A Saturday Story

The Saturday service group meets at 10:00 a.m. here. This morning the brother handling the group mentioned it was "bitingly cold" outside (18 degrees C). Translation: wear a sports jacket or sweater. By 11:00 a.m. the sun was doing its sub-tropical thing. Carol and I were hot and thirsty. We tossed the jacket and sweater into the trunk of our car.The others with us did not.

The territory today consisted of single houses, not condos. This morning I'd been especially hoping and praying to find someone who was seriously interested in learning more about the Bible. We did have interesting and stimulating conversations, one with a Muslim woman who was formerly Catholic, and one with a young man keen about issues of government.

Toward the end of the morning we spotted a man in his driveway working under the hood of his car. To approach or not to approach?

Since people outside are always 'home' we approached him. I said, "I see you're busy and I don't want to disturb your work, but I would like to give you something interesting to read."

He said, "No, no, it's all right. I want to talk." He asked when Jehovah's Witnesses would be holding the Memorial of Christ's death this year. I told him, March 23rd. He wants to come. As we continued talking he told me he once studied the Bible in the past and realizes he needs to start again. Since we'll be here for a while yet I offered to study with him. We made tentative arrangements for next Saturday morning and he gave me his telephone number so I can keep in touch.

It was a very good morning.

Me and the Sisters

There I was, sitting in the Kingdom Hall with Carol and two other sisters, waiting for the service arrangement to begin at 9:30 a.m. Two other sisters arrived, then another, another and another. The brother who was handle the group was unable to come so I occupied the seat in front and got things under way. A pioneer sister, Elise, had ample territory. Two of the sisters planned to do cart work at a bus stop.

We were an odd number, so Carol worked with Elise, and I worked alone.

Working alone at the doors has it's advantages. Some people are more comfortable talking with one person than with two. I had two long conversations, one with a fellow who had a question about why dinosaurs are not mentioned in the Bible. Not a question you get every day. Another conversation was with a young woman who was genuinely interested and appreciative. I read her a few scriptures about God's Kingdom, she took literature, and I arranged to call back with Carol.

Carol & Elise

After an hour and a bit of door to door we drove off to visit persons who had shown interest a week or two before. Carol had an excellent conversation with an interested young lady who, this time, bookmarked scriptures in her own Bible that Carol showed her.

After the past two days of heavy rains and a tornado, it was enjoyable to be able to get back in the ministry.

Blowin' in the Wind

In a previous post I introduced a young man as Keece (rhymes with peace). I guessed the spelling and I guessed wrong. At last night's meeting he came over to say hello to me and I asked him for the correct spelling. His name is Qis. "Many people think there's a 'u' but there isn't," he said.

Qis

Part of the meeting was about the prophet Samuel when a boy. I asked Qis if he'd like to serve Jehovah as strongly as Samuel did. He is keen on the idea. We arranged to work together in the public ministry in the next week or two.

This morning our cell phone screens displayed a message warning of a possible tornado in our neighborhood. We were told to verify nearby shelters. Hmmm. 

After 10:00 am the warning was lifted and we went out into the pouring rains on errands. I'm still looking for a deal on dress shirts. After our return we learned on local news that indeed a tornado did strike nearby. Nobody was seriously hurt but I post news photos below of some of the damage done. 

 This grey Corolla looks very much like ours, but it's not.

This vehicle was rolled over by the winds.

 This condo building looks very much like ours, but it's not.

As you possibly discerned, today was not a beach day. And, no, I found no deals on men's dress shirts either. Patience. It will come. On the other hand we found, and seized, an opportunity to nosh on a knish for lunch.

The Way It Was

 Technology pulled a fast one on us this morning. A phone app that lists local things of interest identified a public aquarium located a mere few miles away. We like aquariums. With our GPS informed of the address, away we drove only to arrive in an industrial park looking at a building where aquariums are manufactured.

Since we were close to Pompano Beach we chose to investigate that. This produced happier results. It is a very attractive beach and, despite a mostly cloudy day, many souls were enjoying a day by the sea.

One of my first impressions was how accommodations for life-guards have picked up ...

from this ...

... to this. And a Jet-Ski too.

There is a pier on this beach ...

