Many Beautiful Things

Surely I’m describing Costa Rica and I could be . . . though this time it is the title of a documentary biography I found on my new streaming service, Curiosity Stream, that replaced Netflix for me, permanently this time with a whole year of streaming costing less than one month of Netflix (a stripped down version for Costa Rica).

The full title of this bio is Many Beautiful Things, The Life and Vision of Lilias Trotter. (Link to Wikipedia description) In brief, she was one of the world’s best unknown painters in water colors (late 1800’s to 1928) who was befriended by John Ruskin, the leading art critic of the Victorian era who promised to make her the “greatest living artist” in England. She repeatedly turned him down while continuing to paint beautiful nature scenes and landscapes simply to praise God.

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Glad I Didn’t Retire in The Gambia – Newest Islamic State!

Me dancing in the street with Gambians on a 2009 Mission Trip.

President Jammeh recently declared the majority Muslim country an Islamic State which is really not in his power to declare as the article explains. But he has progressively sought more powers and limited the freedoms of the people of The Gambia and his declaration will certainly have a chilling affect on this former British colony. For those who don’t know, The Gambia is where I served as a Baptist missionary for three years, 1999-2002, my last job before retirement in Nashville for 12 years before I moved to Costa Rica. One reason I liked Costa Rica was because of its similar location to the equator and even more species of birds and other wildlife. Both are nature paradises, but Costa Rica is a significantly better place to live for too many reasons to list. But still glad I got to experience The Gambia! I love it and the people, just not their government or medical care. (Two things I also don’t like about the USA, but a different story!)

Tiny country along the banks of the River Gambia,
surrounded by Senegal on the Atlantic Coast.

A few of my Gambia Stories on my website.