Won't be back for a week or so. Friday night we fly to Atlanta then onto St. Martin for a week's worth of sun - both Dutch and French. We may get to see some of the celebrations for the Queen on Saturday or Sunday which should be interesting.
I'm hoping to take a sail aboard a twelve meter America's Cup yacht during our stay and may well work in a day sail on a catamaran as well. Otherwise, we plan on enjoying the warm sun and water, kick back and forget about work or remodeling for awhile.
Prayers for our travel safety and ability to rest/sleep on our red-eye would be appreciated.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Interestingness
Sometimes when I have no piles of paper on my desk, I will check out flickr's "interestingness" section. There are some amazing photos posted every day - an inspiration for an amateur photographer.
I particularly like this one of Venice. Hopefully, the light and timing will afford many opportunities to take my own reflections during our upcoming trip to St. Martin.
I particularly like this one of Venice. Hopefully, the light and timing will afford many opportunities to take my own reflections during our upcoming trip to St. Martin.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Easter Must be Close
You almost can always tell when its close to Easter or Christmas because that's when you find numerous publications questioning various aspects of Christ's life or Christianity in general.
This year is no different as we find one 'explanation' for Jesus' walking on water.
Then of course there is the newly found Gospel of Judas that 'proves' he was the closest to Christ and offered Christ up for crucifixion at Jesus' direction.
And, soon will come the movie "The Da Vinci Code" which is based on the premise the Jesus fathered a child with Mary Magdalene and the Catholic Church has hidden the 'secret' for milenia.
Can you imagine the riots if these sort of stories/films were made about Islam?
This year is no different as we find one 'explanation' for Jesus' walking on water.
Then of course there is the newly found Gospel of Judas that 'proves' he was the closest to Christ and offered Christ up for crucifixion at Jesus' direction.
And, soon will come the movie "The Da Vinci Code" which is based on the premise the Jesus fathered a child with Mary Magdalene and the Catholic Church has hidden the 'secret' for milenia.
Can you imagine the riots if these sort of stories/films were made about Islam?
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
It Can't Be That Long Ago!!
When younger, these notices bring up a different set of emotions. Yesterday, a post card arrived in the mail announcing my 40th (!!) high school reunion.
Four decades, last century, last millennium. Before landing on the moon; before personal computers, cell phones, PDAs, or the internet; before Japanese cars were preferred over Ford or GM; before California toll roads or car pool lanes; before housing replaced orange groves; before cassette players let alone CDs or DVDs; before high rise condos off of Jamboree; before college, wife or daughter.
I used to count years after college as a small percentage of my life without being in school, now they're counted in decades after. Carolyn was nice enough to say that if I chose to go, I'd probably be one of a few who had no (or little) grey hair, however, there is that thinning issue. I wonder how many of my schoolmates are Great-grandparents!
Four decades, last century, last millennium. Before landing on the moon; before personal computers, cell phones, PDAs, or the internet; before Japanese cars were preferred over Ford or GM; before California toll roads or car pool lanes; before housing replaced orange groves; before cassette players let alone CDs or DVDs; before high rise condos off of Jamboree; before college, wife or daughter.
I used to count years after college as a small percentage of my life without being in school, now they're counted in decades after. Carolyn was nice enough to say that if I chose to go, I'd probably be one of a few who had no (or little) grey hair, however, there is that thinning issue. I wonder how many of my schoolmates are Great-grandparents!
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Thar She Blows!!
Carolyn was having a Southern Living party Sunday afternoon, and after I had mowed the lawn, trimmed the hedge and swept, the sun was out and the sea beckoned so I called Dennis to see if he wanted to sail. He thought that sounded like a good idea as he didn't want to have to do too much yard work anyway.
I met him at the harbor a little after 2, and he had already gotten the boat ready for launch. A few kayaks by the bridge required us to do a 360 before we were able to get the mainsail up, but soon I was skippering down the channel as Dennis hauled in bumpers and stowed them.
We set an almost due south course and the wind was fairly strong with swells that were fairly small. About two miles offshore, I noticed a small wisp of water or was it a breach from a porpoise? I alerted Dennis who grabbed the helm while I grabbed my camera as we witnessed a whale's back arch out of the water about 100 yards ahead of us!! It was quick and we watched intently to see if we could see him breach further north, but to no avail and I wasn't able to get a picture. It's hard chasing after a whale in a sailboat.
The wind continued to pick up and our GPS had us cruising at over 7 knots at some times while our knot meter on the boat was showing 4.5 or so. But our leeward rail was almost in the water sometimes and the lower part of the jib was splashed with water. As we turned back towards the harbor, we spotted a pod of porpoises to our south apparently chasing bait fish and churning the water as they swam south away from us.
We had been hoping to see a whale aboard the Journey, and now we finally have. It would have been fun to see a few more or for a little longer, but that's what sails are for.
I met him at the harbor a little after 2, and he had already gotten the boat ready for launch. A few kayaks by the bridge required us to do a 360 before we were able to get the mainsail up, but soon I was skippering down the channel as Dennis hauled in bumpers and stowed them.
We set an almost due south course and the wind was fairly strong with swells that were fairly small. About two miles offshore, I noticed a small wisp of water or was it a breach from a porpoise? I alerted Dennis who grabbed the helm while I grabbed my camera as we witnessed a whale's back arch out of the water about 100 yards ahead of us!! It was quick and we watched intently to see if we could see him breach further north, but to no avail and I wasn't able to get a picture. It's hard chasing after a whale in a sailboat.
The wind continued to pick up and our GPS had us cruising at over 7 knots at some times while our knot meter on the boat was showing 4.5 or so. But our leeward rail was almost in the water sometimes and the lower part of the jib was splashed with water. As we turned back towards the harbor, we spotted a pod of porpoises to our south apparently chasing bait fish and churning the water as they swam south away from us.
We had been hoping to see a whale aboard the Journey, and now we finally have. It would have been fun to see a few more or for a little longer, but that's what sails are for.
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