Edinburgh Tattoo

Nope. Not that kind. Are you kidding? They use needles to do that, they jab you repeatedly!

This is a "band" thing. One of my first trips while here in the UK was to Edinburgh. Awesome place. While there I saw lot's of info on the upcoming Tattoo, so I planned on coming back to Scotland for my last weekend.

I'm not if I can describe it adequately. It's a 60 year old event, staged at the Edinburgh Castle. They build stands in front of the castle creating a "stage" area. Watching 100+ bagpipers come out of the drawbridge of a castle in Scotland is an awesome thing. They had bands from all over the world, a large group of Highland Dancers, and more bagpipes than you will ever see in your life.

The event is sold out every performance for almost a month. The term "tattoo" is actually taken from an old evening call to tell the taverns to turn off the beer tap and send the soldiers home.

You can find info on the Tattoo here.

My photos of the Tattoo are here.

A short video of just a few of the groups...

The Stupid Things We Do

First, you need to understand that I don't use the "s" word lightly. At our house the kids weren't allowed to use it and we didn't use it. Sure, there are some stupid things but we try not to ever call people stupid. It's just not very nice.

Second, I am sure that you already thought, "What stupid thing did John do?". Oh no my friend, not me - WE. WE as in people, society as a collective. I say this based on a recent field trip.

We went to Mountfitchet Castle.

It is a recreation of a Norman Village from the year 1066. (Those of you who are behind on your Norman history will need to Google the Norman Invasion and catch up.) It is a wooden fortification similar to the one in the movie Braveheart when William Wallace first attacks the bad guys for messing with his woman. Inside the castle walls are numerous "buildings" that house the different things needed to keep the castle going.

While we were there, the rain started falling so we ducked into various buildings to wait it out. I happened to be in the "Kitchen" building. It showed a lovely scene of cooking methods and ingredients used during those times. The description that really got my attention (and thus prompted this post) was the one talking about them baking bread each day to feed the people. To flavor the bread they used dove and pigeon droppings. Yep, droppings. Not dove, not pigeon - those might actually be somewhat tasty (I'll have a 12" dove-loaf meatball...).

Who came up with that idea? Who did the initial taste testing? What were the focus groups thinking? Did it accidentally happen and the cooks not bother to tell anyone and then everybody raved about the new bread flavor so they had to keep making it to meet the demand? Were they mad at someone and said "Hey, put some of this in that guy's bread"? I can't really imagine the process or motivation.

I guess what really bothers me about this is that it makes me wonder: What we are doing now that will be seen as bizarrely strange a thousand years from now??? Sure, we figured out that smoking was actually not good for us as early Doctors said, but what have we missed?

So, look around and see what it is that you are doing that will be laughed at years from now. I guess if nothing else we will provide humor for those people a thousand years from now who will post about those stupid people that lived in the 2000's.

The people from 1066 also rubbed goose fat on themselves in the winter to keep warm but who am I to judge them for that?

Conwy Wales

With only a few weekends remaining here in the UK (Yea!) I started trying to figure out where to go last weekend. I was talking to a staff member and one of the youth center kids on Thursday and asked them where I should go. They both said that they really liked Conwy. That was enough for me.

I looked it up, saw that it is one of the best examples of a walled medieval city in the world and it had a castle. Plus it was on the coast! Who wouldn't want to go there? So, Saturday morning I headed to the train station at Ely (past the

Drainage Museum once again - I've got to get by there before I leave). Off I go on the train.

Train travel is a great thing but it's not always quite so glamerous as one thinks. To get to Conwy I h

ad to take four trains, stopping at twenty-five stations, with a maximum of nine minutes to spare between train connections. So, as your train comes into the connecting station you get your bag, stand by the door, get off that train, check to see what platform you came in on, start looking for a departure sign showing what platform your next train is leaving from, rush up the stairs (it never works out that you can stay on the same platform...) and then down to the correct platform and get on the train and find a seat. Whew.

To get off the train at Conwy you have to notify the conductor that you want to stop there or else the train won't stop. Then you have to make your way to the front of the train as they only open one door for people that are getting on or off there. I was one of four that got off there.

To get a perspective of the size of the town, from the station I walked two blocks to the hotel, past the hotel another block was the harbour, to the right two blocks was the castle, two blocks the other way from the hotel was the wall on the other side of town, four or five blocks the other side of the station was the wall. We're talking small town.

