Tag Archives: Christian bloggers

Fall is in the Air

3 Nov

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and Artist

Some people call it fall, some say Autumn. It is time for leaves to change and the weather to grow cooler.

This morning as I left the house, I looked forward to my walk on the trail, but one block up I saw many parked cars and a few signs that said, “Garage Sale.” Oops. Oh well, I’d get almost as much exercise going around to greet my neighbors and pursue their histories as I would walking the trail.

 

The first house was Ester’s, she had an orange sherbet-shirt with sparkling jeweled sea horses on it. It said, “Dixie Crossroads,” and since I eat there fairly frequently and always want one of those tee-shirts, I asked her to hold it for me while I went home to get some money.

3

Ester started to tell me about being sorry that she had fired our mutual handy-man, Hal. We had heard his side of it too. Ester’s young helper told her to tend to business so I said goodbye and left, my tee-shirt was in good hands. Ester is 80 and has dialysis three times a week, but she still exudes a love of life and a sharp mind.

At the next sale the homeowner had bright eyes and a bowl-type haircut. From her I bought a bed for my cat Jasmine, some pretty Melmac dishes to use for plant saucers, and a brand new timer just like the forty-year-old one I gave away a month ago. I missed it.

Bill was interested in what I was doing home so soon and laughed when I told him about the “garage” sale. Our handy-man, Hal, was with him. We’ve had to do without him once or twice, and I tell you it was hard, just as Ester had started to say.

A few weeks ago, Hal got a, new-to-him car from Car Care. It’s a ministry run by a wonderfully experienced mechanic, Ray, and his wife Alice, (who does the paper work) at the Indian River Methodist Church on howdy fifty called Car-Care. Hal is pretty much destitute even though he works hard much of the time and Car Care was looking for someone to give a refurbished car to (for a small pittance). Hal ended up with a Ford Taurus he needed so he could go to work and go fishing. He loved his old Datsun pick-up, but every time he drove it heated up and wouldn’t start again. The body had patches welded on it. Now he was ga-ga over his Taurus, and couldn’t say enough about its AC, Cruise Control, and great engine. He sounded like a man in love. I think that was why he corrected me when I told him and Bill I’d been to a, “garage sale.” Almost to himself he said, “yard sale,” “flea market.” For a moment he must have hoped there might be something for his beloved car there. I must admit, I haven’t kept up well with the nomenclature, either. Probably everyone is calling them yard sales nowadays. After the two extra trips home, one to get my money and one to take my goodies, I decided to walk the trail after all. I was glad I did. What a gorgeous day!

4

Another reason I was glad was because I got to see another sight I saw and admired so much yesterday. A teacher in our school here has begun to take school children for bike rides on the trail – all properly helmeted, of course. Yesterday there were eighteen third graders zooming around me. There were fewer today and they were moving a bit more slowly. In fact, after the first one, they all needed to be waved at. It was easy. I raised my hand like an English princess and kept it moving until all had passed. “You’re making a lot of kids happy,” I shouted to the tail-end teacher. She grinned and waved back. Ah fall. Fall in paradise. It couldn’t be better.

5

 

 

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. Psalm 16:6

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

An Amazing Adventure~Part 2

2 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

The next day, Brian was working. He works with a Christian organization called GEM—Greater Europe Mission. You can check them out on the internet—great organization. Before he went to his meetings, we walked through the Garden of the Gods again—through the mist. We saw rabbits and some deer. I really LOVE this stuff!

While Brian was at work, Karen, Fred and I visited the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

1

Again, Fred and I had visited there on our honeymoon 53+ years ago, but the Chapel was not completed at that time. It was such a treat to see it up close and personal. It is a massive structure, and really beautiful.

 

Next we went to Peterson AFB Museum. We had a great guide, Carl—he was very knowledgeable about the history of Peterson. He also told us that, when he was young man, he was working at the golf course on base, and his supervisor called one day in a tizzy. He was told that “Ike” (President Dwight D. Eisenhower) was flying in for a round of golf, and Carl had to caddy for him! And he did! What an experience for a young man!

