Wrapping Up 2016

A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! This Christmas break has been a very enjoyable end to 2016. It has had just the right balance of fun and down time. The break started off cold, we even woke up to a dusting of snow one morning, warmed up to almost 70° and sunny by Christmas Day (I wore shorts) and has gotten cold again now.

The week before Christmas was busy as we were on the go almost every evening. There were no ball games scheduled during exam week so we made up for it once school was out. This run of games had a depressing start as we were matched up against DA’s closest neighbor, Goodpasture. That game was a disaster for us. At least the series ended Thursday with what was arguably Ben’s best overall performance on the court so far this year against Portland High. It was also a lot of fun to meet up with Derek, Amanda, and Tanner when we played at Sycamore High near Ashland City. Fun as it all is, I’m looking forward to next school year when Ben is not playing both junior varsity and varsity. Four hours plus is a long time to sit on a bleacher.

We also had an afternoon of culture that Wednesday (the 21st). One of my students, Rosa, (and her little brother) had been casted for parts in the Nashville Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker this year. Earlier this month she handed me a card that listed which performances she would be in and invited me and my family to come. This was our first time to see any ballet. It was quite impressive.

Equally impressive was the fact that Rosa won a part. Obviously, all the big parts go to professional dancers, but ballet students from all across the state audition for the smaller parts. Parts are awarded to multiple students to give lots of kids the opportunity to perform in something big like this. Rosa, who played one of the medium mice, took part in about a half dozen performances. As I said, we were impressed, both with the show and Rosa’s part in it.

Friday evening before Christmas was the annual holiday party at Kenny and Lori’s house. We laughed, ate, and had a great time. I most enjoyed reconnecting with Brent and Sabrina as they are in for the holiday. Then the next evening was the Christmas Eve service at church. We ate supper at Mom’s afterward.

We returned to church Christmas morning for a Christmas Day service since it falls on Sunday this year. From there we enjoyed brunch at Mrs. Connie’s, came home for a bit, and then went to Mom’s for supper.

Now that the kids are older the clothes, gift cards, etc. are more the focus of the Christmas gifts. I think the biggest novelty or fun gift was the yo-yo Jenna gave to Ben. This yo-yo is “non-responsive” which means it just reaches the end of the string and spins when you throw it. This is so you can do a lot of tricks with it. I’m used to a responsive yo-yo which spins a little but will return when I flick my wrist. One of the skills you have to learn with Ben’s yo-yo is how to make it return to you. Ben is starting to do quite a few stunts with his new toy, as is Nate. Nate finally had to order one for himself so he wouldn’t be hogging his brother’s new toy all the time.

Tuesday we left to visit the Jones family in Georgia. We returned home yesterday. It was another fun time together as family. This visit we played several gameshow style games from jackbox.tv which uses a computer connected to the TV and a smart phone, tablet, or laptop for each player. On Wednesday the kids also went to see Disney’s current release, Moana, while Will, Darice, Vicki, and I went out to eat at Cali-n-Tito’s in Athens on a double date (with dessert at Menchies, a frozen yogurt place, afterwards). Thursday evening we all went out to play an Escape the Space game. This is one of those games where you are “locked” in a room and have an hour to solve all the puzzles and unlock the door to get out. We escaped the space I am proud to say.

What was a little sad about this trip is that this was the last time we will ever visit them in Georgia. Will’s job has transferred him back to the plant in Waynesboro, Virginia, where he worked some nine years ago. We have thoroughly enjoyed visiting them in Athens for the last eight and a half years, and their house, which they bought seven years ago, has provided the perfect setting for all the family fun. Sad as it was to leave Athens for the last time, we also enjoyed visiting them in Waynesboro before and will again, and we certainly won’t miss all the traffic tie ups in Chattanooga and Atlanta which consistently added an hour minimum to the travel time.

So there you have it, our Christmas break and the end of 2016. This evening we met some of Ben’s friends from school and their families for bowling in Hendersonville. We came home after bowling for a couple of hours. Ben will spend the night with a couple of friends to ring in the new year. Come Tuesday it’s back to work for me and Vicki. Classes resume for the boys on Wednesday, and Jenna checks back into her dorm on the 10th with her classes beginning the next day. I wonder what 2017 has in store for us? Stay tuned to find out.

Happy new year!

Joe

'Tis the Season!

Christmas break is here! Jenna finished her finals Wednesday and is home for the holidays, and the boys finished their mid-term exams by Thursday. The last three weeks have just been a build up to this climax. Now that break is here we have all the rush leading up to Christmas next Sunday.

A GAGGLE OF GIRLS
Saturday of last weekend (the 10th) Jenna brought a gaggle of girls home from school. Twelve girls in all. She had invited them out to give everyone a diversion from studying. They got here around 1:00 and the last of them left by 7:00. They watched movies, played games, made crafts, and ate. The boys and I showed our faces for the food and then retreated upstairs to their room. Vicki and I were very impressed with all of Jenna’s friends (three of whom we had met before).

Speaking of friends, later in the afternoon when about half of the girls had left the remaining group was sitting in the kitchen decorating cookies. Vicki was also there. One of Jenna’s friends, watching Vicki and Jenna interact, interrupted and said, “You two are best friends, aren’t you?” Without missing a beat Jenna replied, “Oh yes, I tell her everything.” This affirmation was special for Vicki, I know.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Last Saturday was also Vicki’s birthday. With all of the excitement, we didn’t celebrate on the day. She and I enjoyed dinner at Colorado Grill in White House the night before, and we all went out as a family (minus Jenna) to IHOP at the new Love’s Truck Stop in White House after church on Sunday.

CHOIR
I think I have mentioned before that Vicki joined the Springfield Baptist Gospel Choir. This choir is open to anyone to join. They practice on Wednesday afternoons for an hour, but during the Christmas season they sing at the local nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Last Sunday evening, the boys and I went with Vicki to Springfield Baptist Church as all of their musical groups were giving a Christmas performance that night. It was fun to hear all the Christmas music and everyone did a really good job. I had to laugh because Vicki is the youngest member of her choir by at least 30 years. She’s also one of the tallest.

BASKETBALL
Ben’s basketball season is well under way. He’s getting a lot of playing time in the junior varsity games and even a little time on the court in the varsity games. We are seeing him get better with every game. It’s a lot of fun to watch him play which is a good thing because the ball schedule is as busy as ever during the break.

CATCHY
Our librarian at school teaches an 8th grade art class. She had Nate in class this past semester. She caught me the other day and asked me if we’d heard some expression that was strange to me. (The expression actually sounded like gibberish to me when she first said it.)

It turns out that one day in class she was having the students show off their work. Nate, amazed at something one of his classmates had drawn exclaimed for all to hear, “Oh, dang! [short pause] Wow!” Well, this caught on within the class. Any time something sufficiently amazing was experienced someone would call for Nate to give his “Oh dang wow!” to it. I told Nate that if he ever visited China he could give that as his name.

ROGUE ONE
We went to see Rogue One, the first of the Star Wars anthology movies, last night. (Ben saw it with friends the day before and was at a Christmas party while we were at the movie.) I must say, well done. I would love to see that movie back to back with Star Wars: A New Hope now.

WHO IS MESSING WITH THE THERMOSTAT?
For years, no one ever touched the thermostat in our house. Oh we would adjust it when shifting from A/C to heat and back, but once set, it was generally left alone. Not so this year. Ben has discovered how to use it, and when the cooler weather hit a few weeks ago we kept finding ourselves freezing in our own house.

I totally get it. We have one unit that heats and cools this two story house that was built in 1908. Even though we have replaced almost all the windows and insulated walls, floors, and ceilings, this house does not heat and cool evenly. Naturally, the boys’ room upstairs is going to be warmer than the downstairs. Heat rises. But even down stairs we see big differences in temperature. We set the thermostat at 70° or 71° just to keep the majority of the rooms at 68°. Even so, Jenna’s room is struggling to stay at 65°. While all this is going on the boys’ room is a toasty 75°. It is no wonder I noticed the other day that their A/C was running when it was 17° outside.

Of course, things are never consistent here in Tennessee. Early last week we enjoyed highs in the teens. By yesterday those highs had climbed to near 70°. It felt like spring when we were out Christmas shopping after the movie last night. Several stores at the Indian Lake Shopping Center had their doors propped open. After we got home a cold front blew through. We woke up to a dusting of snow. Today’s high will be in the 20’s. Who knows, by Christmas day we may be back to short sleeve weather.

Joe

Thankful

I think I have said before that Thanksgiving has become my favorite holiday. I’m glad we celebrate this holiday at this time of year. Given the rhythm of the seasons it is natural to take this time to reflect on the blessings of life God so generously provides to us. So, to close out the month I am going to relate what we have been doing recently by giving thanks.

Obviously I am most thankful for my family. In the midst of all the busy hubbub of life we have been able to find time to be together. Jenna can pop in quite easily and even spent the entire week of Thanksgiving at home. We’ve been able to go do things together and enjoy each other’s company.

We took a quick trip to Georgia the weekend before Thanksgiving, and I am thankful for our family there too. Cameron was away at school, but we always have fun when “the Eatin’est Bunch,” as Pauline called us, gets together. This time was no different. This visit was typical of most. We stayed at their house, played games, talked, and laughed. We did, however, go out to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Speaking of family, I am thankful we could gather at Mom’s house for our Thanksgiving meal. Once again, Vicki and Jenna loaded the table with good things to eat. This year we invited my cousin, Emaly, to share the meal with us. Emaly added so much fun to the day as we visited.

I am thankful my kids have the opportunity to go to the schools they do. Jenna is winding up a great first semester at Trevecca and has developed some special friendships. The boys, too, are doing the same. Ben has a group of friends that celebrate birthdays together or just come up with fun things to do like ice skating. He is also at the beginning of another season of basketball which promises to be exciting to watch. And Nate had a lot of fun spending the night with friends last week. Each of my children are spreading their wings and living life to the full, and I am thankful.

I am thankful for the country in which I live and the people who sacrificed to give us what we have. The last time I wrote was about Jessie’s service in World War II, but we were graphically reminded of this when we went to see Hacksaw Ridge last week.

