Sand Dune Therapy

For my birthday, we decided to go to The Pinery Provincial Park located at the southern end of Lake Huron, about 33 miles ENE of Sarnia, Ontario.



It is all about sand dunes, man! Just as there are enormous sand dunes in Michigan on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, there are dunes and sand on the eastern shore of Lake Huron. There are nine beach areas in the park, and the young girl at the entrance did not give me a senior discount, saying it was reserved for Ontario seniors.  However, she did not give me a map of the facility, either, so I think she was merely incompetent. I am going to write to the proper department anyway.

I have to complain a lot to Parks departments. I suppose it is all due to budget cuts. Last year in Maryland there was one that suckered me out of my money at the entrance, leaving it for me to find out after I drove in that nothing was actually available on that day, and, by the way, thanks for the eight bucks!

Using the telephone number on a sign at the entrance, I managed to get hold of the part-time manager while he was eating lunch. He was taking a break from selling real estate, his full time job, and expressed considerable sorrow that I felt short-changed. He gave me an address to write to ask for my eight dollars back.



Getting back to The Pinery, I found that after a day of sand-surfing up and down the dunes, the next day that the ligaments and muscles in my legs felt better than they had in months and possibly years. I had feared re-straining a ligament, but discovered upon waking there was a sense of youthful wholeness I had forgotten ever to have possessed, leg-wise. (I had a full six weeks off from jogging due to the ligament in my right knee, and was now slowly working back into running again.)



I remember runners that used to train for the Olympics by running on beaches and sand. I think they were New Zealanders, or Aussies... it was a memory from a long time ago. People probably still do it. It could have been the swimming, too: the movement of the legs against the slightly resistant medium of the water.

It could have been both things. And it could have also been sun and clean air.



We had ended up on the dog beach. We do not own a dog. There were many well-trained dogs that were a pleasure to see. There was no inconvenience whatsoever to anyone... except for the fact that just before we were going to leave, a golden retriever caught a frisbee in the water and stopped to do his business right there... in the water.

The owner went through the motions: he held the bag up where everyone within eye-shot could see that he did indeed pick up after his dog (or "stoop and scoop" as they say in Toronto). He stood at ground zero and surveyed the scene with intent. But he showed no inclination to step into the water and aggressively deal with the situation. As the waves broke upon the beach, there was enough turbidity that he could not see the object he wished to take care of, and, being a normal bloke, he did not want to go thrashing around blindly and run the risk of stepping on the blasted pile.

Which, or course, was the entire point for the rest of us. Or, I think it was. Perhaps I was alone in this. This was the dog beach, after all, and perhaps the major portion of the clientele was much more blase to what I took to be serious social gaffes.

I do not think that I have never seen a dog do anything like that in my entire life, and perhaps, being a hunting dog, this dog may have been trained to go in the water so as to not interrupt his hunting chores of looking for ducks and charging through the bullrushes to retrieve them. I have seen a lot of dogs romping in the water, too.



Oh, well. We also went to a ghastly restaurant in Grand Bend. I cannot understand why a restaurant that is within 10 miles of a maple syrup producing farm feels that it has to provide one with a container of "pancake syrup" to accompany its grisly pancakes. It is a syndrome associated with vacation areas, I guess. They have a knack for sucking the life from food.

The antique stores were pretty good, and everything was enjoyable. Just "caveat" swimmer on the doggie beach, and always "caveat" eaters in restaurants: beware of the things one knows are fraught with slapstick and enjoy the time.

--

Ade Ileke 26: Famille Féerie

la mère était Brillante, qui en Arcadie a vécu;

le père était Arcas, éloigné et disparu;

les enfants, dix en nombre:

Maia, Gaia, Ciel, Thermidor

Halcyon, Marin, Ambrée

Le Feu, Le Gel, et Victor;

en Arcadie ils ont vécu,

en Arcadie, où oeillets de poète ont poussé.



--

the mother was Shining, who lived in Arcadia

the father was Arcas, far away and disappeared;

the children, ten in number:

Maia, Gaia, Sky,Thermidor

Halcyon, Marin, Ambrée,

Fire, Frost, and Victor;

in Arcadia they lived,

in Arcadia, where the Sweet William grows.

The Fruits of Unreason

Standard & Poor’s director said for the first time Thursday that one reason the United States lost its triple-A credit rating was that several lawmakers expressed skepticism about the serious consequences of a credit default — a position put forth by some Republicans.



Without specifically mentioning Republicans, S&P senior director Joydeep Mukherji said the stability and effectiveness of American political institutions were undermined by the fact that “people in the political arena were even talking about a potential default,” Mukherji said.



“That a country even has such voices, albeit a minority, is something notable,” he added. “This kind of rhetoric is not common amongst AAA sovereigns.”

First SSTV Image Received From ARISSat-1

I have been waiting for the new bird ARISSat-1 to pass by and tonight at 21.03 UTC I was in luck. Above is my first ARISSat-1 SSTV image received at my home QTH using a Yaesu FT-847 and Dual Yagi Satellite antenna array. I am looking forward to some closer passes and better reception over the next few days.

Early Start For Short Wave Listening

During the weekends and holidays the family and I have been spending plenty of time up at the old QTH (the shack on the hill) taking in the fresh Moorland air. When we bought our new family home we decided to keep our old Moorland QTH which comprises of a luxury 40ft Static Caravan up at 1000ft asl on the edge of the Pennines here in Yorkshire. Its a great place to hangout with a wonderful view!