4

There was some really neat architecture in this place. Very “hollywoodish.” One funny exhibit there had a “Wild Hair” painted on the fuselage. The caption said that the pilot had complained and complained about something wrong with the engine, but the mechanics couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Someone made the remark that it seemed like there was a “wild hair” in the engine—and the name stuck!

5

After we picked up Brian, we headed south. We stopped at a neat BBQ place called Obie’s and picked up some great BBQ. We then headed to the house of a childhood friend of mine for supper and overnight. (More about them at the end of this tale)

Brian had called them the previous evening and spoke with Ruth Anne. He told her who he was, and said we would be there in about 10 minutes. We heard Ruth Anne clear in our room saying: “WHAT! TONIGHT?” He’s quite the joker. Ruth Anne and her husband have built a cabin for themselves on top of a mountain—and have 35 acres of land—and absolutely MILES of dirt road to get to them! But we had a great time with them, and I was so pleased that Karen and Brian had the opportunity to meet them. They are such fun people. They provided us with an enormous breakfast the next morning and sent us on our way.

 

 

6

Brian said later that one of the highlights of the trip for him was to meet these friends—however, the nearly-tame red fox and her two kits right outside the back door probably had something to do with it!

 

 

 

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

Tags: , , , , ,

What is Required of Us

31 Oct

From My Heart

Louise Gibson

Louise Gibson

 

 

We aren’t required to do great things-

just small things with great love.

Open your heart to help someone.

Do all things as unto the Lord above.

 

Be present in the moment.

Do you hear the plea?

“I need someone to listen,

Won’t you give five minutes to me?”

 

When you open your hand to help,

you are truly opening your heart.

and when you do all things as unto the Lord,

He will strengthen you from the start.

 

” Lord, we all need people in our life-

It’s implanted in our soul.”

To love and to  be loved is an inborn emotion.

Make communicating today your goal..

 

A day without love is wasted.

There is always such a need.

When you reach out to your neighbor,

You are expressing God’s love in deed.

 

L                E

O     V

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nothing Exciting Going on Here

30 Oct

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I'm a winner

I don’t have anything exciting or interesting to say today. Life seems to be hurrying along, pushing me with it. We took two drives while Rebekah was visiting, to enjoy the Fall color. The trees in our front yard are putting on quite a show this week and I am amazed the Knock Out Roses are still in bloom. This morning, fog was hovering low while the sky was a crisp, clear blue. Colder weather has moved in and the”S” word has even be mentioned for the weekend.

Foggy Fall

We are enjoying a visit from my aunt and cousin who live in Raleigh. Since today is chilly, I am going to cook Pasta Fagioli with bread sticks for supper. The recipe is suppose to be as good as Olive Gardens. We don’t have an Olive Garden in our town so this is the next best thing. Rebekah will post the recipe over on Rebekah Ly Books.

Pasta Fagioli

I don’t have all the ingredients so that gives me a good reason to take a trip into town. I have some mulled apple cider that will be just the thing to warm me up after the outing.

Hubby has been busy in his wood working shop. Last week he finished up a tortilla press for our son. Today he is working on a bread rack for our daughter. It should be a practical fix for her lack of kitchen counter space.

tortilla press copy

 

I would like to add here, that our son, Matt, is doing wonderfully well after his hip surgery. We give thanks to God for His perfect plan and timing, although watching Matt suffer was very difficult.

 

Well, this pretty much sums up my last few weeks. What have you been up to?

Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Best Job I Ever Had~Part 3

29 Oct

A Slice of Life

By Bill Lites

Bill Lites

Bill Lites

 

One of the largest assignments I was responsible for was the 1st /2nd stage separation system. This system was used in two places on the S-II stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle; to separate the first stage S-IC from the second stage S-II, and again 30 seconds later, to separate the protective S-II Interstage from around the S-II engines. The S-IC and S-II stages were both 33 feet in diameter, so the test fixture used to test the full scale separation system was massive.

