Aground-beached
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Photo is stuff.co.nz photo of probable 153-year-old Daring
shipwreck, run aground, beached in a bad storm, and discovered in late May of this year at
Muriwai beach just west of us.
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| Rescue workers with beached mom sperm whale web photo This week there have been several incidents of beached whales on NZ beaches. This was a mother and calf sperm whale who beached themselves at little north of us. Local folks tried desperately to save the two but both Mom and calf didn’t make it. New Zealand has one of the highest rates of whale strandings in the world. |
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| USAToday web photo |
The largest ever mass beaching ever recorded was 1000 pilot whales and it happened
here in New Zealand’s Chatham Island in 1918. Last year in 2017, the second largest mass beaching in history
happened again in New Zealand at Farewell Spit beach with 650 beached whales. Rescuers were able to save about 300 of the beached pilot whales.
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Archway replica of whale skeleton-bone at the Auckland Zoo
Beached whales are treasured by the Maori people as gifts from the gods. Besides being
useful for the meat, fat, and utensils, they were particularly prized for the teeth and bone which, after several years of curing, was used to carve ornate jewelry and
art works, often passed down for many generations. Many legends and
family history stories were carved into
the teeth and bones.
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New Zealand’s Treaty of Waitangi with the Māori still allow a tribal gathering and customary/traditional use of whalebone, jawbone and teeth from any animal which has died as a result of stranding.
Sites of whale
strandings and any whale carcasses from strandings are treated as tapu sites,
that is, they are regarded as sacred ground.
Archive photo of whale bone used as an early NZ fence
web photo tripadvisor.nz
And on another beach in New Zealand this week they have had the bodies of heaps of little fur seal pups wash up onto the beach. They think the cause of their perishing was the heavy, stormy seas, and some the little seals just didn’t fare very well in the storms. Pretty sad.
MORE BEACHINGS/STRANDINGS...THIS TIME YSA
Newly wed YSA’s Avea and Caleb (on the right) saved up and a month or two ago bought themselves a car.
It was stolen this week from a car park at the train station ...bless their
hearts. I guess you could say they have been "beached".
And our friend YSA Reni (on the left) leaves us and gets
“run aground-beached” at BYU Hawaii in a week. In the world of YSA’s you are constantly saying good-bye to some as they move on to new
adventures...but hello to a whole new round.
The stolen car before it was stolen...if you see it in your neighborhood... holler.
Running aground or becoming “beached” can mean we find ourselves in either an unwelcome or unfamiliar situation.
A "grounding/beaching" we are thrilled about..
Baby
Catharine Larsen was willing to leave the comforts of heaven and her little
indoor swimming pool (womb) to come aground here on earth as the newest member
of our family. Welcome Catharine!
Beached here on earth with mom
and dad, Ben and Ali Larsen,
and thrilled big sisters Adelaide and Gwyneth.
4 1/2 weeks early but healthy ...we’ll keep her.
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Dominique came into AIB late
Tuesday night...for help with his “beached” (dead battery) car in a nearby car
park. Vance and Andrew were the only 2 guys left, and when they went with him
they found his car in a very tiny, cramped carpark with maybe 40 feet to pop the
clutch.
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THOTL, it worked.
Leadership Lunchside devotional speaker Bishop Stephen Dil.
He reminded us to keep ourselves in safe
water, and then not to judge,
but help and encourage others if they run aground.
Live-wire sunshine
Zani who claimed the ladies ping pong title and the gift card as well. She promised she didn’t run anyone aground in
her winners quest.
Those who beached themselves for an hour to come to Devotional and have soup and French bread.
Tuesday night students
chowing down on the seafood chowder and loving feasting on the scriptures. They really do come hungry for knowledge.
Little Mexico
More feasting: The food here is fresh
and good, but we have felt a bit stranded and aground from our favorite Mexican
restaurants. After their son’s
basketball game, we went with the Periera family and found a pretty good burrito
at ”Little Mexico”. Not bad and our
waitress was even from Columbia. Still looking for salsa....
Always inspired when we meet our favorite blind dog (on the left) on the
beach. Though his world is dark and he
sometimes gets stranded from his owner, you can watch him cock his ear and listen
hard for his masters voice. That leads him back
to safety. Great lesson.
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| More lessons: This little dog has to dig in and balance on the paddle board so he doesn't go over board. |
Boats are made to be in the water.
Oars and sails and all the great aquatic
equipment on beached boats are futile when the boat is out of the water.
Ever
felt like a boat or a fish out of water.
When you find yourself in a place where you maybe don’t
belong and the things you need, or maybe things you were accustomed to are gone.
Fish and boats pretty much need water.
A
car on the other hand (even the most expensive) is pretty useless in an ocean
of water.
Where do you fit, where is the best place for you to thrive?
Do we, like the whales, sometimes leave the
safety of our thriving environment?
We all have to stretch ourselves and grow
and move forward...but why and what is too far and out of survival range?
We found a "beached" boat in Devonport...nice but fairly useless on land
with all it's "boat" equipment.
Although there are
many theories as to why whales run aground or beach themselves, one theory with
significant background data is that military sonar (which can be the loudest
sound in the ocean) disrupts, disorients or can even damage the ears and brain
of a whale or dolphin. Other theories
are that in their pursuits of prey, or their fear and panic in their flight from enemies they end up in unfamiliar and shallow water. Sometime whole pods will follow a
fellow whale in trouble to dangerous places.
Sometimes, we too may get disoriented because of deafening sonar or voices, or we may follow a fellow "pod-mate" to unfamiliar or unsafe ground. Or we may find ourselves in some kind of a panic where we get stranded, and like the whales, it may be a place that is life-threatening and dangerous. Where can you turn for help and safety when the storms, enemies, loud voices and
the waves threaten and confuse you and lead you to unsafe ground?
To He who is the creator of the winds and the waves and the beaches and the ground, and the whales and the fur seals and blind dogs and you and I.
He knows where we belong,
He knows when we are floundering,
He knows when we get stranded or beached in the wrong place or run aground.
He knows how the enemy works,
and
He also knows what you need to find safe ground.
He has promised that as you turn to Him...He'll be there,
"he will not fail thee or forsake thee".(Deut. 31:6)
 Painting by Amedee Varint |
| We witness He KNOWS and is the Source of safety, and is true to His word. We love you, Elder and Sister Downs Vance and Louenda |
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