Green to Golden

This is the time of the year when the green grassy hills around us begin fading to brown (er... I guess golden is more image-sensitive). Even though the winter was a wet one, March was more dry than usual, and we've had only a shower or two in April. Add in a few warmer than normal days, and that spells a drying out trend in the hills.

The pic below is what the hills behind us look like near the end of the rainy season.

This next one is what they look like now.

And finally, the one below is what the same hills will look like in another two or three weeks.

This is a yearly cycle that has played out forever. The only real problem is that the earlier the hills dry out, the earlier the fire season begins. There has been a big fire in SoCal near Pasadena this week. Just hope the weirdo fire bug types stay in their cages this year.

Sunday of Service, A Satisfying Day of Fellowship

As advertised, our Sunday of Service had something for everyone. After a heartfelt time of worship, we headed to our various job areas. There were outside jobs...



There were inside jobs.

Butch patiently explained about the various tasks.

There were jobs for teens.

There was food to prepare.

With lots of work comes an occasional injury.

Butch is happy, so we must have done well!!! :-)

Disaster Date

No, Virginia and I didn't have a bad dinner outing. This date, April 26, seems to have had more than it's share of tragic events in fairly recent history.

1942: Honkeiko Colliery mine explosion kills 1,549.

1986: Chernobyl nuclear reactor fire kills 31 and releases radiation into atmosphere.



















1991: 58 tornadoes, including an F5 in Andover, Kansas, cause 24 deaths.









So, if today hasn't been a good day for you, dear reader, it definitely could have been worse. :-)

Tomorrow: Sunday of Service, which I'm guessing will not be a disaster.

Tag, I'm It

I was tagged by Karen, a friend and fellow blogger, today. According to the rules, I'm supposed to list seven random facts about me and tag 5 people who read my blog to do likewise. I guess I'll give it a go:

1. I have a 40th high school reunion this coming August.
2. I got to speak French with store clerk a few weeks back. (Frankly, I'm surprised I remembered enough vocab to say anything!!)
3. My middle name is Lynn, and my mom used to call me Ricky Lynn when she was mad at me.
4. A long time runner, I have not run since June because of a sore Achilles tendon. (Thank goodness for bikes and ellipticals.)
5. Likely related, I weigh more than I ever have... and it's not all muscle. :-)
6. I'll spend most of next week in Malibu. (Not a surfing competition, but the Pepperdine Bible Lectures.)
7. I often have a song in my head.

OK, that's it. I'll tag Philip, Amber, Jeannie, Neisha, and Keith.

Sunday of Service

For the last few years we have scheduled a Sunday of Service once or twice a year. I think we actually stole... uhhh borrowed... the title from another church, but basically it's a day of working around the building in teams. The work needs to be done, the fellowship is amazing, and the lunch we eat together tastes even better because of the first two.

The core value involved here is stewardship. God has blessed our church with property and a facility, and this is one way we join together to take care of it. Some will trip trees or other work on the grounds; some will polish wood or clean the baptistery or put out attendance cards; some will work with younger kids or prepare food for the rest of us. It's one big team effort, and even those who aren't able to do a lot of work can bless others with their presence.

Our next Sunday of Service is this coming Sunday. Plans are made, work will be done, and God will be honored.

One More Look

And Claire keeps crawling...

April in Moscow - 4, Race Day

Sunday morning we got up early and headed to Spokane for a race Jennifer had registered to run. It was a trail race in a state park, mostly along the river. They actually offered a 5K, 10K, 25K, and 50K, and Jen, along with most of the other runners, chose the 10K. It was in the upper 20s and clear when we headed north from Moscow. However, as we approached Spokane we started to get snow, sometimes enough to accumulate.

The race course was through some beautiful but fairly rough terrain. There were a few hills, and the footing along some of the trail was sketchy, but the winner rain around 30:00 I think, although he was pretty much all alone.

This shot certainly recalls many times from years past... from when the kids were little and we were taking them to either to cross country meets with the Cabot High School team I was coaching or to road races. Talk about a role reversal! I guess I'm back to being "coach" for a day. It was still pretty cold and windy as the race began, even though the snow moved on to the west. By race's end, it had warmed up to the upper 30's with sun, so it wasn't too bad on the spectators... the ones who always suffer most from cold race conditions. :-)

Kaleb enjoyed the race in his own way, exploring and using his inventive imagination.

Jen, Fok and Claire with some fellow racers before the 10K start.

