Something a little different

Mostly odds and ends...
(Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.)


These first pictures were taken back in 2006, just after I had bought a new digital camera, and I was trying out as many of features as I could. While we were staying at Eureka Springs, Arkansas, for our 40th wedding anniversary, I took a lot of pictures. We were intrigued by this very small hummingbird feeding on the flowers.


It was only after I got the picture on the computer screen and saw it enlarged that I realized it was neither a hummingbird, nor a bumblebee. Came to find out that it is a bumblebee moth...or perhaps a hummingbird moth (different species, but I haven't found enough detailed information to know which this was). There is a link here and here about the bumblebee moth, if you really have to know something about it.



In this second case, there was no confusion about whether it was a bumblebee or hummingbird.



And as I was trying out the camera, I experimented with the timer...this was us a couple of years ago, when we'd only been married 40 years.


Well, I warned you this was about odds and ends. I suppose we qualify to be classified as some of the odds.

But this is really odd

We were visiting Roy and Dawn's this summer and there were a few wasps flying around...landing uncomfortably close at times:


But Dawn said something about one of them that kept coming back, and there was something strange about him. When she pointed him out, I saw that there was something indeed different, but couldn't figure out what.


So I chased him with my camera, and actually succeed in getting a couple pictures of him "on the wing" (and several I didn't succeed at all). This second one was even clearer:



It was only when he landed that I got the clear shot I needed.

and when enlarged, it's easy to see that he was carrying a worm attached to his underside.


From a brief foray into the wonderful world of WWW, I see that worms and wasps apparently have more to do with each other than I imagined. I didn't find any description of this sort of relationship, however. I'm sure you NEVER EVER guessed you'd be reading about bumblebee moths and hitchhiking caterpillars when you started reading this. Aren't you glad you didn't quit before the final chapter?

One week to go

One week to go...one week and she goes. Abbie leaves for the US on Thursday of next week. After spending a night at Heathrow (in a hotel) she'll get a direct flight to Dallas, where Jeff will be there to meet her (or he'll never hear the end of it). Because of the consular duties (mainly), I'll be staying here another month before going and seeing the family for about three weeks.

Braewyn's 1-month old picture (one of them).

Joy's baby is due around September 16, so we'll have two new granddaughters to get to know.


Da Costa Sunday....

I guess you could call last Sunday "Da Costa Day". José Carlos, our Sunday School teacher is in Brazil for a few weeks, so Orlando da Costa is filling in for him in the Sunday School. His brother, Aurélio, and family are here for their annual summer holiday. They lived in Morocco for a number of years, but now live in Mauritania, where they seek to be a witness for Christ in a very difficult cultural situation. They hadn't been gone very long this time and there was a coup d'etat. They ask for prayers for the country, as their religious rights and freedoms are very directly affected by the particular faction who is in power. This past Sunday, I asked Aurelio to preach, so we had back-to-back "Da Costas" (curiosity: "costas" in Portuguese can mean "coasts" or "back"). Their parents were from Madeira, but both of them were born in Zaire and came to know the Lord in South Africa. Their mother accepted the Lord just hours before slipping into her final coma and dying of cancer back about 15 years ago or so. Their father died without ever accepting the gospel.

Orlando teaching Sunday School


Aurelio preaching---he asked for an extra week to prepare to preach in Portuguese,
since they mainly speak French, Arabic and English in Mauritania.

Other visitors

Back at the end of June and early July, we had Pastor Alan Pallister, his wife, Celeste, and their sons, Andrew and Ricardo spend a couple of weeks here. Bro. Pallister is pastor at the Baptist Church of Caldas da Raínha, about an hour north of Lisbon, and he is also on the teaching staff of the Baptist Theological Seminary at Queluz, in the outskirts of Lisbon. It's a blessing to us to have this kind of fellowship.



