From face-book to face-to-face and more

Fifteen years passed - most of which were lived in different countries. Then we met up on face book.  And today Shirley and I met face-to-face!!

Shirley came in by bus and I was wondering if I would recognize her.  The anticipation was electric - next thing, there she was! Uninhibited hugs and more hugs in the thousand year old Abbey. We kept on looking at each other!  Much catch-up and almost as much coffee and spoiling of sweet taste-buds and.... love all round. Talking - note talking, not gossiping about mutual friends and seeing Jesus in action in our lives.  We shared our heart-aches, talked about wedding dresses, travel and families and gardening. Priceless time!

Our friend, John writes on my face book record of this day:
“That's great! I think many of us long to again meet friends we haven't seen for many years & those we've got to know through Facebook & have never met in the flesh.”
John continues:

It is really a picture of the gospel. God has befriended us through the gospel & we've grown to know & love him as he's revealed himself & spoken to us through his word. And as we grow in the knowledge of him we long to meet him face-to-face. And we shall when we see God in the face of Jesus Christ, that beatific vision, the delight of the saints, the sight that will forever satisfy & fulfil us. I hope to preach something along those lines tomorrow!

Faith will become sight, but for us earthlings it is not sight….yet.  A day, of either joy or shame, is coming when every eye will see the returning Christ.

Here are a few pictures, glimpses of a day of reunion, love and mega catch-up in St Albans.   Thank you Shirley, it was a cracker of a face-to-face-day!  I’m still pinching myself….that we met in the Abbey, walked down the streets with its overhanging medieval architecture, etc. etc. and waved goodbye at the bus-stop .








Peter 1:8–9
And though you have not seen him, you love him, and though you do not see him now, but believe in him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
When Jesus comes back, we will see Him with our own eyes.
Revelation 1:12-18
John 14:8-10

Three Men in a Boat - Harris in the Maze

My friend, Laurie, got a Kindle for Christmas.  From her I learned about Free Public Domains and discovered an old favourite book:  Jerome K Jerome's "Three Men in a Boat".  

A memory of some time ago, was right back.  I took the book out of the library in South Africa and read to our 3 children plus 2 foster children. We were all in the kitchen. I nearly fell off the chair laughing, while they stared the stares of "what's so funny about that!?"  Children - oops you are all grown-up adults now - but I do wonder, if you had to read Harris at the Maze now, if you would not also fall of your chairs laughing!

Even though we lived in South Africa at the time and had no idea of Hampton Court's setting, the humour was no less blunt for that. Some years later we emigrated to the UK and have been countless times to that part of the Thames and once to the Maze itself.

Just as I was ready to post the post, Gordon came wandering in, I read this part to him, through snorts of laughter and tears.

Please, please if anyone find this funny, let me know on face book as ever since my children looked blank-faced at me, I have doubted my sense of humour. (Gordon did laugh with me).  I wonder if Paul and Laurie are going to like it too?

Here is a photograph of the Hampton Maze to put you into the picture with Harris.

Chapter 5
Harris asked me if I’d ever been in the maze at Hampton Court. He said he went in once to show somebody else the way. He had studied it up in a map, and it was so simple that it seemed foolish – hardly worth the twopence charged for admission. Harris said he thought that map must have been got up as a practical joke, because it wasn’t a bit like the real thing, and only misleading. It was a country cousin that Harris took in. He said:

“We’ll just go in here, so that you can say you’ve been, but it’s very simple. It’s absurd to call it a maze. You keep on taking the first turning to the right. We’ll just walk round for ten minutes, and then go and get some lunch.”

They met some people soon after they had got inside, who said they had been there for three-quarters of an hour, and had had about enough of it. Harris told them they could follow him, if they liked; he was just going in, and then should turn round and come out again. They said it was very kind of him, and fell behind, and followed.

They picked up various other people who wanted to get it over, as they went along, until they had absorbed all the persons in the maze. People who had given up all hopes of ever getting either in or out, or of ever seeing their home and friends again, plucked up courage at the sight of Harris and his party, and joined the procession, blessing him. Harris said he should judge there must have been twenty people, following him, in all; and one woman with a baby, who had been there all the morning, insisted on taking his arm, for fear of losing him.

