Face forward - even if not moving forward

Yesterday I almost completely tore apart my apartment to try find a tarp - which it seems I didn't have. In putting all the stuff back today, I began sorting through things to donate to the local Value Village. Stuff I wouldn't need but that others may find useful. Storage space is limited and a lot of it I haven't (or wouldn't) use.

Vamoose forthwith tomorrow...

Phil Keaggy has long been one of my favourite guitarists. On YouTube you will find many, many clips of actual song performances or concerts. His creativity on guitar and in songwriting has blessed many for decades. Every once in a while I need a "Phil fix": to just watch some clips of his finger work. A master on both electric and acoustic guitars - even with only 9 fingers. Enjoy this song (Phil has always sounded a bit like Sir McCartney to me...)

P.S.: Check this interview out from last summer.

Tonight our little church had a fund raiser. It consisted mainly of those who paid for a ticket for a dinner. A dessert auction was done afterwards. It was organized by one of the teen daughters whose mother doesn't go to our church. She wanted to do something special to raise money for a surgeon's fee that is not covered by our provincial healthcare. Anyone have any idea about Fibrocystic Breast disease? My part in all this was (are you ready?) running the sound system and video (ha – gotcha! - no news there). But it was nice to pick out stacks of CDs at the library and mix up a bunch of tracks for background “mood” music for the dinner.

A week ago it didn't seem as if there were going to be enough people coming. But today, almost every seat available was taken and I think enough was raised. For me, the best part is always coming away with more food than what I came with (which is usually nothing). Look at the picture below: a casserole dish of macaroni lasagne, a mincemeat pie and a wedge of carrot cake. Yum! Yum!

I also purchased this photograph taken by one our church's teens. It's a trillium; the official flower of the province of Ontario.

Matthew 5:5 says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

Not too many preachers speak on this verse. It has been bothering me a little that at work, I will usually stay behind to clean up the lunchroom; remove the recyclables; make sure all the doors are locked; check that all lights and fans and electrical tools are shut off. Most everyone heads off right at 5 or shortly thereafter. It seems like they’re too important to look after the little things that make a workplace safe and clean – or just figure “somebody” will do it.

Sometimes I like to think of myself as “nobody”. The famous and imaginary “nobody” who looks after the running toilets, dirty dishes, dead microphone batteries, projector filters and water for the piano’s humidifier system. You know the phrase, “Who looks after that? I guess nobody does...”

I like to think of the meek as “nobodies”. They are the detail people who stay after everyone’s gone to make sure the small stuff is taken care of. I figure they will inherit the earth since no one else is looking after it....

Well, it seems "Where I Live" posts are becoming all the rage among my Opera friends (well two, anyway). I'll add photos here and there as time permits..
(Addition 1: Hamilton Rail Trail pics July 9, 2009)


First off, Hamilton is in the province of Ontario in the country of Canada. It's at the headwaters of Lake Ontario; and being at the edge of the Niagara Escarpment, this city has the distinction of being the waterfall capital of the world. As an example, Mt. Albion Falls is a 20 minute walk from my apartment.

This picture I took of a roaring Webster's Falls a few years ago is one of the best I've ever seen anywhere; notice the base of a rainbow on the lower right corner.

One of the interesting things about many of the falls here is the huge hole or crater burrowed by powerful water streams as glaciers melted and retreated. This picture has a melting hole that is well over 30m (100ft) across and cut back over 1km (over 2/3 mile) from the edge of the escarpment.


One of many, many conservation areas inside the Hamilton city limits.

Most of the conservation areas are linked together by the Bruce Trail. The Bruce Trail is over 800km (500mi) in length, stretching from Niagara Falls to Tobermory.


This is the view of my front door..

This is the view from my balcony in winter..


Hamilton is more popularly known as "Steeltown" due to the long history of steel making giants Stelco and Dofasco (but currently known as U.S. Steel - Hamilton and Arcelor-Mittal). If you download and view the split skyline photo below, much of Hamilton's waterfront is dominated by the piers and plants of these two companies.


A place I spend a lot of time is my church. My principal work there is audio/visual and all things related to that. This is me posing at the sound booth I designed and built a few years ago.


Now all of this doesn't include McMaster University, McMaster Hospital, The Hamilton Tiger Cats (a professional football team) or the Royal Botanical Gardens. More on these a little later...

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One interesting man-made feature very near where I live is the Hamilton Rail Trail. It's an abandoned railway line that travels along the edge of the Niagara Escarpment from downtown to within 0.5 km of my apartment. The rails and gravel have been removed and the bed paved over to provide almost 5kms of very smooth pathway. The grade is very gradual and scenic lookouts are placed every now and again. Becuase I haven't bicycled in a long time, my legs were really hurting.

Here's a shot of the trail near a lookout.


A shot from the lookout toward Hamilton Harbour.


A picture of steps installed to climb up the escarpment. There are tracks on the outer edges of the steps for people to roll their bicycles up or down. This is one part of the steps going from halfway to the base...


Going from halfway to the top of the escarpment...


The view eastward at the top of the escarpment.