb0WVnfKABJSneo0U9xboivawactbPFvLbMz4JVaPhHwtybLHVHSoerjIw_uwu2omHpEx2BVXLmdDbKF0_r7aGWDR-nVX4ilwHx0KbwWvrBBwKKduNkiHB6l3O7jAzwoYd0P3mW946ZvIDXEOf5HPg6QuY8nkJoSkKr5NHSugOos9SFHkwVwzisu/s4160/IMG_20221105_141531952.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFTb0WVnfKABJSneo0U9xboivawactbPFvLbMz4JVaPhHwtybLHVHSoerjIw_uwu2omHpEx2BVXLmdDbKF0_r7aGWDR-nVX4ilwHx0KbwWvrBBwKKduNkiHB6l3O7jAzwoYd0P3mW946ZvIDXEOf5HPg6QuY8nkJoSkKr5NHSugOos9SFHkwVwzisu/s320/IMG_20221105_141531952.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJOmkVGQPXRPW7yz9lgeMTn7hxsGg7zwLAtk4D2H8AvNyJd--U_O5vxc5k0Xax18WD93JqU6sIupgppINhhHjbW1UYMGlBcXeRKJRHa1JGEtvtMtKAo_VvlONemvP7yuQ6zX36gkI16oZSzJenEQMX5DLZZtJPraH-QxfDpJvSA0SOQO5McERX3uC/s4160/IMG_20221105_141541042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJOmkVGQPXRPW7yz9lgeMTn7hxsGg7zwLAtk4D2H8AvNyJd--U_O5vxc5k0Xax18WD93JqU6sIupgppINhhHjbW1UYMGlBcXeRKJRHa1JGEtvtMtKAo_VvlONemvP7yuQ6zX36gkI16oZSzJenEQMX5DLZZtJPraH-QxfDpJvSA0SOQO5McERX3uC/s320/IMG_20221105_141541042.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />We
had our Church men’s retreat the first weekend in November, right
in the middle of the deer archery hunting season. We drove an hour
west to Timberlake Camp, where we have had several retreats. I rode
with Mark and Danny and we had a nice chat all the way over.</span><p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Camp is a very nice setting with a large lake and totally surrounded
by woods. The Burns family operates it. The dining hall is HUGE and
our first meeting was in there. I was the first speaker, and despite
my dislike of speakers, after my first few words were lost in the
open air of the high, high ceiling, I had to use the sound system. It
was not properly set up and I still sounded bad. Afterword the sound
expert told me that you always, always want the microphone behind the
speakers. Thanks, but your advice is 30 mins too late!</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
was great and rare to have time chatting with other men. We had a
nice roaring bonfire Friday night, and the steady rain for much of
Saturday gave us even more. Men seldom get these relational times.
Men have a harder time with relationships than women, and many men
have few-to-none friends they can relate to on a deep level.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And,
this was the joy of this time. I talked to as many men as I could. I
rode back with Keith, who I have known a long time. Our ride back
together was a good conversation and good bonding.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Men,
let me encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities to
spend quality time with other men. The opps are not common, so they
can’t be wasted. G^d made us for relationship—with Him and with
others. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let’s
relate!</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-90559965991142165032022-12-11T22:00:00.004-08:002022-12-11T22:00:00.222-08:00Another Deer Season<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Each
Autumn brings along another chance to enjoy the outdoors. Fall is the
season of leaves turning, and the start of another deer season.