Harris kept on turning to the right, but it seemed a long way, and his cousin said he supposed it was a very big maze.
“Oh, one of the largest in Europe,” said Harris.
“Yes, it must be,” replied the cousin, “because we’ve walked a good two miles already.”

Harris began to think it rather strange himself, but he held on until, at last, they passed the half of a penny bun on the ground that Harris’s cousin swore he had noticed there seven minutes ago. Harris said: “Oh, impossible!” but the woman with the baby said, “Not at all,” as she herself had taken it from the child, and thrown it down there, just before she met Harris. She also added that she wished she never had met Harris, and expressed an opinion that he was an impostor.

That made Harris mad, and he produced his map, and explained his theory.
“The map may be all right enough,” said one of the party, “if you know whereabouts in it we are now.”

Harris didn’t know, and suggested that the best thing to do would be to go back to the entrance, and begin again.

For the beginning again part of it there was not much enthusiasm; but with regard to the advisability of going back to the entrance there was complete unanimity, and so they turned, and trailed after Harris again, in the opposite direction. About ten minutes more passed, and then they found themselves in the centre.

Harris thought at first of pretending that that was what he had been aiming at; but the crowd looked dangerous, and he decided to treat it as an accident.
Anyhow, they had got something to start from then. They did know where they were, and the map was once more consulted, and the thing seemed simpler than ever, and off they started for the third time.
And three minutes later they were back in the centre again.
After that, they simply couldn’t get anywhere else. Whatever way they turned brought them back to the middle. It became so regular at length, that some of the people stopped there, and waited for the others to take a walk round, and come back to them. Harris drew out his map again, after a while, but the sight of it only infuriated the mob, and they told him to go and curl his hair with it. Harris said that he couldn’t help feeling that, to a certain extent, he had become unpopular.

They all got crazy at last, and sang out for the keeper, and the man came and climbed up the ladder outside, and shouted out directions to them. But all their heads were, by this time, in such a confused whirl that they were incapable of grasping anything, and so the man told them to stop where they were, and he would come to them. They huddled together, and waited; and he climbed down, and came in.

He was a young keeper, as luck would have it, and new to the business; and when he got in, he couldn’t find them, and he wandered about, trying to get to them, and then HE got lost. They caught sight of him, every now and then, rushing about the other side of the hedge, and he would see them, and rush to get to them, and they would wait there for about five minutes, and then he would reappear again in exactly the same spot, and ask them where they had been.

They had to wait till one of the old keepers came back from his dinner before they got out.
Harris said he thought it was a very fine maze, so far as he was a judge; and we agreed that we would try to get George to go into it, on our way back.

If you were also tickled pink, you may want to head over to this link to access "Three Men in a Boat" for free.

History as Science?

Do you think it is possible for historians to present the past in an accurate, truthful and objective way? 


This question was evoked (not expressed) by my second travel companion.   On my return flight from South Africa, last year, I was seated next to my first co-traveller, an Astro-Physicist, Pieter Meintjies:  a lovely Christian family man. 

This post is mainly about the second traveller on the last leg of my journey home on the bumpy 724 bus from Heathrow. I never got to know the older British gentleman's name, but I soon found out he is a research Professor in history at Harvard University - specializing in French History.

Our conversation was stilted (I'm nowhere with history!) and he wasn’t  going to talk  - not even about the weather.  Also, we were travel-weary and looked rather dishevelled after night-flights.

But…the conversation took off when I mentioned newspaper-talk (August 2011)  in South Africa about  a proposed re-write of school history.  I did remember some of my own school history way before 1994, under the National Party & freely admitted it was one-sided.  The SA newspapers-debate revolved around the ANC (African National Council)’s desire to provide school children with a history "to make people proud". 

