TLC Forum

It's getting colder here. I sat with my heating pad for awhile this morning, because our heat hasn't come up yet. No snow so far. Enjoy it, whoever has it this week!

On the topic of weather. Well obviously no snow for me. I've had my two years of British winter but now I'm back to my dear home town that doesn't know what snow is. And of course we're coming into Summer. Though at the moment the weather is just confused (as happens this time of year). Extra warm days follwed by rain and cold...and so the cycle continues.

Saturday was on the warmer side, but fairly windy. As the day wore on, the wind became very strong. So much so I think it was interfering with out internet connection. There had also been some rumblings of thunder, but it was far off. I was in the lounge chatting to my brother and my dad was working on the PC when there was a really bright flash of lightning and a thunder crack simultaneously. It must have been right on top of us because it blew the PC and our internet modem/router stopped working. We used to have a basic surge protector plug for our computer stuff, but it got misplaced when we moved the location of the computer. Also, though we know to unplug the telephone connection to the router in thunderstorms, we hadn't done so yet since it had been far away. As a result we spent the weekend (and Mon and Tue) without internet, but have finally got it back again. We've had to replace the router and will have to get the PC fixed. We are hoping we can claim the cost from insurance, but I'd appreciate your prayers in that.

That wasn't the end of the weather excitement for the day though. Following the thunderstorm we had a downpour of hail (something quite unusual at home and since it's the closest we get to something vaguely resembling snow, always an exciting event at home). It was hailing fairly hard and we even got some hailstones down our chimney. After the hail came really heavy rain. Our main front picture window usually has a small awning over it, but my dad had taken it down to repair. As a result, the heavy rain dashing against it caused was getting through some of the joins and we had a few puddles along the windowsill. We also discovered a leak in our entrance foyer resulting from an overflowing drainpipe. If we thought that was bad, my brother went into his room and found his bed, which is against the window, was a little wet. He looked up and found water coming through the cornice against the ceiling. So three major leaks in our house in a massive downpour. My parents nearly ended up being late for a concert they and my sister were going to, until I told them to just go and leave the problems to us.

In all it was a rather eventful day. It's been raining on and off since then, but hopefully we'll actually get a bit of sunshine tomorrow (the temperature's meant to go up to 30 degrees celsius) so things can start to dry out.

Oh gosh, I hate it when the weather messes with the internet. Snow took out one of the towers on our section, it took them hours to fix it.
Snow. -.- We have it. Along with -15ºC temperatures. I was just wondering, the other day, what settlers from more temperate climates would have thought about the frigid temperatures in the new world...I mean, how exactly would one decide to move from somewhere like England or Portugal to the middle of the prairies??

Friends, today is the fiftieth anniversary of the death of John F. Kennedy, and coincidentally it's also the fiftieth anniversary of the death of C.S. Lewis. Those of us who are in the U.S. will probably be hearing about a lot of events marking the former, and we at TLC can also take a moment to think about the latter.

Next week marks a happier event: a holiday celebrated on TLC for several years that's known as Bookworm Day. November 29 is Lewis's birthday and also the birthday of Louisa May Alcott and Madeleine L'Engle (A Wrinkle in Time). In case I forget to bring it up closer to the date, I wanted to put a reminder here now, so we can all think bookwormish thoughts on the day (while we in the States are recovering from our turkey coma of the day before!).

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Wishing all the Americans on hear a lovely thanksgiving.

Also, remember as Mini mentioned above, TLC bookworm day (marking birthdays of three lovely authors) is tomorrow

Thanks, Aj!

I just saw online that Nelson Mandela has passed away. He was truly a giant in the world, a model of leadership. At the start of his life, he believed in confrontation--violent if necessary--but as he grew wiser, he understood that the only possible future lay in reconciliation. Most astonishing of all, he came to this realization while serving decades in prison--usually the transition goes in the other direction. If that isn't an example of divine grace in action, I don't know what is. Modern South Africa is no paradise, as Ajnos will confirm, but whatever is good, whatever is done with an absence of the wish for vengeance, that is largely due to people like Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Mandela could easily have whipped people up along ethnic lines as the leaders of Serbia did, but he refrained. Divine Providence glows in that action.

"Modern South Africa is no paradise, as Ajnos will confirm, but whatever is good, whatever is done with an absence of the wish for vengeance, that is largely due to people like Mandela and Desmond Tutu."

Hmmm ... I had heard back in 80's that ANC was into using car tires in very nasty executions. From a girl who was part Swedish part Boer. Nelson Mandela really changed since those days? That would be great news. Before talking to her, or rather while starting the conversation where I heard it, I had been collecting funds for ANC school projects. As per Swedish Church (I was Lutheran back then) showing solidarity with NM and DT.