I am so grateful to enjoy good health. For example, now that I am 50 the doctor prescribed a colonoscopy just to check things out. The report that my plumbing is good and to come back in 10 years was music to my ears.

Most of all, I am so thankful to share life with Vicki. It takes a special woman to put up with me, and I don’t know that I’m broke in after 22 years of marriage. I’m glad she’ll have me because the time I spend with her, whether its here at home doing the mundane things of life or going out to enjoy a quiet meal together at Los Agaves (our favorite restaurant), is what makes life sweet and good.

I could go on and on, but I think I have made my point. Thanksgiving 2016 may have come and gone, but the special things in life that God has given me is not lost. I am humbly thankful.

Joe

Honoring a War Hero

I’d like to take this edition of our newsletter to share the story of my father-in-law’s service in World War II. Jessie was born in 1917, the same year as my dad. He passed away in 1988, about three years before I met Vicki, so I never got the opportunity to meet him or hear his story. From what Vicki, Will, and Pauline have all said Jessie was like most World War II veterans in that he kept his war story to himself most of the time. When Vicki first told me about her father, the basic details she knew from his service to our country was that he served in the Navy, was involved in a battle at sea, got burned, and was awarded two Purple Hearts.

We don’t have any individual service records for Jessie, nor have we met anyone who sailed with him during the war. What I do have is courtesy of my friend Doug whom we met for lunch in San Francisco when we were on vacation. Jessie came up in our conversation and after we parted company Doug took the time to do some online research on sites like www.fold3.com. I am going to compile what he shared with me into a short narrative to honor him this Veteran’s Day.

Jessie served aboard the USS Long from October 4, 1943, until she sank on January 6, 1945. Well, there was a brief stint on the USS Dobbin from March 6 to April 11, 1944, but we don’t know why he was there.

The Long was a Clemson-class destroyer. Her keel was laid just after Jessie’s first birthday (1918) and she was launched by April 1919. She was 314 feet long, almost 32 feet wide, and could make 35 knots. During World War II she was assigned to the Pacific where she had escort duty and then became attached to a minesweeping unit. By October 1944 the Long was in the Leyte Gulf to support the invasion there. Afterwards she joined a convoy to Manus where she received repairs. The ship’s diary that I have skimmed through notes several tense encounters with the enemy at this time.

A couple of days before Christmas, the Long was again part of a minesweeping unit steaming for the Lingayen Gulf at Luzon. They were to clear the gulf of mines ahead of the Luzon Invasion. The force arrived on January 2 and began minesweeping operations. They encountered frequent air raids from the Japanese.

The Long and her group were fully in the Lingayen Gulf on January 6 when a couple of Zekes (a Japanese fighter plane also known as the Mitsubishi A6M "Zero”) began an attack run. One of the Zekes skimming low over the water at an estimated 300 mph made a kamikaze attack, crashing into the port side of the Long below the bridge and about one foot above the waterline. The plane entered the ship leaving a hole about five feet in diameter. A fire broke out and ammunition began to explode. As a result the ship lost power and the forward section lost the ability to fight the fires. Shipboard communication was also down.

The ship’s commander, inspecting damage in the forecastle, dropped anchor and then gave the men in that compartment permission to leave the ship because he feared an explosion there. This order became misconstrued as a general order to abandon ship. All surviving sailors were picked up by the USS Hovey, another Clemson-class destroyer that was part of the minesweeping operation and standing by to give assistance. The Hovey could not come alongside the Long due to the fires so she spent about an hour picking up the 149 survivors.

This would have been the time Jessie would have first abandoned ship. The report Doug found lists Jessie’s wounds as second degree burns to both hands as well as the left arm and forearm. We do not know if he abandoned ship on the misunderstood order from the commander or if he had to jump to the safety of the water earlier due to the fire. Most likely it was the former case, but either way he was among the wounded who were picked up by the Hovey and treated. Enemy activity was intense the rest of the day.

The Long’s commander attempted to mount a salvage operation as the ship was in good enough condition with one of three boilers still intact to sail away under her own power. However, enemy activity prevented this plan from happening and by 5:30 that afternoon a second Zeke on a kamikaze attack struck the Long in the same spot causing more damage. By morning she had capsized and sank.

The enemy attacks dropped off at night only to return at daybreak the next morning. At 4:50 two planes were spotted. Five minutes later one of those planes was hit by fire from another ship and crashed into the Hovey. At the same instant the Hovey was struck by a torpedo launched from an enemy plane, hitting the engine room. The damage was so severe that she sank within two minutes. Forty-eight sailors perished, half of which were rescued from the Long and another ship. The USS Chandler and USS West Virginia picked up 229 survivors. We don’t know which ship picked up Jessie, but he was transferred to the USS California which took him back here to the States for treatment and recovery.

So, there’s the story of how my father-in-law, Seaman First Class William Jessie Jones, had to abandon ship twice within 24 hours. Had things been a little different that day my family would not consist of the people it does today.

Doug, on behalf of Vicki and I, our kids, as well as Will and his family, thank you for taking an interest and digging into Jessie’s story. You were the catalyst that jumpstarted the process for me.

Joe

After the Harvest

I have thoroughly enjoyed driving around the last couple of weeks. Not only because the leaves are turning, but also because the fields are squared away for the winter and all the farms have that “cleaned off” look in preparation for a winter’s rest. The corn stubble has been mowed down and wheat sown, and the soybean fields are bare and smooth and waiting for corn to be planted next spring. Even though I have no crops of my own, this time of year always gives me a sense of completion.

ODE TO THE SWING SET
It was a bit of a sad moment to watch our old swing set leave the back yard week before last. We gave it to a neighbor for their kids to play on. It was time. Our kids stopped playing on it years ago and it was beginning to fall into disrepair, and there was no reason for me to keep it up until grandkids come along. It served us well, and our kids have a lot of happy memories playing on it.

That swing set was the first construction project I had tackled since high school. We purchased the Swing-n-Slide kit from 84 Lumber and they delivered all the lumber and hardware to the house. I worked really hard to have it ready for either Jenna’s second or third birthday party. I was able to get the tower and slide done in time, but not the swings. I remember having to bore a lot of large holes—something like four or five dozen—in the 4x4 posts and 2x8 rails for all the bolts that held it together. As I recall, I burned up the motor in my corded drill and the cordless drill I had at the time was so puny I could only drill 3-4 holes on a single charge of the battery. I think I finally borrowed a drill from Mr. Jimmie to finish up.

There’s no telling where the kids’ imaginations took them while sitting in the elevated “tree house” part of the swing set. I can only tell what I have observed in the last year or so as our cat, Fluffy, has been the only one to sit up there. Sometimes I would catch her using the slide to come down when I came out to get on the bus. One morning I looked over and caught her sliding down the canvas roof. She must have been enjoying the view from the ridge beam when I came out. I watched her as she slid down to the swing beam, jumped into the “tree house,” and then took the slide the rest of the way down. Fluffy had a look of disbelief as the swing set was being loaded on the trailer. At least all of us (except Fluffy) can appreciate the pictures our neighbors shared with us of kids playing on it once again.

COMING OF AGE
The back yard may be empty, but life is still full with the kids’ activities. Jenna sent us several pictures of her and her friends all dressed up for Trevecca’s homecoming parade. The theme for their parade was story book characters. Jenna dressed as Waldo. She was a bit easier to find than the original.

Vicki, Nate, and I took Jenna and her friends out for supper at Baja Burrito Saturday night. Then we headed back to campus to see their excellent production of The Little Mermaid. It was a fun evening. Ben did not go with us because he went to Davidson Academy’s Fall Ball.

Sometimes it’s hard to get a read on Ben, but I think he was pretty excited about going. An interesting personality quirk to see was that Ben chose to wear an old Daffy Duck tie that I have. Before the dance he and a big group of his friends (and a few parents) went out to eat at the Spaghetti Factory. He came home saying he’d had a really good time this year, and even danced to a slow song (after a girl asked him to).

Nate has not had quite as many social opportunities yet but is still enjoying his middle school days. Vicki and I worked the concession stand at Friday’s football game and he enjoyed hanging out with his friends.

THE BLUE HAIR CHOIR
Vicki has joined a gospel choir. They practice for an hour every Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 in Springfield. Mrs. Glenda, Lori’s mom, asked Vicki if she’d be interested in joining. When Mrs. Glenda was giving Vicki the details she told her that several folks of all ages from all across the county were part of it. Then she admitted that she might be the youngest one in it. Vicki has now claimed that title by at least 25 years now that she’s taking part. They are practicing Christmas music and will perform at all of the nursing homes between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’m glad to see her doing something fun like this.

Joe

Fall Is Here!

It is a busy time for farmers around here. All the corn appears to be in and they have changed the headers out on their combines and are now cutting soybeans. When they aren’t harvesting they are mowing down the corn stubble, disking, and sowing wheat. The soybean fields will remain fallow until corn is planted in them in the spring. (It’s a three crop rotation on a two year schedule.) And the tobacco barns are still belching out smoke as most folks are about halfway through the curing process.

In case you are wondering, yes, a tobacco barn does burn down on occasion. One of our local news outlets, Smokey Barn News (http://smokeybarn.com), recently reported on one such incident where about 10 acres of a crop was lost. This is the third tobacco barn fire he has reported this year. The usual cause is a stick or tobacco falls into the smoldering fire below causing it to flame up and catch the rest of the tobacco above to ignite, but sometimes gas (probably methane) builds up in the top of the barn due to the decomposition process and ignites.

We are enjoying our first taste of fall weather, but summer has been trying to reassert itself. We usually have our first frost by now, but we’ve been breaking records with high temps in the mid 80s last week. Our leaves are beginning to turn so the next few weeks should be pretty around here.

Life at our house has been fairly routine the last few weeks so there hasn’t been much to report on. We enjoyed a three day fall break last week (the 10th, 11th, and 12th) but didn’t go anywhere. We spent the time getting chores done here at home and some maintenance over at Pauline’s old house (to prepare for our newest renters) so it wasn’t very exciting.

Ben has continued to do well in Cross Country, typically finishing a little over 20 minutes. I’m impressed as most of the runners are shorter than he is. He has come a long way since the season started. He will run in the regional championship race on Thursday.

