Every Party Needs a Pooper (and I’m Volunteering)

The western half of the 64/40 reconstruction opens this morning (work on the eastern half begins today). Maybe I’m just bitter all the forecasted ice and snow is nowhere to be found and I have to go to school for “review day,” but yesterday’s closed-highway party easily makes the “things I’ll never understand” list in [...]

The Color of Heaven

We had quite an international experience Friday night. Our friends, the Venkatesans, are from India and invited a few families over for dinner to celebrate Arun’s birthday (he’s a doctor here in St. Louis). In addition to the Venkatesans and us, there was another American family, another family from India, and a family from Pakistan [...]

Black Friday on the Farm

I’m doubtful many folks are checking blogs today, but if you are:

We had a great Thanksgiving here on the farm – fun with family, amazing food, some basketball, a star-filled evening hayride, a couple of naps
No one has so much as even mentioned doing a little Black Friday shopping
Megan and the girls are going to [...]

Not Even Jack Bauer Can Get Us Out of This One

Powerful episode of 24 Sunday night. “Redemption” caught us up with illegal expatriate Jack Bauer (played by Keifer Sutherland) coming to the aid of African children kidnapped to be made into child soldiers under a would-be dictator.
As always, the show’s story was straight out of news headlines, even including a presidential transfer of power in Washington, [...]

September’s Third Weekend

For as long as I can remember, my hometown of Griggsville, IL (population 1,300 and self-proclaimed “Purple Martin Capital of the Nation“), has always hosted its annual Apple Festival on the third weekend of September.
Put briefly for my more urban readers, the Apple Festival is a semi-epic celebration of small town life, complete with more [...]

Getting Out of Dodge

Yesterday I asked my friend and bookstore boss, Nick, how he was doing. His response: “Life’s winning.” Seeing as how I feel the same way, we’re heading to the farm this weekend for the Griggsville Apple Festival (and a break).
Megan jokes that the Apple Festival should be renamed the “Corn Dog Festival,” as there’s nary an apple [...]

Hurricane Ike Hits…St. Louis?

The remains of Hurricane Ike blew through the Midwest late last night and early this morning, downing a tree limb in our backyard, taking out power at our church (we worshipped by candlelight), and flooding the basement of the building that houses the More Than Carpentry ministry our church helps support in Wellston (to answer [...]

“…to serve musicians, to serve artists, to renew the city…”

Our associate pastor, Greg Johnson, just forwarded a review of the art show going on at The Chapel, the “sanctuary for the arts” run by our church. We’re thrilled about the good press, especially coming from The Vital Voice. Here’s an excerpt:
“I must confess that when I got there my mood was as wrinkled as my slept-in [...]

Saying Thanks

As part of my Sabbath today, I wrote thank you notes all afternoon – to family who helped us buy and furnish our house; to friends who watched our kids and helped us move; to new neighbors who have been, well, pretty darn neighborly. In doing so, I realized I hadn’t really offered any thanks to you, [...]

Top Ten Ways to Frighten the New Neighbors

10. Introduce yourself…with psychoses.
9. Spread out all your crap stuff across the backyard and explain that, just for fun, you’re re-creating the plane crash set from LOST.
8. Recruit high school students to help you move so everyone thinks you have 17 teenagers.
7. Ask if you can borrow a roll of toilet paper, and then ask [...]

Beauties and a Beast

Here’s a shot from our short 24-hour stint at the farm this past weekend. Pictured above are the ladies with Bruce, a ten-year-old pureblood black lab whose owner thought Bruce needed more room to roam and some country air to breathe in these, the twilight of his years.
Slow and easy in the morning, crafts and [...]

Taking a Break from Boxes Linkage

It’s been a long while since I’ve posted some linkage, so in light of it being Friday, here you go:

We’re still in need of about $1,000 for our home closing (in four days), so if you’ve yet to take advantage of our $10 Gets You 15 Songs deal, now is the time.
In case you’re wondering, [...]

Remember Not to Forget: Update

On Monday, I told you about my idea to offer 15 of my songs for $10 to raise the $3,000 Megan and I need to close on our house this month. Here’s an update on how things are going:

Good news: So far, we’ve received $286.24, which is almost 10%. Several folks have given (all cheerfully, as far [...]

$10 Gets You 15 Songs (and Us This House)

Six weeks ago, I posted an entry hinting that we were trying to buy a house here in St. Louis. The good news is, we’re no longer trying; we’ve bought a house, and it’s pictured above.
Neat story: after our offers for the initial house got shot down (twice) by the bank, we decided to let [...]

Happy Campers

As a close to my ramblings about Summer Seminar, here’s our group just after kayaking and one day away from heading home (yes, those are genuine smiles on all our faces).
The students’ pictures are starting to come in (thanks, Monica and Michael), so I’ve gone through my two summary posts and added shots to illustrate [...]

Who Owns the West?

Thought this map (hat tip: Acton Institute) was interesting. I’m surprised both by how little land the government owns in South Dakota (just the best parts), as well as how much land the government owns in the West in general.
Also interesting is the small amount of government land in the Midwest and East compared to [...]

Summer Seminar: A Summary (part 2)

After another 50 miles of biking on the Mickelson Trail (broken up over two days), the novelty of the South Dakota experience began to wear thin. At times, it was downright burdensome, as I was dealing with 28 high school seniors who I so desperately wanted to see “get it” with regard to the academic [...]

Summer Seminar: A Summary (part 1)

It’s high time I got back on the saddle here with a summary of sorts of my recent journey to South Dakota. It was a good trip, but I’m glad to be home in St. Louis, as I missed Megan and the girls something terrible. Though I didn’t take a camera, I’ll have plenty of [...]

Summer Seminar

Beginning Monday, I’m out of town for the next two weeks as one of seven staff taking 28 soon-to-be-seniors on Westminster’s Summer Seminar to South Dakota. Though I hate being away from Megan and the girls that long, I’m looking forward to the trip. Here’s the official write-up:
“The Summer Seminar in Liberal Arts is an [...]

Summer Plans

My friend, Ed, asked for a post on what summer holds. Here it is.
1. I’m one of seven Westminster teachers taking 28 high school students on Summer Seminar to South Dakota for two weeks in June. Over the course of a 12-day trip to and through the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota, students will explore [...]