View From The Summit

We are in Kennesaw, GA, for the weekend. As this is the first week of training for the Cape Cod Marathon, our long run today was at the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield National Park. We got out at sunrise and had a wonderful run amid the history and natural beauty that comes with one of our national parks. I must confess, we did as much sight-seeing as running, Cindy had her camera-phone, and we got a few pictures.

Here is a survey marker at the summit. This one's for you, Uncle Chris...


Inscription on the monument at the foot of the mountain.

The view to the north from the summit. It was so quiet this morning, you could close your eyes and almost here the cannon and musket fire.

Sunrise at the summit. I can't think of a better way to start the day with the most beautiful woman in the world!!

The Average Johnson Band

Ok, so it's been a month since I posted. I was just waiting on some inspiration, and boy, did I find it!!

Becky is one of the singers in the FBC Band. She has a beautiful heart and such a sweet, sweet spirit. She also has two children worthy of the YouTube Hall Of Fame. I am convinced that Grayson and Victoria will be the next generation of worship leaders in the Church. After viewing this latest video, I'm sure you'll agree.

Check this out !!!

Thank you, Becky, for encouraging your children to worship God and for sharing this peek into their precious lives!!

Old People Working Here

A couple of years ago, I received my first pair of transitional lenses, aka bifocals. I first noticed the deterioration of my near vision because when I sat down in the evening to read my Bible, the letters were fuzzy and I ended up taking off my glasses and holding the book up close to my nose. Cindy got a real kick out of that.

I was recently fitted for a new pair of transitional lenses, and trust me, these are more "transitional" than the first pair. I'm beginning to notice many things that most of us take for granted like reading labels in the grocery store, and I've also learned that the term "transitional" applies more to my age than my lenses. That last point is demonstrated by the following episode from the workplace.

Friday of last week I was testing some software on one of the test PCs that we have for our project team. Since my previous visit to that PC, someone (likely 20 years younger) had changed the display settings from 1024x768 pixels to 1280x800 pixels (really tiny characters). I suppose that I complained loudly enough for all in the next county to hear, because when I arrived at work on Monday, I found the following sign posted on the PC in question:


Just double-click the image to get the full effect. I love my co-workers. I really do...

Home Again

Robert Frost once said that it would be good both going and coming back. This is a little different. Vacation, not birch trees, but I think maybe it's more or less the same. We had nice bookends weather to our vacation. When we left Eastham for Boston, it was 45 degrees, the wind was howling and it was pouring rain. Here are some pics at departure time from in and around the house.

We stopped in Falmouth to have lunch with Uncle Chris at the Quarterdeck (the unofficial headquarters of the Falmouth Track Club) and grab some java at Coffee Obsession. In one of my earlier posts, I indicated that if you don't like the Cape weather, just wait a few minutes. In yesterday's case it was an hour and 15 minutes. By the time we got to Falmouth, the skies were beautiful.

We were very blessed this trip. We got to see family and friends and spend time in God's wonderful creation. "A man can stand there and put all America behind him" (Thoreau - "Cape Cod").

Cape Cod #6

Well, it's our last full day on Cape. Sort of sad to see the week coming to an end, but we've been very blessed this week. We found out that Judy from Ben&Jerry's knows Wayne from Cape Cod Chips. How cool is that?


This morning we hiked the trails around the Fort Hill area. For history buffs, Fort Hill is the home of Capt Edward Penniman, a whaling captain from the late 19th century. The bluff at the tip of Fort Hill is also the final resting place of the Outermost House, the one-time abode of naturalist Henry Beston. Beston built his house on the Nauset spit below the Coast Guard station in the 1920's and it stood until the Blizzard of '78 washed it to the south side of Nauset Marsh.











After lunch we did some shopping and began the cleaning and packing process. Made some chili for dinner and did B&J one more time. We drove down to Nauset Light Beach at dusk. I do love this place. Let's Go Red Sox!!

Cape Cod #5

Does anyone know where the best potato chips in the world are made? Yep, you guessed it! Breed's Hill Road in Hyannis, Massachusetts, home of the Cape Cod Potato Chip factory. We got hooked on these chips years ago on our first visit to the Cape. Being very health conscious parents, we figured that these chips were among the healthiest junk food snacks around. You can look it up! Go ahead, grab a bag off the shelf and read the list of ingredients: potatoes, oil and salt. It just doesn't get any better!!

A few years ago we made a friend in Customer Service. We look forward to seeing Wayne every time we come to Cape Cod, and have a little photographic tradition. Thanks to the web, we can now share it with everyone. Even better yet, Wayne is a runner! He told us today that this year will be his third consecutive Falmouth Road Race. That's awesome!

After lunch we made a little historical trip to the Bridge Road Cemetery, then hopped over to the Cape Cod National Seashore's Salt Pond Visitor Center. We hiked a little and visited with the park rangers, gathering information for future excursions.

Dinner was at the Bookstore in Wellfleet, complete with seafood harvested this morning from Wellfleet Harbor. The fish just can't get any fresher than that! Dessert was, what else could it be, Ben&Jerry's!! We got ice cream and hugs from Judy. Can you feel the love?

Special message to JDW tonight: The love of God is perpetual. Thankfully, the pain is intermittent. Our prayers for your family. We love you.

Cape Cod #4

The Earth belongs to God. Everything in all the world is His. Psalm 24:1

And what a world it is!! There are certain trails within the Cape Cod National Seashore that are unpublished in park literature. Designated parking areas are provided, and it's perfectly legal to hike these trails, you just need to ask the park rangers for details. Yesterday we found one such trail on Bound Brook Island Road in Wellfleet. Today we decided to hike one of Ashleigh's favorites, the Race Point Lighthouse.

We "discovered" this trail seven years ago while visiting with a park ranger. On September 11, 2001, we were there, on the tip of Cape Cod, as far out as one can walk, while buildings, hopes and dreams collapsed in New York City. I can still remember, the sky was so clear that morning that we could see all the way to Boston.

Parking the car in a sandlot on Race Point Road, we walked up the fire road to the dike that crosses Hatches Harbor. When we reached the tidal flats, we found the tide was headed out, which made the remaining mile much easier. After reaching the lighthouse, we made our way down the the beach to rest and have some snacks.

This particular hike is relatively difficult due to its length (about 4 miles round trip) and terrain (hard packed roads, soft sand, tidal flats, dunes). However, the views at the destination are worth the effort. Pictures can't do justice to the miles of dunes and isolated beach.