Before I get into any low-down, dreary nooze–if I get into it at all today–here’s a sure harbinger of spring: you can hear the spring peepers.
My editor, Susan, has a patch of boggy ground next door; and when the peepers come out of hibernation to mate and lay eggs, Susan calls me on the phone so I can hear the peepers singing.
God has not troubled Himself with giving them a calendar; He has created them so that they never miss their time.
God’s stuff always works. It’s our stuff that has all the problems.
Got that right. It irritates me no end when I hear the “scientists” talking about the way they are going to fix the “climate change” If they are so clever, why haven’t they done something about it before now?
Oh, that’s easy! Because us stupid peasants stubbornly refused to give them vast new powers over every aspect of our lives.
Well, they can just get over it cause it aint gonna happen
That is one thing I miss living in the Philippines, the change of seasons. The trees, plants, and flowers coming back to life. I even liked the winter, but in Wisconsin, it lasted far too long. Here, there is really just two seasons, summer and summer. The first summer is very hot and not a lot of rain. And the second summer is not as hot, with a huge amount of rain that even Noah would have been concerned.
I hear there’s some cool weather up in the hills in central Luzon. Which island do you live on?
That’s true. But cool weather does not mean cold. I don’t believe snow has ever fallen in the Philippines. And if it did or will sometime in the future, it would probably fall there. I read the coldest it has ever gotten here was 45 F. And that was in central Luzon. I live on the second-largest, and southernmost island, Mindanao. Here we are just eight degrees north of the equator. At noon in July, the sun is very intense. More so, than back in Wisconsin.
My father was stationed in the Philippines in WWII–Subic Bay.
I haven’t been there, but when in Manila we visited Intramuros, which was a Spanish fortress. In 1945 during the Battle of Manila in WWII, which nearly flattened the city, Japanese Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi, who commanded 15,000 soldiers, and 4,000 army stragglers retreated into Intramuros with about 100,000 Filipino hostages. Many were used as human shields to protect Japanese positions. Those who survived were murdered. This battle which lasted a month is known as the Manila Massacre, also called the Rape of Manila. Numerous atrocities were committed against Filipino civilians. It’s estimated 100,000 to 500,000 were massacred by Japanese forces.
Sadly, most young Filipinos know nothing about this or WWII.
Did they ever clear away the wreckage inside the Intramuros, or was it left there as a monument?
If you look at all of the human schemes that are failing, it’s humbling, because God’s stuff always works.
They’re failing whichever way you look.
“God’s stuff always works.” So true!
“God does not need man to water His forests or grasslands. Man is not tasked with fertilizing the woodlands. In places where man does not cultivate the soil, the Creator does not ask man to improve the ground by plowing or digging it up so organic plant material can be mixed into it. God has even designed fire to be a useful tool on his land. It helps keep His forests rejuvenated and fruitful by getting rid of old and diseased plants, clearing the way for younger and healthier trees and bushes to replace them. Fires caused by lightning are a common occurrence, and when it does not happen often enough, the underbrush and growth build up to dangerous levels, so when a fire does occur it will burn not just the underbrush but will spread to the tree canopy, engulfing the whole forest and devastating it…
Besides God’s provision for fire, His remarkable designs work well in every other function necessary for life. As an example, look at God’s method of water collection, storage, and purification. In most places where man has not disturbed the rock layers by mining, drilling, hydrofracking (fracking), or other methods, rainwater seeps into the ground, through which it is filtered and purified before it enters large underground aquifers. These natural storage faculties replenish themselves and their waters stay pure. To access their waters, pumping is rarely even needed, for springs of water just percolate and flow up through the ground. The water comes out cool and uncontaminated by pathogens or other pollution. Whereas man in his wisdom needs to spend billions of dollars to build water purification plants.”
-Reindeer Don’t Fly”
I am writing another book about my life back in the states and here in the Philippines. Here is part of it.
The Battle of Manila* in 1945 nearly flattened Intramuros. Here, the occupying Imperial Japanese Army made their last stand against Allied and Filipino troops. Heavy artillery bombing destroyed its eight churches, universities, houses, walls, and government buildings constructed centuries before. Though many original landmarks were lost, reconstruction efforts began immediately after the war, and are still being carried out today.”
*For an appalling, horrific, and gripping account, read James M. Scott’s story, The Battle of Manila. http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-battle-of-manila-wwii
I am so glad my father’s ship was nowhere near that battle.