1962 Future Christian Hall of Fame

LIFE Magazine published a feature 50 years ago in September 1962 listing 100 people they considered to be "The Takeover Generation."  Each person had to be under the age of 40.

FCC Chairman Newton Minow (who is still alive today) was among them.  He made the famous statement in 1961: 

"When television is good, nothing — not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers — nothing is better.

"But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your own television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland."

Some of the other names in LIFE:

Sen. Frank Church (sponsor of the Wilderness Act of 1964)
Thomas Eagleton (McGovern's running mate, briefly)
Rep. Daniel Inouye (Hawaii)
John Updike (novelist)
Gov. Mark Hatfield (Oregon, later a senator)

I got to thinking about how many of today's evangelical Christian leaders were under 40 in 1962.  Here's my list (* = still living today)

David Wilkerson, 31
   The Cross and the Switchblade, Teen Challenge

Hal Lindsey*, 33
   The Late Great Planet Earth

James Dobson*, 26
   Focus on the Family

James Kennedy, 32
   Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church

Chuck Colson, 31
   Watergate fame, "Born Again," Prison Fellowship, Breakpoint

Bill Gaither*, 26
   The Bill Gaither Trio

Barry McGuire*, 27
   The New Christy Minstrels, "Eve of Destruction," "Bullfrogs & Butterflies"

Chuck Swindoll*, 28
   Insight For Living radio program, Dallas Seminary, Evan. Free pastor

Josh McDowell*, 23
   "Evidence That Demands A Verdict," apologist with Campus Crusade for Christ

Jerry Falwell, 29
   Moral Majority, Liberty Church and Liberty University

Charles Stanley*, 30
   "In Touch" radio program, Baptist pastor in Atlanta

Elisabeth Elliott*, 36
   "Through Gates of Splendor" (the Jim Elliott story); "Gateway To Joy" radio program

Arthur S. DeMoss, 37
   DeMoss Foundation, father of Nancy Leigh DeMoss, who succeeded Elisabeth Elliott

Lloyd Ogilvie*, 32
   Presbyterian chaplain of the U.S. Senate, 1995-2003

Anita Bryant*, 22
   Miss America second runnerup, 1958 (she's kind of a stetch--I couldn't find many women)

Except for a couple of these people, they were all within 4-5 years in age.  Today they have 50 years of wisdom and experience, and are all in their 70s and 80s.

17 Miles Down Hermosa Creek

NOTE: to see photos of this trail, go to my Picasa photo album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/neuswangerk/DurangoTheThreeCreeksWeekend#slideshow


I went to Durango on June 16 and rode 17 miles down Hermosa Creek.  To reach the trail, you turn at Purgatory Ski Area (that is, “Durango Mountain Resort” to you) and drive seven miles on a dirt road over the ridge to the Hermosa Creek drainage.

The trail is a Forest Service multiple use trail open hikers, bikers, and horses, as well as dirt bikers.  The posts on the websites were written by guys who said they had ridden the full 22 miles in “two hours.”

I should have known better than to go by those reports.  But hey, it’s all downhill, right?  Sure, there’s a “little uphill” at the end, they said.  I forgot that the guys who post those reports are almost always gonzo bikers, often with downhill bikes sporting 29 inch wheels, extra long play shocks, and riders who don’t give a lot of thought to things like life insurance and having families!

I met a guy in the parking lot who had just returned from riding the trail.  He told me it took him 4 hours.  Uh oh.  I was meeting Paul, my friend’s brother in law, and told him I’d been there by 4:15.  It was already 2:15.  The guy at the parking lot (John) kindly offered to call Paul when he got into cell phone range.  “What time should I tell him?”  “Tell him to meet me at 5:00!”  “Really?”  “Yeah, I think I can get there in about three hours.”

After five miles, I met David from Denver.  He was patching a flat tire. He had ridden all the way UP the trail.  “I don’t have a spare tube.  I’m gonna have to get one when I get to town,” he said.  His patch job appeared to be working, and he didn’t seem concerned at all, so I debated giving him one of my spare tubes (I brought two), but I figured I needed them more than he did, and besides, he who rides a 22 mile trail solo with no spare gets what he deserves, eh?

