SERic

21 awesome things from 2009 and 2010

2011-01-31T22:19:00.000-04:00

After reading an NPR blogger's list of 50 Wonderful Things from 2010, we decided that we'd make our own list! In no particular order, here they are:

- OUR HOUSE! - In May, we purchased our first home! We can now be found at the address listed on the righthand side of this blog. It's a great house--newly remodeled [completely white inside] with two spare bedrooms [come and visit] and a nice yard [small campfires and compost]. We're within walking distance of downtown...

- Owego - This is the coolest small town in America, and we love it. It has a great bookstore and coffee shop, a particularly interesting cemetery, artsy shops, and now a Mexican restaurant, too! It's right on the Susquehanna River, and it feels like a vacation town, especially in the summer when both ice cream shops are open and kids are riding around on their bicycles.

- Broome County Public Library - Sarah started working at BCPL in July 2009, and in January 2010, she started as the Head of Youth Services [the best department]. She takes care of public relations for the library, and among other things, she purchases books for the teens, which has made her familiar with...

- Scott Pilgrim - Sarah is reading mostly teen books these days, and she's developed a special love for graphic novels and characters like Tiny Cooper. [And before we leave the subject of libraries, we can't neglect to mention our fondness for the Coburn Free Library!]

- Cornell Cooperative Extension--Tioga County - Eric began working for CCE as an AmeriCorps member, and when they received a grant, they hired him part-time to work with small-scale vegetable farmers to improve harvest efficiency and food safety. [Basically, he got to hang out on farms all summer, learning a lot and helping farmers to be more efficient.] He'll finish up with this project in February. [Videos of his work will be posted here in the next couple of months.]

- Achieve - Eric got to go back to Achieve! As the guardianship coordinator, he advocates for individuals for whom the agency is the guardian. He also gets to help with SibShop, Day Hab, and the greenhouse.

- Natalie - On Christmas 2009, Christie and Tim surprised us with a kitten! We have really grown to love this sweet and crazy animal, and she keeps us amused to no end.

- Ruthanne - Eric's brother [Doug] and his fiancee [Catherine] had a sweet little baby girl in May, and we've enjoyed the chances that we've had to hang out with her.

- Tabernacle UMC - When we came back from Kentucky [October 2008], we spent some time visiting different churches, and in the summer of 2009, we started to settle into attending Tabernacle UMC in Binghamton. We love the people, the pastor, and the philosophy of this church, and we feel right at home there.

- Sky Lake - We've been lucky to spend a lot of time at the Lake recently--directing Physically Special Camp, enjoying retreats and camping, and helping with gardening and composting.

- Photography - Sarah is having so much fun taking photos! [And Eric is being awesomely supportive of her doing so.]

- Glee - Eric used to say that he didn't like musicals. He can't really say that anymore.

- Live Music - Lilith Fair, Bob Dylan, K'Naan, Anna Vogelzang, Josh Ritter, Dr. Cetukski, Summer People

- Theater - Greater Tuna [featuring Uncle Shawn!], City of Angels, Monty Python's Spamalot, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

- Mix CDs - Eric turned 30 this past November, and many people responded to his wish and made him mix CDs for the occasion. [If you'd still like to make one for him, feel free to send one, and you'll get a fun present in return!]

- NPR - Our favorite source for news, music, good stories, laughs, etc. Sarah often says that NPR aims its programming for people just like her.

- Rural Health Network of South Central New York - This fantastic organization runs an AmeriCorps program that employed both of us (at different sites) while we were trying to find something more permanent. We met some pretty incredible people and learned a lot about our area.

- Tattoos - In an effort to cram as many life changes as possible in a short amount of time, during the same week that he became an uncle and bought a house, Eric also got a giant new tattoo.

- Beets - Sarah was reintroduced to beets this summer, and she LOVES them. We participated in a CSA this year, and we've also been getting a bunch of local food through Central NY Bounty. It's so great to be able to get so much locally-produced food so easily. [We love our Wegman's, but the local stuff straight from the farmers is FANTASTIC.]

- New York City - Because of the lack of vacation time this year, we were not able to take any long vacation trips, but we did manage to take a long weekend and go to NYC. Thanks to fantastic hosting by Andrew Dill and the Barneses, we really enjoyed our time there. [It was great to see Karyn, too!]

- Doing laundry at home - Thanks to Gramsy and to the people who lived in our house before we did, we have laundry machines in the same building in which we live. You have no idea how happy this makes us. Once we get a clothesline up [hopefully this coming spring], we will be ALL SET.

Those are some of the highlights of our lives during the past couple of years. Please let us know if there's anything you think we should add!

We love you all, and we wish there were more days in the week to spend time visiting with family and friends. Thank you for your love and support to us, and thank you for being the awesome people that you are!

project

2009-01-11T19:32:00.002-04:00

This is just a brief note to let y'all know of a project that I'm working on. In an effort to try to become better at photography, I'm working on something called Project 365, which involves taking one picture each day that I can share. I am posting these pictures on the picture blog that I share with Kevin and Matt. I'd love to hear any feedback...and I'm sure Kevin and Matt would love for you to check out their pictures, too!

Christmas Tour 2008

2009-01-10T15:34:00.003-04:00

Ok, team. It's time for the photoessay about this year's Christmas Tour.

It started out early, with Sarah heading down to Harvey's Lake to hang out with some friends from her home church, the Center Moreland UMC. It was great to see everyone, and it was wonderful to hear about people's adventures, both around the globe and here in the States.

Chrissy loves wings.

On Christmas Eve, we headed to Linda's for a delicious dinner with her and Doug. We opened presents and went to the late service at her church in Cortland, which was, as usual, filled with lovely music.

Doug loves tissues.

The next morning, we got up early to head to Newark Valley for Christmas breakfast. (The trip was much less eventful than last year's.)

Eric as a festive elf

Doug outdid us all in eating baked eggs, and we opened gifts and hung out and tried to determine whose wind-up toy was the awesomest.

We all got orange hats.

After that, we headed back to our home in Binghamton to pick up Amelie and some more gifts, and then it was on to Monkey Hollow Road. We ate with my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, and my grandmother, and then Aunt Barb and the Dawes came over. We opened gifts and spent some quality time together, which was great, especially since I hadn't seen them since we've been back from Kentucky! We spent the night at my parents', and I helped in completing the annual Christmas puzzle, while Eric helped my dad load bees to go to Florida.

Mom testing out my new camera remote control

We headed back to Binghamton on Friday, and then on Saturday we went, along with Abby and Kevin, to Richford for Reanna and Dan's delayed wedding reception. It was great to spend some time with friends that we hadn't seen in a long time....plus we're so happy for Reanna and her dear Pigpen!

Abby, Reanna, Eric: "What wedding?"

That Sunday, Christie came to spend the night with us. It was great to have some sister time. I really wish that she didn't live so far away. They should really arrange cities alphabetically--that way Baltimore and Binghamton could be closer together.

Oh, sisters.

On New Year's Eve, we went with our friend Matt to First Night Binghamton. It was incredibly cold (I think I got windburn on my face!), but it was quite enjoyable. After spending some time downtown, we headed to Mike and Mandi's for some festivities and to watch the ball drop.

Matt, Eric, Sarah

The next day was Stoughton Christmas at the Smith's home in Newark Valley. We ate some delicious food (again!), opened gifts, and visited with fun family that we don't get to see very often.

Linda and Tim in fantastic plastic wigs

So now the holidays are over, and it's back to what we call "normal."

It's amazing to me how we can go so long without seeing some people, and then we remember just how much we really like them! We are very blessed with some wonderful friends and family. Thank you all for being so awesome. We love you.

PS - If you're interested in seeing more pictures, you can visit our picture site.

new look.

2008-12-30T17:43:00.002-04:00

Ok, so the whole look is not new, but I hope that you like the new top banner for our blog. I figured it was time to spice things up a bit.

And as for updates, well, our Christmas Tour 2008 is not yet complete, so hopefully we will fill in some blanks after that.

snow!

2008-12-20T16:43:00.002-04:00

After two weeks of bad predictions, we finally got a significant snow! Hooray!

Here's a lucky shot I got of Amelie watching Eric shovel the snow. (I put it on here in enormous size so that you could see what's going on more easily.)

If you're interested in seeing a few more pictures of our snow, you can go here and click on "Neighborhood Scenes."

fun times

2008-12-17T07:30:00.002-04:00

This past weekend, Liz and Matthew came down to visit us, which was great fun, as usual!

We had shared with them a website that we get a kick out of, where people hold record covers up to their faces (or other parts of their body) to make themselves a continuation of the picture.

We thought we'd try a few of our own:

Liz, Matthew, and Eric as the Bee Gees

Liz as Eric Clapton

Matthew as John Cougar

If you'd like to see the website that inspired us, visit Sleeveface. It's amazing.

Christmas cards

2008-12-17T07:19:00.002-04:00

When I was in high school, I vowed that I would never give/send out Christmas cards until I had a place of my own. Eric and I started sending them out after we got married, but a couple of years in there, they became Valentine's Day or St Patrick's Day cards because of our inability to budget time to write a letter and prepare the cards during the appropriate timeframe.

I have often wondered what the point is of sending Christmas cards to people that you see often or on Christmas or around Christmas, but this year, for some reason, Christmas cards seem very important to me. I'm not sure whether it's the fact that I'm home much of the day by myself or whether it might be that I don't feel settled yet in Binghamton and want reminders of all of the people that I care about.

Or maybe it has something to do with the sweet set-up we have for displaying Christmas cards:

(I took this picture several days ago, so if you don't see the card that you sent, don't worry--it's probably up there by now.)

This is not intended to guilt you into sending us a card! It's just to express my excitement for Christmas and for hearing from loved ones.

pictures

2008-12-17T07:15:00.002-04:00

Some of you may be thinking, "Sarah hasn't started a job yet--why the heck isn't she posting on the blog more often?" This is a very valid question. The problem is that I don't have a good answer for it.

So to satisfy your curiosity for now, I will probably be posting a few entries this morning.

Also, I have updated our picture website, so you can mosey on over there and see what we look like these days!

cool thing

2008-12-05T10:02:00.004-04:00

This past Monday, Eric and I, along with several other members of our Binghamton-area young adult fellowship group, went to the Oakdale Mall for a Community Gathering of Peace. Members of the Whittemore Hill UMC had folded almost 1,400 paper cranes, and they were hung on Christmas trees and on the nativity scene in the mall.

There was quite a sizeable gathering of people, much to my surprise, and there was a brief service with thoughts shared by the pastor of the Whittemore Hill church and songs shared by two different UM church choirs. Then the entire crowd sang a few songs together. As we sang "The Times They Are A-Changin'" by Bob Dylan, Eric leaned over to me and said, "Grampsy is smiling." This was one of my grandfather's favorite songs, and social justice was incredibly important to him.

