Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 15

A Few Proverbs

        Proverbs 14, Verse 34 - Doing what is right makes anation great, but sin will bring disgrace to many people. (New Century Version)

In my Friday morning Bible group, we studied chapter14 of Proverbs this week. Lots of good verses in there, and I thought I wouldjust share a few today.

        Verse 21 - It’s criminal to ignore a neighbor in need,but compassion for the poor—what a blessing! (The Message)

        Verse 22 - Those who make evil plans will be ruined, butthose who plan to do good will be loved and trusted. (NCV)

        Verse 11 - The work of the wicked will perish; thework of the godly will flourish. (Living Bible)

        Verse 31 - Anyone who oppresses the poor is insultingGod who made them. To help the poor is to honor God. (LB)

There are thirty more chapters in the book ofProverbs, all containing verses just as applicable to all of us today.

(Oh, and the picture above is of Bridal Veil Falls in the Black Hills. I still had to slip in our trip to South Dakota here.)

Not Rough At All – Dakota Vacation blog post #15

Oneday we finally saw something new in South Dakota. And it was worth the seventypictures I snapped. I wish we would have stayed there longer than an hour andexplored more.

 Roughlock Falls is an absolutely beautiful place along the Little Spearfish Creek, about fifteen miles south of Spearfish.

There is a developed walking trail along the water, but it didn’t feel too developed. There were also a fair number of people, but not so many to be intrusive.

Many gentle rapids and small waterfalls until you get farther downstream where the main falls is – called the Upper Falls. I couldn’t find anywhere just how tall it was, but Hubby and I guessed around thirty or forty feet.

But that wasn’t all. Just a little further downstream, the water veers all over a twenty-foot-wide swath, tumbling down in little rivulets. Like something out of Middle Earth.

With all that beauty, don't forget to still look up. Amazing place. 

Been there, Done that – Dakota Vacation blog post #14

Ifyou’ve been to the Black Hills of South Dakota, you’ve surely driven along theNeedles Highway. 

 It’s cool, but another one of those once and done deals. How many times have I ridden this windy road? 

The tunnels scare me to death, 

even the one where a Storm Trooper was standing guard.

And way out there, past this tunnel, what is that in the distance.

Oh, but first we stopped at Norbeck Overlook, named for Peter Norbeck. He was a governor and US senator of South Dakota, who lived from 1870 to 1936. He was instrumental in development of Needles Highway, Badlands National Park, Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, and more.

I guess that gives it away.

Yet another – “been there, done that”. 

Never Give Up, Never Quit – Dakota Vacation blog post #13

Now you should finish what you started.Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving.Give in proportion to what you have. (2 Corinthians 8:11, New LivingTranslation)

1969was the first year I traveled through South Dakota. My sister Pat and I werecamping with our parents, heading to Yellowstone, but they took the time todrive through the Black Hills.

Ican’t remember much – I was seven years old for heaven sakes! But I have someof the black and white photos and the home movies from the 8mm camera. The mostprized possession, though, is Dad’s Camping Log.

Anyway,that was the first time I saw Crazy Horse, and it didn’t look much differentthan the picture above, which I took further down the road on the Needles highway this June. And they’dstarted work on it in 1947!

Thehuge mountain carving still has a way to go. I don’t think it will be finishedin my lifetime.

Butit is still a reminder to finish what we start, no matter how long it takes. Whateveryou do, put your trust in the Lord and never give up.

So we do not give up. Our physical body isbecoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day. (2Corinthians 4:16, New Century Version)

 

A Couple of Herds and Some Kind Strangers - Dakota Vacation blog post #12

Yes, I’m still writing about our vacationout west in June. Seems we did way more than I thought we did at the time. Today,I’ll tell you about two wildlife encounters which happened thanks to kind strangers.

First, we were driving along the paved roadof Custer State Park when a car came off of the dirt road to the right and thedriver was waving at us like crazy.

We stopped to listen and he said thatthere were thousands of buffalo back up the road they had just came down.

We thanked them and hung a sharp right.

          After driving about ten minutes, wecame over a ridge and saw maybe twenty buffalo off to the left.  

          Okay, nice to see them, but it wasn’tclose to thousands.     

          Aftera few dozen pictures, we continued and drove over the next hill.      

          Ah ha. This was where the herd of thousandswas grazing. Well, still maybe not thousands, but certainly hundreds. 

       And lots and lots of adorable calves. 

          And this guy. Not sure where he camefrom; he’s just trying to fit in. 

      We finally got through the herd and drove another 10 or 15 minutes to where the road narrowed with hills on both sides, sparse trees sprinkled about. An SUV with Michigan plates was stopped in front of us, looking at something. We couldn’t tell what, but we stopped behind them and just kept looking too.

          I took random pictures up the hillside, hoping my camera would catch what I could not. 

          Eventually, another vehicle came from the other direction and the first folks flagged them down. Hubby crawled out of our Honda at that point and asked what they were looking at. 

            A herd of elk were on the top of the ridge. Knowing now what I was looking for and where, I was able to zoom in on them with my camera and catch them, while hanging out the sunroof. 

          Scrolling back through my previous pictures, yes, I captured them then as well, but pretty out of focus. And does it count if I can’t see what I’m taking pictures of?

A Couple of Herds and Some Kind Strangers - Dakota Vacation blog post #13

Yes, I’m still writing about our vacationout west in June. Seems we did way more than I thought we did at the time. Today,I’ll tell you about two wildlife encounters which happened thanks to kind strangers.

First, we were driving along the paved roadof Custer State Park when a car came off of the dirt road to the right and thedriver was waving at us like crazy.

