It's Just Paper

There is nothing simple or ordinary 

about his paper art. Where we would 

simply use a piece of paper and a pair 

of scissors, Calvin uses everything you 

could possibly think of to carve, 

cut and rip perfect details onto his 

creations. The motifs are all wildlife, 

and that must be one of the hardest 

categories of things to make with 

paper since there are sometimes 

impossible details on animals. These 

details are amazing, and I can't even 

fathom the time it must have taken 

to create these masterpieces of art. 

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By paper artist - Calvin Nicholls 

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I Need Propped Up Sometimes

I don't know about you guys but 

I need propped up sometimes.....

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Every time I am asked to pray, I think of the old 

fellow who always prayed, 'Lord, prop us up on 

our leanin' side. 

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'After hearing him pray that prayer many times, 

someone asked him why he prayed that prayer 

so fervently?

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He answered, "Well sir, you see, it's like this... 

I got an old  barn out back.  It's been there 

a long time; it's withstood a lot of weather;

it's gone through a lot of storms, and it's stood 

for many years. It's still standing. But one day 

I noticed it was leaning to one side a bit." 

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"So I went and got some pine poles and propped 

it up on its leaning side so it wouldn't fall.

Then I got to thinking about that and how much 

I was like that old barn. I've been around a long 

time.  I've withstood a lot of life's storms.

I've withstood a lot of bad weather in life, 

I've withstood a lot of hard times, and I'm still 

standing too." 

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"But I find myself leaning to one side from time 

to time, so I like to ask the Lord to prop us up on 

our leaning side, 'cause I figure a lot of us get to 

leaning at times." 

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"Sometimes we get to leaning toward anger, 

leaning toward bitterness, leaning toward hatred,

leaning toward cussing, leaning toward a lot of 

things that we shouldn't." 

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"So we need to pray, "Lord, prop us up on our 

leanin' side, so we will stand straight and tall 

again, to Glorify the Lord." 

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If you Stare at This Barn for a second you 

will see who will help us stand straight 

and tall again. Do You See HIM? 

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Pass This On to Others Who 

Might Need Propping Up.
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Need A Good Baby Sitter?

Do you need a really patient caring 
baby sitter for your little darling? 

 
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POWER OF THE STORM - Part 1

Power of the Storm: 

44 Ferocious Waves Attacking Lighthouses

When you don’t live close to a coastline or a major 
body of water, seeing the waves when you visit is 
exciting. But there are times when the waves turn 
into churning monsters of nature that attack 
man-made objects like lighthouses. Those exciting 
huge waves are then terrifyingly ferocious. Yet 
some people are held spellbound by nature’s fury. 
And some are amazingly brave and talented 
 photographers who capture that perfect split 
second to share with us. Lighthouses are found 
worldwide, marking dangerous coastlines and 
lighting the way to safe harbor. Can you imagine 
being inside a lighthouse while nature is doing 
her stormy best to chew it up and destroy it with 
punishing waves? In this collection of fantastic 
photos, it’s nature vs man-made lighthouses and 
landmarks. It’s a struggle; the power of the 
storm’s ferocious waves are attacking the 
architecture of man. Which do you think will 
win? We love these pics! [22 Photos on each part] 

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The photographer described this awesome shot 
as, “Stormy weather and rough seas at Roker 
Lighthouse.” Photo #1 by © Gail Johnson 

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Grand Haven Lighthouse. The photographer 
described, “In this picture is the outer and 
inner light. The outer light is 36′ tall and the 
inner light is 51′ tall. I was able to venture 
out safely about 150′ with out getting washed 
into the water. Twice I got a bath from the 
waist down. As the remnants of the record 
low pressure moved on this past weekend 
the waves on Lake Michigan were pretty 
rough. When we got the beach in the early 
afternoon winds were topping out at 50 mph 
making for some huge waves breaking on the 
end of the pier by the outer light. Some of the 
breaks were reaching 40′ tall.”
Photo #2 by © Luke Hertzfeld 

