World Emoji Day

 

Next Thursday, July 17th, is World Emoji Day. It will be the twelfth annual global emoji celebration. (https://worldemojiday.com)  Now I have no idea why we are having a World Emoji Day, but for the sake of fun, let’s just roll with it. It is celebrated on July 17^th because that is the day highlighted on the calendar emoji. (I bet you didn’t know that.) The first emoji set of 176 was created in 1999 by Japanese artist Shigetaka Kurita. (https://www.wired.com/story/guide-emoji/) They started as a quick way to show how you felt without having to use words. By 2010 there were 625, with more being added every year. Now you can get them in sets for skin tone, country and other groupings. They are ubiquitous; most of us use them on a daily basis. We send thumbs up, prayers, smooches, hearts, and even mad faces. There have been movies about them. My phone even tries to put them into text messages in place of the actual words – well, if I let it. They have become so common place that now it is easier than ever to miscommunicate with each other, sometimes with embarrassing consequences. I once sent a kissy face emoji to my wife, only to find I had actually sent it to my principal. He was a good sport about it, but still.

So if you had to pick one emoji, what would it be? Some people might have to choose several, depending on their mood. (Hopefully it’s not the poop emoji!) I kind of like the meh, but he does come off as kind of depressing. Although I send a lot of smooch faces to my wife, I guess if I had to choose one it would be the gratitude emoji ☺️. God has been good and faithful to me and I hope I stay thankful for everything He has done. I’m glad that there are a variety of emoji that I can choose from to express my feelings. So how will you celebrate World Emoji Day? I hope it’s will be by making someone’s day a little brighter. I mean, look how many you have to chose?

😜

Why All the Differences?

 

Growing up in Illinois, I understandably was a Chicago Cubs fan. I remember watching games with my grandfather. As I remember, they didn’t win much, but it was fun to watch. I also remember seeing some of the great legends play. I was in 8^th grade the year Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record. It was all we could talk about. Hank the Hammer was one of his nicknames. I had no idea how hard he had to work to get to the top.

A few days ago I read an article about his baseball career. I can only say I was shocked at some of the things I found out. In one instance, while his teammates were dining in a restaurant in Washington, DC, Hank and his buddies faced something that no one should ever face. It is said that the kitchen crew in the back destroyed the plates that had been touched by “the blacks”. If a dog had lick it, they would have washed it. Hank took it in stride and pressed on, showing the world that he was made of “better stuff”.

It started me thinking. Did everyone in the back kitchen feel that way, or did some of them just go along out of fear or embarrassment? Either way, it hurt. Either way it was the wrong thing to do. Have you ever been in such a situation? I know I have. Those who think they are better than others looking down on them and holding it over their heads and expecting everyone else to follow aolng. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I have always stood for the little guy, but I try.

It goes beyond race or color or gender. These are just the easy ones to notice. It’s how we treat our fellow man. We have been working for several years helping the homeless and low income families in the Modesto area. It’s amazing how invisible they can become if we are not careful. I’ll be honest, it took me some time also. Questions like, “Are they sick?”, are they clean?” used to  cross my mind. As I got to know them, these things started to fade into the background. I have one man who greets me every day with a handshake and sometimes a “bro hug”. Now, I wouldn’t’ miss it for the world.  

So who do you ignore, or shy away from because of differences? (Hopefully you don’t mistreat anyone!) Better yet, what are you going to do about it? Can you stand up to the pressure, or will you just go along with the crowd? The Choice is yours!

Is It Soup Yet?

How many times have we as parents heard, “Is dinner ready?”, “Are we there yet?”, or “When is this going to be over?”. Being patient is hard for everyone, especially children. Most of the time it really comes down to boredom management, but that is a whole other story. Spiritually, being impatient can be a real problem. "Hurry is the death of prayer" is a well-known quote, often attributed to John Mark Comer, from his book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.  I know the quote, sadly I haven’t read the book, yet. We often pray fervently, trust God, and look for the answer, yet spiritually tap our feet while we wait. The following is a mix of my thoughts and the musings of one of my favorite pastors, Dallas Jackson.

·       Trust – Once you give it to God, leave it there. He has a great memory

·       Patience – The waiting part. Being patient in a microwavable society is probably the hardest thing to do. Please remember that God is super-efficient. He’s not only working out things in your life, He’s intertwining events into a gorgeously complex interaction that affects many others. Who knows, maybe you are waiting for someone else to get up to speed. (It makes you think twice about obeying God right away, doesn’t it?)

