Three Bible Truths That Struck Fear in my Heart

18 Feb

On the Porch

Onisha Elllis

I'm a winner

Last week as I tried to write this blog, I couldn’t seem to put my thoughts together so I decided to let it rest for a week. I posted my first ever “teaser” and used that time to mull and pray for clarity of thought and words. Until age twelve I spent a lot of time at church. My mother was a Sunday School teacher, my dad a deacon as well as the Training Union director and they both sang in the choir. ( It was a wonderful choir). When they were needed at church, I was there too. Although there were some people who did not behave in a loving, Godly manner, most appeared to be genuine believers, whose desire was to serve God. It was in that church where I gave my heart to Christ and learned how much he loved me.

Lucerne Park Baptist Church, Orlando, Florida

Lucerne Park Baptist Church, Orlando, Florida

Over the years I  heard a LOT of sermons, good ones too. Yet there were three teachings of Jesus that I feared:

  • Don’t be a milk drinker
  • The gate to heaven is narrow
  • I never knew you.

I didn’t see how my imperfect self could ever measure up.

Don’t be a milk drinker

The passage that admonished me to not drink milk is Hebrews 12:13-14. Verse 13 reads:

 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

milk-glass-frisch-healthy-drink-nutritious-krug-2

Sermons based on this verse admonished me to stop needing to be spoon fed and grow up.  I turned to Biblegateway to get a more readable translation and found The Message Version.

11-14 I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you’ve picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.

Sometimes it seemed that as soon as I started on the solid food of  God’s word, I would relapse to the milk diet. I worried that I was stalled there forever, destined to be a milk drinker.

The gate to heaven is narrow. Matthew 7:13-14  worried me a lot during my childhood and early adult years.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” NIV

I was surrounded by Godly people. How was my mess of a life going to fit through that gate?

Woman crossing suspension bridge

 

In my lifetime, I have seen a trend to “widen the tent” or in this case, the gate. The Message translation explains this far better than I can.

13-14 “Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention. “

This one doesn’t frighten me now. I believe that narrow gate will hold all who earnestly seek the ways of the Savior.

I never knew you. My heart quaked when I considered this scripture, Luke 13:27

 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. NIV

Puzzled girl

 

How could he say that?

Once again, I turned to The Message and read several more verses.

23-25 A bystander said, “Master, will only a few be saved?”

He said, “Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires your total attention. A lot of you are going to assume that you’ll sit down to God’s salvation banquet just because you’ve been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives. Well, one day you’re going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you’ll find the door locked and the Master saying, ‘Sorry, you’re not on my guest list.’

26-27 “You’ll protest, ‘But we’ve known you all our lives!’ only to be interrupted with his abrupt, ‘Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing. You don’t know the first thing about me.’

Banquet room

 

I love how Jesus admonished them to mind their own business and to put their mind on their own life with God. I have learned that spending time with God is not giving him my list of daily requests, rather it is daily giving myself to him. I confess, I am still learning.

Many, many years ago, DiVoran Lites shared with  me her theory of fiery darts and I have never forgotten it. To paraphrase, Satan has a bundle of darts at his disposal and he chooses ones that will attack weakness.

For me he attacked the maturity of my faith (milk drinker), my worthiness to enter Christ’s kingdom (narrow gate)  and my fear of being rejected ( I never knew you). DiVoran suggested that when those darts arrived, I should mentally reject them and return them to the sender. I do this by claiming God’s word in my life, especially the verses that I call my “cling-tos”

I’d like to share with you one of my favorite “cling-to” verses.

Romans 8:38-39

38 For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, 39 or where we are—high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us

Nothing, nothing  can separate me from his love! Isn’t that the best? .

