Out the Hotel Window, Part 2

Sometimes the view isn't what we would like it to be. Just the same old stuff that even in the dawn light really isn't that different or unique.

Even so, the color saturation of dawn is just beautiful.

Yes, I forgot to turn my lamp off so there is a reflection in the window.

But still--I have to admit, the view from here is far better than the view from my office window.

Oh, I forgot, my office does not have a window.

Ugh!

We should enjoy what we have and what we see. I was in an office earlier this week that had an unobstructed view of Pike's Peak!

Can you spell j-e-a-l-o-u-s?

The View is Awesome

Traveling reminds me that I sometimes love to take a moment to admire the view.

And the having a means to record what the eye sees is the close second to the views--even if it is not going to be an award winning image--it reminds me of the great things I see along the way.

I have seen some great things. My iPhone camera really helps me remember them.

Like this shot from yesterday.

Pike's Peak is the mountain that every spot in the city is designed to be able to see--and they can.

It was a bright day--with puffy clouds and a hot sun.

Wish you were here with me.

Out the Hotel Window

I often look out the windows of the hotels I stay in to see the area.

Usually, it is a pretty boring view--of the swimming pool or and expressway.

This morning though, from downtown Colorado Springs, I caught the sunlight and rays behind the buildings of the city.

I know if I had a better camera, I could actually capture the sunlight and the rays the same way that my eye see it--but alas, I don't.

But--I looked out at just the right time to see the sun's rays silhouetting the buildings--

Another day away from home. Although I'm in familiar territory, there is so to be amazed at like the first time all over again.

But the scene remains etched in my memory--just for a bit.

Perhaps it caught my imagination because I was on the second floor of the hotel--and not the eighth.

Who knows.

Ethan, Master Climber

To the top of the jungle gym!

Atop the world and to quite a line from a movie: "I'm the king of the world!"

He is getting to be so big.

I can't believe it.

And on this particular clear day, he could see forever from his vantage point.

I remember when he was afraid to climb up the jungle gym.

Now look at this daredevil.

History at O'Hare

Walking through the terminals of airports during lay overs can is usually a fascinating experience.

Here in Chicago's O'Hare airport is an F4F-3 which saw fame in action during the Pacific Campaign defending the USS Lexington from land based Betty bombers. Lt O'Hare became an ace in shooting down five bombers from one of these aircraft and damaging a sixth.

He was decorated with the Medal of Honor for his actions.

And now you know

Monday Musings - September 13, 2010

1. Patriots Day--a sobering reminder that the world is not the place we would like it to be. The forces of darkness and evil are still out there waiting for us to slip up, become weak, or believe that they've gone away. They have not!

2. I have discovered a corollary to the phrase: "A watched pot never boils." It is: A watched clock never ticks!

3. Owing no one anything other than to love them is really hard sometimes.

4. Despite what some would like to believe--the world is not a safe place outside the borders of the US.

5. Sometimes it is hard to do what is right or to say what is right; especially when it is unpopular.

6. Zealot. What is a zealot? Someone who believes more strongly than you do.

7. Quote of the day: "I figure the faster I pedal, the faster I can retire." Lance Armstrong

8. Rain finally broke the 19 straight days of sunny skies and the ground just drank it up. I don't think there was any runoff.

9. Traveling in America today really is a pain.

Going to the Dogs

So how did I spend the first Sunday of football season?

Well watching the Red Zone channel and serving as a warm lap for two dogs.

Makayla is pretty obvious in the front. But look to the right and behind Makayla and there is Florence my daughters Italian greyhound.

At least I'm good for a warm lap.

Summer Gardens

Summer gardens are the toughest it seems.

Springtime gardens are the easiest--there are all kinds of bulbs and flowers we expect to see in the springtime, but summer--well. the gardens take a beating and it is tough to work the blooms out so that something is blooming all of the time.

I especially enjoy the impatiens. Especially this years sine the ones pictured here were not planted by us--they came back after the winter and are now blooming merrily in the garden.


We have installed an auutomatic watering system to help keep these plants happy through the dry days of summer--and it apepars they are pretty happy. The hydrangea seems to have adapted to its location, although, if I were brave enough to take a picture of it, it would be clear that the hostas at the other end of the garden are getting too much sun and not enough water. Our watering system does nto reach them.

The joys of gardening--and springtime digging and moving plants from one location to another.

Gardens--they give us something to do and then enjoy. Our work and planning coupled with water, sun equals enjoyment.

Morning Glory on the Porch

They seem to be everywhere this season.

Some call them pests--but I enjoy their morning blooms.

The blooms are vibrant in the morning and most mornings I depart before they open to brighten the day.

Sadly, because we decided to let the vines run wild this year and they are adorning our porch with color and green.

Are they out of control? Probably--but who cares. When they die I will pull their dead vines off of everything and get ready for next springtime.

But I do enjoy the blue blooms that are so vibrant in the morning.

The Argument about the Creation of the Universe

Not content with tackling one volatile issue this week, I thought I'd throw some kerosene on the fire about another issue: Where did we come from? God or a cosmic calamity?

Stephen Hawking, a renown and respected professor at the University of Cambridge has declared the universe created itself. His new book, The Grand Design, coauthored with Leonard Mlodinow, reportedly details the procedure for creating your own universe in a bottle beginning with nothing but the vacuum of space.

OK--I'm being a bit sarcastic.

In a Wall Street Journal article titled: Why God Did Not Create the Universe , excerpts of the book are published to give a flavor of the book. Of course the article is designed to encourage people to buy the book to read more.

I'm not going to buy into the advertisement, nor will I be purchasing the book.

I think I've read enough to make a decision based upon the following three paragraphs from the article I referenced:

The emergence of the complex structures capable of supporting intelligent observers seems to be very fragile. The laws of nature form a system that is extremely fine-tuned. What can we make of these coincidences? Luck in the precise form and nature of fundamental physical law is a different kind of luck from the luck we find in environmental factors. It raises the natural question of why it is that way.

Many people would like us to use these coincidences as evidence of the work of God. The idea that the universe was designed to accommodate mankind appears in theologies and mythologies dating from thousands of years ago. In Western culture the Old Testament contains the idea of providential design, but the traditional Christian viewpoint was also greatly influenced by Aristotle, who believed "in an intelligent natural world that functions according to some deliberate design."

That is not the answer of modern science. As recent advances in cosmology suggest, the laws of gravity and quantum theory allow universes to appear spontaneously from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going.

I think it is pretty clear--man has again determined that there can be no other god than man, because if there were, then we would not be the masters of the universe!

Hawking says as much in one sentence, which is the final sentence of the Wall Street Journal article:

Although we are puny and insignificant on the scale of the cosmos, this makes us in a sense the lords of creation.

I think Stephen Hawking missed a fundamental underlying pivot point to his whole argument--and this is the reason that I will not buy the book and encourage the transmission of his modern humanistic view of the world.

Hey Stevie--where did the laws of gravity and quantum theory come from?

No matter how far back you go--you have to have something to start with and if all you think you need are these laws--then where did they come from?

Oh yeah, that would be God!

I was reminded of a conversation God had with Job, it could have just as easilyu been Stephen Hawking, when God said simply: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you possess understanding!" Job 38:4 NET Bible

There is a whole lot more to the concept of foundation than mortar and clay--it embodies the basic laws that govern life and the universe. The laws of gravity and quantum theory. The laws of life and light and darkness. All of these are needed to sustain life. They didn't just happen--no matter how many complex mathematical formulas exist to define them.


Sorry Steve--you got it wrong.


Something from nuthin is nonsense.