kirk's thoughts.

It seems my writing on this site has come to a complete halt. There’s a couple of reasons for this, but neither are good excuses. One is the increase in popularity in facebook. I regularly update my status and chronicle most of my activities there. For those of you not on facebook, I apologize.

The second reason is that since my trip to Scotland, I have taken up a new hobby: photography. I was inspired by the beauty of Scotland, and really enjoyed taking pictures over there. I have always enjoyed photography, but I have always taken “snapshots” and decided it was time to learn how to take better pictures. I bought a new camera, a Canon EOS Rebel T1i, a good all-in-one lens, and signed up for a class at Austin Community College. The class I took was “Art Photography.” I figured I could learn most of the technical stuff on my own, since that’s my forte. What I needed was to learn what makes a good photo. Composition, subject matter, all that stuff. I also needed to be around other people taking pictures and get some input by people who did it for a living. Mission accomplished. I loved my class and plan to take another one this spring.

I’ve set up a new web site which will be where I keep my portfolio and a “photo blog.” The blog will just be a picture of the day and a caption kind of thing. No fancy words there. I’ll keep this site around, but I might make some changes here, too, since I’ve apparently lost interest in writing lately.

That said, here’s my new logo and a link to the site. You can subscribe via rss there, just as you can here, if you want to be notified when it is updated.

Happy New Year!

k.

This week I said goodbye to my best friend for the last 13 1/2 years.

My beloved black lab, Moondawg, stopped eating and even drinking for 3 days, so I took him in to see the vet. I had just taken him in two weeks before for an exam and was told he was doing great for his age. But this time it was a different story. They put him on the scale, and in just two weeks he had dropped twelve pounds. I knew then he wasn’t going to be going back home with me.

I stayed in the room with his head in my lap while the vet put him to sleep. It was painful to watch but very peaceful. I don’t have any regrets about that.

So farewell to the Moon in Black… you were the best dog a guy could have ever had. You will be sorely missed.

k.

I finally made it to Scotland!!!

My dad and I went for an 11 day adventure in Scotland, and it was everything I had dreamed of for so long and more. We rented a car and drove all over the Scottish countryside for a week, then we finished up with four nights in the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. The trip ended on a high note with a visit to the Lockhart clan chief’s home, and The Gathering 2009 festival in Edinburgh. We met Lockharts from around the world, and we all marched together in the Clan Parade up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle!

Scotland is the most beautiful country I have ever seen. The countryside is breathtaking. Everything is green! It is just so pristine – untouched, unpolluted, raw and primitive. There isn’t a single highway billboard to be seen! And they’ve been there for thousands of years longer than we’ve been in America. How did they keep it so beautiful?

We began our trip in Stirling, a town full of history and one that played a huge part in Scotland’s pursuit of freedom from England. We visited Stirling Castle, where we got the full story of the battles at Stirling Bridge with William Wallace and Bannockburn with Robert the Bruce. We also toured the William Wallace National Monument, which houses the Wallace Sword and provides some spectacular views of the town. It is a long climb to the top!

From Stirling we drove through the Highlands to the town of Plockton on the west coast. We meandered our way over, stopping at the Glenturret Distillery in Crieff, which is the oldest distillery in Scotland and also is the home of the Famous Grouse blend. At that point I took over the driving, which is a whole different blog-worthy experience of its own! Roundabouts take a little while to get used to, but then they’re kind of fun!

We took a ferry from Mallaig to the Isle of Skye, then drove around for a little while on Skye before heading across the bridge back to the Scottish mainland. On Skye I first experienced the “single track road.” These roads only have one lane and there is only enough room for one car. Every so often there are “passing points”, which are basically just small widened areas of the road where one car can pull over if another car is coming. Amazingly enough, you can drive for miles without ever seeing another car!

We arrived in Plockton, which is a small fishing village and artist community on the coast. We stayed the night there, then got up the next morning and drove over to Ft. Augustus on Loch Ness. There we took a cruise on Loch Ness and got to hear all about Nessie! We wanted to go on a power boat tour, which included a tour of Urquhart Castle, but my dad and I were the only two people interested at the time and they needed 6 people to go. So we went on the big boat instead. It was beautiful though and I got some great pictures. We drove back to Plockton after the boat ride, and got back in time to go on another boat for a seal trip! We got to see tons of wild seals as we cruised Loch Carron, which is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland. It was an amazing experience! That night we had a seafood dinner with tons of fresh locally caught seafood – delicious!

The next day we drove from Plockton to the town of Wick, in the County of Caithness in the northernmost region of Great Britain. We took our time again, and stopped for a while in Inverness on the way. We were going to Wick primarily as a base to see the Orkneys, but the drive along the A9 and the town of Wick itself was worth the trip. This was the northernmost town we visited, and it didn’t get dark until after 11pm, and was light again at 4am! Needless to say I didn’t get much sleep that night, but then it was on to John O’Groats to catch a ferry across the Pentland Firth in the North Sea to visit the Orkneys!!

…to be continued…

(I wrote this on the plane on the way to Ireland last Thurs., 3/25/09)

A couple of weeks ago, I went on a steam train ride with my nieces and my sister. During the train ride, you could walk up and down the train and go through all of the cars the whole length of the train. My niece Mary Catherine wanted to go with me when I got up to go to the next car. When I opened the door and she saw the ground moving between the cars, she got scared and didn’t want to cross.

I told her it was just one step. She said no it wasn’t, and clearly didn’t want to cross over. After a few minutes of trying to convince her it was safe, I finally just grabbed her hand and said “come on.” She reluctantly and nervously took the step and entered into the next car with me. After that she was all grins and we walked up and down the whole train and went to every car.