... and we explored it.

People fish from the pier, an activity that interests pelicans. I've seen pelican attention to human fishing before. Humans being clumsier at this business than pelicans produces much satisfaction for the pelicans. They are tame creatures and like to pose for pictures ...

A View From The Pier.

While on the pier we spotted a manatee approaching. He swam underneath and played on the other side.

Here he is moving under the pier. The white spot

upper left is a fish somebody was reeling in.

And a video of the manatee at play.

Another nice touch at this beach is a well equipped exercise area.

One can't just sit on the beach all day and get no

exercise. Well, one can, but this is for those who

know better.

After leaving I pulled into a gas station. The price was low and the cars were many, so I followed a car to a pump to wait my turn. The woman got out and went into the convenience store. I learned later she visited the ladies' room, effectively disabling a gas pump for 15 minutes. I backed away and found another pump.

The screen told me to insert my credit card. I did. It told me to enter my zip code. I did. It asked me if I wanted a receipt for $14.98. I did not. I wanted to pump gas. I pressed the cancel button. The computer wasn't interested. 

I entered the convenience store which also had a Dunkin Donuts counter, the only counter being manned. They were all keen to take my order but I didn't want donuts, I wanted the fellow responsible for gas pumps. They found him for me in a back room. He came out to the pump and got it to cancel. Finally I was pumping gas.

Then I pushed the button for a receipt. Nothing. Back into the store. The donut people excitedly rushed to the counter again in hopes of an order but I bee-lined to the back room and found the elusive attendant. I also noticed the woman who abandoned her car at the pump coming out of the ladies' room. Yes I got my receipt. To my astonishment the $14.98 was not erroneously added to it. Sometimes things work.

Our next stop was a Pompano Beach flea market which was far better than the last one we saw. But it was closing at 5:00 pm so our time there was brief.

Another day.

The Tank, The Tools, And 203

Our friendly plumber showed up mid-morning, solo, bearing a sleek, new, 29-gallon hot water tank. Obviously the elevator is fixed. And heating water in our biggest pot to wash dishes will, we hope, be a one-time experience.

Due to my short-sleeve dress shirt deficiency we next went to a store rare for being known as a bargain center for men's clothes. That mission failed but we did discover an adjacent discount tool store. Now I'm a very long way from being a tool time talent but this place was a delight. Carol and I enjoyed looking at all they had and we left with some pretty amazing values. But first we had to join the tail end of 20 Quebecers waiting in line to pay.

Two blocks from our condo, we found the condo (#203) of Anna's parents. It was a surprise to learn that they were such close neighbors. We spent a few enjoyable hours with them and have a photo to show for it ...

Yes, we were only four and we all got in the picture.

Edwin has his ways.

And since this is my blog I have decided, for no particular reason, to include a photo of myself taken in New York City in July, 1953, during an international convention of Jehovah's Witnesses held at Yankee Stadium. I've been fiddling with a few photos like this to give them an artsy aura.

In those days we used to do service in the morning and attend sessions in the afternoon and evening up until 9:00 pm - for eight days. And we'd sleep in a rented guest room of a Puerto Rican family who had loud arguments with their 14-year-old son after we went to bed because the son, Pedro, insisted on being called Peter instead. And we'd wear a straw hat to the convention because the July sun was beaming and they don't call them "the bleachers" for nothing. No, the guy behind me is not checking his iPhone. Steve Jobs wasn't born till a year and a half later.

Fix A Leak Week

This morning, during the calm of our morning coffee, came a rapping on the door. My first guess was a visit from Jehovah's Witnesses. Alas, it was not a good news call after all. Water, supposedly from our condo, was leaking into the condo below. The circumstance triggered a visit from a rental agent, the manager of the condo association, a concerned neighbor, and, before long, a plumber.

NBC News missed out on this story.

Since it was pouring rain this morning I had a different suspicion about the leak's source but I helped with the desired experiment. I ran water into the bathtub full blast while they checked downstairs for increased leaking. There was none. Next the plumber investigated our hot water tank and discovered it was indeed leaking - more so following his poking.

A replacement tank is to be installed tomorrow a.m. The plumber and his helper (I refer to another person) may well have to carry the new tank to our 3rd floor condo because the elevator is temporarily dysfunctional having trapped a resident with his bags of groceries the other day. At least he didn't risk starving.

