Sabbath at Portland Light Head

Fort Williams, Cape Elizabeth, Maine

 After Sabbath afternoon presentation on Evolution / Intelligent Design, I took a few of the youth out to Cape Elizabeth to walk around Fort Williams Park and get these guys to not sleep. 

Reflection

The tide was lower so we saw the residual water collected at the base, and you can see the Lighthouse reflection in it. The water's reflection acts as a natural polarizing filter, which results in the richer colors in the pool's reflected image. I was still in church clothes so I couldn't crawl down there. It was a breezy 52°F but cloudless afternoon. It was going to get colder as the sun was setting.

Portland Head Light

As the sun set, the rays with longer wavelengths (reds, oranges and yellows) have less scatter (this is known as refraction) than shorter wavelength light (blues, purples), as the atmosphere acts as a prism, leaving the light a warm orange-yellow glow at sunset, which caught the top end of the Lighthouse in the above picture.

The Three Youths

The guys with me were bundled up for the (slightly) windy weather which dropped the temperature even more. Early that morning for Sabbath School, we had gone over the book Steps to Christ, chapter by chapter, and applying each step to specific teenage issues. While these teenagers aren't caught up in harmful habits, we still reviewed that we often look for even wholesome things to give satisfaction in our lives, but because of our separation from God because of sin, nothing will be satisfying (that's a review of Sabbath School, come next Sabbath and we'll continue) and then we introduced the Sinner's Need for Christ. We're only on Chapter 2. It hasn't sunken in for these guys yet (but repetition deepens the impression and we will review it again next week) as you could tell from the conversations walking around the grounds. I'll be a little more deliberate next time. And it's a needed review for me, too, since there is never such a thing as "too much" conversion.

Annie C. Maguire

Looking south of the Lighthouse is this sign of the probably one of the best Christmas presents ever, seeing as no one lost their life that night. If you were too lazy rushed to hit the jump, here's a little history of the sign in the photo above:

On Christmas Eve, 1886, the British bark Annie C. Maguire ran ashore on the rocks at Portland Head. The Strouts got a line to the vessel and helped all aboard, including the captain's wife, make it safely to shore.

On New Year's Day 1887, a storm destroyed the ship after everything of value had been removed. You can still see the rock near the lighthouse with the painted inscription: "Annie C. Maguire, shipwrecked here, Christmas Eve 1886."

We got kicked out of the park as it closes at sundown. We closed Sabbath right outside the gate and drove back home for hanging out and talking, a difficult endeavor for teenage boys. But remember, baby steps.

Video Ministry

So for a few days, I shipped down to visit a friend in Florida. He runs an independent ministry called The Gospel of Health and runs a school entitled School of the Prophets, which teaches young people (as young as 12 years old) how to have a personal walk with Christ for themselves, as well as teaches of Prophecy and the message for the end times, going through the Bible and Steps to Christ.

But these next several days is just for Media. We're up to our ears in un-edited video footage, and will bu culling through Lecture videos, as well as PowerPoint / Keynote presentations.

Today we had to do some house-keeping chores (my phone was on the fritz and I left my toothbrush in Virginia, don't ask me how) and scope out locations for publicity shots for future brochures and the website (yes, he's on Facebook; no, I'm not).

But like a canvas dipped in unfading hue, every conversation touches on the work that needs to get done, how improvement can be made, a deeper surrender, repentance, and consecration to the work, and especially the work of Christ in that second apartment of the heavenly Sanctuary.

I only had my Blackberry so this is a shot of St. Pete's Beach. But despite the balmy 84 F weather and minimal humidity, I do miss my friends in Maine, (Also too much asphalt in St. Petersburg), where the air is a bit nippy and fall is etching itself on the trees, ground, and air.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

New England Haiku for Autumn

... trees ablaze ...

_________

mist mornings burn off

trees stay ablaze golden red
welcome to the fall

___________

Decide today, again.

Sabbath Morning

And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

Deuteronomy 6:7-8

Woke up Sabbath morning.
Chose to be a Christian.
Had devotional.
Read Bible.
Read Steps to Christ.
Took notes.
Took this picture.
Packed for the day.
Got dressed.
Reviewed Chapter 1 for Sabbath School.
Tied Nick's tie.
Was convicted by Divine Service message.
Missed friends who are out of state.
Had lunch.
Went out on Greg's boat.
Listened to Prophets and Kings being read.
Closed Sabbath.
Made applesauce.
Talked photography with Jonathan.
Planned outing.
Missed a meeting.
Drove home.
Blogged this entry.

