Twelve Years Together

The field corn is tasseling, the sweet corn is in and farmers are threshing wheat. This week has been hot for June but it cooled off by the weekend to make Trash and Treasures, the annual yard sale in Cross Plains, rather pleasant. It was also nice for the Hancock reunion we went to this evening.

MY WIFE CAN SING! I am so proud of Vicki! I have heard her sing around the house for years. She has a great voice and I have been urging her to share it at church. While she has been singing in the choir for years it has only been recently that she has sung in an ensemble and this is a big struggle as she suffers from severe stage fright. A week ago Wednesday Brent, our Minister of Music, called and asked her if she would sing a solo (the first verse to Fairest Lord Jesus). According to Vicki that call ruined a perfectly great day. She had a boulder in her stomach the rest of the week. Despite her anxiety she did sing Sunday morning and did a great job. She gives credit to God for the ability to stand on stage and sing praise to Him without throwing up. I was very proud of her.

The back story on this is that Vicki used to sing solos in church when she was little in Illinois. When they moved to Tennessee Pauline sort of warned Vicki that their new church did things differently than their old church. She has always felt this discouraged Vicki from ever singing solos again. We had not told anyone Vicki was going to sing so Pauline found out when she walked into Sunday school and looked in the worship folder. She teared up as she told her class this was an answer to her prayers. According to my mom, when Vicki sang Pauline was so overcome with joy that she had teared up again and was speechless. I think the hug and words of affirmation Vicki got from Pauline was the most treasured compliment she got that day.

TWELVE YEARS AND COUNTING. Sunday was our 12th anniversary! Our gift to each other was a night at Opryland Hotel. We left for our get away after eating lunch with the kids Sunday.

After eight years of Vicki being a stay at home mom and living on one salary Vicki and I just don’t look at things like the average American seems to do. We would not have even considered staying at Opryland Hotel if it weren’t for a really great deal Vicki found (we got 70% off on the room). After checking in we were walking around trying to figure out what to do and where to eat when we started laughing at ourselves. The truth of the matter is that we’re just too cheap to stay at a place like that.

What attracted us to Opryland Hotel was their Summer Fest activities, all of which were free. We spent Sunday evening listening to a great concert by a local band. They were followed by a performance of the Peking Acrobats. That was one of the most amazing shows I’ve seen. I had no idea human beings could do some of the things they did. After that we saw a water show (sort of like fireworks with a water fountain and lights).

Monday we went to the Frist Center for the Egypt exhibit. They had a lot of artifacts from ancient Egyptian tombs on display which was really fascinating. We were really astounded at what they would do to ensure their people had a good afterlife.

PINK MANIA. When I was a kid (or “Back in the day...” if you prefer) the only time kid oriented programming came on TV was for a couple of hours after school (there were no talk shows) and on Saturday mornings. Well, there was the programming on PBS too. Anyway, I think my all out favorite cartoon was the Pink Panther. Yes, I like Bugs Bunny and his friends, Tom and Jerry, the Three Stooges and the Little Rascals. I also considered myself a Mouseketeer as a kid. But Pink is my favorite. I think it is because the humor is based almost entirely on sight gags.

Since they don’t run cable TV where we live and we’ve never gotten satellite I haven’t seen a Pink Panther cartoon in about 30 years. This weekend I found a DVD with three hours of the Pink. I am in Pink Panther Heaven! (Yes, I am easily entertained.) The best thing is that I am winning my family over. Vicki was the hardest sell as she never enjoyed Pink as a kid. Now if I can just find Volumes 1 and 2 of that DVD set....

REMINISCING. With the Pink Panther on my mind and VBS from last week I was thinking about VBS when I was a kid. Our pastor then was Bro. Don Dorris. Bro. Dorris loved to collect John Wayne movies and shorts such as cartoons, Three Stooges and Little Rascals films. This was before VCRs hit the consumer market so all this was on 16 mm filmstrip. Every day during snack time at VBS we’d pile into the church basement with our Kool-Aid and cookies, turn off the lights and enjoy the show. Funny that I don’t remember a single Bible story from VBS but I remember those cartoons and comedy shorts. Maybe that’s why I do the videos of the kids at VBS today.

HOME--WHERE CHAOS REIGNS. We have been painting our bedroom. That means everything except the bed and free standing wardrobe have been moved into the hall. You have to be careful at night so that you don’t stub your toe.

The big problem has been prepping the walls to take paint. The paint on two of the walls has been flaking for quite some time. The odd thing is that this has only happened on those two walls and only within five feet of the floor. We’ve wondered what has been applied to the walls in the past. So anyway, I scraped and sanded. Then I scraped and sanded again. After scraping a third time I felt it was time to apply the primer. As soon as all the stubborn spots got wet they peeled right up. Hopefully everything that is ever going to flake off the walls has done so by now.