I have feared flying for most of my adult life. Today I am flying by myself on an international trip to visit Ireland. I have always said it’s not the being there that scares me. It’s the getting there. But I am tired of letting my fears stop me. I am finally taking my fears captive and living in freedom.

I asked my niece later that day if she was glad she took that step. She tried to play it off and act like she wasn’t and even said no. But I could see it in her eyes that she was.

k.

I always claim my Scottish heritage, mostly because Lockhart is a Scottish clan. But the truth is I’m just as much, if not more, Irish than Scottish. My mother’s maiden name is Griffin, which is Irish, and both of my grandmothers had Irish surnames as well – Nolen and Owens. I don’t know much more beyond that but I do know that makes me a whole lot of Celtic.

So this seems to be my year of exploring my roots. I am already planning a trip to Scotland in July this year, as I’ve written about before. That trip is all planned out now and I can’t wait. It’s going to be great. My uncle (dad’s brother) and aunt are even joining us for the Lockhart Clan luncheon and the Gathering festival in Edinburgh.

My birthday is next week, and I had wanted to go somewhere fun. I had already taken a few days vacation and was planning to go to Colorado. But I couldn’t ever find anybody to go with me, so the wheels started turning the other day. If I was going to go somewhere by myself, I might as well go somewhere big. I got the idea to look into going to Ireland. Turns out for about the same as it would cost for me to go skiing, I could fly roundtrip and stay 3 nights in Dublin.

This morning I booked the trip. Not a bad way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, eh?

k.

A couple of years ago I wrote about wanting to go to Scotland. That has been my dream vacation for a long time now. I have wanted to go to explore my cultural heritage as well as experience all the beauty and history that Scotland has to offer – all the mountains, lochs, castles, lighthouses, battlefields, and more. And of course, I’d also want to tour a distillery or two since I have become a single malt Scotch whisky connoisseur over the past few years.

Well, I’m finally going.

My dad and I are going to go together this July for a 10-day trip. This whole year is being promoted as “Homecoming Scotland 2009” by Scotland’s tourism department. And in July, when we’re going, there is going to be a giant festival in Edinburgh called “The Gathering.” It is going to be the largest Scottish clan gathering ever, complete with parades and Highland games and everything.

We’re even going to attend a luncheon with Angus Lockhart, chief of the Lockhart Clan.

I can’t wait.

We’re still making travel plans, but on the list so far are Glasgow, Edinburgh, Loch Ness, Skye, the Speyside whisky trail region, the Balvenie distillery, Stirling and other battlefields, the Lockhart castle in Lanark, and more. I would like to see some of the more remote islands like the Orkneys but I am not sure if we will be able to squeeze that in because of the time it takes to ferry over.

I’m excited. I can hear the bagpipes already. And I’m looking forward to some genuine pub grub. Fish and chips!

I might even have me some haggis!

Woohoo!!

k.

I received $80 of gifts from readers in addition to my original $5 that I wrote about in my previous post. As promised, I used it to purchase gifts from the World Vision Gift Catalog.

I chose to use $75 to buy $1050 worth of clothing. World Vision has clothing that is donated from manufacturers, and the money is used to ship and distribute it all to people around the world in need.

I had a little left over and so I used the rest to buy a chicken, which will provide a needy family with additional food or income from the eggs.

Thank you for your help. Merry Christmas.

k.

A couple of weeks ago my church took a big risk for the last message in the Soul Revolution series we just finished. During that service the offering buckets were passed, but this time instead of giving each person was asked to take an envelope. Each envelope contained between $5 and $300.

The context of this “reverse offering” was the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). In that parable Jesus told, the master gave three of his servants different amounts of his money and entrusted it to them. The two servants with larger amounts of money each multiplied their shares and gave it back to the master and were rewarded for their faithful service. The one servant who received the least amount of money just gave it all back to the master and was rebuked for doing nothing with his share. He was told it would have been better for him to just put in the bank where he could have at least returned it with earned interest.

We were challenged at the service to be creative and to come up with ways to use the money for God’s Kingdom and to multiply it for His purposes. I was given the least amount, five dollars. As of yet I have not done anything with the five dollars and it is still in the envelope in which it was given to me.

I would like to multiply this money and use it for God’s Kingdom. I am asking anyone who reads this to just match my five dollars. I will pool all the donations together and use them to help families in need.

I would like to use the money to purchase one or more gifts from the World Vision Online Gift Catalog. The gifts there range from livestock to food and clothing to education and health resources. These gifts are given to people in need that are supported by World Vision.

The least expensive item in the Gift Catalog costs $10. So if only one person reading this matches my $5, the money will have been doubled and used for God’s Kingdom purposes.

Will you help?

Donate $5	Donate other amount

I’ll give you until Christmas and post the results and what was bought with the money at the end of the month.

God Bless You.

k.

Yesterday was the final message in the Soul Revolution series we’ve been doing at my church. The topic of the final message was “Life All-In With God.” I’ve written about the 60/60 Experiment, but I knew all along it was never really about 60 days.

It was about re-focusing. Re-prioritizing. It was about intentionality. It was about training. It was about a paradigm shift. It was about learning new habits.

It was about listening.

And obeying.

I have learned so many things over the past few months that I don’t even know where to begin.

And it hasn’t been easy. I have had to dig up a lot of emotional junk, past mistakes and regrets. I’ve gone through some gut-wrenching pain and done some serious soul-searching in the process. Some of it I’m still dealing with now. And it hurts.

But I’m still doing the “experiment.” I’m on Day 81 and counting. And I don’t want to stop.

I’m still wearing the timer. I don’t know how long I’ll keep wearing it. But it’s grown on me. Right now I’m thinking I’ll wear it at least through the end of the year. But who knows – maybe I’ll keep wearing it even after that.

I do know that this is not an ending. It is only the beginning.

k.