Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 8

Corgi Comes Home

          

January 4, 2023, we had our beloved Dino the Wonder Dog put to sleep. Afterbeing our most faithful four-legged friend for nearly 16 years, it was time,and he was ready.

         Less than a year later, my heart started aching to have another dog in thehouse. Then last May, when we put down Cheshire Cat, leaving special Emma theonly critter in the house, it was too quiet.

          I started looking on Petfinder for a small to medium dog who was already fixedand got along with cats. So many sweet faces greeted me on my laptop, but nonesaid, "Take me home." Until this one popped up one Sunday afternoon.

         I started filling out the application before I even asked Hubby. My bad.

         I was interrupted by a phone call from my brother – he had yet another crisis.His crises range from his record player not working to being locked out of hishouse to not liking any temperatures outside, which fall under 28 degrees. Ican't remember what he had going on that day, but we had to run to his house totend to it. It gave Hubs and me a chance to talk about this nipper.

         Not that it mattered coz we all know that I get my way with most things, so Iemailed the application off shortly after we got home.

         Within an hour, the woman from the rescue emailed me back that she had multipleapplications for this pup, but I was at the top of the list, so I had to lether know ASAP if I was sure I wanted her.

         Really? With that face?

         The biggest hurdle was that she was in Oklahoma, or as the rescue calls it,Okla–hell–oma. Apparently, animals, in general, are not treated well there, andnone of the shelters will let Oklahomans adopt. Which sounds pretty unfair, butI don't know. I don't live there.

         Anyway, the rescue schedules transport, but it's expensive and took a few weeksto get set up. I think I saw that this rescue sent six dogs north in the truckwith our baby. Traumatic for them all, I can't even imagine. The poor littlepuddin' was terrified when I finally met her Saturday night at a gas station inWausau.

         But let's move on to the good stuff.

         She is a two-year-old Corgi mix. Ever since I was a kid, I have wanted a cockerspaniel, beagle, or Corgi. We had the cockers, Shadow and Pepper, from around1996 to 2007. They were good dogs but dumb as several boxes of rocks. I thinkI'm getting too old for a beagle, but two out of three ain't bad.

         She came with the name Jojo, which I was never a fan of. Who names a petsomething that rhymes with "no, no"? Luckily, she wouldn't answer tothat anyway, so we renamed her Hannah.

         We've had cats named Alice, Betty, Barney, Bam-Bam, Cheshire, Emma, Fred, andGizmo, plus Dino, of course. So I've been kinda going through the alphabet,which lands us at the letter H.

          I had an aunt named Hannah who never moved to America from Germany with therest of Dad's family in 1924. No one ever knew what happened to her, but I'dlike to think she survived the Holocaust, had several kids, and that hergrandkids are still somewhere in Germany.

         Thinking about Dad, though, I remember a story he told about when he lived onthe farm. They had a dachshund and a mutt, and one day, the wiener dog chasedsome rodent down its hole. The little dog kept digging her way into the holeuntil the hole collapsed on her. The mutt ran home and got Dad to rescue her.

         And since Hannah looks like she has dachshund in her, that name is a tribute toDad and his family in several ways.

         I'm still getting to know her, and this is getting too long already. Will tellyou more about her on Friday.

The Woman at the Well

Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tiredfrom his long trip, so he sat down beside the well. It was about twelve o’clocknoon. When a Samaritan woman came to the well to get some water, Jesus said toher, “Please give me a drink.” (This happened while Jesus’ followers were intown buying some food.)

          The woman said, “I am surprised thatyou ask me for a drink, since you are a Jewish man and I am a Samaritan woman.”(Jewish people are not friends with Samaritans.)

          Jesus said, “If you only knew the freegift of God and who it is that is asking you for water, you would have askedhim, and he would have given you living water.”

          The woman said, “Sir, where will youget this living water? The well is very deep, and you have nothing to get waterwith. Are you greater than Jacob, our father, who gave us this well and drankfrom it himself along with his sons and flocks?”

          Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinksthis water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give willnever be thirsty. The water I give will become a spring of water gushing upinside that person, giving eternal life.”

          The woman said to him, “Sir, give methis water so I will never be thirsty again and will not have to come back hereto get more water.”

          Jesus told her, “Go get your husbandand come back here.”

          The woman answered, “I have nohusband.”

