Blackfoot

On Wednesday, January 8, 2014, I buried a ninety-four-year-old man.  He was from Canaan and he lived in the area for most of his life. He was a member of my church. He was a World War II veteran, having joined the Army.  According to his daughter, he never once raised his voice to his children, though his wife often did.  Perhaps he was just trying to balance our her voice.  He had a nice smile and was just about deaf by the end of his life. 

I think this was my ninth or tenth funeral, though the funeral home director thinks that I've done more.  

According to his daughter, his great grandmother was Blackfoot Indian. 

October midway

When I'm home alone, the house is a mess.  I'm home alone, and in one day I've made a huge mess.

Diaconate diaconate, elderland

There was a real prayer for clarity offered for me today.  It was a hard meeting with the district superintendent.  It was hard because there was so much to acknowledge in such a small amount of time.  But he said the word clarity in praying for me.

About once every few days I wish I had taken that job in Alaska. 

Warning against greed

It's late.  That's 11:17.  But for a 5:15 wake up, it's late.

We are in a house now, with a view of the river.  There's a yard with two garden spots.  Tomatoes, squash vines, basil, rosemary, sage, tarragon and whatever else is here, moved in pots from an apartment that could provide just enough light.

Sunday's Gospel reading is Luke 12:13-21

¹³ Someone from the crowd said to him, “ Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴ Jesus said to him, “Man, who appointed me as judge or referee between you and your brother? ”

¹⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourself against all kinds of greed. After all, one’s life isn’t determined by one’s possessions, even when someone is very wealthy. ” ¹⁶ Then he told them a parable: “A certain rich man’s land produced a bountiful crop. ¹⁷ He said to himself, What will I do? I have no place to store my harvest! ¹⁸ Then he thought, Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. That’s where I’ll store all my grain and goods. ¹⁹ I’ll say to myself, You have stored up plenty of goods, enough for several years. Take it easy! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself. ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘Fool, tonight you will die. Now who will get the things you have prepared for yourself?’ ²¹ This is the way it will be for those who hoard things for themselves and aren’t rich toward God. ” 

It has been four weeks of no free time.  

I have an anatomy and physiology test on Tuesday; brains, spinal cord, nerves, smell, sight, taste, meninges, vestibules, nerves, hearing.  You can put a tube in the ear drum and it won't affect your hearing.  Your vibrations will be just as strong.  

The human body is a miracle.  

We spent two-and-a-half days at Kingdom Trails in East Burke, VT.  My mountain biking has improved quite a bit, so I rode all the trails that David rode.  But I like going medium pace, so he rode ahead and waited for me at the trail end.

We camped in a lean-to, which I had never done before.  What a thing!  No worries about the rain one bit.  We could have used some of these on the bike tour, particularly in Michigan, where it rained terribly all the time.
 

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2, a photo by No Dead Pedestrians on Flickr.

may 17-18

• Hill climbing is easier for me now
• People are visiting New Haven
• Alaska, and all the trouble and adventure that it could offer
• church service at the VFW tomorrow
• cleaning out books I no longer need and giving them to the lending library that we're starting at the church
• getting ready for the brief CO Great Divide tour with Noah

The tomato sprouts are finally developing their true leaves, as are the red kale sprouts.  The purple tomatillos are behind them.  The bell peppers are strong, but they haven't given much more than cotyledons.

I set up two raised beds at the church.  The Towles donated the soil.