Published: June 17, 2025 at 03:20 AM

Tags: bike-ride, gospel-message, island-books, scanning, poetry, personal

Sunday afternoon’s Gospel message at The Willows went reasonably well. I did get a bit flustered partway through, but I managed to recover without too much issue. I veered off my self-written script a little, which I actually see as progress, I’d rather move toward speaking from notes than relying entirely on a word-for-word draft. It ran a little shorter than usual, around 10 minutes, but those in attendance seemed to be listening attentively.

Monday brought a mix of frustration and satisfaction. I set out on a 13 km bike ride in the afternoon, but it turned out to be too hot for comfort, and not having a water bottle holder didn’t help. I barely made it home. On a more positive note, I installed a handlebar extender, which has made things slightly more comfortable.

Later that evening, I went out again, this time in much better weather, another 14 km. The cool breeze made all the difference. I rode out to West Point Lighthouse and the harbour before heading home. I took a few photos along the way, but nothing too remarkable. Still, it got me thinking: maybe I should try using Emily’s camera instead of my phone. It’s not exactly state-of-the-art, but it’s far from outdated. Worth experimenting with.

On the project side of things, I’ve finished cleaning up the files for the 1964 telephone book, including all the clippings. Some have been shared on Facebook, with links back here to the full collection. The ledger project still needs attention, I need to carve out time to properly finish that.

I’ve also updated my list of Island books. Their covers are now uploaded on the site in a dedicated project page so others can easily see what I currently have in my collection. It’s something I’ve wanted to clean up for a while.

Meanwhile, I’ve been working on an upcoming Gospel message that steps slightly outside the usual approach. I’m looking to draw in some elements from Tolkien and C.S. Lewis as storytelling illustrations for the Gospel, since I was a fan of their work long before I was saved. I know Tolkien was Roman Catholic, but I won’t hold that against him, hahah. Regardless of their denominational ties, some of their insights resonate deeply with biblical truth.

There’s also the matter of my poetry. I’ve been meaning to go through it, but it’s a mixed bag. Some of it’s embarrassingly cheesy, some of it’s raw and tied to painful memories. Still, I know there’s value in there, it’ll just take time to sort through and decide what’s worth keeping, revising, or sharing.

Lastly, I’ve got one final large batch of scanned files waiting to be cropped, straightened, and properly filed. Honestly, the scanning itself is the easy part, it’s the post-processing and organizing that takes real effort.

Plenty on the go, but I’m glad to be getting back into the swing of things.