Tropical cyclones are at the same time exciting, frightening and boring. If you could only see Beth and I right now. We've been sitting around glued to CNN and The Weather Channel, as well as our local news channel, watching as Gustav bears down on Louisiana. From 4 am to 9 am, we were under constant tornado warnings. We've seen gusts up to 45 mph here and a couple of inches of rain.
Yesterday evening we drove out to the beach and took a walk on the pier. I wish I'd had my video camera. The clouds were amazing. The surf was big -- not huge -- but building and the wind picked up quite a bit as we stood with dozens of others watching dolphins play. We also saw some really cool jellyfish, a ray and a huge sea turtle.
The cool thing about a hurricane or tropical storm is how it brings a community together. The parking lot at the beach was quite full and as we walked over the boardwalk to the beach we were struck by the number of people standing at the water's edge, talking with one another, sharing stories, sharing lives.
Before the storm, wherever you go, whether the supermarket, a restaurant, a hardware store, it's what people are talking about. "Be safe," is a common replacement for "goodbye." You find people helping others in making preparations to their homes.
After the storm, you find rampant acts of kindness and neighborliness. It's really rather remarkable.
But I'm bored at the moment. There's that whole mix of wanting to see something dramatic happen on the TV coverage of the storm, but not wanting the dramatic thing to happen because you know it directly affects another person's life in a negative way. Does that happen to you?
Guess I'll go eat lunch now.
And watch some more Anderson Cooper and Jim Cantore.
Sep 1, 2008
Aug 26, 2008
How not to wake up
So Beth is already up and I'm lounging in bed, not ready to leave it when Beth comes in and says, "We have no water."
Oy.
So of course, being the man that I am, I have to see for myself. Dang it if she isn't right.
What now? Well, of course, we have to get dressed and go to Starbucks. Duh...
(You know, there are things that have to be taken care of first thing in the morning)
We walk into Starbucks and there are signs on the restrooms stating, "Out of Order. We have no water."
Oy. OY!!
We ask if they know anything and they said that there is a water main that ruptured. I grab a tall brew and we head home again. Just for the heck of it, Beth turns on the kitchen faucet. Voila!! Water!! Thank you, water people!!!
We're happy again.
Oy.
So of course, being the man that I am, I have to see for myself. Dang it if she isn't right.
What now? Well, of course, we have to get dressed and go to Starbucks. Duh...
(You know, there are things that have to be taken care of first thing in the morning)
We walk into Starbucks and there are signs on the restrooms stating, "Out of Order. We have no water."
Oy. OY!!
We ask if they know anything and they said that there is a water main that ruptured. I grab a tall brew and we head home again. Just for the heck of it, Beth turns on the kitchen faucet. Voila!! Water!! Thank you, water people!!!
We're happy again.
Goodbye Fay, hello Gustav
This should be interesting...
It's an interesting perspective to live at the target end of a shooting gallery.
So Fay was pretty much a non-event for us, although I know that there are many for whom is has been and still is a major problem. We were expecting Sunday morning to be crazy stormy, but we awoke to blue skies and clear air. Early Monday morning was when we got the tail whip of stormy weather, but that lasted only a couple of hours really.
Gustav? Anybody's guess for now...
It's an interesting perspective to live at the target end of a shooting gallery.
So Fay was pretty much a non-event for us, although I know that there are many for whom is has been and still is a major problem. We were expecting Sunday morning to be crazy stormy, but we awoke to blue skies and clear air. Early Monday morning was when we got the tail whip of stormy weather, but that lasted only a couple of hours really.
Gustav? Anybody's guess for now...
Aug 5, 2008
August! What happened to the rest of the year?
Can you believe that school is about to start back -- that the summer, for all intents and purposes, is over?
BTW - I don't have in my possession the 4th-of-July-in-KS pictures I promised -- yet.
Right after returning from our trip I got slammed with an upper respiratory infection that laid me out for a full week. I had a cough that felt like the end of the world. I'm still on my second round of antibiotics.
Then I lost my voice. Then I strained it, so I chose not to speak for about 4 days and I've been struggling to get it back since. It's been rather difficult for me. I mean -- I'm a singer for cryin' out loud! I also teach voice. There is something disheartening about a vocal coach who can barely croak his way through a conversation, much less actually sing and demonstrate technique. Oy!
Sunday mornings have been brutal leading worship. I've made it through, but barely.
And now I'm back at raising support which means I'm on the phone hour-after-hour.
And waaa, waaa, waa. And waaa, wa waaaa.
Pray for me.
We had a good weekend attending a training seminar for missionaries raising support. It was, on the one hand, brutal and tiring -- 2 days, 10 hours each, sitting on standard church folding chairs -- as well as intense (we spent 26 hours in preparation for the weekend). But on the other hand, it was encouraging, motivating and informative and we came away with some good tools.
That's about it for now.
Peace out...
BTW - I don't have in my possession the 4th-of-July-in-KS pictures I promised -- yet.
Right after returning from our trip I got slammed with an upper respiratory infection that laid me out for a full week. I had a cough that felt like the end of the world. I'm still on my second round of antibiotics.
Then I lost my voice. Then I strained it, so I chose not to speak for about 4 days and I've been struggling to get it back since. It's been rather difficult for me. I mean -- I'm a singer for cryin' out loud! I also teach voice. There is something disheartening about a vocal coach who can barely croak his way through a conversation, much less actually sing and demonstrate technique. Oy!