Here are a couple of shots of Jen a little after the 5 mile mark.

After race shots with Virginia and Fok. He runs as well, but chose to be chief encourager and Claire's dad for this one.

And, or course, what would a race day be without some time with Claire!?!

April in Moscow - 3

Saturday morning it was about 30 degrees and Kaleb had soccer practice at 9:00, so I took him. He has a pretty creative coach, which was good because only 5 of the 9 or so players actually made it to practice. He started off with them playing follow-the-leader while dribbling the soccer ball. They went around trees; they went up, down, over, and around playground equipment... they had fun as you can see in the shots below.


He then gathered them up for various drills and competitive games with the ball. With only 5 he again had to be creative. It was cold and the hour passed by pretty slowly for the lone spectator, but the kids had fun and worked on their skills. Kaleb and I headed for hot drinks after practice.

Here are a few other shots that I especially like from Saturday.

April in Moscow - 2

After a delay at Spokane Airport due to mechanical difficulty, we finally made it home tonight. I'll write a little more about the trip tomorrow, but I have to post a little video. Let me explain. Claire loves to sit up and pull up to stand and walk a bit. However, she pretty much has skipped the rolling over from her back stage, and, since she learned to crawl from a sitting position instead of from her stomach, she has a really strange crawl. Check it out!!

This first one illustrates her love for good music. The CD player she turned on had a Frank Sinatra Christmas CD.

Here's a clip from a different angle. Talk about a purposeful pursuit of something just out of her reach!

More later...

April in Moscow

Ordinarily in west central Idaho in mid-April spring is beginning to be evident all around. And, on this trip north, we have been greeted by blooming bulb flowers (from Jen's yard above) and budding trees and shrubs. However, mild weather has given way to some wintry winds, and some places even had record low highs for this date. Still, we're enjoying the visit and making the most of our grand kid time.

We got this look the Friday morning as Clarie was deciding if this Nanna and Pappa thing was really OK.

Here's our Kaleb with his new specs. Turns out he's nearsighted, so these were a welcome addition. At least his eyes weren't quite as bad as his Pappa's at about that age.

About the best brother and sister combo around.

On Friday afternoon FedEx delivered a box with some cool new toys for Claire. Kaleb was trying to get her interested, but her attention was firmly fixed on the cardboard and wrapping tape.

Claire got used to us more quickly than we thought, and we're getting to see this face most of the time. Nanna is laughing or something... no, she's not drunk. :-) More later...

Weather Roller Coaster

Last week it was unusually warm for early April in the Bay Area. Then, beginning Sunday evening it turned cooler. We went from mid 80s last week to mid 60s this week. But it's supposed to turn around again beginning tomorrow or Thursday. But I guess all that is not too surprising in this area, so influenced by ocean breezes, high pressure zones and ranging hills.

Thursday we're flying to Spokane and driving to Moscow to see the grandkids (Jen and Fok too). I think there we'll lose another 25 degrees, so we're planning on taking some warm clothes.

Now... if we'd just get some rain... April showers you know.

A Day at Muir Woods

Up until today it's been much warmer than normal for this time of year. One day last week they set a record for this date in Oakland at 85. That's warm for Oakland almost any time of the year. Well, warm weather makes for great outdoor activities, so Saturday we met our good friends, Jon and Jan Florence, at Muir Woods for hiking, sightseeing and conversation. Jon was out in SF for a conference and Jan flew out Thursday, so they had already done a little of the tourist thing even before we met them Saturday. It sure was fun to get to spend time with them, and Muir Woods is just awesome... I could hang out there pretty often.

We even look fairly fresh after a day on the trails, but looks can be deceiving!

Of course the main attraction at Muir Woods are the amazing Coastal Redwoods. They, along with their cousins, the Giant Sequoias, are among the oldest and most massive living things on earth.

There are also some other interesting living things, including this 6 inch slug...

... this really cool flower...

... and this one.

It was a great day. I'll post a few more Muir Woods pics another day.

New Grandkid Pics

Jen posted some new pics of the kids and family. Here's a sampling; for more check our her Flicker site.

This girl seems to love hats.

Come to think of it, as much as she smiles, maybe she just loves life... and her mom!

I think she also loves her dad!

Kaleb seems to have gotten this ice skating thing going pretty well. That puts him well ahead of his Papa.

Cool third grader!

And what looks to be a cool science project.

Pretty special relationship between this brother and sister I'd say.