Nate has been picking a lot of pumpkins, though that has tapered off now as all of Steve’s wholesale orders have been filled. Nate says he’s going to run Cross Country next year which will cut down on his pumpkin picking.

And Jenna has been enjoying college life, though she keeps telling us about all these papers she turns in at literally the eleventh hour. Neither Vicki nor I had the luxury of electronic submission, but Jenna does and quite often turns her work in just a few minutes before the midnight deadline.

We took Mom to Trevecca to see Jenna last weekend. She didn’t get to see Jenna’s dorm room as there is no elevator, but she did get the driving tour of the campus which she enjoyed. After that we were in the mood for pizza and went to the Mellow Mushroom. We knew Mom had misunderstood the concept of the restaurant when she tried to order fruit tea.

This weekend Jenna came home with her roommate, Macy, and their two friends from across the hall at their dorm, Anna and Maddie. They ate supper at our house Friday night and then headed to Adams to see Spirit, the play about the Bell Witch. Some of the girls had things to do on campus and went back yesterday afternoon, but Jenna spent the rest of the weekend here. Vicki and I were very impressed with all three girls.

Jenna returned to school tonight after we all enjoyed a surprise birthday party for Chip and Janice Hellmann. Chip’s birthday is at the end of the month and Janice’s is in January. Both will be 60. We all gathered over at Ross and Donna Swann’s house (Ross is Janice’s brother) and hid in the back yard. When the Hellmanns arrived, thinking they were there for another occasion, they were shockingly surprised when they came though the house and out the back door. It was a perfect fall evening to sit outside, eat, and visit.

Nate and I enjoyed an interesting sight Wednesday evening. We had been to church for supper and I was bringing him home so he could finish his homework when we looked up and saw a strange light in the sky. We knew pretty quickly it was a blimp that was lit with an internal light. It appeared to be flying along I-65 as it headed north. I actually got a pretty good picture considering I rested a pair of binoculars on Nate’s head and shot through the eyepiece with the camera on my phone. The blimp sighting was well documented on the aforementioned Smokey Barn News.

Speaking of church, I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that we are again without a pastor. We have hired an interim pastor for this season while we look again for a full time pastor. The interim we have hired is Dr. Bruce Grubbs. Interestingly, Dr. Grubbs served as our interim pastor for about 18 months some 35 years ago between Bro. Dorris and Bro. Bill. I could sit and listen to Bruce Grubbs talk common sense all day long, and I am glad to have him in our pulpit once again.

Joe

Short and Sweet

Fall has arrived, and the cooler weather is finally here! We have had 90°+ weather all the way though Sunday. As a matter of fact, we’ve had about 85 or 86 days this year where the high temperature was at least 90°. We typically average 48 days like this a year. I’m glad to say goodbye to the heat and the mosquitoes.

It’s been busy, but quiet around here the last couple of weeks so this will be short. We are firmly in that routine where we get up, go to school (work in Vicki’s case), come home and do homework, and go to bed so we can do it all over again the next day. Nate has been helping Steve Freeland pick pumpkins a couple of times a week.

Davidson Academy’s homecoming was last weekend so the boys were involved in several activities. I felt sorry for Nate on the day of pep rally. He had bought a five gallon bucket to use as a drum to add to the noise and then forgot to bring it to school.

Ben has had some good runs at the last cross country meets. Tuesday we traveled to Lafayette to watch him run and he set a personal record, 5k in 19:55. He came in 14th place and got one of the 15 medals awarded. There were at least 50 boys running that race. (I’m being conservative here. Ben thinks there were at least 65 boys running.)

Vicki and I had a fun date a couple of Saturdays ago (the 17th). She had received a gift certificate for tickets at TPAC so we went to see Evita and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We went to the matinee so it was still daylight when our show was over. We had a good time walking around downtown and ate supper at The Southern Steak & Oyster.

That’s the latest update from our house.

Joe

The Final Days of Summer

Our wet spring and summer has turned dry. Dry enough, in fact, that we haven’t mowed in two weeks. It has also been hot. This, too, will change soon. And as we move into mid-September the last of the tobacco is being cut and farmers are turning their attention to harvesting corn. And in the cool of the evening we hear the popping of shotguns as dove season is now open. Fall is right around the corner!

COLLEGE GIRL
Jenna has had two weeks of classes and is loving it, even with an 18 hour course load! She bought a larger planner to keep up with all her assignments.

Jenna is also developing several close friendships. She and her roommate, Macy, have hit it off well, and they have become close friends with two girls who live directly across the hall. Incidentally, the neighbors across the hall are the two recipients of the McClurkan Scholarship that Jenna was in the running for back in the spring. We regularly see pictures of all four girls when Jenna texts pictures to us.

Someone asked the other day if we miss Jenna now that she is away. I had to honestly respond that we would if we had time to miss her. We’ve seen her all three weekends and been so busy all throughout the week that in a way it doesn’t feel any different from last year when she was a senior and had her own schedule as it was. I know Vicki feels differently since she and Jenna would often stay up late together. I’m ready for our schedule to settle down a bit, but at least all the activity has softened the blow to some degree.

CHURCH NEWS
I do want to note here that our pastor, who came on board at Mt. Carmel last August, resigned two weeks ago. The details are unimportant here, though I will say that prayers on behalf of our church family as well as our former pastor and his family as we all move forward would be appreciated.

Getting back to Jenna for a moment, she is planning to find a church in Nashville to attend while she is in college, but this development brought her home on the Sunday during her first weekend away. We ate lunch at Mom’s house after church. It was odd to watch her turn left out of Mom’s driveway and head to her new home.

SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK
Last weekend we went back to Centennial Park for this season’s Nashville Shakespeare Festival production. Nate is required to attend this play by his theater teacher. We were originally planning to go last Sunday night, but Nate came home from school last Friday begging to go that night because some of his friends were going. So, we loaded up and went to see Macbeth. As it turned out, there were several kids from school there, but none of Nate’s friends.

As always, these productions are spectacular. The acting, set design, and costumes are phenomenal. And it is pleasant to enjoy the show outside at the bandshell. Once again, I felt like I watched a play delivered in a foreign language. I still don’t have any more clue about the story of Macbeth now than I did before I saw it. It was awfully bloody though.

Nashville Shakes is doing something new this year. Macbeth was actually performed by the apprentice company and featured a lot of young actors, one of whom is a senior at Davidson Academy. It was fun to see someone I know performing on stage. At the same time, their more seasoned actors are performing The Comedy of Errors. This is the play we had originally planned to see last Sunday, and since Jenna was going to meet us for the evening we decided to return.

It was a lot of fun to catch up with Jenna after her first week of classes, and since she did not come home even though it was Labor Day weekend we didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to see her. We picked her up at school, ate supper at Cook Out, and then went to the play. For the first time in my life I actually understood the dialogue of a Shakespeare play and could follow the story! I was so pleased with this I almost forgot to laugh at the funny parts.

Now our procrastinating son has to get himself in gear and finish up his assignment so that our brushes with culture won’t be in vain.

CROSS COUNTRY
Ben is moving on with Cross Country. He’s been to several meets and we finally got to one Thursday evening. For a beginner he pulled in a respectable time, finishing a 5k in 21:51, a little over a minute behind one of his friends who has been running cross country a while. He also did better than some of his friends from East Robertson who were competing as well. Of course, his height gives him a ground eating stride.

OTHER BUSYNESS
There are several other things that have kept us, Vicki in particular, busy of late. First of all, the Buick. My poor wife has exhausted everything she could think of to make herself comfortable in that Enclave. Her back would have none of it. Last week she admitted defeat and put the car up for sale at Rusty Graves’ car lot in Cross Plains. We are hoping it sells quickly and for a good price.

Next, our renters informed us that they would be moving at the end of the month. Vicki has been working feverishly to find new tenants. We have gotten a lot of nibbles, but no takers yet. Hopefully this will change in the next three weeks.

Finally, our washer died. The oil leaked out (with only a little appearing on the floor) and without lubrication the transmission chewed itself to pieces. For those of you who have seen our bathroom you know our washer and dryer fit in there like a puzzle. The dryer has to be removed to get the washer out. Thursday night, after Ben’s cross country meet, we bought a washer from the Sears Outlet store. After wrestling it into place we discovered we had neglected to measure the height of the cabinet door where we store the detergent. The washer was just tall enough to block the door. So, we got that back on the truck and Vicki exchanged it for one that fits the space. Hopefully this unit will give us years of service because it’s no fun moving these appliances around.

That’s what’s been going on with the Swann family as we head into the last few days of summer.

Joe

The Empty Room

The room across the hall was empty last night. It will be empty more than it is occupied from now on. Yesterday we helped Jenna move in to her dorm room at Trevecca Nazarene University. It was a good day.

I have thought about this day for a long, long time—all of Jenna’s life, really. I remember holding her in my arms when she was a newborn baby wondering who she would grow up to be and what she would grow up to do. I was scared to death actually. Did God really know what He was doing to allow me to father a child? What if I get this wrong? What if I break her? But as I held her a calm assurance came over me. Yes, God knew exactly what He was doing in my life, Vicki’s life, and Jenna’s. No, you won’t break her. And yes, you will get some things wrong, but if you learn from your mistakes it will be okay. And then…

Enjoy this precious girl. Enjoy every moment. It seems a long way off, but she will grow up fast. You are privileged to be part of her growing up. You, out of all the men in all of history, are chosen to be her father. The father-daughter relationship is yours to enjoy for all time, but raising her is for a very short season. You are raising her to leave!

This was not one of those times in life where I will say God spoke directly to me in an audible way (though I do feel He has done so on three occasions), but I have no doubt His Spirit was speaking softly to me to comfort my fears. I have carried these words with me for 18 years now. They are the foundational principle for how I approach fatherhood for all three of my children. This principle made yesterday a joyous occasion.

Vicki and I were tired when we got home some time after 10:00 last night. The whole day had been devoted to making Jenna a cozy home on the third floor of Georgia Hall. Fortunately, Trevecca had assigned their athletes to be on hand to move anything that was labeled to a room (and I would say those fellows slept very well last night). By suppertime Jenna’s room was starting to look like a home. We enjoyed meeting her roommate, Macy, and her family, as well as one of the two girls next door with whom they share a bathroom.

