TRUTH

Some time ago I cam across the following:

Pontius Pilate asked: “What is truth?”
Jesus said: “The Truth will set you free!”

Truth is not determined by majority vote
It is, by definition, objectively true;
whether anyone believes it or not.

Things which are true
are by their nature wonderful;
Things that are truly wonderful,
are inevitably true.

Mid-Winter Thoughts

In winter I don’t write as much, good weather or bad. But, I have been out on my motor-bike for many rides this winter. The weather has been fabulously mild.
January has been a month of regrouping for us. We went trough our possessions and got rid of stuff we had not use for two or more years. We read books, watched some old movies, and did some crafts.

Well, today, February 4, winter arrived with about 6 inches of snow. The temperature has been right around freezing, so none of the blistery cold they have to put up with in Central and eastern Europe. It actually looks nice outside. It helps that it is Saturday, so not many people have to go anywhere. People can stay home and enjoy the falling flakes and the pristine snow on the street and the lawn.

The pictures were taking elsewhere. In the Caribbean Sea, to be exact. Just reminiscing...

Early Joy

Happy New Year!
How about a three hour motor-cycle ride on January 4, 2012? One could be happy with riding any day in January in Iowa.

It seems like we are in a cocoon, so far this winter. No snow yet and above freezing daytime temperatures seem to be the order of the day. Not that I am complaining, far from it; I like these warmer, snow free days a lot. We have had many sunshiny days and my bride keeps reminding me, that we are having “another” one. Many winters in the mid-west or the heart land of the USA are filled with grey days. This couple with the shorter daylight hours may cause rhe winter blues.
Not so far this year. I had to contend with a few days of high fever and the subsequent recovery period and missed going out on the last warm day of the previous year, but today surely made up for it.

My son-in-law and I went for an extended ride in the surrounding country side and drank in the fresh air and enjoyed unlimited visibility. Welcome 2012.

Christmas cantata at Lutheran Church of Hope, one of the beautiful events of the season.

CRISTMAS BLESSING

We have been home from Colorado Springs now for about two weeks. It has been about a month since my last blog. The past two weeks were busy with getting our life back together in our home and preparing for Christmas.

Between the cruise and the trip to Glen Eyrie we had been gone from here for about 6 weeks. So, we needed to restock our larder and prepare for the upcoming holidays. We celebrated Thanksgiving Day with a dinner at the Pink House. The kitchen / dining staff supplied us with a large turkey and a great minced meat pie. Together we supplied all the other “necessities for a great Thanksgiving meal. We had invited another volunteer couple as well as a staff couple to enjoy this day with us. The Pink House was occupied with guests; a family celebrating this holiday together with local relatives. Our dinner was held in the Board Room, since our guests used the whole rest of the pink House. While we were there, I also conducted three tours of the Castle. We helped decorating and with preparations for the upcoming Madrigals and were on our way home on November 30.



Today, December 16, is the birthday of our first born, he is 45 years old. I still remember the day he was born at Madigan General Hospital near Tacoma, Washington, like yesterday. I was scheduled to go to Vietnam but had been allowed to remain at Fort Lewis until after our expected baby had been born. To see him and hold him at that time is still precious to me today. When I returned from the war he was 14 months old.

For many years, while our family was growing up, we would not put up the Christmas tree until after his birthday. The Christmas season is so hectic, that a birthday could easily get lost in the busy-ness of this time of the year. Birthdays are important, especially to children! And, although this time of the year seems to focus on shopping, giving, and getting; the reason for the season is the Christmas Child.

Jesus
His name is above all other names, His reign is above all other rulers, His Lordship is above all other authorities His words are above all other voices, His truth is above all other opinions, His love is above all other affections, May Jesus’ blessings be upon you
this Christmas season.

TRAVEL ADVENTURE

It has been about three weeks since my last blog, so the time is ripe for another installment. We are back at Glen Eyrie, hosting the Pink House for the remainder of November.

Meanwhile we visited he southwestern Caribbean and went through the Gatun locks of the Panama Canal. We got back from our cruise on November 6 and then re-packed to come to Colorado Springs by November 10.
We were kayaking in the rain forest of Costa Rica on November 1 and about a week later we had two inches of snow in Des Moines, just in time to go west. On our trip to Colorado we were blessed with beautiful weather, however.





We had booked our cruise last June and had been looking forward to visiting the ABC islands, also known as the lesser Antilles. This cruise was scheduled to enter the Panama Canal then turn around in Gatun Lake and moor for the day in Colon. We preferred this over a transition cruise to
California.

