Lums Pond State Park, Bear, Delaware
He blessed them that day and said, “In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing: May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.” So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers. And to you, as one who is over your brothers, I give the ridge of land I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.” (possibly referring to chapter 34) ~ Genesis 48:20-22 We discover Joseph eventually made it ‘back to the land of your fathers’ in Joshua 24:32, after the time of Moses. It would seem that the Israelites carried his bones all around the desert with them. This same plot of land is also mentioned as being near where Jesus met the woman at the well (John 4:5). The Word of God has so many prophetic examples! Many are tied between the Old and New Testaments. It’s one of the reasons why the Old Testament is just as important to believers as the New is. Never fall into the lie that the Old Testament isn’t relevant since we have the New. Jesus, as well as the writers of the New Testament often quote or mention things from the Old in their sayings and writings. As Paul tells us in II Timothy 3:16, “ALL Scripture is God-breathed…”
Have you ever watched the Weather Channel when the correspondents are trying to walk in hurricane force winds? That’s what it felt like we were doing today on our bikes! But thankfully, only on our way back. We had to keep our heads down to prevent the wind from stealing our hats, which meant staring at the endless white line down the center of the path most of the way back.
We covered 21-22 miles in 2 ½ to 3 hours today on the asphalted bike trail that runs alongside the Chesapeake and Delaware canal, but we were home by 10:30am because the weatherman promised another stinkin’ hot day with high humidity. I guess I should be thankful for that stiff breeze, right? 😊
The geese here don’t like to share the road. They were standing in the middle of our bike lane and when it became obvious we were going to win in their game of chicken, they moved over and actually hissed at us when we rode by!
Not long after, we had to take on a few vultures. Fortunately, they seemed content to share. But get a load of this tidbit of information – – a group of vultures are called by three different names, depending on what they’re doing. Who knew?!? They’re either a ‘committee’, a ‘kettle’, or a ‘wake’. ‘Kettle’ is when you see a group of them flying. ‘Committee’ is when you see them resting in trees or posts, etc. And can you guess when they’re a ‘wake’? It’s when a group is feeding on dead stuff.
We unexpectantly came upon a cemetery on our way to our final destination today – historic downtown Delaware City.
That’s because it’s a new addition to my stinkin’ hot shirt collection.
Not sure it’s a collection – – I only have two now. : )
Blaine had thought to find a donut shop in or near town, but that was a bust. And since we were there at 8:30am, the entire town was really quiet.
By the way, Gettysburg is 125 miles away; if that’s indeed what they mean by the prisoner population swell.
And then it was time to face the music – or the wind as it were – and head home, where Blaine eagerly set his hands to baking my double lemon muffins. Mouth-wateringly good!!! Recipe below.
DOUBLE LEMON MUFFINS
SYRUP:
½ C. sugar
¾ C. water
Zest of 1 lemon
¼ C. lemon juice (use zested lemon and add Real Lemon juice as needed)
BATTER:
3 ½ C. flour
1 T. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 ½ C. sugar
Zest of 2 lemons
1 C. milk
¼ C. lemon juice (same as above)
2 eggs
2 sticks butter, melted
Additional sugar for topping
FOR SYRUP:
Combine sugar, water, lemon zest and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cover and boil over medium heat for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
FOR BATTER:
In a large bowl, combine flour baking powder, soda, salt and sugar. Stir well. In a small bowl, combine lemon rind, milk, lemon juice and eggs. Stir well. Add egg mixture and melted butter to dry ingredients. Stir quickly, just to combine. Pour the batter into greased muffin tins (or paper cups), filling almost to the top.
Sprinkle each muffin with about 1 t. sugar.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until rounded and golden brown. Remove from oven and place pans on a wire rack. With a thin skewer poke holes all over each muffin going all the way thru to the bottom.
While still warm, spoon the lemon syrup over the muffins. Cool and serve.
Makes 18