Carpe Diem. . . Seize the Carp!

Watching this fish-cleaning action and what comes to mind but that matra, carpe diem. Seize the day. . . seize the carp . . . seize the opportunity.

This filleter of fish took his eyes off his decapitation work just long enough to flash a smile our way. Nice of him. By the way, do you know how to clean fish? Wish I knew. . . but I just watched and documented the action. Decided it's a task that takes guts intestinal fortitude.


Here are more carvers of carp. So nice of them to let me nose into the action. Scraping of scales, whacking off heads, slitting the tummies and pulling out the innards. Looked easy enough. You will forgive me, will you not, for not sharing the photo of the entrail bucket? Carpe diem, but enough is enough. Alrighty then.


This was all part of a fish boil along the Don River. These folks seized the Saturday by standing in line waiting for a bowl of this classic Russian soup. Sometimes potatoes, carrots and greenery are added. Do you go for hot soup for a summer picnic? If you do, you might be Russian at heart.


This Carpe Diem idea is center-front in my mind. I find myself thinking, What can I be doing here and now to make any difference in this congregation? What can I be doing this week, this month, this summer that will be a wise investment here? Especially considering that there is never a guarantee about visa renewal and my 3-month visa expires September 2nd.


Seize the kids! That's it - aren't they cute little carpies? Here are three sweet girls who used to come to church. But it's been a long time. So this summer, at least this week and next and so on, we're doing Camp Stitch. I go to them and we stitch up a storm in the back courtyard. And we're easing into Bible stories and such. And their mothers want to learn to cross-stitch too. And we're playing UNO, soon to add some English to the mix. What we're really doing seizing the opportunity to make connections.


Time passes so quickly, we hardly notice one season blending into the next. Perhaps you've seen this video: The changes in nature through a year: one year captured in 40 seconds.

One year in 40 seconds from Eirik Solheim on Vimeo.

The cycle of life whirls faster and faster. It's summer now and in the blink of an eye, it will be autumn and then winter.

Reminds me of something that great philospher, Dr Seuss said,

How did it get so late so soon?
It's night before it's afternoon.
December is here before it's June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?


Oh dear Lord, open our eyes so that we may Seize the Day. Make us your fishers of men. . .and children. . .and a few fresh carp might be nice, too.

The Power of the (Cross-stitched) Word

Hooray -- it's finished! At least the cross-stitching is finished on this project that's about 11 by 8 inches. Next is to clean and press it then mat and frame it. But the stitchin's all done. I envision this in a magnificent gold frame and hung in our new church building.

This is the first cross-stitch I've done in Russian.The verse at the bottom is a favorite: The grass withers and the flower fades but the word of our God endures forever. Isaiah 40:8.

It's amazing what a person can get done over time, just a few minutes a day. On this project, my goal most days was to stitch two lengths of thread. That takes about 20 minutes to do. Rarely do I cross-stitch more than 20 minutes in a day, except those occasions when I've got 10 hours of time to fill, like when stuck in an airplane crossing the big pond. I started the project three years ago, worked on it pretty consistently the first year, set it aside for about a year and started back on it in March when I had hours to fill during flights, going back to the US to renew my visa.

I hope that this will be beautiful for decades. I hope that a few decades down the road, the children in our Bible classes now will enjoy reading it to their own little ones. I hope it helps remind us all that life is so temporary and so fragile. But that God's word endures. Which brings to mind another favorite quote, Hold lightly to that which can be taken from you; hold tightly to that which can never be taken from you.