[Gathnet] Ancestral Church of the Gathman's in Steimbke, Deutschland

[stuart gathman]

Dear Gathnetters,

I was fooling around yesterday with Google Maps and was looking at our 
ancestral town,  Steimbke, Deutschland.   I was in fact looking for the 
St. Dionysius Kirche in the satellite views.   Yes of course the Kirche 
was in the satellite view but they also had a very good photo of the 
church.  (You must turn on "pictures" in Google to see this photo.)  I 
also had fun looking at photos from Helgoland and the Dutch coast which 
brought back many memories.

In addtion, to Europe,  Google also has fairly good satellite views of 
parts of Africa.  I was able to see the railroad station in Kigoma, 
Tanzania by the great lakes there as well as a lot of the town of Kasulu 
where we spent so much time.  I was not able to pick out the Cathedral 
church there however.

In Cameroon,  Beth's old stamping grounds,  they had Maroua and some 
other towns I recognized by name.  I couldn't find the Hide village.   
I'll bet Beth can find it easily.

They even have a good photo of Jim and Sue's house in San Marcos!
We finally have a high speed internet system here at Pilgrim Rest so I 
can do a lot more with the internet.    One of our favorites is to watch 
the services at near by Shadow Mountain Community Church.  During the 
summer they have a special speaker series which is well worth watching.  
They have these services archived so you can watch them anytime.   We 
especially enjoyed Joel Rosenburg and Bill Butterworth.

The solar electric system is working great!  We were even able to watch 
the meter go backward while the air conditioners were going!!!    Last 
month's power bill consisted of fees and taxes which amounted to less 
than $5.00. 
Jim wrote yesterday from the ship "Makin Island, LHD8"  enroute to San 
Diego.  They are currently off South American Coast just north of Brazil. 
What marvelous blessings we have these days from technology.  Doing all 
these things from your armchair!    As Dickens said:  "It was the best 
of days and it was the worst of days"   referring to the political 
situation around the world.

Love to you all,  der Altgrossvater