Storms – Matthew McKinnon's Blog

Summer.. Autumn.. life moving on …

We are now halfway through Autumn, and storm Ashley with it’s torrential rain and wind gusts of up to 85mph has thankfully passed by, with perhaps less damage than anticipated. Certainly there was travel disruption on the roads, railways, and ferries around the Scottish coast, and also some flooding and electricity supply problems in some communities. Thankfully here in Glasgow we seemed to have missed the worst of the storm.

Today the weather is blustery with sunny intervals, and it was good this morning to walk around the local golf course, although everything was very wet underfoot. There was not a golfer to be seen.

The local park too, now has on its Autumn colours and we have enjoyed our usual walks, sometimes between the rain showers. So here are some photos of Autumn in Roukenglen Park.

Work in the garden is changing, for as Solomon of old said, there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot. So it’s uprooting time in my garden as everything needs cutting back, the greenhouse needs emptying and cleaning, along with lots of pots and containers that need replenished with Spring bulbs and plants. Currently it’s a work in progress, but it was good to have my grandson helping recently as we cut back the large hedge. It’s just as well that I enjoy being being out in the fresh air and in the garden!

Still eating the potatoes and stewed Rhubarb

In my last blog I was speaking about our trip to Ireland. Since coming home we have had some of our usual day trips much nearer to home, with visits to the coast, and a weekend with our son and daughter-in-law at Skelmorlie. Just last week on a beautiful sunny day we had a drive around Scotland’s ‘secret coast’. The colours in the trees were magnificient and we enjoyed some lovely tea and coffee stops along the way.

Time at Skelmorlie on the coast

Now here are some photos of the ‘Secret Coast’ on our way home from Skelmorlie. First the ferry from Gourock to Dunoon, followed by a drive to Tighnabruaich, from there to Otter Ferry, Lachlan Castle, then the ‘Rest and be Thankful’ pass, Loch Lomond and home.

Thinking about seasons I’ll finish with a photo I took of the ‘Harvest Super Moon’ on Thursday 17th October. There was a clear bright sky in Glasgow that night, so it seemed to warrant getting the camera and tripod out.

Genesis 1:16
God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.

Ps. 74:19 He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. Ps.74:19

I found it interesting reading the various views and opinions relative to how the moon affects the seasons, and learned and relearned again something of the amazing wonders of our solar system. (which I talked about in a recent blog. (‘can anything eclipse an eclipse‘). The necessity of the earth’s 23.5 degrees axial tilt as it makes its 365 day circuit around the sun, is so essential to the stability and wonder of our seasons. I remember the Psalmist’s words in Ps.64:16,17 The day is yours, and yours also the night; you established the sun and moon. It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.

So the seasons roll bye, Spring and Summer, Autumn and Winter, and for me they all display something of the glory and majesty of God. But the seasons have often been compared to the seasons we experience of life, ‘new life and hope‘, ‘prosperity and happiness’ when all seems well, but times too of ‘uncertainty and stress’ and ‘sicknesss, sadness and loss’.

In all of life’s circunstances it’s good to have a friend that we can rely on, and many of us have friends we have met or perhaps even grown up with, who have laughed and celebrated with us in our joys and successes, and cried and mourned with us in our griefs and sorrows. The Bible speaks of a friend who is always there for us, in every circumstance of life. To the young and carefree he offers ‘life in all its fulness‘, he calls ‘the weary and heavy laden‘, the ‘sad and sorryful‘ and those who are ‘thirsting for true meaning and purpose in life‘, to those who are ‘burdened with guilt‘ and those ‘in fear of death‘. And his name? His name is Jesus. an anchor for our soul. At my home Church (Greenview Church in Glasgow) we have people from many dfferent backgrounds and of multiple ages who have found Jesus to be such a friend. Here is one of my favourite hymns that you may like to hear, that speaks of this friend, well worth a listen. If you live in the UK and would like to read a modern illustrated edition of Luke’s Gospel, then please message me for a copy. But I’m always glad to hear from you wherever you are.

Whatever seasom of life you find yourself in, I wish you God’s blessing

Matthew

So what will 2024 bring?

After all the preparations, all the travelling, after all the children’s parties, family get-togethers and Christmas and New Year celebrations, after too many extravagent dinners with sweets and drinks, it is all back to ‘auld claes and purridge‘ as my mother would have said!

January 1st – Late afternoon in Newlands Park, Glasgow

Still, it would be a shame to forget all the joys and blessings of the festive season before moving on, so here are some of my memories in pictures.

Christmas at Church
Choir Concert and Carol Service

Of course we also got out and about in spite of some very changeable weather, and spent a few relaxing days on the Clyde Coast with my son and his wife at their home.

With our grand-daughter and great grandchildren at the local park

And finally some pics of our changeable weather.

So now we look forward to another season in the garden and greenhouse, and today I was buying the seeds I need for the greenhouse at ‘Dobbies’ half price sale. Holidays were also discussed this week and some tentative plans were made for early summer. Amongst my friends I hear of similar plans, and for some it’s a year for marriage, for others a new school, a university degree, or a new job, not to mention the upgrade of houses, cars, computers, phones and gardens etc.