Then the uphill section started.  For the next 12 miles, the trail stayed high above the creek, and it seemed like I was going uphill as much as downhill.  The trail also got a lot more narrow.  In places the trail was washed out, so that one false turn and you would be tumbling a hundred feet in a bad way!  I started watching the downhill side to be aware of my risk if I went over the side.

There were many large stones on the trail, more than I recall on other mountain bike trails.  These stones were like football size—hit one of them wrong and you’re off the trail.  I’m not sure if it was just a very rocky canyon, or if the rocks were kicked up by dirt bikers, or if there just aren’t very many hikers who might stop to push them aside.

The trail guides said the trail was 22 miles.  After an hour, I had gone 7 miles, which is pretty good time on a mountain trail, even downhill (unless you are the abovementioned gonzo biker).  I figured I could never keep up this pace on the uphill sections, but I pressed on as hard as I could, rarely stopping to enjoy the scenery I was cruising past.

After three hours, my bike computer told me I still had 11 miles to go.  This was not going well.  Paul would be waiting and waiting, and there was nothing I could do, and the harder I pressed, the more danger of making a costly mistake.

Then a runner came down the trail past me.  I said, “How many more miles?”  He glanced at his GPS and yelled “four miles,” never breaking his stride.  Four miles?  Not eleven?  I’m saved!
I kept waiting for the long downhill section that would take me to the trailhead.  It never came.  Up and down, across something like 12 side drainages.

Two miles later, I heard a noises behind and was startled to see a guy on a bike overtaking me!  He was on a “29er”—a bike with the large 29 inch wheels.  I said, “Is it two more miles?”  He said, “Oh I think you just go around the corner up here and you’ll see the parking lot below!”  Excellent!  I’m even closer than I thought!

Except I wasn’t.  Perhaps because of his advanced skills, he had a skewed perception of time and distance.  It was, in fact, two more miles.  Finally I saw the parking and camping area.  When I reached Paul, I asked, “Did you see another guy come down ahead of me?”  He said, “Yeah, he was only about 8 minutes ahead of you.”  I said, “Well, what took me 15 minutes, took him 8 minutes!”
Turns out the trailhead is five miles up the creek from the town of Hermosa, next to Hwy 550, which is where other riders leave their shuttle vehicle.  At any rate, I had ridden 17 miles in 3½ hours total time.  My bike computer said actual riding time was only 2½ hours.  This didn’t seem possible.  I hadn’t stopped for a whole hour on the trail.  Then I figured out the time clock didn’t register while I was pushing the bike up hill after hill, going so slow the speedometer usually didn’t register, but the odometer kept counting.

The next time I ride Hermosa Creek (and it is definitely worth doing again), I’ll give myself lots of time, and stop frequently to smell the roses.

Solar Eclipse 2012

Sunday, May 20, 2012

There was a rare annular lunar eclipse Sunday.  It was only partial in Colorado, but it was the first since 2003, from what I was able to glean from a NASA website.  I had not really planned to take pictures, but at the last minutes decided to try something.  This is mostly a story about how to be unprepared for an eclipse!

I set up my Canon EOS on a tripod on the roof with the idea of photographing the Grand Mesa as it got darker and darker.

Then I used a cardstock with a pinhole to project the image on a piece of paper taped to a swamp cooler on the roof.  I used my little Sony Cybershot camera to photograph it.

But after a while, I realized A) the sky was not going to get that dark, B) I screwed up the manual exposure settings on my camera and lost most of the shots anyway, but mainly C) the Sony autofocus could not focus on the piece of paper, esp. at close range, so it was useless.

So I moved the Canon & tripod to take pictures of the image on the paper.  I was literally burning daylight trying to get it into position.  Then I had to hold the pinhole sheet with one hand and snap the pics with the other, so I couldn’t hold the pinhole perfectly still.

Not that it really mattered: the image was not that sharp.  If I held the pinhole further away, the image got bigger, but also dimmer.

Then as the sun set, I realized it was being obscured by leaves from the neighbor’s trees.  So I climbed off the roof and moved to a fence with no trees.  The eclip se had passed the maximum by then.
I tried poking a smaller pinhole to see if it would produce a sharper image.  It didn’t.  It just seemed to be dimmer.