He got visibly irritated with me when I (full of respect) expressed sympathy about the difficulty to be objective and accurate about history, with obstacles such as:

• flawed presuppositions built on limited knowledge and insight, 
• limited knowledge of people's motivations,
• abundant false reporting, political manipulations, cover-ups and so on.

  This was the gist of the question, asked in a non-critical attitude.

He replied – seemingly more in defence than humility - that they are doing their best and are as honest and accurate as they can be.  I expressed admiration – even awe for all their research.  (Not that he needed my affirmation - and not that I had a fraction of insight into how hard and how smart they are working!)   And once more, I wondered aloud, about human objectivity and discovering true and accurate history. 

After he dragged his suit-case off at his stop, we waved polite goodbyes, and I wished I asked him:  "Can history be true science?"  And, "how can we know the truth?". Jesus' makes a staggering and divine claim to be the truth.  I believed my Lord, full or truth and grace, afresh, with all my heart – anchored!

“Bless the Harvard History Research Professor by finding as much true data as possible in his important research work; bless him with increased ability to have insight into the big picture and how things fit together. And bless him by opening the eyes of his heart to find the historical Jesus and to be found by Him: the Way, the Truth and the Life”

It was thrilling to see my Gordon at the Galleria bus stop – we were together again!  So many fresh SA-memories to share as well as the bus-conversation.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2011

If you are in a mad rush, just have a look at the pictures and enjoy.  If you have a bit more time, you may want to read and share the impressions in the "box".  If you really get into the swing of the content, a fuller description supplied by the organizers of the Exhibition, is all yours.

On Friday 6th January I took the Green Line Coach from Hatfield to the National History Museum in Kensington London to view the highly recommended exhibition.  I set aside a generous chunk of three hours – they just flew in the light of the delight!

My overall response was awe before my Creator.

I was also most impressed with the dedication and sacrifices of the photographers to get that shot.  As a photographer-enthusiast I was interested in the techniques, story behind the photograph, the methods and the equipment used.  This information was part of the description of every image. The one disappointment was that the megapixels together with dimensions of the original photographs weren't included.

In this post, I share the picks of my favourites:  those images that stopped me in my tracks.  Those that  had the force to make me linger, respond emotionally, explore, be surprised, question and – call it hedonistic – delight.

I do hope you are about to enjoy some of these choices too.  Undoubtedly your personal best would differ from this selection.  As I plan to post some more impressions to the Wildlife Photographer 2011 Exhibition, you may spot those images that appeal to you personally.

In the white table-box, you will find my personal impressions and after each image, the description as supplied by the organisers of the Exhibition.

Psalm 24:1  “The earth is the LORD’S and everything in it the world and all who live in it…”

Philippians 4:8 “…. whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things. “

The tern’s head and red, red beak are in pin-sharp focus while the rest of the photo is soft, serene and yet lively.  Understandably the images on the Natural History Museum website consist of the minimum pixels.  The idea is to protect the owners’ rights and to encourage viewers to go along in person and be treated by “the real maccoy”.  I found the admission cost worth every penny!

Ole Jørgen Liodden (Norway)
Midnight tern
Having led many trips to Norway's Svalbard archipelago, Ole knows exactly where to go for wildlife. When on location, he sleeps in the day and photographs at night, always carrying two cameras, ready for the moment. On this occasion, he was near Longyearbyen on the island of Spitzbergen. It was midnight when the light appeared, penetrating through the clouds and illuminating the valley up ahead. 'Midnight light is like a long-lasting, beautiful sunset,' he says. This time, though, it was so overwhelmingly beautiful that Ole started to walk towards it 'as though entranced'. And then the Arctic tern appeared. Pure magic. Ole adjusted his shutter speed to blur the background and tracked the tern - symbol of the Arctic - as it flew over the tundra alongside him.
Nikon D3S + 600mm f4 lens; 1/8 sec at f13; ISO 100.

I have a soft spot for the oyster catcher and am thrilled with the success of their conservation in South Africa.  Many a time I’ve tried to photograph pairs in Jeffrey's Bay, a surfing mecca on the Garden Route between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.