We estimated it would take two gallons of paint to do the job. Vicki kept trying to talk herself into liking the color as she painted. (I must agree that it was a bit strong.) Benton’s comment the next morning, “Why is it orange?” convinced her that something had to be done. She went to the paint store and found a great color to tone it down, and thankfully one coat did the job. Anyone need a gallon of “Why is it orange?” paint?

I am quite ready to get our bedroom back together. But just as soon as that happens we’ll tackle the foyer....

Joe

News from SonTreasure Island

Sorry for the delay in this edition, but when Vacation Bible School starts up just about all other activities come to a halt. VBS is always a highlight of the summer for our whole family. Vicki taught Second Grade and I did the videos again. We had a great time and averaged 200 or more each night. Since our curriculum had an island theme this year I have caught many people on tape doing the hula (including Vicki). The kids (and adults) really enjoyed seeing all their “moments” on the big screens.

BRING A FRIEND? On the opening night of VBS, during the worship rally, one of the leaders asked the kids to raise their hand if they brought a friend. Of course, the understanding is that the friend is someone who doesn’t attend church. When Ben and his best buddy, Ethan Bibb, heard this they looked at each other and raised their hands (Ethan and his family attend our church). Ben had a hard time understanding why he and Ethan couldn’t bring each other. All the adults who know what a pair of characters they are got a good laugh.

VBS ended Thursday night with family night. (For those of you who have never seen our church, we have a stained glass window with Jesus on it above and behind the baptismal pool. This was covered with a retractable blackout shade.) Four teenagers had performed a series of skits all week and a slight modification to their script the last night called for us to raise the screen covering the stained glass window. When this happened Nate looked up and full of awe gasped and exclaimed, “Jesus is here!”

SCARY BUGS. So Ben yells out to Vicki, “Hey Mommy, would you come kill this spider?”

Vicki said, “Why don’t you kill it?”

Trying to sell Vicki on the idea of being his arachnid hit woman he said, “It’s pretty small so you can come kill it.”

“Well, if it’s so small you can take care of it.”

Then he got about as close to admitting his fears as he’ll ever get, “But it’s kind of a fat, small spider so you need to kill it.”

VULTURES. At lunch yesterday Nate was pretty tired and looked like he didn’t feel up to snuff. Vicki noticed and said, “Nate, you don’t look so good. Would you like to go on to bed?” He liked that idea and left the table. Not five seconds after leaving the room Jenna voiced her concern saying, “Nate didn’t look too good...,” and then added with a hint of optimism, “...can we have his Cheetos?”

Nate was still a little under the weather today. Usually when he is sick he is pretty good natured about it, but like myself, he doesn’t like to be fussed over. I went in to check on him today after he disappeared to his bed and after asking several questions I finally asked, “Do you want me to leave you alone?” “Uh-huh,” came his honest reply.

CARS. We took the kids Friday afternoon to see Cars. This was Nate’s first movie in a theatre. Pixar has lived up to their animation genius. Some scenes looked very realistic, to the point of making you believe it was shot on film. The story was very good to, but we were disappointed that the screenwriters had put in a few jokes that got really close to the line for what is appropriate in a G rated film. I think my biggest disappointment was the comment the lead character, Lightning McQueen, made about the town he found himself in. While it was true to his character to make a derogatory comment about Radiator Springs they could have chosen his words a bit better.

A QUICK VISIT. Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob have breezed in for a quick visit. They are on their way to visit the Yerglers in New Jersey and stopped by so Aunt Linda could go to the Cross Plains High School Alumni banquet. They leave tomorrow, but plan to stop off here on their way home for a longer visit. We went out to eat with them tonight. We had planned on dining at the Catfish House but they were so full we went to a Chinese buffet instead.

Joe

Enjoying the Great Outdoors

We’ve had really great weather this week--perfect for being outdoors.

STAYING AT THE HORSE TRAIL HILTON. Our Sunday school class has scheduled a camping trip at least once a year for the past several years, but this was the first time we’ve been able to go. Vicki packed all day Friday. When I came in from work we loaded the van. Vicki commented that she was going to follow some advice and not take any make-up. With a glint in my eye I asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to rethink that?” I quickly ducked after saying this.

We stayed at Long C Trails which is a few miles east of Westmoreland, Tennessee. It’s about an hour’s drive from home. As the name suggests, this place has many trails for those wishing to spend a weekend on a horse and one family in our class brought three horses. Our campsite was really pretty and was situated in a river bottom. Those with tents stayed next to the river while we stayed in a rustic cabin just up the hill a bit. There were six families who camped out and several more drove up to join in on the fun.