The old shack is still working as well as ever with my trusty FT-767, FT-890, FT-2600m and VR5000. The rigs are all connected to my original antennas. The antennas are also holding up exceptionally well. I have still got my home made IO-10EL Sat beam up as well as the 20m Delta loop, Hustler 6BTV, X200 Co-linear and 10m vertical.



Our lovely baby daughter is starting to take an interest in the hobby of amateur radio, She has the makings of becoming a keen SWL.



Hope to work some of you from both of my shacks/QTH during the next couple of weeks as I enjoy my summer holidays. 73 have fun!

NOAA 18 - Image of todays weather (UK & Europe)

Whilst surfing the HF bands on a lazy Sunday afternoon I had my satellite tracking equipment on standby ready to receive and decode NOAA - 18.

Here is the received transmission from NOAA-18 received at 3.15 pm (local) at the QTH of 2E0HTS - Yorkshire, U.K.

If your intrested in recieving signals from NOAA Satellites check out NOAA SAT Status for frequencies and up to date information.

Yesu ni Bwana!

There is so much to be grateful for I hardly know where to start.

Things are going great at home because men and women are rising to the challenge of a shared life, Shammah is doing well, Jerry’s biopsy was clear; see (http://yippee-leukemia.blogspot.com/2011/08/august-10-good-news.html), people are coming to Christ, the Ingathering is almost here, the church in Nakuru is growing both numerically and spiritually.

The pastors we’re meeting with each week are thriving and taking everything back to their people and inviting new pastors to come. We had a great time of fellowship and outreach with the local community during the Kingdom Hikers talent show and all of us in George’s house are doing well and high spirits.

Once again, I find myself so busy living this Life I can’t seem to find the time to write about it. At least the other “sent ones” have been faithful in this respect. You can read their blogs to find out what’s been happening throughout the week. What a great bunch of people.

 If you don’t know where their post is, here’s the list. Just click one and enjoy;

Amma’s….   http://haviylah.blogspot.com/

Tara’s…..      http://tara-livingchristslife.blogspot.com/

Doug’s…      http://rcvdoug.blogspot.com

Brandon’s...  http://thestuffyoumayhavemissedinafrica.blogspot.com

Yahshana… http://yahshana.blogspot.com

                                    

                              The Growing Household of God

It is such a profound truth that the Kingdom of God is like a great dragnet cast into the sea, pulling up both good and bad fish. Then the good fish are placed into clean vessels and the bad ones discarded. 

(Matthew 13:47, 48)

We are watching the Master fisherman drag His net onto the land and sort out the fish. Sometimes the sorting happens quickly and sometimes it takes a long time. Those who prove themselves worthy are placed in clean vessels. Then he changes them into true sons and daughters of God. Soon they begin maturing and learning how to fish themselves.

 Last night we went to one of those “good fish” houses and saw what her own net had brought up. She had gone to all her neighbors and friends asking them to come to her house that night to hear the message of the Kingdom of God. God began the sorting right away.

At the end of our time together one of those friends left with new Life and two others expressed a desire to be joined to Household of Christ. The good fish’s name is Zipporah or Zippe for short. The next day we met with Zippy's husband who after witnessing our fellowship the night before expressed a desire to be baptized into our Life.            

             

       The Fun filled Outreach of the Kingdom Hikers Talent Show.

 

It took a lot of work and preparation to pull it off, but the Talent Show was a great success. There were snacks to get ready, signs to make and a whole lot of planning.

We had to extend the “tent of meeting” to accommodate all the people that would come. Here is some of the crew that “pulled up the stakes and lengthened the tent”.

Then there was lots of dancing…

Lots of singing…..

And lots and lots of fun!

        The 5 hour Gathering and Fundraiser Extravaganza.

Years ago there was a war movie called … “The Longest Day” …it was given that name because they obviously hadn't sat though last Sunday's Gathering. It had to be five hours long. Although, I must admit it was a lot of fun. It’s a good thing we stretched the tent, because every available space was filled. We need more chairs.

Now on the way to the gathering George mentioned something about a “fund raiser” but we had no idea of what he meant. It was a stimulating experience. The raising of funds was a cross between a Village Auction of desert goodies and a Village wedding fun night.

The cause was good; raising money for a more permanent meeting place than the tent. Amma was delighted because nothing was auctioned but vegetables. For a full description click on Amma’s blog that is listed above..

Here are some of the pictures of the Fundraiser…

Words cannot express what is happening with the pastor’s meeting. All I can really say is our Father is gathering an army of dedicated spiritual leaders hungry to be on the front lines of this spiritual war we're in. I hope to do a separate post introducing each of these wonderful men.

Well there is plenty more going on, none of which would be possible without your prayers and support. Please continue to lift us up as we enter our last month, we want it to be the most productive yet.

Oh, something kind of funny, I sent David D. in California an update of what’s happening here in Nakuru and ended it with what I thought was Swahili for Praise the Lord. He said he looked it up on Google translator and it said I had written ….Rebel lord lima bean!

Soooo…. while I work on my Swahili, I’ll leave you with… Praise the Lord!

Much love … your sent ones.