Thus endeth year number three here at the Bismarck-Mandan Blog. The tanks pictured above are from Napoleon and Strasburg, captured on a recent photography trip before the big snows. I wonder how much of these beasts is visible now!
This website continues to serve thousands of pages to a thousand or more visitors every single day. I'm humbled, grateful, and a little astonished that people continue to stop by. Hopefully I can continue to provide pictures and rambling words that people find worth a little bit of their time each day. Here's to year number four! If the Obamessiah's people haven't shut me down by then...
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( 3.1 / 172 )
The workstation in my office at home is pretty mean. I have a ton of RAM, a very expensive broadcast video editing card, and enough drives and devices that I literally have A: through Z: with only O: missing. Just think, if I still had a Mac I would have to come up with 25 names for them!
When I leave home, apparently, my workstation takes on a slightly different duty: virtual aquarium. I won't say it's necessarily light duty, because this program actually renders realistic 3D fish on the fly. I found this photo in my wife's camera. I'm not surprised, because little PJ asks me to "see fish" whenever he sees me at the computer. His other favorite, or standby if I say "no" to the fish, is "bridge go boom!" He saw my video of the demolition of the Memorial Bridge's west span and now associates my website with that video.
As long as he doesn't mess with any of the knobs or sliders on my mixer or other gear at the desk, I'm more than willing to donate my computer to the entertainment of my PJ and his little brother while I'm away at work. No worries there; if we tell him not to go into the office and that virtual aquarium is running, he stands obediently by the doorway and gazes in. I hope he and Jonathan always listen that well!
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( 3.1 / 167 )
I'm doing some fun server-related changes right now. This is a test. And yes, the photo above is a forgery. Not only are the windows not lit like that yet, but we're also in the middle of a blizzard. I'm just testing my photo file transfer engine and stuff, and thought I'd have some fun with last year's picture.
That reminds me...as long as it took to get the Christmas Tree displayed in the capitol windows, those colored shades were GONE already today. Wow...makes you wonder, doesn't it?
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( 2.9 / 162 )
Our family is having quite the Christmas day. The boys slept in a little bit, but then it was up and at 'em, with Mommy providing pancakes all around. We got dressed up and went to visit Bertha, a lady who my wife loves dearly. She cared for Bertha while working at a local nursing home, and still visits her frequently. We brought a hymnal along and sang a couple of songs for her while the boys looked on. Then it was nap time for all.
Later in the afternoon, after opening some presents with Grandma, we moved the family to the dining table for the BEST turkey dinner my wife's ever made. Let's just sum it up in one word: perfect. Then we read from chapter 2 of Luke from the Bible, watched Charlie Brown Christmas, and commenced play time again.
Sometimes the box is just as much fun as the wagon that came in it! PJ and Jonathan think so, anyway. We weren't really playing in the dark; I just didn't want anyone to see the unfinished home renovation in the background. I swear I'm going to finish it soon...it's just the trim woodwork I need to cut and brad into place.
Daddy had fun of a different sort, sneaking out to the garage and firing up a motorcycle. I picked one with knobby tires, which really didn't help at all on Bismarck's icy roads. I kept it short and sweet, eventually sliding my way back to the garage in one piece. I did stop in front of the house and honk the horn so PJ could look out and see me. He's ready to ride, just ask him!
One thing missing from this Christmas was the popular Christmas light display at the Schaff house. I originally wrote about it here. Tens of thousands of lights, along with some street ornaments purchased from the city, combined to provide the grandest single-home Christmas display I can remember. There was a sad indication last year that Mr. Schaff was not going to be doing his elaborate display any more. Click the link to see why I think the decision was made. I hope I'm not being intrusive by discussing the man's house; it was a rather public display, after all. I just thought any of you who might wonder where the lights went would be interested in an explanation.
Anyway, that's Christmas in a nutshell. Within days I'll be celebrating the third anniversary of this website. What a time of traditions, eh? Thanks for being a part of it. There's a tradition worth keeping.
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( 3.1 / 163 )
Despite all the efforts to combat it, Christmas is here. What was once a celebration of Christ's birth has become artfully hijacked. In some ways it's been converted into a time of commercialism. In others it's become simply a time of tradition; family, food, fun. I'm not saying the exchange of gifts is bad and, quite frankly, this world needs more tradition and family time. Whether good or bad, these things are a distraction from the true meaning of Christmas.
One thing I first realized when I became a Christian is that there's way more to the Christmas story than I'd ever known. Jesus didn't suddenly spring up and change the way God dealt with man forever; his birth was foretold. Around the time of his conception, you didn't have to explain to an Israelite who the Messiah was. He was foretold by the prophets. His lineage was known and predicted, as well as his birthplace of Bethlehem. They were literally waiting for him to arrive. Check out Isaiah 53 and you'll see how important Christ's arrival is, and what was foretold.
