... head in the clouds ...

Having lived in the desert of Arizona for decades where the sky is blue and cloudless the majority of the time, seeing clouds nearly every day here in Maryland is a treat.

Sometimes the cloud-cover is thick and dark with no blue sky is visible. It looks cold when I look out my window but looks can be deceiving. In the summer it is hot and sticky when the sky looks like that- and you can bet that a thunderstorm is on the way. My hair sticks straight out thanks to the static electricity in the air.

"A promise is a cloud, fulfillment is rain."

Arabian Proverb

My favorite sky is blue with cotton ball clouds- something we have here nearly every afternoon. When Christopher (the second grader) was here visiting we would try to find objects (ducks, bunnies, dinosaurs, cars, ...) in the clouds. It was a fun game to play while we were in the car.

"There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds. "

G.K. Chesterton

Nick (the kindergartner) informed me when he was visiting that "Those are not 'cotton ball clouds'- they are cumulus clouds and when they get bigger with gray bottoms they are cumulonimbus clouds that bring rain!" Oy vey!!

I know Montana is "The Big Sky State" but for some reason the sky seems really big here. Maybe it's the depth or dimension the "cotton ball clouds" give it. Or maybe it's the deep blue contrasting with the brilliant white of the clouds. Whatever the reason I think Maryland's sky gives Montana a run for their money!

musings from the beach...

We spent the past week at Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. Having lived most of my life in the desert of Arizona, large bodies of water fascinate me- and the Atlantic Ocean is certainly a large body of water! I never tired of watching it... high tide, low tide, the calm in the morning or the fierceness of an afternoon thunderstorm. Every day as I watched the waves roll in and out or felt the tug of the current as I played in the surf, I was reminded of God's power and strength.

Your throne, O LORD, has been established from time immemorial. You yourself are from the everlasting past. The mighty oceans have roared, O LORD. The mighty oceans roar like thunder; the mighty oceans roar as they pound the shore.  But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore – the LORD above is mightier than these! Psalm 93:2-4 (NLT)

My granddaughter, Lexie (age 2), and I gathered seashells one afternoon. She told me over and over again, "Look! Bunches of 'sheshells'!" as we found patch after patch of seashells scattered on the beach. They stretched in front of us as far as we could see. As we began picking some up, I noticed how different each one was. Although most were broken, we could still see how they were different in color or texture and how the unbroken edge was unique, like a fingerprint.

O LORD, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both great and small.  Psalm 104:24-25  (NLT)

I wonder how any one can miss seeing God in our world... His fingerprints are all over it! I was reminded of Steven Curtis Chapman's song The Fingerprints of God: 

"...I can see the fingerprints of God

And I know it's true

You're a masterpiece that all creation

Quietly applauds

And you're covered with

The fingerprints of God..."

While I believe the lyrics are referring to a person, I think they are equally true of all of God's creation, from the tiniest sea shell/sea creature to the complexity of man. We can see the infiniteness of God through His creation... in the seashells at the beach, the stars in the sky, the flowers that bloom, the variety of animals. There are approximately 20,000 (yes, that's twenty thousand!) species of butterflies alone. How could that possibly be random chance?

Yep, there is nothing like being immersed (sometimes literally- those waves were BIG!) in nature to bring us closer to God.

Camp Grandma: Nick's Visit

Last week was our second grandchild's turn to come for a visit. Nick (or Nicholas when he's in trouble!) is "five AND A HALF" and will be in kindergarten in a few weeks. He likes to talk (a lot!), play video games- especially Super Mario Brothers-, and bounce. He has more energy than any person I know. He loves salad and fruit- I think he could easily be a vegetarian. "Imagination" could be his middle name instead of "Tyler." His blankie, MmmHmm, is his imaginary friend who talks and is the instigator of trouble. All these things I've known; this week I learned some new things about Nick.

Nick is a thinker. You can almost see the gears turning and the lightbulb come on when he "gets something" or makes a connection from one thing to the next. He asks the really hard questions like "What does the word "opposite" mean?" He knows what opposites are but wanted a definition. Can you define "opposite"?

Nick loved riding the Metro into Washington, D.C. one day. He learned how to read the signs to tell how long to the next train and how many cars on the train. By the end of the day he a pro at negotiating the Metro- and even learned how to ride standing up holding on to a pole. We went to the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum where he rode the escalator up and down... up and down... up and down! The simulator ride about flying was also a big hit.

Nick likes to do grown up things... like going to Starbucks for hot chocolate and a scone, taking in a 3D movie (Despicable Me was "the best movie I've ever seen!") and reading books. He can read better than he lets on... road signs, signs in buildings, words in books when I tried to skip a page! We went to the library several times to get book, to read books and to do a watermelon activity. Did you know China grows more watermelons than any other country in the world? Like Grandma, Nick likes to put puzzles together.

Nick is a helper. He likes to carry bags in from the car, match up Grandpa's sox, and got the newspaper off the porch every morning. He picked out fabric for his new blankie but then decided he'd let me to all the tying! Did I mention he likes to play Super Mario Brothers? He tried to help me but finally told me "You just die too much!"

But the most important thing I learned about Nick is that it's really important to make sure he gets all his jumps out so he can sit quietly or be cooperative. He is a sweet little boy who tries to behave- he often asks, "Am I being have (pronounced hAv- with a long A sound)?"... too cute!!

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum... America'a Railroad Museum

We visited the B&O Railroad Museum in Ellicott City about a month ago and decided then to explore "America's Railroad Museum" in Baltimore, the larger B&O Railroad Museum. The 40-acre historic site is home to beautiful buildings with unrivaled collections of railroad cars, engines, and memorabilia. It is within these 40 acres that railroading first started in America with the building of the first passenger station and laying the first commercial long-distance track. Our five-year old grandson, Nick, is visiting this week and wanted to see the "Iron Horses" so off we went!

