Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 109

Look for the Rainbow

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”Genesis 9 (New International Version)
I was having a hard time last night coming up with something to write about here this morning. I wasted time, as usual, scrolling through Facebook posts. Someone had shared a picture of a rainbow, and I thought – ah-ha – that’s it.
Why are we so fascinated by rainbows? Why do we drop what we are doing when we see one? Or if it is late in the day and it’s been raining when the sun suddenly comes out, why do we start looking for the rainbow in the eastern sky? (Or am I the only one who does that?)
A lot of people have read the passage above or at least know the story of God sending the rainbow after the flood. But I think that without even knowing this story, we want to look for something beautiful after the storm. We have an innate desire for there to be something better on the other side. God knew this about us when he created us and so He sent the rainbow to Noah and Jesus to the rest of us.
Thank You, Lord God, for all that you send us, for granting us something good at the end of every trial. But mostly thank You for sending Your Son to save us. Amen.   While in Kenya in April, we witnessed not one, but two rainbows. The first one was as we were going into the Rift Valley one morning after a rain shower
 The second one was late in the day right in town while we were waiting for one of the girls to get her hair braided. 

Baby Elephants!

I once again frittered away much of this week and woke up this morning realizing that I haven’t posted here since Tuesday. There are so many adventures (misadventures, more like it) that I have left to share, but my laziness leaves me with only time to post pictures.
While in Kenya, two months ago today, we spent the day touring various animal parks in and around Nairobi. I feel I bonded with the baby crocodile the most, but that is a story for another time, since today I wanted to just share the baby elephant pictures instead.
All these pictures were taken at the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. How can you not fall in love with an orphaned baby elephant?









For more information on these elephants and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, click here. 

He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

I don’t write much about my brother, perhaps because I never thought there was much to say.  He’s sixteen years older than I am, so he wasn’t much of a part of my childhood. When I was in middle school and high school, he lived at home in a room above the garage for a while, but I only ever saw him at supper-time.
For many years now, I’ve only seen him a few times a year and talked to him on the phone only a few times more. Since Mom passed away in February, our contact has been much more frequent. This past Sunday, we spent the day together at a niece’s family picnic. He shared some stories from his youth that I have never heard. I’m sure he has a lot more to say, and maybe I need to make the effort to hear them.
In honor of his birthday today, I’m sharing some of the old pictures of him that I found in Mom’s stuff. Lucky for me, he doesn’t have internet, so if you know him and run into him this week, don’t tell him I posted this. But you can wish him a happy birthday.   Happy birthday, you dashing older man.

Graduation Day 2017

Today is high school graduation here in my hometown. I haven’t been to graduation since my second-born graduated in 2008. I’d be proud to call the girl graduating today my daughter, but instead I just got to borrow her a few times a month over the last seven years. I wish her the very best and I hope she knows that I will always be there for her.  2011 July - my backyard   2011 September - at Timm's Hill 2012 August - my backyard   2012 September - at Kelly Arms Castle    2013 May - Colton Dixon concert in Milwaukee  2013 October - Bowling  2014 August - Chism Ranch for our yearly horseback ride   2014 December - Christmas! 2015 December - Another Christmas  2016 February - modeling her new outfit in Petsmart   2016 April - going to Prom  2017 May - with her art at the Senior Art Show Ciaara, I'm so proud of you. Remember, you can do anything you put your mind to.

(It only takes an hour a week or four hours a month to change the life of a child and change your own life as well. Get involved. No matter where you live. http://kinshipinc.org/affiliate-network/ or http://www.mentoring.org/ )

This Time of Year

When I was growing up, every year in May, Mom went on a rhubarb cake frenzy. Her sister, her boss, several friends and even herself all had birthdays in May. A friend of hers, who raised corn and gladiolas (probably other stuff, but those are the things I remember), also grew rhubarb plants. So every May, she would fork over paper grocery bags full of rhubarb, which Mom baked into nontraditional birthday cakes for everyone she knew.
At the time, I didn’t like rhubarb cake. I didn’t like raisins, walnuts, or oatmeal either. I still can’t tolerate a bowl of cooked oatmeal – it’s like eating phlegm – but at least I’ll eat me some oatmeal cookies now. I’ve expanded my tastes and textures (except when it comes to phlegm), so have grown fond of rhubarb cake.
Here’s Ma’s recipe, as I copied it from her hand-written index card.
Rhubarb Cake1/3 cup shortening1 cup sugar1 egg¾ cup milk1 2/3 cup flourSalt 1 tsp soda2 cups raw rhubarbMix as for cake. Put in 9 x 12 panTopping½ cup white sugar½ cup brown sugarCinnamon½ cup chopped nutsPat on topping. Bake 350 for 40 minutes 


 For those of you who want exact measures, I use ½ teaspoon salt. Mom had an old yellow coffee cup with a broken handle that she kept on her stove filled with salt. Whenever she was cooking or baking, she’d dip a kitchen spoon in the salt and add a random amount to whatever she was making. It always worked. And the cinnamon? At least a teaspoon, coz you can’t have too much cinnamon. Also, the pan needs to be greased. I also cut back on the brown and white sugar in the topping to a third cup. It’s good with more, but messy coz it’s too thick to bake into the cake.

















