Praising Yah with seaweed shofars…

Praise ye YHVH. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the shofar: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise YHVH. Praise ye YHVH. (Psalm 150)

But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves.(Malachi 4:2)

Several of us have gathered together to celebrate Sukkot here on the gloriously scenic Oregon coast for the past week. During this time, we have not just been looking out our windows and sitting by idly twiddling our thumbs! NO! We have been having fun.

The weather has been summer-like—amazingly warm for this time of the year. Yesterday, it was about 80˚F and three of us even (including me) spent about 45 minutes swimming in the chilly Pacific Ocean jumping waves and body surfing. The water temperature was only 54˚F.

On Monday seven of us went bottom fishing just off shore. While some of us were catching fish, the several of us became sea sick including me.

On Tuesday, a group of us went on a several mile nature hike to a prominent point overlooking the Pacific where we took in some magnificent views.

Along the way, we strolled through an old-growth Sitka spruce forest. One tree was about nine feet in diameter!

On Wednesday we visited the old-town bay front of a local fishing port where we had lunch, shopped and amused ourselves while watching the barking sea lions.

On Thursday, we played on the beach and beach combed, then the group came to our home were he had a hot dog roast over a wood fire. We fellowshipped and Anna brought her guitar and we sang praise and worship songs.

On Friday, we hung out, prepared for Shabbat, and three of us went for a swim in the ocean, and then we went over to Anna’s house for a multi-course erev Shabbat dinner. We fellowshipped and concluded the evening with praise and worship.

Now it is Shabbat morning and the seventh day of Sukkot (Hoshana Rabbah or the Last Great Day) and I am preparing for our regular online Shabbat meeting.

May YHVH bless you and yours during the remainder of the festival of Sukkot 2023!