Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 119

Big Moon

As you probably have heard, last night and the night before the moon was the biggest and brightest it will be until the year 2034 (which is really just around the corner, if you think about it, so don’t sweat it if you missed this one).
Late Sunday afternoon, I was taking the dog for a walk through the trails in our woods, when I spied the moon rising. I ran back to the house for my camera and then back through the woods. I thought I could get cool pictures through the trees, but my camera didn’t know what to focus on, so they didn’t turn out.
I conceded and went to the end of the driveway where I had a clear shot down our road. Unfortunately I didn’t have my glasses on, so I couldn’t really tell if any of the pictures were turning out. It dawned on me that I have all these cool settings on my camera that I never use, so I scrolled through them. Of course, I never read my camera book, so I don’t know what any of those settings mean. But as already mentioned, I didn’t have my glasses on, so I couldn’t see the settings anyway.  
When I first bought my Yashica 35 mm FX-3 (here's a picture on Ebay of one exactly like the one I have stored away somewhere, peeled off fake leather and everything. You might want to read Sunday's post to understand why I still have that camera),  I played with all the settings and jotted notes in a little book so that once I got those pictures developed, I knew which settings worked best in each – well – setting. I know, it was all explained in that camera’s instruction book, just like in my current Nikon’s instruction book, but I am one of those who has to do the thing to learn how to do it.
So what do you think? Did any of my moons turn out? 





Yup, so those are all the settings on my Nikon CoolPix. Sure can't tell you which is which though. 

Getting Rid of Stuff

I had a different idea for my blog post today, but every time I open the files on my computer named “temporary pictures”, looking for a picture to use, my eye catches these and I am tired of looking at them.
As you may remember back on July 15, I closed my right index finger in the car door. Hubby had already locked the doors and my finger was stuck in the door. I’m screaming in the Sam’s Club parking lot, “open the doors, open the doors”. Bless his heart, it took Hubby a minute or two (or more likely three incredibly long seconds) for those words to register, coz that is a pretty complicated command that I was spewing out.
As soon as he unlocked the doors and I released my finger, I ran for the deli in Sam’s Club. Hubby’s trying to catch up to me and yelling behind me, “they won’t let you in without a card”. I yell back over my shoulder, “I don’t need a card, I have a finger!” (And those of you who know me, know that I never use my finger, seriously.)
I grabbed a cup from the soda fountain, filled it with ice, and stuck my finger in it. And you know how that felt – really good and really bad all at the same time.
Anyway, everyone told me, “that will take a while to grow out.” Yea, I’m thinking a month or two. And here it is FOUR months later. It’s getting sooo close, and yes, I think the fingernail is always going to have an un-divot on it. But truly it doesn’t look as bad as yesterday’s picture appears. I just couldn’t get my camera to focus.
Have you ever had something on your computer file, or paper file, or just on that pile on your kitchen counter of mail that you just need to go through and pitch? What a good feeling to get rid of it, right? Or at least abdicate it to the permanent file in the back room or on the external hard drive, or where ever you put stuff that you think you will need forever, and in reality you never look at it again.
And you know what that means? It means that I still have to edit that file of pictures from a ride to Rib Mountain State Park last May 7th and then get them off my computer.
Denise, what have you got to say?   July 15, about half an hour after smashing it
July 29, two weeks later, that's looking impressive November 12, FOUR months later, still growing out

