Bookends 2019

One way to measure things is by doing a before and after comparison. This is one way I like to look back at my year, by looking at photos from the first and last day on which I took photos in a given year. But this is not just the beginning of a new year, it is also the beginning of a new decade. So this year I will look back not just to January 1, 2019 but also the first day of the decade: January 1, 2010.

Another way of looking back can be found in Top Twelve 2019

January 1, 2010

It was my first winter experience in Alberta, Canada. I've always said I don't want to live where Fahrenheit and Celsius come together on a regular basis (-40), and this was one of those years. We just missed the record breaking cold by a day or two when our bus arrived in Edmonton. But it was still cold.

This was my first Christmas visit to the farm where my wife grew up. It was also to be the last Christmas visit to the farm, as he parents would end up moving to the town not long after this.

It was a time of transition for us as well.  We had only recently found out that we would eventually be going to Thailand and we had also just finished our training with MB Mission (Multiply) before we traveled to Alberta.

The bright sun brought in the new decade. But unlike Thailand, where sunny means very hot, in this case it might that the temps would go up into the -20s C. Pictured below is the henhouse at the farm in Freedom, Alberta. Rex, the dog, is taking a break from hunting mice in the snow.

Winter at the Farm

January 1, 2019

Nine years later, we find ourselves delighted if the temperature drops down to +20 C at night. The climate in Thailand has little in common with Alberta, Canada.

A normal New Year's Day activity here in Thailand is to go to the mall.  You know—where lust for stuff has brought crowds together in a frenzy in what appears to be training for Armageddon. Where four-wheeled dragons belch black smoke (the dragons here tend to consume diesel) in the "Battle for the Parking spot".

I suppose we could have joined them. So I asked my wife, "do you want to go swamping?" And my amazing wife agreed. I suppose it's not surprising. Who wouldn't jump at the chance to go visit some swamps? Wouldn't you?  I wrote more details about that trip here.

Our first stop was at Nong Nguem Noi. (หนองหงึมน้อย) There was not a lot of floral variety here, but there were a lot of red lotus flowers (บัวแดง) blooming. This is a type of water lily that is native to this part of the world and can be found scattered everywhere, but not always in such abundance as in this swamp. I only wish I had a canoe or kayak to get out amongst the blooms.

Many people in this world are looking for a sign from God. If they don't believe in God, some might waiting for the universe to speak to them instead. Many people travel great distances to see a miracle. Not a few will go after a counterfeit sign yet ignore the miracle right in front of their faces.

On January 1st, we witnessed a miracle. We saw the handwriting of God—a New Year's Card, if you will. "See how the lilies of the [pond] grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" (Matthew 6:28-30 NIV)

December 31, 2019

The drinking starts early on New Years Eve. People seem unconcerned with the police checkpoints that are set up all over the place to try to cut down on drunk driving. Since everyone knows where the checkpoints are, they just find ways to avoid them.

But there was no alcohol at our party. Our church gathered for a feast of fire-roasted tilapia, stir-fried pork, stir-fried squid tentacles and steamed clams. Afterwards we gave the kids some marshmallows to roast and served up some "New Year's Cookies" (aka fritters) that Ingrid made for the occasion.

Next there was a time of singing then a we heard the word of God. A good way to finish up the year.

After all this,  we were in bed before 11 pm. The fireworks at midnight barely woke us.

Good-bye 2019. Good-bye 2010's. A new decade is calling.

New Years Celebration

Bookends 2016

This is my review of the past year from the perspective of looking at photos from the first and last days of the year (or closest to that, if there were no photos on those days).

January 1st found us headed back home from Chiang Rai, where we had dropped off some folks who had come to visit us for a few days.  Following that we visited the Chiang Rai Flower Show and then took the back roads home.  The first stretch follows the Kok River northeast, and soon one finds himself riding along levees with the Kok River floodplain on one side and rices paddies off to the other. It is somewhat reminiscent of driving in the California Delta.

We stopped for coffee at Mana Coffee-a small restaurant/coffee shop just off the levee in Wiang Chai.  The coffee shop is is adjacent to a couple of fish ponds.  As I was admiring the flowers adjacent to the ponds, I noticed a minute spider on the head of this pink zinnia.  The body color of the spider matched the color of the flowerhead so nicely, I almost did not notice it.

The diversity of God's creatures is so amazing!



A year later we find ourselves in a different climate.  We are with Ingrid's family for a few weeks.  They live in the small town of Barrhead, Alberta.  The last time I was here, one day I walked most of the circumference of the town. There is a walking trail that goes around the town called the Blue Heron Walking Trail.  Some portions of the trail follow roads, other portions have an improved walking path.

I wanted to walk around the town again this time, but the weather wasn't so amenable, so I walked the east part of the town one afternoon and the west side on another.  It took just shy of two hours to make the walk around the west side--the town has grown a bit since the last time I was here.

When I walked the west side, the sky was overcast and dark.  I came to a part of the trail that follows the Paddle River and is on a boardwalk.  The snow on much of the Blue Heron Walking Trail was plowed, but they didn't try to get their small plow on the boardwalk, so it remained snowy.  I got to the boardwalk just as the sun was trying to break through the clouds for the first time that day.

The picture isn't framed quite like I wanted, but I had limited places to put my body on the boardwalk.  The Paddle River is in the recessed landscape between the trees on the right.




The year sandwiched between these two photos has been a very challenging one for me. Yet even though at times life seemed kind of gloomy, God has always made Himself known, like the sunlight breaking into the otherwise dim, gray landscape above.

For his invisible attributes, namely,his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. (Romans 1:20a ESV)