1

 

The test fixture was designed to lift a simulated section of the separation plane off the ground so that when the explosive system fired, the lower portion could be photographed while it fell to the ground. This was the closest we could come to simulating the actual event, and we learned several important things from these tests that would drive the final design of the separation system itself. The first thing we discovered, was that the originally designed charge assembly would warp as it was unreeled from the installation spool, making it difficult to keep it lying flat on the tension plates it had to cut. Next, we found out that any amount of water between the charge assembly and the tension plate would diffuse the cutting ability of the explosive. The Los Angeles fog taught us this fact. This happened when we installed the separation system one day for a full-scale test the next day, and when the fog rolled in that night, the moisture ran down the stringers, onto the tension plates, and collected in the “V” of the shaped charge in several places. The final design consisted of a vinyl wrapped charge assembly that kept the moisture out of the cutting area, and a retention system that held the charge assembly tight against the tension plates. The manufacturer of the charge assembly also supplied a disposable holder that kept it from warping as it came off the installation spool.

2

 

This separation system did not use a large size explosive charge, but because it had to cut the 216 tension straps around the 103 foot outside circumference of the vehicle, it ended up being a large explosion. After the first three tests, we had to move the entire test fixture to an El Centro desert facility because of complaints from the local Downey, CA residents.

3

After finalizing the ordnance systems testing for the Apollo and Saturn S-II vehicles, I was transferred to the NAA Field Operations Group and moved to Florida in 1965 to be one of the Field Test Engineers responsible for the processing and installation of many of those same ordnance systems I had tested in California. My job now was to write the procedures for, and supervise the processing and installation of, these flight ordnance systems on the Saturn S-II launch vehicle that helped boost the Apollo Astronauts and their spacecraft to the Moon. What a thrill it was to be able to watch that giant 363 foot high Saturn V launch vehicle lift off, in all its glory, and see those systems work as they had been designed and tested. But of course, as it turned out, that job wasn’t near as much fun as the job of blowing up those system test specimens back in the early days at the home plant (Will I ever grow out of being a kid?).

4

 

You may have seen the picture below or a video clip of it in an Apollo documentary or an advertisement, but this was the S-II Interstage falling away from the S-II Stage booster 30 seconds after separation from the S-IC stage, which occurred during each Apollo/Saturn V launch from the Kennedy Space Center.

5

 

Most people have no idea how many unseen systems have to work perfectly, and in the proper sequence, during any rocket launch. I still get thrilled every time I watch a video of one of the Apollo/Saturn V launches, and see each of the many ordnance systems function as they were designed. And, it’s gratifying to know that I played a small part in that historical program to place the very first men on the moon.

6

 

 

 

 

—–The End—–

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Accidental Death of my Cell Phone

27 Oct

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and ArtistDid you notice the smudge on my new hot-pink purse in the picture in my last blog – the one about getting my new driver’s license?pink 31 bag

Here’s what happened. Rebekah Lyn asked if I wanted to go downtown with her Saturday evening when they were having an algorithms art show down there. Please don’t ask me what that is, I still don’t know.

But, I’m usually up for an art show of any kind so I said yes, and I would pick her up. As I pulled out of my driveway I noticed that the hood ornament that rode home with me from the driver’s license bureau was waiting on a windshield wiper for another ride, a traveling brown lizard as common as a butterfly here in Florida where I live.

Gotta be honest. I’m not crazy about lizards, but I don’t like to see the cats get them or see them blown off a car only to get run over by another car. When I stopped in front of Rebekah Lyn’s condo, I reached for a spatula I’ve been meaning to give back to my daughter and 1tried to chase him off into the grass. He ran this way and that. Rebekah came out of her house laughing at me. Has she never seen a person chasing a lizard with a spatula before?

The window was open on her side and she said he was going to go in it. I knew she was right so I threw down my spatula, jerked open the car door so I could get to the key and put the window up and slammed the door, not thinking about having stuffed my purse in the door pocket before I left home.

The lizard ran down into an opening where the windshield wipers go. I didn’t see him again until Bill and I ran errands in his van yesterday and he was there to ride along. Everybody likes Bill better than me, but I don’t let it get to me. I like him better too.