Vicki and I had a little time to kill as all the freshmen had an event to attend before they were reunited with us for a worship and prayer service to end the day. As we talked, then and on our way home later, we both felt so good about this being right. Jenna is ready. She has worked hard and earned this, and we feel God’s hand has been on her to bring her to this place to help her spread her wings and soar.

Jenna is an Intercultural Studies major. She plans to double major (or declare several minors) but has not yet decided what her additional studies will be. We know her path of study will take her far beyond the borders of our nation and send her out into the wide world. There are two courses that will take her abroad for extended periods time to do mission work in remote areas. This is her time to fly.

Vicki and I parted company with Jenna after the worship service ended. Our spirits were full to bursting as we watched her and Macy head off with the rest of the freshmen for a welcome to Trevecca party.

The room across the hall was empty last night. It will be empty more than it is occupied from now on. I praise my King for giving me the foresight to be able to feel a joy I could not have comprehended 18 years ago because this is good and this is right.

Joe

Fifty Laps around the Sun

As of yesterday I have completed 50 laps around the sun. Actually, as my Chinese and Korean students would politely point out, I accomplished this feat some time back in November, but since I am a product of Western culture I will count my birthday.

CELEBRATING 50
You may wonder what I did to celebrate my fifth decade. I worked. I have mentioned before that I have been the scorekeeper for the Fairest of the Fair. This year marks the 20th year I have done that job that the contest just so happened to fall on my birthday this year. The funny thing about it all is that Michele Graves, one of the 2nd grade teachers at East Robertson, has helped me do this job for several years. She shares this birthday with me. When she texted to see if I was willing to work the contest on our birthday I said, “Sure. Just tell them to have a big cake with 50 blue candles and 49 pink candles.” The Fair Board did give us a cake, but after thinking over 99 candles they put blue “5” and “0” candles on my half of the cake and pink “4” and “9” candles on Michele’s half.

It is actually just as well that I worked this as Jenna went to Kentucky Kingdom yesterday with several friends from high school. They wanted to get together one last time before heading off to college. Ben was at the Back-to-School retreat for DA high school students and returned yesterday afternoon. With half of us out of pocket we celebrated my birthday with dinner after church at Mom’s house followed by a trip to the movies to see Star Trek Beyond.

I did rack up one interesting birthday present. The kids noticed that after all the walking and hiking we did in California I headed to the hotel hot tub each night to stick my feet in the water. I now have a small, bubbling, foot bath!

THE COVETED DRIVER’S LICENSE
Ben celebrated his 16th birthday a week ago last Tuesday (the 3rd). The first thing he did was to take his driving skills test. Upon passing that he and Vicki went to take care of his insurance and then open a checking account. Jenna met them in town with Ben’s Jeep so he could have his own vehicle to drive. They ate breakfast at Larry’s before Ben headed to Vicki’s office to talk with Ralph about taking over the office cleaning job that Jenna will be vacating in a couple of weeks. After that he headed over to the YMCA because Kenny had hired him to do some trimming. We celebrated with dinner and cake at Mom’s house that evening followed by the final revival service at church. All in all, a big day for our 6’ 3” boy.

REVIVAL
Mt. Carmel’s revival began on the Sunday before Ben’s birthday (the 31st). Brent Freeland was our evangelist and did a remarkable job. In his case, the prophet was warmly welcomed in his hometown. Brent, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to you.

BACK TO SCHOOL
School is back in session. We returned to classes on Thursday; however, most of the high school students went on the Back-to-School retreat as I mentioned above so Ben will hit the books hard on Monday, while Nate has already been in class for two days.

Nate would like to change his schedule, but as of now he is taking Theater, History, Algebra I, Music Appreciation, Physical Science, Bible, and English. He is not a huge fan of Music Appreciation.

Ben has an aggressive schedule this year with Algebra II Honors, English II Honors, Geometry Honors, Spanish II, Health, And Chemistry Honors. He will swap Health for Government after Christmas.

I am teaching the 8th grade STEAM class. STEAM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. I am designing this class to tackle a series of projects which must be accomplished using the engineering design process. Nate’s Bible course will end at Christmas and he will have me in the spring. I am also teaching an Intro to Programming course this fall and Web Development and Design in the spring.

While I am on the subject of school, Jenna went to Trevecca on Friday to take a Humanities CLEP test. She passed and is now exempt from taking fine arts and world literature. With this and her dual enrollment credit from high school she now has 24 hours of credit on her transcript before even moving into her dorm room.

THE CAR SAGA
As promised last time, I need to update the tale on our new to us cars as I left off with the vehicles being left with a mechanic there in Gainesville, Georgia, to take care of some minor repairs. Vicki, Jenna, and I left after church two Sunday’s ago (the 31st, which was when our revival began) and headed down to Marietta where we spent the night at Daryle and Ann Beth’s home. We enjoyed going out to eat with them and then returned to their house for conversation and a game of Spades.

While we were gone the boys stayed with Mom and took her to the Denning reunion, Will Ed Osborne’s 75th birthday party, and the evening revival service. I think Mom wore them out.

The next morning we took off to get the cars which were ready to go when we got there. I took Ben’s Jeep for the first leg of our journey home. Vicki drove the Buick, and Jenna took our van. We had decided to stop at the Tennessee Welcome Center so Vicki and I could trade out and have equal opportunity to drive both of the new vehicles. She got out of the Buick saying, “My back is KILLING me!” For my leg of the trip I didn’t suffer pain like Vicki, but it isn’t the most comfortable seat.

To make a long story short, Ben’s Jeep has been a real find. We’ve had to replace one of the air vents and one of the off road lights is broken, but it runs well and is perfect for him. He is pleased. The discomfort of the Buick has given Vicki a bad case of buyer’s remorse. Every time she drives it, even short trips, her back is screaming with pain. It takes about three days of not getting in it at all for her back to feel fine again.

We have thought through a lot of options and talked to several people over the last couple of weeks. The only strike against the car for us is its comfort. The experts have come to the conclusion that the previous owner must have been a large person and the seat simply wore out prematurely as a result. This sort of damage would not be readily apparent. We have new seat padding on order and are waiting hopefully to see if this restores the comfort level of the Enclave and alleviates the pit in Vicki’s stomach. While we are in limbo we are a five car family with four drivers. And now that the school bus is back in the driveway we are running out of places to park here.

Joe

Trying to Keep Up

Since it has been three weeks since I wrote last I’m going to simply hit a lot of high spots to catch up.

HOW’S THE WEATHER?
This is a hot and wet summer. I know the folks out in California would love to get the rain we’ve gotten. The pace of the storms has slowed down some, but they are still rolling through. Several tobacco patches around here have significant areas where the tobacco has simply drowned in the standing water. Then, when it clears up and they can get back in the field to work the weather is blisteringly hot and humid with heat index figures hitting 110° and above. I enjoyed the camaraderie of the tobacco patch when I was young, but I don’t miss the working conditions one bit.

TRAVEL
I have had the wonderful opportunity to travel this summer. As you know we went to the Golden State for our vacation. Then I went to Denver for the ISTE conference. A couple of weeks ago I spent several days in Miami for a conference put on by RenWeb, the company who provides our student data services at Davidson Academy. It was a great opportunity to learn about the software we use at DA so I can be more helpful in that capacity in the future.

Dr. Chaney also attended the conference and his wife accompanied him. I saw them mainly in the evenings as they were gracious enough to invite me to tag along for their evening plans. Dr. Chaney is a master of finding interesting places to eat and fun things to do. We drove over to Miami Beach for dinner one evening. Another day we enjoyed a boat tour around the Port of Miami in the Biscayne Bay before our meal together at one of the restaurants beside Bayfront Park. The Chaneys are a lot of fun and they made the evenings.

This has been a unique summer for me. My work has never required that I travel, and I do not envy those of you who have to regularly. On the other hand, it’s been fun to have the adventures I’ve enjoyed. Some of you reading this will think this observation is silly since you travel so much, but I’ve covered about 8200 miles by air, slept in all 4 time zones, and seen both oceans by boat over the break. An uncommon experience for me to be sure.

SPEAKING OF TRAVEL
Vicki and the kids headed down to Georgia last weekend for their annual end of summer visit with the Jones family. I stayed behind because I am behind on my preparations for the upcoming school year. I am also a 12 month employee at Davidson Academy, so I would have had to have driven separately and stayed for a shorter time had I gone.

I think it was too hot to play any tennis but I saw several poolside pictures while they were away as well as pictures of cake when they celebrated Darice’s birthday. Funny how my mom rated a piece of birthday cake from Georgia but I did not.

USED CAR LOT
Our driveway is about to look more like a used car lot. We’ve been shopping for a vehicle for Ben as he will be testing for his license soon. Since school is a 40 minute drive from home it will be much easier when he can drive himself to and from cross-country training and basketball practice. Vicki and I had also half-heartedly kicked around the idea of getting out of the minivan business and replacing it with something more like an SUV or crossover vehicle.

Well, Vicki did a lot of online car shopping while in Georgia and spotted a black, 2004 Jeep Liberty and a red, 2011 Buick Enclave for herself for sale in Gainesville, Georgia. They decided to visit the dealership on the way home. They test drove both and loved both.

All this is happening while I am at work Monday and my phone is going nuts with text messages, pictures, and calls. To be brief, they called a local church and asked for recommendations for a good mechanic in the area. The mechanic looked at both vehicles and said there were some minor repairs needed but nothing that was a deal breaker for either. Vicki bought both vehicles, left them with the mechanic with the charge to fix anything remotely critical, and told him we’d be back in a few days to pick them up. The mechanic has been great to keep us in the loop of his progress. We will be driving down today to bring the vehicles home. I’ll update this tale next time I write as I will have seen and driven our new to us vehicles by then. Anyone want to buy a 2009 Toyota Sienna?

MR. CARL SWANN
I would be remiss not to mention the passing of Mr. Carl Swann. Obviously he is a cousin. He also graduated in the same high school class with Mom. Mr. Carl has also been a good friend, neighbor, member of our church, and contributor to our community. He is one of those men who is special to me because of his patience when this young, fatherless, boy showed up in his tobacco patch to work. He made the effort to see the potential in me and teach. I am one of the many people he poured his life into. If there was a good thing about me staying home from Georgia it was that I got the opportunity to visit Mr. Carl and thank him for what he means to me.