Sunday mornings have been brutal leading worship. I've made it through, but barely.
And now I'm back at raising support which means I'm on the phone hour-after-hour.
And waaa, waaa, waa. And waaa, wa waaaa.
Pray for me.
We had a good weekend attending a training seminar for missionaries raising support. It was, on the one hand, brutal and tiring -- 2 days, 10 hours each, sitting on standard church folding chairs -- as well as intense (we spent 26 hours in preparation for the weekend). But on the other hand, it was encouraging, motivating and informative and we came away with some good tools.
That's about it for now.
Peace out...
Jul 9, 2008
Good trip, good times
We landed in Tulsa at 2 pm on Wednesday last week. It was somewhere near 100˚, but it was a dry heat, so we hardly felt it. Yeah, right. Last year, when we flew into Wichita we made our way to a local mall and, while I got the best massage of my life from one of the guys set up in the middle of the mall, Beth got a pedicure. These are indulgences we enjoy maybe once a year, so as we arrived in Tulsa, we thought, "Why not?"
We didn't want to go far out of our way, so we looked on a city map and found a mall that would suffice. I started to get a funny feeling when, as we came closer to the location of the mall, there were fewer and fewer new, or even open businesses, especially things like restaurants.
Coming up over a hill, I said, "There it is."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, the name's not quite the same, but maybe they've changed it."
It looked all but abandoned. We had to give up on our dream of self-indulgence. Oh well.
So we drove to my sister Dianne's house on Tonkawa, about an hour and a half away.
After having dinner (delicious grilled chicken prepared by our nephew Mark) Dianne, Beth and I made our way to Tonkawa Methodist to meet with the missions committee and share about our mission work in Ireland. The meeting went really well and we should hear back from them in the near future as to whether they will be able to become a Ministry Partner.
Thursday we drove to Elm Mills in southern Kansas. It's about 15 miles south of Pratt, the town I grew up in. (Wow, double preposition at the end of a sentence -- call the grammar police!)
Here's a list of the cast:
Beth - my wife
Molly - my daughter
Me - me
Dianne - my sister
Ken - her husband
Mark - her son (18)
Stephen - her other son (16)
Dennis - my brother
Judit - his significant other
It was a great weekend. Time to spend with family and reconnect with old friends. Photos and videos will follow.
Sunday morning, Beth and I got up early and drove into Pratt. We spoke at three services and a Sunday school class. We came home with a few donations and contact info for a bunch of individuals. We also had a good number of giving envelopes disappear (pray for those!). We originally were only going to be able to speak at the first and third services, as there wouldn't be time at the second one. However, Beth and I were praying (unbeknown to one another) that we would be able to speak at that service, as well. Right after we arrived, Pastor Dan said, "Good news! Well, kind of. At least for you it is. The guy that does our Children's Sermon second service has to perform surgery this morning, so now we will have time to let you speak."
Many familiar faces. Not quite as many names came to mind as faces I recognized.
Monday we drove back to Tulsa and stayed overnight with my college roommate Chris Theis. Tuesday morning we were up at 4 am to catch a 6:20 flight. Tuesday afternoon, we both taught lessons.
Today, we're tired.
We didn't want to go far out of our way, so we looked on a city map and found a mall that would suffice. I started to get a funny feeling when, as we came closer to the location of the mall, there were fewer and fewer new, or even open businesses, especially things like restaurants.
Coming up over a hill, I said, "There it is."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, the name's not quite the same, but maybe they've changed it."
It looked all but abandoned. We had to give up on our dream of self-indulgence. Oh well.
So we drove to my sister Dianne's house on Tonkawa, about an hour and a half away.
After having dinner (delicious grilled chicken prepared by our nephew Mark) Dianne, Beth and I made our way to Tonkawa Methodist to meet with the missions committee and share about our mission work in Ireland. The meeting went really well and we should hear back from them in the near future as to whether they will be able to become a Ministry Partner.
Thursday we drove to Elm Mills in southern Kansas. It's about 15 miles south of Pratt, the town I grew up in. (Wow, double preposition at the end of a sentence -- call the grammar police!)
Here's a list of the cast:
Beth - my wife
Molly - my daughter
Me - me
Dianne - my sister
Ken - her husband
Mark - her son (18)
Stephen - her other son (16)
Dennis - my brother
Judit - his significant other
It was a great weekend. Time to spend with family and reconnect with old friends. Photos and videos will follow.
Sunday morning, Beth and I got up early and drove into Pratt. We spoke at three services and a Sunday school class. We came home with a few donations and contact info for a bunch of individuals. We also had a good number of giving envelopes disappear (pray for those!). We originally were only going to be able to speak at the first and third services, as there wouldn't be time at the second one. However, Beth and I were praying (unbeknown to one another) that we would be able to speak at that service, as well. Right after we arrived, Pastor Dan said, "Good news! Well, kind of. At least for you it is. The guy that does our Children's Sermon second service has to perform surgery this morning, so now we will have time to let you speak."
Many familiar faces. Not quite as many names came to mind as faces I recognized.
Monday we drove back to Tulsa and stayed overnight with my college roommate Chris Theis. Tuesday morning we were up at 4 am to catch a 6:20 flight. Tuesday afternoon, we both taught lessons.
Today, we're tired.
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