Peter Chadwick (South Africa)
Taking off
With space at a premium, the normally territorial African black oystercatchers on Malgas Island, South Africa, are forced to congregate when feeding on the rocky shore. It's a time of intense social interaction, different breeding pairs flying in to claim their turn at the seaside table, prising shellfish off the rocks both to eat and to take back for their chicks. All the while, they keep an eye on the waves. 'They usually know exactly when to run from a crashing wave,' says Peter, 'but this wave seemed to take them by surprise'. Found only along the coastline of southern Africa, the charismatic species is the subject of a conservation success story. Back in the 1980s, numbers had declined to some 4,500 birds, mainly because their breeding beaches are also where humans with their dogs and off-road vehicles go, resulting in the death of many of the chicks. But though the species remains near-threatened, protection from disturbance in the breeding season has resulted in an increase in numbers to about 6,000.
Nikon D300S + 500mm f4 lens; 1/1600 sec at f8; ISO 640; Manfrotto tripod.

No wonder these sunset-kissed snow-drops caught the eyes of the judges and was awarded winner in its category.  I find snowdrops very difficult to capture.  It’s still very cold when they make their appearance and to photograph them from an interesting angle you need to do the leopard crawl to get the elf’s view.  These three beauties could have been called “The three graces”.  Interesting and do-able technique.

Sandra Bartocha (Germany)
Harbinger of spring
'My favourite time of the year is when the first snowdrops appear - the harbingers of spring,' says Sandra. 'When I see them, the air suddenly smells fresher and the sun feels a little warmer.' Sandra found this delicate group in a marshy area on the shore of Lake Tollensesee in Mecklenburg, Western Pomerania, Germany, overhung with a criss-cross mass of leafless tree branches. 'The setting sun created a beautiful orange reflection on the water behind, and I could hear great crested grebes calling. I took an in-camera double exposure image, with one sharp exposure and then one much softer one, so the scene would appear as dreamy as it felt.'
Nikon D700 + Meier Görlitz Trioplan 100mm f2.8 lens; 1/50 sec at f2.8; ISO 200.

Patience pays, but even so, ants wait for no-one!  Isn’t this priceless and timeless!

Ant line
It was the shape of the dried-up, torn leaf that caught Adithya's eye. It hung from a tree on his farm in the forests of India's Western Ghats. He spent much of the day photographing the simple, abstract shape, but the results 'were too abstract and simple,' he says. 'So I waited, hoping that an insect, a dragonfly, for example, might land on it.' In the end, he waited four days. Then, finally, nature obliged. 'An ant climbed onto the leaf. But it was in such a hurry that I only managed to get four images,' only two of which worked for him. They worked because, by then, Adithya knew exactly how to achieve the effect he wanted.
Nikon D90 + 70-300mm lens; 1/500 sec at f8; ISO 400.

Layer upon layer, this image of the flamingo’s gripped me!  Aided by the weather and a predator and a beanbag……what a winning image.  It works!

 
Paul Goldstein (United Kingdom)

Taking flight
Paul arrived very early on the shores of Lake Nakuru, Kenya, before the rising sun had burnt off the mist. He had returned to photograph the greater and lesser flamingos and used shade, shadows and silhouettes to create drama, rather than sunlight to emphasize their vivid colours. He was helped by a combination of circumstances: rain during the night, a rapidly clearing sky, enough time for the cold air to form mist over the alkaline waters and a hyena hunting for young or infirm birds along the far shore of the soda lake. The predator set up a wave of panic, with those closest to it taking flight and those nearest to Paul standing alert. Ten minutes later, not only had the whole flock lifted up, but the mist had also burnt off, completely changing the scene.
Canon EOS-1D Mark 4 + 500mm f4 IS lens; 1/5000 sec at f10 (-1.7 e/v); ISO 200; beanbag.
 

I’ve grown to love the wild poppies in the fields in the UK.  After this winning picture, I hope to be as much tuned in for the seed-heads as the striking back-lit flowers.