Mr. Carl raised hogs as part of his farming operation. I remember helping him in the hog shed one time and asking him how he stood the odor. He smiled and simply replied, “Smells like money to me.” I’ve always chuckled over his response.

Mr. Carl’s funeral was yesterday. His daughter, Janice, delivered the most moving eulogy. Mr. Carl joins his wife, Mrs. Mildred, who passed away in March of last year.

Joe

Summer Fun

The Fourth of July is always bittersweet for me. On the one hand I enjoy celebrating Independence Day and all that goes with that, but on the other hand, I realize the next page on the calendar brings us back to school. Summer break is half over.

TRASH AND TREASURES
Our town has had its annual yard sale for another year. The kids and I went for the Friday morning of the event (the 24th). We didn’t buy much but enjoyed walking around and talking to neighbors. As we were leaving I spotted a teacher I work with and texted to see if she was enjoying herself. She said she was and added, “Your town is crazy!” I assured her we would return to our normal, sleepy state within a couple of days.

RUNNING
Ben has joined the cross country team at school which means a lot of running. The safest place we have for him to run around here is across the farm to Henry Road and back. One trip is about a mile and a half.

Nate hasn’t joined the team, but he has decided to take up running as well. He says he can tell a difference from when he started. He’s not stopping to walk as much and is starting to make a second trip at least to the TVA tower that is along the way.

Ben had an interesting experience while running one day. As he was heading back toward the house a black helicopter flew over and circled him twice. He was getting a bit nervous and was going to run into the trees when he got to where the big pond used to be but the chopper flew off before he got there. We asked if he thought it was a law enforcement aircraft or from TVA to inspect the power lines. He said there were no markings that he could see. Vicki asked him if he was acting suspicious. He said he didn’t think so.

WATCH YOUR HEAD
Speaking of interesting experiences, the other day I was taking the garbage out to the truck (we do not have garbage service here so I have to haul it off) when I heard a loud cracking noise in the pecan tree above my head. I was ready to bolt when a very large tree limb hit the ground some 35 feet from where I was walking. That certainly got my attention!

We’ve had a lot of storms move through in the last week or so. There have been lots of limbs, tops or trees, and even whole trees down around here. It rained so hard one night that when I got up and checked the rain gauge the next morning it had collected over five inches of water.

ISTE 2016
ISTE stands for the International Society for Technology in Education. This professional organization has been around for about a quarter century, and I was invited to go to the ISTE 2016 conference in Denver this year. I was one of four folks from Davidson Academy to attend. We left two weeks ago today (June 26) and got home that Thursday (the 30th).

I won’t go into all the details, but this was the largest conference I’ve ever been to. I was one of over 14,000 in attendance. There were all sorts of interesting workshops and presentations available. I estimated that the vendors in the exhibit hall occupied 9-10 acres of floor space. I saw and heard so much my head was swimming. Now that I’m back home, I have several ideas I’m excited about for the courses I’m scheduled to teach in the upcoming school year.

WHILE I WAS AWAY…
The dentist had told us recently Jenna and Ben needed to have their wisdom teeth removed. Their surgeries were scheduled for the week I was away. Ben had his removed on Monday, and Jenna’s came out on Wednesday. Both had done well after their surgery, and I came home to swollen cheeks and funny videos.

QUIET AROUND HERE
The boys were with our church youth group at camp last week. I wound up driving the group up to Aurora, Kentucky, in a bus last Sunday and returned to get them on Friday. We only heard from Ben one time by text. Here’s how the conversation went.

Me: Ben, y’all having fun?

Ben (2 hours later): We are.

Me: Succinct as ever.

Jenna: Anything interesting? Send us  pic of your fun times!!!!!!

Vicki (24 hours later): Hey boys! How goes it?

As it turned out they had a great time and came back telling of all sorts of fun activities such as tubing on the river, playing Gaga Ball (whatever that is), and hanging out at the rec lake where they had water slides, inflatable toys, and a zip line. It sounded like camp was a hit with them this year.

Joe

College Orientation

The weather we experienced while visiting California spoiled us. Now we are back to hot, humid Tennessee. I don’t like it, but at least we aren’t experiencing triple digit temps like many areas of the country are getting right now.

Last Friday and Saturday Vicki, Jenna, and I went to Trevecca University for their new student orientation. We learned a lot of useful things to know ahead of Jenna’s transition to college life in nine weeks. We all came away having enjoyed the weekend, but I asked Jenna to write about it from her perspective.

Joe

—————

I am so excited for college, but orientation made me even more so! We (Dad, Mom, and I) started out early last Friday morning to check-in, have my picture taken for my ID, and to attend a session about working on campus. After eating lunch in their awesome cafeteria (It really is! Dad even said it was like being on a cruise ship.), we went to their welcoming session.

After the opening message of encouragement, they sent us on over to another building to a carnival-like informational gathering. While there, I was able to speak to my advisor for Intercultural Studies and find out a little bit more about activities that happen on campus. For example, they have several movie nights throughout the year, off-campus service projects, and twice weekly chapel services. All the students then left to go to their own meeting.

Part of Trevecca’s goal is to create an environment that produces long-lasting relationships between the students. To do this, Trevecca has created a class, called a LINK group, where about a dozen students gather twice a week during the first semester to learn more about each other and to help individuals grow personally. So, on Friday, when we split up with our groups, I was able to get to know several students. I think I’m going to have a great time growing with this group, and the leaders were really cool too! Something I am looking forward to do with them is the Trevecca Field Day that occurs at the beginning of the semester where we compete as a team. If I am remembering correctly, our Team name is the Cranberries. At this point, it was time for dinner. Our group tried to sit together, but since it was so crowded, I only ended up sitting with two other girls. We had a great conversation for the next hour and a half, and I am glad to say I have officially made at least two friends. I can’t wait to meet many more.

I met up with Mom and Dad at this point and we headed over to the next session to learn about all the on-campus rules. It may have been information overload, but it was interesting to hear all of it. There was one last event Friday evening, but I had started to not feel very well, so we headed on home. After knocking myself out with some medicine, we were back to Trevecca early Saturday morning.

While we first gathered as a group, we were soon dismissed to our separate departments to be advised for classes. I went with the Religion department, where we were introduced to our professors and advisors. We learned about a couple of the activities we would be able to participate in over the next few years, and I have to say I am really excited about what I’ll be doing in the future, such as a 12-week mission trip/class! Once registering for classes was complete, Mom, Dad, and I headed over for lunch, which, once again, was amazing! Mom and Dad had planned to go on a date for their 22nd anniversary after orientation was complete, so we said our goodbyes while I was in line for my PO Box, and my first experience as a freshman was now checked off the list. I am looking forward to the experience God is about to take me on. I will never be the same again!

Jenna

Our California Adventure, Part 4

And finally the San Francisco leg of the trip from Monday, June 6 to Wednesday, June 8.

WELCOME TO SAN FRANCISCO
We left Oakhurst early Monday morning and headed back to the coast and the City by the Bay. As we got close to San Francisco we saw wind turbines up close for the first time. We don’t have enough steady wind for those here.

We crossed the Bay Bridge by 1:30 and after stopping at the visitor information center walked to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf to look around. This was our big mistake because we underestimated the distance from Union Square down Market Street and around the Embarcado to our destination. We did see a lot of the city up close and personal though. After supper we rode the bus back to our van and drove out to Vacaville where we had hotel reservations.

The next morning we had a better plan of attack for the day. We drove back into the city and parked in a more strategic location and then started with a bus tour through the Presidio, across the Golden Gate Bridge, to Sausalito and back. Going across the bridge the first time was foggy, cool, and windy. We rode on the open air top deck of the bus and I was glad I had my jacket. Visibility was a bit better on the trip back.

What was really interesting were the microclimates around the city. I think the bus driver said there were about three dozen and we got a small taste of that on the tour. By the time we got off the bridge and into Sausalito--a very short distance--I could have taken my jacket off.

When we got off the bus we did a little shopping as we headed back to Pier 39 for lunch and a visit to the Aquarium of the Bay. This was a neat stop as it features a 360-foot-long acrylic tunnel where the fish can swim around and over you. This and the playful otters at the end were fun to watch.

From there we did a bit more souvenir shopping and then enjoyed a bridge to bridge boat tour of the harbor. This had a very informative audio tour as the boat took us from Pier 43 under the Golden Gate Bridge, then around the north side of Alcatraz, under the Bay Bridge and back. Every bit as interesting as the bus tour.

All too soon our time was over and we were heading back to Vacaville.

HEADING HOME
Wednesday we headed to the airport where we caught a plane to Los Angeles for our connecting flight home. It was 11:00 pm CDT by the time we got to our van, stopped in White House for essential groceries, and got to our back door. No rest for the weary travelers, I had to get Ben to school by 7:30 for basketball practice which felt like 5:30 to us.

MAKING MEMORIES
One thing about making memories like this are the pictures and videos. With four smartphones among us we snapped a lot. I haven’t downloaded media from Jenna or Ben yet, but between Vicki and I we have 985 images filed away now and we really need to go through and cull those down a bit more. We also have 64 video clips which I’m guessing adds up to an hour of footage.

We learned early on that Nate needs some training. Given a phone to take a picture he left his finger on the button too long and snapped 403 pictures in 30 seconds. And Ben became our family photo-bomber. You have to watch out for him because he’s sneaky. Then when you want him for a picture he can’t be found.

I am trying to find an easy way to share photo albums privately, works with mobile devices and computers, and for reasonable a cost if not free. If anyone has a suggestion I’m all ears. So far everything I’ve found either doesn’t fit my budget, won’t work with all devices, or has terms of use I don’t agree with.

ANOTHER NATE STORY
Since I have told several stories on Nate in this series I’ll end with one final tale.

We were in line to board our final flight to Nashville when we heard the sound of paper ripping. Nate had purchased a snack and was absentmindedly ripping up what he thought was his receipt. Fortunately there was enough of the bar code left intact on the boarding pass for them to let him on the plane. Jenna videoed the poor boy sheepishly confessing his rookie move.

So there you have it, our California adventure. I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as we enjoyed doing it.