The castle is just what you think of in the movies. It was the royal castle of the King when he was in Wales.

The scenery was beautiful, the people were friendly. I spent the night an headed back the next afternoon. Overall it is the prettiest thing I have seen in the UK with the exception of Joann!

Castle Pics are here.

Town pics are here.

Perspective...

So, I've been away from home for longer than I have ever been in my life, and I still have about three weeks to go! I'll admit there are times that I get that pitiful feeling of not getting what I want and I tell God that I want to go home!

Then He reminds me of some things. Last week, at the end of a long day I was dreaming of heading home to the states when one of the kids at the Youth Center came running up to me and said "Mr. John, Mr. John, my dad comes home tonight at 10pm, he's on the plane headed here right now!". I asked him how long his dad had been deployed, "A year, and he's coming home today!". Ok God. I get it.

This afternoon I was traveling back to the base from a lovely weekend in Conwy, Wales. I was anxious the hear from Joann, watching the time to see when she might call (remember, she is 6 hours behind me time wise). It seems that when I am waiting for a call that it makes me even more ready to head home. I changed to another train, looked around and found a seat with a nice lady and her two kids. The kids were 6 and 4, blond haired boys that reminded of mine. As we played games on the iPad I visited with the mother. She asked how long I had been in the UK. I told her I got here mid June, she said that it was about that time that her husband died. We were talking about that when Joann called and told me that she loved me.

I get it God, it's about perspective. I'll keep working on it, thanks for the reminder.

London!

Without a doubt the very best attraction in London was Joann! Having been away from the love of my life for 30+ days I was very ready to see her.

She got to the Hotel before me and met me in the Lobby, I think that the Desk Clerks were somewhat embarrassed by our greeting - that's their problem! (Yes, we kept our clothes on...). We stayed at the Hotel Indigo near Paddington Station. It is a part of the Holiday Inn chain. The Hotel was marvelous, the room was great (air conditioned!), and the staff very friendly and helpful. We headed out that evening and wondered in a big circle looking for the place to pick up my London Pass. We found it about 10 minutes after it closed!

We walked through St. James Park which is near Buckingham Palace, we went across the River to the South Bank and rode the London Eye. It is the second largest observation wheel in the world (darn that Singapore). The pods hold around 15 people and give you a great view of London. We found some fresh donuts, wondered around some more and then headed home.

The next day Joann tried to walk me to death. We walked, and walked, and then we walked some more to another place where we could walk more! Due to the lack of oxygen in my system a lot of the timing of things is still fuzzy so I'll just hit some of the things we did in no particular order.

River Cruise...

We took the City Cruise which was really fun. They give a "guided tour" which was interesting and funny. We went all the way to Greenwich, that't where time is measured from (GMT - Greenwich Mean Time). The Cutty Sark was undergoing some remodeling so we didn't get to visit it but we did visit the Painted Hall. It was built as a Sailor's Hospital. An American painted it. It was truly amazing. We also viewed the Chapel there.

The Tube...

We did indeed master the London Underground. It's fast and furious but we got it down. Joann would consult her hard-copy map and I would use an App on the iPad, then synchronize our plans and head out. A few trains were those packed to the gills ones that you see in the movies. It is a very quick and efficient way to get around town. If only we still had the Leonard's Subway in Fort Worth!

The Phantom of the Opera...

As I sign of my true love to my wife I got her tickets to the Phantom of the Opera. We took a cab (the tube was kinda warm at times) and headed to Her Majesty's Theatre. The show was very nice and we had a great time. I can tell you the ending if you want to know it, just let me know.

London At Night...

Sunday night we rode a double-decker tour bus. It was neat to see London all lit up and from a higher level than street. We had to wait at the Tower Bridge as it was raised, that only happens 3-5 times a week these days..

Kew Gardens...

A trip out of the busy city to the beautiful countryside. The gardens were huge and awesome. they have the tallest indoor plant in the world (so they say - I didn't get a chance to measure it and check). You'll be glad to know that the lift (elevator) to the tall tree-walk was broken so I got to walk up about a bijillion stairs! Glad my legs weren't tired or anything like that. It was beautiful.