Another thing I realized is that we Gentiles are not God's chosen people; Israel is. We, however, through the faith in Jesus that his nation didn't have, are grafted in. In both the old and new testaments, Jesus is referred to as a light to the Gentiles. As Paul points out in Romans, the grace God shows the Gentiles is intended to provoke Israel to jealousy. He made a covenant with them that he will not break, and his wish is that they'd come around.
The Christmas story as told in Luke is simply beautiful. I love to try to picture that starry night (because I'm a starry night kind of guy) and the magnitude of the events that unfolded around Jesus' birth. People were waiting for his birth. This night was prophecy fulfilled, the opportunity for God's chosen people to be redeemed. Later on, because he wasn't the type of Messiah they wanted, they rejected him. When Stephen was stoned in Acts chapter 7, he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He was ready to redeem his people, but again they rejected him and killed the messenger, Stephen. Thus we are now in the church age, the time of the Gentiles.
Christmas 2008 has been such a blessing. Little PJ turned two last week, and his brother is now one year old (and walking!). We've got a White Christmas, something I've been dreaming of for the past few years. My wife and I, although busy beyond belief, occasionally get time to stop and remark how thankful we are for the blessings we've been given. Times are hectic, but this too shall pass.
One other down side every Christmas is that my dad disowned me when he found out I wasn't going to a Catholic church any more. He hasn't spoken to me since, and it's been around five years now. I don't remember the exact time it started. He didn't attend my wedding, didn't visit us in the hospital when our boys were born, and he's never even met his grandchildren. If I come to the house, he leaves the room until I have gone. I can't really get too upset by dwelling on it, because it's his decision. The man that told me all through my youth that it's important not to ever leave a loved one on bad terms, because there's no telling if something might take them from you, has thrown his own advice out the window. Hopefully little PJ and Jonathan, along with our prayers, will someday help soften his heart.
Today, Christmas Eve, marks the 10th anniversary of the day I brought Scooter home from The Birdhouse, tucked in a little pet carrier box which I stuffed in my coat to keep him warm. This also marks the first Christmas I'll spend without him. My wife believes that the boys are allergic to him, so he's been exiled to my parents' house indefinitely. I turn white hot with anger when I think about it - not at my wife, of course, but at the situation. I love that little bird. I know he's blessing my parents with his unique personality.
One thing I didn't get to enjoy this year was caroling, although I did pause to remember a caroling visit to one of the nursing homes back in Christmas 2006. As we walked the halls singing, many residents would stand in their doorways and sing along. I could barely continue through the tears when I'd see a little old lady standing at the entrance to her room, singing the fourth verse of Joy to the World (or any of our other Christmas hymns) from memory. These days most people, myself included, don't even know how many verses the popular Christmas hymns have, and certainly don't know the words to those verses. I was touched beyond description. If you ever have the opportunity to go caroling for these folks, don't let it pass you by. It will leave you a changed person. I'm sorry I missed it this year.
My wife took care of Christmas shopping for our family, although I did make a last minute trip out for a little special something for her. I tend to go to Kirkwood mall once a year (not counting Scheel's), mostly because I don't care for having to shield my eyes from the way the girls are dressed down there. This time of year I crank up my iPod, put my head down, and finish my shopping all in one day. Among the random songs came a couple of Christmas songs by gospel singer Robert Robinson, whose voice will send shivers up your spine. I had the privilege of sitting about thirty feet from him at a concert where he belted out What Child Is This...if I'd been standing, I fear my knees would have failed me. Wow. If you saw a guy with watery eyes wearing a motorcycle jacket and an iPod this Christmas, that was me.
Two events that always signal the Christmas week are: James Bond marathons and the 24-hour "Christmas Story" marathon on TBS. I own the DVD of "Christmas Story" after being introduced to the movie in 2003. How I went 20 years without discovering this masterpiece (and Christmas staple) is beyond me...but that has been rectified. And I still watch it on satellite, despite the fact that the DVD sits ready and waiting. What can I say, it's tradition. We also watched the usual Frosty the Snowman and other Rankin-Bass features, because they're tradition too. I'm not going to teach my kids that there's a Santa Claus, but I do find the TV specials entertaining.
We've got plans to just stick close to home and enjoy our precious little family (minus bird) this year. Our property is blanketed by a thick blanket of nice white snow, our little boys are finally old enough to partake fully in Christmas festivities, and the Lord has continued to show himself faithful (even when I'm not) throughout another year. I hope your Christmas is as memorable as mine. If you've got anything you'd like to share about your Christmas, please enter it as a comment. Merry Christmas!
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