Joe

Our California Adventure, Part 3

Here’s the road trip leg of our vacation between Wednesday, June 1 and Sunday, June 5.

THE CALIFORNIA COAST
It was too late to do anything when we got to Monterey Wednesday evening, though we did go out for dessert after checking in to our hotel. I think Ben could have tackled another meal. That’s a teenage appetite for you!

Thursday we decided to check out the beach. We started by driving part of the 17 mile motor trail through Pebble Beach and ate near the lodge. After lunch we exited on the south side at Carmel where we spent some time walking in the sand and dipping our toes in the cold Pacific. Then we decided to drive Highway 1 along the coast down to Big Sur and back. This was one of the best things we did the whole trip as the scenery along that highway is phenomenal! I could go back and drive that again.

This was where I was dubbed “Secret Asian Man” by my family (we had recently heard the old Johnny Rivers song Secret Agent Man while in a restaurant). You see, in San Diego we had rented a red Hyundai Santa Fe, but in San Francisco we got a silver Dodge Grand Caravan. We pulled over at one of the turn outs to take pictures of the scenery along the highway to Big Sur. While there a Chinese family in a red Grand Caravan parked next to us. When we were done snapping pictures I headed for the wrong van. Vicki stopped me before I opened the driver’s door. I think she secretly wishes now she’d let me go because there was the nicest looking Chinese woman sitting in the front passenger’s seat. My family enjoyed teasing me and singing about my new identity.

HOTEL LIVING
While we were in Monetery we played musical beds to give Jenna a break from sleeping on a pullout couch for ten nights. Ben took the couch here and I paired up with Nate. Sleeping with Nate is like sharing a bed with a fish flopping around on a riverbank. Every half hour I woke up to a small earthquake next to me as he flipped and flopped and found a new position. Then I had to find the covers and pull them back over me. Vicki said she got up one time and saw his head at the foot end of the bed. I think I’d take Opie Taylor’s idea of adventure sleeping (an ironing board stretched between two chairs) over that. I’m sure Ben has some tales he could tell as well.

Of course, towels and wash cloths can be a precious commodity in a hotel because we always have to ask for a fifth set each night. That’s why it was such a big deal one evening when Nate took a shower and somehow he dropped not one, not two, but three wash cloths in the toilet.

THEM’S SOME BIG TREES!
On Friday we headed to the Sequoia National Park. We were on the road by 8:00 and got to Three Rivers, the small town just outside the park entrance in time for lunch. The landscape between the coast and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains was simply amazing. We passed through a lot of farmland with strawberry fields larger than entire farms here at home. We saw enough broccoli to send a kid into depression. There were orchards of trees we simply couldn’t identify, though we now know what pistachio trees look like, both male and female. We did recognize orange groves, walnut groves, and vineyards.

Incidentally, California is still experiencing drought conditions. Most grass is brown. Almost every farm has irrigation in place. And in the parks there are dead or dying trees scattered everywhere.

When we got to the park entrance we were already at an elevation of 1700 feet. It took another hour to drive up the General’s Highway and climb roughly 5400 more feet up to the sequoia grove where the General Sherman Tree grows. Our trees at home are pretty tall in their own right, and were were already driving in some tall trees on the way up when we rounded a corner and saw the first sequoia there mixed in with the rest. It’s like driving into another world.

The General Sherman Tree is neither the oldest (though it’s pretty old at an estimated 2000+ years) nor the tallest (though it is taller than a 26 story building), but it is the largest living organism by volume. The trunk, which is some 36 feet in diameter at the base, is huge. And with all the tree’s height above ground the roots never grow much deeper than three (3) feet into the soil. Yes, you read that right, 3 feet.

When we spent most of the afternoon among the sequoias we drove down and to our hotel in Visalia (pronounced with a long “i” sound, not like the credit card) which seems to be a neat little town. This marked the halfway point of our trip.

BEARS
We never saw any bears, but while at Sequoia National Park we watched a film about bear safety. This had Nate a bit concerned, especially when Ben said, “I don’t have to run fast, I just have to outrun you.” Those fears resurfaced a day or two later when we began to tease him after he spilled ketchup on his shirt. If Nate ever survives us to adulthood he may disown us. At least he knows we love him.

YOSEMITE
Saturday morning we were back on the road heading for Oakhurst and the Yosemite National Park. We arrived in Oakhurst around lunchtime and our hotel allowed us to check in early so we dropped off our luggage and then grabbed a quick lunch before heading to the park.

At the park entrance we learned we were too late to drive to the valley and expect to find a parking place and were advised to go to Glacier Point which overlooks the valley. Even then we had to park at a ski area and take a shuttle up there.

The drive in was pretty but did not compare to the vistas we were treated to at Sequoia. Yosemite made up for that when we got to the Glacier Point overlook where the iconic panorama of Half Dome and the surrounding landscape was truly a breathtaking spectacle to behold. The scene looked like a living painting. The falls were flowing at full force and their roar could be heard from across the valley. We took it all in as long as we could before boarding one of the last shuttles down the mountain.

Sunday we headed out at 7:30 am and went back to the park, this time heading to the valley floor. We stopped and hiked to Bridal Veil Fall and Mirror Lake. Between those stops the boys and I hiked to Vernal Fall. The boys got farther up than I did, but we all got at least half way up the side of the waterfall. I stopped before getting drenched. The boys were pretty wet when they got back to me. By the time we did all this it was pretty late in the day. I know we missed other sites but by then we were too tired to care. We called it a day and headed back.

I see now why Yosemite is the crown jewel of our national parks. I hope to get back there some day to see things I missed. Alas, the next morning we had to check out of our hotel and point our van toward San Francisco.

Joe

Our California Adventure, Part 2

Here’s the San Diego leg of our trip through our arrival in San Francisco between Sunday, May 29, and Wednesday, June 1.

SAN DIEGO
We landed in San Diego around 6:40 PDT Sunday evening. I am not a night owl so by the time we had gotten our rental car and checked into our hotel I was feeling the two hour time difference. We needed to find some supper at this point so we headed over to Cafe Coyote in Old Town where we enjoyed some authentic Mexican cuisine. After supper we strolled around a bit before heading back to get some sleep.

The next morning we got up and made our way to the harbor where we toured the USS Midway. This aircraft carrier, named for the World War II naval battle, went into service in 1945 and was decommissioned in 1991. It was fascinating and a fitting way to celebrate Memorial Day. Midway through the tour (pun intended) we ate lunch aboard at the Fantail Cafe. When the tour was over we crossed the bridge over to Coronado and drove south down the coast just to enjoy the sights.

That evening we grabbed a bite to eat at In-N-Out Burger and went to the movies to see Jungle Book, the live action film adaptation of the animated Disney classic. You may be wondering why in the world would they fly to Southern California to do something they could do at home? Well, it was late (especially to us), we’d walked all over a huge aircraft carrier, and we wanted to see this flick while it was still on the big screen.

Tuesday was zoo day for us. We arrived at the world renowned San Diego Zoo when they opened and stayed almost all day. The zoo, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, certainly lives up to its reputation. We saw more animals than I can possibly name here. The giant pandas, penguins, monkeys, orangutans, gorillas, giraffes, and large cats were all favorites.

We went to Filippi’s Pizza grotto in the Little Italy neighborhood in Downtown San Diego for supper. Meals like this became one of the easily overlooked highlights of the trip because we simply enjoyed each other’s company around the table.

CALIFORNIA DRIVERS
Before leaving San Diego I will note here that they have the tightest parking spaces I’ve ever seen. It felt like the entire city is expected to drive a sub-compact car.

In general driving in California didn’t hold that many surprises. Sure, traffic was bad in the cities, but then traffic is bad in Nashville during rush hour and Atlanta most any time. What amazed me was that for California to be the third largest state in the Union the roads feel tighter. For example, I was surprised at how short the acceleration lanes are when entering the freeway or how little warning you get before a lane ends. Overall we thought Californians were less rude when behind the wheel than Tennesseans. Motorcycles would be the exception to this observation.

Motorcyclists regularly keep you on your toes. Whenever there was heavy traffic on the freeway we had to be extra vigilant. It was normal to have a motorcycle whiz past riding on the dashed line between lanes of traffic. Here that would probably generate a lot of 9-1-1 calls and a stiff fine for reckless driving. I see the occasional motorcycle weave dangerously in and out of traffic here, but they never create their own lane between lanes.

Smart phone navigation is a godsend, yet even with Siri giving us directions we made plenty of mistakes. One challenge for us is that we are used to all our interstates and major state highways having mile markers with the exits numbered according to the corresponding mile marker. This is why, for example, the Cross Plains exit on I-65 is exit 112 and the Orlinda exit, the next one to the north, is exit 121. Some quick mental math will tell you these exits are 9 miles apart. With this system we have learned to depend on exit numbers more than names. In California, without mile markers, the exits are numbered sequentially, and the numbers may not be marked on the signage until the last possible sign. So when Siri says something like, “In 2 miles take exit 17B to so-and-so,” we are listening for the exit number and it is very easy for us to miss the exit because its number is not on most signage for that exit. (To be fair, this was more prevalent around San Diego.)

TO SAN FRANCISCO
The next day we flew up to San Francisco. I gave everyone a heart attack before we boarded our flight. We were in line to board when I couldn’t find my boarding pass. Thinking quickly I retraced my steps to the restroom where I found it on the floor under the sink where I had washed my hands. You see, when I first went to the restroom I stuck my boarding pass under my arm rather than store it in my pocket. (Yep, stupid move on my part.) And when I washed my hands the pass fell from under my arm to under the sink. I was very fortunate it was still there.

It was on this flight that I decided to work on a crossword puzzle. I had gotten a pretty good start when I noticed my fingers felt wet. My pen didn’t handle the change in pressure too well. The flight attendant said it happened frequently with the type of pen I had. My hands looked like I had tangled with a squid.

LUNCH/SUPPER WITH DOUG
Upon arriving in the City by the Bay we enjoyed a late lunch with Doug, a friend I had met two years ago at the final 73rd Bomb Wing reunion. Doug and I had sat together at the table for several meals and on two bus tours: to Pratt, Kansas, and to see Doc, the B-29 that is being restored in Wichita.

