Back in the saddle again

Actually, it is back to monstrous projects again. Do you remember when I built a tomb for the resurrection scene for our church? The tomb has fallen and its skin lies moldering in the yard beside a church building. But I have been requested to build a volcano for Vacation Bible School. A big volcano. A big working volcano. You know what a temptation that was for me. So I have started the project, even took a vacation day to work on it. The idea is that the three triangular prisms all fit together to make a cone. Having the volcano in three sections will make it easier to cover in papier mâché.


The frame for this is 2X4 lumber and metal studs. The skin is chicken wire. Presently the structure is eleven feet tall and about sixteen feet wide at the base. There will be a top section added with all the fireworks. Patience, dear reader, all will be revealed.

Semi-permanent vacation

It has been so long since I posted that I forgot how to sign in. It took a while to get to my dashboard. Anyway, here's the deal: I'm busier than ever. So just amuse yourself by reading the archives or clicking the links to other bloggers that are more committed than I am.

Rachel, Annie, Patti, Paul, Mindy, Phyllis, Jonathan, family members, and other readers, I thank you for the comments over the years (yeah, years of blogging). I will try checking in on your sites from time to time. Enjoy the blogosphere.

Not dead, just occupied

"With what?" you might ask. Work, church, genealogy, and a conference.

Work. I am teaching two online classes, one of which I have never taught online before. It means writing up and posting lecture notes as well as quizzes and discussion questions. And now there are papers to grade. I am teaching one class in Big Flat City fifty miles south of here that takes me out on Tuesday nights. Papers to grade in that class, too. Then there are the two classes I am teaching here on the home campus. And our institution has been preparing for and going through an accreditation review. And through it all we have been worried about our students and faculty in Kenya. Our two faculty members from the US were able to complete their mission and return safely (praise God), but many of our students have lost family members, houses, and businesses. Our campus has been giving attention to Africa most of January and into this month.

Church. Rather than starting the year by getting all the projects scheduled, our church staff has spent the weeks praying together and listening for God's direction. They have focused on prayer in the worship services, Sunday school, and Wednesday evening services as well. This has been a good time of growing together and remembering why we are called to be the body of Christ.

Genealogy. I've been doing more research on my great-great-great-great-great-great-uncle Epaphroditus Howle who was a plantation manager for Martha Dandridge Custis. After she married George Washington, "Dite" worked for the General. That is, until he got fired by Martha's steward. I am still checking that out. But there is our family name in the Papers of George Washington (vol. 6, 7, and 8).

Conference. At the juncture of the two months, I went to a conference in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a gathering of Baptists from a variety of denominations. Those of you who are Baptist will realize that there are many stripes of Baptists and we have been chiefly visible to the 21st century world by our vociferous disagreement with each other. But this conference focused on unity. We reaffirmed the principles which have characterized us through the centuries and encouraged one another to live out the ministries God has given us. If you want to see some mighty fine preaching and some moving testimonies by such Baptist lay people as John Grisham, Bill Clinton, Marian Edelman, and Jimmy Carter, check out the New Baptist Covenant website. One of the main reasons I went was to see and hear my former pastor from San Francisco days, Julie Pennington-Russell. Be sure to check out her sermon--she did a fantastic job. I not only got to spend time with old friends, but met new ones and had an experience of great hope.

So I haven't been idle. And I may not post again for another couple of weeks, but I will be checking on your blogs from time to time.

Happy New Year

How was your holiday season? Cat, her sister, and I went to California to see our grandson (and his parents, of course). Here I am reading to Orion (Scout is pretending not to be interested, but he was). We spent four days with grandson, son, daughter-in-law, and her parents. Even though all the adults had agreed that Orion did not need nearly as many presents as last year, the Christmas tree had no unoccupied real estate below the branches. Orion's first hour on Christmas morning was spent playing with Thomas trains. He knows all of them by name, so he was delighted by all the trains he got.

The weather in southern CA was gorgeous, but as a result of arriving 5 hours later than scheduled, we were bumped from a full-size car to a two-door convertible. Luggage handling was an issue as well as three adults nearing 60-years-old squeezing into the car. Cat and Carol pose in the car with the top down. We did drive along the shore with the top down, but it got pretty cool for the back-seat passengers.

Getting ready for Christmas

This year our church is presenting a cantata with orchestra, video images, and dramatic scenes. I am the stage manager. The scene pictured here is of Mary and Joseph with the infant Jesus. I designed the set and led the team that built it. Turned out OK, I think. I am also in charge of the actors. The scene depicted above will have four angels enter stage right. I captured the photo below as the angels were awaiting their entrance. Aren't they just precious?

Office cat

SpookyRach suggested that I needed a cat for my office. Hey! I already have one! And it is very low maintenance. My mom painted this one about ten years ago. Every week or so I move it to a different location in the office. Oh, I have decorated the office for Christmas. I'll take some pix and post them later.

Yeah, the utilities workers came by and dug a hole in our street to fix the broken water pipe. I guess the part where they put asphalt over the mud comes later. For now we have a big mud square in front of our driveway.

Suddenlink did get our phone line operative, so now everything works--phone, internet, cable TV. The cost is lower than those three services purchased separately from other vendors, so I am happy. Just hope that Suddenlink is reliable.

I am so far behind on my preparation for the classes I teach online! Thank goodness for the upcoming Christmas break. Maybe I can get two or three lessons ahead. OK, it's bedtime now.