          Jesus said to her, “You are right tosay you have no husband. Really you have had five husbands, and the man youlive with now is not your husband. You told the truth.”

          The woman said, “Sir, I can see thatyou are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say thatJerusalem is the place where people must worship.”

          Jesus said, “Believe me, woman. Thetime is coming when neither in Jerusalem nor on this mountain will you actuallyworship the Father. You Samaritans worship something you don’t understand. Weunderstand what we worship, because salvation comes from the Jews. The time iscoming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,and that time is here already. You see, the Father too is actively seeking suchpeople to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship inspirit and truth.”

          The woman said, “I know that theMessiah is coming.” (Messiah is the One called Christ.) “When the Messiahcomes, he will explain everything to us.”

          Then Jesus said, “I am he—I, the onetalking to you.”

          Just then his followers came back fromtown and were surprised to see him talking with a woman. But none of themasked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

          Then the woman left her water jar andwent back to town. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told meeverything I ever did. Do you think he might be the Christ?” So the people leftthe town and went to see Jesus. ( John 4:6-30, New Century Version)

Anotherone of my favorite Bible stories. Can you imagine having this conversation withJesus? When you found out who He was, wouldn’t you kind of freak out?

Itis a lot to read, so I don’t want to make this any longer than it is. Just thinkabout this simple encounter, and what it meant to the Sanitarian woman and whatit would have meant to you had you been there.

Silk Island - Cambodia blog entry #36

HereI finally am – blogging about what we did on our last day in Cambodia. Abittersweet day before the arduous journey home.

Inthe morning, we rode the tuk tuk to Silk Island, boarding a ferry to get there,yet another mode of transportation. Maybe someday, I’ll blog about that.

Watchingthe whole process of making silk was as exhausting as the whole trip had been.

Ialways wondered how those little silk worms made silk. Imagining them sittingin their tiny rocking chairs weaving with their 50 pairs of legs a thread theyexuded from some orifice in their body.

Imean, really? Do any of you know how it's done? And who figured out how thiswas even possible?

Sohere are the steps. First they grow silkworms, feeding them mulberry leaves –their favorite - until they are ready to make their cocoon.

Next, collect the cocoons and watch for them to be ready. I think we were told that thecocoon will shake when it is ready.

Thenthey boil the cocoons, which releases the sticky substance holding themtogether. This is the part where – believe it or not – PETA gets involved,claiming this is inhumane to the little silkworms. I don’t know. They are worms.Think of how many warm-blooded animals we kill in probably inhumane ways.

Onebonus at this Silk Farm is that they leave 30% of the cocoons alone to producemoths so that they can continue the process. So, I tell myself that some ofthose silkworms are going to make the metamorphous to moths and complete theirlife cycle.

Also,the worms who die get sold in markets for frying up and eating. Yes, a lot ofsilk worms die in this process, but at least they don’t go to waste.

Okay,so back to the process. After the cocoons have been boiled, they are stirreduntil they unravel and the silk threads are released.

Thethreads are dyed to make the beautiful colors you see in silk fabrics and then rolled unto spindles.

Thena group of women weave the thread on their looms. Watching them work so tediouslyat their looms was fascinating as well as tiring. Our tour guide said that theyweave 40 cm in an eight-to-ten-hour day, taking few breaks. Some of them workin teams though, such as a mother and daughter, so that they don’t get so wornout but they share the income.

Itwas impossible to not buy a handwoven scarf from them. They do get 70% profitfrom sales made at the farm. So I forked over $70 for a beautiful teal scarf whichI have only worn once in the four months since I’ve been home. 

Wat Samrong Knong - Cambodia blog entry #35

Well,here I am, finally winding down telling tales of my trip to Cambodia. It has beenfun reliving it and is hard to believe it’s been four months since I was there.

The last pagoda we visited was Wat Samrong Knong in Battambang.

Once again, we walked throughout the grounds of this religious site filled with fascinating buildings and statues, and we weren’t sure what they were all about.

The oldest pagoda in Battambang Province, it was built in 1707 by a monk named Thudong Chey. It was named Samrong because of the many Samrong trees growing around the temple.

Tragically, as at so many other sites in Cambodia, this one was used as a prison during the Khmer Rouge, from 1975 to 1979.

It’s estimated that possibly as many as 10,000 victims were housed here throughout those years. Many were tortured and murdered.