Jackie

We got word from Jackie this week that the doctors have scheduled her for an "urgent" procedure two weeks from now. She needs "balloon inserts" (her words) to open up the veins (arteries?), as they cannot give her any more medication. She is nearly at the maximum insulin dosage, and her diabetes problems still persist. Her eyesight is still greatly affected. Your prayers are always appreciated.

I'm OK, Jackie not so

It was Wednesday of last week that I fell down the stairs outside and for a day or so, the extent of damage was a matter of wait-and-see. I was able to put on shoes by Sunday, and by now, almost a week later, "estou pronto para outro" (I'm ready for the next one) as the Portuguese say.

We spoke with Jackie in England yesterday....she had another bad week. Her diabetes is so bad that the doctor started her right off with 38 units of insulin, rather than 10-15 and working up, as they normally try to do. He said she should have started insulin a couple of years ago, and now the problem is serious. The body is reacting to the large doses of insulin. The latest development is that her eyesight has been affected and she can't read a computer monitor, read, or watch TV. Do keep praying for her and Jaime.

A final note: today is our 42nd wedding anniversary. Eating dinner would be nice; eating out would be nicer, so will plan to do that. According to the newspaper, around midnight tonight there's supposed to be a meteor shower, which we might try to stay up for. But we'll have to go up into the mountains somewhere 1) to get away from the city lights and 2) to get above the layer of clouds that often hangs around the coast line. At the price of fuel, it might cost as much to drive up into the hills as it would to buy a couple of tickets to a movie. Of course, the producer and director of the show in the sky leaves all the competition far behind. His special effects are truly special.


P.S. Almost forgot...latest picture of Braewyn (2 days old), courtesy of her Uncle Jeff. About that bandage: the doctor went a little too deep with the scalpel when doing the C-section.

After all these years, I'm still falling for her

42nd wedding anniversary coming up next week. Back then, I was crazy for her, now I'm crazy because of her... actually not the case (the second part), but it is true that I still fall for her. I first fell for her when she was 16; the last time I fell for her was yesterday about 10 o'clock in the morning. Not as romantic a setting, indeed. Abbie was cleaning the porch by our entrance and asked me to take a heavy cement flower pot down to the terrace over the garage. In my care not to hurt my back, I carried the pot in such a way that about halfway down the first flight of concrete steps I lost my balance and in trying to regain it, I jammed the three middle toes of the left foot into the steps then bruised the sole of my right foot on the edge of the step as I tried to stop my fall. (I was barefoot.) Fortunately there was a landing about 4 steps away, where pot and Potter were lying when Abbie dashed to see where I had disappeared to. She had been watching me from the porch, and all of a sudden I dropped out of her line of sight.

I was on my knees with my hands and face up against the wall of the neighbor's house, which help shorten my distance of travel. One of my toes was throbbing and I was afraid to look because I was sure I had torn the toenail right off. Abbie was very sympathetic. I guess that's what she was; she said she was about to throw up, anyway.

I must have some royal ancestry...there's enough blue blood in me to color two toes, at least. Yesterday they were blue...today they're more a shade of royal purple. I don't think I broke them, and the nails are intact for the moment, but I haven't had the courage to put on closed shoes, yet. I went to the office this morning in sandals...but it's summer and everyone wears sandals in the summer, don't they?

Spiritual application: Three things were very evident in this mishap - 1) Falling is easy; it doesn't take any effort. 2) Falling is fast; it happens in a blink of an eye. 3) The consequences of a fall can be painful and lasting. In the Bible and in recent times, we have seen evidences of these three aspects in the spiritual lives and ministries of many people. May we pray daily for God to keep us from falling; it's too easy, fast, and damaging.



BRAEWYN

Here's the picture we have of Mother and Child (Rachel and Braewyn), so far. This was taken on July 26, a few hours after her arrival in the world. Still waiting on more (and better) pictures.




Still waiting on more (not necessarily better) grandkids, too. Joy's down to the last 6 weeks or so of her pregnancy, and there'll be a lot of pictures of little .....TBA.................., I'm sure. Joy and Mark can hardly wait.