Archery season began 15 October, as always, but we were in the midst
of a month of travels not ending until the beginning of November.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">For
one reason or another, I only did three archery hunts this fall. I
was supposed to hunt with my great hunting buddy, Mark, but his
Chemotherapy derailed those plans. To be honest, my enthusiasm is the
weakest it has been—ever. I am not sure why. My right foot/ankle
problems have continued, and that has detracted some. We had our
Grace Men’s retreat, and that took up a Friday and Saturday. I
think too, retirement has made me a bit lazy, and that combined with
the loss of energy consequent to old age has taken some wind our of
my sails.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But,
I write this blog from a beautiful spot in Greene county, where I
have seen scores of deer through the years. And, yesterday afternoon
I got to hunt with my grandson, J. AG hunted with Andrew and that
family hunt was a lot of joy.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
stillness of the early morning, and the quietness of these fields and
woods are a rate treasure in this day and age. And, there is always
the thrill of high expectations. This could be the year I kill my
biggest buck ever!</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hope
springs eternal. What is your hope?</span></span></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-72907926197868175482022-12-07T22:00:00.025-08:002022-12-07T22:00:00.216-08:00A Happy Veteran's Day<p> I am a bit perplexed by how Veteran's Day has changed in the last few years. Today I started with the FIRST in modern times Veteran's Day Parade in downtown Northport. It wasn't too big, but was a nice thought. Then it was a FREE carwash at OverFlow. About 1 PM I took granddaughter Hazel and we went first to Texas roadhouse for a coupon for a free meal, then for 10 Wingbites, plus fries and soda for free for veterans. We couldn't eat it all. From here we went to TCBY for a free 6-oz yogurt that was delicious. Then we swung by Krispy Kreme for a free donut and coffee. Our last stop was at Smoothie King where we got a very good 20oz mango-papaya smoothie. Whew, I couldn't eat it all.</p><p>And, whereas we enjoyed the feast, the thought was even sweeter. It is always nice to be appreciated, and this seems a massive ramp-up in gratitude. And, that has a message for us all. We all ought to DISPLAY gratitude as deeply and often as we can. Robert Winfield McKenzie said that, "We are closest to G^d when we show gratitude."</p><p>Indeed!</p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-80192620901796126132022-12-04T22:00:00.000-08:002022-12-04T22:00:00.204-08:00It's a small world isn't it?<p> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I
have a Faculty Commons friend, John B, whose wife, Steph has a
brother Tim. Tim was a youth pastor near the University of Alabama.
Tim married a UA alumna named Shelly, and after several years moved
to Sumter, SC.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Across
the Atlantic, I have a Cru friend, Courtney, who grew up in Sumter
and ministers in Roma, Italy. During my recent mission trip to Roma,
Courtney related this story.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">One
sunny summer day Courtney is visiting her family in Sumter and takes
her kids to a local park. She marvels that the park is almost empty,
but there are two women nearby chatting.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Courtney
overheard a few words from the women and is surprised to hear a
conversation about Christianity. Courtney politely enters the
conversation.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
lady speaking, Shelley, relates a story from her undergraduate days
at the University of Alabama. She recalls hearing a professor speak
on the topic of "How to make better grades and have more
fun." </span><span style="color: #242424;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Courtney
recognized the title of this talk because she had heard it a few
years earlier given by Phil Bishop to some students in Rome, Italy.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Shelley
goes on to say that for some reason that Christian talk really
impacted her life. Furthermore, after I contacted Shelley, she told
me that she</span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
knows my daughter Kelly. They lived together ~ 97-98. Shelley heard
the talk the fall of her freshman year, which was 1994.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Most
likely the speaker who had given that talk was Dr. Rae Mellichamp or
me.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">So
I have just heard a story in Roma, Italy about a talk given years
before in Alabama, told by an alumna who is sister-in-law to one of
my friends.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">It's
a small world isn't it?</span></p><p style="line-height: 0.07in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p><p style="line-height: 0.07in; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.07in; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.07in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here's
a little more to the story as related by Shelley.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
lady I was chatting with at the park has two high school sons who she
homeschools. She was sharing that they struggle with getting their
work done and being able to be involved in other activities. So, I
shared about the how to make better grades and have more fun talk
because it really helped me order my schedule in college! I told her
I bet we could find a YouTube video of the talk ! Then this other mom
(Courtney) whose kids were playing near by interjects that she is on
staff with Cru and that they still give that talk, we ended up having
a great conversation about the Lord</span></span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
just an added cool part of the story ,my friend and I had invited
another lady, who is not a believer and has young kids, to the park.