Incidentally, someone shared a newspaper article with me that on Friday, May 17, Doc received it’s airworthiness certificate from the FAA. I’m sure there will be plenty of engine run-ups and taxi tests before she actually takes flight again. The article went on to report that it was 16 years to the day that the plane was shipped to Kansas in a series of large crates for the restoration to begin. Of the 3970 B-29s originally built, plus 370 B-50s which were simply redesignated B-29Ds, Doc will join Fifi as the only two flying Superforts today.

At any rate, Doug is a patient and long suffering friend. Our flight arrived on time but our experience with the rental car company was quite different. Due to a special promotion the company had run the office at the San Francisco Airport was slammed. We stood in line over 90 minutes to turn in our reservation and then waited an additional 80 minutes for our van to be delivered. This was the only bad hiccup on our trip.

Our late lunch became an early supper at the Elephant Bar Restaurant. The food and conversation were well worth the wait and after a fun two hour visit with Doug we were on our way to Monterey. This is a good stopping point so I’ll pick up the road trip leg of the trip next time.

Joe

Our California Adventure, Part 1

Our original plan was to go to the Smoky Mountains this past week. Several weeks ago Vicki went to Bowling Green to spend the day with Angi, an old high school and college friend who had moved there from Sevierville several months ago. Vicki had a wonderful day with Angi which was very evident when she came home that night.

One topic of discussion as these two high school chums reconnected was a vacation Angi and her family recently made to California. I could see the excitement in Vicki’s eyes as she related this part of their conversation to me. I finally interrupted and said, “We’re not going to the mountains in June, are we?” And that is how I found myself on a plane heading west the day after I wrote last.

I left it to Vicki to do all the planning and prep work for the trip. It is one of those things, like shopping for a car, that she does well. This trip is out of the ordinary for us. We’ve not done anything like this before: ten nights, five hotels, three flights (well, four because the flight home required us to change planes), and two rental cars. We traveled over 4300 miles by air and covered about 1000 miles on the road with an additional 300 or so miles of local driving around San Diego and San Francisco. We had a fantastic time!

I’m going to follow the pattern I’ve used before and tell about our vacation in several installments over the next few days. For now here’s an overview of our travels so that you can have the big picture.

Our adventures began two weeks ago on Sunday, May 29. We went to Sunday School and sat in the worship service long enough to see a friend baptized and then ducked out to get to the airport on time. We had a direct flight from Nashville to San Diego.

There are several firsts to note here. This was Nate’s first time to fly. (Well, he has been up in a Cessna 172 before, but he was four and we won’t count a small plane here.) This was the first time Vicki and I have ever flown together, and this is the first time we’ve ever flown anywhere as a family as well. This was the first time any of us had ever visited California. And this was the first time any of us had ever seen the Pacific Ocean. (I’m not counting seeing it from the air when I flew to Korea in 1992.)

San Diego was our longest stay anywhere. We spent three nights there. This beautiful city has a lot of fun things to do and we only scratched the surface. By Wednesday, June 1, we caught a short flight north to San Francisco.

Upon arriving in San Francisco we enjoyed lunch with Doug, a friend of mine, and then started the road trip part of our adventure. We drove down the coast to Monterey, then inland to the Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park, and finally looping back around to San Francisco by Monday, June 6. If anything, we didn’t do San Francisco justice as we only allowed a day and a half there.

Wednesday morning it was time to head to the airport and catch a flight home. This time we had to change planes in Los Angeles (so close to Disneyland, yet so far away!). We got home tired but full of memories of good times together and the fun places we had visited. The next day we jumped headlong into life as if we had never been gone.

The weather in California was great for us. Doug had warned us that the weather was cool, especially in San Francisco, so we packed accordingly. Those working in tourism there seem to be fond of quoting Mark Twain who once said, “The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco.” For the most part we enjoyed lows in the 50s and highs in the 60s and 70s. It was only in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains that we experienced heat approaching 100° and fortunately we weren’t in that too long. The only time I got a bit cool was riding across the Golden Gate Bridge in the open upper deck of a tour bus in the wind and fog. The rest of the time I wore my jacket simply because I didn’t want to carry it.

Unfortunately, we came back home to July-like temperatures and humidity. Our forecast shows the high 90s for the next several days. As a matter of fact, Nate is ready to move to California just for the weather alone. He said several times he, his future wife, and their two kids would be living out there when he grew up. Now he just needs to figure out how to make a living because California is expensive.

Another thing that has been different with this vacation has been eating out. That’s not to say we never eat out when we’re on vacation. You can’t avoid it when you’re on a cruise ship or in the Disney parks. On other vacations we are either renting a condo and have a small kitchen or we are staying with relatives and so eat in a lot. I’m going to mention our favorites simply because we want to remember them.

• For fast food we ate at In-N-Out Burger several times because we enjoyed their burgers and we don’t have this chain here in Tennessee.
• In San Diego we enjoyed Cafe Coyote in the Old Town and Filippi’s Pizza Grotto in Little Italy.
• Doug teated us to a delicious meal at the Elephant Bar Restaurant when we first arrived in San Francisco. That evening, still fairly full from lunch, we ended the day with desserts at the Black Bear Diner in Monterey.
• On the road we feasted at Colima Seafood and Mexican Restaurant in Visalia and Pete’s Place in Oakhurst.
• We enjoyed Wipeout Bar and Grill on Pier 39 in San Francisco so much that we ate there twice.

As much as we’ve enjoyed everywhere we’ve eaten we’re glad to be able to enjoy some home cookin’ now. I’ll cover more details the next few times I write, but all in all it was a wonderful vacation. There are things I want to go back and see because we didn’t have time to get everything in, and we didn’t even get to Los Angeles. Hopefully that will be before Nate moves out there with our future daughter-in-law and two grandkids.

Joe

Summer Break Is Here!

Boy, have we gotten the rain! I was on the road Thursday afternoon when the bottom dropped out and that was the hardest rain I recall driving through in a long time. The boys and I cut the grass yesterday and it needs mowing again today (okay, that’s a stretch, but it sure feels like the truth).
LAST WEEKEND
I wrote all about Jenna’s graduation last time, but last weekend was far busier than that for us. I mentioned the Jones family came in for her graduation and we enjoyed visiting with them both here at the house and twice out to eat—-the Catfish House after Jenna’s graduation and Los Agaves the following evening. Wherever we are it’s always nice just to catch up.

Additionally, Morgan got married last Saturday morning. She and Jim Ring III (who we all know as Jimmy) tied the knot in a private ceremony on the farm near the old tobacco barn. Family and friends were invited to a brunch reception under a large tent in Kenny and Lori’s back yard.

Last Saturday morning turned out to be beautiful, but all the preceding rain sure made setup an adventure for their family. The tent was set up that Thursday (the 19th). Then the rain came. Both families spent Friday working to pump the water out of the yard. Yes, as absurd as this sounds that’s exactly what they did. When I heard about what they were doing I could hear Aunt Mar’s voice in my head saying, “That yard is just going to be one great big loblolly of a mess!” In the end it was a little squishy in places but nothing serious.

Morgan made a beautiful bride! She and Jimmy made their appearance around 10:30 where we all—and by all I mean a couple hundred people or so—were eating a nice breakfast. It was a tender moment when Kenny and Morgan danced and good to see that when Kenny was done no one had gotten hurt.

Sunday, after the Jones family left for home Vicki, Jenna, and I went to the Davidson Academy Baccalaureate service. A first in DA history was that one of the seniors delivered the sermon. His class decided to ask him to preach since he plans to go into the ministry anyway. He did a great job and kept everyone on their toes with some of the funny things he said.

SCHOOL IS OUT!
I’ve never experienced an end to the school year that didn’t feel like running full speed off a cliff. This year was no different. I suppose it’s because you put so much effort into getting everything done before final exams that when they get here the end is simply abrupt.

Ben and Nate were each exempt from all but one final so by Tuesday they were both done. Now summer break is here for them and it’s time to relax a bit—except for the fact that they both have summer reading assignments and Ben has a summer math assignment. Some work is never done.

ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
So on Wednesday Ben was included in a group invitation to an afternoon/evening school’s out party. They had a great time, though the rain put a serious damper on the original plans to have a bonfire and other outside activities. What turned this thing into an adventure for us was the trip home. You see, neither Vicki nor I could get Ben to the party so Jenna offered to take him at noon and pick him up at 10:00. She simply said that if she was going to drive to Joelton and back twice he would have to treat her a Sonic. A deal was struck and off they went.

It was on the way home that Jenna, who was driving Vicki’s van, hit an animal. Jenna thought at first she had hit a kitten which made her want to cry. Then they began to get a whiff of the skunky odor which gave her a whole different reason to want to cry. Fortunately it wasn’t too potent, but the smell was still there.

The next day Vicki called Jenna from work and said for Ben to park the van in a sunny part of the yard and roll down the windows so it could air out. Well, Ben decided the only sunny part of the yard was the spot behind the shop where Jenna’s garden was last year. It was not within Ben’s experience to think about the fact that since we’ve gotten a sizable percentage of our annual rainfall in the last week and that there’s standing water just visible in the grass out there this might not be the best place to park a two ton minivan. He backed it in where it immediately sank down to the frame. I will admit, I know the feeling.

I was at work when the text messages with photo evidence started coming through. There wasn’t much I could do from 30 miles away except advise that they find a neighbor with a tractor. Steve Freeland came to the rescue only to find there was nothing under the back of the van to hook a towing strap to. That news brought me home because I knew there was more rain on the way.

It turns out we did find a small hole in the rear of the frame used to tie down the vehicle in shipping that would work. Steve happened to have a hook small enough to fit. That gave us just what we needed for his truck to pull us out. Good neighbors are priceless!

MARY POPPINS
Had Steve not been able to rescue the van the big rain I mentioned in the opening would have ensured the van’s predicament for several days. As it was, the van took us to see the Hendersonville Performing Arts Company’s production of Mary Poppins that night. Ben’s basketball coach, Stephen Sorrell, played the part of Bert and did a fantastic job. Actually, the whole production was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. (Is that too corny?) We thoroughly enjoyed the show! If you live locally we highly recommend going to see it (visit http://hpactn.com for more information). The show runs through June 12.