I think Eric was right--Grampsy was smiling. It warmed my heart, too, to be able to gather with people of faith in a shopping mall, of all places, to remind one another that Jesus' birth is about love and peace and saving grace and not about Barbie dolls and Jonas Brothers CDs and iPods--Christmas is about remembering to love each and every one of our neighbors, no matter what they think or say or do, because Jesus loves each of us, no matter how foolish and arrogant and sinful we are.

It's easier to buy gifts than to love, isn't it?

Thank you, Whittemore Hill UMC, for reminding me what I should be thinking about during this season.

If you'd like to read more about the Community Gathering for Peace, click here.

on being a housewife

2008-12-01T17:28:00.003-04:00

I don't have a job.

It's a strange sensation not to have a job. The last time I didn't have a job was when I finished grad school five years ago. Since then I've been pretty busy, working part time or volunteering or doing something to get out of the house. Now, I'm just waiting....hovering.

It's weird to go from the person who made almost all of the income in the household (while Eric was a full-time student) to being the person who is dependent on the other for financial support. I used to be pretty proud of the fact that I could take care of my husband, put him through school. Now I go back and forth between feeling free and feeling almost useless.

Today I had an interview of sorts for a job at a bookstore for college textbooks. The problem is that I committed to doing a church thing during four of their busiest days of the entire semester. I'm not terribly optimistic about getting the job. That's not the end of the world, really, because it's not my dream job, but it leaves me hanging....still.

So. Right now I'm a housewife. I'm not terribly great at it. I mean, the dishes are done more frequently now than when I had a job, but staying home doesn't make me a good cook.

I will begin volunteering at the library downtown once my background check goes through, and hopefully that'll put me in a better position to be hired by them if a job does come open. Binghamton seems to be kind of a black hole when it comes to library jobs, though.

Today, I ate a fortune cookie, and my fortune was "Good thinks are coming to you in due course of time." I'm not typically one to put a lot of stock in what fortune cookies tell me, but this one was a reminder to be patient, and I appreciated it.

visit to Baltimore

2008-11-24T16:38:00.002-04:00

This past weekend, we got a chance to visit Christie and Tim in Baltimore. My mom went down on the bus earlier in the week, and we rode with my dad. Due to some icy road conditions, the trip took us about twice as long as it should, but we were in good humor, and we arrived safely.

It wasn't a long stay, but we got to do some Baltimorian things. We visited the farmer's market down the street from Christie and Tim's house, and we purchased a couple of items from Reid's Orchard stand. We also got to visit a couple of discount stores, and we got some deals (including a pair of jeans that fits me perfect for SEVEN DOLLARS).

Even though it was a short stay, it was WONDERFUL to spend some time with my sister. It gave me a taste of how awesome it will be to have a longer visit over Christmas!

And here's our latest [home-made] family portrait!

quick trip to Philadelphia

2008-11-24T16:29:00.002-04:00

Two weeks ago, we went to Philadelphia for a mid-week overnight trip to see Jonah Matranga play at the First Unitarian Church.

While we were there, we got to catch up briefly with a few Philly friends, which was great. Why can't the roads between our cities be shorter?

Jonah Matranga is a musician that Eric really enjoys, and since he makes very few trips to the East Coast, we figured we'd better take this opportunity to see him. It was an incredible show--in a chapel with only about fifty people--and we were in the second pew. I will let Eric go into more detail about the music if he'd like, but I thought I'd share a couple pictures with you.

the return of our cat

2008-11-24T16:11:00.002-04:00

For the past two years, our cat Amelie has been living with my very generous parents while we've been in living situations where a cat was not allowed.

About four weeks ago, we felt like we had our apartment settled enough to go and fetch her. Eric said, "Let's go tomorrow to get our cat," and I said, "But it's going to snow." Eric, ever the fearless adventurer, replied, "Let's go anyway!" So we climbed into the pickup and headed down the road, seeing this sort of weather along the way:

We got all of the necessaries from my mom, convinced the cat to climb into her carrier, and drove back through the snow to Bevier Street. She investigated everything inside the apartment and then peeked out the windows. Apparently she did not like what she saw, as she growled audibly and then ran upstairs to hide under the bed.

She spent several days with this sort of behavior, but now she's gotten used to the neighborhood and likes to spend her days surveying the activity in the street.

She's particularly fond of sitting on the steps like a queen and looking down on us in the living room.

It's really great to have our cat back. Since I have yet to begin any job, I especially appreciate her presence on days when Eric's at work. Even though she's deaf, it sometimes seems better to talk to her than to talk to myself!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to my parents for taking care of her during these past two years. It's not always been a pleasant task, but we appreciate it very much.

I'll leave you with this parting shot that Eric took of our wild beast.

catching up

2008-11-24T16:06:00.002-04:00

Ok, so it's been over six weeks since we've posted anything on this blog.

That
is
TERRIBLE.

And I apologize. To atone for it, I'm going to do some catch-up right now. That will explain the flurry of posts right in a row.

visit to Muddy Fingers Farm

2008-11-01T19:31:00.002-04:00

One of the great things about being back in the northeast is that we're in closer proximity to some of our good friends. Last weekend we took advantage of that close-ish-ness to visit our friends Liz and Matthew at their farm in Hector, NY. For those of you who don't know Liz and Matthew (or who haven't heard us talking about them a lot), they own and operate an organic farm and CSA. It's not an easy thing, but they're living their dream and doing their share (or probably more than their share) to preserve our earth for future generations.

We went up on Sunday afternoon, and after catching up a little bit, we walked around the farm with their enthusiastic and energetic dog Gemini. Because it's getting to be late in the year, the cold is slowing things down. While it's not as green as it was earlier in the growing season, you can still see that they have a beautiful place.

We spent an enjoyable evening together, eating well (as we always do at their home), playing Settlers of Catan, and listening to records (yes, the vinyl kind).

Monday morning, they kindly let us sleep in while they started in on their work. Then we layered up against the cold and went out to do some harvesting to prepare for the farmers market on Tuesday. Like I mentioned earlier, it's late in the season, so there isn't as much to harvest. We helped dig up some potatoes, and then we helped to clean them and the parsnips and leeks and onions that they had already harvested.

With the harvesting done, we decided that we should go for a hike. We made a stop to see a friend who works at Wagner Vineyards, and then we headed to the Finger Lakes National Forest. It was perfect weather for hiking: chilly but good once you got moving. Here are some snapshots from our hike:

That last one there is going to have to go on my list of most favorite pictures ever.

When I was transferring pictures from my camera last night, I found this picture that Liz must've taken while we were sleeping:

Thanks for having us, Liz and Matthew--we had so much fun, too!

apartment tour

2008-10-29T21:30:00.002-04:00

Ok, after several tries at uploading, we finally have a video tour of our new apartment. The quality is not so great, but I needed to make the file size smaller, so we had to sacrifice clearness of picture.

Let us know what you think of our new place!

upon returning north

2008-10-18T14:47:00.002-04:00

Well, friends, as you may already know, we are back in the northeast. We have moved into our apartment in Binghamton, and we're starting to settle into it.....but we have not yet settled into a routine.

Eric will start trainings for his job with Youth Advocate Programs during the first week of November. I have started doing some online algebra tutoring with Tutor.com, but this is only (hopefully!) a temporary situation because I really want to get back into a public library.

In some ways it's good to be back, and in some ways it's not. It's good to see friends and family and to have more options when it comes to being earth-friendly. I still have mixed feelings, though, about living in a city. I've never paid attention much when Eric was driving us back and forth between meetings and social gatherings before, but now I'm going to have to learn how to navigate the streets and avenues and bridges and parkways and giant shopping centers. Yikes.

Here are some things that I forgot about living in this area while we were in Kentucky:
- The autumn here is beautiful.
- Wegman's is awesome.
- I love recycling.
- It's stinking COLD here!
- We are on the go a lot.
- It's nice to have a cell phone.
- We have a LOT of stuff.

We hope to continue with this blog...we will see what direction it goes!

Nashville pictures

2008-10-08T22:13:00.001-04:00

I posted pictures from our trip to Nashville several days ago.
Sorry that I forgot to let you know!

getting ready

2008-10-08T21:54:00.002-04:00

As I read Scott's comment, I realized that my last real blog entry was the one I wrote of the extreme pain I felt at the thought of leaving here.

The pain is now not as sharp as it was that night.

The fact that Eric's job and the apartment fell into place so quickly make me think that we are doing the right thing by heading back north. This confuses me. There is so much need here--so much that we could help with--why is God making it so easy for us to return to where we came from? It must be that he's got something else for us to do.

I know I shouldn't try to guess what God's planning, but I'm the type of person who wants to know the answer, so I'm going to try to figure it out. Here's one possibility: Before we came down to Kentucky, I had envisioned this year as one of tremendous personal growth. Ok, maybe "tremendous" is a little too strong--let's say "increased personal growth." It didn't turn out that way. I feel like I did some good, but there were occasions when I felt like I wasn't being challenged....or maybe that I didn't challenge myself. Maybe God is giving me an opportunity to start fresh--or maybe he's got a new challenge for me.

Or maybe I'm completely wrong, and there's something completely different in store for us.

a new home

2008-10-04T08:21:00.004-04:00

I found us an apartment! It is at 48 Bevier Street in Binghamton. It is easy to get on the highway and is a few blocks from Otsiningo Park. It is a one bedroom townhouse but all of the rooms are large. Downstairs is a living room, dining room, kitchen and 1/2 bath. Upstairs is the bedroom and a huge full bath, I'm trying to figure out what the most ridiculous thing to put in the bathroom because it is so large (maybe a christmas tree).

When looking for an apartment we wanted to be deliberate about not moving to the 'burbs or a complex. We wanted to be safe and have a nice place but also did not want to insulate ourselves from the realities of poverty in our area as well. After looking at this apartment I knew that it met these criteria. It is not the worst neighborhood in town but there are people living there who are trying to pay the bills day to day.

The plan is to start moving things on Monday and drive to get Sarah on Thursday, returning on the 13th.

Standing in the living room looking at the dining room and kitchen.

Standing in the bathroom upstairs, looking onto our bedroom.

gainful employment

2008-10-02T19:32:00.002-04:00

I have a job, mostly, it's complicated let me explain. I have secured part time (20 hours a week) employment with the Youth Advocacy Program in Susquehanna county PA as a "mobile therapist" seems like I should have a couch in the back my truck. I will be doing counseling with 4 or 5 youth at their homes and school. It pays well and offers insurance for both of us. I have another interview for a half time position tomorrow (Friday) to fill in the rest of the time. I am still apartment hunting, I have looked at some rough places but have a few potentials.

he's north.

2008-09-28T19:06:00.002-04:00

Hey, y'all--

I just wanted to let you know that Eric got to Endicott safely this evening at around 6:30pm. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

busy, busy, busy

2008-09-26T15:56:00.003-04:00

In the past two weeks we have been very busy, here's an update with some of our activities.

