Month: October 2021

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Death Valley

When we reached California to visit our son and his family, Ron asked, “How was the trip?”

“It was a tough trip. I went through the valley of death just to see you.”

“Really, Dad? So you, a 74-year-old Californian, finally visited Death Valley National Park. Was it worth the time?”

“For a Californian, definitely, YES. But I think for a US Citizen, the answer is still, Yes.”

After Carol and I drove through Bryce and Zion National Parks on May 10 and 11, our next visit was to Death Valley.

There are three basic routes to visit the Valley: the Fast Route, Scenic Route, and the Explorer Route. Any of the three are worth the time spent, although I think the Scenic Route is the most rewarding.

Situated in the northern Mojave Desert, Death Valley is an intriguing part of our Country. Here’s an interesting travel trivia tid-bit. The highest point in the Continental United States (that excludes Alaska and Hawaii) is Mount Whitney. The lowest point in the US is Bad Water. Are you ready? These two geological points are only 88 miles apart. Mount Whitney reaches 14,494 feet above sea level in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, and Bad Water is in Death Valley at 282 feet below sea level.

The Valley is also the hottest spot in the Western Hemisphere. When we visited it on May 12, 2021, the temperature was 110 degrees F. A year earlier on August 16, the temp reached 130 F. The highest air temperature ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere was in Death Valley on July 10, 1913. It was 134 degrees F. But there’s more. The hottest surface temperature ever recorded on earth was in Death Valley on July 15, 1972. That was 201 degrees F, and some folks fried eggs on the ground. I hope they didn’t eat them.

The Valley is called a “graben” which is a block of land between two mountain ranges that has dropped, probably due to earthquakes. Over 5,000 years ago, the Valley held a 100-mile-long lake which was about 600 feet deep.

Have you ever heard of climate change? Long before industries developed and before we contaminated the atmosphere, several thousand years before the Pilgrims came to America, climate change was already well-developed, and Death Valley Lake, along with thousands of others, dried up.

The area turned to desert and most of the water evaporated which left an abundance of crystalized material; the primary one was borax. Borax was mined heavily from 1883-1907. Have you ever heard of Boraxo, or 20 Mule-Team Borax? It came from Death Valley, and the Pacific Coast Borax Company sponsored radio and television shows called Death Valley Days. The radio program ran from 1930-1945, and the television show ran from 1952-1975. Ronald Reagan was the narrator of the television show from 1964-1965.

Several geological faults intersect in the Valley, and the Amargosa River runs into it but disappears in the sand. And, if you’re wondering, it snowed once in January of 1922.

The Valley is home to the Native American Timbisha tribe, formerly called Panamint Shoshone. They called the area “tumpisa” which means “rock paint” because red ochre paint is made from the clay found there.

On February 11, 1933, President Herbert Hoover declared the area as Death Valley National Monument, but in 1994 it was renamed Death Valley National Park. Located in California and Nevada, it’s the largest national park in the 48 states, and has almost 1,000 miles of roads in it. Dress with loose-fitting clothing and take plenty of water with you during your visit.

But why is it called Death Valley?

In the 1849 California Gold Rush, about 300,000 adventurers went to find their fame and fortune. A group of 13 were just a few who entered the Valley but didn’t understand the dry heat of the deep desert and didn’t take enough water. They were found dead, and people called it a valley of death.

Do you know that millions of people around the world today are searching through an emotional and spiritual valley of death for fame, self-worth, or mere acceptance, while others are seeking wealth, power, and prestige? That craving will never be satisfied outside a relationship with Jesus Christ. Fulfillment in this life, and joy throughout eternity is found only in Jesus.

Visit Death Valley but live for Christ. The treasure you seek can be discovered by reading the treasure-map, the Bible.

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Revisiting Noah’s Ark

A couple of years ago, I mentioned that we went to see Noah’s Ark. This one really isn’t Noah’s because he’s not here, and he didn’t build it. But according to the dimensions listed in the Bible, this structure is a life-sized model. Is it the exact same shape? We don’t know because no one alive has seen the original ark. Many people doubt whether the flood was world-wide, but their doubt does not disprove what the Bible says.

At the turnoff from I-75 onto State Road 36 in Williamstown, go east for about a mile, and the ark is behind several small hills. When it first comes into view, it doesn’t look so large, but there is still another mile to go. When the shuttlebus drops us off, the ark looks large, but not huge. But we’re still an eighth of a mile away.

As we walk up to it, the enormity of the structure is striking!

How big is this boat? Genesis chapter 6 gives the dimensions in cubits: 300 long, 50 wide, and 30 high. The length of the cubit has varied with time and people, and historically has been between 18-22 inches. The Builders of this model used a nominal 20-inch cubit.

The ark in Williamstown is 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high. The internal volume is equivalent to the volume of 570 modern railway boxcars.

For size comparisons, a football field is 360 feet long from the back of one end zone to the back of the other, so both the original ark and the model in Williamstown are too long to fit inside the football stadium. The size of the ark is truly impressive!

Can this boat in Kentucky float? No. It wasn’t built to float, but to illustrate what Noah, his boys, and probably many hired hands built. I believe it took Noah and company about 100 years to build the original because of what God told Noah in Genesis 6:3. “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh [meaning, evil]; his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” I believe those words informed Noah that the flood would take place 120 years after that discussion.