A better method would have been to use a piece of tin foil.  The foil would give a sharper pinhole.  Ideally, you use a long tube to block out as much side light as possible, but I hadn’t done that.  Likewise, you could use a west facing window with the curtains drawn, allowing just the pinhole to peek through.  I didn’t have a west facing window, though.

7:23 pm.


7: 26 pm.


7:30 pm.


7: 37 pm


7:42 pm

First Bike Falldown

Monday, April 16

First fall-down on my new road bike. Coasted up to the red light, unclipped the right foot, then tipped over to the left. You have to twist your foot to unclip, and what the law of gravity wanted was my foot immediately on the ground, which wasn’t going to happen!  Kurt hit the pavement.  Bike hit Kurt.  Ouch.  Got back up, remounted, and calmly peddled through the green light.

I’m mounting clipless pedals on my mountain bike this week in preparation for going to Moab.  I’ve never used clipless pedals for mountain biking: always used the flat pedals which are much better for outsmarting gravity.  Guess we’ll find out who wins!

Caucus Night in Colorado

Caucus Night in Colorado
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2012

So I went to my Republican caucus Tuesday night.  The meeting was in the Orchard Mesa Middle School, but next door is the swimming pool, where a large number of kids were leaving as we caucusgoers were arriving.  I heard one mom explain to her child, "No, not haucus. Caucus. With a 'C'!"

Inside my haucus meeting, we had a large turnout of 37 people, led by county treasurer Barbara Brewer and her husband, former county GOP chairman Garry Brewer.  Assistant U.S. attorney Michelle Heldmyer served as secretary.  (This will be significant in a moment.)

Three people stood up to speak in favor of Romney, Santorum, and Ron Paul.  (Barbara Brewer was, in fact, the Romney chairman for Mesa County.)

Garry Brewer said, "I know you all have your different candidates you support for different reasons, and nobody is perfect.  In fact, there was only one man who was perfect, and they crucified him!" 

He added, "I remember we were cheering for Scott McInnis because he voted to impeach Clinton.  And then it came out that our own guy who was pushing the impeachment was doing the same thing Clinton was."  (If there was a Gingrich supporter in the room, he didn't speak up!)

Finally we marked our voting cards.  I was going to vote for Romney, but I assumed that, like 2008, he would easily win Colorado, so at the very last second, I circled Rick Santorum, just to "make things interesting" I guess.

They counted the votes and Romney had 11.  Santorum had 20!  Later we were told that all three precincts in the school had voted for Santorum.  Guess I wasn't the only one who wanted to "make things interesting."

After choosing delegates to the county convention, we were asked to name issues that we wanted the Republican party to support.  It reminded me of a Rush Limbaugh convention:

U.S. out of U.N., and U.N. out of U.S.
Secure the border
Term limits
Get rid of EPA
Get rid of Dept. of Education (at which point someone said, "Yeah, and that third one that Rick Perry couldn't remember!")

Somebody else said, "Prosecute Eric Holder!" (the Attorney General)

Michelle Heldmyer, the U.S. attorney, said, "Hey, I'm not going to write his name down.  He's my boss!"

Another person said, "Do away with the czars.  They have too much power."

Garry jumped in:  "Did you know that czar comes from caesar?  Yup, and so does kaiser in German.  They all mean the same thing!"

Somebody asked, "Which district is Laura Bradford in?  I don't like what she's been doing." (a reference to her threat to switch to the Democrats after a drunk driving incident in Denver)

Barbara explained, "She's in District 54, but the Democrats changed District 54 to include just Grand Junction, and they took part of Orchard Mesa, the part that's served by Persigo Sewer Plant.  So we call it the 'sewer district' now!  It also includes the cemetery, so it's the sewer and cemetery district."

 "Where's the boundary?  I'm pretty close to the cemetery!"

To which I replied, "Really?  You don't look that old!"  :)

Then Garry Brewer told us a story about how there used to be a room in the courthouse just for the Civil War and WWI veterans.  It contained old drums and guns and uniforms and papers.  But in 1991, John Leane and another Democrat on the county commission closed the room and gave the materials to the museum.  When Garry inquired, they said they received some lists and books, no drums or guns.  "I never found out what happened to that stuff."

