Wednesday Hodgpodge - Thoughts On a Summer Day

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A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!

Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. Hello Summer! In the northern hemisphere anyway. What's something on your summer bucket list? Do you have an actual summer bucket list? If not, use your hypothetical list.

A couple things on my list for this summer: The Columbus Book Festival in July, and our granddaughter's first birthday party in August. This summer I also want to go to some baseball games, and definitely make use of the pool in our apartment neighborhood! It's practically outside our door and access is included in our rent, so I really think we need to get our money's worth while we're living here! I don't have a summer bucket list, but for several years I've been making a sort of bucket list of things to do before my next birthday. It started out as "50 Things While I'm 50 Years Old" but it's hard to come up with that many things year after year, even if they are small things, so now I just keep a running list of experiences I want to have, places I'd like to go, and personal improvement type things I want to work on. That list includes things like exploring state and national parks, visiting museums, trying new restaurants and recipes, and expanding my knowledge and skills.

 

2. What for you is the defining scent of summer?

The smells of the grill or cookout or picnic. Although we have always been willing to use the grill or smoker almost any time of year, during the summer it's as often as possible. I have a feeling we won't grill nearly as much this summer, since it's just the two of us and it's not all that convenient since we can't step out through the dining room sliding door to the deck, so it might be more of a weekend thing. But kebabs or burgers or steaks on the grill, corn on the cob, baked potatoes . . . yeah, that's summertime eatin'. 

 

3. What's a (music, food, wine, or flower) festival happening in your part of the country that you would like to attend if tickets/travel/timing was no object?

 We would love to go to one of the big-time barbecue festivals in the midwest, or even to do a barbecue road trip! There's the Columbus Jazz & Rib Fest that's much more local that we'll try to do, but jazz isn't my favorite musical style. We also love Christian music festivals and it's been a few years since we've attended one. If I had carte blanche, we'd do SpiritSong in Cincinnatti, KingdomBound near Buffalo, and UpRise in Shippensburg. There's more, but those are the ones within a day's drive that I thought of.

4. Apparently a military whistle blower claims the US has a UFO retrieval program. What say you? Do you believe aliens are out there?

 I don't believe there are any living beings on any other planet. Those kinds of aliens are not consistent with a Biblical worldview. But I do believe that many of the claims of those who have seen UFOs and 'aliens' and have even had interactions with them are true. Probably most, if not all, of the whistle blower claims are real. I think that what we are calling aliens are spiritual entities - the Nephilim - and that they are clearly not friendly to humans. Try these YouTube links for a lengthier and more expert explanation of my view: UFOs are Real and the full-length film UFO Disclosure. The first one is current, and the film is from about a year ago. Both are from Prophecy Watchers.

5. Besides your wedding day and the birthdays of any children you may have, what are three of your top experiences in life?

 

Number one, top of the list, even above wedding and birth days, has to be my experience with Jesus―receiving forgiveness and walking daily with him. The problem with naming that experience is that in many ways it's been gradual and ongoing. But I distinctly remember the day that I personally accepted salvation and the day that I received the filling of the Holy Spirit, and both experiences were quite literally life changing.

Two other outstanding experiences . . . being part of the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988, and visiting Honduras on a missions trip in 2008. 

 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Apparently today is also National Selfie Day. I discovered that because it's the theme for this week's Wednesday Quotes link-up that I participate in. Usually I post my WQ for the week on a different day, but my goal is to share it today. And if so, I need to get to work on it! 

My most recent actual selfie
that shows my whole face

 

What's something you're planning to do this summer? Do you take selfies or not? Leave a comment and let me know!

I'm sharing in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

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