·       Be in the moment (enjoy the journey) - Often the journey is half the fun. Sometimes it is the fun.  Don’t forget to notice the little things God is doing as He brings it all together.

·       God has our best interest in mind – Always remember that God is doing thing in our life to bring about the best result. I sometimes think we question God more that all the other “professionals” in our life (doctors, mechanics, remodelers). He knows what he is doing.

·       Noah was in the ark for over a year – Sometimes you have to wait for the flood to go down.

·       Do what you need to do while you’re waiting – Make sure you take care of your regular duties while you wait. By all means, rest, but don’t be idle when you have things you can do.

·       We don’t know the big picture – God is God and you are not. Don’t try to understand everything. Sometime you just need to go with it.

·       Don’t lose your joy. Watch for the butterflies 😌 – This goes hand-in-hand with being in the moment. Keep your head on a swivel and notice God’s hand at work.

·       Waiting makes us better. Lately we have been watching a lot of cooking shows at dinner time. The concept of resting meat comes up often. I’ll have to admit, when I cook, I am just hungry and want it now. Often, I tend to rush things. Maybe that’s why a steak from a good restaurant tastes so good. If you Google “resting meat” here’s what you find:

Resting meat after cooking allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, resulting in a more tender and flavorful dish. If you cut into it immediately, the juices will escape, making the meat dry.

 Waiting is hard no matter how you look at it. How we react to it makes all the difference. I hope this helps!

Why Does Ice Float?

 

(For the first time ever, I’m blogging about the same thing in this blog and the one for my grandchildren, Notes From Papaw. This concept is fundamental to life, and I think, evidence of an intelligent Creator).

It’s really hot outside and you go into the house to get something cold to drink. You get your favorite cup and put in some ice. Then you fill it with your water favorite drink. You may not notice, but the ice is floating at the top. You might think “duh, it always does that”. But did you know ice floating is really unusual? Water is one of the few substances that expands when it freezes. Only a few rare metals, like gallium, can do that. 

So what’s the big deal? Well, if ice didn’t float, life would probably cease to exist on our planet. Imagine a lake where the ice sinks after it freezes. Ice actually acts like insulation and helps keep the water down below from getting colder.  Without an ice layer,  water can keep getting colder and colder and the lake would freeze all the way down. All the fish and plants would die.

In the ocean, ice that freezes on the surface is actually fresh water. If it sank, fresh water would keep sinking to the bottom and the ocean would get saltier and saltier until nothing could live in it. 

So how does ice expand? When water is a liquid, the molecules can slide past each other up close. But when it freezes, it forms a crystal structure. Imagine you have a bunch of friends over. How many can you get in your living room? Probably a lot. But what if you had to join hands with your arms straight out at 90 degree angles? This is kind of like a crystal structure. Now you can’t fit as many in the same space. Density is how much matter (or friends) you can fit in a certain space. The less friends, the less you all weigh. If you weigh less but take up the same space you would be less dense and would “float” (well, if you were ice). You can see the expansion of ice by putting a water bottle in the freezer. Look at the bottom of the bottle once it’s done. 

The current humanist world view would say this is just a happy accident. I myself think it’s evidence of a great design. Either way it’s incredibly amazing!

If this is still confusing, that’s ok. Many people get confused about this. You may find this site can help. 

https://www.thoughtco.com/why-does-ice-float-604304

Ok, now I’m thirsty. Time to go get a cold bottle of water! 

It’s Not Enough to Love Nature…

 Environmentalism seems to be at an upswing lately, which, in many cases is a good thing. We humans have a tendency to harm/destroy nature either by lack of knowledge, overindulgence, selfishness, or just greed. Even those passionate about nature can be at fault. They feed animals that shouldn’t be fed or worse aren’t even supposed to be there. (At present, we have a huge feral cat problem in the Central Valley parks that are decimating our native bird populations. please stop feeding them!) Residents balk at regulations that are intended to stop the spread of nonnative/invasive species because they are inconvenient. In most cases, that does more harm than good. You see, it’s not enough to love nature, you need to understand it.

Cases in point.  

#1 I had a good friend who was a biological consultant (independent I might add)  investigating the ExonValdez oil spill. Their report after a thorough investigation was: 

1. clean the oil off of birds and mammals. 

2. Soak up any loose oil (They have these cool diaper-like things that only soak up the oil.)

3. Put a barrier to keep more oil from washing up on the coastline. 

4. Spray the oil with a naturally occurring bacteria that eats hydrocarbons. (It was originally found around naturally occurring oil leaks.) 

