Eclipse

On Wednesday night, February 20, the entire Chicago area had a perfect, clear view of the lunar eclipse. The moon was about 3/4 covered when Allie and I got home from work, and I didn't really have any choice but to grab my new camera and telephoto lens to see what I could come up with. I've only attempted photographing the night sky once before, so this was a fun experiment for me.
Besides the traditional shots, the camera produced some beautiful, though unexpected, results:

A funny thing happened on the way to the tollway

Yesterday morning, Chicago was able to see the sunrise for the first time in several weeks. Allison and I got to enjoy it together.

From a ditch.

Just before getting on the tollway, we were traveling eastbound in the lefthand lane. I was following the car in front of me at a "safe" distance, but needed to merge into the other lane within about half a mile. I spotted an opening and put on my turning signal. In the time it took me to begin turning the wheel, the gap in the other lane began to narrow as traffic slowed down and the car in front of me came to a quick stop. I put my foot on the brakes and the anti-lock device kicked in without slowing us down at all. In a split second, knowing that I didn't want to be in an accident or have to deal with the insurance companies, I decided to bail out. I pulled the steering wheel around hard to the left and my tires found traction just in time to angle the car through the bank of plowed snow and ice and down into the ditch separating the two directions of traffic.

We came to an abrupt, but not instantaneous, stop. The car kept running, and Allison and I were both fine. Unfortunately, the car was entrenched in the snow deep enough that we weren't going to get out on our own.

As we pulled out our phones to inform our respective employers that we would be at least a few minutes late, a police officer pulled up behind us to block off traffic and offered to call us a tow. We gladly accepted the help. She went back to her cruiser and Allison and I sat back to wait. We tried to make ourselves comfortable and watched as the sun began to peak over the treetops and fill the cold, clear sky. I sipped my coffee and put on my sunglasses while Allison pulled out her makeup bag. It was a strangely calm feeling to be sitting there, not able to do anything to help our situation, but still knowing that someone was taking care of everything.

We continued to watch the roads while waiting for the tow truck to arrive and listened to the radio to see if we would make the morning traffic report. (We did!) I pondered a dozen scenarios in my mind to see if there was anything that I could have done differently and decided that my course of action was the best. In the span of about 20 minutes, we watched another two cars touch bumpers, a 4-6 car pileup going the opposite direction, and at least two other cars spin out while trying to stop. I don't want to say that I was happy to see so many accidents and near-misses, but I guess I took some solace in knowing that I wasn't the only victim of the slick roadways. The city was already out of salt for the winter, and was laying sand instead. At only 10 degrees, that just couldn't keep the roads from freezing. (A quick note about so-called "black ice": this is a terrible and misleading name. It should be called "invisible ice.")

The police officer came up once again to tell us that the tow truck was on its way, but that it was "stuck in traffic." With the officer blocking one lane of traffic behind us, I could guess why. Nonetheless, it arrived soon thereafter. The driver was quick and helpful, and in a few short minutes we were out of the ditch. We thanked and paid the driver, then got on our way.

Everything was cleaned up almost as quickly as it had all begun, with the only lasting mark being the 6 foot wide channel cut into the snow along the side of the road. It was not at all how the morning was supposed to unfold, but I was reminded how much I love my wife by the fact that we could both take it in stride and laugh at the situation.

I'm looking forward to the many miles that still lay ahead of us.

Wrong holiday

It's almost Valentine's Day, so naturally it's time for me to finally post a few pictures from Christmas. My brother was home from Africa, and my parents picked up my Grandpa Griffin from Michigan.

Normally we save the bows for the cat, but my dad seemed to enjoy playing with this one.

The cat's name is Griffin, too. No relation.

I voted today

As I'm sitting at my desk listening to a Christian talk-radio program this afternoon, the hosts are naturally discussing the presidential primary elections being held in many states today. Wisely, they are asking their callers not to tell who they're voting for, but rather what issues are important to them.

Sadly, the only issues anyone has mentioned on this Christian station are abortion, the sanctity of marriage (i.e. preventing homosexual marriage), and occasionally illegal immigration. How is it that Christians in America cannot think of anything else to talk about than these two or three issues? I'm not saying that these are unimportant issues, and don't have clear moral direction in scripture, but it seems that Christians have a relatively narrow focus when it comes to selecting a political leader, always believing that the right candidate will eventually be able to bring America back to being "one nation under God."

My problem with that is, well, that's not what Jesus did. Jesus came to be with the people he was trying to save. He got to know them. He loved them. He did not come to legislate morality or overhaul the government. He intentionally avoided taking up a role in government, even when the people tried on several occasions to force it on him. The world already had the law at that point, and it was powerless to save them. Jesus built relationships and served people, and by his life and death (and life) brought real change.

"...A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified." (Galatians 2:16)

"After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, 'Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.' Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself." (John 6:14-15)

I say all of that to say: Vote for a good leader. Vote your conscience. Vote to put the best possible people in office. Just don't vote thinking that it's the way to bring America to God. God uses real people for that, not politicians.