Anyhow, after we parked behind some businesses down town and I reached for my purse, I realized it had fallen out, so we got back in the car and drove back to Rebekah Lyn’s. We saw the purse lying in the street right where we’d left it, grabbed it and headed back downtown. However when I checked to see whether everything was still there I noticed one of the zippers was very stiff, then I noticed the tire marks on the purse. Then Rebekah Lyn asked how my cell phone, which was in a pocket was, then I got it out and it was d-e-a-d, dead. Old cell phone from long ago. I rejoiced. It was finally time for a smart phone. Lots of people have phones now that are smarter than they are, and I will no longer be an exception, except I suspect that my old phone was… Never mind.

That was it except that when I went to use my credit card at the pet store the next day, they said it wouldn’t work, so I had to buy ten cans of salmon with cash.

Our daughter and her husband are helping us with new cell phones. Bill gets one too. We’re getting I Phones 5 c or s I can’t remember which and I’m looking forward to having a good camera with me always so that when I get a lizard on car I can take his picture before I brush him off.

“A lizard can be caught with the hand, (not by me, and Rebekah Lyn wouldn’t catch him, either) yet it is found in kings’ palaces.” Proverbs 30:28

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

An Amazing Adventure~Part 1

26 Oct

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

I’ve just had the most A..M..A..Z..I..N..G adventure! Fred and I, with our oldest daughter, Karen, and her husband, Brian took on the National Parks in the southwest. We covered nine National Parks in about five days! That doesn’t include the National Forests and state parks. Yes, it was a bit tiring—especially to us “old” folks—but we loved every minute of it!

We started out our adventure by flying into Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the best airport near where Karen and Brian live near Chicago. (Just a side note here: In the Milwaukee airport is the area just past security—you know, the area where you put your shoes back on, your belt back on, put the stuff back into your bag, etc. Well, at that airport, there is a sign that names it the “Recombobulation area.” I’ve never seen that area named such in any other airport. Cute, huh?!)

We spent a few days with them—visiting with their two children and new granddaughter-in-law.

 

The four of us then flew out to Denver to begin the real work.

The first thing that Brian did was to rent a van for us to travel in—one with captain’s chairs in the middle row. So much more comfortable to travel in than a car, and the windows are bigger so we can see more from the “back seat.”

3

The next great thing was to purchase a $2.27 Styrofoam cooler, along with ice, and lunch meats, bread, condiments, etc., for those times we would be having a “picnic” out. Almost always once a day and occasionally twice, if we were out in the boonies and had no other place to eat. We replenished the stock whenever it was needed. It was great. There’s just something about eating “al fresco” that really satisfies the appetite, you know?!

Since it was afternoon, we drove to our hotel and checked in. We were not far from the Garden of the Gods, so we drove through it, not stopping right then. We would do so the next morning. Fred and I had been there on our honeymoon, 53+ years before. Lots I don’t remember about it, and I suppose the wind and weather has changed it a bit. Fascinating. Here are a few of the sights:

 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

And Balanced Rock was just about the most fascinating to me. How does it stay up there?

9

 

We drove through Manitou Springs, but took no pictures. Lots of “springs” around the town, with supposedly healthy/healing qualities to the water. We didn’t have an opportunity to test that theory out.

 

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

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Identify Your Gift- God Gave You One

24 Oct

From My Heart

Louise Gibson

Louise Gibson

“The gift of fantasy has meant more to me

than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge”.

Albert Einstein

 

Lord, I know there is a lot to be serious about in life,

but there is a need for levity, too.

Laughter is good medicine and lowers your

blood pressure quicker than a pill can do.

 

You have given us the gift of “Helps”

Look around.  There is always a need.

The good Lord turned my home into a “cat haven”

I now have eight cats to feed!

 

The gift of fantasy has served me well throughout the years.

Born during the “Great Depression”,

I wrote poetry to dispel my fears.

 

Magazines were a great source of material

used in composing cards for family or a friend.

I cut out a “knight in shining armor,”

which pleased my father to no end.

 

Have you identified your gift from God?

There is no doubt you have one.

God has created us in His own image.

We now have fellowship with the Son.