However I detect some nervousness and hesitancy, not just amongst my acquintances but in our national psyche as folks survey the international, national and local scene. We are continually bombarded with updates on wars and rumours of wars, (too many to detail) In the middle of last year it was reported that 110 million people were displaced including 36.4 million refugees, as nations struggle and fight to solve the ‘refugee crisis’. Nationally and individually, borrowing is going through the roof, with some folks and economies struggling to survive. In the UK local government is complaining of underfunding, and speaking of the need to cut services. Nationwide workers are on strike, from ‘civil servants’ to doctors and nurses, train drivers and teachers, … all asking for more money. Of course the weather ‘crisis’ or ‘global warming’ continues to dominate much of the news, along with the explosion in ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and its human implications, so people are genuinely fearful of all the gloomy predictions continually being proffered. No wonder the BBC’s viewers are rapidly declining, with a reported two million having stopped paying their TV licence. Have our news bulletins become too much of a burden one might ask? Twenty twenty four however, has been dubbed ‘The Super Election Year’ as general elections are planned in nations all around the globe, including here in the UK and in the USA. So can we expect great things? Mmm.. let’s wait and see!

It was wonderful being at the Messiah on the 2nd of January, not just to hear the stupendous music and singers, but to listen to a different narrative! The good news contained in the Jesus story, which the ‘Messiah’ so powerfully tells. King George II in 1743 during the Messiah Premier in London, stood during the singing of the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’, which has become a tradition observed until this day.

“Hallelujah: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. The Kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever. King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah“

The coming of the King of Kings is the great hope of the Christian Church. People are asking these days, ‘what are you hoping for in 2024’? There are a miriad of answers to that question, but I heard one woman, within the last few days, immediateely respond to the question with ‘I’m looking forward to the coming again of Jesus.’ How do you respond to such a thought? Does it sound like a message of gloom? a message of hope and rejoicing? or do your scoff at the idea as just some religious nonsense?

Just as the Apostle Peter said, we do hear people today scoff at such a possibility and say ‘Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. …….But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. Are you ready if Christ came today?

I enjoyed listening to Max Lucado give a short talk on the subject recently, he describes it just as we were taught as young folks. If you think it too fantastical, perhaps you need to to rethink your concept of God. It’s well worth a listen, you can hear him here:

The psalmist David in Psalm 20 prayed this prayer for his people who trusted in God. May it be your experience in 2024. If ‘knowing God’ is an idea alien to you, may you come to know Him in 2024 through His Son Jesus, the Saviour of the world.

May the LORD answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
May we shout for joy over your victory
and lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the LORD grant all your requests.

Thank you for visiting my blog – Matthew

Do you remember when Glasgow and the river Clyde were a major hub for Shipbuilding and Engineering ?

We had arranged for an Autumn weekend visit to our family at Skelmorlie on the Clyde, only to dicover that it was set to co-incide with ‘Storm Babet’ as forecast by the weather experts! We left Glasgow in strong winds, and with a smirr of rain on the windscreen, and a wild cloudy sky. And so we headed for the coast!

Our plan was to visit in the morning the Scottish Maritime Museum at Irvine, a museum we had passed countless times, always with the thought ‘we must visit there sometime’! Despite a massive improvment in the weather, we stuck to our plan, and I’m glad we did. Although a ‘Maritime’ museum, it also covers machines and equipment used generally in the engineering sector, and this brought back many memories of my own career in engineering from the 1950’s to the 1980’s! Let me share some photos with you, first of a couple of vessels which were outside in the yard, an old steam puffer with an exhibition in its hold, and an ancient yacht powered by a steam engine.

The ‘Spartan’ Puffer built 1942 by J Hay and Sons, Kirkintillloch

Inside the spacious museum there is a plethora of information on many other types of vessels from small wooden row boats and yachts, to lifeboats, cargo vessels and navy ships. Here are some of the photos and information that I gleaned.

Along with the advancements in shipbuilding and other industries, came the advancement in general engineering. Soon there were machine tools for ‘everything’ or so it seemed. The museum houses many such machines which are a wonder to behold! Here are just some of them.

Our time unfortunately was limited, but we did manage a look at the variety of anchors on display before heading to the ‘Puffer Tea Room’ for a coffee and snack.

Far too much to share on this blog, but I would recommend a visit if you are in the area, and especially if you have an interest in shipbuilding / engineering and its history, and what made Scottish engineers and their ships and machinery famous throughout the world.

For me personally the visit brought back many memories of the Engineering Companies I’ve worked for, and the vast range of projects in which I have been involved at home and abroad. My engineering days were busy and fulfilling and accounted for more than fifty percent of my fifty years of working life.

Entrance fee for over 60’s was £7.00 and they also had snack facilities in the main museum, with the very nice Puffer Restaurant nearby. You are also just 1/2 mile from the beach where there is a free car park and toilets.

We missed the worst of the storm and in fact had two amazing sunsets during the weekend.

So since this blog has had a maritime flavour set against the background of ‘Storm Babet’, I thought I’d finish by asking a question raised by this old hymn, sung a cappella, which I really like.

It’s good to be safely anchored for life and death in Jesus, there are certainly many storms around these days!

Every blessing Matthew

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