After the collapse of the Khmer Rouge, this pagoda was built to house the bones of those who had been killed here.

After witnessing all the atrocities that took place in Cambodia during the late seventies, and after reading about all the other genocides that have happened throughout history, I can’t comprehend that these horrors continue. And yet they do. And how close to home will the next one hit? 

 

Turning Water into Wine

          

          Two days later there was a wedding in thetown of Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his discipleshad also been invited to the wedding. 

When the wine had given out, Jesus' mothersaid to him, “They are out of wine.”

“You must not tell me what to do,” Jesusreplied. “My time has not yet come.”

Jesus' mother then told the servants, “Dowhatever he tells you.”

          The Jews have rules about ritualwashing, and for this purpose six stone water jars were there, each one largeenough to hold between twenty and thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants,“Fill these jars with water.” They filled them to the brim, and then he toldthem, “Now draw some water out and take it to the man in charge of the feast.”They took him the water, which now had turned into wine, and he tasted it. Hedid not know where this wine had come from (but, of course, the servants whohad drawn out the water knew); so he called the bridegroom and said to him,“Everyone else serves the best wine first, and after the guests have drunk alot, he serves the ordinary wine. But you have kept the best wine until now!”

Jesus performed this first miracle in Canain Galilee; there he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.(John 2:1-11, Good News Translation)

 

Oh,gosh, there is so much in this short episode that I could drag it out overseveral weeks. Instead, you’ll get a long post today. Hope you take the time toread it all.

1.   Jesus,His disciples, and His mother, Mary, were attending a wedding. It was a time ofcelebration, and not just for one night like we are used to. The Jewishweddings of those days would last for days.

2.   Andbecause the party would last for days, the host had to be prepared with amplefood and beverages. But this poor host ran out of wine! Can you imagine howdisgraceful that would be? In our day and age, friends would bring it up yearslater – “Remember when John and Sally got married? They ran out of booze! Itwas a horrible party, and everyone bailed on them and went down to the bar.”Does anyone ever want that to happen at their wedding reception? So Maryappealed to her Son, knowing in her heart that he could fix the problem.

3.   Hisanswer to His mother shocks us. In most Bible translations, He refers to her asWoman, which sounds disrespectful to us, but it was how any son might call hismother at that time. In this translation, Jesus’ words sound even harsher.

4.   Atthis point, I picture Mary having the same look on her face that many mothershave worn over the years, thinking to herself, “My son may sound snarky, but Iknow my boy, and I know he will do right.”

5.   Jesustells the servants to fill a bunch of huge jars with water. Umm, according tothis translation, that would be up to 180 gallons. Wow! That could get a lot ofpeople good and drunk! And here’s where it really gets interesting – the wineJesus changed from the water was better than what had been served up to thatpoint.

6.   Turnsout this was the first recorded miracle that Jesus performed.

Thereis so much we can take away from this short story, but here is what just dawnedon me. We may not be drinking the best stuff now – we may have problems in ourlives and may be struggling financially, physically, or emotionally – but don’tleave the party, the best is yet to come.  

Banan Mountain – Cambodian blog entry #34

Afterwe left the grape farms (aka flower gardens), we rode our tuk-tuk to the baseof Banan Mountain.

Ontop of that mountain was another fascinating and ancient temple with the addedbonus of 365-degree views of the surrounding countryside. The downside is thatthe only way to get there is to climb nearly four hundred daunting steps. Iwould be game had I been in the cool forests of Michigan's UP, but inCambodia's oppressive heat and humidity? Us three ladies who hail from coolerclimates took a hard pass.

However,after a short tuk-tuk ride down the road, we arrived at yet another bamboorailroad. This one was anything but authentic. In fact, it was verycommercialized and definitely a tourist trap.

Itwas still a lot of fun. 

Atthe end of the line were extensive gardens with a plethora of statues andflowers and one big Buddha. 

Once again, it was a great place to shoot too manypictures, and it would be the venue to take the little kiddos for a familypicnic. But it was pretty empty the day we were there.

Which I would nevercomplain about.

Flowers, Flowers, and Grapes – Cambodia blog entry #33

Ireally don’t have much to say about these two places. We were told they weregrape farms, but the growing season had passed.