 

“See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.” -Isaiah 49_16a_-2

 

 

My First Car~Part 2

17 Feb

A Slice of Life

 Bill Lites

Bill Cross Plane

 

The extra money I saved working at Furr’s Super Market allowed me (with my parents help) buy a new Harley Davidson Sportster when I was 17. This machine was the one that got me interested in motor cycle clubs there in Albuquerque. They had all kinds of cool club events that I participated in. The one I liked the most was the “Hare & Hound” chase at night. A bunch of us would line up abreast with our lights on, and then act as the “Hounds” and slowly take off across the desert until we flushed a rabbit. Then it was open throttles to see who could chase down the rabbit first. Do any of you have any idea how fast a rabbit can run and make a 90-degree turns? Needless to say, that could be a very bumpy ride as the wind would deposit small mound of sand around each little tuft of vegetation, and running over one would sometimes causing unexpected airborne adventures.

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When I was 18 my parents finally relented and allowed me (Here it comes!!) to buy “My First Car.” I think the main reason for their decision was that the car was in pretty sad shape and needed a lot of work, so they figured I couldn’t get in too much trouble with it. I can’t remember who I bought it from, but I paid a whopping $50.00 dollars for it. It was a 1940 Chevy Coupe and all I can say is that it ran. Now came the challenge I had been waiting for all those years. Rebuilding lawn mower and motorcycle engines had kept me busy over the years, but it had not satisfied the desire to rebuild my own car. Now I had a car to work on that I could call my own. Believe it or not, when I said it would run, I wasn’t kidding, flat out it wouldn’t go over 50 mph on a level road, and much less up hill.

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The first thing I did was to get the car into our garage and began to clean up the engine. I didn’t have a lot of tools or a hoist, so I didn’t remove the engine. But I degreased the engine, flushed the radiator, replaced the water hoses, replaced the spark plugs, cleaned up the distributor and installed new points. I changed the oil and installed a new oil filter and a new air filter. Then I rebuilt the carburetor and, with a friends help, adjusted the timing. I painted the rocker cover, oil filter, air filter, oil filler cap and water pump to make the engine compartment look a little flashier.

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Then I started to work on the body. I found some replacement bumpers and grill at an auto salvage yard (that was back when you could remove the parts needed yourself and very cheaply). I had to replace the heater hoses, install new seat covers, install new floor mats, and recover the platform under the rear window. Of course I had to have a “Necker’s Knob” on the steering wheel. And amazingly the radio worked (on most local stations). The next thing was to sand down all the rough spots on the body (apply and sand “Bondo” where needed) and primer the entire body. We didn’t have clear-coat finishes back then and I didn’t have the money for a fancy multi-coat lacquer job, so a friend helped me with a nice enamel paint job. When I was finished with all that, the only difference between how my car looked and the one in the photo below is that my car was painted Turquoise, had a permanent windshield visor and no fog lights.

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As it turned out, I finished fixing the car up just in time to meet, DiVoran, the love of my life. However, the when, where and how we met is another story for another time and blog. I knew DiVoran’s brother, David, from working with him at Furr’s Super Market, and when he told her he knew this guy at work who had a car and a motorcycle, she said, “I know a Bill Lites from school. Maybe I should get to know him a little better.” Well, she did get to know me better; a lot better, and we spent many evenings after that in “My First Car” running around town and at the drive-in movies. I drove that car until I shipped out with the U.S. Navy. Funny thing about that car; I had waited so long to get it, and now can’t remember who I bought it from. Then I put all that time, money and effort into restoring it, and now, for the life of me, I can’t t remember exactly to who or when I sold it. Oh well, I’m just glad I have this much of the memory of that time during my teenage years.

 

—–The End—–

 

The Shelf Roads

15 Feb

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and Artist

My friend, Patricia has been commenting on the serial I’m running on Rebekah Lyn Book. It’s called Go West and I asked her particularly to comment because we have a shared childhood from 1945 to 1951. If anyone could keep me straight, or answer questions, it would be Patricia. Those were wonderful childhood years. She has done a bang-up job.

At that time of life most kids are interested in everything. Patricia and I were avid learners so we got a lot out of school. Patricia’s family had been in the valley from the time they first came to America. Her mother’s family was German and her dad came from Canada and was of French ancestry. She has some good tales to tell about them.

My parents moved to the small town right after dad came home from WWII. He bought the restaurant on the G. I. Bill. We lived in a railroad worker’s duplex, but before we moved away, Dad bought the old train depot and remodeled it into an apartment house. The railroad was defunct, but some of their buildings still stood.

