My shower curtain has an atlas on it. Directly in front of the toilet are the islands of the South Pacific. Just about everyday I contemplate what goes on on these islands. I mean it looks like someone accidently splattered paint on it. There are islands everywhere and they are so small. How do people live there so far removed from the rest of the world?

For example, the islands of Yap (which is a large island and a few smallers ones) has 6,300 residents. The islands area is about 39 square miles. They are known for their large stone money which are discs up to eight feet in diameter. Some of them take 20 men to move them. So they stay where they are and everybody knows who they belong to. Actually, they are not used as currency any more. They have switched to the US dollar.

Or how about Nauru? Nauru is the world's smallest island nation, covering just 21 km² (8.1 sq. mi), the smallest independent republic, and the only republican state in the world without an official capital. The island has a population of 13000 residents. Nauruans are among the most obese people in the world, with 90% of adults overweight. Nauru has the world's highest level of type 2 diabetes, with more than 40% of the population affected.

Just think--these are just two of the vast number of inhabited islands in the South Pacific. These islands do exist. Let me state that I did get my information off of Wikipedia, which has recently been shown to contain questionable information. See earlier blog post.

 

Here we are on the wrong side of Lake Michigan in Manitowoc WI.

We headed to this exotic locale for the wedding of a friend of mine. Her name is Clare and we worked together at Cooperstown Bible Camp in Cooperstown ND together. I hadn't seen her since she moved out of "The Cities". Going to her wedding reminded me of all the great friendships I had formed at this camp in the middle of now where North Dakota. Why is it hard to stay in touch with friends in this age of instant messaging and email and cell phones?

All this to say that I am thankful to a bunch of people that accepted me without question and without having to prove that I was worthy of their friendship. I appreciate you.