Experience for yourself the joyous mercies he gives
To all who turn to hide themselves in him.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn. She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”
Well well well – November is upon us again. It’s time to pack away the Halloween things for another year.
We don’t decorate much for Halloween – not like our neighbors do. But that’s okay. I grew up doing “Trick or Treat” around our neighborhood, and never thought anything about it, except how much fun my friends and I were having. There are many people today who are totally and completely against Halloween. I’m not opposed to it, and some fellow Christians will question how that can be when I am a professing believer. But there it is – it is a personal choice. I don’t go beyond just having a good time costuming up and enjoying time with my friends.
In any case, about the only decorating we do is this little “witch” that I found in Cracker Barrel some years ago, and I thought was cute.
I’m not exactly sure what should go on top of her, but I put this happy pumpkin head that has a small light bulb inside. I like the entire look that it has, and have had several people comment on how they like it.
When September and Fall arrives, I usually change out my flag wreath on the front door for this Fall wreath. It’s not terribly elaborate, but that’s okay…we like it.
However, now that November is here, it’s time to think about Thanksgiving. And so I will change out my Fall wreath for my Pilgrim, and he will stay all month. I really enjoy this guy.
I saw the following statement on facebook recently, and agree with it completely. It’s a shame that we have to remind ourselves that we need to take time to be thankful – for just everything. God is so very good and gracious and giving and loving and…..I can’t even begin to think of all the wonderful things God has done for/given to us. That shames me. And so I try to be sure and thank my God every day for His glorious mercy and grace and generosity to me and my family.
Credit Google Search and facebook
I’ve seen some friends on facebook who are doing a “31 days of thankfulness” – posting something different they are thankful for each day. Sounds like a great thing to do. It also reminds us to be thankful in all things.
And that brings up another point – being thankful in all things – no matter what the situation. Some friends and we were recently discussing the fact that “no matter what our situation, or think our situation is – someone is ALWAYS worse off than we are.” Tends to make me not want to complain about my aches and pains! And so…Thanks be to God – I am so much better off than I think I am.
…give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus
1 Thessalonians 5:18
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
Remember Doug, who visited the Valiant Air Command Museum earlier this year, and told me to contact him when I arrived in Winnipeg for a tour of the city? Well, he never returned my calls when I called him to let him know I was in Winnipeg. So, I headed out after breakfast this morning, to visit the museums I had planned to visit on my own. It was Sunday, and I wasn’t sure how many museums would be open, but I had to try. My first stop was the Royal Canadian Mint, with its very unique building design, but they were closed.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
As I was heading for the next museum, I saw the GWWD Railway Station and stopped to take a photo. At the time, I had no idea what GWWD stood for, but the word “Railway Station” on the end of the building let me know it had something to do with trains. Later, I Googled it and found out it was the Greater Winnipeg Water District railway station that was built in 1935 as part of the freshwater aqueduct system to supply fresh water to the surrounding cities of Winnipeg and St. Boniface
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
My next stop was to visit the St. Boniface Cathedral, located adjacent to the Verendrye Park in the St. Boniface area. The original log chapel on this site was built by the Rev. Norbert Provencher in 1818 and served the St. Boniface community until 1832 when a larger building (cathedral) replaced it. A fire destroyed that cathedral in 1860 and a second cathedral was built in 1868. That cathedral was expanded in 1906, but another fire in 1968 destroyed most of that structure. In 1972 a new cathedral was built behind the facade of the much larger and more beautiful 1906 cathedral, leaving what we see in the photo below. You can just barely see the top of the 1972 cathedral roof at the bottom of the opening of the 1906 cathedral front window opening (once the beautiful stained-glass window of the 1906 cathedral).
