TRIP TO SENECA FALLS, NY

View from our house.
(Click photos to enlarge.)

Once again, thanks to Lenny Pappano, we enjoyed a satisfying conference in Seneca Falls, NY last weekend. Lenny first hosted this conference last Fall alongside the largest "Finger lake" of upstate New York, Lake Cayuga. The conference last Fall has become known as, "The First Bi-Annual Seneca Falls Conference," because it now looks like we'll be visiting this beautiful part of the country both times of the year when it should be warm but really isn't: Fall and Spring.

There I go complaining about temperature again. I was joking with Dan Sheridan over the weekend that I just want to straddle the Equator. "Do you think I will be warm then?" I said.

Woman straddling Equator at Ecuador. Does anyone
know her? I would like to marry her.

"You'll probably have to wear a sweater," Dan said.

We love this area, not only for the lakes, but for the wine. Our favorite wine is a Cabernet, Merlot blend  called, "Moonglorious." As far as we know, the only place it's sold is at the Eleven Lakes Winery in Seneca Falls.

In case you did not realize it, God gave wine to gladden the human heart (Psalm 104:15).

Clyde, Dan and me, sufficiently gladdened.

The place we meet is rustic and includes a fireplace, which must be continually stoked with large chunks of wood, also known as "logs." But this is fun, actually. There is something satisfyingly primitive about throwing logs on a fire, watching the sparks, and staring at the dancing flames. This is how people stayed warm in the old days--and also how they burned down their homes on a regular basis. We kept everything under control, however, and did not burn down a single thing. (I did drop a heavy window on my thumb on Saturday, but this was the only injury of the weekend. I am fine now; I had a thumb to spare, thank God.)

Fireplace at the meeting place.

The meeting place.

Informal, Friday night gathering.

I am doing something to make "Dr. Winbigler" (Win Allabough) and others laugh.
(Why isn't Dan Sheridan paying attention to me?)

James Flanders knows what he's talking about.

So does Douglas Witherspoon of Virginia.

My sister Kelly talks to Carole from Toronto.

James Flanders still knows what he's talking about.

I love these conferences because I get to hear other speakers glory in the glory of God. On this outing, it was Dan Sheridan, Clyde Pilkington, and James Flanders. I also got my licks in, of course.

I'm going at it in Seneca Falls, happy to be near the fire.

Back entrance/exit, whichever you want.

Kelly photographs her brother while balancing coffee.

Can't gripe about the scenery.

James Flanders, it turns out, is a wonderful speaker. Well, why wouldn't he be? He used to be a notable at a large church in Florida, but was persecuted out of town when he started seeing and teaching the salvation of all. James has suffered much at the hands of religious lunatics (sorry for the redundancy), but there is no training like suffering for delivering God's Word. When you have suffered, the truth oozes out your pores. This is the case with James, Dan, and with me. We speak truly because we have suffered truly. Nothing is theoretical; it is all too real. Come to one of our conferences and experience it sometime.

Once again, Lenny put us up in a nice house along Lake Cayuga. Some of the best times of fellowship, then, were spent in this house.

Our house at dusk.

Dining at Wolffy's, across the road.

Trees in bloom line our driveway.

Back porch fellowship and study.

My section of the table.

Dan Sheridan explains the meaning of life to James Flanders.

"You are probably wondering why I called you all here."

Hard at it.

Nathan relaxes.

Clyde, me, Nathan, on the way home.

On the way home wearing C3's shades.

Thank you, Lenny Pappano, for another memorable adventure in Seneca Falls.

Would you consider a Fall conference at the Equator?

Copyright 2013 by Martin Zender.

LAS VEGAS VISITS WINDBER

Rambling toward The Rambler with the Newmans.
(Click photos to enlarge.)

We enjoyed a wonderful visit last week from the family I visited in December in Las Vegas: Joe, Melinda, Hannah, and Matthew Newman. I told the Pilkingtons when I got back in December, "These people are awesome!" My family here had followed all my blogs from Vegas, and now it was time for them to find out in person how great the Newmans actually were. The four days they were here, I kept saying, "Well, didn't I tell you? Huh?Huh? Didn't I tell you how great the Newmans were?" I made a nuisance of myself, but they all kept saying, "Yeah, you told us! Be quiet already!"

They didn't actually tell me to be quiet. They never really ever tell me here to be quiet. I don't know why, exactly; it's just the wonderful way things are.  

The Newmans, being from the arid land of Nevada, were happy about the green of Pennsylvania. Well, yes,

Nice try, sucker.

we actually have had trees turning green around here. Some flowers blossomed as well, but they have since been disciplined and hammered back into the ground by cold spells. The trees are a little hardier and are able to "flip off" some of the more brutal Spring weather and survive.

On their first night here, we all walked down the hill into downtown Windber and went to an ice-cream place called "The Rambler." The Newmans thought this was a real treat, and I suppose it was.

Cindy and Melinda en route to The Rambler.

Nathan rambles.

Hannah thinks Windber is small compared to
Las Vegas (imagine), but she loves it.

C3 springs into worship. 

Is this 1953?

Clyde, Joe, Matthew.

Cindy guards the napkin dispenser.

Oh! Joe wanted some beer, so we told him to go to the beer drive-thru. He had never heard of such a thing. Apparently, in Las Vegas you can get beer anywhere: on a bus, in a bar, at a grocery store. That's not the case here. Joe had never heard of driving into a building to get beer. In fact, they have no such things as drive-thrus in Las Vegas. So that was a real treat for Joe. "You mean I just drive into the building?" he said.

Everyone drinks beer in Windber.

Oh, the wonders of Pennsylvania.

Clyde and company took the Newmans to the damn dam that broke in 1889 and flooded Johnstown. As I've told you before, this part of PA is known for epic disasters. So I think the Newmans also went to the Flight 93 memorial. (United Flight 93, of 9/11 infamy, crashed in this very county.)

The last day the Newmans were here, Aaron Locker led them to the abandoned Interstate tunnels near Breezewood. I have never been here, but apparently it is fun and a little bit spooky. Well, it was the highlight of the trip for them, I kid you not.

Watch that first step.

Don't forget to go back a couple blogs and read Hannah's poems. She is quite a talented little writer.

We enjoyed the Newman's visit, and made a deal with them. They will come here in the summer, and we will go to Las Vegas in the winter.

That's a safe bet for everyone, I'd say.

Copyright 2013 by Martin Zender.