Pride

Wilbur and Orville were men who changed the world.  Their ingenuity, tenacity, and courage resulted in  man rising from the sand dunes of the Outer Banks and powering through the air.  That act has impacted all of our lives.  The machines that resulted and the capacity they have has brought great blessing and sorrow.  I doubt that they could have envisioned all that would come of December 17, 1903.

The original flight path is marked by stone markers indicating the direction and landing spot of the first efforts.  The length of the first flight was shorter than the wing span of some modern aircraft.  But, it was an amazing accomplishment, not the least of which was controllability.  That was the crux of the matter - how to control the machine once it got into the air.  They did so through a process called "wing warping".  A bit of controversy still surrounds just who thought of wing warping first.  Glenn Curtis or the Wrights.

There is a large and quite impressive memorial which stands as a sentinental over the field in which all of this takes place.  It is inscribed with the words: In commemoration of the conquest of the air by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright conceived by genius achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable.  Frankly, that is a bit of overstatement.  Can it truly be said that man has conquered the air?  Sorry for the nitpicking and I certainly do not want to take away from what the Wrights accomplished.  I was and am in awe.  But, it is just like man to proclaim that he has conquered something when in reality he has, at least, learned to work with it and in it as an environment.  Pride goes before a fall.  I am not sure Orville and Wilbur felt like they conquered anything.  They discovered that man can fly.  But, the air can still win if we do not respect the laws of God and believe that we are invincible.

Romantic Get Away

After 28 years of marriage, my wife and I decided to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.  We did so by driving 1000 miles to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.  This was the first time in our married life when just the two of us went on a trip that did not involve a conference.  And, it was wonderful.  We took our time driving out and with no squabbling coming from the back seat found the ride quite enjoyable. 

We spent some quality time with some friends, ate some delicious sea food (although the hush puppies in N.C. contain no green onions - much to my dismay), and visited a wonderful aviation museum - I had to drag my wife away.

The trip gave us plenty of time for uninterupted talk and some much needed relaxation.  If the Lord is willing, we plan to do this sort of thing more often.  I highly recommend it to you.

Memorial Day Prayer

For what it is worth, this is the prayer I wrote for the Memorial Day Service held yesterday in Gibson:

Eternal and Sovereign and Gracious God, the One Who raises up Kings and sets down Kings, the One Who establishes nations and brings down nations, to You we offer praise and thanksgiving for Your gracious gift of our nation.  We cast ourselves onto Your continued mercies and faithfulness pleading with You to continue to bless us.  God, please bless America, it is the land that we love.  Stand beside her and guide her through our night with Your light from above.  God, please bless America, our home, sweet home.

Thank You for providng us with sons and daughters who have given their lives for our peace and prosperity.  Help us  to never forget that they would have chosen to have experienced the beaty of this day, but instead lie beneath the earth, their lives topped short, their dreams unfulfilled, their time cut short.  Bless their famlies who still live with the pain of their absence.

Help us to never forget that the beauty of our spacious skies, our purple mountain majesties, our fruited plains have come because You have shed Your grace on us.  Please continue to give us that grace because we do know, one great and glorious day, our eyes will see the glory of the coming of the Lord and that You will be trampling out the vintage where the grapes of Your wrath are stored and that You will loose the fateful lightining of Your terrible and swift sword - help us in that day to be found walking in Your grace, seeking Your face, and thankful forYour mercies and truth.

Almost, But Not Quite

I keep trying.  This shot was made last evening, May 25th, at 9:00 P.M. (ish).  It was shot with a Nikon D40 through an Astro Tech 102ED refractor.  The hardest part is to get the focus right.  If you look closely, the focus is off just enough to make the photo a bit soft.  Here is another

To do astrophotography well requires a lot more money to be spent that I am currently willing to invest.  One of the largest expenses is to acquire the right mount. 

Here is a sun shot:

It is an okay shot, but still not quite there.  I hope, one of these days, to get it just right.  For now, I am having fun.

Proud Parent

This picture was on the web site of USA Today yesterday (third week of May).  There is no missing Drew - the green tie gives him away!  He has had a busy week with the election in KY.  Exciting days.

Sunday Night Basketball and Gravity - Wake Up!

For the past month I have had the privilege of teaching a group of High School young men.  They are an invigorating group.  It has been a lot of fun - for me at least.

After class, most of the high schoolers and some college students play basketball and I have been invited to play with them.  In doing so I have made a discovery of which the world should be aware.  Gravity is steadily increasing.  The pull of gravity is growing and I am living to see the effects it is having!  There was a time when I could jump and hang onto the rim.  I never could dunk the ball, but I could grab the rim.  These days, I can, on a good day, touch the bottom of the net.  Two weeks ago a young man, 23 or so, stuffed me.  He was gracious about it, but he nearly shoved the ball down my throat - and he is no taller than I am.  And, the more I run up and down the court the heavier my legs feel. By the end of the night it feels like I am dragging bags of cement around. Something is happening here and we better wake up before gravity does us all in!  One of these days we won't be able to get out of bed.

Wake up world!  Get out and play some basketball with high schoolers.  You will also discover this phenomenon. 

Goodbye Mr. Winter

Mr. Orion the Hunter is going, going, almost gone.  If you want to see him, look soon.  In a few weeks, he will be lost in the glare of the setting sun.  It is a sure sign that winter has given away to spring.  I shot this picture a couple of weeks ago.  This is the one constellation most people recognize.  And, I am glad to see him go away for a while but always look forward to his return.  By the way, his companion constellation Taurus is going with  him.