David Maitland (UK)
Fading beauty
On a car-park embankment near David's home in Wiltshire, a mass of poppies appeared one day. 'I love poppies,' he says, 'and I can't resist photographing them. It's hard to think of another plant that's so fleetingly beautiful . . . But when poppies flower en masse, it's almost too much, and it's hard to capture the ephemeral nature of their beauty.' For a week he checked on the patch every day, looking for a particular grouping. 'I wanted an image of simplicity - mostly of spent seedheads, with just a few poppies still in full bloom,' he explains. From a prone position, he shot them against an overcast sky to create an architecture of stems 'with little flashes of brilliance'. Three days later, someone 'weed-killered the lot,' he says. 'Most hadn't set seed. So there'll be no poppy meadow there next year.'
Canon EOS 5D Mark II + 70-200mm f2.8 lens; 1/160 sec at f11; ISO 50.

This minute image does not even start to convey the force, the other-worldliness, the impact, the shapes in the original.  What a stunning world and sky – what a stunning Creator and Saviour!

Stephane Vetter (France)
Celestial arch
Stephane took two hours to walk to Creux du Van in western Switzerland, laden with heavy equipment. He had chosen this natural rocky amphitheatre as a grand backdrop to showcase his subject - the Milky Way. The temperature was -15°C (-5°F), but the sky was clear and there was no wind. He set up camp in the dark beside the ravine, his tripod balanced on the edge. 'The sky moves surprisingly quickly,' says Stephane, 'and I needed to be ready for the moment the Milky Way was right above the Creux du Van'. Clouds on the horizon blocked stray light from towns and villages. 'Gazing at the myriad of stars and constellations,' adds Stephane, 'it's fascinating to think that some of that light set off towards Earth millions of years ago'. He took 24 images of the vista. These were then 'stitched' to create a panoramic view, showing the celestial curve of the Milky Way complemented by the terrestrial curve of ancient rock.
Nikon D3 modified with Baader IR cut filter + 24mm f1.4 lens; 20 sec at f1.8; ISO 4000; Bilora C283 tripod + Ninja Nodal 5 panoramic head.

The size of the displayed photograph left me feel the heat off the dune, the softness of the texture.  Take a step forward and see that those small trees are in reality, huge trees. Experience something of the scale and the double-delight.

Alessandra Meniconzi (Switzerland)
Gobi oasis
China is second home to Alessandra. She's travelled the country since childhood, visiting the most remote and wild corners, often cycling or hitch-hiking to get there. During a trip to Inner Mongolia, Alessandra travelled to the Alxa Desert Geopark in the Gobi Desert, which has the world's highest stationary dunes and more than 140 spring-fed lakes, and is a centre for the study of desertification. Climbing the highest dune, the oasis scene below took her breath away. 'I have never seen scenery like this: thousands of small, wind-moulded dunes sunk into one huge one, the scene doubled in size by the reflection in the lake, so that I felt lost in the middle of a huge ocean of sand. The only sounds were the soft whistle of the wind and early-morning birdsong. I felt regenerated.'
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III + 70-200mm f2.8 lens; 1/20 sec at f8; ISO 100; Giotto tripod.

Isn’t this cuteness itself!  I was so hoping to find a small print, or  postcards in the Natural History Museum.  Our grandchildren in New Zealand and Germany would have had a good look and giggle.  But all the images of this  Quinling monkey was sold out.  No wonder!

Cyril Ruoso (France)
Tiny warm-up
Folded up into a fur-ball, this youngster is warming its extremities in between bouts of play and feeding. He is part of a band of about 70 or so Qinling golden snub-nosed monkeys living high up in China's Qinling Mountains, surviving on lichen, leaves, bark and buds. 'If mother is not around to cuddle up to, then sitting like this is the best way to keep warm in the extreme winter cold,' says Cyril. Sitting apart from its mother also makes such a little monkey vulnerable to attack by goshawks or golden eagles. The species is endangered, and this subspecies probably numbers no more than about 4,000. The total population of all races of golden snub-nosed monkeys is only 8,000-20,000.
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III + 400mm f2.8 lens; 1/200 sec at f2.8; ISO 400.