Overall, we had a great time and the time with the love of my life pretty much saved my life and gave me the ability to make it through the rest of the assignment. Thanks Joann!

If you want to see pictures they are here:

General London

London Eye

Buckingham Palace

Westminster

Greenwich

Tower of London

Kew Gardens

The Good and Bad of Half Way

Wednesday marked a transition in my life here in the UK. I passed the one-half point of my 75 day stay. I have been very thankful lately that I am not here for 90 days as I thought it originally was.

The good is that I am now getting closer each day (sure, I was getting closer before but it feels like progress is being made now). The bad is that I realize I have a long time to go! Having a few days with Joann here has made my life so much happier! Thanks Baby!

I am reminded daily that there are many of our military troops that deploy for a year or more under considerably more harsh and threating conditions than me (although I am dealing with 9 - 13 year olds!). I appreciate their gift of service even more now than before.

So, now I have 5 weeks of Summer camp left. I'll make it, one day at a time...

Carved Walls of Green

Yes, I'm behind on things. I'll try to catch up some today.

I went to Bury St Edmunds today, big shopping trip, I got a TV tray and some dishes that won't melt in the Microwave. (Unlike the plastic plate I have with a hole in the middle of it that evidently wasn't microwavable. I found that out when I finished the pizza and found the hole melted in the middle!)

I had lunch on the TV Tray. Wow, that sure beats holding everything in your lap and reaching down to get your drink over the edge of the seat. The tray came from Argos, you place your order in the store and the items magically come down the conveyor belt to you.

But back to the Wall of Green. I am in a very lush, agricultural area of England. As you drive often the roads are lined with greenery, shrubs / trees / etc. that are quite often very tall. The large trucks keep the greenery "trimmed" back which then gives you a carved wall of green. Well, really sometimes a carved tunnel of green!

The roads are very narrow and you hold your breath when you are meeting a large truck or a large tractor pulling a large trailer. To make things even more exciting people are passing each other left and right. The twenty mile trek to Bury is dotted with about a dozen small towns with beautiful small houses, pubs, and churches. One town has several thatched roofs as well.

I'm looking forward to dinner on the TV tray!

TDF Video

Here it is, the stunning video of the TDF trip condensed into 4 minutes!

A waffle dream...

No, not a dream about waffles, a waffle dish that was a dream! I'm back in Brussels with about a 4 hour wait for the Eurostar (I had considered trying to catch the start of the tour from here but after all the standing yesterday I'll just watch it on the iPad. My second option was to do some walking around but the combination of yesterday's standing and the rain here in Brussels staying in the station seemed like a good plan.) so I grabbed a sandwich, walked around looking at the shops and then I saw it. The Waffle Dream. It was at the Hägen Das ice cream shop, a fresh warm Belgium waffle with two scoops of pralines and cream ice cream topped with a thick gooey carmel sauce, nuts and cream from a large machine that serves to dispense a steady stream of goodness. It was awesome, the perfect end to a Belgium adventure.

Now, I sit (ahh...), and watch the Tour on the iPad!

TDF - Been there, done that and yep, got the shirt

Like most sporting events, the Tour De France is much better to watch on TV than live. But having been able to be on the side of the road as the Peleton rushes by is pretty cool. When I realized that I would be within "striking distance" of the Tour while in England I knew that I had to make the trip.

It all started many, many years ago, long before Lance actually. Back then you might catch a few hours of the tour on a Saturday afternoon on one of the major networks, you mainly followed it in the newspapers, yep, that's how far back I'm talking about. I remember being excited when a young kid from Texas was going to ride, he didn't make a very good showing the first year but he had potential.

Since then the Tour has been a yearly ritual at our house. Thanks to TiVo we could record it and then watch it every evening. That young kid from Texas did indeed have potential, he is my hero. I remember when he was diagnosed with cancer, to see the images of a young man who had been in the prime physical condition but was now in cancer treatment were heartbreaking, and yes, I did cry when I saw them. But as you know, the story didn't end there, Lance came back and not only did he ride again, he showed them how to ride, and how to win. And yes, I cried when he came back and won!

I went to the town center after grabbing breakfast to see how the crowd was going to be. At 9:00am there were only a few people out and about. The barricades were already out and they were towing several cars that had been left on the road the tour was coming down. About 9:30am they turned on the large projection screen showing the start ot race, lot's of speeches and ceremonies. I went back to the room and took a nap!