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 1918, fighting ceased between the Allied Nations and the Central Powers, ending “the war to end all wars.”
The Allied Countries suffered over 5 million military causalities, over 2 million civilian causalities and nearly 13 million wounded. If you remember your world history class, the Allied Forces included: Great Britain, Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, France, Greece, India, Italy, Serbia and South Africa. Romania, Belgium, Montenegro and Portugal, though considered Neutral Countries, were also caught up in the conflict.
The Opposition, called the Central Powers, suffered 4 million military casualties, over 5 million civilian casualties and over 8 million military wounded. These countries were: Germany, Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.
Battles were fought on the now famous Western Front in Europe and in Italy, Gallipoli, Greece, the Balkan Peninsula, Africa, the Middle East, and the Falkland Islands, among others. Indeed, it was a World War.
It also came at a high monetary expense, costing the Allied Powers a total of $125,690,477,000 and the Central Powers $60,643,160,000. It was the first war ever where more men were killed due to direct conflict instead of from diseases contracted while in battle. 
(Disclaimer: Different websites I consulted for these facts didn’t all agree. In fact one website admitted that no one knows the exact statistics, so I gave it my best shot.)                   
 One year later, on November 11, 1919, “Armistice Day” originated as a day to remember this historic and dismal conflict. In 1926, Congress passed a resolution to make this date an annual observance, and in 1938, November 11 became Armistice Day, a national holiday.
Following World War II and the Korean War, it was decided that all veterans of war should be honored, so in 1954, President Eisenhower officially changed the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to Veterans Day.
The purpose of Veterans Day is to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. We need to pay tribute to all American veterans, both living and dead, but should especially give thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime.
Britain, France, Australia and Canada also honor their veterans from World Wars I and II during the month of November. Canada celebrates Remembrance Day and Great Britain has Remembrance Sunday. Many countries observe two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. on November 11.
I was maybe a little long-winded on this post, but I don’t know that the younger generation really has a grasp of what all this country, this world has gone through. How much we have fought and suffered to maintain our freedoms. I thought this was important to share this week. And as I finished all this research, I discovered, as I was writing this yesterday, that November 10th was the 241stbirthday of the United State Marine Corp. Semper Fi.

Something worth voting for

I’ve been posting lately about my recent travels, short trips around Wisconsin and Minnesota. I’m not done with my fall journeys, but since it is Election Day, I felt obligated to write about that instead. Something patriotic and uplifting, a reminder of the ideals our country was founded on. However no divine inspiration has wandered into my head. I thought about scourging the internet for just the right story, maybe something about an even more disdainful election, but perhaps part of the problem with our modern times is all the information at our fingertips on the web.
I’ve traveled a fair bit around these fifty States (ok, I’ve not been to Hawaii, but I was in Alaska in 1982), and I pulled up a few of the pictures I took on those travels, the photos that I’ve scanned into the computer and that turned out all right after years of fading.
I know that the people – family, friends and strangers – are the most important thing we have. But looking at these pictures, I can also say that we have so much more to fight for. There’s no reason why the United States cannot stay a great and mighty country, the home of the free and the brave.   Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, 1997
Custer National Park, South Dakota, 1997
 Badlands National Park, South Dakota, 1997
 Tahquamenon Falls, Michigan's UP, 2000
 Saguaro cactus, Arizona, 2003
Gooseberry Falls, Minnesota, 2007 Lake Superior, Michigan, 1998

What it means to Live in the Light

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12, New International Version)
One morning last week as I was heading to work in the dark, I pulled up to the four-way stop in our town. Three other vehicles also came to a stop at each of the other corners. We all sat for a minute, trying to decide who had arrived first and who was privy to going first. Slowly, one of the vehicles started creeping into the intersection. The other three of us let them go, which paved the way for each of the remaining cars to take their turn. Had it been daylight and we could have seen into each other’s driver’s seats, we would have seen someone waving us through. Or would have been the one waiting their turn, as we motioned the others to go.
In the darkness, we don’t know what to do. We’re confused and hesitate. We don’t want to cause an accident or injury. If we are walking around our familiar houses in the dark, we keep a hand on the wall or the furniture to keep from tripping.
How wonderful that as believers, we don’t have to stumble in the darkness. We have the light of our Lord and Savior to steer us on a safe path. 
Lord, God, Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your one and only Son to be the Light in our world, to guide us and carry us home. Amen.

Another small town - Princeton

I know that I’ve mentioned my mom’s cousin before, but I need to bring her up again as I might never have known about the Princeton Flea Market if it hadn’t been for the fact that she lived in the next town over. Whenever we visited, we’d either go rummaging or flea marketing or antique window shopping. All which were good activates to take the short drive to Princeton to do.    This October, I finally talked the Hubby into taking the short two plus hour drive there from our house.  Besides the Flea Market, Princeton is known for its antiques and antique shops. I think that the buildings downtown are all antiques themselves.  No comment regarding the political environment.  The Fox River runs through town and was running high the day we were there, thanks to the plentiful rains our state has been having.  When’s the last time you took a drive to check out the little towns in your state? 