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Just a few miles away I tried to visit the Electrical Museum, but it was closed. Now I headed for the Canadian Aviation Museum (one of the main destinations for this road trip) located adjacent to the Winnipeg International Airport. This museum’s new facility has only been open since 2021 and displays 30+ beautifully restored static (mostly early Canadian) aircraft, including a full-size Vickers VC2 Viscount. Most of the museum’s aircraft date from the early 1900s to the 1980s. The majority of these airplanes were used by bush pilots during the ever-expanding development of the Ontario/Manitoba wilderness. The museum also has several WWII era aircraft that have been restored to flying condition and are parked on the tarmac outside the museum.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
As I was heading for the next museum, I passed the Manitoba Legislative Building and stopped to take a photo of that impressive structure (I am always on the lookout for any unusual or impressive building structures to photograph). It was closed today, so I just continued on my way to visit the Manitoba Museum, which was crowded with weekend visitors today.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
The Manitoba Museum is an impressive multi-level, multi-purpose museum that chronicles the history of man and his surrounding natural habitat, in the Manitoba region, dating from the early ice age to the present. The museum also has a planetarium and a science gallery with hands-on interactive learning stations that all ages can enjoy.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
——To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn. She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”
I know that at the end of last time’s posting, I said it was “The End” but I would like to add another little bit.
You see, I have another family that I like to talk about – and that is my blog family. I’ve been a part of this family since my first posting in 2012. My wonderful sister-in-law, DiVoran Lites, told me about her writing for a Christian blog, and how she had convinced her husband (my brother) Bill, to contribute his thoughts, as well. I read a few of their postings, and enjoyed it.
However, I never…EVER….thought that I would be able to do something like that. I love to read, but write? Never happen. But then DiVoran kept after me to write about my memories – my childhood, growing up years, my life with Fred, our girls, etc. And then I thought about it, and thought, okay that might be something I could do.
And so began my journey with this website.
And something else I’ve enjoyed so much is when we “bloggers” get together for a meal and just “get to know” each other. Of course I know Bill and DiVoran, but I didn’t know our blogmeister, Onisha, and her husband, or Louise Gibson and her daughters. Occasionally, when we met, our spouses would join us (my Fred and Onisha’s husband Mike). Frequently, some friends of ours would join us at these meals.
Then I suggested to Jan Eckles that she might like to contribute, since she has written some books of her life. She doesn’t contribute weekly, but she does add her words of wisdom quite often – and she really has a way with words!
I am not big on poetry, but those poems that Louise Gibson wrote were wonderful. I can see why she and DiVoran got along so well, since DiVoran is a poet, too. Louise has left us now, to be home with our Lord and Saviour. We were blest to know her.
The first time we had a “bloggers luncheon” was at Sweet Tomatoes restaurant. Here we are at Sweet Tomatoes in 2013.
2014 at Sweet Tomatoes
2015
It was nice to get together and meet everyone. I didn’t know Louise at that time – actually I didn’t know Onisha and her husband, either, so it was a nice get-together and get-to-know each other. Seems like we had a couple of meals together there through the years, but more recently, we’ve gone to a great seafood restaurant called High Tide Harry’s. Food is good, and we have a nice long table where we sit a just visit with each other. Here are a couple of pictures from those events in 2017.
2017
High Tide Harry’s
All that to say that, this is my family, as well. And we so enjoy being together and writing about our lives.
As I said before…I LOVE FAMILY!!
~~~~~~~~~~The End (I promise!)~~~~~~~~~~
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
For my first stop after crossing the border and arriving in Ontario, Canada I had planned to visit the Fort Frances Museum located just a few blocks from the border in Fort Frances, but it was closed today. So, I didn’t waste any time, heading northwest a couple of hours on Canada #71 to try to make up some of the time I lost at the border crossing. I stopped in Nestor Falls long enough to take a photo of the float plane base. I would have loved to have been able to just climb aboard one of those planes and fly to Winnipeg, to save all that driving time ahead of me. Dream on Bill.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
At Kenora I turned west onto the Transcontinental Canadian Highway (MB-1W) and drove for hours thru mostly flat open uninhabited plains toward Winnipeg. It wasn’t long before I began to worry about having enough gas to make it to the next gas station. I had never seen the gas gage get this low since I’d bought the car, and I didn’t know how many miles I could go after the “Low Fuel” Warning Light came on. I prayed for a gas station, and thank the Lord, I found a gas station before I had to start walking ($4.58/gal). I don’t think I could have made it the next 40 or 50 miles to Winnipeg without that stop.