Somebody said, "Did you look in John Leane's storage unit?"

Eventually the meeting was adjourned, and I came home to find out the statewide results.  CNN's John King was telling everyone, "It will come down to the vote in El Paso County, home to Focus on the Family.  They will vote strongly for Rick Santorum."  He also tweeted, "Colorado caucus counting is worse than in Iowa!" 

Meanwhile, someone at Fox News said, "At least there's no 'guy in a truck' this time!" (a reference to an AP report that the Iowa results were waiting for a guy in a truck to arrive at the courthouse--but there never was a guy in a truck)

Finally around 1:00 am New York time, the final results came in, and Santorum jumped ahead of Romney to win the vote 40% to 35%.  Since Romney had been widely expected to win Colorado, it became the big story of the day.  So even though the vote was not binding, Colorado managed to grab its share of the national spotlight.

Tebowing while Ski Hutting, 2012

 Greg, Joe and I skied in to a mountain hut by Ridgway on New Year's 2012 and did some tebowing!  We didn't know the outcome of the Broncos game.  Guess we didn't tebow hard enough! :(  Maybe it'll be applied to the playoffs.

The ski trip (10 mi. round trip) was kind of grueling.  We (I) didn't know the trail was open to snowmobiles, which had packed the snow to icy concrete.  We could have walked in (and at times wished we had)! 

Greg is still learning the ropes of cross-country skiing, so the downhill coming out was a bit of a chore as well.  When you fall on ice with a 30-pound backpack, it hurts, and then it's a bugger getting up!  Here's Greg with Mt. Sneffels (14,150 ft.) in the background:

 The San Juan Hut System is privately owned on Forest Service land, but all the huts can be accessed via roads, so they are not "wilderness" huts.

 

Water is supplied by Mother Nature and melted on the wood stove 

Greg filling the water tank with "fuel."

 

Wood is also supplied by Mother Nature and split, in our case, by Joe "Paul Bunyan" Schwarz.

We hoped to ski to a ridge overlooking Ouray, but instead, we only got Grand Mesa to the north.

The entire 5 mile trail was packed solid by snowmobiles.  The snow was only 18" at 10,000 feet, but would have been adequate for skiing except for the machines, sigh.  They flattened the entire width of the road, leaving no space for ski tracks.  Good thing we had skins, or we would have been hiking the last 1.5 miles.

Joe did much better than Kurt & Greg, thanks to his telemark skis and boots, but he did a nice faceplant at the end of this downhill run!

 Animal tracks heading straight through the fence.

Somebody spent a pile of money putting up miles of welded wire panel fencing.  Cimmaron mountains ring the horizon, and the point in the center is Wetterhorn (14,015 ft.)

Hey!  Radiodog is one of my email addresses!  :)

Rooms with a view.  And a windmill.

Tebowing, sans hats.



Lunar Eclipse, 12/10/11

Some handheld shots of the total eclipse of the moon this morning (Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011), as seen from my driveway.  It's the last total eclipse until 2014.

Shot at 200mm zoom, 3200 ISO, 1 second exposure (except the fourth shot, 1/8th)




6:51 am, cropped and contrasted

 





6:56 am, no contrast

  

 


6:58 am, with contrast

 
 
 




7:00 am, no contrast
Total eclipse occured at 7:06 am, at which point it disappeared behind the hill.  I climbed to a higher vantage point, but the moon was virtually invisible, as the sunrise was officially at 7:22 am and moonset was at officially 7:25 am (but only for people with a perfect view of the horizon).

 

sunrise over Grand Mesa, with contrast added to reveal the arc of the colors in the sky



My Review of Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Sleeping Pad - Regular

Originally submitted at REI

Backpacker April ’09 says of the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir sleeping pad, “You’d think this pad had a built-in espresso maker after seeing the way testers bounced up in the morning.”

Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Sleeping Pad - Regular

By from on 5/11/2011

 

out of 5

(legalese)

My Review of Black Diamond Storm Headlamp

Originally submitted at REI

The waterproof Black Diamond Storm headlamp is built to withstand the worst weather, because the last thing you need when caught in a storm is for your headlamp to die.

