Third Week

Friday marked three weeks since the accident. Life moves on slowly. Days go by one by one, each brings its own pleasures and diversions. Flowers on the table make me happy.

We learn coping tricks and grow more accustomed to the helping routines that get me through this season of being "lame in both arms." (As opposed to Mephibosheth who was lame in both feet, 2 Samuel 9:3)

The Meal Train ended Friday as well, but we are well supplied with frozen extras for the future. Each contribution this week was special in its own way. We enjoy when the givers can also partake the meal with us.

Sunday, rather than delivering a meal to our house, our friends Dane and Laurie invited us to their home after the service (they live next door to the church). To our surprise, they had asked several other to join in "Rita's meal." We had a great time of fellwoship, wonderful food, and a fun game--Suspend.

Notice the Suspend challenge in the center

Monday, Leah took me to our local nail salon, Polished, andI chose a bold color for once.
And after we enjoyed our favorite foods at The Bridge Cafe across the street.

BLT sandwich (Leah), South African salad (Rita)

I continue to enjoy long walks, listening to books, observing nature, and exploring new spaces on the Taylor campus.

Tuesday, I hired three sisters who do landscaping to help restore order and beauty to our overwhelmingly overgrown surroundings. They worked wonders in four hours of steady hard effort even through a torrential cloudburst! "We loved it. I always wanted to play in the rain,"  one said.

That evening I attempted Sarah Cray's live tutorial, the weekly Paint Along, and was pleasantly surprised to be able to join in even with hand limitations.

Evenings we relax (and often fall asleep!) watching movies. This week a series of food-related ones: East Side Suchi, Tortilla Soup, Love's Kitchen; and a couple others, A Castle in the Sky, and I Dreamed of Africa.

Michael has been working steadily, bit by bit, on a major hardwood floor repair project, to replace a whole section damaged by our previous leaky refrigerator. He had to work some "magic" to fit the new-sized boards in old grooves. Friday he was able to say, "It is finished!"It is beautiful!

Friday afternoon we went to the our local Farmer's Market, always a fun commjnity event.

On this occasion, Matt and Kayla were there selling honey, always such a joy to interact with them.

A couple of Upland Farmer's Market vendors: Upland Honey, from Kern's bees; wreaths by friend Debbie Manganello

Skye and Destiny posted the big family news this week along with a first photo of our next great grandbaby due in 2020.

The weekend marked the end of the Logos Hope visit to Buenos Aires and also the closing of the Alumni retreat onboard. After the event, our Argentine Doulos shipmates, gave the leaders a replica of the Doulos as a token to represent the wonderful memories of our time involved in the ship ministry and the ongoing impact of the experience. View the moving response here.

So it is that life moves on and we find purpose in every day, every moment. "For in him we live and move and have our being ."  (Acts 17:28)

Life Layers

On one of my walks this week I spotted a small tree stump overgrown with fungus. It reminded me of my many layered life story. 

Though I am currently focused on writing about my early childhood, I come across memories (artifacts, photos, documents, letters) from one of the many other periods of life.

Digging through files I discovered this layered family schedule--all six of us living under the same roof and each going in a different direction. Michael's 40-hour week schedule was not listed, nor baby Kayla's. We're guessing it was 1992 or '93. How did we survive those crazy days?

Some interesting comments and memories are trickling in on the family Facebook page. 

I came across a photo that reminded me of what I recently read in those early letters when my parents were setting up housekeeping in Argentina.

Last Tuesday the 9th [April 9, 1946] our expensive washing machine came. It is a beauty and we believe we are going to like it very much, but right now there is some defect with the roller gears. The bowl or tub is a green and white mixture. All the other parts are white. Kathryn said she surely didn't want green, but she likes this very much. We have washed with it once and it seems to clean the clothes well. We already had two large tubs for rinsing and so I made two small benches for them. They will be on castors, so it will be handy for her to handle. We also bought a rubber tube to run the hot water into the tubs. right now we are washing in the bathroom because there is a mechanism there for heating the water. It operates like a gasoline stove and heats the water as it runs through a coil. It has no storage tank, but it heats as you draw the water. I imagine you wonder if we can get the water hot enough. Yes, I got it almost too hot last time. We hope however to get a storage tank, sometime, so that we can have hot water for other purposes.

I have memories of helping occasionally with the complicated multi-step process. From my current perspective, I almost wonder whether washing by hand would not have been simpler. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to wash sheets or jeans by hand.


We listen to the Daily Audio Bible Chronological as we eat breakfast. Repeatedly this week I heard, "The Lord said to Moses." And then I could see my two-year old self in an anecdote from the ancient letters.