Their prognosis was that in 6-9 months the beach would be basically back to normal. Instead, due to pressure from media and some radical environmental groups, Econ decided to steam clean the whole shoreline. Estimated recovery time? 80-100 years. 

#2 There is a cement company near Santa Cruz that implemented a trial of using 40% old tires for part of their fuel used in baking the cement. 3 different agencies verified that the tires burned so cleanly that toxic emissions went down since they used less coal. The steel in the radials was just the right amount as what they were already adding that they didn’t need to get any extra iron from mining. It was a win-win. Yet they had to shut it down because Greenpeace ran a campaign that “ Everyone knows tire burning is bad”. (Roll clip of a pile of spent tires on fire.) This was even after being presented with the piles of independent data! 

Gary Larson, most notably known for writing “The Far Side” comics, summed it up nicely in his book, “There’s a Hair in My Dirt”. It’s not enough to love nature  you have to understand it also. 

So before you complain, or are appalled at what scientists and conservationists are doing to solve a problem, find out what is really going on. It might just surprise you!

Amazon: Here’s a Hair in My Dirt

https://a.co/d/gQ4aFf3

Trash

While walking back from the beach I was picking up trash on the way.  My grandson asked me why I was picking up other people’s trash. If you don’t  already know I work for the California State Parks in the summer months. It’s what I do all I’m day, pick up trash. I explained to him that if I didn’t pick it up, someone else might not pick it up either. If that keeps up, the trash just builds up. What amazes me is that most of the trash is within a few feet from a trash can! Why would someone just throw it on the ground? Entitlement, carelessness, a poor sense of environmental concern? Na, I think it’s mostly laziness. It’s too inconvenient to walk all the way to the trash can. I have even heard people say. “Hey, I’m giving someone a job”. Seriously? There are lots of jobs to do. Picking up your trash should not be one of them! I do know that sometimes animals can get in the trash cans and make a mess, but that is the exception. I see people almost on a daily basis who throw their soda cans, candy wrappers, or napkins on the ground. And they were going to walk right past a trash can! Humans, we can do better than this! 

Here’s how you can help. 

1. Be responsible for your personal trash.

2. If you see something on the ground in front of you, go ahead and pick it up. 

3. Encourage others to be respectful and responsible. 

4. Put the cover on the trash if possible to prevent animals from getting in. 

5. Volunteer on clean up days. 

6. Stop being lazy. (I just had to throw that one in.)

The State Park’s Motto, 

“Take only pictures, leave only footprints” 

is a good thing to remember. Will you do your part?

Sheeple

 

I don’t often get political, but again, something has gotten stuck in my craw. Over the past couple weeks I have come across the word sheeple several times. Merriam-Webster defines sheeple as people who are docile, compliant, or easily influenced. It is normally meant for those that believe what they are told without finding out the facts or doing any study. It comes from the very nature of sheep who tend to follow the group from place to place. In many cases the reference is well placed. We as a people have often been deluded by smooth-talking adds, promises, and especially politicians. It generally has a derogatory meaning.

The disconcerting element here is that it is now often being used for anyone who decides to be a law abiding citizen. It kind of reminds me of the “Hippie” movement in the 60’s. (Ya, I’m that old.) “Don’t let the Man tell you what to do! Stick it to the Man.” I also noticed this during the Covid era. Even if you did your due diligence, studied the data, and made an informed decision, if you ”took the jab” you were called a sheeple. Honestly, I remember both sides throwing the term around at each other.

 Recently I read a post of one guy complaining about Fish and Game checking for fish limits & fishing licenses. He said something to the effect of, “When are you sheeple going to stand up against these bullies?” Seriously? Um, It’s actually their job. They are there to help preserve the fishery. Since when did obeying the law make us sheeple?

Yesterday I was reading about the golden mussel problem we are facing in central California. Again, there were several outspoken voices saying, “They don’t have any right to do boat checks”, “It won’t make a difference” and other, can I say, less educated statements. I’ve been through boat checks. They do take time away from fishing. It can be boring waiting. But it can make a difference. Following the law is not the same as being a true, mindless sheeple.

The Bible calls us sheep. In fact, it says we have a tendency to go astray. That’s why we need The Good Shepherd. If I am following the Good Shepherd, I will always end up in the right place, no matter what happens in between. I don’t mind being a sheep. In fact the other option is either a goat or a wolf. And you know what the Bible has to say about those…