Black Diamond Storm Headlamp

lithium batteries recommended

By shadowdog1 from Grand Junction, CO on 4/15/2011

 

5out of 5

Pros: Bright, Long battery life, Adjustable Beam

Cons: Heavy, Bulky

Describe Yourself: Avid Adventurer

Was this a gift?: No

Here's a followup to my earlier review: I replaced the alkaline batteries with Energizer Advanced Lithium AAA's. Here's the weight comparisons:

BD Storm w/4 alkalines.... 3.8oz, 108g
BG Storm w/4 lithiums.... 3.2oz, 90g
Petzl Tikka Plus w/3 alkalines.... 2.6oz, 76g

The 0.6 oz weight savings makes a BIG DIFFERENCE. It doesn't bounce nearly as much when jogging, and just feels better on the forehead. That said, it still is nowhere as comfortable as the Tikka Plus. I put on the Tikka by accident the other night and thought, "This feels great!" Sigh.

But for me, the powerful beams make up for the weight.

I also put a piece of duct tape below the beam in the shape of a mini-visor, ala Petzl. It helps a little on the glasses glare. Overall it doesn't bother me that much. I got the orange model because it's easier to locate on the ground or in a dark tent, right? But "napcop" has a good point: get the black housing if light bleed bothers you.

(legalese)

My Review of Black Diamond Storm Headlamp

Originally submitted at REI

The waterproof Black Diamond Storm headlamp is built to withstand the worst weather, because the last thing you need when caught in a storm is for your headlamp to die.

Black Diamond Storm Headlamp

superb features, but a little heavy

By shadowdog1 from Grand Junction, CO on 3/31/2011

 

5out of 5

Pros: Adjustable Beam, Long battery life, Bright

Cons: Bulky, Heavy

Describe Yourself: Avid Adventurer

Was this a gift?: No

Here is my first impression of the Storm, after two days and two walks on moonless nights:

Pros:
•super bright high beam
•wide and bright low beam
•wide, relatively bright red beam
•it remembers the red setting until you switch back to white light
•infinite adjustable brightness for high and low beams
•waterproof (IPX7)
•batteries are easy to access
•regulated—won't gradually get dimmer
•switch is easy to feel, even with gloves
•four tilt positions are adequate, feel solid
•lockable
•battery indicator
•battery life is just as long as the Spot, even though it's almost 50% brighter

Cons:
•it's heavy: 3.9 ounces with alkaline batteries
•it's bigger and bulkier (than the Tikka)
•it's less comfortable on my forehead
•the switching system is a little bothersome
•it reflects in the top of my glasses frames

My old headlamp is a Petzl Tikka Plus. It weighs 2.7 ounces with 3 batteries. The Storm weighs 3.9 ounces. It uses four AAA batteries, rather ingeniously shoehorned into the same space as the Spot. Lithium batteries would shave half an ounce off the weight—a welcome improvement.

Black Diamond says the range is 70m, same as the Spot. I think they're being modest. I was able to illuminate hills that were 200m away, and I could reasonably see objects at least 100m away (I stepped it off). While I wouldn't use the high beam frequently around camp, it is really nice to be able to see things (bears, maybe?) in the distance very clearly (oh, it's my dog). It is, of course, too bright for use in camp unless you dim it, but for camp use the low beams are ideal.

The low beams (a pair of "SinglePower LEDs") illuminate a nice wide area—we're talking a good 20 feet on either side and ahead of you, making walking and general nighttime tasks a piece of cake!

The red LED is brighter than the Petzl Tikka XP2 (at least when compared in the REI bathroom). Once my night vision kicked in, I could easily see 20 feet, maybe more.

The infinite dimmer feature is a nice touch: you hold down the switch and it steadily dims until it reaches the lowest setting, when it blinks as a signal. Then you can hold the switch to make it brighter, and it blinks again to indicate full brightness. This surpasses the disappointing Petzl XP2 with only one low brightness.