The day of the cruise was upon us! We boarded the airplane in Des Moines, our checked luggage was free; no $25 per case... The pilot told us that Memphis had fog, and we might have to circle to land, but we were sure we would make our flight to Fort Lauderdale. While we are on final, close to touchdown we all of a sudden feel the airplane take off again. Once above the clouds again, the pilot informed us that his navigation system had malfunctioned and we needed to go to an airport with visual approach and landing. Thirty minutes later, we landed in Nashville. Information was scant, help was available but 90 people needed help. We thought we might have an option on another airline but we had no time to get the necessary paperwork; besides, our bags would be in “limbo.” We realized that we would miss embarkation and subsequent departure from Ft. Lauderdale.


I all of a sudden remembered the episode of “Keeping up Appearances” where the Buckets miss there departure on the QE-2. We went back to the gate where we arrived and waited for the agent to be available. He took care of us in a special way, by telling us to relax in the “Sky-Lounge,” and make the necessary calls to our travel insurance in a relaxed atmosphere. Delta Airlines provided lodging and meal vouchers for us in Miami and we were able to book a flight with Surinam Airlines to Aruba where we would be able to join the cruise 3 days later. We were blessed by encountering many great and helpful people during our flight and in those few days getting ready to join the cruise in Oranjestad.


The remainder of our cruise was “uneventful” but great. Good food, nice harbors, a good Panama Canal experience, rainforest humidty; monkeys and sloths; bananas so sweet, papaya juicy and tasty, warm sweet pineapple, and that was just the local fruit.

We had opted for a large table and late dinner, so we had good experiences on board as well. After four days at home we headed for Colorado Springs.

FALL BEAUTY

We celebrated our anniversary in Tennessee this year.

Yes, another trip! Richard Elgersma, our son-in-law, was scheduled to graduate on September 24 with a Master’s Degree from Oxford Graduate School at the Dayton Tennessee campus.
(Dayton is also (in)famous for the Scopes - Monkey trial.)


Because our wedding anniversary is on September 23, we decided to go the Chattanooga, TN., a few days before the scheduled graduation.

To make our celebration memorable we decided to book a room on the old stern-wheel-river-steamer, “the Delta Queen.” She is permanently moored in the Tennessee river in downtown Chattanooga. Rooms are available as hotel rooms for guests to spend the night and include a scrumptious full breakfast buffet in the morning. The rooms are fairly small, like ship’s cabins and we had two single beds with a passage to the bathroom between us. It was different, so more memorable, right?


Situated between two bridges, one for foot traffic and one for any traffic, it was just a walk across the river to the downtown area. “Our” side of the river was a bit more eclectic, with small shops and eateries.

The lounge on board was just like in the movies and transported us back a few years. Although we could have had our dinner on the boat we decided to go “German.” There was a new restaurant, called the “Brew Haus” where we had an excellent German meal.




We also re-visited Point Park on Lookout Mountain, where we had been before in 1968. Not much had changed except the city is bigger now.














Rick and Monique had also given us two nights in a bed and breakfast in the Amana colonies, here in Iowa and we went there to celebrate our anniversary here as well. We spend the night in Homestead in “Die Heimat B &B.” This was near the place where we had our 40th anniversary dinner and celebration with the whole family.







The days we picked to go there were fabulous; sunny and the fall colors were showing.


We went on our motor bike to really enjoy this trip, taking secondary roads to avoid traffic and to be able to really enjoy the trip. We took a side trip to Kalona, a place known for its quilting and rustic country atmosphere.

Again a gloriously sunny day.
We had dinner that night at Phat Daddy in Marengo, another memorable place. Our “Indian Summer” was only marred by very high winds, which blew some of the beautiful fall colors away after we had come home again.


Although it is now getting a little bit cooler, we still have a lot of sunshine and reasonable temperatures to enjoy this beautiful Iowa fall. We take short rides in our surrounding areas to enjoy this beautiful fall.

MEMORIES and REFLECTIONS

The Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall came to Des Moines, Iowa.
This is a three quarter faux granite replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC.
To bring it into the city a large phalanx of motor cycle riders escorted it to the place in a West Des Moines cemetery, where it was to be displayed for the weekend.
Schools were invited to visit the site on Thursday and it was open to the public on Friday until Sunday. Many dignitaries spoke and honored not only the Vietnam era soldiers but also those in the current war on terror.

My son-in-law rode with me among all the other riders. He is receiving a VA benefit for his handicap, -spina bifida, thought to have been caused by his dad’s exposure to agent orange, while he served in Vietnam in 1968. Rick is very much involved with post Vietnam events and activities.



It was an emotional experience and I’ll let the pictures tell the story.