Because I had the Go West characters in a shelf road situation for the last episode, Patricia remembered some shelf-road situations she’d been in herself. Here’s what she said:

The shelf road was very scary and reminded me of a couple of trails that I know!Remember the Dieckman girls?  Or did they just come to school during high school?  I’m not sure.  Anyway, I used to go horseback riding out on their ranch and along some of the mountain trails with them.  They kept wanting to ride up along Phantom Terrace, which we never did, although they had ridden it many times.  Just the name scared me. They said that horses are very surefooted and it would be perfectly safe.  I’m glad we never went, as I would probably have fallen off just looking over the cliff.

Shelf Roads OTRN

 

I wrote back and told her I did remember one of the Dieckman girls who came to our school after classes moved to the other small mining town a mile away. The school had about five rooms and you had to go through one to get to the other. It was unpainted wood. We had no bathrooms, only outhouses, but that was no problem, we’d had outhouses at the two room schoolhouse where we’d gone before.

It’s wonderful to have a friend from such a long time ago. Both sets of parents are gone. I still have one brother and she still has all five of hers. We’ve moved on to other locations, other lives, but it’s as comforting as can be to have someone to reminisce with and to still be able to remember the past even though we both think often of the hereafter. We think about Heaven and we think about going from one room to another and saying, what am I here after?

 

The Cruise of a Lifetime~Part 3

14 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

Our second morning began again with breakfast. We shared our table with Tina and Bob.

We had sailed overnight to Cologne, Germany, and arrived about 10:30 a.m. Shortly thereafter, we began the walking tour of the historical center of the city. Our guide told us that Cologne is the oldest city in Germany. It dates back to around AD 50, when the Romans established a major settlement.   We had a really interesting guide. He told us how the Romans conquered one side of the river – the side we were on – but couldn’t get across to the other side. They called the people on the other side “barbarians.” Now, the politically correct people call them the “cross-eyed” people instead.

In 1709, Italian expat and Cologne resident Giovani Farina created a citrus-scented toiletry he dubbed “Eau de Cologne” in honor of his adopted city. Other perfumeries followed, especially Wilhelm Meulhens, who founded the famous “4711″ brand (named after the address of his manufacturing building). There are several museums in the area, as well as a Chocolate Museum – which we didn’t get to!

Because it was Sunday we could not get into the cathedral until after services, so we walked around the outside of it and the square. Our guide told us about the cathedral, how long it took to build which part, which was the oldest, etc. He gave us other information about Cologne. He was a very interesting man.

 

Many years ago, while we were living in Germany and took our own tours of the country, we visited Cologne, and found a fountain that depicted an interesting and funny story about German workers.

 

While on our tour, we walked right up to the fountain – called the Elves of Cologne. We were so excited! We thought we would have to find it on our own, and there it was! Wikipedia says: The Heinzelmännchen are a race of creatures appearing in a tale connected with the city of Cologne in Germany. The little house gnomes are said to have done all the work of the citizens of Cologne during the night, so that the inhabitants of Cologne could be very lazy during the day. According to the legend, this went on until a tailor’s wife got so curious to see the gnomes that she scattered peas onto the floor of the workshop to make the gnomes slip and fall. The gnomes, being infuriated, disappeared and never returned. From that time on, the citizens of Cologne had to do all their work by themselves.

 

After lunch and naps on the ship, Fred and I went back out into Cologne to find a book on the Elves of Cologne, which we found in the “information” building. The story is essentially what I remember about it.

15

 

Our dinner companions that night were an Australian couple, Velma and Jeff.

16

 

We also had Jill and Roy from Albuquerque, New Mexico (actually Belen). He is a retired veterinarian, and she is a retired nurse. We had a most interesting talk about Albuquerque   We also had dinner with Rich and Mary from Pennsylvania who we ate with the first night on board.

Back to the room and relatively early to bed. These are long days, and we still aren’t over our jet-lag.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

 

 

Ten tips to make your marriage sizzle with love.