Quote of the Day:
"Inanimate objects can be classified scientifically into three major categories - those that don't work, those that break down, and those that get lost." - Russell Baker.

Adapting

Yes, the pace is definitely slower here except on the I-95 where people make up for lost time gangbusters. Am I suffering a form of culture shock? I think so. In the public ministry this morning we were part of two car groups that joined up in the territory and went about things with, to me, an unaccustomed leisurely pace. My guess is that the predominantly hot weather here favors reflexes different than those in a colder climate. Not that I'm one for scurrying about but I do have an eagerness to find someone willing to talk and happily Carol and I succeeded.

We called on a woman from Jamaica who reads her Bible. She got it out to show us a scripture important to her and I could see much underlining and highlighting. We spent a pleasant 45 minutes with her and hope to see her again.

After leaving the group we wanted to revisit interested persons we met last week. First, we stopped at a fast food place for a quick lunch. There I go again. I called it a fast food place, didn't I? I said "quick lunch." The service was as slow as soup with chopsticks. But all the other customers take it as normal so one acquiesces to yet another lesson in patience. With such intensive training I'll soon be able to stand still in one place for a week.

A Tuesday's Adventure

Today we went for a stroll to the end of our street and discovered a pleasant walkway trailing along a small river. A number of strange birds left off foraging in the grass and waddled my way. These birds look half-duck half-turkey so I call them durkeys. To them I probably looked like a source of free food. To me they looked like a source of free food too, but I let them be.

Would you like to see a heron fly? Me too, as the following video shows ...

 If your tablet doesn't run videos, here's a still shot

of two durkeys ...

 ... and a flying heron.

Carol on the walkway.

Most cars we see in condo parking lots have Quebec license plates and other walkers passing us often say Bonjour. On se sent pas mal chez nous.

After supper we dressed up and drove off to our midweek meeting. We didn't recognize a soul. Half of the attendees were white. Where was the congregation we knew? A circuit overseer was visiting a neighboring congregation this week and the Tuesday night slot was ceded to them. There was no announcement last week because there was no meeting due to the circuit assembly. Whatever. So we saw how another congregation handles the new meeting format.

Arriving home, and just before we started up the stairs to our place, we passed two women with a small white dog. The dog chose to follow me. Dogs and durkeys, they love me. The woman called for her dog but he continued following me upstairs. We stopped, the woman repeatedly called her dog to come down, but no dice. We continued up and the woman had to come up a flight of stairs to retrieve her dog.

"Hey, Ed, wait for me!"

A Peek At The Ocean

A main drive leading straight to the beach is nearby and today we decided it was time to use it and take a look at the ocean. It wasn't really a "beach day" but there's something satisfying in contemplating the ocean in just about any weather.

Carol did most of the contemplating. I took photos. The guy in

the background looks like a pole-vaulter but I doubt it.

At the other end we watched a beach enlargement, or ocean

reduction, project.

On the horizon, ships lay at anchor probably waiting for their

turn at a pier to offload merchandise for Walmart.

And if that guy actually is a pole vaulter he sure

loves a challenge.

 "Let's take a selfie," Carol said to the photographer.

On the sidewalk that led us to and from the beach we met a rare specimen known as the bald-tail squirrel. You hardly ever see them in parks never mind strolling on a public sidewalk.

Unlike regular squirrels, this guy was not inclined to

scurry out of our way. Maybe I wouldn't either if I

was dragging a caboose twice as long as my body.

My attempt to make him look cute.

I heard Noah's wife initially wanted a separate mini ark for these guys. Not sure if that's true.

Still, it was pleasant to visit the ocean.

Circuit Assembly

Today we drove out to West Palm Beach, about 45 minutes away, to attend the local Circuit Assembly. Our GPS took us close but when it directed us down a narrow road and under an overpass into a little residential street and declared us arrived, well, we knew something was amiss. I immediately parked the car to figure out what to do next. No problem. Across the street from where I parked four JWs were doing door-to-door witnessing and they were very happy to give us directions.

