Evening on an 8N Tractor
Tonight, the grass I cut the other day with the sickle bar mower was about dry enough to turn over with the rake, so I got the 8N out and started the rounds.
Kinda had a rough day at the office, and was in a bit of a funk, too - generally weary and tired of things in general. The weather had been overcast and gloomy all day, which didn't enhance things much.
Well, I started the rounds in the pasture, and the rake was doing okay, and just riding the 8N around in big circles was already helping me unwind.
I was on an east leg around the field (crosswind for you pilots), when suddenly a beautiful orange glow spread across the field, playing off the curve of the hood. I turned in the seat to see the sun popping out from under the edge of the overcast, which was moving out to the NE. I had to smile at this point because it was all so pastoral.
A few more rounds, and the sun was beginning to set behind the hill, and the most beautiful full rainbow appeared to the east, with a faint hint of a second, larger rainbow running parallel. The smile on my face spread to my heart, and I thanked the Lord for the beauty and for lifting my spirits.
I finished up the pasture just as the sun was setting completely, put the 8N back in the shed, and joined my family on the deck to watch the rest of the sunset.
A Busy Spring…
It's not even officially Summer yet, and we've already had a full year. Back in May, we took a long weekend to drive down and take a 'sneak preview' tour through the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum near Cincinnati, OH. The facility and exhibits will easily match any big-city museum for quality and production value, and the message is very clear and shows how the account of creation in Genesis is strongly supported by both observational science as well as historical science. We look forward to going back when they officially open next year.
We also drove down into Kentucky to visit the Tuckers, friends of Beth's from Bible College. Doug Tucker pastors a church in the mountains there, and we had a great time getting to know each other.
At the end of May, we took a week off and drove up into Michigan to visit several families as well as tour the Henry Ford Museum. One of the families was the Walters. Gene was Beth's youth Pastor when she was a teenager, and she had not seen the Walters in over twenty years! Needless to say, they picked right up where they left off, and we had a great time with the Hodges (the other family) and the Walters that night, watching old slides from when Beth and Lynn Hodges were in the church youth group. The next day, we went out to Lake Michigan for a while, and toured a lighthouse museum, which was quite interesting.
We also sang several songs for their Wednesday night Bible study, including one which we had only rehearsed once or twice at home. We sang a little of it before the service and the Walters liked it so much they had us do it without much practise (it went fine)!
From there, we drove over to Dearborn and spent 1-1/2 days at the Henry Ford museum (didn't get to see all of it, either!). It was really neat the way it's set up, and we highly recommend it. Here are Chad and Tyler in a one-room schoolhouse:
Beth and I had our photo taken in the 1820s photo studio:
We rode in a number of different period vehicles, including a Model T "Depot Hack" (what we would call a 'Station Wagon' today), a horse-drawn Omnibus and a steam engine. At the end of the day, we were walking out of the village area, and one of the park workers stopped us and asked if one of the boys would like to blow the whistle to close the park, so Chad stepped up and pulled the rope:
We had a great time!
From there, we headed back over to the Grand Rapids area and spent the weekend with the Butlers, our church's former pastor and family. We sang three songs at their church, as well as did three instrumentals together (Chad did a solo viola piece for the offertory).
The weekend after all of that travel, Chad and Tyler decided to build a tree fort, and did a nice job with it, too! The view is awesome:
Finally, our church had a Father-Son campout at Jubilee College State Park last weekend:
We had a nice time, but did get rained on a bit Saturday morning.
We're not slowing down any so far, with several more trips and activities planned into the summer. Stay tuned for more!