Saturday the 13th my father came down to get a truck load of stuff to take back home.
My mother drove down following him to stay the week, more on that later.
Sunday the 14th we went to speak at the Lower Beech Fork and Thousandsticks UMC where Steve and Dianne Springer serve. Sarah's home church has a supportive relationship with them and my first interaction with Appalachia Kentucky came on a mission trip to their church. We told them some about what we are doing and had a great lunch afterwards.
Our friends from the Park Terrace Community UMC in Apalachin NY came for a week of work camp. I worked with them most of the week. We sided a home, and were done on Thursday, I had some tasks of building greenhouse tables, picking gourds and catching some loose piglets to keep us busy on Friday.
On Tuesday night we took a late night road trip to Cumberland Falls state park for the moonbow, My mother and Mike Tupper joined us, it was well worth staying up until 1am. We were disappointed that Sonic was closed on our way though.
Last weekend Sarah, my mother and I went to Nashville for the weekend. We got to see a show at the Grand Ole Opry, go to the Country Music HOF as well as trip to a good music store, and dinner with live music.
This week I am finishing up projects and getting ready to head north. I am driving up Sunday and have several interviews next weekend. It's not easy to leave the friends that we have made here, but it is exciting to have new possibilities. Sarah will be staying here for a few weeks while I interview and if that is successful find an apartment, it will be odd as we have only spent a few nights apart (besides sleeping on the couch due to snoring) while being here.

not ready

2008-09-20T00:10:00.002-04:00

Eric is leaving in a week for some job interviews, and I don't think that he's coming back, except to pick me up. This means that our time at Henderson Settlement is quickly coming to a close. It's been on my mind a lot this week, and it really hit me hard at the closing worship for work camp this evening.

I'm not ready to go.

I'm not ready to leave Mike & Lori, Mark & Linda & Rachel, Kim & Lisa, Lona & James.
I want to see what happens with the Settlement.
I hate for the library to be left hanging in limbo.
I'm not thrilled about living in Binghamton.
I'm afraid that I'm not going to find a job that I love.
I'm nervous about going back to the way things used to be.

I know that there are good things about going back north, and I know that it's time to go. Right now, though, I feel really sad about leaving this place.

farming

2008-09-10T20:36:00.003-04:00

This past weekend I took some mums, ornamental corn, gourds, apples and the last of our sweet corn to a farmers market in Eagan TN sponsored by the woodland community land trust. It was a great day, there were other folks selling quilts and jerky and baked goods and produce. I bought a pumpkin roll, pears, tomatoes, eggs, and some deer jerky. I met some neat people who are working there doing some of the same work that the settlement is doing a little further south. Someone brought their banjo and others just belted out a few songs without any accompaniment.

Being at this market along with other time spent thinking over the past few weeks has me thinking about agriculture as an occupation. Some of this probably comes from the job hunt that I am going through currently as well. I hate the cliche, but it's in my blood, I have zero formal education in agriculture but between growing up on a farm and working for my uncle I know enough to be dangerous and not enough to be employable. So I'm not sure what my future involvement in agriculture looks like but I know that I would like it exist.

haircut

2008-09-08T17:55:00.002-04:00

Every now and then we'll have someone come to the Settlement that offers services to the community beyond home repair. This week we have a couple of hairstylists, along with a manicurist, that have been offering free appointments to the local folks. Monday morning was set aside for staff members, so I hopped on the bandwagon (just in time, too, because I was beginning to look like one of the Hansons again).

Here's the result:

lost and found

2008-08-30T22:09:00.004-04:00

Occasionally, when looking through the books that come into the library from our various donors, I find stuff that people have left in books, probably as bookmarks. I have found a couple of dollar bills, tissues, etc., but this is by far the best thing that I've found yet.

defeating small oil

2008-08-27T18:42:00.002-04:00

Over the past few months Henderson Settlement has been in talks with a local oil company about the possibility of drilling oil on part of the 1600 acres here at the settlement. They were prepared to give a donation of $10,000 up front and a percentage (12.5) of profits, which would go to GBGM as they are the land owners and could choose to give us all or some or none. They would essentially build a road to the site of drilling and have tanks on site that a tractor trailer would come to daily...weekly depending on how much of a gusher it was.

Mike Tupper who is on the board took it upon himself to investigate the location itself, where an access road would have to go and spoke to other gas and oil companies about their operations and how this work progressed. He and I spoke many times about the benefits and drawbacks of this. As a self admitted tree hugger I was worried about contamination and what happens after the oil is gone or not worth drilling anymore. There were also questions of how much oil this would produce and its a gamble even according to the oil man.

In the end the board voted to not accept their offer after not much debate and a good argument put forward by Mike. So here is to defeating small oil and not taking 10 grand that we could really use at the expense of our land and community.

photos from Knoxville

2008-08-25T22:15:00.003-04:00

Hi friends!

Eric and I went to Knoxville this past Saturday. I had to get my allergy shot, and Eric wanted to see a baseball game, so we wandered around downtown in the meantime. You can see our photos here--they're in the Knoxville album.

great finds

2008-08-24T20:18:00.004-04:00

We haven't done this in a little while but here is the latest installment of great finds at the thrift store.

I found a vintage camera bag for Sarah, and her new camera even fits in it.

I found two shirts like this, western shirts with flowers and pearl buttons, Sarah likes them, so do I.

I found this jacket for the River Oaks Soccer Club, on the back it has embroidered the name Ambrosio, which makes me look like a great Italian soccer player.

camping in the wilderness

2008-08-18T16:04:00.004-04:00

Last weekend Mike and I decided it would be a good night to hike into the mountains here at the Settlement and spend the night. We packed our tent and food for dinner and enough stuff to last us a week but we were going for less than 24 hours. With our packs loaded down we went out here. (The blue is our campsite, red is our apartment). We got there in time to see the sunset and then made some pizza sandwiches but Mike had forgotten the sauce so they were really like grilled cheese, but they were good anyway. It was nice to be so far away from everything and just relax out in the woods.

what's the plan?

2008-08-16T19:46:00.002-04:00

We have talked to many of you about this, but for those who haven't been in on the discussions, here's what we've been thinking about and talking about:

We committed to spending a year at Henderson Settlement, and that year will be completed at the end of September. Although they'd like us to stay indefinitely (isn't that nice of them?), we're feeling like it's time to move on and time to be closer to what feels like our true home. Plus, our student loans are calling our names, and although they might be able to be pushed back, they won't go away on their own.

We've started applying for jobs in the Binghamton area, but we've not really heard anything yet. We've decided that we'll stay here 'til one of us finds something, so it's looking right now as if we'll be here past the end of September. Eric is determined to be back up north by Christmas, though, job or no job.

And the grand plan? Well, the long-term plan involves us both getting jobs, using one salary to live on and one to pay off the loans, and being pretty much free of debt in about five years (or less, depending on how things go). Then we hope to be able to back into full-time volunteer/mission work. The details of that are still in the very fuzzy stages, but we will be exploring some programs through the United Methodist Church and probably some others, as well.

So pray for us as we start this new leg of the journey. And let us know if you have any job leads!

oh, and....

2008-08-15T21:45:00.000-04:00

I've updated our picture page again...this is current as of today!

sunny day

2008-08-15T21:36:00.007-04:00

We've had a string of bright sunshiny days, including a few days with high temperatures only reaching the low- to mid-eighties.

This is our kind of weather.

Eric was lifeguarding last Saturday, and I went to hang out with him for a while, and I took my camera. Mike was there, hanging out with a couple of the local kids, and he mentioned that he missed seeing himself pictured on our blog...so here you go, Mike!

mural

2008-08-04T18:04:00.002-04:00

At the beginning of the year, Jerry and Harry came around and asked if there were any projects that I'd like done in the library. Right inside the door of the library was a blue wall:

Nice but not interesting. I asked if they could put a mural on the project list, and so they did.

When I got back from being up north in May, I had a message to call a woman named Peggy in Michigan about a mural. I phoned her, and we talked for a while about possibilities. I suggested book characters, and she said, "Oh, like Tom Sawyer?" That wasn't what I had in mind, but after she said it, I knew that's what we should have: book characters that are not known by Disney cartoons, but only in the imagination of the reader.

So I made a [very rough] sketch of what I had in mind:

When she got it, she called, and we talked some more. It turned out that she'd be here with her work team during the week that we were up north in July. I was excited to see what would be on the wall. When I got to the library, I was blown away. The mural far exceeded my expectations.

As you can see, Peggy is an incredible artist. There have been several people who have stopped in to see the mural, and they've all commented on how wonderful it is. My favorite reaction, however, came from a little boy who stood and looked at it for a minute and then walked over and reached out his hand and touched the lion, as if he meant to pet it on the head. It looked so real and friendly to him.

I'm so grateful to Peggy for sharing her amazing gift with us. This mural makes the library so much more inviting and interesting! Thank you, Peggy!

camping debacle

2008-08-03T22:38:00.002-04:00

So this weekend we went camping at Cumberland Falls.

The campsites there are close together. By "close together," I mean "on top of each other." Our neighbor's tent was about eight feet from our tent. This wasn't a problem 'til we wanted to go to bed.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We got to the campsite early in the afternoon and set up and were relaxing when a trailer backed up to the site on the other side of our neighbors, and three men and two junior-high-age boys got out and started unloading. We didn't pay them too much attention, as we were reading in the shade of a giant tree, but after a while, Eric looked up and commented, "They're building a city." As more men and boys had arrived, he decided to call this city "Manville." They ended up with about fourteen or so guys spread over two or three campsites in about seven tents. They had coolers full of meat and polished off a #10 can full of baked beans for dinner. It was pretty impressive.

We gained neighbors, and we went swimming, and after we returned from the night swim, I began to be ready to climb in the tent to sleep. So we did, but our neighbors didn't. This wouldn't have been a problem except that they were only a few yards from us, playing poker. Also, being August in Kentucky, it was quite warm out and rather stuffy in the tent. Neither of us could fall asleep. I freaked out for a while and then dozed off, and I woke up a little while later to Eric freaking out. So we decided to go for a drive.

We drove the twenty-five minutes into Corbin, and pretty much everything was closed except for Waffle House, and being fans of Waffle House, we decided that it was a good option. As we pulled into the parking lot, we noticed that it was pretty full for 12:30am, and we walked in to find the place packed. It was noisy and rowdy, and we pretty soon realized that the bars must've closed at midnight, and everyone went right to Waffle House. There were bikers there and sorority-type girls and cuddly couples and even a elementary-aged girl who was dragged there by what I assume were her slightly drunk parents. It was a wild experience.

By the time we got back to our campsite, our neighbors were in bed, meaning that we could do the same. But the next morning we decided that we'd skip the second night at the campground and go home after seeing the falls. We had already gone swimming, got a slight sunburn, and cooked over a campfire twice, and we were planning to go to a park ranger talk that afternoon. Our mini-vacation was complete.

