The first snow of winter has arrived.
I bet you're impressed.
We might even get enough for half a snowman this year...
;)
P.S. This would have looked far more impressive if I'd taken the photo 4 hours earlier...
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
First snow for 2007
The first snow of winter has arrived.
I bet you're impressed.
We might even get enough for half a snowman this year...
;)
P.S. This would have looked far more impressive if I'd taken the photo 4 hours earlier...
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Just because...
I have nothing profound or interesting to blog about today. Therefore, I'm going to distract you with a picture of this dog.
See?
Nice doggie.
Monday, June 18, 2007
A model to follow...
Ruth Bell Graham (wife of Billy) passed away recently, and her funeral was held yesterday. She left behind a great testimony of a life lived for Jesus. One of the things that really hit me was the testimony of her children. One of her daughters summed things up this way:
What a great witness to her children.
As I read through all the tributes on the CT website, there were interesting things that came out about her marriage to her husband, and I don't know whether that's a model that I would want to emulate. Phrases like "for all practical purposes, as a single parent". On the one hand, she was praised for her role as the "rock" to her husband, and the love the couple shared is beyond question. But her children make it clear that there were long periods when they were without a father, as he went away on his many crusades around the world.
I don't know. I'm still thinking through this. God used BG greatly to bring many people to know Christ (including my grandparents). His work was incredibly valuable, and there's no doubting the importance of evangelism. Maybe that was rightly priority number one. Maybe I'm just looking through the worldly eyes of a mother and wife who'd find it difficult being away from her other half for so long. I guess God gave her the gifts she'd need for the task she had, and from the sounds of it her children benefitted by her ministry, too.
Anne Graham Lotz, second daughter
“I would go down to my mother’s room early in the morning. Her light would be on, and I would find her at her big, flat-top desk. She would be reading and studying her Bible, with about 14 different translations spread out around her.
“When I would go down to her room late at night, I would see the light on underneath the door and I’d go in, and she would be on her knees in prayer.
“As I look back on my childhood, I cannot remember any impression whatsoever that my mother was ever lonely. She may have been lonely, but I never saw it.
“I believe that our heavenly Father, our Savior, saved my mother from loneliness because of her daily walk with the Lord Jesus, He was the love of her life. I saw that in her life. It was her love for the Lord Jesus, with whom she walks every day, that made me want to love Him and walk with Him like that.”
- Quote courtesy of Christianity TodayWhat a great witness to her children.
As I read through all the tributes on the CT website, there were interesting things that came out about her marriage to her husband, and I don't know whether that's a model that I would want to emulate. Phrases like "for all practical purposes, as a single parent". On the one hand, she was praised for her role as the "rock" to her husband, and the love the couple shared is beyond question. But her children make it clear that there were long periods when they were without a father, as he went away on his many crusades around the world.
I don't know. I'm still thinking through this. God used BG greatly to bring many people to know Christ (including my grandparents). His work was incredibly valuable, and there's no doubting the importance of evangelism. Maybe that was rightly priority number one. Maybe I'm just looking through the worldly eyes of a mother and wife who'd find it difficult being away from her other half for so long. I guess God gave her the gifts she'd need for the task she had, and from the sounds of it her children benefitted by her ministry, too.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Firecracker night
There are moments when nostalgia surprises you over the strangest things. Today it was firecracker night.
It's a pity that we don't have the innocence of firecracker night anymore. When we were growing up, our house backed on to a long council reserve, on which we always built a huge bonfire. Well. It was huge to little kids, anyway. Family friends would come over, and we'd all stand around the fire in our plastic parkas, hoping they didn't melt while we toasted our marshmallows. Then we'd all gather around for the fireworks display.
There were all sorts of exciting fireworks to be seen. The smaller ones would come packed in long, thin cardboard cylinders covered in brightly coloured labels. There would always be one wide, stumpy cylinder that held the grand finale, the biggest firecracker for the end of the night. There were also Bungers, catherine wheels, screamers, all sorts of banging and flash for that special night of the year.
Dad would set up a tall-ish metal post with a bit of coathanger wire attached, on which he'd hang the Catherine wheels. They'd always fly off 5 seconds after ignition, and the whole extended family would run around in panic, hoping that the spinning cracker wouldn't attach itself to their clothes.
Then there were the rockets. Dad would set them on top of a sawn-off log, and we'd all stand back to watch it take off with a WHUMP. Sometimes they were screamers, and we'd use our fingers as industrial ear protection. By the end of the night, our ears were always ringing.
In the lulls between crackers, when Dad would be fumbling with the torch to find the next explosive, we'd pick up the sparklers and try to light them in the bonfire. Singed eyebrows later, we'd stand up and write our names over and over in the dark. Then Dad would be ready, and another one would go off to a small crowd of "Ooohs" and "Aaahs".
Little matchbox-like containers held the Throwdowns, which did nothing other than create industrial deafness in the young. They were small paper cylinders with a target on the front that contained little bits of powder and small black stones to help create the big cracking sound when you threw them to the ground. They were occasionally used to scare the cat, and we heard that the "naughty kids" threw them at other kids. For us, though, they just made gunpowder stains on the front path.