Joe

Our Graduate

The big day for Jenna has come and gone. Last night we gathered in the East Robertson High School Gymnasium for the commencement exercises of the Class of 2016. It was a beautiful time for me and Vicki, and I know it ultimately was for Jenna as well once she delivered her valedictory address.

When the ceremony was over and all the pictures were taken, we went to the Catfish House to celebrate. After the 12 of us had placed our order (there were the five of us, mom, the Jones family, and Mrs. Donna Henry who helps mom some) and we were ready to say the blessing, I took the time to tell Jenna just how proud she has made her mom and I. I can’t remember everything I said last night but I was thinking back to the time we met with the guidance counselor four years ago to map out Jenna’s high school courses. Jenna chose the hard road. She accepted the challenge of every top level class East Robertson had to offer. She has figuratively poured in the blood, sweat, and tears and come out on top. I knew she had it in her, but seeing her tackle this path through high school has left me amazed. She has done all that while never compromising on her beliefs and having a vibrant, thriving high school experience. I am looking forward to what she does next.

Jenna graduated with many honors and therefore had a lot of different things hanging around her neck. Since I am the proud papa I’m going to describe those here.

    •    Jenna wore a white cap and gown to represent that she was in the top 10 of her class (everyone else wore maroon).
    •    The medallion she wore signified that she is a Tennessee Scholar. To earn this you have to maintain a C average, have at least 95% attendance throughout the high school career with no out of school suspensions, and perform 80 hours of volunteer service.
    •    She wore several cords representing that she graduated with honors, distinction, and state honors for her GPA, ACT score, and dual enrollment college credit.
    •    Jenna also wore the Beta Club stole.

Jenna was also awarded the Jr. Beta Club scholarship and the Covington Scholarship (for her biographical essay about Mrs. Connie) last night. Her first year of college should be pretty much paid for!

Since I’m unabashedly singing my daughter’s praises (Isn’t that my job, especially now?) I’m going to sign off and include a copy of Jenna’s valedictory address below. Go get ‘em, girl. Your daddy is proud of you!

Joe

—————

Family, friends, and fellow graduates, it is such an honor to speak to you all today. This is my last official high school assignment, and I must say, I am glad I’m not being graded for it. First of all, I would like to say thank you to all those who have helped us along the way, and of course, to the many teachers and faculty who have positively impacted our lives to bring us to this very day. When considering what I could possibly say, I knew I wanted to give my class of 2016 an encouraging word about our future, but I also wanted to reflect on the last thirteen years we have spent together.

With the help of the school yearbooks, I went back to our kindergarten year in 2003. Little did we know at the time that walking into school on the first day would start such an adventure. Prepared with my twenty pocket, flower power backpack, I walked in feeling on top of the world. I remember being so excited to finally start school! It didn’t take long to realize though that we would have to go EVERY single day for the next thirteen years of our lives! In a five-year-old’s mind, this seemed like forever and would be our greatest challenge ever to face. I realize now, we had many more to come. Yet, here we are. Forty-six of us have been together since kindergarten. Of course, we’ve lost a few and we’ve gained a few, but at the heart we’re still the same. From the memories we share competing in tug-of-war or looking around the cafeteria to see who popped the sandwich bag to transitioning to our newfound freedom of 6th grade (and lockers!) or the excitement of high school basketball and football games, I will cherish these moments forever! Throughout the years, we have played together, been in trouble together, learned together, and grown together, but now we take our next step separately. It’s the unknown, but we have been thoroughly prepared. Now I may not be taking my flower power backpack with me for the next part of my journey, but I will take the legacy we have shared here at East.

I pray for each of you as you start college, begin new jobs, or wherever else your life may take you. I want to encourage you to place your trust in God because He will be your source of hope and direction for your future. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Lastly, I want to leave you with one final thought from the book Tuesdays with Morrie. I read this quote a few weeks ago, and it made me reflect on my own life and the choices I make. I thought it was fitting for today as I challenge the Class of 2016 to live a meaningful life:

So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

I wish you the best of luck Class of 2016. Congratulations and God Bless!

Catching Up

Spring is in full swing, though it’s a cool one (today’s temps, for example, were 48°-58°). The fragrance of honeysuckle is in the air. My mockingbird friend is back and serenading me all through the night. And the spring storms are starting to roll through. A few nights ago the kids and I watched from the back door as one inch diameter hail pelted the back porch.

BOSTON
I have gotten terribly behind so it is time to play catch up. I think one of the biggest things I need to report on is Ben’s trip to Boston. This was a school sponsored trip open to all freshmen and sophomores. There were 41 students who signed up to go, and this was Ben’s first trip on a large airplane. The group left early Thursday morning, April 21, and returned that Saturday.

This trip had a historical focus. Upon arriving at Boston they went to see the Salem Witch Museum and the House of Seven Gables Historic Site before eating supper and having some shopping time. Friday morning they visited the Old North Church and took a Duck tour of the city and the harbor. (The “Duck” I am referring to is the old DUKW World War II amphibious vehicle.) After lunch they were off to college at Harvard and then enjoyed a dinner cruise on the Spirit of Boston. The next day they drove over to Plymouth, Massachusetts, where they visited the site of the original colony, Plymouth Rock, and the Plymouth Plantation living museum. From there they drove to Providence, Rhode Island, where they caught their flight home.

Ben really enjoyed his trip but we got very little from him while he was away. He only sent a few sentence fragments and two pictures. When Vicki and Jenna visited New York City and Washington, D. C. We got pictures and text messages throughout. That’s the difference between boys and girls, I guess.

Ben had much more to say in person. His favorite stops were the House of Seven Gables, the Old North Church, and the living museum at Plymouth Plantation. He also enjoyed the dinner cruise and dance. Ben had a lot to say about the architecture. It was interesting for me to get this insight into what he appreciates because he’s normally so reserved.

Ben also commented on how much fun he had getting to know some of the kids from school that he doesn’t share classes with. I think he made several new friends.

FUN WITH FRIENDS
Speaking of having fun with friends, Ben was among a handful invited to go pick strawberries and eat pizza at the park yesterday after school. We could tell beforehand he was so pleased to be invited and we knew when we picked him up he’d had a great time. Just one of those things that does a parent’s heart good.

STRUGGLES
While I’m writing about Ben one thing I have come to appreciate about him is how much he deeply considers opportunities and will jump out and try things. Some of the boys at school were encouraging him to try out for football so after talking to the coach he attended a few practices. He knew pretty quickly this was not a sport he is passionate about so after a lot of thought and talking with us he went back to the coach and thanked him for the opportunity. I think Ben is considering the Cross Country team now.

Ben thinks he’d like to be an engineer. With that in mind, I told him he would do well to get all the math he could in high school. He’s decided to double up on math classes next year with Geometry and Algebra 2 so as to get everything in that DA has to offer. That’s a big decision because it will make for a busy sophomore year.

COMING UP ON THE BIG DAY
Last Sunday, was Mother’s Day and we celebrated with a large meal at Mom’s house that evening. It also happened that Jenna’s Baccalaureate was that afternoon. There’s 81 in her class and many of them have been together since kindergarten.

Jenna has completed all her school work now. Yesterday was her last day of classes. I had taken the day off and so was here to watch her drive off for her last day of school. I looked back in our home movies and found that it was August 20, 2003, when we took her to the elementary school for her first day of school. Seems like it was just last fall. Now all she has left is graduation rehearsal and the commencement itself.

QUICK TRIP
After we got the news of Uncle Bob’s passing and then the funeral arrangements were confirmed I wanted to attend but with all the end of the school year activities we felt it would be easier for Vicki to break away. She flew in Tuesday evening and returned home Thursday evening.

The funeral was held Wednesday at one of the chapels at First Baptist Orlando where Uncle Bob and Aunt Linda are members. Dr. Jim Henry, the former pastor there, conducted the service. (Incidentally, Jim Henry is from this area and still has many relatives here.) Thursday Uncle Bob was interred at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery with full military honors.

I won’t give a lot of other details because this trip was about spending time with family which they did a lot of at Aunt Linda’s house. Vicki came back saying they all had a great time together laughing, cutting up, and enjoying each other. I am glad we could share Vicki with Aunt Linda and her family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Mom celebrated her 88th birthday on Thursday. She went out to get her hair done that morning and that afternoon she went with us to the airport to pick Vicki up. She even got to ride in my bus because I needed to return it to school since I took yesterday off. Once we got Vicki from the airport we stopped at Cracker Barrel for supper and, more importantly, dessert.

ZINGERS
When the kids were little they said so many cute things as they tried to master language and make observations about the world that it was hard to keep up with them to put into the family record here. This has dropped off as they’ve grown up, of course, but just when you think it’s gone for good you get a zinger.

It’s usually pretty quiet on my bus in the mornings, but the other day some of the lower school kids started asking Ben and Nate about their classes in the upper school. There were lots of questions about the math when Ben mentioned he has algebra and then he mentioned Spanish. This started a lively discussion about whether it is important to learn Spanish. One of my kindergarten passengers said it is important and started rattling off all the Spanish words she knows (it was cute and she has an impressive vocabulary). Then, just I came upon some traffic that had come to a halt Nate said, “Well, the only word in Spanish I know is ‘Aloha’.” I almost rear ended the car in front of me.

This next one actually came from Wil Swann when we were bringing him and Ben home from football practice. Knowing they were hungry we offered to stop in Springfield for some supper. Wil declined saying that Granny (Mrs. Connie) probably had supper for him. Mrs. Connie loves to cook for her family and will happily feed whoever is at her house.

Wil decided to pick up his phone and call Mrs. Connie. As soon as she answered the first words out of his mouth were, “What’s for supper?” We all got a laugh when 30 seconds into the conversation we heard him say, “Uh, this is Wil.”

Then there was Monday or Tuesday morning of this week. It’s time to leave for school and I’m in my bedroom putting my keys and stuff in my pockets when Ben walks in and asks a question. Keep in mind he is dead serious about this question and not intending for it to be funny.

“Dad, I just saw a possum [waddling by the kitchen window] with a bunch of leaves sticking out its butt. How does this happen?”

Vicki groggily mumbled from the bed, “Why are those the first words I have to hear for the day?”

I don’t know, Ben. I guess the possum ran out of toilet paper. Thanks for the belly laugh to start my day.

Joe