The morals of the story:
1. Don't go camping in the south in the summer.
2. Do a little more research on the size and spacing of campsites before committing to a campground.

The falls were quite impressive since it's been rather rainy the past couple of weeks. Although you can't tell from this picture, the water falls sixty-eight feet. It's the largest waterfall south of Niagra Falls and east of the Rockies.

trip north - Sarah's edition

2008-07-31T19:53:00.005-04:00

Now it's my turn to talk about my trip north.

The beginning is the same as Eric's version, but on Monday morning, Christie picked me up from Jurisdictional Conference in Harrisburg, and we headed toward NEPa.

We spent a day or so visiting with Gramsy and with our cousin Darcy and her family.

Then we went and spent another day or so at our parents' home.

It was nice to relax with them for a while before heading back to Baltimore, where Christie and Tim live. While I was visiting them, I got to meet some more of Christie's friends, which was great.

We had some good Sister Time, watching girl movies (Enchanted and Mamma Mia) and just being together and hanging out and talking, which was wonderful since we don't get much time to do that.

We went to Artscape, which was fantastic. I'm not sure why, but I didn't take a picture of the car covered with singing fish and lobsters. Maybe it's because you had to be there to fully appreciate it. I don't care who you are--it would've blown your mind. Here's a picture of the bus covered with random stuff.

And here's one of the other interesting sights from Artscape--hahahahahaha!

Eric joined us on Saturday afternoon, and that evening we went to see the Baltimore Orioles play the Detroit Tigers. Christie brought her knitting.

The fans were exceptionally rowdy, and the game was exciting right up until the very end.

On Sunday, after attending Christie and Tim's new church, we headed up to Lancaster to the wedding of one of my friends from Eastern College. It was a beautiful service, and it was so good to see some of my friends from school.

Then we headed back to Baltimore and got some more time to spend with Christie and Tim.

And then on Monday, we headed back to Kentucky and jumped into time with family and friends again!

It was a wonderful trip for me--getting a chance to relax and spend time with people I love. I just wish that someday Christie and I could live down the street from each other.

irrigation:phase 1

2008-07-30T16:28:00.003-04:00

Several weeks ago I drove to western Kentucky to pick up parts for an irrigation system here at the settlement. Phase one of this project is for the mums pictured above. When I arrived they were doing all of their watering by hand, this was not only time consuming but it also made it difficult to be accurate with how much fertilizer plants were receiving as well. The mum platform is set up on what used to be a hog barn and is able to hold 2070 mums that can be watered with the turn of a nozzle. We also have an in-line fertilizer system that will accurately give each plant the same amount of fertilizer. Phase two will be setting up irrigation in two greenhouses for hanging baskets.

work camp visitors

2008-07-28T19:55:00.003-04:00

The past three weeks have been a little nutty. First there was a group here from Morris UMC, then we went north for Jurisdictional Conference, and then there was a group here from Lehman-Idetown UMC.

Morris UMC is pastored by Sara Baron, a friend from Sky Lake staff. When her church expressed interest in a mission trip, she steered them in the direction of Henderson Settlement. There were four adults and six youth, and their project was spreading gravel at the Lower Farm. Although the work was hard and not very glorious, they went at it with enthusiasm, and the pole barn and Kim's driveway are now happier places to work and drive. It was great to spend time with Sara and her parishioners, and although the week was not without its bumps and bee stings, I think they had a good time, too. Thank you, Morris UMC!

Last week, my parents and my aunt Dotty came down with a group from the Lehman-Idetown UMC. This group was a great mix of people, scattered in age from sixteen to eighty-three! They worked on re-siding and finishing an addition on the trailer of an older woman in the community. Aunt Dotty and Kendy also spent one afternoon in the library, which was a big help to me. It was wonderful to spend time with the group in the evenings, especially with my family. My mom and I even got a chance to visit with Fay, which was a real treat for me--to have two amazing women in my life spend some time together! Eric and I also got to eat with the group at Webb's restaurant in Cumberland Gap, and there were live musicians taking requests, so of course, that was a blast! The group had quite a challenge to finish their project in the space of five days, but they got as much done as they possibly could, and I know that the woman is very grateful for their work. Thank you Lehman-Idetown UMC and friends!

It has been such a blessing to have people from home joining us in our work here at the Settlement. I'm glad that they got to meet some of our people here, and I'm glad that some of our friends here got to meet some of our people from home. Sometimes it's a beautiful thing when worlds collide.

website

2008-07-27T21:19:00.003-04:00

Hi all--

Again I'm behind. *sigh* My resolutions never amount to much.

I do have some news, though. A couple of weeks ago, the new website that I've been working on for the Settlement was uploaded. There are still some kinks that need to be worked out, but overall it seems to be working pretty well, so I'm pretty pleased! Click here to see it, and let me know if there's anything missing!

Roadtrip (from Eric)

2008-07-23T13:08:00.003-04:00

We have been gone for a week or so and have been here there and everywhere. Saturday the 20th we drove to Beacon NY, about 14 hours in the car, and we didn't go crazy. We were there for our friends Asha and Tamika's engagement party. It was great to see them and be able to help with setting up for the party.

On Sunday afternoon after the party we drove to Harrisburg PA where I was a delegate to the Northeast Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church (what a mouthful). After Attending General Conference in May I came away frustrated about the church and asked the question of if I wanted to stay in the church. During this week of worship, discernment, and revolution I was reinvigorated and affirmed to continue to work within the church for change. We lifted up to Bishop the Rev. Peggy Johnson, an advocate for the deaf (among others) from the Baltimmore-Washington Conference. I feared that the process of interviewing and voting for candidates would be very political from what I had heard of past conferences. I was pleased to find that while the process was not perfect it felt much more like discernment than an election.

We approved the reorganization of conferences in the Upstate NY area that has been a long time in process. This is bittersweet as this new entity will split the Wyoming conference at the state line and all of upstate NY will become a new conference in 2010 and the PA portion will join with Central PA conference. Had the wyoming conference not existed it is probable that Sarah and I would not have met. We will not see friends in ministry as often and will miss our family style conference, but we will be able to provide better administrative assistance to local churches and (I hope) provide a better conference wide youth program as well as be better suited to inform state politics.

During the week discussion of the excess of being at the Hilton Hotel and being more extravagant than necessary prompted several of us in attendance to make a statement desiring our next quadrennial conference to be more mindful of our stewardship and to be more deliberate about "living simply so others may simply live". I can't help but stir things up.

It was great to meet and get to know folks like Matt, Jen, Dianne, Zachary, Mark, Kurt, Becky, Emily and others. As well as to spend time as the last Jurisdictional Delegation to the from the Wyoming Conference

My Grandmother Stoughton had been in the hospital all week with "mystery illness" and though I had not planned on going home it was easier to go from Harrisburg than from Frakes, it was good to see her and some family, She has moved to rehab and is improving.

Sarah had spent most of the week with her sister going home for a few days and then back to Baltimore. Saturday morning I drove to Baltimore to meet them and we were able to catch an Orioles game, just what I needed to relax. Sunday we were able to go to Beth and Steve's wedding in Lancaster PA, Sarah went to school with Beth. A really nice day and good folks to talk to.

Thats the short version, you will just have to ask if you want the long version.

photos

2008-07-14T09:19:00.002-04:00

Hi all--

You can find our new picture website here. It's still a work in progress, but it's got some pictures there that you probably haven't seen before!

This week Eric will be in Harrisburg for the Northeast Jurisdictional Conference of the UMC. They'll be electing at least one new bishop, so that's a pretty exciting thing to be a part of! Other than that, who knows what could happen?

I, on the other hand, have opted out of this conference to spend time with my sister--hooray! We'll travel to NEPa today to spend a couple of days there, and then we'll head back down to Baltimore for the rest of the week.

Next week, when we return to the Settlement, the group from Lehman-Idetown will be there, and that includes my parents and my aunt Dotty. It's a wild time of seeing family--awesome.

fun at the day care

2008-07-07T17:12:00.002-04:00

As you may know, Henderson Settlement runs a day care center for the community. It's a good facility with great staff and low cost to the working parents in the community.

For the past few months, I've had the opportunity to go to the day care once a week to do a short music-and-movement-type program. The young kids, for the most part, seem to get a kick out of it, and I get my fix of spending time with funny children.

There's one young boy there, though, whom I'll call C., who never wanted to participate in the program. C. is about three years old, and Pat (one of the staff members) told me that he hates music. I never took it personally--hey, if he hates music, I'm not going to force him to do the program and give him reason to hate it even more!

A few weeks ago, though, I noticed that he came over to the group and watched and participated in some of the songs. I thought that was pretty cool and figured he must've been in a good mood that day.

Last week, though, when I arrived at the day care, C. was the first one who greeted me when I walked in the door. He ran over yelling my name and threw himself at me, wrapping his arms around my legs. I said to Pat that he must be having a really good day!

What surprised me even more, though, is that he went right over to the area where we do the program and got ready to participate. And he did ALL of it! And after each song or rhyme or story, he clapped as hard as he could and yelled, "YAY!" at the top of his lungs!

I guess C. must've learned from watching his small friends at the day care that music can be fun. I hope that when I go to the day care this Wednesday, he'll be happy to see me again!

photo problem

2008-07-02T22:09:00.002-04:00

Hi friends.

We have a small problem.

When I went onto our photo site today, I found that the server that held the online versions of our photos had gone kablooie. This means that as of right now, we have no way of sharing those photos with you. I'm working on putting them on another site (Picasa), but it'll take at least a few days before we'll be ready to share that link with you.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

gardens

2008-06-29T19:54:00.003-04:00

Many local people have gardens, we sold more vegetable plants from our greenhouse this spring than in past years. With the price of fuel and food both increasing many are relying on their gardens to provide food for themselves. I too have grown a garden and the first produce has arrived, crook-neck summer squash. My garden is not as well weeded as others that we pass on the road to town but its pretty hard to kill squash. I hope to have melons, peppers, tomatoes, and maybe some other stuff too, we will see what makes it.

Mom and Dad R's visit

2008-06-23T18:53:00.011-04:00

When Eric and I returned from our home Annual Conference meeting at the beginning of June, we brought my mom with us. She spent the week with us, working in the library with me and hanging out with us in the evenings. She got to spend some time with Mike and the Lemonses, and she got to meet many of the people that we tell stories about. (Too bad they missed Lori, though, 'cause she's up north--hopefully she'll be back in time for their visit in July!)

The seventeen-year cicadas were out in full force while she was here. These are the guys who live underground and only come out every seventeen years to mate and sing to us (or scream at us, depending on your perspective) for a couple of weeks before dying. They're big bugs--over an inch long--and they were everywhere!

My dad drove down that Friday, making impressive time--only eleven and a half hours--and he joined us for the weekend. Of course we made the rounds at the Settlement, showing them the campus and the lower farm and telling them all about everything.