Because the beams are so bright, they reflect in the top of my glasses (my little Petzl had a lip that prevented light bleed). I don't think it's a deal breaker, however. I tried a piece of electrical tape, but it seemed to make very little difference and the tape blocked the red LEDs, which aim more downward.

The system of switching between high and low may take a little getting used to. It is admittedly a bit of an annoyance that every time you turn it on, it is in a different setting: high, off, low, off, etc. To get the low setting, you must press the button three times. Be careful: if you press too quickly, you get the flashing mode instead! Not entirely sure why Black Diamond didn't offer the stepping options like the Petzl. But you learn to work with the system and it's okay.

Once you go into red mode (by holding the switch for 3 seconds), it stays in red mode every time you turn it on, until you return to white light (hold 3 seconds again).

Hold the switch for 6 seconds, and it locks in "off" mode. Very nice when desired.

A thumbscrew holds the battery compartment tight (waterproof). It's easy enough to unscrew, even though has a tight hold. The batteries are easy to change, but pay attention to which direction they go: it's marked, but this may be a challenge to figure out in the dark. The fourth battery is nestled behind the outer three: Black Diamond found a way to get an extra battery in a space no larger than the Spot!

The Storm is also regulated, unlike the Spot or Tikka XP2. That means it retains the same brightness throughout, until the batteries die. A battery indicator changes color to warn you (if you remember to check it). I've never used a regulated LED, but I already like the concept. The downside is, once the batteries drop below a certain threshold, you're out of light, unlike the unregulated models that just get dimmer and dimmer.

The Storm is bulkier than my old Petzl Tikka Plus. The latter was SO comfortable I could forget I had it on. Initial impression is that the Storm seems to bounce a little on the forehead, which is disappointing. I immediately noticed an irritation where it rubs my forehead: I'll give it more time before deciding if that's going to be a long term problem.

Bottom line: if you want the versatility of a super high beam, a broad low beam, an infinite brightness, and a bright red beam, all under 4 ounces, the Storm is the best bang for the buck.

(legalese)

I finally did it.  I ended my Long Term Relationship.

 

She was the best I ever had, and I was sorry to tell her goodbye.  We literally grew up together, and she never let me down (well, hardly ever).  Whenever I needed her, she was always there, even when nobody else was.

 

But in the end, I just realized I didn't need her anymore.  Or rather, she just wasn't worth it.

 

I first hooked up with her when I went away to college in 1975.  But after 36 years together, I finally cut the cord. 

 

Literally.

 

I called Ma Bell and told her "It's over."  Okay, actually I called her daughter, Qwest, and said, "I never want to hear from you again."  Please disconnect.

 

----------------------------------------------

 

For those of us who grew up with Ma Bell (in Colorado, that was Mountain Bell), it's a sad realization that something as American as your home phone has come to an end.  No more listing in the phone book.  No more phone book, for that matter.  Who says "I'm in the book" anymore?

 

Those old phones (ours were both wall phones, a lovely beige) always worked.  Voice quality was almost always perfect.  If it wasn't, you said, "It sounds like you're calling long distance."  But the phone was always there, even when the power wasn't.  A phone call from grandpa was a family event, all of us huddled around the two phones (or running madly for Dad's office, hoping not to miss anything important before we could pick it up). 

 

Long distance calls, of course, were expensive, rare, and kept as short as possible (except when grandpa was paying).  The phrase "It's long distance" sent a shiver down your spine:  whoever it is, this is important! 

 

And of course, there were no fancy ringtones.  The ring had one tone: the tone of the metal ringer inside the phone!  What else would it possibly sound like, after all?

 

When I was a kid (as in the 1960s), our phone number in small town Wray, Colorado, was "39."  That's not thirty-nine, that's "Three Nine."  Mother ingrained in us: "If you are ever lost, go up to anyone and tell them to call Three Nine."  Thankfully I never had to do that.  Then again, it was a small town: everyone knew Dr. Neuswanger, the veterinarian.  All I would have needed was to say, "I'm Doc Neuswanger's boy" and they'd know what to do. 

