MEDITATE ON THIS ...

Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the first and great commandment.

Matthew 22:37-38

Mountain Goats

         On January 20 my oldest son, whose hobby is hunting, walked onto the stage at the Grand Slam Ovis Sheep Show and was inducted into the exclusive GSCO Capri fraternity.  This award is given to hunters who have successfully hunted 12 wild mountain goats of the world.

          While this recognition has now been achieved by several hundred hunters, the challenges and accomplishments needed to attain this recognition are most challenging and only those who dedicate themselves to the hardships needed to reach this milestone truly understand the difficult nature of this journey.

          Much is written about those who successfully hunt the four wild sheep of North America, commonly known as the Grand Slam.  While any sheep hunt is difficult, goats tend to live in much more precipitous places stretching the physical limits of any seasoned hunter.  And, of course, you have to successfully conclude four times as many hunts as the Grand Slam and travel the world to achieve the GSCO Capri Award.

          In 2022, on a snowy November morning in Romania, he steadied the crosshairs on an old Carpathian Chamois who just moments earlier had descended from the rocky cliffs onto the boulder-strewn hillside 250 meters from my son's position.  The climb had been demanding, but his rocky hide proved the perfect location to conclude the hunt.

          The shot was muffled in the snow covered canyon, but the animal collapsed in the snow a successful conclusion to the hunt.  This was his 12^th mountain goat, many miles and years from his first successful goat hunt, an American Mountain Goat in the cliffs of British Columbia, Canada, in 1998. 

          Some interesting points about his journey:

*  The journey took him 24 years to complete, although he was sidetracked in many other hunting adventures that did not focus on capri critters.

*  He hunted seven different countries to collect all 12 animals.  Spain has the most Capri species and he made two trips there to collect four different Ibex species and one chamois.
*  He did not take one animal on his list in the United States.  The only capri species that reside in the United States is the American Mountain Goat.

*  Goat hunting is conducted in steep, often very dangerous country.  The most physically challenging hunt of the 12 was the first in British Columbia.  He says he was young, foolish and inexperienced.  But it worked out.
*  The most scenic hunt was Tahr in New Zealand.

*  His all-time favorite was Southeastern Ibex in Spain.  It took three days for it all to come together. This animal also marked the 400^th Ibex his professional hunter had taken in his career.

 

         Here are some details of his 12 hunts:

1998    Canada            American Mountain Goat

2006    New Zealand   New Zealand Tahr

2006    New Zealand   New Zealand Chamois

2011    Slovenia          Alpine Chamois

2010    Macedonia      Belkan Chamois

2012    Spain               Gredos Ibex

2012    Spain               Beceite Ibex

2012    Spain               Cantabrian Chamoix

2012    France             Pyenean Chamois

2021    Spain               Ronda Ibex

2021    Spain               Southeastern SpanishIbex

2022    Romania          Carpathian Chamois

 

          He is thankful to many who contributed to this effort.  The journey has provided him with a lifetime of memories and relationships which he will cherish forever.  Most of all he thanks the Lord Jesus Christ who gave him the strength, stamina and protection over many years.  He is the One who got him up the mountains, got him down – most often the hardest steps- and saw him safely home again.

          Psalms 104:18, "The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the hyrax."

MEDITATE ON THIS ...

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

More Lexophilia Part 2

          Although not in the dictionary, it is reported that "Lexophile" describes a person who loves sentences such as, "You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish," and "To write with a broken pencil is pointless."

   

 The annual 'New York Times' competition was held, and here are this year's best original submissions:

 

 - I changed my iPod's name to Titanic.  It's syncing now.

 - England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.

 - Haunted French pancakes give me the crepes.

 - This girl today said she recognized me from the Vegetarians Club, but I'd swear I've never met herbivore.

 - I know a guy who's addicted to drinking brake fluid, but he says he can stop any time.

 - A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

 - When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A.

 - I got some batteries that were given out free of charge.

 - A dentist and a manicurist married.  They fought tooth and nail.

 - A will is a dead giveaway.

 - Police were summoned to a daycare center where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

 - A bicycle can't stand alone; it's just two tired.

 - The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine last week is now fully recovered.

 - He had a photographic memory, but it was never fully developed.

 - When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

- Acupuncture is a jab well done. That's the point of it.

 - I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.

 - Did you hear about the crossed-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils.

 - When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble.

 - When chemists die, they barium

 - Stayed up all night to see where the sun went, and then it dawned on me.

 - I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can't put it down.

~ A lot of money is tainted. 'Taint yours and 'taint mine.

~ A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.

~ He had a photographic memory that was never developed.

~ The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

~ Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

~ When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.

~ Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

~ Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

~ Acupuncture is a jab well done.

~ Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat.

MEDITATE ON THIS ...

My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.

Exodus 33:14

Progress?

You know you are living in the 21st century when ...

. Your reason for not staying in touch with family is that they do not have e-mail addresses.

. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

. You call your son's beeper to let him know it's time to eat. He e-mails you back from his bedroom, "What's for dinner?"

. Your daughter sells Girl Scout Cookies via her web site.

. You chat several times a day with a stranger from South Africa, but you haven't spoken with your next door neighbor yet this year.

. You check the ingredients on a can of chicken noodle soup to see if it contains Echinacea.

. Your grandmother asks you to send her a JPEG file of your newborn so she can create a screen saver.

. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home.