Nick likes trains... and was excited to see so many old trains up close and personal!  

Baltimore, a thriving port city in the 18th and early 19th century, faced economic decline if it didn't open routes to the western states (Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, etc.) like New York did with the Erie Canal in 1820. Recognizing that the Erie Canal was very slow, twenty-five bankers and merchants from Baltimore developed a plan to build a railroad that would speed goods westward... and the B&O (Baltimore & Ohio) Railroad was born. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last living signer of the Declaration of Independence, a US Senator from Maryland and perhaps the wealthiest man in America at the time, was tremendously involved in creating the railroad.

The bust of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, through the magic of animatronics, spoke to us about his part in laying the first stone of the B&O Railroad on July 4, 1828, an event he said was second only to signing the Declaration of Independence. The stone he laid (on right) is now on display.

The roundhouse was originally constructed as a passenger car shop and at the time, was the largest circular industrial building in the world. It covered more than an acre of ground and rose 125 feet into the air! It later became the main building of the railroad museum complete with a turntable for turning engines around, as well as bays to store them. 

The Roundhouse is a beautiful piece of architecture- inside and outside! The picture on the right is the inside of the dome (you can see the very top windows in the corners). Unfortunately, the picture gives no perception of the height... it's TALL!!

In February, 2003, a record-breaking snowfall caused half of the massive roof of the roundhouse to collapse resulting in TONS of snow, wood, slate and cast iron falling on the exhibits. The building was restored (so the roof you see is not the original... but restored to look like it) and so far all but two of the engines have been restored. The museum reopened in November, 2004.

While only the bottom part of the doors were open when we were there, the top portion also opens to allow the engines and train cars to be pulled onto the turntable, which is then turned to position the cars in one of 22 bays.  (The engines behind the glass partition are the ones that have not yet been restored after the roof cave-in.)

One of the best things about this museum is that you can touch the engines, get close enough to see the workings... and even crawl around some of them. It's a very hand-on kind of museum.

The wheels of some of the locomotives are enormous... about twice the height of Nick! He enjoyed exploring the trains, seeing the gears and mechanics.

Boys of all ages like model trains. This outdoor model train display is huge... and Richard and Nick watched the trains go round and round.

We had a great afternoon... and learned a lot about the history of the railroad and its importance to America's history. 

Camp Grandma: Christopher's Visit

Grandchildren are most assuredly a blessing from God. They allow you to see your own child as a parent which is often amusing as you hear words come from their mouth that they promised they would never tell their children. Grandchildren are the chance to do what we could not do as a parent- spoil them a little bit. They are the future.

Our oldest grandchild, Christopher (not Chris, but Christopher!), came to visit us for a week. He just turned seven and is starting second grade this year. He likes Spiderman and playing Super Mario Brothers, has quite a sweet tooth, is generous and thoughtful, and loves pizza. I thought I knew him pretty well. But there are things you can learn about someone only by spending time alone with them.

Christopher was at "Camp Grandma" from July 24th to July 31st. What an awesome time we had!

We spent the week doing some planned/organized activities as well as some every-day things. I think Christopher was surprised to learn that I go grocery shopping, stop at the gas station, do laundry and clean just like his mom. I discovered he loves fruit and cole slaw and macaroni & cheese with hotdogs, he can sort and pair sox faster than I can, and he didn't know his mom had chores when she was his age. In fact, he liked hearing stories about his mom when she was "a kid." 

We made a Spiderman blanket and played "Imaginary Go Fish" (without cards!) while we were stuck in stop & go traffic. Did I mention he loves Super Mario Brothers? He played it with Grandpa most of the time because "Grandma isn't very good at it!" but he did try to teach me how to play. I discovered that he is a very patient teacher and can explain things fairly well.

It wouldn't be a camp experience without swimming... and we went several times. Although Christopher doesn't know how to swim (yet), he did make a lot of progress this week. It rained one day and we walked in it with umbrellas... and maybe splashed in a puddle or two. Our apartment building is next door to the public library and we went twice. I was astonished at how well Christopher can read. We got six books and he read them all... several times.

Christopher did a craft activity at the library. They made sand casts of fish and then read a story about a sea creature. He listened attentively to the directions and took his time as he made his cast... a "smiling fish!"

One day was "Christopher Day"- where he got to make all the decisions about what we did. We rode the metro into Washington, D.C. where he said he wanted to go to the National Air & Space Museum (Smithsonian) but when we arrived he changed his mind and we went to the Museum of Natural History (also known as "the dinosaur museum!") instead. We met Auntie Janne and Uncle Adam for lunch at Cosi (Christopher chose the place and what he had) and then we headed to the National Archives to see the "Decoration" of Independence that was in the movie National Treasure that we watched. But he changed his mind again and we went to the National Air & Space Museum leaving the National Archives for another time. I learned that he has definite opinions about what he wants to do and he enjoys being in charge! Who doesn't?

Christopher Day was fun!!

Christopher wanted to buy me these flowers- but took a picture of them instead since he didn't have any money. What a thoughtful and sweet kid! I told him the picture was even better because I could keep it forever.

All too soon the week was over and it was time for Christopher to go home. He and I took the train (Amtrak) from Baltimore's Penn Station to the train station in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It was a first for both of us... and a  lot of fun. We (and the rest of the car!) laughed at the man across from us who snored... really loudly, he watched a movie on my laptop, ate lunch in the lounge car, and made a video of his "vacation."

I think we both had a fun week.