 

One last thought on rhubarb cake. When we were camping one time, Mom took a rhubarb cake along to eat. She stored it in the camper’s oven when we were traveling, but forgot it when we got home. A couple weeks later, looking for that metal cake pan, she remembered where she’d left it. I don’t remember what was left of the cake as being a moldy, dried up mess. What I do remember though, after we scraped it out, was that the acid from the rhubarb had eaten holes in the metal pan. Just a word to the wise. 

A Ride with my two Besties

I’ve really enjoyed sharing my pictures from my recent trip to Africa, but as promised, I will start sprinkling in other adventures. I’m not done with Kenya, though, so stay tuned if you aren’t completely bored with it yet.
Earlier this year, as I was beginning to make our summer camping plans, I found out that the state park that we always go to in the UP had a significant amount of damage over the winter. Lake Superior eroded away so much of the shoreline that they lost part of the road and there was damage to the water lines to the restrooms. They didn’t know how much of the campground would be open for the summer or what services would be available. With heavy hearts, Hubby and I decided maybe we should try a different place this summer.  The last weekend in April, we took a ride west of here to check out a few places.
Of course, we made a lot of stops along the way. The first was the historic stone bridge in Spirit.  Next we stopped at the church in Ogema, just because they had a rummage sale. We surely don’t need any more rummage at our house, but couldn’t pass up the baked goods.   The South Fork of the Jump River at Copper Dam campsite. I bet the water is even higher now. The campsite, however, was a little too rustic for us.
 At Lions Memorial Park on the Chequamegon Waters Flowage. 
 My handsome Dino. 
 Chippewa Campground near Hannibal in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Still rustic, but I think it could work for us. At least the campsites were large.
 The Chippewa River near Jim Falls.
 The only picture I took at Lake Wissota State Park in Chippewa Falls. I must have just been tired by then. Or else…

What are we remembering?

Hope you are having a good Memorial Day weekend. Memorial Day means different things to different people. 
Our younger generation probably doesn’t think too much about what it means. They’ve not lost a loved one in a war in a foreign country, or if they have, they don’t appreciate why that is significant.  The older generation remembers Vietnam and Korea. Much of our population who lived through World War II have passed away. World War I is now only in the history books.
 The Middle East conflict? I wish I could say that I understand that, but I do know that we have lost a lot of good people there.
 Looking through our old family pictures, I came across this one. Supposedly it is of my father’s father. It would have been taken before my father was born in 1915 in Germany. If the man in this picture had been called to duty to fight in a war, it would have been World War I and he would have been fighting for the Germans. Against the United States.   Does that make him a bad man? Does that make him an enemy? He would have been fighting for his country, whether he believed in what he was fighting for or not. He would have been fighting for the only thing he knew.

 But in the end, if this is indeed my grandfather, he came to America in 1923, with his oldest son.
 The following year, this woman, my grandmother followed him here.  Along with four of her children, Paul, Frank, Klara and Emmy. That would be my father on the far left. 
Moral of this story, whatever you remember today, remember family and the good stuff. 

Faces of Faith

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (New International Version)
One more round of pictures of the kids at Southern Cross Academy. As heavy as the burdens are that many of them carry, they still manage to smile and laugh.
May God lighten their loads. 







I may have shared some of these already, but it’s surprising that I don’t remember seeing some of them before, even though I took them all.
Very soon we will start planning our next project in Kenya. You can donate to our work there at any time by clicking this link. Or mail your check to Tumaini Volunteers, Inc., PO Box 726, Wausau, WI  54402. Thanks for your support. 

2017 Kenya Log Entry 14

I promise this will be the last post about my trip to Kenya in April. Or at least it will be for a while. I have more to share, but will probably spread that out over the next few weeks. You may or may not want to know other things that have been going on in my life, so I should get back to that. 
I need to close the Kenya Log series with the culmination of our work. The Rabbit Project.
After the 45 minute ride from the rabbit project farm in Kikuyu to Southern Cross Academy in Maai Mahiu, the rabbits arrived at their new home.   The kids were understandably excited and wanted to know all about the rabbits. 

 They also wanted to help, so we let them move the food dishes. 

 Peter, the caretaker of the rabbits, doing one final inspection of the hutches. 

 Each rabbit got their own cage, with one of the six males in each of the rows. 
 Rachel did not want to give up the sweet Angora rabbit she had brought from Kikuyu. 
 Hey, little bunny, not to put any pressure on you, but you have work to do. 
 Make lots of baby bunnies so these kids will have an income at their school, so they can continue their education, learn lots and make a difference in their own lives and the lives of those around them. 
Last we heard, the rabbits were doing well. I’ll let you know in a few months how it all turns out.  

2017 Kenya Log Entry 13

I will probably have more to say about my trip to Kenya last month, more pictures and stories, but I think it is time to share the outcome of the whole trip. The grand reveal. The purpose of the trip and the end result of a year of planning.
On Tuesday, our last day in Kenya, we picked up the rabbits and delivered them to Southern Cross Academy!  First though, we needed to load their food bowls in the van. 
 This bunny is ready to go to a new home.
 So are these guys. 
 They were loaded in crates. Two. 
 Then four.
 Then six. 
 Ended up a little too crowded.
 So Mike ran for more crates before we left for the 45 minute ride
 Though the crates were a bit crowded, it was still safer for them then to roam free in the van. 
 Then each of us got to hold one on our lap on the way to the school. 


 Oops, I think that’s enough pictures for this post. I guess you will have to wait one more day to see them arriving at the school.