another blog holiday

It seems like I just took one. But it's time for another.

We are taking some time off, even though summer is over (as we never did get a decent summer holiday in this year). Next weekend I'm giving two workshops at the Inscribe Fall Conference in Edmonton. We're combining that with some family time. Should be fun. (We're just praying the snow doesn't fly on some of those mountain passes.)

And if you think of it, you can pray for me on Saturday the 29th. I'm a tad nervous.

Photo: Canoeing on the Nicomekl, Surrey BC.

mural monday - very blue

This rather surrealistic mural is on the back of the rink and recreation center in the Whalley section of Surrey.

I first noticed it from the chair in my dentist's office several years ago. Thus when I went to the dentist a few weeks ago, I made sure I had my camera with me just in case the mural was still there.

It is. Perhaps a little the worse for graffiti - but the athletes are still laboring, the pretty girls still beaming down on passersby in all their blue glory.

To see more shots of this mural go here.

thirsty?

Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Isaiah 55:1,2
~~~*~~~
For my people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns
-- broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Jeremiah 2:13

~~~*~~~
Jesus: If any one thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. John 7:37,38

Photo: Nikomekl River (right) and Nicowynd Golf course (left).

eagle fledgling journal

Eagle Ma and Pa - June 22/07

Flegdlings, getting brave - July 13/07

and braver - July 17/07

driftwood

"When you know you should do a thing, and do it, immediately you know more....Beware of harking back to what you were once when God wants you to be something you have never been."
- Oswald Chambers
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Photo: Another use for driftwood. We see this fence often as we go out and about. The other day I photographed it as we whizzed by.

get 'the max from your mac'™

I'm loving my new Mac as much as ever! Now almost two months into owning it, this beautiful addition to my collection of apples (yes, I do actually collect apples - from stove-top timers to ornaments and now a computer - see, it was meant to be!) is beginning to feel like a real friend.

I especially appreciated it yesterday. We had some carpet layers in to do an installation. This meant we had to empty the rooms of furniture - my office being one of them. How simple it was to disassemble my Mac, cart it upstairs, plug it in and get to work again in my daughter's old bedroom -- not like E., who now uses my old dinosaur and spent at least 30 minutes first labeling cords and plug-ins so he'll be able to put his Windows puzzle together again (mind, it's ancient; I'm sure the new Windows machines are much simpler).

I've been meaning to talk about the Mac class I took in June. This was free instruction that came from the Mac store (ours is Simply Computing in Langley) along with the purchase of a new computer.

Keith Richardson, the founder of a company called MacSeniors was our teacher. It was an eye-opening day, clueing me in to not only many handy keystrokes which I wasn't aware of, but to the variety things that the Mac allows you to do and make.

Especially interesting was the afternoon when Mr. Richardson talked about the iLife suite of applications (iTunes, iMovie, iDVD etc.). It was necessarily more of a demonstration than teaching session, but when I saw the DVDs that he had made (he made one as a Christmas gift for each of his grandkids), my mouth watered. I've decided that as soon as life settles down, I'm going to learn how to make a DVD!

Fortunately, we have Mr. Richardson around as a handy resource. He is also active in MacWest, a club that meets regularly (in Surrey) to discuss user's questions and explore things one can do with Macs. Members of the public are welcome (the next meeting is tomorrow, July 11th).

But you can access his wealth of knowledge too. On his blog are posted dozens of helpful links. If you're new to a Mac or if you're a longtime Mac user but have learned just enough to get by doing the things you do day to day - give it a look. After all, don't you too want to 'Achieve the MAX from your Mac'?

beach beauty

These sturdy pink stocks of something are blooming at the beach (Mud Bay). They remind me of rhubarb, but I'm sure they're not. Can't find them in my field guide. Does anyone know what they are? (The whites and yellows all around are mustard.)

(I also blogged here today)

family outing

Seen on our walk today at Blackie's Spit.

the stalker

Coyote at Mud Bay Park.

wildflowers again!

Today is May Day, a day on which you should wash your face with morning dew to keep yourself looking young and beautiful. You should also gather wildflowers and green branches, make some floral garlands, and set up a Maypole to dance around.
- The Writer's Almanac for May 1st

Here are some wildflowers I have gathered lately with my camera.