13 Feb

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Janet Eckles Perez

 

When I was 23 and said “I do” to my hubby; I had no clue what I was saying. When I committed to love him no matter what, I didn’t expect my selfish ways to be a problem. And when I vowed to cherish him, sometimes I asked myself what in the world that meant.

Then something happened. Something that shook me, slapped my senses and that’s when our relationship began to glow.

All began when……adversity visited our marriage. Blame flew all over our arguments, hardships threatened to divide us, and heartache zapped our romance.

Then God intervened. We both turned to him. Admitting our frailty and foolishness, we placed it all before Him. With desperate hearts, we both looked up at Him, His instructions, His guidance, and His wisdom. Then with His brush of love, He painted strokes of restoration, healing, and strength.

And when we recently celebrated our 40th anniversary, I reflected on what keeps us in love, cherishing each other and expecting another 40 years.

Here are the 10 tips to make your marriage glow no matter what you’re facing:

  1. Forgive the small stuff, talk about the big stuff, and forgive that, too.
  2. As often as possible, bring to mind your spouse’s strengths.
  3. Praise your spouse before others. A compliment in private is encouraging. Praise before others is transforming.
  4. Never try to change your spouse. Find what needs to change in you instead.
  5. Make memories by planning moments together.
  6. Surprise each other with a kind gesture.
  7. Write your feelings of love rather than just saying them.
  8. Physical contact is good for the heart. Make sure to give a hug, a loving tap, a squeeze of the arm, a peck, etc. Do this at least eight times a day (proven to be a powerful habit that keeps blood pressure down).
  9. When discussing difficult concerns, avoid blame; instead express how you feel inside.
  10. Express gratitude often, and even for little things.

A marriage is a sailboat; we are in control of the sail, determining where it goes.

i-love-you

Be sure to visit Janet’s blog to read more: Ten tips to make your marriage sizzle with love. | Janet Perez Eckles

Reflections of the Heart: LISTENING

12 Feb

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

Louise Gibson

People need people to validate their dreams-

No one is independent,

We all need someone, it seems.

 

A speaker needs a listener

to the language of his heart.

We all need recognition-

true listening is an art.

 

Do you truly sense the hunger

when a person speaks to you?

Or do you struggle with impatience

to express your point of view?

 

We may not all be Hemingways,

or famous for our prose,

But I sense a warm comraderie

in this group that grows…and grows.

 

man and woman on dock

Source: Reflections of the Heart: LISTENING

A teaser for next week’s blog

11 Feb

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I'm a winner

 

I seem to be needing to use some extra brain power and Divine inspiration to put this weeks planned blog together. So here is a teaser.

Three Bible Truths That Struck Fear in my Young Heart

 

  • Don’t be a milk drinker

  • The gate to heaven is narrow

  • I never knew you.

I’m not sure about the title. Is truths the best word choice for those verses that bounce around in one’s head creating doubt and fear?

Sad dog under covers

 

 

 

My First Car~Part 1

10 Feb

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Bill Small Red Plane

 

I believe I have mentioned before that I started working at an early age (see “I was a 12-Year Old Businessman” blog 01/23/2013) because I had big dreams of things I wanted to do. One of those dreams was to own a car that I could work on and call my own (As I was growing up, my mother always told me she thought I was mechanically inclined). If you can believe it, that didn’t seem so far in the future to me, as the law in New Mexico, at the time, allowed a person to get a driver’s license at age 14. I started my dream adventure at around age 10 by mowing lawns with a push mower (In case some of you younger readers don’t know what that is, the mower doesn’t have a motor on it and the power to cut the grass is provided by you).

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By the time I was 12, I had saved enough money to buy a Sears self-propelled gas powered mower (Of course you know what those are, right). I spent a lot of time pushing those mowers around the neighborhood to my various jobs. As my lawn mowing business grew, my parents helped by driving me and my mower to jobs outside our neighborhood.

