Reading

I often receive books from LibraryThing Early Reviewers, and one that I recently finished reading was a shorter book Understanding the Bible, by Robert Plummer.   The book was concise and I enjoyed reading it.  It is a very short introduction to hermeneutics.

I also recently finished reading The Dark Legacy of Shannara: Witch Wraith, by Terry Brooks.  The third in a series, this book hearkens back to the original trilogy and makes up for having to slog through the previous two books.   There seemed to be a bit less of plot roulette, as perhaps there were less main characters for the various story lines to follow.

I am team teaching a class on Bible Study Methods and Hermeneutics.  It's been fun, but a ton of work.  This has been a project that I've been working on for a while.

Coffee Rant - Kati Kati

Boom!  Broadside!
The spray of salt water, the heave of the ship in the waves, and the smoke pouring forth from the mighty bronze and iron cannons.  A floating castle, bristling with arms, flying colors, and ready to take on the world.



Characteristics:
The aroma of burnt gunpowder lingers in the air.  A characteristically über-roasted coffee.  But the spirit of the beans pushes forth, allowing this blend of African coffees to speak for itself through the copious charcoal.  And the booming pronouncement is that this coffee is good.  Both as espresso (due to its interment in the roaster's inferno), pressed, and drip coffee.

Reading 8-2013

I've been back to reading a fair bit of Terry Pratchett.  Such books as The Truth, Thief of Time, Hogfather, Unseen Academicals.  I also picked up a book called Pigeon English, by Stephen Kelman.  Initially, I had high hopes for the book, but the more I've read, the less enthused I've been on this book.
I have some books lined up to read in the coming months. A friend mentioned that he read the book Wool (Omnibus Edition), by Hugh Howey, and really enjoyed it, so while it was on sale, I picked it up on Amazon.  And I am waiting on the library to furnish up a copy of  Witch Wraith, by Terry Brooks.  This is the last of a three part series that takes place in the Terry Brooks universe.
I will be teaching a Bible Study Methods / Hermeneutics class, so I'm getting up to speed by reading the appropriate books, and arranging a curriculum.

Yellowstone

Visiting Old Faithful

Land of Hot Springs, Geysers, and the Wildlife.

We stayed in the Old Faithful Inn.  Some rooms are pretty rustic, but ours was great.  Some of the rooms even have a shared bathroom.  Shared with the rest of the Hotel.
Being a big fan of Hot Springs, Yellowstone is one of the top places in the world for hot springs.  However, they're pretty much all reserved for the animals.  the geothermal activity, being mildly dangerous, and not impervious to human destruction has enabled Yellowstone Park to evolve a decent boardwalk system for viewing the pools and geysers.  This was a nice feature for going on walks with our daughter.  However, she caught a cold and was having a hard time sleeping, so we cut short our vacation.

We saw grizzly bears, baby buffalo, elk, wolves, coyotes, and lots of squirrels and chipmunks.

• more of our vacation photos

Helpful Websites with information about Geyser activity:

• A website that keeps track of Geyser eruptions, and when they are approximately going to erupt:
• http://geysertimes.org/
• The National Park Service's website about Geyser Activity:
• http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/geyseractivity.htm
• Webcams of Yellowstone.
• http://www.nps.gov/yell/photosmultimedia/webcams.htm

Craters of the Moon

One of the stops on our family vacation was the Craters of the Moon National Monument.  The Craters of the Moon is a lava flow out in the middle of Idaho.  It's basically a pretty un-hospitable space, unless you like sharp pieces of igneous rock.  But is it neat to see the different geologic formations.  The volcanic rock remnants gets very hot, and even on a cool May day, it was just about right at the Craters of the Moon.

Milford Sweat

We recently went on vacation, and we stopped at the Milford Sweat hot springs near the Craters of the Moon National Monument.  The hot springs was a little cool, but probably just about right for the weather in the coming weeks.

Kindle and booosks

Melissa got me a Kindle Paperwhite for a birthday Present.  I've been having bunches of fun with it.  One book I read on it was the latest Terry Brooks novel, Bloodfire Quest.  Brooks has a great fantasy universe he has constructed over the last 35 years.  However, I feel like his writing is in a small part drifting toward the Paranormal Teen Romance trend.  I've also been reading John Piper's Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, for LibraryThing Early Reviewers (among other books from the Early Reviewers programs).