A trillium. I spotted a few of them several weeks ago. This is a Large-flowered White Trillium - part of the lily family.

Then came the Wild Bleeding Hearts (poppy family).

And from one of our walks last week, a Swamp Lousewort (I think). Sounds dreadful doesn’t it. I guess people figure they can get away with giving proper names like that to flowers with the surname of snapdragon.

spring's bad hair day

A pond at Elgin Park, Surrey, BC.

water

River Triptych

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These rotted pilings at the bend in the Serpentine River (Surrey, B.C.) are a favorite hangout for cormorants. Sometimes they perch with wings akimbo, drying out their feathers. Other times they strike this somewhat haughty pose.

Thursday Challenge

Next week: GREEN (Frogs, Reptiles, Peacock, Grass, Plants, Vegetables, Fruit, Jade, Money,...)

envy

...Envy is probably the basest emotion we have. A direct result of the Fall, it was Satan’s sin....

...Envy defines “good” as “what I do not possess,” and hates the good that it has...

...The problem with envy is that it focuses outside our boundaries, onto others. If we are focusing on what others have or have accomplished, we are neglecting our responsibilities and will ultimately have an empty heart...

...Envy is a self-perpetuating cycle. Boundaryless people feel empty and unfulfilled. They look at another’s sense of fullness and feel envious. This time and energy needs to be spent on taking responsibility for their lack and doing something about it...

...Your envy should always be a sign to you that you are lacking something. At that moment, you should ask God to help you understand what you resent, why you do not have whatever you are envying, and whether you truly desire it. Ask him to show you what you need to do to get there, or give up the desire.

- from Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend

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Photo: Bald eagle and Paintail ducks - Mud Bay, Surrey BC.

(I know - that eagle is probably not looking with envy, but hunger. Oh well...)

shore pick-nic

Dowitchers, grazing the intertidal flats of the Nikomekl River, Surrey B.C.

can't seem to get warm

We’re in a cold snap right now. This heron looks like I feel when I go outside to brave the brisk winds.

(Photo taken at Mud Bay Park, Surrey, B.C.)

snowdrifts of the welcome kind

Snowdrops blooming in one of the forests where we walk.

sassy in stripes

A Kildeer Plover, taking a break from feasting on goodies found in the seaweed salad – tidal bank of the Nicomekl River.

I could introduce you to my hairdresser

A Mallard and Red-breasted Merganser in conversation - Nicomekl River, Surrey, BC.

playing heaven

I was glancing through a back-issue of Vocatio yesterday and noticed this article about sabbath-keeping (sabbath being a day of rest, not necessarily Saturday) by R. Paul Stevens (Winter 2003 edition of Vocatio – a publication of Regent College, Vancouver). Here are some bits:

The kind of God we actually worship is revealed by whether we keep sabbath.

Being sabbath’s lord did not mean Jesus could break it at will; rather it means that the Lord fulfilled sabbath’s meaning and intent.

[...] First and foremost sabbath is the redemption of time .... time is being recovered as a gift from God rather than a resource to be managed... (quoting Rabbi Abraham Heschel) “There is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord.”

[...] Sabbath is humankind playing heaven....When we “play” heaven – by co-creating with God, by delighting in creation, by making things fit a heavenly model and by worshiping – we anticipate the joys of being full “grown-up” men and women in Christ in heaven (where we truly become children again!).

[...] Some form of weekly or regular sabbath is not an optional extra for the New Testament Christian.... If we cannot put our work down and truly rest, we are probably taking ourselves too seriously. And probably we are not taking God seriously enough. Truly we do not “keep” sabbath but sabbath “keeps us,” keeps us focused on the really real, on God’s purpose, on God’s priorities for our lives and on God himself.

The article is an excerpt from a book: The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity by Robert Banks and R. Paul Stevens.

Photo: Ward's Marina at the Stewart Farmhouse - Surrey, BC.

nature's own totem pole

An eagle (probably a juvenile Bald Eagle) at Blackie's Spit.