Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 30

That’s a Wrap – annual camping in the UP, Blog Post #4

Our annual camping trip to the UP was cut short becauseof the unrelenting pain in my back. Our last day there, Wednesday, we stillmade the run up to the Jampot, near Eagle River, for jams and treats from thedear monks who run the bakery.

They grow beautiful roses too.

Every time we drive through Eagle River, we glance over at the Historical Museum, but it has always been closed. Like many such museums in small towns, it has quirky hours. But lo and behold, it was open that day and we took a quick tour.

Eagle River Falls, which at one time had much more water flowing over it, but it’s been this scanty for many years now it seems.

Just up the road is the County Courthouse.

And just past that is the County Sheriff’s office.

And at the end of that street is the Gitchee Gumee Bible Camp. I always wanted to check it out, but this is probably the closest I’ll get.

Lake Superior, aka the real Gitchee Gumee, will always be the most fascinating part of the trip for me though.

And seeing a freighter out on the water always excites me.

serenity and so much more

Godgrant me the serenity

Toaccept the things I cannot change;

Courageto change the things I can;

Andwisdom to know the difference. ( Written by Reinhold Neibuhr in the 1930s)

Everynight, after I go bed, I recite the Lord’s Prayer in my head and follow thatwith all the things I am thankful for, all the things I’ve done which need tobe forgiven, and my long list of prayer requests.

Thelast few months, I’ve added the serenity prayer. Thinking about that prayer, I’vechanged things around a bit and added something like this:

Godgrant me peace, God take away my fear.  

Godgrant me healing, God take away my pain.

Godgrant me rest, God take away my anxiety.  

Youget the idea, and I’m sure you can come up with your own list. I’ve beenreciting this new list in my head until I drift off to sleep, which is one ofthose things I always ask God to grant me.

Anyway,it’s just a thought for something for you to try if you feel your prayer lifeis stagnant.

Alsohave you read the entire Serenity Prayer?

Godgrant me the serenity

Toaccept the things I cannot change;

Courageto change the things I can;

Andwisdom to know the difference.

 

Livingone day at a time;

Enjoyingone moment at a time;

Acceptinghardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking,as He did, this sinful world

 

Asit is, not as I would have it;

Trustingthat He will make all things right

IfI surrender to His Will;

Sothat I may be reasonably happy in this life

 

Andsupremely happy with Him

Foreverand ever in the next.

Amen

Top of the Hill and More – annual camping in the UP, Blog Post #3

The last time I wrote here about our camping trip to theUP in July, we were just leaving the World War II Glider Museum in IronMountain. The volunteer working there directed us to the ski lift on top ofPine Mountain, not only for the jump but for the veteran’s memorial that wasthere.    

          It sits above the Pine Mountain Ski and Golf Resort. We took pictures from the bottom and the top. And it was definitely worth the drive up.        

          The views were breathtaking.        

          And the veteran’s memorial was touching.

          We ate lunch there under the picnic shelter. It was comfortable in the sun and slightly cool in the shade. One of the better weather days of the trip.  

Words you might need today

 

Lord,listen to me and answer me.

    I am poor and helpless.

2Protect me, because I worship you.

    My God, save me, your servant who trusts inyou.

3Lord, have mercy on me,

    because I have called to you all day.

4Give happiness to me, your servant,

    because I give my life to you, Lord.

5Lord, you are kind and forgiving

    and have great love for those who call toyou.

6Lord, hear my prayer,

    and listen when I ask for mercy.

7I call to you in times of trouble,

    because you will answer me.

 

8Lord, there is no god like you

    and no works like yours.

9Lord, all the nations you have made

    will come and worship you.

    They will honor you.

10You are great and you do miracles.

    Only you are God.

11Lord, teach me what you want me to do,

    and I will live by your truth.

Teachme to respect you completely.

12Lord, my God, I will praise you with all my heart,

    and I will honor your name forever.

13You have great love for me.

    You have saved me from death. (Psalm 86, NewCentury Version)

 

Beautiful verses fromthe Book of Psalms. Maybe these are words you need today. 

Backyard Encounter

As usual, I had other things I planned to write about tonight, but then there was this amazing backyard encounter at my house yesterday afternoon which I just had to share. 
If you know me at all, you've heard about Emma, our special kitty. She has a seizure disorder and is just not right in the head. When I lay out on the deck, she wants to be outside too, but I have to keep an eye on her because if she were to wander off, there's no way she'd find her way home. Usually, she lays under a chair or the grill, in the shade and sleeps, but sometimes she does jump off the deck. 
It was time for both of us to go back in the house. I looked around, and there she was under the clothesline, stalking something. I only had my cellphone, in case someone called, and not my regular camera, so the pictures aren't the best. I suppose I need to cave and upgrade my cell, huh?  It didn't take me long to see what Emma was stalking. Little stinker. 
The doe was just as curious. Sorry about the clothes on the line. Yes, I'm that old-fashioned. 
 So this stupid deer, turns and wanders off in the woods, with Emma still looking for her. And that doe circles around on my trail and comes out in the yard behind Emma.  And Emma is oblivious. Like she's saying, "Which way did he go, George?" from the old cartoon "Of Foxes and Hounds".  

And the doe just wants to find out what Emma is.  "Oh, hello, there!" The moment of truth. And Emma hissed and the deer took off.  And Emma's still like, "Which way did he go?"