I went back out around 11:30, the crowds were starting to gather but not bad. I sat and watched the big screen while watching on my iPad which rocked, I was able to track the location, get updates (in English!), and watch live video feed. You gotta love technology. Around 1:00pm I headed to where I wanted to watch the tour. I was just at the foot of the large church tower in town on the shady side of the street (very important). I sat on the steps of a closed restaurant and met a nice couple who lived about 40 miles away and had come in to see the tour. They had been to South Padre and Austin and liked Texas, duh, who doesn't? We sat there for quite a while following the tour status on the iPad. Soon the crowd started growing and we staked out a piece of barrier. We stood for almost an hour and then the caravan came through. You don't get to see that part of the tour on TV, it is made up of the sponsors in some very strange vehicles. They all have loud sound systems and throw trinkets into the crowd. Being on the front was actually not the best place to be for swag as most of it went over my head. There was one piece that was thrown at my foot, I quickly steped on it to secure ownership, turns out it was a candy bar. A now very squashed candy bar! I left it there.

All my new friends along the barrier were enjoying watching the video on the iPad and we kept the surrounding folks updated on the vital stats. Then you heard the noise coming from up the street, a growing crescendo of cheers and excitement accompanied a solo rider on a breakaway, my friends quickly informed me that he was a Belgium. They were very excited about that. Then very quickly the other breakaway riders came whooshing by. Another 45 seconds or so and the peleton came around the corner. I was holding the video camera with one hand, snapping pictures (blindly) with the other hand and watching at the same time. (Oprah calls it multi-tasking.)

The peleton goes by amazingly fast and then it's over. Wow. It actually takes a fairly long time for the team cars to go by, much longer than the riders.

So, I've been to the Tour de France. I'm glad I came, glad to experience it firsthand. I think that I will probably stick to the TV version from now on but then again I will still be in the area when it finishes in Paris!

Hmm..., where is that train schedule?

I'm not sure what I'm eating but it's pretty good!

Saturday evening finds me in Mechelen, Belgium. Why you ask? TDF. But that's another post.

I walked around for an hour or so and managed to work up a pretty good appetite. I had a sandwich on the Eurostar while I was under the English Channel going 183 miles per hour, for future reference understand that chicken salad is not what we think it is, it's chicken with tomatoes and lettuce (the salad) but that was many hours and miles ago.

As I walked around I read the signs in front of the restaurants and realized that I was I big trouble as my French is not particularly strong (that would translate into non-existent) and there was no way I was going to successfully navigate ordering.

Since the TDF is coming through town there is a carnival in the town square. I studied the menu of the "snack bar", and found something that looked a lot like round funnel cakes with a liberal sprinkling of powdered sugar on top. I'm in. The nice carnival guy spoke English, French, German, and something else that I didn't catch, I ordered 7 of the hopefully tasty things, only 4 Euros. Then as I was headed back to the hotel I found a "My Kabob", how hard can that be?

It only took a few tries to order a "mixed kabob", the sticking point was whether I wanted it with bread or not. We got that figured out, added fries and a Diet Coke, good to go!

So, I just finished the sandwich, it was great, I'm still not sure what it is other than darn tasty. I just tried the things with powered sugar, mmm..., imagine funnel cake puffs drowning in powered sugar. Life is good.

Sure, I could've just gone to the Pizza Hut (they are EVERYWHERE), but I'm trying to live local. Bottom line, great meal.

Tomorrow, I see Stage 1 of the TDF, LIVE!

Scotland - Round 1

Sitting down is good. Really good. I've walked around a bijillion miles in the last 2 days with way too much of it uphill! Now a 4 hour train ride, ahh, rest for the weary

Last night I told Joann that we need to sell the house and move to Scotland, you may want to move as well. It's cool, it's pretty, it's cool (did I mention that?).

I spent the morning at Edinburgh Castle. My "church time" was spent in a chapel built in the 1600's, it is the oldest building in Edinburgh. It's about the size of my hotel room.

Edinburgh is a very musical city. Streetside musicians are scattered about and range from bagpipe to violin to guitar and some kind of long wooden horn accompanied by a bean bag.

I say "round 1" because I'm pretty sure that I will find Scotland again before I head home.

Pictures in a day or two...