Busy Little Neshkoro

Neshkoro is a niblet of a town in Marquette County just south of the center of the state of Wisconsin. Founded around 1848, its name supposedly comes from two early settlers, Mr. Nash and Mr. Kora. As is true of much of the state, German Settlers were drawn to the area because the climate and terrain were similar to the Homeland. At one time, Neshkora boasted a foundry, brick manufacturer, harness shop, meat market, mercantile shop, woolen mill, and grist mill.  I’ve driven through it maybe a dozen times over the years, and never gave it much of a thought. When Hubby and I drove through Neshkora a few weeks ago, however, the town was hosting its annual Scarecrow Festival. Crowds were flooding the Park to vote for their favorite scarecrow.  We were a bit overwhelmed, so we wandered from the fray and discovered the historic dam. More wandering brought us past one of the several murals in town (their website hasn’t been updated in a while).  But it was actually pretty brisk outside and like I said we were just passing through on our way to bigger and better things (as hard as that is to believe).
A cute little town nonetheless. I’ll have to stop again some time. 

When you hear sirens . . .

"The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." James 5:16b (New International Version)
Thirteen years ago, around this time of year, I was sitting in church one Sunday morning, when firetrucks, sirens whirring, sped past church. As always, whenever I hear sirens or the Flight for Fife overhead or any type of emergency vehicle, I sent up a prayer to heaven, asking that whatever was on fire, that no one was hurt and the damage was minimal. Church was soon over, and without giving it much more thought, I headed to the basement to teach Sunday school. An hour later, I stopped at the store before driving home.
When I finally pulled into our driveway, my 17-year-old son met me in the yard. My husband was working and Nick had been home alone with our German foreign exchange student.  I couldn’t figure out what was up, but from the look on Nick’s face, I knew something was going on.
He took me by my shoulders and spun me around to our storage shed behind the garage.
Shortly after I had left for church, he had looked out the front window and noticed flames coming from the shed. Being my boy scout, he assured our German student that he had it under control and threw a few buckets of water on the flames. He quickly realized that was futile and called 911, which shortly precipitated my prayers.
There hadn’t been much of value in the shed, but since our insurance paid out what it would cost to buy all that junk new, we made out pretty good.
So, next time you hear sirens, or have some other inkling telling you that you should send up a prayer for something you may know nothing about, do it. Just say:

Lord, God, whatever may going on right now, keep Your children safe and minimize their loses. Remind them that no matter what happens, You have got it covered. Amen   

An Apple Bar Surprise

I know that I promised last time that I was done with that road trip to Minnesota, but I am going to throw out one more thing. Just one.
At Jim’s Apple Farm in Jordan, I picked up a bag of apples, Honey Crisp, I believe they were. Shortly after returning home I attempted to make the obligatory apple pie. That was a fail. I pulled out a recipe for cherry bars that I had made last summer and tweaked it some.
They didn’t turn out too bad.
½ cup butter, softened1 cup sugar2 eggs ½ tsp vanilla extract½ tsp salt1 ½ cups flour
Preheat oven to 350. Mix above ingredients well. Spread ¾ of the dough into greased 9 x 12 baking pan. Peel and slice 5 apples. Mix with 1 tsp cinnamon and a couple tablespoons of sugar.  Spread over dough in pan. Drop the remaining dough by teaspoons over the filling.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown (I don’t remember how long I left them in for, but it seemed like it was longer than that, so just keep an eye on them). If you’ve read any other recipes on other people’s blogs, you may have noticed that they usually use a ton of pictures. This is the one time when I don’t. I’m just full of surprises, aren’t I?

Odds and Ends on the Way out of Minnesota

Yes, I’m still getting caught up on that short trip to Minnesota the first part of this month. How I can drag an overnight trip out this long is beyond me, yet here I am, finally sharing my way home. I’ve been to the Minnesota Renaissance Festivalmultiple times over the years. And since that occurs in the late summer and early autumn, we always stop in here, at Jim’s Apple Farm. Home of Minnesota’s largest candy store, among other things. If you recall, I got lost on the way to my friend’s house, so managed to get lost on the way back home. But in the words of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., “peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God".
Until I turned into this place, because it looked just way too cool to not check out. But even though the sign at the gate announced visiting hours, which were going on when I pulled in, I really did not feel comfortable stopping long enough to check it out. Instead I slowed down enough to snap some pictures, then skedaddled out of there. At home, I found the place on Google maps. It is the Cambodian Buddhist Temple. Out in the middle of nowhere south of the Twin Cities.
Then just up the road I ran across the EilenTrucking Business. Wow. I don’t know what their sculptures mean, but there are more that I didn’t get pictures of. Sometimes I’m just glad to cross the border back into Wisconsin.