A few words about this assembly hall. It is a large domed structure that can seat about 5,000 persons. This assembly was for two circuits combined and the attendance today was 4,181.

 

This is an overview of the elliptical building.

As you can imagine, the parking lot accommodates thousands of cars. I dropped bread crumbs along the way to the building so I could find my car again.

Approaching the main entrance.

Initial inside view. All roof beams lean on each other at the top,

a neat design. 

Looking toward the stage.

The ground floor being practically a shut out, we found seats

on the Mezzanine.

As you will notice in a photo above, there are industrial strength lights on the ceiling. The prevalence of electronic tablets produces an effect similar to a general use of flash cameras. The many tablets frequently project a quick reflection of the above lighting. It keeps the audience, as seen from the mezzanine, glittering.

The baptism was shown on TV screens since the real

thing gets blocked out by the first fifty observers.

25 persons were baptized here today.

During the lunch break you can go outside and

stroll around the entire building on a pleasant

concourse, which we did.

And we discovered outdoor eating areas.

It's Florida! Why not?

 If we had known about this earlier we wouldn't have munched

our lunch in the auditorium seats.

 Another outside eating area on the mezzanine level.

 A selfie before the start of the afternoon sessions.

This assembly had a speaker from headquarters in New York, Brother Schafer. He's a helper to the governing body on the teaching committee. He's made presentations on JW Broadcasting.

Carol and I passed by David Schafer and his wife on

the concourse during lunch break. Maybe I should

have stopped him and commended him on his talk

but instead I just let him continue on his business.

Brother Schafer is an excellent teacher. He gave one talk in the morning and, in the afternoon, he gave the concluding talk. I very much like his way of adjusting completely the lectern and the microphone before beginning to speak. He's not concerned about 20 seconds or so of silence while he gets the equipment as it needs to be.

Part of his afternoon talk dealt with the quality of (ahem) patience. He made the interesting point that patience is required when nothing much seems to be happening but in fact important things are happening. Eg: Our bones are strengthened by taking calcium from our food. It's not a process we are conscious of. We don't feel it happening. It's slow and gradual. Similarly with what we feed our mind. We don't feel the effect right away. We're not conscious of it affecting our thinking. But it does. So we must patiently persist in feeding our minds wholesome mental and spiritual food if we want our thinking to be healthy.

The discussion of patience came in handy when the assembly was over. The parking lot, big as it is, does not appear designed for a flowing exit. We spent 45 minutes stopped or inching out of the parking lot's gridlock. Later we ran into more slowdowns on the highway home. It is not unusual to pass crashed vehicles surrounded by police cars with flashing lights. Too many folks driving by ear. Too many kamakaze motorcycle drivers too.

It took under an hour from our condo to our seat in the assembly hall. From our seat back to our condo: Over two hours. But it was a very enjoyable and interesting experience.

Rainy Day in Florida

We awoke to a dark day and a background roar of heavy rain. Since we needed a few items preferably obtained at Costco, today seemed the appropriate day to go. I piloted the car once more onto the six-lane roads taking us there, obtaining along the way further lessons in patience.

These lights faithfully turn green every hour.

Costco is nestled by a large shopping area we chose to explore. A generous and thoughtful provision by TJ Maxx was this exterior sitting room, a place where wives can park their husbands.

A few hammocks would have been great but this was still

very nice. I've never seen anything like it back home.

 In Montreal I've sometimes had to improvise.

Mid-afternoon the rain came down in a fury as though being hurled to the ground. Thunder boomed and skylights over the sidewalk roof turned into drums.

Question: Why did Ed leave his umbrella in the trunk of the car?

The Costco had one of those relatively new un-flat screen TVs on display. The screen has concave curvature which produces a subtle 3-D effect, at least from a distance of about 8 feet. It's a worthwhile innovation. It improves the realism of the picture. It likely has a future.

Some Thoughts

In my recreational reading I have just finished a somewhat thought-provoking book about current events. The title is "World Order." It was written by former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, now reportedly 92 years old.

The following are some of my impressions from this book.

The problems of the world are clearly urgent enough to move national representatives to gather together and strive for a workable 'world order.' The UN is an obvious example. Although coming together is generally viewed as positive, a less publicized issue is where these representatives are coming from. The diversity of history is wide, as are concepts of what world order ought to be. To put it another way, this present system of things is hardly a system.

