Meteorologist Mark Schnackenberg updated his listings of year-to-date snow totals. Cedar Rapids is now in its 2nd snowiest winter. Just 2.5 inches to go, with 59.9 inches in Cedar Rapids to-date.

Dubuque has broken their record. Waterloo and Iowa City are making progress towards theirs.

Portland, Maine has broken a record, but not the all-time record. They are over 100 inches for the year. Steamboat Springs, Colorado has broken their record with over 450 inches this year, and counting.

Maybe there is something to Global Climate Change, after all. And it you don’t believe it, Al Gore himself might call you a crackpot who believes the earth is flat.

We do have until June 30 to break our record. I’m not sure we’ll do it, since March is about over and temps are rising.

However, as sports fans say, “Wait’ll next year!”

And as José Jiménez might say, “Oh, I hope not!“  I agree, 100%. If we don’t beat the record this year, I’m sure I don’t want to stay in training for another attempt!

Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Saturday, Easter Sunday.

Even before caring what any of this was about, I wondered about the Saturday before Easter. It has no special name in most calendars that I know, although some people call it “Holy Saturday”. Since the Wednesday previously is sometimes called “Holy Wednesday”, that’s not much of a distinction.

What about this day between death and life?

Tony Woodlief proposes Saudade Saturday, the day when absence is present. Read his observations about the day, and about ourselves living between death and life.

Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
Text: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788
Music: Lyra Davidica, 1708
Tune: EASTER HYMN, Meter: 77.77 D

1. Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

2. Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

3. Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where’s thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

4. Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

5. Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

6. King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!

Tomorrow is Good Friday, an important holiday in the Western Christian calendar. It isn’t as important as Easter, to be sure, but it is part of the observance of Jesus’ death, burial, and Resurrection as payment for our sins.

As a young boy, I wondered what the “good” part was of “Good Friday”. How could death be good? I didn’t understand at the time, didn’t ask, and didn’t try to find out. My mistake.

The good is that the Son of God died as punishment for our sins, so that we could accept His Gift of grace and have eternal life with God in Heaven. It isn’t automatic. It is a deliberate and personal choice for us to make.

Some verses to consider are:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:6 (NASB)

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (NASB)

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36

A fuller presentation of the Gospel may be found here as well as many other web sites. There are many books, too. And of course, you could always read the Bible!

Today isn’t a holiday, but lots of folks are celebrating.  Spring is here!  Enjoy the warmer weather (at least until tomorrow’s snowfall)!

In my previous post, I mentioned the book Lost Cities and Vanished Civilizations. I don’t recall what civilizations he wrote about, but I don’t remember any in what is now the United States.

Can you think of some lost cities and vanished civilizations in North America? I’m sure something having to do with Indians comes to mind. But what came to my mind first was the “lost” colony on Roanoke Island off the coast of what would become North Carolina.

The word “CROATOAN” carved into a tree seemed to be the last sign of the group of 115 men, women, and children, a group that seemed to vanish without a trace.

What happened to them? They could have been the first permanent settlement in the future United States, beating Jamestown by 20 years.

Lee Miller explores what might have happened in her book Roanoke : solving the mystery of England’s lost colony. She gathers some evidence and draws some conclusions. Some of the evidence is tenuous, and some of the conclusions are stretched in their details, but I think she gives a good general idea of what probably happened. They didn’t all die at once by disease or starvation. They weren’t swept out to sea by a hurricane. Many web sites give some ideas about this mystery, but Miller’s book is fun and interesting reading.

Before reading it, I didn’t realize that Sir Walter Raleigh was involved, or Elizabeth I, either. Politics, personal ambition, the English, the Spanish, and of course, the weather are all involved. Read more about it!

Have you been to Peru? Me neither.

However, my daughter recently returned from a children’s ministry trip to Peru. The team that she was on went to Lima and Cusco. You may also visit her site for pictures from the trip as she posts in the upcoming days. Don’t miss the ones of Machu Pichu! Even though Wikipedia isn’t the last word on everything, the site has a picture very similar to one of Amy’s. What a wonderful example of God’s Creation and man’s use of it.

As a boy, I liked to read about mysterious things. One book in particular stood out in its presentation of Lost Cities and Vanished Civilizations. It was written by Robert Silverberg, who was also a science fiction writer. His writing in this book was captivating. I became more interested in the Incas than the Mayans or Aztecs because of this book. Machu Pichu sounded like a terrific place to see. I haven’t, but at least one of my children has.

What became of the Incas, Mayans, and Aztecs? Did they mysteriously disappear, as some believe? What happened to the Mayans after the collapse of their civilization? I think, along with a lot of other folks, that they were assimilated into surrounding peoples or relocated. They didn’t disappear; they just moved and resettled.

The scenery in part of Peru is stunning. And Amy was able to share the gospel of Christ with many young people there.

Another topic my wife showed me. Multiplication by drawing lines. As she pointed out, this would get cumbersome (or worse) with numbers of several digits, but it’s interesting anyway.

Here’s a video.

Here’s a written example.

Why does this work? Nobody knows! OK, somebody does. This site also suggests how to do this multiplication when some of the digits are zero. How do you draw a “missing” line? Dots easy!

Arthur C. Clarke has died at the age of 90. Clarke, Asimov, and Heinlein were much of my non-fiction reading list in my youth. His science writing was exciting to read, too. Lots of ideas presented to a youngster. These three writers have influenced 2 or 3 generations of scientists, writers, and others. Many reminiscences can be found on the Internet, among them is this one. Although I haven’t read much science fiction in the last 15 years or so, I can still remember many of the stories. I also remember watching 2001: A Space Odyssey in Cinerama. End of an era.

You’ve heard those warnings after watching something potentially dangerous on TV: “blah blah blah done by professionals. Don’t try this at home”.

Well, here’s something you can try at home.

Hypothesis: A dog is truly man’s best friend.

Experiment: Perform the following steps:

1. Put your dog and your wife in the trunk of the car for an hour.
2. When you open the trunk, which one is really happy to see you?

(Modified from an email from my wife via a friend via who-knows.)