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My lawn mowing reputation grew and in the winters I had a paper route to help supplement my income. So, by the time I was 14, I hadn’t saved enough money for a car, but I needed better transportation than a bicycle for the paper route and to get around town. Strange thing about this was that my parents didn’t want me to have a car, but they were OK with me having a motorcycle. Go figure! Most parents won’t even talk to their kids about having a motorcycle. So, after I got my driver’s license, I bought a used Harley Davidson 125cc motorcycle. Boy could I carry a lot of newspapers on that machine. And, I could go anywhere in town without breaking a sweat.

3

When I was 16 I got a part-time job as a bag boy with a super market that opened a new store in town. With this job and my paper route, I was making enough money to make payments on a larger motorcycle. My parents helped me buy a new Harley Davidson 165cc motorcycle and now I felt like the “King of the Road” on my bright red cycle. This was the mid-50s and “Fonzie” was a big hit in the “Happy Days” TV show. So of course I had to have the cool “Fad” threads to play the part (leather motorcycle jacket with lots of zippered pockets, Levis jeans with rolled up cuffs, motorcycle boots, and a “Duck Tail” haircut) and complete the scene.

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Now I know it’s hard for some of you to imagine the Bill Lites you know today as ever having been one of those motorcycle bums all those many years ago. And I’m sure that, those of you who know me don’t believe I ever had enough hair for one of those hairdos. Well, just take a look at my sophomore year book photo.

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Now I know, with the title of this blog, you were expecting to hear all about my first car, and it’s coming. I promise. It was a growing process, so hang in there, I’ll get to it (maybe in Part 2). At the super market I worked my way up to “Checker” (Cashier) that paid more and wasn’t near as hard work as carrying out armloads of heavy paper bags full of groceries to customer’s cars (in all kinds of weather), unloading truckloads of heavy boxes (at 4:00 am) and mopping/polishing floors. The lawn mowing jobs and the paper route went to others who would work for less.

—–To Be Continued—–

 

 

 

 

 

The Bug Man

8 Feb

My Take

DiVoran Lites

 

 

Author, Poet and ArtistWe have a cat that is allergic to fleas, so we had to sign up for a pest control program. Our particular account majors in fleas. Bob, the technician is a nice man. He likes to chat when he goes about his work. Bill is usually here to talk to him, but today I was elected because Bill had another gig.

I watched Bob out the big front window mixing his potions from the back of his truck. He’s not a big man, nor particularly small, not heavy, not thin. He wears glasses and a blue ball-cap as he goes about his work. I’d say he’s in his early 50s. I wondered what he and Bill talked about, but didn’t try to start a conversation.

Our cats, Jasmine and Lily need to stay off the carpets until the insecticide dries, so we put them in their carriers and move them to Bill’s model airplane hangar. When we started the service I stayed with them, played music, worked on my laptop, or painted. They cried the whole time anyway, so I decided to go on my walk while the floors dried.

Today I was sitting at my computer waiting for Bob to finish the spraying. He asked me if I was the artist. Yes, I am, I have my paintings all over the house. That may seem immodest, but sorry, I like them and so does Bill. I think other people do too.

Bob liked a picture in the “studio” which used to be the garage. It’s a pastel of a painted bunting. He could hardly believe it when I said, “Let’s see if there’s one on the feeder now.” Unfortunately, none was, but as you can tell from the picture they are a beautiful bird. The male is multi-colored and the female is green, the only green bird in Florida. When I told him that he said,”We have green parrots beachside in Melbourne.” They have a distinctive squawk, but I like them okay.”

Bunting

Painted Bunting by DiVoran

Oh, yes, parrots. I’ve seen them here in Titusville, too. They lived in holes in palm-trees, but I don’t think they’re here anymore. They’re considered exotics. The painted buntings are migratory and are here for the winter with their little green wives. They vie for seeds with the bigger birds and the cardinals seem reluctant to take them on. We talked about the other exotics in Florida. We both shivered at the thought of the huge iguanas we’ve heard about down south that fell from the trees one year when the weather got too cold for them. I remembered, too, that down there they have boa constrictors whose parents escaped from zoos during hurricanes and bred more boa constrictors. The climate of south Florida suits them fine.