Prior to entering the ark, we watched a video of the construction of the ark. It was quite a feat and was done without any government financial assistance. That means, no tax money was involved.

I wish I could show you some of the 545 photos Carol and I took. The builders of this model indicated how the thousands of animals might have been housed or caged. Noah might not have had full-grown elephants, hippos, giraffes, etc., but perhaps young ones. However, it was God who brought the animals to the ark, not Noah, so the age and size of the critters didn’t matter. God somehow tamed all the animals that He brought to the ark, and, as you might guess, the heavier animals were on the bottom of the three decks.

It’s also amazing how food might have been stored for a year for all the animals and for up to two years for the eight human passengers. With our current understanding of how much animals and people eat, and of how many kinds of animals there probably were back then, it’s easy to figure how much food would have been required. And there was still plenty of extra room.

Animal excrement removal must have been a chore!

I enjoyed the way they imagined living quarters for the four families, and the names they supplied for the four wives were relevant to the times. Much geologic, social, and cultural history is shown by several videos, and by many charts and graphs throughout the ark. Cultural history prior to the world-wide flood, therefore, the reason for the world-wide judgment, was highlighted.

In planning for this ark, the people did their research and identified many animals that have become extinct in the past 4,500 years, many of which would have been on the ark. That enhances the educational aspect of the visit to the ark. In fact, we saw four public school buses bringing students to the ark for an educational field trip.

If you ever have an opportunity to go east, go to Williamstown, Kentucky and visit the ark. It’s only 40 miles south of Cincinnati, Ohio.

It rained while we were there, but we were safe in the ark.

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Down Memory Lane (pt.2)

For a couple of years, my brother, Paul, and I’ve been talking about preserving family memories. Our parents and parents-in-law are gone, two of our siblings are gone, and we don’t know what the future holds. Every time someone leaves this life, an encyclopedia of information evaporates into thin air.

How many times have you heard, or even said, “I didn’t really know him”? How many times have you thought, “How would he respond in this situation?” Or, “I know we grew up together, but what happened that gave her a different outlook on life than I have?”

It was time to start documenting Linzey family memories!

To begin, two major factors had to be considered.

1) Because everyone is so busy, the process must be simple. And

2) Because writing is seen as a chore, the process must be enjoyable.

The brainstorming session began.

Proverbs 17:22 informs us that a cheerful disposition (“a merry heart”) is good medicine to the body, but discouragement causes our health to deteriorate (“dries up the bones”).

We could let each sibling take turns choosing a topic to write about, but people’s minds sometimes go blank. Several of our siblings asked, “How do we choose a topic?” So Paul chose the Rememory Card® system. (Look up “Rememory Cards” on the web.) Nevertheless, with or without cards, here is the simple process Paul wrote.

  1. Decide how many months you would like the project to continue.
  2. Each week, take turns selecting a writing prompt and those joining the fun will write a memory on that topic. Write from a half to 2 pages per memory. Paul and I decided on one memory per week, but you can choose your own time cycle. We realized that if we waited too long, we’d lose the enjoyment and the momentum.
  3. Write whatever you want. Nobody will censor your language or stories.
  4. There is no pressure or mandate to write about every topic selected. If you don’t want to write about something, skip it.
  5. You may write about anyone in the family. Your stories don’t have to be only about yourself, however, you should be considerate of others’ feelings when writing about your family.
  6. You can draw from your whole history. Consider your whole childhood as well as your adult interaction with the family.
  7. This is a memoir project. Memory is not always accurate. In fact, it’s been demonstrated that nobody remembers perfectly. Also, we tend to interpret as we remember. We subconsciously fill in the blanks, expand, and erase some aspects of our experiences. So, we don’t challenge anyone’s memory. Memory is specific to the individual.
  8. Every family has both good and bad, painful and pleasant, positive and negative, funny and serious memories. Try to get your stories to reflect a balance and a blend of these dynamics.
  9. Not everybody will remember what you remember, so it might be a good idea to identify the year, the location, and the writer’s name after each person’s story.
  10. It’s OK if your stories focus on yourself, but, if possible, find a way to bring at least one other family member into the anecdote.
  11. This endeavor can create priceless documentation of your family history that your grandkids and great grandkids might never know otherwise.
  12. Simply take turns choosing a topic, gather the stories, and have someone compile them. If the family agrees, you may find a publishing company (expensive traditional or affordable self-publishing company) to format it and turn it into a family treasure.
  13. Keep in mind that this memory project is for your own benefit as well as for the rest of the family. And if you get brave, as my family might, you can have it published for the general public.

Our family started in January and will complete it in October. With six of us writing, we’ll have well-over 400 pages to edit and format into a family treasure.

There are ten kids in our family, with fifteen years between the oldest and youngest. Knowing that fact alone, you may understand why there’s a lot about each other that we don’t know – even coming out of the same family, same church, and same basic culture.

The fact is, we are all different and we all interpret life differently. But all six of us thoroughly enjoyed it, and, as a side benefit, this project has drawn us all closer than we’ve ever been before.

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