Tomorrow, I have to make a decision again. To be a Christian. Just like you do.

Desires for goodness and holiness are right as far as they go; but if you stop here, they will avail nothing. Many will be lost while hoping and desiring to be Christians. They do not come to the point of yielding the will to God. They do not now choose to be Christians. 

- Steps to Christ, p. 47

 Click HERE to see photos from Sabbath afternoon boat trip.

Normal

Every photographer must own a Standard lens.

On most Canons and Nikons, this means a 35mm lens. On Full frame cameras like Film Cameras or the 5D Mark II or the 1Ds Mark III or the Nikon D3 or D700 this means a 50mm lens.

Reasons for this?

1) A Standard or Normal lens is equivalent to the way our eye sees things. We don't have any distortion like a wide angle (this can be simulated by coming up to a subject really, really close) or the flattening of a subject like a telephoto lens (this too can be simultated by closing one eye). This is the truest WYSIWYG (pronounced wizzy wig): what you see is what you get.

2) It forces you to expand your creativity. With a Standard Prime (meaning non-zoom) lens, you really have to stop and think about your composition. A good exercise is a 50mm walk-around. Put a Standard lens on your camera and walk around for the day, and use only that lens to shoot for the whold day. Landscapes, portraits, action, etc. all without specialty lenses. It'll make you think on your feet.

3) It's probably the fastes lens in your kit. Unless you're a Professional or have really deep pockets, the 50mm will probably have a low aperture of f1.4 (or f1.8 if you're a starving dental or medical student), which means you can open up the lens to f1.4, let more light in, and then choose a really fast shutter speed. That's what we mean by a fast lens (not how many frames-per-second we can shoot, which is a function of the camera body, not the lens).

4) It's produces reasonably flat images for good environmental portraits, which allows you to get IN (really IN) to the shot without the distortion of a wide angle lens.

5) It's a low profile (compact). It's small enough that it doesn't really draw attention to itself. You can slide it in anywhere.

6) It's light. Have you ever walked around with a 70-200mm f2.8 ? Thick as a brick and heavy too. A standard lens, which for most of you Canon shooters is the 35mm f2.0 is compact, fast, and it looks quite cool.

7) It's relatively inexpensive. For only $350 on Amazon you can have all of the above. And this particular lens has quite good IQ (that's Image Quality, who wouldn't want that!)

Incidentally, I just got mine repaired and it arrived at work today (don't worry I'm really seeing patients and blogging in between) and here it is with one of my colleague's toys, Ernie, looking through the lens. I'm excited to have my normal, compact, light, inexpensive, and very fast lens back!

Sent from my Blackberry.

Seasonal Waymark

Pumpkins and Scarecrows

September 22, 2010. Late that day marked the Autumnal Equinox, one of two times of year in which the axis of the Earth is perfectly perpendicular to the angle of orbit around the sun, resulting in a tilt that is neither towards or away from the sun. The result is that the amount of daylight is equal to amount of darkness for that 24 hr period, a perfect balance if you will of light and dark. In terms of the time of year, it marks the official seasonal change from Summer to Fall. Thematically, the pumpkins come out and plaid-dressed hay haired scare crows with sewn mouths and straw hats come out, to mark the time of harvest. In terms of fashion, fall sweaters and corduroys are brought of the closet to battle the colder weather, along with wool coats. No more jumping into the lake for a quick dip or sitting on a lawn chair with a cold (decaffeinated) iced tea.

Back in the day, it was time to gather in the crops and reap the work that had been going on all summer. Not just because it marked the end of a growing season but in preparation for the coming winter. It was a looking forward, in a way, to a time when commodities and resources would be scarce if duties weren't done now.

The haunts of my younger days wouldn't really know what this is like. Southern California is a place where preparation isn't so marked by necessity. Its even temperature allows a sensation of a single year round season. Even near the desert. There one could delay gathering in crops because Nature was relatively mild all year round, and little consequence was to be born if procrastination was the order of the day. One could always gather things later, or so one thought. Temperature never really cooled the way it does in locations marked by Four Seasons, and passage of time can be easily lost track of.

Here, in New England, it's getting cooler. Wool has come out, skirts have dropped, shorts have been put aside. Apples are going to be soon ready to pick. Applesauce and peanut butter (yum!) will be on the menus with abundance. The rain is a little cooler, and one no longer has to sleep with the windows up.

