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About Ryze

Enjoy my bridge over "troubled waters"? Or is it the path that leads me "beside still waters"? Being the bipolar person that I am, I tend to gravitate to extremes while seeking the happy mean. Balance is the key to a happy life, it seems to me, and that makes me wonder why I have such a hard time achieving it. Like most people, I find my days end with way too much left on my "to do" list, but somehow the essential, important things get done and some of the non-essential but fun stuff, like posting to my friends on Ryze and elsewhere, gets done, too.

Actually, the bridge in the top photo above crosses the St. Croix River at Stillwater, MN, a city that was once the Capitol of Minnesota. It links Minnesota and Wisconsin. If you were to go north from there 40 or 50 miles (camera left), you would find yourself in my favorite kayaking country, the beautiful wilderness of the upper St. Croix and Namakegon Rivers. "Fall Dam" is located on the southern end of that vicinity, just north of the town of Taylors Falls. No spectacular whitewater there, except just below the "falls" though you may find an occasional Class I-II rapid. But there is plenty of wildlife and quiet solitude to be enjoyed. If your soul is like mine, it requires a good dose of solitude and Nature from time to time to be renewed and replenished. And, the upper St. Croix is the perfect place for such sojourns. I often find God in nature. Perhaps that is because my fondest early memories are associated with exploring the back country in northern California and Nevada with my dad. When I look up at the stars or out over the vista from a high mountain peak, such as those found in the Sierra Nevada mountains where I grew up, I can only gaze in wonder at the marvelous creation God has placed me in, and that I am a part of.

I have been a resident here at Ryze for several years now. It is a great place to network for fun and profit. It always amazes me to see how different people are connected to and through others. I've heard it said that we are only six people away from anyone else in the world. And Ryze allows us all to connect! Of all man's creations, I think this internet is the most marvelous because it allows us to reach out and touch others with our thoughts and words, if not our deeds. I love it for the communication and educational tool that it is.

As you may have guessed from my comments about the bridge and the river, I love the water. I love to kayak. I'm not the whitewater type, but one of the over-60 types who enjoy a leisurely "float" down the river with an occasional run of rapids to keep the adrenaline pumping. Being out with nature, camera in hand, on a bike or in a kayak, is my idea of Paradise here on earth. If heaven does not contain such things (and I'm quite sure it does, at least for me and those of a like mind), I'm not sure I want any part of it. No streets paved with gold, thank you, unless the only other option is a lake of fire.

When I'm not busy with our Japanese translation business or my job as a custodian for our church, I spend time helping my wife provide daycare for our grandson, Ethan, who was born January 4, 2005. He loves flags, Sesame Street (especially Elmo), and his "bucky" (kitted blanket)! When time permits, I also try to do some volunteer work with various local charities and through our church. I recently heard a very successful networker say that volunteering was one of the best ways she had found to network and find work! Regardless of the results, I'm convinced it is important to our mental and physical health to be "out there" working with others to make this world a better place.

A dozen years ago I came across the following prayer. It sets a very high standard that challenges me daily:

The Prayer of Saint Francis

"O Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace!

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, harmony;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light, and
Where there is sorrow, joy.

Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand; to be loved
as to love; for it is in giving that we receive;

For it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life."

Thanks for stopping by.

May God Bless you and may you Have a truly wonderful day full of peace, joy, and inspiration for a better life!

Please don't forget to sign my guest book before you leave and I will gladly stop by and visit you.

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