Home Again

I came back from visiting in IL and MI yesterday afternoon as tired as possible. It was a very busy 10 days seeing everyone I wanted to so I had to come home for a vacation. Actually, I've worked here all day--4 loads of laundry, cleaned the whole house including mopping floors, went through mail, made bread and soymilk,and shadowed my blind friend for an hour. I still plan to get in a good walk soon.

I'm tired but it's a different kind. I appreciate my own bed after having slept in 5 different places. Tomorrow I'll tackle some outdoor work.

Leaving Town

Since I'll be in Illinois and Michigan for 10 days, I decided to leave you with the following thoughts:

"My dear friends,this is the second letter I've written to you. In both of them I've tried to remind you of what I taught you before. I don't want you to forget what the ancient prophets predicted and what we, as apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, told you we saw with our own eyes.

"Understand that not only now, but especially in the last days, people will ridicule anything, including the word of God. They will consider only their own selfish desires. They'll make fun of Christ's return, saying, 'We've heard about His coming for years, and now our parents have died and He still hasn't come. Things will always continue to go on, as they always have.

"But what these critics ignore is that God created the heavens very long ago. Then He created the earth with its water and dry land and did so by the power of His word. During the days of Noah, He used water to destroy the earth and everything on it. This shows that God can do with this planet whatever He wants. He preserves the heavens and the earth as they are now, but He has reserved the earth to be purged by fire on the day of His judgment, when all who are ungodly will be destroyed.

"Because time has lasted this long is no indication that God has changed His mind. With God, time is not a factor--one day or a thousand years--it makes no difference in His purposes. This doesn't mean that the Lord is slow in keeping His promises, or that He does things only when He gets around to it. TIME HAS GONE ON ONLY BECAUSE OF GOD'S PATIENCE AND KINDNESS. He loves everyone, even the wicked, and He doesn't want anyone to lose out on heaven but to turn from their sins and be saved."
2 Peter 3:1-9

Verses 12-15
"As we look forward to the day of Christ, let's do everything we can to speed its coming. And when that day comes, the heavens themselves will be on fire and the surface of the earth will melt because of the intense heat. But in harmony with God's promise, we look beyond all this to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of the righteous.

"My dear friends, as you look forward to that day, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Christ. CONSIDER HIS DELAY AS EVIDENCE OF HIS GREAT PATIENCE AND LOVE AND AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR OTHERS TO REPENT OF THEIR SINS AND BE SAVED."

Unique experience

This morning I was a "shadow" for a lady who lives here in Angwin. She is going blind and is learning the skills needed to negotiate through life. I followed behind her as she used a cane from her house to a building on the PUC campus where she goes for various help and materials. It's amazing what blind people can learn to do. I really appreciate her attitude toward her blindness and acceptance of it.

I took this picture on my walk yesterday. The fields are slowly turning red.

Camping

Sabbath was a beautiful day for our camping trip. One of the members showed wildlife photos from their trip to Alaska. And we heard a mission story from Thailand. It was about a man who helped people withdraw from opium cold turkey. His success rate was 80% compared to the government program of 30%. I learned a new card game called baseball which uses Skip-Bo cards.

Here's a photo of our woodburner which we lit last Fri. morning. The fire blew out 2 glass panes. Some glass is on the bricks but most was pulled in by the airflow. It was a little scary.

Going camping

We joined a nature club that goes group RV camping about 8 mo. out of the year. This weekend we're going to an RV resort in Dunnigan, CA. It's supposed to be one of the nicest grounds the club goes to. A report will follow Sun. night.

Hum or roar

The fans have started running in the vineyards when the temp gets too low. The big round one is old. The more streamline ones are the new design.

Answer to "What is it?"

It's an owl house. They keep the population of gophers down. We frequently hear them at night during the summer. Last night Al heard the coyotes. I slept.

What is it?

Why is this box in the vineyard? What is it for?

New project

Al is going to put together a 10X8 vinyl shed.

Fall grapes

I took these photos today in the valley. Some vineyards are still green, some have yellow leaves and others red. It's really getting pretty!

Ladies' Group

I've missed my ladies' Bible study group in Michigan. In the St. Helena bulletin I've seen a ladies' prayer group listed on Tues. and Thurs. so this afternoon I decided to go to the leader's house and check it out. There were 6 of them and we were there for 2 1/2 hrs. We socialized, sang a few songs, prayed longer than I think I ever have, talked and had a light supper in honor of one lady's birthday. I've seen most of these women at church but didn't know names. They are a very nice bunch so I plan to join the group. I also can learn more about what goes on at church behind the scenes. A CHIP (coronary heart improvement program)is scheduled for Feb. and they were talking about plans for that. Al and I were also invited to a campfire supper and vespers tomorrow night at the same house. Looks like we're fitting in here.

Hospital work

Today I got a chance to do something different in Human Resources. I filed a zillion pages of employee records in current files. I have dozens of outdated records left over to put in former employee files. The office is way behind in filing because they haven't had a volunteer for awhile. It was a good day.

Here goes again

We saw an alligator lizard in our backyard a while ago. It's about 10 inches long.

A Walk

Last Sabbath Al and I walked on trails up above PUC starting near the airport. It was a beautiful day and beauty all around. Notice how pretty poison oak is in the fall. I'm trying to send photos but Blogger keeps sending an error report.