Saturday we walked part of the Clear Creek Hollow trail.

Here are my mom and dad in front of the tunnel.

My dad considered impersonating Indiana Jones on this old hanging bridge.

Sunday my parents went to Sunday school and church with us. It was really great to be able to introduce them to many of the wonderful people in our Hope Church family. (Faye has already mentioned that I need to bring them to her house when they return for work camp in July.)

After church, we went to Webb's restaurant in Cumberland Gap, TN, for some good homestyle cooking. Then we went up the road to the National Park and drove up the mountain to see the incredible view of three states at once from the Pinnacle Overlook.

While we were there, a landed butterfly caught our eye, and it obligingly climbed onto my mom's finger for a photo opportunity before she passed it on to another visitor at the Pinnacle.

It was great to have my parents visit. It was wonderful to be able to spend several days with my mom, and I was so glad to be able to show them around and have them meet our Kentucky friends and learn about what we're doing. We're looking forward to their return in July with a work team from the Lehman-Idetown UMC!!

Tuppers' newsletter

2008-06-18T21:26:00.002-04:00

Here's the newest edition of the email newsletter from Mike and Lori Tupper.

Michael's Journal

I've been blessed with children, youth and seniors this month.

Henderson Settlement hosts about 150 work campers every week in the summer. Most of the work campers are youth. I have the privilege of meeting with them every morning at 7:00 at Vesper Point. We watch the cows become visible through the mist in the valley below as we share in Morning Devotions. God's presence is felt in the beauty of creation which surrounds us. I lead the Closing Worship on Friday nights. We hear testimonies every week to the ways God is at work. Last Friday a pastor shared about his experience of baptizing an elderly lady who lived at the home where they were working that week.

Henderson Settlement ministers to about 75 children and youth every week in the summer. This Day Camp type program includes recreation and reading activities. I've been reading a novel to the older children and reading one-on-one with the younger children. I also have fun with them out on the playground and in the swimming pool. I push the kids high on the swings. (Only one has fallen off.) I let the kids jump off my shoulders in the pool. I'm known as Mr. T.

Henderson Settlement also sponsors baseball for the community children. There are over fifty kids involved. I get the chance to cheer, umpire, and pitch to the children. It's amazing how well they are able to hit the ball (even five year olds!). I was pitching well the other day until the end of the game. My pitches became erratic, causing the children to strike out. So when Chenoa came up to bat, I called for a "reliever". Chenoa's dad replaced me at the pitching mound. Unfortunately, Chenoa's dad struck her out. She was crushed and cried for a while. Later I told Chenoa I used to be called the "Strikeout King" because I would always strike out as a child. She said, "I'm going to just keep trying. My mama always says, 'practice makes perfect.'"

My ministry to children has also involved playing with the children in the swimming pool. Most of the parents do not get in the pool with their children. Some children are left at the pool for many hours. It gives me a chance to have fun with them – throwing a ball back and forth, watching them learn to swim, and letting them swim around on my back. Thank God for children!!

This month I performed another wedding. The wedding couple, Margy and Billy Ray had visited the church recently. They are in their sixties with spouses who have been gone for many years. Margy called me up and asked if I would perform a wedding ceremony. I asked about the date. She said, "Tomorrow." I told her that was fine but she needed to bring at least one witness.

The next day, Margy, Billy Ray, and Margy's 88 year old aunt arrived at the church for the wedding. I picked up a tulip tree blossom off the ground and teasingly gave it to Margy. She actually pinned it on her jacket. It was her corsage for the special day.

We had a brief service up in front of the sanctuary. Afterwards, I took six pictures of the wedding couple with her disposable camera. Then we signed the wedding license. Margy's aunt said, "I won't sign. I'm not going to be a witness." But she was just teasing. She signed it and they were officially married.

The newlyweds have been coming to church every Sunday since that day. Margy has been singing for our special music with her two cousins.

Thank you God for blessing me with children, youth and seniors this month.

Thanks for your prayers.

********************************************

Lori's Journal

It has been an interesting month of reminders of how different it is up north compared to the beautiful mountains where my home is now. I miss our church people, Michael, and my dog, Jezabel. But it is exciting to see how God is working in all parts of the world and how he has sent me an entire host of traveling angels. Our daughter, Sarah, traveled with me the first week of June and we faced several trials—the biggest being making sure she got her visa for her six months of work in South Africa. With Michael managing things from the Kentucky front and the help of a Wheaton professor, she finally received it the day before she left from O'Hare. We also faced, car problems, a lost credit card, an accidentally canceled debit card, 3 people in a very small 1 bedroom apartment, and 3 rainy nights at a campground. But on Tuesday, June 10th, our package was delivered safely to Chicago's O'Hare airport and she had a beautiful smile on her face as she walked through security, ready to change the world one child at a time in South Africa.

My talks have gone well and I feel like awareness has been raised of issues that are faced in Appalachia.

My first stop was at the very first church we were appointed to in Hammond, IN. I was amazed at the onslaught of memories as I greeted people that were still there from the 1980s.

As I greeted one couple, I felt overcome with emotion. My mind went back to a time when I went with Michael to the hospital to visit them and their young daughter, Katie. Katie had suddenly lost her sight and Lynn, her mother was laying in the bed talking to her softly when we entered the dark room. Bob, Katie's father, was standing at the end of the bed looking on as his wife and small daughter cuddled. We talked quietly for a bit, learning that the doctor was confused by Katie's sudden blindness. As we talked, Katie suddenly paniked when she couldn't find her stuffed toy in the bed. Lynn comforted her and helped her find the stuffed toy. I watched Bob as he suddenly broke down sobbing without making a sound. It appeared his heart was literally breaking in two at the helplessness of his daughter. I remember trying to hold my own tears back and thinking how God must feel the same heartbreak when we, His children, are suffering. Whenever I saw Bob and Lynn after that experience, I could sense their pure, intense love for their two children. Now as I greeted them on my first day of speaking, I was transported back to that hospital room and felt intense emotion. I was happy to hear Katie is now a mother herself. She had eventually regained her sight and was fine. It is just one example of how God used so many people to shape my life.

As I travel, God is challenging me not to worry about where I will be next school year. In my talk, I emphasize how God has it all under control—and with His subtle humor intact, he is requiring me to live that message.

Please continue to pray for us. It is the best gift you can give us.

I am looking forward to meeting Michael on Sunday, the 22nd and then leaving with him for 10 days on Prince Edward Island to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. Pray that this will be a time of fun and renewal for both of us.

Peace to y'all.

Steve's ordination

2008-06-16T12:11:00.004-04:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was privileged to be present for the ordination of Steve Springer as an elder in the United Methodist Church. Steve has worked long and hard toward this goal, and everyone at the Red Bird Missionary Conference's annual meeting was excited and happy for him.

Steve is the pastor of the Thousandsticks and Lower Beech Fork UMCs. My home church, Center Moreland UMC, has been helping to support the ministry of Steve and his wife Dianne since I was in high school. In my English class when I was a senior, we had to write an "I-Search" paper, which involved interviewing people around a theme. Since I was interested in missionary work, Steve and Dianne were two of the people that I interviewed. Five years ago, Eric and I went with a group from the Center Moreland church on a trip to Thousandsticks to help a family in need in their community, and we loved the area and the idea of doing service work in an impoverished rural community.

So you can see that Steve and Dianne's ministry has had a significant impact on us. We hope to be able to spend more time with them this summer and to visit their churches.

Here's a picture from Steve's ordination. (I meant to add more, but Blogger isn't cooperating with me!)

better late than never......right?

2008-06-09T17:57:00.002-04:00

I just looked at our blog, and it's been six and a half weeks since I've posted a blog entry. That's a really long time. I apologize.

Six and a half weeks ago, we were in Fort Worth, Texas, for the UMC General Conference. We arrived back in Frakes physically and emotionally drained, wondering about our church and how we fit into it. Before we went to Texas, I was sure that I wanted to stay here at the Settlement for several years if possible....something at the Conference (I'm not sure what) caused a shift in my thinking, and now I'm not sure what I want.

The weekend after General Conference was the Red Bird Missionary Conference's annual meeting, and I went as a delegate from the Settlement. It was a nice time--Bishop King loves and is loved very much by the people of the Red Bird Conference. One real treat was that I got to be there for the ordination of Steve Springer, the missionary that my home church in Center Moreland helps to support.

The week following was hectic with Eric taking an intense but quickly finished class to renew his lifeguard certification. (I'll get to fall in love with the lifeguard all over again this summer!) The long hours really tested his body, and he became sick at the end of the week, spending much of one entire day sleeping--poor guy!

The week after that, a group from the New Milford UMC (where we had been attending before we came to Henderson Settlement) came to work on a community project here in Frakes. Five gentlemen from the church and the pastor's son from Ohio were the only work campers at the Settlement that week, and it was great to spend some time with them. They used their experience here not only as a way to help someone in this community, but also as a way to look at the Settlement's work camp program in hopes of starting a home improvement program in their neck of the woods--Susquehanna County, PA. It's great to know folks with such willingness to serve their neighbors!

I got sick at the end of that week and spent a day in bed....then we were off and running again! We headed toward home (by way of Richmond, Virginia, to see a baseball game) for Annual Conference. I hadn't been looking forward to Conference....I was TIRED OF MEETINGS....but it was so laid back compared to General Conference, and there were so many people I liked there, that I enjoyed myself a lot!

We brought my mom back with us from home, and my dad joined us this past Friday evening. They headed back north this morning, after having the chance to get to know the community a little. This was one time when my usually-cold mother had the advantage--it was over 90 degrees every day this past week, so she was comfortable most of the time! It was great to have them here, and we look forward to their return in July with the Lehman-Idetown UMC work team!

And my sister and her husband are in Europe. I am jealous, but I'm excited to hear all about it when they return next week!

I know that this was a very wordy entry with no visual stimulation. Now that I'm back into the swing of things, maybe I'll post some photos over the next few days.

coming out of retirement

2008-05-18T18:35:00.002-04:00

I have completed my lifeguard certification class and will be coming out of retirement to guard at the pool here at the settlement. It has been a few years since guarding at camp, I was surprised at how much I did remember. The pool here is used mostly by kids in the summer recreation program and by work campers here in the summer. The settlement was kind enough to pay for my class and I will be volunteering my hours, I plan on still working on the farm this summer as well. It will be nice to have something different to do and to get to know some of the kids better.

Jake

2008-05-12T21:11:00.003-04:00

This is Jake, he is our new dog, when I say we I don't mean Sarah and I, I mean our director Mark and I. Jake was a stray and had been around all winter. About a month ago Mark tempted me and said that he would pay the vet bill if I helped to take care of him, I took him up on the offer. We got him shots and he is due to have some fixing surgery soon. The vet didn't think he was older than a year. He has become more puppy like since he has been fed regularly and been given attention. He has a run near the barn where he can get out of the weather if need be. I think he will move to Mark's house when he and his family get there later in the summer. He will most likely have to stay here when we come home but I am enjoying having a dog for the time being.

