Faith, Folklore, and Friends

The air up there in the clouds  is very pure and fine,  bracing and delicious.  And why  shouldn't it be?  — it is the same the angels breathe.  ~Mark Twain 

We keep hummingbird feeders up from early April until late October.  We have seen hummingbirds all summer, but nothing like the crowds we have had in the last few days.  I know they are migrating, and that we better enjoy them now before they are all gone. Hub fills our three feeders everyday, and the hummingbirds empty them. Could it be that this fat fellow is just showing off his beautiful neck? I have learned to keep my distance from the feeders, as these ultra-aggressive little birds defend their nectar.  It is amazing to watch. The average hummingbird weighs about the same as three pennies.  Can you imagine how small their brain is? And yet, they are smart enough to fly safely over the Gulf to winter in Mexico, then find their way back to the same feeders next year.  How awesome is that?  Five sparrows are sold for two pennies, aren’t they? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.   Why, even all ...

If you cruise in the Caribbean, you will probably go to Cozumel, Mexico.  Tourism is Mexico's best money maker, and they are glad to see you coming.   Carnival Cruise Lines have been going to Cozumel for more than twenty years, and now have their own dock.  The day we were there last week, there were three Carnival ships in their dock and two other ships at a different dock a few miles away.  The Carnival dock is about three miles from downtown, but you can get a taxi for only $5 if you want to do some shopping.  (Leah and I were riding in a taxi there several years ago, and I kept asking the driver questions, and he kept ignoring me.  I suspect his English skills were limited or nonexistent.  Or, he might have been having a bad day.) We have been on several different excursions out of Cozumel, so last week we just stayed on the beach near the dock.  There is plenty to do there; lots to eat and drink and many vendors with things fo...

The Port of New Orleans is not far from the French Quarter or the rest of downtown New Orleans.  There is a lot to see as cruisers leave the dock and head downstream to the Gulf of Mexico. We departed in the late afternoon. We watched the sun set as we meandered along the Mississippi, amazed at the houses lower than us on the other side of the levee. It takes a long time to navigate the eighty-plus miles between New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico, and we weren't even close when the sun disappeared.  The Mighty Mississippi can kill and destroy and change whatever gets in its path, but this day, it was a gentle, beautiful stream.