We stopped to listen and he said thatthere were thousands of buffalo back up the road they had just came down.

We thanked them and hung a sharp right.

          After driving about ten minutes, wecame over a ridge and saw maybe twenty buffalo off to the left.  

          Okay, nice to see them, but it wasn’tclose to thousands.     

          Aftera few dozen pictures, we continued and drove over the next hill.      

          Ah ha. This was where the herd of thousandswas grazing. Well, still maybe not thousands, but certainly hundreds. 

       And lots and lots of adorable calves. 

          And this guy. Not sure where he camefrom; he’s just trying to fit in. 

      We finally got through the herd and drove another 10 or 15 minutes to where the road narrowed with hills on both sides, sparse trees sprinkled about. An SUV with Michigan plates was stopped in front of us, looking at something. We couldn’t tell what, but we stopped behind them and just kept looking too.

          I took random pictures up the hillside, hoping my camera would catch what I could not. 

          Eventually, another vehicle came from the other direction and the first folks flagged them down. Hubby crawled out of our Honda at that point and asked what they were looking at. 

            A herd of elk were on the top of the ridge. Knowing now what I was looking for and where, I was able to zoom in on them with my camera and catch them, while hanging out the sunroof. 

          Scrolling back through my previous pictures, yes, I captured them then as well, but pretty out of focus. And does it count if I can’t see what I’m taking pictures of?

Dinosaur Hill - Dakota Vacation blog post #11

DinosaurPark is a quirky attraction in Rapid City. And even though it was free, I mighthave passed on visiting it, except it was less than a mile from the Airbnb wherewe were staying for four days in June.  

Theseven dinosaurs were built in 1936, after fossils of real dinosaurs were foundin the surrounding area. 

Thedinosaurs look cartoonish to us now, but that didn’t keep kids from crawling allover them. Or perhaps that’s why they felt safe doing so. Like any of these creatureswould hurt anyone? 

Therealso have been renovations in the last few years. The dinosaurs have had newpaint jobs, and the trails to get to all of them will be handicap accessible,once they are finished. 

Butthe views from the top, next to the brontosaurus, make the hike worth the visit.    

Dinosaur Hill - Dakota Vacation blog post #12

DinosaurPark is a quirky attraction in Rapid City. And even though it was free, I mighthave passed on visiting it, except it was less than a mile from the Airbnb wherewe were staying for four days in June.  

Theseven dinosaurs were built in 1936, after fossils of real dinosaurs were foundin the surrounding area. 

Thedinosaurs look cartoonish to us now, but that didn’t keep kids from crawling allover them. Or perhaps that’s why they felt safe doing so. Like any of these creatureswould hurt anyone? 

Therealso have been renovations in the last few years. The dinosaurs have had newpaint jobs, and the trails to get to all of them will be handicap accessible,once they are finished. 

Butthe views from the top, next to the brontosaurus, make the hike worth the visit.    

Do Good – Dakota Vacation blog post #10

“Remember to observe the Sabbath day bykeeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but theseventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God.” (Exodus20:8-10, New Living Translation).

TheSaturday night we spent in Rapid City, South Dakota, we visited the Chapel inthe Hills late in the day, planning to attend the 7:30 pm service.

Thechapel is built in the style of an original stave church (in Norwegian,"stavkirke") and is an exact replica of the famous Borgund stavkirke,of Laerdal, Norway.

Ialready shared the two prayer trails that I walked through. Also on the groundswas a log cabin built by a Norwegian immigrant Edward Nielsen in 1876. 

Insidewere many items which would have been found in a Scandinavian home at the time.  

Lenaand Ole were standing watch outside, of course.

                     

Alsoon the grounds is an authentic grass roofed store house, called a stabbur. Itwas built in Norway and shipped to Rapid City where it was reassembled. It nowserves as a gift shop of Scandinavian merchandise and crafts. 

 

Butthe beautiful stave church is still the showpiece.

 

Andfor us that night, it was also about the service we attended. Though it was Saturdaynight, the pastor spoke on the meaning of the third commandment. 

Then Jesus went over to their synagogue, wherehe noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the lawpermit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping he wouldsay yes, so they could bring charges against him.)

And he answered, “If you had a sheep thatfell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of courseyou would. And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the lawpermits a person to do good on the Sabbath.”

Then he said to the man, “Hold out yourhand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the otherone! (Matthew 12:9-13, New Living Translation)  

So, don’t get bogged down in technicalities. Yes, always remember the Day of the Lord, but also always do good. 

City of Presidents – Dakota Vacation blog post #9

 

Forfour days of our trip to the Dakotas in June, we stayed at an Airbnb in RapidCity. We were only about four blocks from downtown, so the morning of our firstfull day in town, we walked there to see why Rapid City is called the City ofPresidents. 

Alonga 10-block loop of downtown sidewalks, life-sized bronze statues of past USpresidents stand and sit. 

In1999, local businessman Don Perdue was inspired by a temporarily relocated statueof Abraham Lincoln outside one of the downtown hotels. Random people weretaking notice of the statue, talking to Lincoln as if he were a real person. Perduewondered if all the presidents would get such a reaction. 

Witha lot of convincing, a lot of fundraising, and hours of research, the projectgot off the ground later that year.

Thefirst four statues of George Washington, John Adams, Ronald Reagan, and GeorgeH.W. Bush were unveiled in 2000. 

Overthe next ten years, local artists worked to create and place all 40 of theremaining statues.

And,yes, more presidents will be added as they finish their terms in office. 

I’msorry that I couldn’t post pictures of all of them here. You’ll have to go see themfor yourself.

Can you name all the ones I've shared here?