The other evening we were getting Rita ready to go to the evening service and out of the silence, she spoke up and said, “And the Lord spake unto Moses”. We certainly had to laugh. We didn’t think she was getting anything out of our devotions in the mornings from the Pentateuch, but apparently she had. She also says the word, tabernacle, once in a while around the house. (July 23, 1946)

Moving on to another era, our life on the M/V Doulos in the early 1980's. 

Eduardo from Uruguay, one of our shipmates at the time, wrote about a vivid dream he had, and he mentions me among the few he remembers. Read about it in Servants at Sea, if you can read Spanish, or translate it-- el Doulos en marcha otra vez? (Doulos sailing again?)

Coincidentally, also this week, a photo surfaced from those Doulos days. Our children have such fond memories of their five years onboard.

Doulos children on deck

Valentine's Day had us reminiscing about our love journey of over 50 years--two years of correspondence, 49 of marriage. 

However, the story that blessed us in a special way that day was of a dear couple in our community, also in my writers' critique group--T.R. and Angie Knight. I encourage you to read the blog post and listen to the podcast linked at the very end--Knight Rider--a tale of true love. You will be blessed!

The salient events of the week:

There were multiple accidents due to hazardous weather conditions. Among them was our 21-year-old grandson Skye on his way to work in Fort Wayne early Monday morning. To avoid a truck he was forced off the road, hit from the side or behind, spun around, totalled the car, but gratefully no one was hurt!

That same night, we warned Moriah that our lane and driveway were impassable and she should spend the night on campus. She told us the next day that even walking from the Science building to the dorm was tricky and treacherous.

Michael spent many long days at Madjax as the deadline to pack up the robot fast approaches. Next Tuesday is Bag Day.
I could watch him walking to and fro in the mechanical room, furthering the process of finishing, fixing, fine-tuning the robot they designed, all the while trying to teach and guide young students.
I have trouble recognizing others with this particular live stream camera view. What is the tell-tale feature that allows me to spot Michael?

Saturday, I had a new experience--I joined a group of friends that like to hike/walk/bike. I was slightly outnumbered, they were all men, ha! We walked the Taylor Cross Country course and enjoyed conversation.

  What adventures await in this eighth week of 2019?

2018 Week 35: More Summer Fun

Monday, yet another lovely meal poolside and a refreshing dip in the water.

Stephan and Karen gathering dishes and food. Nova, the cat, looking on.

Can you tell what has been added for poolside enjoyment?

A 1980 memory surfaced this week--a shared week in Uruguay with the Stachuras, minus our men who were in the US visiting Taylor University to consider their offer of help with computers for the ship. From the photo it looks like it was cold in Uruguay, so here in the US it had to be warm weather. And the ship Doulos must have been in dry dock and that is why we had to move off.
We have good memories of our time in the little house with the Stachuras.

Three family members participated in our little art club Thursday. Can you guess who and whose?

Michael spends a lot of time in his den doing all kinds of research, working with two computer screens and a TV monitor, but he does not miss the animated beauty happening right outside his window. He knows how many hummingbirds zoom about competing over the elixir he provides daily. However, I couldn't capture the activity with my amateur photography. 

ThinSats were launched almost daily. The Friday balloon launch at last included the mini satellite put together by Team 1720.  

This weekend we took in some of the Upland Labor Day festivities:

Saturday evening, the BBQ rib meal and Cumberland Gap music. 

Sunday afternoon we joined a special event--a 25 mile celebratory ride of Wandering Wheels' 50th anniversary. We rode our tandem to and from home to the starting point at the Lions' Club so we ended up riding over 30 miles on a very hot day. 

Leah, Kayla and Rebecca joined the fun at the Lions Park so we got to see Becca ride her new bike and later watched them painting rocks.

I am grateful also for the work goals accomplished--cleaning, laundry, writing, and more.

2015 Week 3: Football & Ice

Tis NFL season! And with a couple of the teams we follow still in the playoffs, we have plenty of Sunday afternoon entertainment.
Last Sunday, Mike spent two-and-a-half hours involved in a rescue episode on our lane, so he missed out on most of the Green Bay Packers game but walked in just in time to catch the final winning minute. Even so, football had to compete with robot designing.

After last Sundays's adventure, I was not too eager to drive anywhere and quite content to spend three days admiring the scenery from indoors.

However, we braved the icy conditions to go to Monday meal, in Mike's car and him driving, and enjoyed an evening with some of the grandchildren. Sam's family rarely make it to the dinner, but   Kristie was gone to class so dad and boys joined us for some good food and fun.
Kristie started back to school, one evening a week, working toward a long-time dream of becoming a midwife.

Stephan was eager to show us further discoveries--more people he recognized on the Doulos cartoon.

 I came across a great photo on Facebook of the artist at work, our friend George Booth, the multitasking grandfather.

Rebecca Rose was five months old on Wednesday and this is what Kayla posted.