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Best Job I Ever Had~Part 2

22 Oct

A Slice of Life

 Bill Lites

Bill

 

I would design and have built any test fixtures required. Then I would coordinate with the various support groups necessary for each test. In most cases, the specimen would have to be tested in at least the three realms I mentioned (high temp, low temp, vibration) to verify that they would function under those conditions. This meant the Ordnance Design Engineer had to have at least three of his system specimens built and supplied to the Test Group for testing. It was something to be able to blow up these various test specimens when they worked as designed, but when they didn’t, and the Ordnance Design Engineer had to take the mangled pieces back to his office and his drawing board, to figure out how to make the system work properly, it was rather sad for him. You might have heard the old saying, “Well, it’s back to the drawing board.”  Well, that’s just what he had to do. This would go on until the system was perfected and the test results satisfied the original/modified system designed acceptance requirements. Of course, everyone had their own critical time schedule that they were working to, and any delays caused by malfunctions or unexpected test results only added to the pressure each group involved would feel.

1

 

Many of the system specimens we tested were small, which made them easy to setup and test. They included mostly self-contained fuse assemblies and guillotine type cutters, used for cutting such things as parachute shroud lines, etc. The guillotine cutters used pressure cartridges to instantly force the cutting blade thru the lines. The reason most of the explosive systems used on the Apollo Spacecraft and the Saturn V Launch Vehicle had to be self-contained was to prevent damage to the vehicle in which they were located.

2                                                                     

For example, one of the main explosive systems used to ignite solid rocket motors was Confined Detonating Fuse (CDF). This was a small flexible lead sheathed explosive core wrapped in alternating layers of plastic and fiberglass weaved cloth. This allowed the explosive train to be routed thru various parts of the vehicle to the rocket motors, or other explosive devises, and still confine the explosion. Then there were the parachute mortars, which were used to deploy the various parachute systems during spacecraft re-entry.  The diagram below shows an example of how CDF was routed and connected for use on a retrorocket system.

3

There were also various methods of separating the multiple components and stages from each other. All of these explosive devises had to work as designed and exactly when required to insure specific component and overall mission objectives.

 

—–To Be Continued—–

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Driver’s License

20 Oct

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and ArtistWe have a new driver’s license and tax office in our town, directly behind the sheriff’s department building. And of course we have a few new rules, as well. When I went to get my new driver’s license I took every piece of identification I had from my whole life just in case: passport, copy of birth certificate, marriage certificate and so on. Bill called ahead to see if I’d have to take the test, and they said it wasn’t based on age, it was based on the opinion of the agent who waited on me at the license bureau. That was scary. Sometimes I forget shor-term stuff so recent it happened only a tick ago. I had tried for weeks to get a driver’s license handbook in case, but they are very hard to find and the directions on the internet looked daunting.

I meant to take my iPod in with me so I could listen to my audible book while I was waiting, but I’d already drawn my number by the time I noticed I’d left it in the car, so I stuck it out. They have news and entertainment notices on a screen now, so what with that and looking around I did all right until it was my turn.

One thing I had noticed while I waited was that the young woman at desk 10 seemed to have plenty of patience, exactly as if she had plenty of time, which she obviously didn’t because of the waiting crowd. Besides that, she looked like a little girl in a well-filled black dress, wearing a good sized hot-pink bow in her long curly hair with highlights. She didn’t look as if she could ever hurt anybody in any way. Guess what. She called the number just before mine. She called it again, and again. No one got up. Then she called mine.

It all went as smooth as rain on a window, even the part where I showed her the report from my optometrist that said I now have twenty-twenty vision so we could take the glasses restriction off the license. She seemed to give a little hum of delight that such a good thing could happen for someone.

She stood me against a blue backdrop and took my picture with a mounted camera. I said something pink 31 bagabout how bad driver’s license photos usually are and she asked if I’d like to see it. I had the impression that if it was awful she’d take it over, but it was better than the one I’d had for ten years or however long it has been. The new license popped out of a machine, no temporary paper license, no waiting. I slipped it into a slot in my hot-pink combination purse and wallet. Then I purchased a voucher for a new license plate which is being put out by the sheriff’s department. I asked for a driver’s license instruction handbook for a friend who has to take the test, but who isn’t equipped to read it on the internet. They just got them in, no problem. She handed it to me.

 

I went away rejoicing.

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

Isaiah 55:12

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →