Here comes Hanna

Yesterday afternoon I heard from a neighbor that the crane at the shipyard was staying busy pulling boats out of the bay ahead of Tropical Storm Hanna's arrival later this evening.

Then today, I noticed how many folks showed up to make sure their boats are secure ... and how many were adding additional dock lines where doubt existed.



I bought two extra dock lines- just to be safe- and have already screwed down the ports, checked the bilge pumps and zipped Calypso's top tight. Hopefully, I'll sleep through Hanna's arrival ... and not wake up to drips, soggy carpet, or find galley utensils inside the head.


PS. Uh oh, I forgot all about stocking up on bread and milk .... wonder if canned tuna and Minute Rice is just as good?

...AREAS AFFECTED...

THIS STATEMENT RECOMMENDS ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY PERSONS IN...

THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA...

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN MARYLAND... HARFORD...SOUTHERN BALTIMORE...PRINCE GEORGES...ANNE ARUNDEL... CHARLES... ST. MARYS...CALVERT...

I want to believe, but sometimes life's just too hard

Hey, I know. Even as believers, life can seem hard.

Especially when we're listening, and trying to follow God's will.

We're confronted by non-believers who'd like nothing better than to knock us down by alleging hypocrisy, but also by believers focused on themselves who'd like nothing better than seeing us fall flat on our witness.

-- -- --

It's frustrating when life's insignificant circumstances catch us off-guard. We find ourselves attacked and ridiculed by folks we trusted ... but even that kind of betrayal shouldn't be shocking or surprising.

We're most likely to find ourselves being attacked and ridiculed when we're having an impact and making a difference for God and his kingdom.

-- -- --

How should we protect ourselves when we're attacked?


But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:8

I got a BIG DECISION to make about life, but right now I'm just not ready ... and I don't think it's the time

Ok, sure. Pick the time of your convenience.

And keep day-dreaming ... as though your schedule, your plans or your priorities are even worth writing down on paper.



As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, "That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you."
- Acts 24:25

"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
-Luke 12:20-21

And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
-Romans 13:11

His election would be the saddest day in American history

I used to keep up with politics; now, not so much.

Each political party is convinced, and will argue, that their opponent is the worst, most immoral, most ill-suited possible choice ... and that anyone who supports him should seek immediate psychiatric evaluation.


Democracy? The US political process has been reduced to cynicism, hate, moral and spiritual arrogance ("I can tell you're not a real Christian if you're voting for that guy"), intellectual indignation ("How DARE you disagree with me, unless you're stoopid?") and self-serving expediency ("My guy will fix everything that's wrong with America so fast, he won't even need a second term!")

America's political forum no longer has room (or time) for discussion, cooperation and accommodation; both sides have agendas that virtually mandate sticking a thumb in your opponent's eye, questioning the ancestry of his/her pets ... and calling his (or her) mama names.

How can you reason with the kind of person who'd vote for that guy?

-- -- --

Voters on both sides feel the world is dissolving into quicksand under their feet. And that the other guy's sole reason for running is to ruin America once and for all- so both sides justify their fear and embrace RAGE and INDIGNATION as the backbone of their rhetoric: If that Lying, Poorly-qualified, Immoral Nut Job's elected, we'll see everything we love about America evaporate overnight!

No election in history has ever been more important than this one.

At least, that's what the celebrities, movie stars, executives and pundits wringing their hands on TV imploring us to join their side- and vote for their guy- keep saying.

Your road is fine for you ... it's just not Me

Folks feel despair and look for answers on TV shows from stars earning millions of bucks a year, without once wondering what product that star is selling.

Face it, pop TV stars and psychologists quickly learned the only way to stay on the air is by selling something ... they just don't want you to figure out "Feeling good about Me" is the product they're hawking and want you to buy.

Otherwise, you might realize you're just a customer, a mark ... and not wanna keep watching and buying books about Fixing Me.

-- -- --

Are people who're hurting looking for a solution, or just an excuse to keep going- like they have been- with just a quick fix?

-- -- --

Right.

Me is who keeps insisting upon Having It My Way.

It was Me behind the wheel who drove you to the point of despair and frustration, just like it was Me who keeps steering your emotional ride toward bumps on the way to another cliff ... whether the latest fall will involve unmanageable debt, a tumultuous sexual relationship, an addiction or turning 180 degrees away from faith.

Christ never made anyone do any of those things. What God did was leave us free to choose.

Still folks fight, argue and insist, "Faith doesn't work for Me." I guess not, because Me is all you've known- and Me doesn't wanna give up control.

So Me keeps on admiring and following Me ... as far as Me can go.

Looking inward, or outward?

If you believe in evolution (which I don't), seems like you'd be wondering why human beings evolved with such a propensity to, when facing anger and frustration, turn their focus inward and rivet their attention upon Everything That Makes Me Unhappy.

No one treats me like I deserve.

I'm always the one in my relationship to give in and keep quiet. Everybody expects the most from me at work. No one pays attention to my opinions. Nobody takes me seriously.

I don't like how my church does things. Isn't my opinion as good as anybody else's?

I do and I do for other people but nobody every does anything to help me. I listen and listen to other peoples' problems, but nobody ever wants to listen to me. I never get any credit for all the things I've accomplished and you gotta be stupid not to see I'm smarter than anybody else.

No one knows what I've been through and have to put up with every day ... I feel like I'm invisible. Most of all, I can't understand why I'm so miserable and unhappy.


We focus on ME and assign importance to our unhappiness ... and then wonder why the view never changes.

I'd be a believer, but I don't wanna limit my personal options

Shoot, Christ was resurrected from the dead.

Can your "personal options" get any more unlimited than that?


Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin."
- John 8:34

Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
- Romans 6:16

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
-Galatians 5:1

The Palace of Florence

The previous post included a 1926 photo of my old school. But what's the cool building across the street, on the left?

It's The Palace of Florence, an apartment building constructed in 1925-26.

- photo source

Here's an interior hallway from May 4, 1926:


I've never seen it, but here's the courtyard fountain:


-photo source

Here's what The Palace looks like today:


Best of all, The Palace of Florence is still open and renting rooms.

And back when I was a kid ... (updated with Google street view)

While I was online I also found this April 1, 1926 photo of the building where I went to school K thru 2, which was originally constructed as the islands' Administration Office.


That's it on the right, with the stairs leading to the tiled tower. You can go to maps.google.com and enter "34 Davis Blvd, Tampa, Hillsborough, Florida 33606, United States" to see a current Street View of the structure.

In the second grade, as the Big Kids, we got to assemble in a circle around the pole every morning, while the flag was raised.


The crew beside the palm tree is shooting a promotional film, no kidding.

Here's where the school had Kindergarten. It looked exactly like this April 28, 1925.



The sconces and chandeliers still worked when I was there. But they didn't leave any couches (or other nice furniture) around for us screaming younguns to ruin.

Notice the cool tile design in the floor and the sky-high ceilings (no AC back in those days) .

-photo source here

"High Anxiety" revisted, with archived photos

On May 21, 2007 I blogged a short piece titled "High Anxiety." A few minutes ago I found this image of the actual pool and diving boards the post described.


(In case you're wondering, the above photo is from June 1 1947, decades before the afternoon described, thanks.) - source

Here's the pool's facade, c. 1931:

No Fakin with the Bacon

Is it already time for this year's Running of the Pigs? My, how times flies (even if pigs don't really have wings).



Get your pig on, and Pig Out At The Park: The 2008 Pigtown Festival.

Plain speaking

Paul had the gift for busting through theology and cutting right to the essentials, didn't he?

And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
- 1 Corinthians 15:41