Signs on the road to Ely...

Actual signs...

"Horse Manure - 50p a bag"

"Drainage Museum"

Says something about the neighborhood doesn't it?

Test Your UK English

Yes, they do speak English here, but a different style of English! The items below are things that I have bought for my stay here. See if you can guess what they are!

1. Scottish Fingers

2. Washing Up Liquid

3. Honey Roast Ham & Cranberry

4. Melts

5. Still & Fruity Summer Fruits

6. Summer Fruits Squash

7. Best Before End (not an item, but on an item)

St Edmundsbury Cathedral

A lovely place!

The joy of Toaster

There are a lot of things that bring happiness. Health, friends, love, things like that. But today the source of my joy is a toaster. Yep, a toaster. To really understand my joy you have to think about your last hotel stay, now consider living there for 75 days with just those things in the hotel room.

No dishes, no silverware, no cleaning supplies, no toaster! Sure, I've got a microwave and a very lovely half-fridge but sometimes you need toast. Warm, crunchy, butter melting on it, honey dripping through it toast. Ahhh...

So, today on a day trip to Bury St Edmunds I bought a toaster AND silverware! Yes, you read it right, silverware! For the past week I have been using plastic stuff from the fast food place (and you know what fine quality those are). I ate lunch at a church rectory today and had a fleeting thought of stealing the spoon and fork but that really seemed wrong so I left them. (The lamb cobbler was so-so but the bread pudding with custard more than made up for it.)

The day also involved a market, the kind with vegetables & fruits and the vendors yelling out their specials ("fresh asparagus, two stalks for a pound - c'mon, give it a go"); A big fresh loaf of bread and some local honey found their home with me!

And now, the big event of the day looms before me. To the toaster!

A guarded existence...

So, I work at the Children's Center here on base. It's a pretty typical Children's Center, lot's of color, fun things to do, pool table, ping-pong table, dance machine, the normal stuff.

The thing that is different is getting in the door. We've had kids in different day cares where you have to sign-in to get inside but this is a little different. To get inside the area you are greeted by an armed Military Police. Sweet.

It's an interesting view, the colorful playground equipment in the background behind the barb-wire and armed airman checking your ID. Now THAT'S the way you maintain control of childcare!

I'm all for it! (Hmm, the teachers who taught my kids probably agree!)

Low battery, high opportunity.

So, it's Saturday night. I'm leaving Sunday evening for England for 75 days. (OK, for those who don't keep up, I am working in England for 75 days working at an Airforce base working with children trying to help them learn some financial things.)

I connect my iPad (yes, it is awesome and you deserve one) to the computer so that it can sync the movies and TV shows that I have put into iTunes. It's going to take a while so I leave it plugged in and head to bed.

Sunday morning, I grab the iPad to head to church and realize that it did NOT sync, that it had an error message that had caused it to just sit there all night waiting for an answer. And, no - it did not charge during the process. Hmm. This could be a problem. The iPad will last 10+ hours (I told you it was awesome) but the flight is 10 hours.

After church / lunch with my awesome family I plug it in during last minute packing. I charge it in the car on the way but only get it to 65%. Bummer. I get through security (did the new arm over the head machine - spiffy) and to my gate. I score a seat right by the gate door, sit down and catch my breath. I sit for a few minutes and then decide I need to charge the iPad some more. I wonder down a little to one of the marvy charging stations. I sit by a fairly unhappy looking lady (not really any choice as it was the only open plug). I sat quietly for a few minutes, she did so as well. She finally looked up at me and I asked her "how 'ya doing?". "Not good" was the answer. She was coming back from somewhere North on her way to San Antonio when she was not allowed to get through security. It was something about having shears with her. Yep, that would keep you the other side of security (for which I am somewhat thankful - even though they were only haircut shears). She ended up having to buy another ticket, $500 worth of ticket. To make it worse she was supposed to be working Sunday at an insurance company. She was really upset that she couldn't keep the commitments to her clients that she had made.

I tried to console her, reminded her that if you can solve it with money it's really not a big problem and that her customers would understand. I asked her if she was religious, she said that she was. I told her that now she needed to look around and see what God had in mind for her, that maybe this was His plan, that something could come from this. She agreed that maybe she needed to look at it that way.