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Blizzard Rams New England. 1978 Pulitzer 
Prize, Feature Photography, Staff 
Photographers of Boston Herald American. 
The lighthouse is 114 feet high, which 
means that foam is spraying 100 feet into 
the air, propelled upward by a raging sea 
that sinks ships and floods towns up and 
down the coast.
It is Feb. 8, 1978. A blizzard has rammed 
New England, shutting down roads, 
businesses and schools. Snow buries 
everything. Nothing moves. Kevin Cole, 
chief photographer at The Boston Herald 
American, is stuck in Plymouth, Mass. 
“The snow was over the house. I’ve 
never seen anything like it.” Determined 
to cover the storm, Cole heads for the 
Hyannis airport. “I found this place 
called Discover Flying School. The wind 
was blowing. The pilot said ‘You’re crazy, 
nobody’s going up.’”
Before long, they are airborne. “It was this 
little, tiny plane. We took off. The whole 
coastline was gone, houses in the water, 
houses floating, waves crashing inside 
them. About two miles out, I saw Minot 
Light.”
In the raging wind, they circle the 
lighthouse. The pilot tells Cole, “We 
can’t stay out here any longer.’ Just as 
he started to turn, I saw a huge wave. 
That’s when I got that shot, and that’s 
the same time I threw up.”
Other Herald American photographers 
fan out around the region, photographing 
the blizzard’s destruction: Villages buried 
in freezing flood waters, commuters 
trapped in snow-covered cars. The 
newspaper publishes a special section, 
which chronicles the worst New England 
storm in 200 years—54 dead, 10,000 
homeless and evacuated. Photo #3 by 
Staff Photographers of Boston Herald 
American via cliff1066™ 

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The hard life of the lighthouse. 
Photo #4 by Juan José Aza 

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Monster waves: Rough weather for 
lighthouse keepers. Photo #5 by 
Mariners Weather Log/NOAA 

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Aftermath of the Winter Storm: 
The photographer described this 
photo as, “30 foot tall outer light 
of the St. Joseph, Michigan after 
a severe winter storm. Waves on 
Lake Michigan were said to be 
over 20 feet high, which pounded 
the lighthouse and covered it in ice 
feet thick in places. Workers were 
just finishing up a paint job when 
the storm hit. The scaffold was 
demolished and is also covered 
in a thick layer of ice.”
“The walk to the lighthouse was 
treacherous- the pier is also 
covered in a layer of ice. Most 
of the way was slow going, but 
the walk next to the inner light 
was the most difficult. There is 
only a path about 20 inches wide 
with the lighthouse to your left, 
and the frigid lake to your right. 
I managed to carefully negotiate 
the path and make it out to the 
outer light. In hindsight, I’m lucky 
I didn’t go for an unexpected winter 
swim.” Photo #6 by Tom Gill 

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Ice Drapery: Ice formed on the 
St. Joseph, Michigan lighthouse 
and catwalk during a winter storm 
that churned up Lake Michigan 
and created 20 foot waves. The 
ice apparently broke the “hand rail” 
cables on the catwalk, and they are 
now drooping down with tons of ice. 
Photo #7 by Tom Gill 

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The Oswego Lighthouse is awash 
with waves during a November 2003 
storm with 80 mph winds. Photo #8 
by © 2003 Jon R. Vermilye via 
http://www.byways.org 

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Porthcawl Harbor Storm. 
Photo #9 by Nick Russill 

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South Haven Pier. Gale force winds 
pound the South Haven, Michigan 
lighthouse and pier during a two day 
storm. Gusts of over 50 miles per 
hour created 16 to 20 foot waves in 
open water. Photo #10 by Tom Gill 

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Furious Lake Michigan Petoskey – 
waves and ice. Photo #11 by 
Charles Dawley 

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Winds 30-40, gusts to 55, mid lake 
waves at 17-22 ft, very impressive 
storm. This was taken from the 
beach at Frankfort Michigan. The 
 lighthouse in the photo is 76 ft tall. 
Photo #12 by Jim Sorbie 

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Gale force winds throughout the day 
churned up Lake Michigan and 
created high waves along the South 
Haven, Michigan shore. The 
lighthouse tower is 35 feet tall (from 
the pier) another six feet to the water 
– making that splash around 50 feet 
tall. Photo #13 by Nwardez 

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The photographer and friend were 
sprayed while capturing photos of 
waves. Photo #14 by Olga 

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“Big Water” – Ludington North 
Breakwater Light. The North 
Breakwater Light is 57” feet tall 
and the Lake Michigan waves were 
going much higher! Photo #15 by 
James Marvin Phelps 

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Artic Blast – Ludington South 
Breakwater Light. Photo #16 by 
James Marvin Phelps 

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Liquid Thunder – Waves Crashing 
into Grand Marais Harbor Light. 
Photo #17 by James Marvin Phelps 

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Battered Grand Haven Pier Light. 
Photo #18 by James Marvin Phelps 

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Wollongong Lighthouse & Waves. 
Photo #19 by Steven (The Waterboy) 

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Petoskey Winter Storm. 
Photo #20 by Charles Dawley 

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Wind, waves and water. Beautiful 
but pounding at the coastline and 
the lighthouse. Photo #21 by Earl 
Wilkerson 

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Bajamar in the Canary Islands of Spain. 
Photo #22 by Olga Díez 

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