It was getting late by the time I arrived at the house in Winnipeg where I had reserved a room for the two nights I planned to be there. I knocked on the front door, but no one answered. I knocked louder but no one answered. I walked around to the back door and knocked loud, but no one answered. I called the number I had on my “Confirmed” reservation and was told by the operator that the number had been disconnected. I called the travel group I had reserved the room with and told them my situation. They tried to call the number and got the same results. They logged a “Trouble Ticket” and put me in contact with their reservations desk. When I tried to make a reservation with my normal hotel chain, I was told there were no rooms available with any of their 12-group hotels in town. How could that be? He said a big conference was going on in town, and all the major hotels were full.
He checked his records and said the New Lodge Hotel had a room for the two nights. So, sight-unseen, I reserved the room and was given the address. I didn’t like the general look of the area when Greta (my Garmin) told me I had arrived at my destination. The 7-11 type store a hundred yards from the hotel looked run-down and was surrounded with all types of run-down looking people. The lobby of the hotel was gloomy and smelled of cigarette smoke. I checked in, got my things, and rode the elevator (littered with empty coffee cups and soda cans) to the third floor. When the elevator doors opened, I was hit by a very strong cigarette smell. Walking down the poorly lit hallway, I found my room and, as I looked around at the sparseness of the room, I was wondering just what I had gotten myself into.
I was surprised that the (no-smoking) room really didn’t reek of the cigarette smoke I had expected. I went back down to the lobby and ask the desk clerk about restaurants in the area, and he said, “There’s a KFC across the street.” Well, that wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but it was late and that would have to do tonight. I had their 3-piece chicken dinner ($10.96) with mashed potatoes and gravy and cold slaw. With a full tummy, I headed back to the hotel, and my room, for what turned out to be a restless night’s sleep (lots of hollering and banging of doors until way into the night).
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
Yes, keep on waiting. He will never disappoint you!
Photo Credit:Pixabay
DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn. She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”
Karen’s Brian loves to surprise people. We surprised Fred on his 80th birthday with both girls and their families (minus Forrest and his family) at Cracker Barrel for breakfast.
Photo credit Google Search and Cracker Barrel website
The remainder of the day included the St. John’s River Cruise with a meal cooked right on the ship, then supper at Bonefish Grill.
Photo Credit Google Search and Bonefish Grill website
Please see my posts of March 3, 2019 and March 10, 2019 for that special day and surprise.
They surprised me (belated) for my 75th birthday. Please see my post of September 18, 2016 for that special surprise.
They also all surprised me on MY 80th birthday with the girls and their families (minus Forrest and his family) at Dixie Crossroads.
Credit photo Google Search and Dixie Crossroads website; Steve Hunsader
That included both of Bill’s children and their spouses. We hadn’t visited with either of them for quite a while. It was wonderful. Unfortunately, Bill was on one of his trips and wasn’t able to be there.
There was one time there was a “family” meal together, but unfortunately, Bill and his family were not available. Both of our girls and their families were here, as well as my BFF and her husband. Sue and Bud were visiting us for a few days and got in on that meal. After we finished our meal, we just all sat around the table and talked. We told stories of our lives and what was going on. I don’t remember that Sue or Bud said very much, but they listened. She said later that Bud thoroughly enjoyed the meal as well as the conversation. Apparently their family doesn’t do that. Of course, they all live close to each other, so if they have a meal together, there isn’t too much need to “catch up” on their lives…they are living their lives together. Sue said Bud hadn’t enjoyed a time like that in, well, forever. Made my heart glad.
I really love family – and meals with my family!
~~~~~~~~~~The End~~~~~~~~~~
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
I’ve been looking back on our July Cruise vacation. We flew from Florida to Alaska. We had a lot of anxiety but didn’t feel we could turn down our daughter’s gift of an Alaska cruise, The flight to Vancouver was not ideal, but it wasn’t as nerve wracking as we feared. We were both able to relax For the return flight, our daughter downloaded movies to her iPad Pro for her dad to watch during the flight and he was a happy man.
Our hotel in Vancouver was in the same shopping strip as the famous Tim Horton Donut shop. Now I am a die-hard Krispy Kreme fan. People from up north swear by Tim Horton donuts, so we had to give them a try as they were practically next door. Plus my husband hasn’t found a donut he didn’t like.