. Every commercial on television has a web site address at the bottom of the screen.

. You buy a computer and 6 months later it is out of date and now sells for half the price you paid.

. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go get it.

. Using real money, instead of credit or debit, to make a purchase would be a hassle and takes planning.

. Cleaning up the dining room means getting the fast food bags out of the back seat of your car.

. You just tried to enter your password on the microwave.

. You consider second day air delivery painfully slow.

. Your dining room table is now your flat filing cabinet.

. Your idea of being organized is multiple colored Post-it notes.

. You hear most of your jokes via e-mail instead of in person.

. You disconnect from the Internet and get this awful feeling, as if you just pulled the plug on a loved one.

. You get up in morning and go on-line before getting your coffee.

. You wake up at 2 AM to go to the bathroom and check your E-mail on your way back to bed.

So do you wish for the "good old days?"

MEDITATE ON THIS ...

By this all will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.

John 13:35

The Leaky Pail List (LB)

Here is another LOOKING BACK blog in which I repeat a blog that I have posted previously.  This one was written in 2012.

          In 2007 a comedy-drama film called The Bucket List was released. The plot followed two terminally ill men on their road trip of things to do before they "kick the bucket". 

          If you haven't heard about a bucket list, it is a list of all the goals you want to achieve, dreams you want to fulfill and life-experiences you desire to experience before you die.

             Now I don't have a bucket list because I don't really have things that I want to do before I die. But I do have a list of things that I wish that I could experience once again, even though many of them are no longer possible. 

           Maybe it is my "Leaky Pail List" .... For example, their are four church buildings I wish I could visit once again. The Ebenezer Church building in Bethlehem is now gone, but I still have those memories of that building with its two balconies where my grandfather ministered for nine years. In Sunbury, the old Emmanuel church where Dianne and I met and were married is still standing, but appears to be unoccupied. There are so many good memories there and I'd love to walk through the building one more time. My grandfather was our pastor there. Then there is the old Calvary Church in Lancaster that no longer is standing. We used that building for a few years before we built our present building. It was a monster of a facility with rooms everywhere, three balconies, and many offices - a great place to explore. I guess I would also like to tour the Prospect St. building in Lancaster since I was there when we built it and we worshipped there for many years. 

          I would like to visit the George Ross Elementary School which I imagine has completely changed since I attended there 60 years ago and I would like to tour Malta Temple in Lancaster where we held our first inside church services in 1950. I imagine the interior has been changed to apartments and the bowling alley is probably gone.

           There are some homes that I wish I could tour once again - my home we lived in the second time we moved to New Cumberland (it still exists on Eutaw St.), our home in Elizabethtown which is no longer there (torn down by the college), 448 N. Queen St in Lancaster (I enjoyed city living - then), our home on George St. here in Millersville, and of course our homestead on Lemon St. in Lititz. At Christmas I think of the former parsonage in Bethlehem, with the laundry chute, which held so many memories of great family times. 

          Over the years Dianne and I were fortunate to attend about 25 math conventions in various cities around the country and Canada. There are a few favorites that I'd love to visit once again - San Antonio, San Diego, Seattle, Salt Lake City, and Boston in particular. .... I'd love to see and hear in person the Boston Pops and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir once again.  I'd love to ride the Staten Island ferry once again.  And I'd love to be able to go to Ocean City, Maryland, once again, just to relax and watch the ocean waves.

          I'd also love to ride the train between Harrisburg and Sunbury as I did when I was in college. But sadly they stopped passenger service to Sunbury many years ago. .... Even though I've never been there, I'd also like to visit Austria, Switzerland, Normandy, and Alaska.

          I'd love to taste my mother's special macaroni salad once again. Her secret recipe died with her and nobody has been able to recreate that taste, no matter how hard they've tried. I'd love to have a piece of my Mammy's peach-raspberry pie. So delicious when fresh, right out of the oven. She was a great cook and bakery making cookies and pies on her coal stove.

           I'd also like to be able to spend some time with members of  the Susquehanna basketball team from when I was a student there. For four years we traveled and spent many hours together, but now we haven't all been together in almost 50 years. .... I'd also love to meet with all the math teachers that I hired over 36 years. I've lost count, but there must have been at least 50 that I hired and supervised during my years at Penn Manor. Some of them are now deceased and I have no idea where most of them are.

          I'd love to be able to learn to play the piano. I did take lessons as a youngster, but all we had was a beat up piano in our basement and it really wasn't fun to play it. But now I wish that I could. I also wish that I could still play my trombone, but the years and lack of wind have taken their toll on that. It's sad that we don't appreciate some of these things until we are old. .... I'd love to drive my yellow VW bug once more. That was such fun in the snow and it was a great car - until the floor rusted out. .... I'd love once again to be able to sing duets with my wife in church. But our voices aren't needed there anymore and there are many more very talented folks who now minister to us. But singing duets was part of our life for about 40 years.

          Even though I was a math/physics major, I'd love to take college physics and college calculus courses again and I'd love to take a major in computers and maybe become a real web master .... And there are so many friends and loved ones I would like to visit again. But that is one thing that on my list that will happen because many are in heaven and I know that I will see them again there. And that is exciting.

         So while others make their resolutions and then break them, I have made my "Leaky Pail List".  And, I can dream about it. Happy New Year!

MEDITATE ON THIS ...

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.

Psalm 119:97