I asked her about where she worked, she works for USAA insurance, currently in the P&C area but really wants to go into the investment side. About that time the guy sitting behind me asked her "what office do you work in?". Turns out that he works for USAA, in the investment area. Turns out that he is a director or something in that area. He talks to her about what she needs to do to get to the investment side. He likes what he hears from her. He looks her up in the company system, he sends a few emails and tells her to get her portfolio together. I told him "Rick, we've go to make this thing happen". He assures me it will.

The now nice happy lady tells me that she is going to cry, but happy tears not sad. I tell her that now I understand why my iPad didn't get charged last night. There was a reason. God had a reason. I left and wondered down to my gate where it was time to board. The iPad did just fine, I had plenty of battery to last the whole trip.

Thanks God for the chance to talk to someone who needed someone to talk to.

Give it try sometime, might surprise you.

Ceremony or Service?

They call it a “briefing”, it’s a short overview on whatever the Subject Matter Expert is there pitching. I had a briefing today at the monthly Chaplain meeting. It’s a great group of people that provide so much for Service members and their families, from Spiritual comfort and advice to food if needed.

I got there at a break in the schedule so that I wouldn’t interrupt things and there was one presentation before the briefing. The Chaplain was going over Memorials, funerals we would call them. He talked about the difference between a Memorial Ceremony and a Memorial Service.

The Memorial Ceremony is just that, a ceremony. Everyone involved is required to be there, it is defined by the pomp and circumstance that only military can provide. The formations, the rituals, the dress, all are executed with planned and rehearsed precision. There can be some religious elements, but they are not really a big part of the Ceremony.

The Memorial Service is a voluntary function and will have a deeper emphasis on spiritual things. It is more of what we would experience in a civilian funeral.

This begs the question. Is church involvement a Memorial Ceremony or a Memorial Service. Is it just about being there because we are supposed to be there? Do we feel that it is requires our attendance, getting our card punched? Or am I there as a volunteer, because I want to be there?

I think that a lot of folks come every Sunday to a Memorial Ceremony, and as such they are pleased when the ceremony happens with the expected rituals and rhythms. I want so badly for them to come to a Memorial Service. To do so may require them to step out of the comfort zone, to become emotionally involved, to “dive in”. That can be scary, it’s hard to do, but the benefits are pretty amazing. Give it a try, forget the Ceremony and come the Service. (Yes, you still get your card punched!)

Straw Hats @ Walmart

So, Tuesday finds snow on the ground in Tennessee and straw hats in Walmart. Not for sale at Walmart, on heads! It was time to restock the Diet Coke so I stopped by the Walmart that is so conveniently right beside the hotel. It's nice and cold today with about 4" of snow on the ground so as I walked into the store I figured that I would head to the restroom for a quick stop.

The door opened as I got close and it was held by a kid about 5 years old with a straw hat on, then right beside him appeared another young lad with a matching straw hat. One kid with a straw hat is somewhat unusual in my vast Walmart experience, two kids together in straw hats has now exceeded my expectations of any Walmart trip.

The hats are flat on the top, wide brim all the way around, I spot another hat, it's on Dad, he has a younger child with a "scarf" type hat on, turns out it's a young girl. Dad has a nice long beard. I flashback to a highway sign I saw the first day I was headed to the base. The picture on the sign showed a horse and carriage with a warning "Next 5 Miles". Putting it all together I have encountered either Mennonites or Amish at the restroom door of Walmart. It is certainly a clash of culture.

I ran into them several times as I shopped. It reminded me of "traditions". The nice folks at shopping at Walmart have held on to some very old traditions. You can argue whether they are better off or not, that's not where I'm going. I'm thinking about the fact that we often hold on to traditions just because they are traditions, not because they are of any real value. I was talking recently to a friend who leads worship at a church and there is someone there who dislikes an element of how my friend leads worship. It is not a question of whether he is leading in a scriptural manner, it's not a question of his "ability" from a vocal standpoint, it's not even about new music verses old standby music, it's about how he dresses while leading.

Sadly, when dealing with folks at churches the issue is not the real issue, "who's in charge" is the issue. The stated "issue" is just a means to say "I want things MY way". It's sad because what generally happens is the person who is concerned about being in charge ends up running off those who are giving their lives to further the kingdom of God. Sometimes it's because fellow elders don't step up and deal with one or two folks who want to be in charge.