General Conference

2008-04-24T11:06:00.002-04:00

As we mentioned earlier, we are now at General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. (Yes, everything IS bigger in Texas--even the thunderstorms.) We're doing a blog for the Wyoming Conference delegation, so you can read about our General Conference adventures here.

benefit concert

2008-04-23T16:55:00.003-04:00

One of the parishioners in the church that Eric grew up in (East Berkshire UMC) asked me to post this. They're having a concert that will benefit Henderson Settlement--we appreciate so much their interest in the ministry here in Frakes!

From Jan:
The Caring Covenant Cooperative Parish is promoting this as this year's first
"event" (I am on the committee). The group I sing with - Voices of Praise,
is leading a Praise & Worship Concert just one week from this Sunday.
It's scheduled for 3-5 p.m. Sunday, April 27th at the Newark Valley 1st
UMC. Other participants will be; the group ReJOYce, Rev. Nancy
Adams, Pastor Donna Martin and Jewel Griffith. We're really excited
and looking forward to sharing in this ministry of music to benefit
Henderson Settlement.

Texas

2008-04-23T16:45:00.002-04:00

Howdy, y'all!

As Eric mentioned in his last post, we're in Texas for the UMC General Conference. We took our time getting here, since we figured we'd better take this opportunity to see parts of the country that we've never seen before. (I'll post more about that, including pictures, tonight or tomorrow.)

I'm working as a page, which seems like it'll be a pretty interesting job. I've already met people from South Dakota, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, and the Phillippines! AND the president of Liberia (a woman--hooray!) will be here next Tuesday, so that'll be amazing. Bill Gates's dad will also be here--who knew the Gates Foundation was so interested in the UMC?

This General Conference thing is really intense--there's all kinds of security in place to make sure that the right people are in the right places and that the wrong people don't end up in those places. It's so much bigger of a deal than I thought it'd be. It's like working for the government.

So that's that. Thanks for your prayers to get us down here...we are excited to be having this experience!

general conference

2008-04-18T22:34:00.002-04:00

Last May I was elected as an alternate delegate of Wyoming Annual Conference to attend the United Methodist Church General Conference. Tomorrow morning we will start driving west to Fort Worth TX, taking our time to go through Memphis TN and Hot Springs AR, what other chance would we have to drive through that part of the country. I have been receiving lobbying letters and DVD's and wading through the three large books of resolutions that will come before the conference. As an alternate I may spend some time with voice and vote when our two primary lay delegates may need a break but in general I will be able to pick and choose which sessions I will attend. During the next two weeks I as well as our other delegates and Sarah, who is a page, will be posting thoughts here.

cousin ira

2008-04-18T19:59:00.003-04:00

This past weekend we were able to make a road trip to Carrboro North Carolina to visit my cousin who is a senior at UNC Chapel Hill taking difficult classes like SCUBA so he can graduate. He showed us the campus and the local hotspots Saturday night. On Sunday we had some good brunch at Ye Olde Waffle House, went shopping for some sneakers (above) and pet supplies (later) and then went to see the first half of the play Angels In America. There was alot of hangin out and not doing much, which is what we needed.

peepers

2008-04-18T19:54:00.002-04:00

They have been here for a few weeks but I have not had the chance to get a recording and get it up until now. One of the best sounds in the world is peepers, it means that spring has arrived and that there is life in the land that has been cold and brown and frozen for the past few months. So click above and turn up your speakers real loud.

Tuppers' newsletter

2008-04-15T17:50:00.002-04:00

I thought some of you might appreciate some news from our friends Mike and Lori Tupper. Mike is the pastor of the Hope UMC, and Lori is the first-grade teacher at the Frakes School Center. Since Mike has missionary status within the United Methodist Church, he and Lori put out a monthly newsletter for their friends, family, and supporters. They agreed to let us put their newsletter on our blog--I asked them because I thought it'd be good for y'all to hear perspectives from people who work deeper in the community than we do.

***********************************************************************************

Mike's Journal

We celebrated Palm Sunday by receiving four new members into the life of our little church. We've now received nineteen new members in the past two years. Our membership is now thirty-five. (I used to think that churches with membership under fifty should be closed!)

One of our newest members was a living member for only four days. Dru Robinson had been confined to a hospital or nursing home bed since the first of the year. She talked about going back home and getting out to church by her birthday in June. She told me, "I'll join the church that first Sunday I'm back." A few weeks ago Dru was enrolled in Hospice. I decided to hurry the membership process up. I asked Dru if we could bring the church to her instead of waiting for her to come to church.

About a dozen of us gathered around Dru's bed on that Palm Sunday afternoon. She was very alert and talkative that day. She seemed more like the Dru I've known. She said, "Someday, I'm looking forward to seeing my husband again." (Her husband passed away a year and a half ago.) "I also am looking forward to meeting my grandfather, Bill Henderson. He was killed before I was born. But I've always wanted to meet him. I have so many questions I want to ask him." (Bill is the man who donated the land for Henderson Settlement and after whom Henderson Settlement is named.)

I asked Dru if she believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior and was following Jesus as her Lord. I asked Dru if she was willing to join the Hope United Methodist Church and support it as much as she could. She answered in the affirmative. We held hands and I prayed for Dru. I presented Dru with a Membership Certificate. She held it up in pride. We concluded our time together by celebrating Holy Communion. The Lord was with us.

Four days later Dru died. She finally got her wish to see her husband and Bill Henderson. The picture of Dru holding up her membership certificate was in the slide show at the funeral. The framed membership certificate was placed by the casket at the funeral. The last thing the funeral director did before closing her casket for the last time was place her membership certificate inside the casket with Dru.

Another grandchild of Bill Henderson joined the church on Palm Sunday. P.O. Cobb had been attending the church sporadically over the past fifteen years. He's married to Sheila, a lady who came to Henderson Settlement a dozen years ago as a US-2 United Methodist missionary.
P.O. is the father of Lona. Lona is the one child who never misses Sunday School and worship. Lona is a first grader in Lori's class at the school and has been taking piano lessons on Saturdays from our piano player, Philip. On Easter Sunday Lona played in church for the first time. She played the melody for "God is So Good". We're so proud of Lona!

The other two people who joined the church on Palm Sunday were Sarah Reid and Eric Yetter. They are one-year volunteers at the Settlement. They recently graduated from college in Pennsylvania and New York. We've enjoyed having Sarah and Eric over to our place often. We hope their youthfulness rubs off on us! Sarah is working in the library and Eric is working on the farm. They are not paid, but do receive room and board for volunteering. (Anyone who volunteers to work for a month or more receives free room and board.) If you want to see pictures of the Settlement and hear stories from them, go to their blog: http://goingtothefair.blogspot.com

Our latest prayer concern is a KKK Rally in the nearby town of Pineville on April 11-13. Pray that God might help our church and community respond in Christ-like ways in a world that is hurting and hurtful.

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Lori's Journal

March in Kentucky brings an end to snow days (finally!), the beginning of sudden showers and daffodils ("Easter flowers") and walkers on the new Settlement walking track.

Life with my "short friends" was fun as we began an economy unit. I paid them $10 a week for coming to school, but they had to pay me $5 rent for desk/chair, $1 for a pencil for the week, and $2 for their paper.

"Miz Lori," they whined that first day as they handed back 8 of their 10 play dollars, "that don't leave us much money."

"Welcome to life." I said, collecting their money.

On Friday, they had to fill out job applications for the next week. The application was very basic…name, phone #, what position they wanted, and why they would be good at it. Some of my favorites were:

LINE LEADER: "I would be good at it because I like to eat first."

CABOOSE (Last in line and reports any misbehavior in the halls): "I have good eyes and I am ones" (honest)

BANKER (Trades $1 bills for $5s and $10s): "I have a sootkuys" (suitcase)

BOARD ERASER: "I am very fast."

Along with our economy system, March has been a month to practice what we have learned about writing paragraphs. When a student turns in a paragraph with poor handwriting, I might absentmindedly tell them, "Your handwriting is atrocious, redo it please." I had just made this statement to Paige one day last week when the reading recovery teacher walked into the room. Paige looked at her and said proudly, "My handwriting is atrocious!" Miss Stephanie laughed and asked Paige, "do you know what 'atrocious' means?" Paige shrugged her shoulders, "Nope, but Miz Lori says it is atrocious." I laughed at my assumption that they always understand me and her sweet acceptance of what I say.

March is a fun month in the life of a first grade teacher because you really get to see the progress of the kids. Sometimes it would take years to see progress in the life of my kids with special needs, but with first graders, it seems so sudden. You suddenly realize they can read, write, and think a bit more deeply. They still love school in first grade and only miss a day if they are truly sick and mama insists they stay home.

We began writing our books in February. Each student had to come up with an idea, brainstorm with a group, list characters, dictate the story to Mr. T., revise it with me—adding adjectives and more description. Then I type it on the computer, cut and paste it in a hardbound blank book and then the kids had to illustrate each page and complete the title page, dedication page, and the "About the Author" page. This project all came to fruition last week as each child passed out 2 invitations apiece (but they could invite as many people as they wanted to their "Author's performance." Then for 3 days, each student sat in a huge wooden rocker at the front of the classroom reading their book before their audience of classmates and family members, showing their illustrations for each page. All this was followed by a short reception in the hallway with cookies and punch. Why do we do this? I asked myself as I was making cookies at 5:30 in the morning. But then I realize we do it to see a father come to hear his daughter read and practically busts his buttons with pride. It is worth it to hear Madison pronounce her words carefully because it is an important story to her. It is worth it to see the tears in Nana's eyes when Jacob reads that his book is dedicated to her. It is worth it to listen to Kenny giggle throughout his silly story because the principal cared enough to come hear him read. And when my Wesley had no one show up—my heart is warmed when other parents volunteer to stay so he can have a bigger audience.

I have learned so much in first grade this year…I am learning to appreciate the parents of my students as they demonstrate so much caring for ALL of the kids—not just their own. I am learning that you don't have to be on special assignment or a teacher to make a difference in the life of a child. Anyone can do that.

I can't wait to see what I will learn in first grade next year!!

Peace!

Easter in Ohio

2008-04-05T16:28:00.010-04:00

Since it didn't make sense for us to travel all the way home for Easter, we asked Abby if we could visit her for the holiday. She agreed, and we headed north towards Cincinnati on Good Friday.

Because she likes organization and knowing what to expect, Abby made a chart of what we wanted to see and do during the weekend.

Friday evening, we went to Jungle Jim's, a CRAZY HUGE food store. If you ever have the opportunity to visit it, you are sure to be as overwhelmed and amazed as I was. They have pretty much everything you could ever possibly dream of eating there....and a lot of things you wouldn't want to eat at all.