We saw a few random grape clumps, but nothing remarkable. And because the majority of them had been picked, the people running these places were no longer giving tours.

But my friend Denise and I thrive on triumphing over disappointment. We wandered the grounds of the first place, which turned out to have more beautiful flowers than many greenhouses back home.

And I naturally took way too many pictures.

As if I’ve never seen any of these flowers before.

Even set up the timer on my camera for a selfie.

The second place had a few more lingering grapes on the vine, but way less flowers, so we were soon on our way to our next adventure.

Jesus’ First Followers

 

As Jesus was walking byLake Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and his brother Andrew.They were throwing a net into the lake because they were fishermen. Jesus said,“Come follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” So Simon and Andrewimmediately left their nets and followed him.

As Jesus continuedwalking by Lake Galilee, he saw two other brothers, James and John, the sons ofZebedee. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.Jesus told them to come with him. Immediately they left the boat and their father,and they followed Jesus. (Matthew 4:18-22, New Century Version)

I tend to assume that if you are reading my Sundayblog posts, you already know the story of Jesus – His birth, His teachings, andHis death and resurrection. But what if you don’t? What if you don’t know mewell enough to know about my faith, or what if you don’t know me at all andjust stumbled upon my blog? What if you only know about Jesus from what you’veheard about Christmas or Easter and want to know more? 

This year, I’ve decided to write about a differentBible Story on my blog each Sunday. Since we just got through the Christmasseason and the birth of Jesus, and last week I wrote about His baptism, Ithought I’d begin with when He started calling His disciples.  

Throughout His ministry, Jesus had many followers, buteventually, He named twelve men to be His chosen few, His disciples – SimonPeter, Andrew (Simon’s brother), James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (called the Zealot), Judas (son ofJames), and Judas Iscariot. If there is only one of these men whom you haveheard of, it would be Judas Iscariot, right? We’ll get to him when we get closeto Easter.

Instead, over the next eight weeks, I’ll tell youabout other things Jesus did and said.         

Two Different Houses - Cambodia blog entry #32

 

TodayI’m going to tell you about two very different residences we visited inBattambang. 

First is the Battambang Royal Residence, built by the French in the early twentieth century. It looks very impressive from the outside.

Inside however, it was mostly a museum. Many of the items weren’t properly marked and some of them were only in the Khmer language, and we hated to make K constantly translate for us.

The governor actually lives in a similar building just behind this one. So, at least we were able to wander unimpeded in this building.

The next day we visited the Khmer Ancient House.

Not sure why it’s called the ancient house, as it was built in 1920.

The owner gave us the history of the building and her family, how it was taken over during the reign of the Khmer Rouge, and how the family was miraculously able to return to it years later.

It was a simple home with simple furnishings.

But had as much history as the Royal Residence. And as many stories are within its walls.

Wat What – Cambodia blog entry #31

 

Onthe way back to our hotel in Battambang one afternoon, K detoured us to a spotthat confused me and fascinated me. 

Accordingto the internet, this complex is called Wat Kandal and is a “serene testamentto the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of Cambodia”, as quoted by onetourist website. 

Itgoes on to say that “this Buddhist temple, renowned for its strikingarchitecture and peaceful ambiance, offers visitors a chance to immersethemselves in the local spiritual practices and traditions. Surrounded by lushgreenery, the temple is not only a place of worship but also a tranquil retreatfor those seeking solace from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Theintricate carvings and vibrant murals that adorn the walls of Wat Kandal tellstories of Buddhist teachings and historical events, providing an enlighteningexperience for tourists.” 

Idon’t know. It was certainly beautiful and intriguing, but I really had no ideawhat I was seeing, all the buildings I was walking past. Plus, on Google maps this area of several square blocks, also includes Wat Pacha and a replica of Angkor Wat.   

Anotherwebsite says that “the temple is large in scale and very beautiful inappearance, in the style of a Thai temple. There are many tombs in the temple,mostly Chinese.” 

Butthe best description I could come up with is that it is a complex of temples, pagodas,stupas, chapels, gravestones, greenery, topiaries, and even a few monks andpuppies. (But I didn't want to be disrepectful by taking a pictures of the monks and the puppies did not look friendly.) And I think the whole area should have a single name. Or maybe it's more accurate to call it a monastery, where I can easily visualize multiple buildings on the grounds.  

And– surprise! – I took way too many pictures.