I'll be praying for my friend, I'll be praying for his elders to do what God would have them do, not what someone wants them to do for their own sense of power. Maybe I'll buy my friend a straw hat. That should make it all better.

I tried to go to church...

So, as a guy who doesn't have many Sundays off I was excited to be able to visit somewhere and see what they do and how they do it. Saturday evening I jumped online to start looking over my options. I started in the Nashville area, looked several over, decided which one I wanted to visit, looked at the map to see how far it was, went back to the church's website to check service times only to find that they had canceled services! I checked my #2 choice - canceled, #3 choice - canceled! So then I started checking locally, canceled! In their defense the roads are still very covered in snow / ice.

Plan B.

Ok, there are churches that stream their services. I'll try that and see what that feels like.

Sunday morning, sleeping late (don't get to do that often), planning on watching the 10:30 stream. Kevin wakes me up in a panic trying to get video on the front screens, we quickly figure it out and Heritage is good to go. Back to sleep.

I wake up in time for service, sure, I was a little late, but I got there. I checked Westover in Austin. No streaming today. Hmm, the website says that it streams the services, it lies. I head to Prestoncrest - bam - there is is, streaming church. You can only imagine my delight to find out that it's Budget Sunday! Joy, oh Joy. I can do a budget Sunday, but I can't do one that stops every few seconds while it buffers the video. Plus it doesn't pick up where it paused, it jumps ahead so you are hearing a few seconds, then skipping ahead a few seconds. Can't do this.

So, if I can't stream live I'll watch a service from the archive. Back to Westover, I'm now attending their 1/17 service. We sing together for a while, but I'm really hungry so I pause the video to start waffles in the toaster, hit play, listen for a while until the toaster pops. I find that I don't sing along very well with waffles in my mouth but a guy's gotta eat or die so I finish the waffles. Pause, rinse the waffle plate because nobody likes the smell of syrup when there are no waffles left over. I watch some more, Joann calls, I pause. We visit for a few minutes as she heads to lunch, then back to church. Communion was strange, not being there to have someone hand you a tray, not passing it to someone, not really Sharing The Lord. We move to the message, it's a good one. They are stressing "One More", that we need to constantly look for one more person to help, to feed, to bring into a relationship to Christ. It's a good thing. I even took notes! (The advantage of having a computer in front of you during church!). Two points that really hit home are:

• In the hopes of reaaching "one more" we will continue to look at change, in how we do things, in schedule, in all areas.
• Traditions can become the measure of how we judge others. We can't honor traditions above God.

I'll have to think on those for a while, we need to be willing to do the same to help "one more".

Church is over. Sure, I took another phone call or two during the service and opened a bag of socks. Surely that didn't distract me from the service? Distraction are so easy when it's just you and a computer. Well, I've tried the online church thing and it was indeed better than not doing anything, but it in no way comes near to what the real thing is. The smiles, the hugs, seeing others worship, watching God move in them, having someone hand you the communion tray, offering the body of Christ, sharing time with others, these are what make church work. These are the things I missed here in my hotel room.

Next Sunday should find me at my favorite place to be, Heritage. I'm looking forward to it.

John

A Close Shave...

Literally.

Those who follow my hair length carefully (and there are so many) know that I am not the type of guy that has a regularly scheduled haircut. I understand that there are those who do so with predictable regularity but that is just way too mainstream for me. It just takes way too much time and time is so valuable! It's much easier to get a haircut and then go as long as possible until the next shearing.

The current assignment came with little notice, I knew that I had a possible assignment a week ago Wednesday but it was still up in the air. Then Monday noon I got an email that stated I needed to be in Ft. Campbell that evening! Yikes! Pack 'em up, move 'em out rawhide.

So, here I am on a Saturday with nothing major to accomplish, thinking that it would be good to get my beard trimmed up a little to meet the big-wheels on base Monday. So off I go in search of a barber. Remember, I am a guy and would not be caught asking for directions. According to the gps the closest ProCuts is Nashville. That's out, bound to be a local place, the small town barber. I head down the main drag. It is THE main drag, there aren't really any other main roads in town. I cover about 10 miles, nothing. I turn around and head back the other way, nothing. I turn around again (at this point I'm kinda like cruising the strip). Then I spot it, the traditional red & white barber pole. Sweet. I go inside and it's a little confusing because there is a reception desk but nobody is there. Then a guy comes around the corner and waves me back into the next room. It is a typical, small town, African-American barber shop. (Sure, like I know what the typical one looks like.) Four chairs, two barbers giving two guys a haircut. Hmm, what we now have is a Texas white boy in a Tennessee African-American barber shop. Bet that doesn't happen every day.