Exploring a Nearby Park with my Sister

Aweek ago last Wednesday, I took my sister out for a short adventure at Oak Parkand Fern Island in downtown Wausau, Wisconsin.

If you’ve never been there, it is worth the short trip. Easy to find and an easy walk out to the island, with trails to explore.

 

 Sisters forever! 

Two in One Museum – annual camping in the UP, Blog Post #2

Over the years, we’ve stopped at this place in IronMountain, walked around the grounds, and debated taking a tour. We always hadDino, the Wonder Dog, with us, and though we’d left him in the truck at otherplaces, there was no shade to park in and a cloudless sky above. This year, as sad as it was not having our recentlydeparted companion with us, we paid for our tickets and went on in.

The Cornish Pumping Engine and Mining Museum and The World War II Glider and Military Museum are in two buildings next to each other and display a large number of artifacts and a lot of history. 

The Cornish Pumping Engine is the largest standingsteam-driven pumping engine ever built in the United States and one of thelargest pumping engines in the world.

It removed the water from Iron Mountain's Chapin Mine,which was one of the wettest mines ever worked, and the largest producer ofiron ore on the Menominee Iron Range.

The next room holds the Mining Museum.

A collection of mining artifacts, which were interesting,but I didn’t feel I had to learn anything about them. 

In the next building was the World War II Glider, which wasbeyond amazing when you think about it.

A regular plane would fly with the glider in tow, then release it when getting close to their destination, which was often behind enemy lines. The glider pilot would land the glider where he could, delivering troop, weapons and other supplies to their allies.

Lightweight and engineless, the gliders could fly into enemy controlled areas without detection. Most of the gliders were made of plywood covered with fabric, weighing less than 4,000 pounds but able to carry up to twice that much in cargo. They were built for one-way missions and actually many of them were destroyed during landing as the glider pilots only had so much control without an engine.

It all sounds incredibly dangerous to me. 

There were also displays of military history, but I kindaskimmed over those, falling for the antique cars instead.

Wouldn’t you love taking a cross-country road trip in this beauty? 

For more information click on the following links: Cornish Pumping Engine and Mining MuseumWorld War II Glider and Military Museum
World War II: On a Wing and a Prayer: The Use of Military Glider Aircraft
The Flying Coffins of World War II

The Deer

     Then God said, “Let the earth be filledwith animals, each producing more of its own kind. Let there be tame animalsand small crawling animals and wild animals, and let each produce more of itskind.” And it happened. (Genesis 1:24, New Century Version)

For several weeks, I’d been seeing a doe coming throughmy yard nearly daily and it was obvious that she was nursing. I was gettinganxious for her to bring out her fawn, hoping that the little one was okay.

Friday, I saw the doe coming out of our woods and couldsee movement behind her. I ran to grab my camera, and when I got back to thewindow, she had moved on. But there on the edge of the woods, where she hadjust been, was not one, but two adorable fawns.

They stood for moment, wondering what this open areawas all about, but quickly turned to follow Mama down along our driveway.

Pictures, of course, don’t do them justice. I justhope they grow strong and wise and have long, safe lives. 

But this reminds me that God made these creatures. AndHe made them when He made the earth and us and everything else that is on it.There was no evolution; humans and whitetail deer didn’t somehow come from somecreature that crawled out of the sea and evolved and grew lungs and hair.

Nope, every species of animal, as well as plant, wascreated by our God, the Creator.

And by the way, there are about 25 verses in the Biblewhich refer to deer. I know you’ve all heard Psalm 42:1 (come on, you know you’veheard it, don’t go looking it up), but here’s just one of the other verses.

     He makes me like a deer that does notstumble; he helps me stand on the steep mountains. (2 Samuel 22:34, New CenturyVersion)

Just a Little Project

Ihad planned on sharing more about last week’s camping trip, but decided to show off my latest (and only recent) project. I’ve been so lazy since the end of May, that I really am proud of myself for finishing this.

We bought this guy at Menards on sale, probably nine years ago. Adorable, right?

He’d been starting to fade and show his age. And then last fall we didn’t get around to storing him in the garage over the winter. Whatever plaster he is made of does not apparently like the snow. 

Yikes! I feel like I could be arrested for cruelty to lawn ornaments just showing these pictures.

We brought him in the garage, and I started with two coats of primer.

Then lots of coats of lots of different colored paint.

And finally two coats of a gloss spray finish.

I hope he makes it another nine years. 
I’m not much of an artist, but I think I got him back to looking adorable. 

A Few Pictures and Some Whining – annual camping in the UP, Blog Post #1

Finally, finally, finally. After months of sitting home,nursing my back, and cancelling plans, last week Hubby and I finally wentcamping. To one of our favorite spots – Bewabic State Park just over the borderin the UP. 

Of course, I should have realized it wasn’t going to bethe best vacation when this stupid bird wouldn’t even let us pull out of theyard! I did mostly complain the whole time and Hubby had to deal with me, untilwe finally decided to go home a day early.

But really, it was still good to get out of town. And even though we sat around the campsite more than we usually did, I managed to take some pictures of wildlife.

A doe and a fawn.

Another deer. 

A deer in our trailer’s back yard. As if I never see any deer at home

.Or turkeys and their babies.

And a stupid seagull.

The rainy, cool weather we had didn’t help at all.

But it was still okay. And we’ll go again and it will be better next time.