I think I saw a weasel...

... for real! I was rambling through Bubolz Nature Preserve tonight, and as I approached a bridge, a small head popped up between the first and second slats and disappeared almost immediately. I was only 2-3 feet away, but I still tried passing off as an eggplant (had purple pants/green shirt on, which hopefully helped). As hoped for, the head popped out again, this time for long enough and with enough of the body for me to figure out that even though the head wasn't much bigger than a mouse's, the body was much longer and thinner than that tiny creature has any right to be. The head vanished again, and the show was repeated four or so times as the dude tried to figure me out. The next time he vanished I heard a tiny bit of scrambling, and the head popped out again, this time on the other edge of the bridge, still between the same two slats. My eggplant show must have been every bit as puzzling from that angle, because the head alternated several times between observing me at one edge of the bridge or the other, before finally giving up and disappearing altogether. After a short wait for the head's return, I looked up to see a couple that had to have been approaching me for a while. Embarrassed, but not wanting to pause to explain my stillness and absorption with bridge slats, I made a most abrupt and un-eggplant-like exit.

I looked it up later, and am almost certain it was a Least Weasel. The fact that it's not even a little bit endangered hardly discourages me at all, because as far as I know I've never seen one for my very own self before. Of course, reading of its aggressiveness makes me a little glad, after all, that he wasn't fooled by the eggplant gag. If I were a weasel on a mission, I would NOT allow a mountain-sized eggplant to in any way prevent me from doing whatever it was I was going to do before I saw it.

I've been busy online lately, just not here. I've updated info on the blog we created for my Dad, (I'd had recordings of his last 3 sermons for a while, but hadn't gotten around to formatting them /making them accessible. So that's finally done, along with some neat updates from my Aunt Lynnette), created a facebook account (I know, I know, but it IS way better than myspace), and found a sweet site: goodreads.com, where I can log the mad amounts of reading I've been doing lately. I can even put a widget here, so my latest reads are visible from my blog. It has me pretty excited, as I've wondered things before like "how many books did I read in the last year?", and this site will enable me to track that. And see what other people I like are up to, reading wise (hint, hint!).

I had a great weekend; hung out with Amy and Augusta and Sherman up in Iron River. We had fun talking, eating and - you won't believe it - clothes shopping in Duluth. Amy and Augusta (and Sherman, who was at home by himself), were amazingly patient. Having helpful and motivated people with you when you shop makes all the difference. It was something I was wayyy overdue on, but hadn't been able to motivate myself to do. We also made it to the food co-op, where I do like to shop. A lot! Amy's a member now, making it doubly wonderful. Most importantly, Augusta and I discovered that you can, after all, still buy thunder cookies singly, which made for quite a cheerful ride home!

a prize if you can guess what this is!

This one tickled my fancy! Click on the picture to find out what it is - I'll owe you a nickel if you guess it before you click!

What about a Sensible Inerrancy?

Well, have you heard the term "inerrancy" before? (I get a red squiggly line under it when I type it, so apparently Firefox has NOT!). When used in reference to the Bible, it's the concept that there's something inspired about it; it goes beyond the level of being created by people, and is said to be without error in its original form. This is important because - if the Bible really is inerrant and inspired by God - it has something to say about really is and is not so in this world. Christians, however, have varying beliefs about the inerrancy of the Bible; I stumbled on a discussion of it this week. Because it's on a private discussion list, I'm going to copy out the messages in the comments section of this blog; I would love it if you'd read through them and add your own. You'll see a post or two of mine as you progress through them. (The posts come from Spare Oom, a Yahoo! Group that discusses the life and works of C.S. Lewis).

Labor Day weekend

was awesome. Ben and I met up at Amy's place in Iron River. The three of us stayed up late talking Friday night, Ben and I went paddling on Lake Superior in and around the sea caves (check out the pics - I added some narrative - they're fun!) on Saturday, the three of us and Roberta went down to the mouth of the Brule River on Sunday, did a night-time swim and marshmallow-roast, and laid on our backs watching the stars fall, and on Monday the three of us paddled down part of the Brule River. Add to that wonderful food all weekend, good conversation, and lots of sleeping in, and it's not so hard to say, "life is beautiful".