For those of you who went to grade school with me, how many remember checking out these books from the library? I don't recall how many times I checked them out and pored over the pictures and descriptions of the different mammals, but it seems like it was quite often. I acquired this set off of eBay recently, made a cup of coffee, and sat down to refresh myself on the content of these two volumes. What a hoot to see those familiar pictures again! For those that are interested, copies of these seem to be readily available on eBay for a reasonable price.

Before Summer officially handed over the reins (hmm, perhaps that should be "rains"...) to Fall, she had a couple more surprises for us. On the 21st we had clouds and rain for most of the day. However, when the clouds lifted that afternoon, they revealed a light dusting of snow on the mountain peaks! The evening of the following day, we were treated to a full rainbow in the fields behind our house. Well done Summer and what an exit!

It was during the last week or so of August that I received a call from Laurel. I had just finished work for the day and had swung into the grocery store for some milk. As I climbed back into the car, the phone rang. "Do you want to hear some great news?" she asked. "Sure," I said. "We are getting free dirt!"

Now ordinarily, neither of us would be that excited about dirt. In fact, as a general practice, we do our best to keep the majority of it outside of the house and garage. However, we had been needing fill dirt to help grade our yard, and as with everything else these days, the price of getting dirt delivered to the house has been fairly high. Because of this, we had held off purchasing any.

The day Laurel called, a work crew had started excavating slight ditches between the sidewalk in front of our house and the main road per the city's requirements. As there are several new houses and properties along the road, they were going to be working on this project for a few days. Of course, doing this meant that they would be digging up quite a bit of dirt in the process and needing a place to relocate it. Hmm...I wonder where they might be able to put it!

By the time all was said and done, we had a total of thirteen dump trailer loads of dirt, distributed between our front yard, back yard, and along the south side of the house. Not only did we get everything delivered for free, but they were happy to have a place to drop the dirt, especially one so close to their location! As you can imagine, Laurel and I were (and are) very thankful to the Lord for the provision! Not only was this provided, but our neighbor had needed to do some work on his property, so he borrowed a skid-steer loader, and ended up spreading all our dirt for us, as well as his own!

The thing about all of this that blessed (and continues to bless) Laurel and I the most is that God simply chose to do this for us. If you know your Bibles much at all, you know that God isn't impressed by our efforts, or in some way obligated to "bless" us if we are living for Him. God didn't do this because Laurel and I are faithful at church, or because we read our Bibles and pray, or because we might be described as "religious." No, God is obligated to no one, He is God! Yet, the Lord still chose to provide this dirt for us, free of charge and delivered right to the house.

I am reminded of the memorials that Israel erected at various times throughout the Old Testament. Those memorials were visible reminders of what God had done for them, His specific intervention in their lives. Our yard is now one of those memorials. Yes, in a general sense God had already provided the property with the house, but now, specifically, the very dirt we walk on is a gift from God...and all because He simply chose to! What an amazing God our God is!

For quite a number of years, I have been interested in photography. My interest started with film cameras back in the early '90s and was given a distinct "shot-in-the-arm" when I acquired my first digital camera in 2003. Since that time I have taken many thousands of pictures and have gone through several different cameras.

One day, a couple of months ago, Laurel made the off-handed remark that I might like a better camera. At the time I didn't follow up with her, but a few weeks later I asked her about it. She got a funny look on her face and then asked if I wanted to know what she had been thinking about getting me for my birthday and for Christmas. Come to find out, she had been thinking about me actually doing things with the photos I take, and part of that would involve getting a nicer camera.

This revelation sent me off into one of my typical deep-dive research projects (read "nerded-out") to get up to speed on the current crop of cameras and lenses. If you have ever done this before, you will be aware that choosing the right camera is a study in compromise. Much depends on budget, intended use, and personal preference. To spare you the minutia of my research and due diligence, let us suffice it to say that I settled on a Sony Alpha a6400 camera body with a Tamron 18-300mm telephoto lens. It will likely arrive this week and I am looking forward to begin learning this new tool!


Image source: the last image is from Julia Trotti's review of the Tamron 18-300mm lens

As I continue to collect birthdays, I am finding it an enjoyable experience to recall and savor memories of my childhood and growing up years. While it may come as a surprise to some of you who did not know me then, there was many a Friday evening that found the Linders playing a board game. I remember Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, The Original Memory card matching game as well as the Animal Families version. I also recall Sorry!, Trouble, checkers, and later, Stratego and chess.

One game that stands out in particular is Yahtzee. As I recollect, the version we used (and my folks still have) was the 1978 edition by Milton Bradley which featured a white and brownish yellow box with a blue dice tumbler and a red and yellow label. Often Mom would make popcorn on the stove, serving it in a large stainless steel mixing bowl. We would gather around the table, munch on popcorn, and enjoy several rounds of that popular dice game. Who can forget the racket one could make while shaking the dice in that tumbler?

Laurel has similar memories from her childhood. Friday nights at the Jones' place were game nights, and Yahtzee was one of the first games Laurel recalls learning and playing. Popcorn was the standard fare for them as well, alternating between buttered popcorn and sticky popcorn (of the homemade caramel variety). The popcorn was often found in company with hot chocolate or cider during the winter, and iced tea during the summer.

This past Saturday, while perusing through one of the local antique stores, we came across a 1991 version of Yahtzee. To make a long story a little shorter, after paying the requisite fee, the game accompanied us home where, later that evening, it became the source of entertainment for Laurel and I as we whiled away the hours with popcorn and dice! That is the stuff memories are made of!