UNESCO geo-discovery site

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Newfoundland and Labrador celebrate that they is home to four UNESCO World Heritage Sites and one GeoPark site. We explored the Discovery Geopark on the Bonavista Peninsula. We did not get to explore each Discovery Geopark site but did spend significant time in several of them.

Port Union Fossils

This area contains rare and exceptionally well preserved fossils from the Ediacaran Period ( 635 to about 541 million years ago). This was the time of larger, complex life, living and flourishing in the depths of ancient seas.

The Root Cellars

There are 133 Root Cellars still in existence and many are in use on the Bonavista Peninsula Because of the geology and soil of the area the community people were only able to grow crops in their own gardens, using kelp as a way to enrich the soil. The harvest was stored in root cellars built into the hill or mounded area, made with local flagstone.

When we pulled into the parking lot of the Puffin Viewing site two sides of the parking lot had mounds and little doors. Reminded me of “hobbit” dwellings but the doors weren’t round. Bronc asked what are those and I immediately said “root cellars”. Growing up in northern Maine it was normal to see potato houses built into the side of a hill or into a large mound of dirt. That is where the potatoes were stored. Our neighbors, June and Kermit Bailey, had a root cellar built into the mounded soil against the their barn. That was where June stored her cold crops from the garden such as cabbage, turnips, and carrots. Not many people had outdoor root cellars even when I was a young.

Dungeon Provincial Park UNESCO Geosite

Prayer for Easter Sunday 2025

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John 20:1-18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’s head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes. 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look[a] into the tomb, 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Almighty God,
through the rising of your Son from the grave,
you broke the power of the grave,
you broke the power of death
and condemned death itself to die.

As we celebrate this great triumph
may we also make it the model for our living.
The resurrection provides a moment,
a point in time where we can commit
to be part of the ongoing movement
to be the witnesses and disciples
of the light of the resurrection,
the hope of salvation,
the love of Jesus Christ.

all that should rightly die-

In a world that lacks light and dreams of possibilities
Resurrect in our lives faith, hope and love
as surely as you raised Jesus Christ from the grave.
Amen

Port Rexton and a Moose – June 2024

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Port Rexton was a second stop on our Newfoundland Trip. We stayed at a lovely Inn overlooking a cove.

The front lawn of the Inn had a labyrinth and large moose sculpture.

Across the road on the hill was a driftwood sculpture – dog or coyote?

This photo was taken in the evening as the sun was setting and the colors broke through the clouds and illuminated the island for a few minutes.

Chairs of Newfoundland

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All around Newfoundland was bright colored chairs and tables. The colorful furniture created cheerful environments. Some almost felt like art installations.

Near Twillingate, NL

Trinity, NL

Dock Marina Restaurant – Trinity, NL

Port Rexton, NL

Twillingate , NL

Port Rexton, NL

Luke 10: 1 & 2

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After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he intended to go. He said to them the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few: therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

God of the harvest,

You call us , as your disciples, to go out and sow the seeds of the Gospel>
From those seeds comes the harvest, opportunities for ministry.  We know so
many need to hear and experience your word and love.   The harvest is overwhelming.

We pray for strength as we are sent out as the laborers in your harvest.  Guide us to the opportunities for ministry, to reach those people who yearn for love, hospitality and acceptance.

Jesus said to pray for more laborers for your harvest. We offer that prayer for more people to reach out to those on the margins, to those who are lonely, to those who need support in the journey.

Open the path to those opportunities. We are your laborers.

Amen.

Broad Street Ministry – Philadelphia, PA – photo by jbr
Columbia Trail, New Jersey – photo by jbr

Light on the Horizon

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I got a chance to photograph the horizon across the ocean from the Long Point Light House in Twillingate, NL. The first time was at 6:00 pm. The sun was still fairly high in the sky behind me but thick clouds were coming in giving this light and dark affect to the pictures. The second time was 9:30 pm on the same day, sun setting (9:16 pm), there was some clearing of the sky with a scattering of rain clouds in the distance. This was June 10, ten days before the summer solstice.

6:30 pm

Horizon after 9:30 pm

The Witless Bay Ecological Reserve and Puffin Colonies

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The Witless Bay Ecological Reserve – Newfoundland, Canada

Thousands of birds from the colonies flying above the islands

Common Murre Colony of the Ecological Reserve

This is only a small portion of the larger picture of the hundreds of thousands of Common Murre on the island.

There are several Gull colonies in the Ecological Reserves.

The Puffin Colony of Witless Bay Wildlife Preserve

Approximately 260,000 pairs of Puffins nest annually in late spring and summer. After nesting season is done they depart for open waters until next nesting season.

Puffin Colony at the Elliston Viewing Area

There are several other smaller Puffin Colonies on Newfoundland. The best viewing area is the Elliston Viewing Area near Bonavista, NL.

Twillingate Boat Trip

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This was to be the ultimate boat trip – finally get to see a Greenland Ice Berg. But no. There were no icebergs this year. The few that broke off from the Greenland glaciers were few and drifted out to sea instead of hugging the coastline like so many have done for centuries. My dream of seeing and photographing an iceberg was put on hold, yet again. Here are the sites from from a boat trip in the harbor. We didn’t even get to see a whale. Sigh.

Isaiah 40: 1 -11

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40 Comfort, O comfort my people,
    says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that she has served her term,
    that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
    double for all her sins.

3 A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
    And I said,[a] “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass;
    their constancy is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers; the flower fades,
    [[when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
    surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers; the flower fades,]][b]
    but the word of our God will stand forever.
9 Get you up to a high mountain,
    O Zion, herald of good news;[c]
lift up your voice with strength,
    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;[d]
    lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
    “Here is your God!”
10 See, the Lord God comes with might,
    and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him
    and his recompense before him.
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
    he will gather the lambs in his arms
and carry them in his bosom
    and gently lead the mother sheep.