Gramma and Caleb

I may get a chance to see this little boy again very soon. Hoping that this week I'll see him in Ohio. Anxiously waiting.

Busy Weeks

Busy weeks sometimes become a blur. It is at times like this, that I really enjoy sitting down to my computer and bringing up layouts of stress free times, like those in beautiful places like Hawaii. Here we are by one on the Seven Sacred Pools with it's waterfall on Maui.

The Bible says there will be wars and rumors of wars until the end of time. But we have found ways to occasionally just get away from it all and appreciate some peaceful moments in nature.

Sea Arches

We were captivated by the beauty of these sea arches formed by lava flowing into the ocean.

One can find many pictures of these and other arches on the internet, but it isn't the same as actually being there. I'll not forget.

Have you heard this quote? Can't believe I had not heard it until today.

"You've heard Al Gore say he invented the Internet. Well, if he was so smart, why do all the addresses begin with "W"?"
-- President George W. Bush, 10-28-00, Headline News

God's Sweet Gift

The gift of life. Why has God given us life? Because He hopes someday to live with us in heaven. He wants people with him who truly love him. Before there was life on Earth, before there was earth, God made angels. But after time (we don't know how long) one of them became proud and decided he wanted to be like God, his maker. He was causing trouble in heaven. God threw him out and made the earth then created Adam and Eve to inhabit it.

I can't know what God's thoughts are. The Bible says,"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. Isaiah 55:7-9

So for my opinion after growth and study: God made man to live on earth, to be subjected to life with the influence of the devil. He has a purpose. This is like a school...for learning. He wants us to grow to love Him, our heavenly father, and long to be with him...free from all hurt, anguish, and pain. We all go through trials and tests and thus we will be quite happy to be in heaven when the time comes, and content knowing what the alternative is like.

If you don't know God, I suggest you find a Bible and open it. Some of it can be tedious for those who first pick it up without any foreknowledge. Start with John. It tells of God's love for us.

If you haven't noticed there is a place for comments. I'd like to hear your opinions.

Need for Change?

Along the trail to the Thurston Lava Tube nature provided peeks at God's art work. There were lovely ferns and trees. Even their roots were lovely to me.

I shot one of the places where the tube had a slit. There were not many though and when we entered the natural opening, it was quite dark inside. Ron took a picture of me with nothing but black behind me. Now here is the problem, I turned that photo of myself completely around and combined it with another picture with my back to the tube 'door' to make it more interesting. What I neglected to do was change the image size. Therefore I look much bigger than the 10 pounds a camera is known to add to a person. I look like a cow. Oh I know, I'm no slim little thing; but yikes, I look even bigger than usual. I could change it to be in proportion, but then I would like tiny. One could probably not tell who I am. Hmmm. That might be a good idea.

Oh well, change is not always good and I'm not changing it now.

Which reminds me. I saw a great bumper sticker on a car today: "Much more change and
there won't be any hope." Sad, but true.

If you would like to read more about the lava tube, double click the layout.

Hawaiian Trails and Cryptograms

I've written about all the activity we crammed into our days in Hawaii. On the 25th we walked from Kilauea Iki to the Lava Tube. It was quite lovely as one would expect. Tomorrow, I'll post two more layouts of the Lava Tube adventure.

I like to do the word cryptograms offered at www.wordles.com. Every morning, it is my first exercise of mental acuity. Along with each puzzle is a memorable quote...generally quite entertaining to me. One day recently Doug Larson was quoted as saying, "The principle function of March is to use up the winter weather that wouldn't fit into February."

We had our first preview of spring here today, with bright sun and 50 degrees.
This year we packed a lot of winter into February, so I'm hoping there is none left over for March. It feels so good to go outdoors without 10 pounds of wool on my back.

Cruise Hawaii

It was great sailing from one island to another. There were always great sights to see, history to learn and pictures to take.

We rented a car each day so we were able to go anywhere we wanted and covered the islands quite well, I believe. We saw many things we hadn't seen on previous trips. This layout shows the lava trail from Pu'u O'o to the sea on the big Island. It has been erupting since 1983. This was our third visit since then, but we had never seen it before. Volcanoes yes, but none active.

After all the running around, it was always nice to be able to go back to the ship, our room, our reserved seat in our chosen restaurant and order a scrumptious meal, then on to a show, before bedding down for the night. This schedule suited us well.