Oregon Coast: Helicopter Rescue

If you keep an eye on the tide and the breakers, you'll be OK...

My OregonLive RSS feed showed a dramatic helicopter rescue story. I like helicopters and Depoe Bay, so I clicked.

I looked at the photo and thought, “That rock sure looks like one I’ve climbed various times over the decades. That’s got to be at Fogarty Creek!”

Fogarty Creek (Oregon Coast) Helicopter Rescue

Sure enough: Read it all

God Makes It Clear: Stephen Hawking Is a Fool

So Jesus came and died to redeem him.

Mr. Hawking said about something or other, “if there were a God. Which there isn’t.”

“The fool hath said in his heart,
There is no God.”
(Psalm 14:1)

I can admire or mock Mr. Hawking’s brash ignorance and unbelieving foolishness, but the big question for me is whether I live in daily acknowledgement of God’s existence. Read it all

Juli’s Grandpa’s Favorite Homemade Yogurt

Actually, I don't know that to be true. I haven't tried it yet.
July and me in 2003
Juli and her grandpa in 2003

I think even I could make this yogurt… 😯

  1. Half gallon milk in a covered crockpot on low for 2.5 hours.
  2. Turn off cooking machine and let it all sit (still covered) for 3 hours.
  3. Whisk in 1 cup of plain yogurt. (Uncover first, of course.)
  4. Recover (as in, put the lid back on the crockpot) and then wrap the whole thing in a large towel and leave thusly for 8 hours.
  5. Done.

Read it all

Do You Pressure Your Friends?

Do you condition your friendship on their compliance?
“If you make your friends do things to please you,
you are loving your own reflection through them.”
-Pete Martens

If you start feeling like I’m conditioning our friendship on your 100% compliance with my wishes, please let me know.

In fact, let me know if such conditioning reaches even 20%.

I don’t want to be that kind of friend. Read it all

Full Harvest SuperMoon

As seen near Hubbard, Oregon, the night of September 9, 2014
“And God made two great lights;
the greater light to rule the day,
and the lesser light to rule the night:
he made the stars also.”
(Genesis 1:16)

The big night was September 8-9, 2014. The three photos I got that night aren’t so great.

So here are my photos the following night, taken 8:04-8:19 pm (Pacific) on September 9.

rising-moon-in-trees
Supermoon rising behind trees east of Hubbard, Oregon USA
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psalm 19:1).

Read it all

Why Extending Your Arms Helps Your Equilibrium

It has to do with your center of gravity.

Mark Roth doing a balancing act

Whether walking along a train track rail or across the top of a fence, having your arms outstretched helps you maintain your balance.

Whether walking a tightrope or a wall or a rafter, stretching your arms out from your sides seems to help keep you on the rope, wall, or rafter.

Why? Or is it all an illusion?

Unaided, a person’s center of balance is located just beneath their ribcage, about halfway from the ground to the top of a person’s head. This means that we balance from this part of our bodies. Carrying a long pole lowers our center of balance, just as holding out our arms to the sides does. If the pole is long enough, a person’s center of balance can be lowered to their knees, ankles or even the tops of their feet. A lower center of balance makes it easier for anyone to balance while walking across even a narrow rope.

Center of Balance

To get along well in life, we need a good sense of balance — physically, mentally, socially, spiritually. So along those lines, a few random thoughts…

People have tried for too long to “balance” their secular life with their “Christian” life. (May a Christian Do That?)

Blessing God does not undo my railing against another. It won’t even act as a counter balance to my evil speaking, somehow evening the score and giving me a clean slate. (Window to My Heart) Read it all

Above all, love God!

since November 9, 2005