We loved firecracker nights.
It's a pity that we don't have the innocence of firecracker night anymore. When we were growing up, our house backed on to a long council reserve, on which we always built a huge bonfire. Well. It was huge to little kids, anyway. Family friends would come over, and we'd all stand around the fire in our plastic parkas, hoping they didn't melt while we toasted our marshmallows. Then we'd all gather around for the fireworks display.
There were all sorts of exciting fireworks to be seen. The smaller ones would come packed in long, thin cardboard cylinders covered in brightly coloured labels. There would always be one wide, stumpy cylinder that held the grand finale, the biggest firecracker for the end of the night. There were also Bungers, catherine wheels, screamers, all sorts of banging and flash for that special night of the year.
Dad would set up a tall-ish metal post with a bit of coathanger wire attached, on which he'd hang the Catherine wheels. They'd always fly off 5 seconds after ignition, and the whole extended family would run around in panic, hoping that the spinning cracker wouldn't attach itself to their clothes.
Then there were the rockets. Dad would set them on top of a sawn-off log, and we'd all stand back to watch it take off with a WHUMP. Sometimes they were screamers, and we'd use our fingers as industrial ear protection. By the end of the night, our ears were always ringing.
In the lulls between crackers, when Dad would be fumbling with the torch to find the next explosive, we'd pick up the sparklers and try to light them in the bonfire. Singed eyebrows later, we'd stand up and write our names over and over in the dark. Then Dad would be ready, and another one would go off to a small crowd of "Ooohs" and "Aaahs".
Little matchbox-like containers held the Throwdowns, which did nothing other than create industrial deafness in the young. They were small paper cylinders with a target on the front that contained little bits of powder and small black stones to help create the big cracking sound when you threw them to the ground. They were occasionally used to scare the cat, and we heard that the "naughty kids" threw them at other kids. For us, though, they just made gunpowder stains on the front path.
We loved firecracker nights.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
I can relate...
Found this picture here.
With a small son, I can relate. We now have roughly half of the small paperback books available as well as a large collection of Take Along Thomas (thanks, Nan!), so my memory is tested on a regular basis.
I've got most of them down. It's the add-ins like Rusty and Skarloey that get me a little confused.
...Oh, and the non-train vehicles like Jack. Even my son gets them confused with Bob the Builder.
Cultural Humour
Heard this yesterday from an older local:
A discussion was held about some young people who weren't talking properly because they didn't open their mouths when they spoke. This elder of the town said in response:
"That's why I always open me mouth and speak clearly to 'im. Whenever I see him I open me mouth and say 'G'day, mate, how ya garn?' "
That's teaching 'em.
A discussion was held about some young people who weren't talking properly because they didn't open their mouths when they spoke. This elder of the town said in response:
"That's why I always open me mouth and speak clearly to 'im. Whenever I see him I open me mouth and say 'G'day, mate, how ya garn?' "
That's teaching 'em.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Aversion therapy - a case study
One of the fascinating parts of my Psych study involved behaviour modification and conditioning. The classic example of Pavlov's dog(s) - salivating when a bell rings, for example. The more interesting random-reinforcement mode in operant conditioning - the way poker machines get people to sit in front of them for hours on end.
I've become an interesting case study in my own right. Because conditioning worked on me in one area, but not another.
When I was in the early months of pregnancy, I was still into gaming. The Sims 2, to be exact. I know, I should have grown out of it by now, but it was a slightly more involved way to waste time than Freecell.
Anyway, these days I can't even look at the game. Any time I even think of playing it, I feel slightly nauseous. All those months when I battled through morning sickness to play the game became a form of aversion therapy, and now the idea of putting in the CD makes me go a little green around the edges.
Similar effects have been noticed with boiled eggs. They were a staple in early pregnancy, but I find it hard to make one for myself, now. I enjoy eating them once I get going, but it's that initial hump that is difficult.
Now, why didn't it work for chocolate?
I've become an interesting case study in my own right. Because conditioning worked on me in one area, but not another.
When I was in the early months of pregnancy, I was still into gaming. The Sims 2, to be exact. I know, I should have grown out of it by now, but it was a slightly more involved way to waste time than Freecell.
Anyway, these days I can't even look at the game. Any time I even think of playing it, I feel slightly nauseous. All those months when I battled through morning sickness to play the game became a form of aversion therapy, and now the idea of putting in the CD makes me go a little green around the edges.
Similar effects have been noticed with boiled eggs. They were a staple in early pregnancy, but I find it hard to make one for myself, now. I enjoy eating them once I get going, but it's that initial hump that is difficult.
Now, why didn't it work for chocolate?
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Loch Ness Monster?
This image intrigued me. It's on the Sydney Morning Herald website.
I reckon it's a person's arm sticking up out of the water. You can even see the shadow at the front where they've stuck their head under.
Very clever photography, though!
Friday, June 01, 2007
This shouldn't happen in Autumn...
The early cold snap and unseasonally warm weather a few weeks ago has confused my spring bulbs, and they've popped up several months early. Just in time to be frozen by the winter frosts. I'm glad the tulips are still in the fridge.
And yes, I do need to do some weeding.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)