Lately

Yesterday the Bullocks paid us a visit giving them a chance to see our digs. Justin, Becky, and Paige left today for home. Here's a parting shot before they walked the beach to their place.
All of us in the one photo thanks to Photoshop.

The two on the left are Linda and Paige.
Justin, Becky, and Jack are to the right.

A few minutes later a couple of fishermen appeared on the beach. Their efforts met with no visible success but they persisted.

On the way back to our condo I photographed this rather colorful hedge, of which there are many on the property.
They are trimmed with hand clippers every second
day. No complaints about maintenance at this place.
The lawn looks as smooth as artificial turf ...
but it's not.

The bird shown above is common here. This morning I watched as two of them approached one another on the lawn. Then, while facing one another at close range, they both looked straight up as though something compelling was going on in the sky. (Take it from me, nothing was.) They stood that way for a while then two other birds landed and tried to distract them. They walked around the two transfixed birds who never stopped stretching their necks to look up even when one had his tail bitten and pulled by another bird. A few more birds landed and strutted around as if sizing up the situation. I don't know how it ended because I was called to breakfast and that's way more important than crazy birds. Maybe the concerned birds made a call and a tiny van arrived with birds in white coats who took them away.

In other news I listened to cello concertos today. The cello, as you may know, is a particularly wonderful instrument. I have previously mentioned Elgar's Cello Concerto that I very much like. Today I listened to an admittedly unusual cello concerto by a Mr. Kalevi Aho. I believe it would make an ideal soundtrack for the climax of a movie about Captain Ahab versus Moby Dick. You can find it on Youtube if you'd like.

The cello is also such a handy instrument. You can take it anywhere ...
 
On another subject, sometimes I find it fascinating and rewarding to compare Bible translations and see how thoughts get worded in different ways. Here is an example I came across today. 1 Cor. 2:3-5 ...

“And I came to you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling; and my speech and what I preached were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might be, not in men’s wisdom, but in God’s power.”(NWT)

Here's another translation of the same verses, "I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate--I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it-- and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God's Spirit and God's power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God's power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else."
It takes a few liberties to give the English expression extra impact, but it is still kind of interesting.






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