A few days later I was talking to her and she was really amazed how
God could use a talk about making good grades to connect people. She
said, I didn’t really think God cared about small details in our
lives like that! Which of course has lead to some great
conversations. She has not become a believer but we can see the lord
working!</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 0.07in; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 0.07in; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0.11in;"><br /><br />
</p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-40155554052431515412022-11-30T22:00:00.007-08:002022-11-30T22:00:00.206-08:00 Beautiful Leaves<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhksLWUPiyNWNUptRCX2Kju6NKOmXxCt_FAYb6mENaI-tdnBe32zp1yhAuxdjQklqnXuSFAlY8UHh_SAEQFMVJJYGvfWHwQForNopyQaaxKhZBB6w4lIBWP5P_-TTTOzymq5hHqm00wlzuGbi1FlgeQ4a0ZdH3B-ZA7nSdnyryzp8-zGotMZFAjhKud/s4160/IMG_20221027_074521278.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhksLWUPiyNWNUptRCX2Kju6NKOmXxCt_FAYb6mENaI-tdnBe32zp1yhAuxdjQklqnXuSFAlY8UHh_SAEQFMVJJYGvfWHwQForNopyQaaxKhZBB6w4lIBWP5P_-TTTOzymq5hHqm00wlzuGbi1FlgeQ4a0ZdH3B-ZA7nSdnyryzp8-zGotMZFAjhKud/s320/IMG_20221027_074521278.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Bre
and I drove up to Annapolis recently. We caught the leaves at near
peak color I would say. Some of them were magnificent, and the bright
sun magnified the effect.<p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
had a little color south of B’ham. The color got better and better
all the way to our detour in NC. From there northward it was
terrific. This same time last year we were driving between
Charleston, SC and Eu Clair, WI. We had great leaves that trip too.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">G^d
made a beautiful world indeed. Who would have thought to hide these
colors under green chlorophyll, and make the reds come alive with the
waning sunlight. I have heard it said that one of the most
frustrating things for atheists is to feel grateful and have no one
to whom to express it. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well,
Thank you L^rd for the beautiful Fall colors.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And yes, we got NO photos of leaves!</span></span></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-4955145837066284122022-11-27T22:00:00.008-08:002022-12-03T16:59:48.154-08:00 Just Another Honeymoon<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ9QTlotlD31B-0ZH9ELRPBYcdOxydLDkMHkvRUaoEa83fy_JhD14zKKL1DCIyHn9O9D-oToX0fEOV0UcWU2GGqs4mcWlezO_yNmCwgQ38VfzIauAYnvEzkKgLQVo6JrrpaXTgltoFlslRuXFyJvY5tILXWYvu40NV_7Zbf3EaWG4mawNZm7HLlVLc/s4160/IMG_20221026_165310413.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ9QTlotlD31B-0ZH9ELRPBYcdOxydLDkMHkvRUaoEa83fy_JhD14zKKL1DCIyHn9O9D-oToX0fEOV0UcWU2GGqs4mcWlezO_yNmCwgQ38VfzIauAYnvEzkKgLQVo6JrrpaXTgltoFlslRuXFyJvY5tILXWYvu40NV_7Zbf3EaWG4mawNZm7HLlVLc/s320/IMG_20221026_165310413.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc3B42Lg1UbC9HruGpIIja9Hde_BFPS8jWbJSO6P4MBL7A1u7gi3Ww1cLc4RMuy7ySdb1mUMSL2AqSp-qbm3tnY5uyMqOuWrQEemKonsQPO_tN2DkrgyZjF6CQ5UMaVV4piK_SChrS5Q_GZsjGsaeYDO7BP8wPWCzKfFhR4t56hLSQeP_7MxgVSkRN/s4160/IMG_20221027_071723227.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc3B42Lg1UbC9HruGpIIja9Hde_BFPS8jWbJSO6P4MBL7A1u7gi3Ww1cLc4RMuy7ySdb1mUMSL2AqSp-qbm3tnY5uyMqOuWrQEemKonsQPO_tN2DkrgyZjF6CQ5UMaVV4piK_SChrS5Q_GZsjGsaeYDO7BP8wPWCzKfFhR4t56hLSQeP_7MxgVSkRN/s320/IMG_20221027_071723227.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVYGF8YjjoIxx3vdqFZMR01esQGDjqal7Acelybg9cx5eOsNb7qw7F71R4u2iJq0yN5BfPdVJUUXHWD1xDzJrXG44ANo9dBnOl_wHBZOlV67NlPUEPTPoYN1dodKmQvWzd4O2_etcMNfKpHD46IOtq4V02--moZHWIslB1TiWDWLiKUQcawz4-BdVk/s2592/IMG_20221029_123019022.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1944" data-original-width="2592" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVYGF8YjjoIxx3vdqFZMR01esQGDjqal7Acelybg9cx5eOsNb7qw7F71R4u2iJq0yN5BfPdVJUUXHWD1xDzJrXG44ANo9dBnOl_wHBZOlV67NlPUEPTPoYN1dodKmQvWzd4O2_etcMNfKpHD46IOtq4V02--moZHWIslB1TiWDWLiKUQcawz4-BdVk/w320-h240/IMG_20221029_123019022.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Bre
and I just did two trips back-to-back. We think of these trips as
“just more honeymoon”. As I have recounted before, we travel a
bit more than most, I’d say. We are right now driving back from
Annapolis, which was preceded by a trip to NC, which was shortly
preceded by a trip to Panama City Beach. Before that we were in
southern OH, and before that in Milwaukee.<p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But,
if we look back we have many, many more trips as part of our
honeymoon. What prompted this was driving by Sweetwater, TN where is
the “Lost Sea” and underground lake. We went there on our first
honeymoon.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
do love traveling together. We both feel our favorite travelers are
each other—and after 50 years that’s pretty sweet! Mostly we
drive these days. Rather, mostly Bre drives and I work on this
laptop. But we both enjoy it and make the most, pretty much, of what
G^d has given us.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After
50 years of marriage, we know how to honeymoon much better than we
did right after our weeding. Heck we were total rookies. Now we are
veterans!</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So,
here’s to many more honeymoons.</span></span></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221426032019820624.post-3284949869491942782022-11-23T22:00:00.007-08:002022-11-23T22:00:00.204-08:0050th Class Reunion<p> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wow!
I went to US Naval Academy with a bunch of OLD guys! Indeed, I could
recognize about half my company fellow alumni. We had a lot of good
events at our 50</span></span><sup><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">th</span></span></sup><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
college reunion. Quite a few of them—in fact most—had been to
previous reunions. For us, likely our first and last.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
was great to see our classmates and learn about where they are and
what they are doing. It was a little sad that about all we had in
common was USNA and our brief service afterwards. It was great seeing
these old friends, with whom I had endured Plebe summer tortures and
Plebe year annoyances. And, that is not an insignificant bond.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">On
the other hand, with only a few exceptions, I have had very little
contact with them over the ensuing 50 years. Together 4 years and
apart 50 years means that I felt pretty distant—surprisingly so.
But what would you expect?</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
was great to see them and also to see the grounds and buildings in
which I had studied and learned much. We shared that our time there
had impacted the rest of our lives for the better. I had to fight
back tears on couple of occasions. Memories are a very good
thing—when I have them still in the “file”.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a2PmfqUHIOQ/Y2Ejk6hif1I/AAAAAAAAORA/xDF87yN9IGUJroMi54pmg-e3fRrEOwbRgCNcBGAsYHQ/s4160/IMG_20221030_103753603_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a2PmfqUHIOQ/Y2Ejk6hif1I/AAAAAAAAORA/xDF87yN9IGUJroMi54pmg-e3fRrEOwbRgCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_20221030_103753603_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhma4J8SYCdml54P9IA0nZb4lzs0-KkjJGYjNitFk5nFV0FkmcymUvrYWp3B_rkRYo4f7rjSMM2m3grEoD7x977fcmmp3HpLgfVEiOdOYNliWQN4SlNyyxai7n3Pz0HSjilVmkkZFXWd8ChvbjwVSIzOw2lgzD_Anjm8xmiqJVo3uHRTBBgVPNcok/s4160/IMG_20221028_184905295.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhma4J8SYCdml54P9IA0nZb4lzs0-KkjJGYjNitFk5nFV0FkmcymUvrYWp3B_rkRYo4f7rjSMM2m3grEoD7x977fcmmp3HpLgfVEiOdOYNliWQN4SlNyyxai7n3Pz0HSjilVmkkZFXWd8ChvbjwVSIzOw2lgzD_Anjm8xmiqJVo3uHRTBBgVPNcok/s320/IMG_20221028_184905295.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpVz80bgE8abDobYXE891P5m-UkoDw69uWINBct81sgaTcLmfLQM5g_BOQlIwgGdH0B6gfZn5bZyy9v-eHjusiXRD5A1-UMZ60cY6_4m_zz8jeWwW7DkgWP1q7bktq1MXpQ1mO0OjoJ3T9Itrzjg5qy1hQLgiKWsie7ZbcMzQPk53MJvO7jGZriC2/s4160/IMG_20221028_165226594.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpVz80bgE8abDobYXE891P5m-UkoDw69uWINBct81sgaTcLmfLQM5g_BOQlIwgGdH0B6gfZn5bZyy9v-eHjusiXRD5A1-UMZ60cY6_4m_zz8jeWwW7DkgWP1q7bktq1MXpQ1mO0OjoJ3T9Itrzjg5qy1hQLgiKWsie7ZbcMzQPk53MJvO7jGZriC2/s320/IMG_20221028_165226594.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><p></p>Phil Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04921472858416591869noreply@blogger.com0