Fast Facts (from National Geographic site)

Type:

Reptile

Diet:

Carnivore

Average life span in the wild:

20 to 30 years

Size:

13 ft (4 m)

Weight:

60 lbs (27 kg)

Group name:

Bed or knot

Did you know?

Some South Americans keep boas in their houses to control rat infestations.

 

Bob got down to business when we moved to the kitchen. He said the flea repellents people get from their vets are almost eradicating fleas in homes and the younger techs don’t know how to spray for them. We moved here in 1965 and had nothing to combat them with so I fully appreciate that.

Bob says the nemesis is now sugar ants. Ooh, we’ve got some of those. Actually, I originally brought them in by letting the cat food sit on the porch and collect them. They are only about as big as a period. I opened the cupboard and showed Bob the diatomaceous-earth powder I’ve sprinkled on the shelves. He seemed truly interested. I asked what the pest control guys use inside the cupboards, and he said, “We don’t put anything inside the cupboard. We use non-repellant insecticide outside and the ants carry it into the nests and contaminate them. I’ve been doing that for you here.” He said. I thanked him.

I was flabbergasted. I wondered why we hadn’t had to move out of the house because of those scamps and all the time Bob had us covered. It kind of reminds you of God, doesn’t it?

 

 

The Cruise of a Lifetime~Part 2

7 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

The first real day of our cruise started with breakfast. There is a “buffet” breakfast in the restaurant, with a chef making omelets – made to order.

Our ship, the Gefjon (gef’- ee – on) is named after a Norwegian goddess.   Interesting.

 

Our first excursion took us to Kinderdijk (kinder-dike), Holland (the Netherlands).

 

 

This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We saw a building with three huge Archimedes screws.

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From the original 150 windmills in the area, only 28 are left, and Kinderdijk has the largest collection of working windmills in that small area – 19 in all.

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We saw the windmills – went into one – and saw the polders the windmills gather water from. The windmills are used to pump water from the polders using internal or external scoops into reservoirs on two levels.   We were amazed at the size of the mills, and sails that are placed on the blades – it is all mechanical. We were also amazed to see that the caretakers actually lived within the windmill. Small spaces, and usually when the father died, the son took over.

The one we went in was old – made entirely from bricks. The newer ones looked like they were made from “shingles.” Most of these windmills date from 1738 through 1740.

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The ship supplied us with “receivers” and ear pieces that we plugged into the receivers that hung from lanyards around our necks. Each tour guide had a “channel” that we tuned into. That way they could talk normally and we couldn’t hear what the other guides were saying (different channel). It was a very convenient way to do the tours. We had them with us at all times on our excursions. The ship also supplied us each with bottled water on each excursion.

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Back on board, we began our sail to Cologne, Germany. Still being rather tired, we both took a nap, until it was time for the mandatory safety drill – including wearing our life jackets. We have to get over that jet lag!

We had a light lunch in the Aquavit Lounge. Usually set up as a buffet on the Terrace – much quicker and as good as in the restaurant.

After lunch we checked on our e-mail. Fred got one of the hostesses to set up our phones to receive e-mail.

We took in a Dutch teatime in the Aquavit Lounge. They served lots of goodies, and flavorful, interesting hot tea.

Nearing dinnertime, there was a “Toast to Our Guests” by Captain Marcel Stephan and Hotel Manager Harald Halswanter in the Aquavit Lounge.

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It was a welcome time for the guests of the ship. That room was used for many things, including the daily briefing about the next day’s excursions by Program Director, Carl West. Carl followed the tours on each excursion, taking pictures. Each evening, those pictures would scroll through the two monitors set up in the lounge. It was fun to find pictures of yourselves on those monitors.

Dinner in the restaurant. Everyone at the table had the Chateaubriand, and it was wonderful!

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Our table mates were Steve and Jane from Colorado, and Lola and Judy from Minnesota. Jane had recently had back surgery, and while in physical therapy, fell onto her back and re-injured herself. She was moving rather gingerly and always used a cane when she walked.

Another long, busy day, and the bed felt really good!!

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~