Seeds

"My chief care should not be to find pleasure or success, health or life or money or rest or even things like virtue and wisdom-still less their opposites, pain, failure, sickness, death.  But in all that happens, my one desire and one joy should be to know:  Here is the thing that God has willed for me.  In this His love is found, and in accepting this I can give back His love to Him and give myself with it to Him.  For in giving myself I shall find Him and He is life everlasting.  By consenting to His will with joy and doing it with gladness I have His love in my heart, because my will is now the same as His love and I am on the way to becoming what He is, Who is Love.  And by accepting all things from Him I recieve his joy into my soul, not because things are what they are but because God is who He is, and His love has willed my joy in them all"  -Thomas Merton

Provocations

One of the unifying parts of being human is that we are all created by a loving God and we all have His love inside of us.  No matter if that love it is visible or hidden away…it is still there.  When we build each other up we are not creating love inside of each other, but helping the love already there to grow. 

Chicago '12

 Chicago means Wild Onion.  Congratulations, you learned something already.

  The Trump Building (above) is the second highest building in Chicago/Western Hemisphere and twelfth in the world.   Also, note the Chicago River, which connects the Great Lakes and the Mississippi waterways.  

-Christine and I went to the Signature Lounge in the top floor of the Hancock Building.  This is the tree at the bottom (as seen in this blog early 2010)

-The famous underside of the Bean.

-The Bean.

- Wearing bright blue in a large city is like painting a big sign on your back that says---TOURIST!  If your not wearing black, gray, or some other dark color, you are not from the city.  

-The large building on the right is the Aon Center (formerly Standard Oil Building) which is the third tallest in Chicago, followed by the Hancock.  It is directly north of Millennium Park

-We took a bike tour of the city with Tim and Steph.  Tim and I were the caboose, protecting our 12 bikers from cars and buses, successfully, might I add.

-This is the view of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, on the Magnificent Mile, from the steps of the Contemporary Art Museum.  The top section, above the Ritz, is owned by individuals...not sure if you have ever heard of Oprah Winfrey...she owns the top two floors (yeah, she is kind of a big deal).

-The Hancock building is black with spires.  It is basically a smaller version of the Willis (Sears) Tower..in my opinion.

 

-The Silver Back Gorrila at the (free) Lincoln Park Zoo was very rude.

 

-Christine and I went to Zoo Lights and were able to see the Cheetah very active in his cage.

-Lots of lights.

-We toured The Museum of Science and Industry and saw the only German U-Boat that resides in the US.   

2 Year Anniversary

Family Vacation - Idaho Springs, CO

Where I have been lately

                                       

-In our office

-Windsor, Canada - @ Canadian Club Distillery 

-Secret room where Al Capone used to hang out under the Distillery.  

-Detroit

-Tim with GM Buildings

-Hangin with Randy

-Derby Day- also known as Cinco De Mayo

-Palisade, CO on the western slope of the Rockies - Wine tasting.

-My Lady.- There was a wedding at the vineyard and the bride was getting ready to walk down the isle when we pulled up (100 ft away), so we stayed in the car and watched the whole ceremony.  Strangely relaxing...  

-2012 Summer Staff @ Red Rocks.

-St. Mary's Glacier 

-Me trying not to pull a Ben DeNooy.

-Christine's friends wedding in Wisconsin - on the Trolley to the Reception

-Tim and Baby Philosopher Dr. Vander Kooy 

-Jay on the swing last Friday.