 

But this further begs the question: how do you get lost in a town that's one mile across?  Downtown was never more than 10 blocks away.  I walked home (yes, uphill) for a mile many times.  I rode my bike from end to end in maybe 20 minutes (they were heavy bikes back then!).  Didn't wear a helmet and never had a problem.  I'm sure more than one driver slowed down or swung wide to cut me a break.

 

Ah, but I seem to have wandered far afield from the topic:  cutting the cord.  Then again, Mother died last year and Dad is in a nursing home 180 miles away from his homestead.  The old phone was finally retired in 2009 after the folks moved to Assisted Living.  Actually, they kept it for a year: it was the only way we could communicate from the house to the center when us kids visited.  After we finally dropped the landline, we were in a jam because the cell tower didn't penetrate the bluff next to the house.  We could drive a mile into town and get service...or drive two miles and just talk to them in person!

 

Today the old phone number still serves one useful purpose:  it's an easy to remember PIN number!  And unless you grew up in Wray and called Doc a lot, no one out there knows remembers what it is. 

 

There's a mark of distinction:  how many people have the same phone number for 40 years?  Or the same address?  Or the same spouse?  Forty years doesn't seem that long, but in today's world, it's almost unattainable for most poeple, I think.

 

Maybe that's why 40 was so important for God to require that his people wait.  He knew what was coming.

A Saint Goes Home

On Saturday, December 9, 2010, my mother slipped her earthly bonds and is now safely home with her beloved savior Jesus Christ. 

Mother had struggled with heart problems for years, but she suddenly developed complications and died on Saturday, October 9. 

 My mother was not rich or famous, but she touched many lives during her 85 years and the church was completely filled for her memorial service.  Even the library closed so the staff could attend. 

Cornelia Neuswanger, 2001



  

Cornelia Marie Lybarger, Wedding Day 1949



Her given name was Cornelia Marie Lybarger, but she was known as "Cornie" to her Ohio family.  In Colorado, she was "Corky."  But in her later years, she wanted to be known as Cornelia.  In fact, she was ecstatic to learn that there was a boat named "Cornelia Marie" on Discovery Channel's "The Deadliest Catch." 



She was raised to treat all people equally, and cared especially for the Mexican migrants and their families.  She even took Spanish classes at Wray High School—probably their oldest student ever.  She taught me to see the person inside rather than the stereotype on the outside.

One young Mexican woman named Yohana told how Mother made her learn English so she could complete her immigration application, adding "I'm sorry Corky couldn't be here to see me finally get my green card."  But the best thing Mother did, said Yohana, "was introduce me to Jesus Christ, or I would not be here today."

Mother's memorial wish was for a scholarship at Wray High School for an outstanding Hispanic student.  So far we have received over $1000 in donations.  (Donations may be made to "Cornelia Neuswanger Memorial Fund" c/o First Pioneer National Bank, PO Box 96, Wray, CO 80758)

She wrote her own obituary, in which she declared that she was baptized as a child but it was not until she was nearly 50 years old that she accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior, after coming to understand Rom. 10:9: if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Mother and Dad lived in Room 316.  Mother taped the word "John" above her room number and added a colon, so that it read: "John 3:16."

The pastor used Mother's own memorial notes to give a message of salvation,  "because when I see Corky in heaven, I know she's going to ask me, 'Did you tell them the salvation message?'"

In Mother's journal, she wrote of her joys and struggles, including years of being tired from a weak heart and unable to sleep from arthritis.  Her final journal entry was a paraphrase of Psalm 121.  "I lift up my imagination and my sight to the high bluffs south of the house, and I ponder, 'Where does my help come from?'"

¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills—
   from where will my help come?
² My help comes from the Lord,
   who made heaven and earth.

⁸ The Lord will keep
   your going out and your coming in
   from this time on and for evermore

Lake Hartenstein

rainbow over Lake Hartenstein with Mt. Yale in background

August 16, 2010

Greg and I had just backpacked in to Lake Hartenstein, in the shadow of Mt. Yale (14,196) near Buena Vista.  A rainstorm hit as we were preparing supper at our camp (which is just below the end of the rainbow behind the trees).  Afterwards we walked around the lake and were blessed with this amazing double rainbow.  I've enhanced the contrast a bit to highlight the colors, but otherwise this is exactly as nature delivered!