This picture was taken the morning after our late and traumatic arrival in Vancouver, so he wasn’t looking too perky. The donuts did lift his spirits.
We made several visits to Tim Horton’s and after multiple “tastings” we gave them a rating, comparing them to Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts.
Overall taste and texture Krispy Kreme was the winner, with Tim Horton a strong second and Dunkin Donuts in last place. Tim Horton did win first place in the apple fritter category, my husband’s favorite treat. Eating one is like enjoying a fried apple pie with a nice amount of apple bits. Dunkin Donuts came in last place.
Moving along back to our flying experience…Going through airport security was exasperating. Seeing our stuff going through a scanner ahead of us made me crazy. ANYONE could pick up our stuff. My husband was in a wheelchair and I was always ahead of him while they detained him.
Our daughter became so stressed trying to make sure my husband and I were ok that on the flights home, I agreed to being wheeled through the airport too. It kind of hurt my pride, but truth be told, the wheelchair escorts walked so fast I couldn’t keep up with them.
By the time our trip was over, we had overcame our fear of airplane travel. We would definitely be willing to fly again if anyone offers us a free vacation! Well, except for the scam caller who claimed to be from Expedia and offered me a too good to be true deal.
This morning after breakfast, I headed back across the John A. Blatnik Bridge into Superior, WI to visit the Richard I. Bong Museum which was one of the main reasons for this trip. Richard Bong was the highest scoring U.S. Army Air Force fighter pilot in the Pacific Theater during WWII. I had followed his exploits and wanted to visit his museum for years. This small museum is filled with artifacts and memorabilia following the history of Bong and his fellow fighter pilots as they fought the mighty Japanese war machine in the pacific. Their beautifully restored P-38, representing Bong’s personal airplane, is the centerpiece of the museum.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Before leaving Superior, I wanted to visit The Old Firehouse & Police Museum situated in the old 1898 restored Fire Hall #1, which had used five horse-drawn fire fighting rigs, and I’m sure would have had a lot of beautifully restored antique fire fighting artifacts and memorabilia, but it didn’t open until noon today.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
A few blocks from the Old Firehouse Museum, I tried to visit the World of Accordions, but they didn’t open until 3:00 today, so, I gave up on the museums there in Superior and headed north, back across the John A. Blatnik Bridge, into Duluth to visit the Historic Union Depot. This huge structure, built in 1898, is actually the second railroad station to be built on the site, replacing the 1st old 1869 wooden depot. The building (known as the St. Louis County Depot) now houses the Superior Railroad Museum, the Duluth Art Institute, and the St. Louis County Historical Society Museum, as well as being the departure point for the North Shore Scenic Railroad 1-hour & 6-hour train rides along the Lake Superior shoreline. The station provided railroad passenger service to and from the Duluth and Superior areas until passenger service was terminated in 1985.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Heading northwest out of Duluth on US-53, I drove for hours thru the beautiful Superior National Forest, stopping in Virginia, MN and Gheen, MN (we have good friends named Gheen) for potty breaks and to rest my bottom, before finally arriving at the Koochiching County Historical Museum located in International Falls, MN. This 2-gallery museum displays exhibits and artifacts covering the 10,000 years of local native American history and culture, the early fur traders, and settlers to the area, which includes the development of the lumber and natural resources industries. The second gallery is devoted to the life and career of the 1930s football legend & Football Hall of Fame inductee, Bronko Nagurski who was born and raised in International Falls.
I was a little apprehensive about crossing the border into Canada, as the van I had purchased in Wisconsin only had a “Temporary Tag” and I wasn’t sure how that would play with the Border Officials. However, the temporary tag was not the problem at the border crossing. There was construction going on at the crossing lanes and only two of the four lanes were open to cars. It took me 1-½ hours to crawl along the approximately ¼-mile line of cars waiting to cross. What a MESS and big waste of time that was! Once it was my turn to show my Passport and temporary Wisconsin Auto Registration, my papers were checked, and I was passed right on with no problems.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
—–To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
(C) Copyright 2012-2024 Old Things R New All rights reserved. This website is an Amazon affiliate and the income from sales helps to defray the cost of running the site.
Old Things R New 