We got there after supper Friday evening and had a good time visiting around the fire (and enjoying s’mores). It was pretty late when everyone turned in. The next morning after hearty breakfast we went wading in the river (a few of the kids went swimming). All the kids had a blast catching minnows and crawfish as well as skipping rocks across the water. Our kids even helped wash one SUV in the river. In most places the river was pretty shallow and it was nice to just turn the kids loose and let them play. Some of the adults and teenagers played a few rounds of Hearts.

Saturday evening found us back around the camp fire. The conversation slowly gave way to telling Bell Witch stories which had a few of the kids pretty scared when they went to bed. About midnight a very intense storm blew up. The thunder woke up everyone except Ben and Nate. A few of the campers abandoned their tents in the lightning. An hour later the storm was gone and rumbling far off in the distance.

Long C Trails has Cowboy Church at 8:30 on Sundays so we rose up early to attend this service (Mt. Carmel was represented by 23 people and 1 dog). As we were eating we heard harp music from the river bottom. Sharon Robinson plays the harp (her husband, Rick, is our teacher) and I made the comment that I thought she was playing that morning. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy and said it must be a CD, but I knew something they didn’t. Sharon is a home health nurse. While she does have a full size harp she also has a lap size harp that she carries with her. Sometimes when a patient is really sick or close to death she will play the harp for them. I insisted that she get her harp for Cowboy Church. The camp pastor said he had heard guests play a lot of instruments over the years but it was the first time anyone had played a harp. After church we headed home with tired and dirty bodies and many wonderful memories.

YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW ALL THE TIME. While up at the main barn at Long C Trails I noticed they had plastic zipper bags filled about two thirds full of water hanging with twine all around their little grill area. When I asked about them I was told they are there to keep the flies away. They said they had hung the bags up about a year ago and they seem to do the trick. What happens is that the water in the bags refracts the light from the sun. This drives flies nuts because of their compound eyes so they stay away. The fellow I was talking to said another guest had told them that placing a shiny penny in the water makes it work better but they had never bothered to take the bags down to put pennies in. This was a new one on me.

STAR GAZING. While sitting around the camp fire our conversation drifted to the stars a few times (and trying to identify constellations, planets, planes, satellites and high flying fireflies). This made me think of a few things you might find interesting. I haven’t downloaded one in quite a while but you can find free star maps online. They publish one each month (Kathy, they put out a Southern Hemisphere version too) and you can even submit your email address to their list to receive a reminder when a new map is available.

One of the coolest things I’ve seen is a program called Stellarium. It is a planetarium program and is free to anyone who wants to download it. It is very easy to manipulate allowing you to pan around the sky, zoom in on objects and even move forward and backward through time. Stellarium paints its sky with digital pictures from telescopes so you can zoom in to see Jupiter’s red spot or Saturn’s rings. The program pays attention to details like the phases of the moon, solar and lunar eclipses and the positions of other larger moons in our solar system. Some schools are even getting a projector with a fisheye lens and setting up a planetarium with this software.

Another cool piece of planetarium software that is also free is named Celestia. Celestia is a bit harder to drive than Stellarium but it offers one interesting feature: with Celestia you can fly through space to see what things look like from other places inside or outside the solar system. It’s just amazing what’s available these days.

G-FORCE PARTY. On Sunday evenings during the past school year our church has had a class for kids called G Force. Ed and Connie Coleman, who are both very popular with all the kids at church, hosted an end of the year party/cookout Sunday afternoon. They had a great turn out and everyone had fun playing games which sort of degenerated into a water balloon fight. We heard that after we left several adults got tossed into the pool. When we left Ben said, “But I want to spend the night here!”

THE FRUIT LOOPS. Monday evening Vicki’s missions group met at our house. Vicki had barely recuperated from camping and the G-Force party when she had to get the house ready for this. After eating supper at Pauline’s I came over here to work on the computer. They were having fun as I’ve never heard so much cackling in all my life.

PIANO LESSONS. Jenna has started piano lessons. She is really excited as well as Vicki who hopes to learn along with her. Her teacher is Ann Morris, our church pianist. All this reminds me of when I took lessons for two or three years when I was about Jenna’s age. I knew my music career was over that last year when Mrs. Chaney assigned me Taps to play for my last recital. (No, I’m not making that one up.) At least I went out with a dignified funeral dirge.

YET ANOTHER CHURCH FUNCTION. We usually have meals at church on Wednesday evenings but this week we had a cookout. We fed around 200 folks. One fellow who attends our church plays in a band and they performed for us. The younger kids enjoyed a scavenger hunt while the older kids and adults played a game of wiffle ball. I think God smiled on the event as the clouds were rumbling when we said the blessing but we never felt more than a few drops.

Joe