Abby had to do wedding things for one of her colleagues on Saturday, so Eric and I hung out with her dog Moose. He tried to have fun with us, but he really had a hard time being separated from Abby, since we are not as much fun as she is. (It's ok, Moose--we understand.)

We went to a newly-opened IKEA nearby, which was quite an experience. Eric had never been into an IKEA, and we like their stuff, but what we didn't realize was HOW popular a new IKEA can be. The parking lot of the store was completely full, so we had to park at a school and be bussed to the store. There were THOUSANDS of people in that store. Insane.

We also went to a Skyline Chili restaurant for dinner. Eric can't go to Cincinnati without visiting Skyline.

Sunday was family fun day! Eric had put his foot down against having a traditional Easter dinner, so after church, we went to a Chinese buffet for dinner.

Then we headed to Ohio Caverns. (It has become a strange habit for us to visit caves when we're hanging out with Abby.) Nate, our sixteen-year-old guide, gave us our own private tour through the cavern.

Here we are with the biggest stalactite in the cavern--it's called something like the King Crystal...but I can't remember the exact name, so let's just call it the Giant Crystal Carrot 'cause that's what it looks like.

We rounded out our family fun day by going to Young's Dairy for ice cream. We were too late to participate in the Easter egg hunt (shucks!), and it was a little to chilly to do any of the other fun outdoor activities, so we ate our giant piles of ice cream and headed back.

We did, however, take advantage of this excellent photo op. Isn't it strange how well Eric's beard fits in with the goat cut-out?

Thank you, Abby, for hosting us again--we really enjoyed our Easter weekend with you!

hooray for visitors!

2008-04-02T21:53:00.006-04:00

Last week, we were happy to have my sister Christie and her husband Tim come to visit us. Since they're full-time students, they were eager to get away to that ever-popular spring break destination: Frakes, Kentucky!

Here they are in the room where they stayed in the Balldinger Dorm. (Notice the color combination of light peach and dark turquoise--you won't find turquoise-colored bedroom furniture in most lodging facilities!)

They arrived on Monday night, and on Tuesday they did a little sight-seeing while Eric and I worked. Here's Christie flirting with Colonel Sanders (founder of KFC and Kentucky native).

Wednesday and Thursday, Tim and Christie helped me in the library. It was good to have their help, and it was even better to be able to hang out with them. We got to spend the evenings together, playing games, watching America's Next Top Model, and comparing paranoias (turns out Tim and I have some of the same neuroses!).

One evening, Eric took us on a tour of the farm. Here are some week-old piglets. Christie got to hold one of them--it screamed bloody murder!--but unfortunately we didn't take a still photo. (Ask Tim if you want to see the video footage!)
Eric showed us how much calves like lollipops.

And it turns out that we have ferns for heads.

It was so great to get to spend some time with our newestly-wed (yes, Aunt Barb, I know that's not a word) family. I don't know about the guys, but Christie and I got used to seeing each other every night, and it's sad now that we're ten hours apart again. Too bad that nobody's invented a good teleporter yet!

Thanks for visiting us, Christie and Tim--we love you!

stuff

2008-03-30T20:44:00.002-04:00

Sarah and I had a conversation recently about materialism, consumerism and wealth, which is where this post comes from. I feel that part of what we are doing here and hope to do for the rest of our lives is to challenge the norm of wealth and materials. I say this with the admission that every time I walk into a record store I feel the need to buy something and want to buy everything. I want to challenge the norm of what it means to be wealthy and what really constitutes a need. We all need food and shelter and I would argue love and community, but we don't need cable and movies or even TV. I want to challenge the norm of buying a house and a car and a boat and another car (of which I have one).

We can easily appease ourselves with not buying as much or making our purchases from an alternate "green" consumerism or "Christian" consumerism. And I know that I have done so, saying that I am spending my money wisely or for a higher cause, but I still buy into an ad campaign and buy stuff.

We talked about this in reference of figuring out what we want to do after our year of volunteering is up, granted we have plenty of time. First things first we have a ton of student loans to pay off. That requires a real job at some point. Then, we like the idea of "retiring early" (like in our thirties) and volunteer for a living. Realistically we could do something similar to what we are doing now for a long time. We work and they give us an apartment and food, what more do you need? Oh yeah, health insurance. I have found the Christian Healthcare Ministries, we have asked for some information and don't know any details yet but it looks promising.

I do not want anyone to take this as a disapproval of the lifestyle that they are living. Everyone we are related to and are friends with are doing good things with their resources and no one has made it to the Paris Hilton level yet (I'll let you know when you get there).

So, what do you think.

oh happy day!

2008-03-30T18:23:00.000-04:00

Here's a small film I made about Eric trimming his beard. Hurray!

that part doesn't break

2008-03-30T13:53:00.005-04:00

This winter the grinder we use on the farm to grind our own feed broke. We called the New Holland parts place and they said that they did not have that part in stock because it did not break, I guess we proved them wrong. We made more calls and internet searches and found the part we needed for the low low price of $1,000, which we could not afford. When my father was down he saw the need that we were in. When he returned home he "reluctantly" went to the junk yard to see if he could find a used part. He did indeed find what we needed and he and my grandmother bought it at the bargain price of $350. It was loaded in my fathers truck and my parents and I both headed for Harrisonburg VA to exchange the part and Easter baskets. After having lunch at Cally's, I backed up the settlements van to his truck and the exchange was complete. All we need now is to get Ray to put it all back together as he was the one who tore it all apart.

It may be odd to dedicate machinery parts but it is appropriate that this was donated in memory of Bud Rabenstein who had passed away a week earlier. I remember growing up going to church with him and how huge and strong his hands were for being a small man, he was a faithful man and will be missed.

the beard

2008-03-29T12:45:00.005-04:00

As many of you know or have seen, I had quit shaving since we got here. I figured that as I was working on the farm I did not have to try to impress anyone, plus I'm lazy. When I stopped shaving I wasn't sure how long it would last but I figured that six months would be a good even time and that would keep me warm in the winter. It is the longest that I have let the beard go, previously it was 3 or 4 months. The kids on the basketball team called me 'fro face and rubbed it for good luck. My wife and small children have been scared of it, except Seth who thought it was a toy and liked to pull on it.

Early in this journey I would look in the mirror and see my fathers reflection. When I was young he would grow a beard in the winter, granted he would trim his. But I guess as I am spending time as a farmer that makes sense. So to the delight of my wife I have trimmed the beard and its back to its normal manicured self...and my neck is cold.

preview of things to come

2008-03-28T20:15:00.002-04:00

Since we have been away and having company, we have not posted in several days. We plan to catch up over the next few days, and here's what you can expect to learn about:

our Easter weekend with Abby
our visit from Christie and Tim
our recent conversation about material things
the six-month point
and the most exciting of all.....ERIC TRIMMED HIS BEARD!!!

You had better stay tuned....this is good stuff.

support

2008-03-17T16:44:00.003-04:00

Before we left the northeast and since we've been down here, we have received loads of support, emotionally and financially. We've got cards in the mail, emails, and, of course, comments on this blog. We've also received monetary support from individuals and groups, and we really appreciate that.

One cool thing is that our being here has generated some interest in Henderson Settlement from churches and people in the Wyoming Conference, and the northeast US is not a region from which the Settlement typically receives a whole lot of support. (Much of their support comes from Ohio, Indiana, etc....states that are closer.) There are at least two workteams coming from Wyoming Conference this summer, and I know of a few groups who have decided to help the Settlement financially.

One of those groups is doing something especially creative, and I wanted to share that with all of you. Several of our friends attend (and pastor) the Park Terrace Community UMC. During Lent, the members of the church have been asked to give something up and to take the money that they would usually spend on that thing (coffee, candy bars, whatever) and give it to one of the four charities that they picked this year. This year, Henderson Settlement is one of those charities--hooray! You can read more about the project by clicking here.

We really appreciate our friends supporting our work here and the work of Henderson Settlement as a whole. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

busy!

2008-03-12T20:43:00.003-04:00

Wow. It's been a week since we posted...that's not good!

Things in the library have been very busy. Last Wednesday we had about 25 people in the library at once! It was a program with the Early Steps to School Success (ESSS) program--there were several families there, as well as the preschool class from the Frakes School. Linda (the family resource staffperson at the school) dressed up as the Cat in the Hat, and she read to the kids, and Kim read, too, and so did I. It was a lot of fun! Unfortunately (again), I didn't have my camera with me.

We've also had some people coming into the library more regularly, which is nice to see! Things that are always popular are mysteries and Christian fiction, and movies (most of the collection is on VHS!) have been going out a lot, too.

Yesterday afternoon I had six work campers helping in the library--high school and college kids--which was nice! I'm not used to having that many at once, but they did a good job and helped me move some furniture around and making it easier to walk around and get to the books.

Also, I've been working on revamping Henderson Settlement's website. I'm hoping to have it finished and ready to be "unveiled" sometime in April...we shall see!

Kevin, this is for you.

2008-03-05T22:59:00.002-04:00

This Big K cola made us think of our dear friend Kevin.

Remember, dear friends and family, that we are often thinking of you! We love you and we miss you.

hiking

2008-03-05T22:36:00.007-04:00

On Sunday, the temperatures were in the 60s, and it was sunny. Eric said, "We HAVE to do something outside," and he was right!

We decided to go to Pine Mountain State Park (which is only a 15- or 20-minute drive from Frakes) and hike their Honeymoon Falls trail. It was beautiful on the way up to the falls--all green with laurel and rhododendron and HUGE hemlock trees.

The waterfall was small but beautiful. It seemed to be a nice, cool place to be during the summer.

You can see in this picture how GREEN it is on this trail. It's not so green everywhere. Some places are still feeling effects from last year's drought, but we've had a bunch of precipitation lately, so we're hopeful that we'll be seeing some green grass soon!

The walk back down the hill was nice, but not as impressive as the green on the way up. We'll definitely have to go back again once the leaves are back on the trees!

It was the perfect way to spend such a nice, warm afternoon, especially considering that we might get a couple of inches of snow again this weekend!

visitors

2008-03-03T20:43:00.004-04:00

I am belated in posting this but here it is. A few weeks ago My father, Becky, Shelby and My cousin Lizzie were able to come visit us for a few days, it was great to have them. Sunday was a rainy day but we made the most of it and gave them the tour of H.S. before going to Middlesboro. My father was (un)fortunate enough to be in the passenger seat as we drove over the mountain. I thought he was going to jump in my lap as we went around corners with no guardrails and he was looking fifty feet down. (I remember him being nervous when he rode with me driving the GMC as a teenager too, and those were just hills in Berkshire.) We went to the Cumberland Gap overlook and got to see a cloudy, rainy view of three states, but we had it to ourselves.