Certain nations proclaim their ideals of democracy, and so on, but these concepts do not always resonate strongly in other nations. This creates the situation where, despite the proclaimed ideals, challenges are often dealt with by force.

The accumulation of nuclear weapons highlights the dilemma. As the author indicates, a nation may declare itself a champion of human rights, democracy, respecting the will of the people. If the leaders of an authoritarian regime war against them, obviously the ultimate instrument of retaliation is nuclear weapons, designed to destroy the very population whose rights they claim deserve respect.

He raises the question, What will the greater powers do in these days of nuclear proliferation if nuclear war breaks out between two smaller nations? Is there a plan? Apparently not. He suggests such a predicament leaves the nations vulnerable to a complete loss of control similar to, but of course much worse than, the loss of control in 1914.

In summary, the book details the world's disorder and dramatizes the rapidly accelerating urgency of our times. In reading a book like this it helps to have the perspective of the Scriptures and the knowledge that our Creator will indeed intervene at the exactly right time. (Daniel 2:44)

"Let there be light."

The Territory

A few words regarding our impression of the public ministry in this territory ...

It is different. As mentioned in prior posts, the pace is much slower here in many ways. In a supermarket parking lot people will walk leisurely in the center of the driving lanes. Cars will form a line, silently waiting for the person to saunter out of the way. Check-out counters often move at a snail's pace while customer and cashier converse about many things. Slower would be a wax museum. Maybe this difference is a good difference.

As can be expected, the pace carries over to the public ministry. The people here are ready to be more generous with their time when a visitor calls and good discussions are more frequent.

This morning, as I took my seat at the service arrangement, the gathered sisters warned me not to get too comfortable since I might have to handle the arrangement. Apparently the brothers' support of Wednesday service is spotty, but an older brother did arrive in time, fully prepared to handle things.

Our territory this morning - inside a

condo complex.

The day started off cool and I made the mistake of wearing a sports jacket. By 11:00 am I was sweating. Carol had an excellent conversation with an interested young lady and I had a long discussion with a fellow who had been to a Bible school. He claimed to be non-denominational because he finds too many churches are segregated on the basis of race, churches for whites, others for blacks, still others for Hispanics. He recognizes this conflicts with genuine Christianity. He plans to move next week and, since he will still be in this general area, gave me his phone number so I can contact him again.

We learned that the area we visited this morning is seldom worked because it is on the outer edge of the congregation's territory. Based on the response we had this morning I look forward to returning there.

Sawgrass Mills

I have never seen such impassioned shopping in all my life. It would be unforgivable to call Sawgrass Mills a shopping mall. It is a shopping theme park rivaling Disney World. We toured it today because the weather was cool and overcast this morning.

 Don't forget where you parked the car.

Many stores here sell wheeled luggage because it is such a common priority. With over 2 million square feet of space, the first thing tourists realize is they need additional luggage to transport their purchases. And buying luggage first also provides a means to wheel the accumulation around rather than carry it. Many persons wheeling luggage here.

One could also rent a cart (see photo below) ....

Notice the seat in front. 

We often saw wives sitting in the cart's front seat as their husbands steered them along the concourse. I am not making this up. Carol received no such ride, despite my willing spirit, because the carts were all rented out when we arrived. As indicated above, throngs of devout shoppers rally at this place. And today was a Monday!

Our first acquisition was a printed map to carry with us although there are touch-screen directories available on the concourse. One is shown below ...

Yes, the sign in the window says, "Buy one get one."

Sounds fair enough.

The interior parts are well designed. Just about every store imaginable is represented.

 No, I didn't catch a photo of a husband wheeling

his wife around, but trust me.

 The outside environment was also agreeably designed.

An entrance to the interior mall.

 The general layout. Any one of the colored

areas would be a complete shopping

center anywhere else.

The parking area is landscaped, as opposed to being an open sea of asphalt, not that this helps you find your car. 

Did I personally buy anything here? Yes, a box of Q-Tips. Well, we also bought lunch in one of the food courts. Generally the lines at the check out counters were too long and too slow to inspire in us any desire to purchase.