My brain is rapidly sorting through the options: run, pretend I was looking for the TV repair shop, tell them I'm there to check their licenses, ask them where the traditional small town white guy barber shop is, or sit down and get a haircut. Since I don't have a broken TV with me I sit down. I notice that both guys getting a haircut have hair shorter than a burr. Seriously, compared to them my son Aaron would have long hair and he keeps it short enough for me to not be able to grab it. I'm studying the big poster on the wall showing all the different styles of haircuts that I might be able to get. I really like the one with the lines shaved in the sides of the head but I'm not sure I have the hair to pull it off. But if it makes me look thinner...

A new barber comes in, he looks somewhat surprised to see me. I'm not the customer he was expecting to start the day with. He walks around a little bit with no real purpose I think his brain is rapidly sorting through the options. Finally he puts his barber cape on and asks me what I need. I tell him that if he has a weed-eater handy I need to trim my beard up some. Ha laughs uproariously, (not), I sit in the chair, the two guys are still getting a haircut. I'm trying to figure out just what they are trimming as there is not really anything long enough to trim, I don't get it.

My guy starts on me, he is a trimming machine. The man has serious skills with a trimmer, it's going here, there, under, over, around, I have never had anyone take the amount of time that he took trimming my beard. When he pulled the cape off I asked him what I owed him. $5.00. It honestly seemed like too little for the amount of work he did so I gave him $10. One of the original two others getting a haircut is still in the chair, I'm still trying to figure just what he could possibly be trimming, is he working by the hour?

In the car I look in the rear-view mirror. Wow! I now have the most carefully carved beard that I have ever had in my life. There is a part of my upper lip showing that I haven't seem in over 30+ years, I have this thin line of a mustache on my lip with what feels like a four lane highway between it and my nose. I've never felt this before. I also notice that one side is trimmed shorter than the other, I briefly notice it and then go back to looking at the lip.

I'm not sure that I will go back to the "Fade to Glory" barber shop again. I'm not sure they would want me to come back. I did my best to find a barber, I was in need, I think that they did their best to fill my needs but I'm not sure that they were prepared for me as a customer. So it makes me wonder, just how do people feel when they leave our church service? They were looking for something, they had a need, they came to us. Did we shock them? Did they shock us? How different from us did they feel? Did we know what to do with them? Were we OK with the fact that they were different? Did they get what they were used to getting or was their lip showing way too much? Will they feel comfortable enough to come back?

I'm different as a result of the visit, still a little uncomfortable with the change but I'll get over it. In just a few days the mustache will be coming back in and soon the visual signs of that experience will be gone. That makes me wonder, how long do those who worship with us feel the effects? Will they be happy when it "grows back" or will they grow to like it.

I'm not sure.

So much for the close shave.

John

Friday Night in Ft. Campbell

So, some may ask "Why John, why are you in Ft. Campbell? or "What is Ft. Campbell?", or "Where is Ft. Campbell?". I'll answer. First, Ft. Campbell is an Army base, it is the home of the 101st Airborne a very storied and decorated group for sure. It sits on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky about 50 miles North of Nashville. Those are the easy answers. Now for the harder one.

Why? Bottom line, it's a job that pays the bills. It is a very rewarding, very fulfilling job and sadly it happens to require me to be out of town for now. I am doing Financial Counseling to Service-members and their families. Most soldiers have significant debt and our job is to help them learn how to spend less and save more (or maybe at least save something). The job entails training and presentations along with one-on-one counseling. Those who know Al Jameson will know that he has done a similar type of thing, just on the "touchy-feely" side. Ft. Campbell currently has 21 "touchy-feely" and 3 financial counselors, these are in addition to what the Army is providing in-house.

While this is not really where I would like to be this Friday night, I am thankful that I have a nice income stream to keep things like electricity. So, here I sit. By the way, it's snowing like crazy! It has been since about 3pm, won't be going far in the morning!