Future ballerina

 We decided to have game night every Friday for whoever can come. Kayla is first to arrive. She was still laughing about her first attempt to cut Rebecca's hair.

We taught Kayla and Skye what used to be a favorite family game--Nertz. Once again Leah held her position as champion even after all these years. It is a fast game and none of us can equal her speed!
(No photos, too much action and no breaks!)

However, Hand & Foot is NOT her game. The only reason she's smiling in this photo is that she gets to hold Rebecca the entire time.

Jimmy, though tired from the long work day, is still the reigning Hand & Foot champ.

Leah reminded us of how she escaped being in marching band. She and Stephan used to rush to grab piles of cards and sort them. In one of those sudden moves she sat back down on her foot, the force of the chair leg broke a toe.

 Stephan was in Bay Harbor making ice art. Competition season is in full swing.

Winged dragon

Day 1                                                              Finished Sculpture

Football, ice, and back to football. . . Will the Colts win tonight?

2013 Weeks 32 & 33: Vacation and More

Catching up after a two-week break from routine activities to take a few days away with my one-and-only, and to move the daughter into her new domicile here in town!

Sunday, the 4th, we managed to squeeze in a family time, in between two moves and Stephan's many sand-sculpture travels, to celebrate two birthdays: grandson Skye (16) and DIL Karen.

Actually, on Sunday we focused more on Skye. I had many old photos of him scattered all over our large table. After the party, I saw this happy one placed in the flower centerpiece. 

Monday night dinner at Stephan's, we focused more on Karen, and that was her actual birthday. I dug out a few old photos. This one of before they were married. She was watching her fiance run the Indy mini marathon. Now Karen runs regularly, in fact may be training for a mini herself.

Tuesday Mike and I rode to Cracker Barrel, 7 mile round trip, our first breakfast ride of the season and it is August already! Had to make sure the bike was in order and we could still do this before our annual tandem vacation.

One last summer Red Barn pottery session for Mike on Wednesday. 
Hey, that's Ellie, the young girl who went with us to Basque Country and is training to be one of the cyclists next time around!

Thursday we drove up to northern Michigan, parked the car in Indian River, loaded up the tandem for a four-day camping tour and headed to the first campsite, 20 miles, five of them unexpected gravel roads.
I confess to being scared!
"You'll get used to it," said Captain Mike.
I did. There were many lessons in trust throughout this adventure.

Neighboring campers in Petoskey State Park commented on our 'grand entrance'. No one we saw carries all they need on a bicycle. Also learned lessons on minimalizing (is that a word?).

Friday was our looooooongest ride, 55 miles, necessitating several rest stops on the way.

We stayed two nights in a campsite outside of Mackinaw City.

Saturday we took a ferry to Mackinac Island.

Leaving Mackinaw City

Arriving Mackinac Island

Riding the seven-mile coastal road around the island was a different kind of challenge--crowds of inexperienced riders!

Our view from the second floor Speed 21 Grill gives a glimpse of the crowds stopping to rent bicycles.

For those who may not know, Mackinac does not allow motorized vehicles which makes for a unique tourist experience.

I thought our bike was loaded down.

Horses, the other mode of transport

There is much more to tell about our tourist experience of the island and the same for our tour of Mackinaw City in the afternoon. Another post or two perhaps?

The famous 5-mile bridge we never crossed

The other main character, protected nightly.

Sunday we completed the circle and camped at Burt Lake State Park.

The Last Supper

Monday packing up to ride one mile from the campsite to the parked car.

The biggest lesson for me was to move from 'impending dread' to 'exhilirating expectation' of what lies ahead. I am still on that trust continuum. I should write an article about learning trust while tandeming.

Tuesday, after a good night's sleep in our own bed, we welcomed a young family traveling through. Kristin, was one of the babies on the ship Doulos. We've been friends with her family for over 30 years.
Sam, Kristie and young'uns joined us as well. We ordered Ivanhoes' food and had a delightful visit.

The rest of the afternoon was spent helping Leah make the BIG move from Marion back to Upland--several truck loads and some cleaning of the old place.

Wednesday, Mike took his sister Diane for her long-awaited visit to the State Fair. Kayla went along, one last outing before her busy semester at Ball State.

Diane

I stayed back and continued cleaning at Leah's, and again all day Thursday.

This souvenir from Mackinac (Big Turtle) island, only 2 to 3 inches in diameter and very light weight, speaks to me of looking ahead expectantly and always moving forward even if slowly.

Made in Indonesia from some kind of wood.

Friday, son Stephan finished a five-day sand-sculpturing event somewhere in Ohio. I am borrowing from his FB page.

Coral Reef

Today, Saturday, we are looking forward to a reunion of the Circle Tour team at some half-way point between Upland and Normal, IL. (Photos to come later)