Winter (and Christmas) is just around the corner.

Winthrop Street

Question of the Day for October 6

Would you be disappointed if you found out your powers of persuasion were due to the fact that you were clever instead of to the fact that you were right?

Page 8

Read this book!

For some time, I had been eying this book since seeing it on John Howe's blog shelf some time ago. Well, I received this book for my (recent) birthday from some friends here in Maine, I finally had time to sit through some of it. I went through all the drills that I have learned about good readers (since I'm kind of mediocre), eyeballed the Table of Contents, reviewed the reviews, and flipped through the pages as I got ready to read. I'm only on page 8 and I had to get up and walk around.

If you know me, I'm not very emotive (sometimes) when I'm concentrating on something, and I've been accused of having a stern poker face, but every once in a while, when I'm studying for a lecture, or a talk, or reading something that has depth to its implications, because of a novel thought, I get up and walk around and think. If I am speaking to someone on the phone, they can probably tell by my voice that I have stood up, and am pacing the floor, enthusiasm unhindered. Almost emotive. This happened a lot when I first read the book Steps to Christ (and incidentally, still continues to happen).

But another thing I find interesting is cognition. Meta-cognition. The way we think. And the way we think about the way we think. "Think" meaning the verb, to process intellectual and emotional information (yes, that includes all you Feelers out there.) But with that in mind, you can imagine how curious I was to finally get my hands on this book and the find the time to sit and digest it. 

So I'm reading this book, and within the fraction of the first story, the implications are tremendous and far reaching. They have an intrinsic application to various aspects of life (in the vernacular, people usually say, "Man, that is deep!" when in fact they mean this phrase.) This is an amazing book, and I RARELY use this word, except when meeting people or things that dumbfound me (in a good or bad way). But in fact, this book is AMAZING.

The pace is easy, but substantial. The information is practical and feelings compelling. The stories are real and some of the names have not been changed. The idea of connecting the mind (the hypothetical construct with which we find ourselves AWARE - i.e. the software) and the brain (the physical construct that allows electrons to move and signals to be carried - i.e. the hardware) is put forward to the reader in such terms that one's interest is generated, not just for the science, but for the stories. The stories of the real people with real problems, and the possible solutions that can be brought home to every day life. Because we all use our minds and brains. Without which the heart can pump, but not feel. The body can exist but not live.

And it makes you wonder that kind of wonder that is sparked with the words, "What if ..." where possibilities are endless and horizons are open. Like getting a car (and driver's license) for the first time, or lots of money at a candy store (ok, a fruit stand) and it feels like anything can happen. This is called hope.

And it gets you up off the bed (where you're reading) and makes you pace and think, maybe aloud. And realize with a quirky smile, you're only on page 8.

Seven Pounds and The Recession

If you hit the link to this Blogpost's Title, you'll brought to a comprehensive list that shows which state's will start to reduce their collective contribution to the Nationial Donor Registry. As well as considerable reduction in commercial activity. The world will start to rotate a little bit more slowly, and we'll shuttled back to the ages of ink and paper, constantly worrying whether our spouses or kids will arrive at home on time.

This is because the activity of texting, checking emails, and divising the take over the free world, while driving has been banned from certain states. On my way to and from Boston several nights ago, signs reminded drivers that beginning October 1, 2010, it was now illegal to text while driving. I suppose there would be a possibility of text-o-meter, to check toxic levels to texting. Thumb temperatures and circulation to distal digits can be monitored, as well as text logs on cell phones could be required to be given over for law-enforcement officials to review.

Imagine what it would be like if we weren't able to conduct business on our cell phones with the kind of relentless ambition that drives the Capitalism Paragon of the World. Commerce would come to a virtual halt (pun intended), and we'd be back to the recession of which we've slowly been working toward coming out.

The down side of all this is that I'm card-carrying organ donor. I believe in it adamantly. Life could be easily improved by the simple selfless act of letting people farm our unused non-cataract lenses, non-cirrhotic levers, uninfected bone marrows. I've been accused to having a body with a cellular age of a guy 15 years my junior (is that possible?) and believe that if I died (presumably while texting and driving) I could further the enjoyment of some other people on this earth, just by having that little pink dot on my driver's license. Because of this new law, this ability to extend the life of others will be greatly reduced. And to what extent? Only time will tell.

Besides, I can think of few better ways to give your heart away ;-)