On Monday and Tuesday the girls worked at sizing and sorting the never ending pile of clothes at the thrift store. I was able to show my father around the farm that I am working on for once, and put him to work too. We fed and worked cattle, loaded and delivered wood, and got some long overdue trees cut down without injuring ourselves.

They came during the height of basketball season and were fortunate enough to see TWO basketball games. Monday night was Frakes School's homecoming and we played two scrimmage games and I got to be head coach for a little while. The other was a playoff game at the county high school, complete with announcers and lots of cheerleaders.

This picture is from our homecoming, coaching the alumni boys. My record as head coach is 0-2.

SNOW

2008-02-29T17:29:00.012-04:00

Remember the parable about the woman who kept demanding justice from a judge until he finally gave in? The one that teaches about persistence in prayer? Well, I had been praying for snow for about four weeks, and this Wednesday, God answered my prayer! (I guess that makes me sort of a nag, but in this case, I don't care!)

Mr T measured six and a half inches when we visited the Tuppers for dinner that evening. That's a real snow! It snowed on and off all day, making everything fluffy and white and wonderful. Everyone blamed me for the snow, and I cheerfully took the blame. It was beautiful, and now my winter is complete

Here's what it looked like:

There are a few workcampers at the Settlement this week, and since they couldn't make it to their project site, Eric put them to work in the greenhouse. They were happy to be in where it was warm and dry!

Eric even had to break out his rubber boots to keep his feet dry on our walk to the Tuppers'.

Now my thoughts are turning toward spring....and warmer weather that will force the reduction of Eric's Giant Beard.

plan of action

2008-02-25T22:23:00.003-04:00

Since starting at Henderson Settlement (or maybe since leaving the Scranton library), I have gained at least ten pounds. While some of you may not see this as cause for alarm, I am getting frustrated at not fitting into my pants as well as I could a few months ago.

I asked Abby what she does to motivate herself to exercise and eat right, and she said that she sometimes makes a chart and marks it for each day that she does well, and there's a prize at the end of the chart. This sounded good to me, so I'm going to try it.

I'm starting off small. Each day, the rule is that I'm only allowed to have one dessert, and I'm not allowed to eat after 8pm....or maybe 9pm....I've not quite nailed that down yet. If I get to the end of the day and I've followed the rules, I'll put a star on the lovely Hello Kitty calendar that I got for my birthday. When I get to the end of....well, I haven't decided how many good days yet....probably three weeks' worth or so....I will reward myself by getting a scrapbooking toy.

As far as the exercise goes, I don't need a chart 'cause I've got a walking partner. Lori and I have decided to walk 3-4 days a week for about thirty minutes on the path through the Frakes Community Park. We've been doing it for a couple of weeks already, and it's really great to be able to talk while we're exercising--it makes it an enjoyable experience instead of something I dread.

Hopefully this will get me on the right track for being more healthy and active. We shall see.....!

local news

2008-02-24T13:20:00.002-04:00

Earlier, Eric had written about the murder of an elderly man (Bill Taylor) that occurred in Frakes. Well, two weeks ago, his wife Mabel passed away in a nursing home, before she knew of her husband's death. Last Saturday, a funeral was held for both of them at the Hope Church. Because of the murder, you can see press coverage from two tv stations--WBIR out of Knoxville, TN, and WYMT out of Hazard, KY.

What makes me especially sad about these news reports is that Mabel's contributions to the community are overshadowed by what happened to her husband. Mabel's father was Bill Henderson, the "king of the moonshiners" who gave the majority of his land to start Henderson Settlement because he wanted something better for his children than the life that he had. Mabel was one of the first students at the school started by Hiram Frakes and Bertha Riel in the 1920s, and she used her education to give back to the community. She taught English and music lessons, and she played the piano for the Hope Church for many years. Everyone who knew her talks about what a good teacher she was and how much they admired her and what a good person she was.

My hope is that somehow her legacy of goodness is what will be remembered as the most important thing many years from now.

new pictures

2008-02-13T22:04:00.002-04:00

Howdy, y'all.

I just wanted to let you know that I put some new pictures up in our Kentucky album on our photo website.

recycling program

2008-02-11T21:09:00.000-04:00

On the farm we are doing our best to get rid of junk that has been laying around for decades, old equipment, etc. Last week we had the joy of taking down two grain silo's that have not been in use for a long time. We have a "junk guy", Ben who is hauling stuff to the scrap metal place. He will cut these up and take them away, hooray for recycling.

my birthday

2008-02-11T19:12:00.000-04:00

I think it's time to tell about my birthday.

I ended up having pretty much a week-long celebration extravaganza....lucky me! I started receiving gifts in the mail last Monday, and Eric persuaded me (although he didn't have to work too hard at it) to open them as soon as I got them, without waiting for my actual birthday. I really enjoyed my packages with all of the goodies and gifts. I especially liked the one from my sister, complete with a Hello Kitty calendar, Batgirl tattoos, and a miniature Alf comic book (remember Alf?).

On Tuesday, we had our weekly "transplants" dinner, and Lori had made a birthday cake for me! What a great surprise!

On Wednesday (my actual birthday), I was scheduled to read to Lori's first graders. Mike and Ellie walked over with me, and as I walked into the hallway, Mike said, "Hey, look at this!" He pointed out the first of a whole set of posters that the first-graders had made to illustrate the major events in my life!

As we got closer to Lori's classroom, she came out to meet us and said that the kids were waiting to surprise me. I walked in the door, and they all jumped out from under the desk, and yelled, "SURPRISE!!" I was VERY surprised to have such a wonderful party! The kids had helped Miss Lori write the story of my life, and Mike (known to the kids as Mr T) read the story aloud while the kids began to enjoy their cupcakes.

I did end up reading the stories I had brought along, but I think that it was anticlimatic after the surprise party!

Here I am with Miss Lori.

Then yesterday, Eric surprised me by watching all five hours of the BBC's version of Pride and Prejudice with me. He didn't complain at all, and he laughed in all the right places. He's a good sport....and a wonderful husband.

Thank you to everybody who sent me cards and packages and emails and messages! And thank you again to Miss Lori for my surprise party. You ALL made me feel wonderful and special, and you made me have one of my best birthdays ever. I am very blessed.

the story of my life

2008-02-11T18:46:00.000-04:00

For my birthday, Miss Lori's first graders did two different interpretations of the story of my life. The first was sort of a Mad Lib--Lori made up the basic outline, and she left some details for them to fill in. The underlined and italicized words are the ones that the kids supplied.

A Silly Story for Sarah

By the Frakes School Center 1st Grade Class

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Sarah. She was born in a barn. Her mother looked at her and said, "I think I will name her Sarah because she is so sweet."

Sarah grew fast. Her favorite food to eat when she was a baby was rocks. When she went to Kindergarten, her teacher told her, "You remind me of Elvis."

When she was in first grade, her best friend was a clown. When Sarah graduated from high school, she went to college.

When she grew up, she wanted to be a doctor. Sarah met Eric and he said to her, "Will you marry me?"

Now Sarah lives happily in a clown school, doing tricks.

The Frakes First Grade class loves Miss Sarah and wishes her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Isn't that great?? I especially love the idea of Mrs Kaufer telling me that I remind her of Elvis. Hahahahaha!

The second interpretation of my life story was integrated with the kids' math lesson. Clever Miss Lori taught timelines that day, and each student was given a piece of my life to illustrate. I think that these amazing pictures speak for themselves.

trying out local crafts

2008-02-04T20:06:00.000-04:00

When we were getting ready to come down to Henderson Settlement in the fall, Christie said to me "I want a cornhusk doll for Christmas.....made by you." At first I laughed it off as something I couldn't possibly accomplish, but as Christmas got closer and closer, I figured that I might as well give it a shot!

I thought that I'd better consult some resources, so I checked three books on country craftsmanship out of the Henderson Settlement Library (The Cornhusk Book by Esta Z. Fehrenbach, Corn-Husk Crafts by Margery Facklam & Patricia Phibbs, and Traditional American Crafts by Betsey B. Creekmore). I believe that I also checked out a couple of websites, but I don't remember which ones they were.

I started with some dried cornhusks that Eric brought to me from the farm.
Then I soaked them in water for about half an hour.
I cut the nicest-looking leaves from the husks to make the doll. Following the instructions provided to me in one of the books, I was able to fashion a recognizable, although not quite symmetrical, head for the doll. (You can also see in the picture below the materials that I used.)
The books provided me with two ways to make the arms: weaving three pieces of husk into a braid and the more simple method of rolling a piece of husk into a thin cylinder shape. You can see that I decided to go for broke and make braided arms. (It really wasn't that hard.)
After I secured the arms, I then needed to fashion the bottom half of the doll. Since I wasn't sure I wanted to attempt legs on my first cornhusk creation, I chickened out and made a skirt by wrapping pieces of husk around the doll's waist and securing them with the yarn. The books suggested that if I made slits in the skirt, the strips would dry into attractive curls.
Not brave enough to try putting hair or distinguishing facial features on the doll, I left her bald and hung her to dry in the kitchen.
After checking back on the doll the next day, I realized that I had positioned the husks in the wrong way (curling in instead of curling out), so the doll didn't end up with the impressive full skirt that I had expected. Oh well. I didn't have enough clean cornhusks (or enough patience) to make another doll.

I wrapped my creation carefully in tissue paper so that she didn't get damaged on the long trip home from Kentucky.

I'm not sure that Christie really expected me to follow through and actually make the doll, but she was happy to receive it on Christmas Day!

Although my first attempt wasn't the most attractive piece of craftsmanship, I was overall pretty pleased with how it turned out. The whole process, from soaking the husks to the finishing cuts, took only about an hour. I think I'd try it again......but I really need to finish our wedding scrapbook first.....

morning of prayer

2008-02-02T21:52:00.000-04:00

This morning the Hope UMC hosted a morning of prayer for the Frakes community in response to the violence that occurred a few weeks ago. The local news station was there to record the event, and the story led this evening's six o'clock news.

You can view a video of the story here.

trekking through the wilderness

2008-02-01T20:41:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday, we had a chance to revisit the trail at Henderson Settlement that we had previously hiked (or tried to) with Mark and Mike. Mark and Mike and their [grown-up] children had been able to finish the trail while we were home for Christmas, but this was the first time that Eric and I hiked the whole thing. There were five of us this time: Mark, Mike, Eric, Ken (from church), and I.

For those of you who are interested in maps, here's what the trail looks like
(I think that if you click on it, you can see a bigger version):

We started on the right side of the map, at the reservoir that was the scene of the crime. You might be able to tell from the picture below, though, that on Sunday there was a layer of ice on the water, so there was no danger of a repeat of that event.

I'm not sure who staked out the trail originally, but there are some areas that are named. We saw some evidence of something that had rustled up the dead leaves on Sasquach Blvd--Mark said it was just turkeys, but who's to know......?!

Here are the guys (from left to right: Mark, Mike, Eric, Ken):

There were some pretty amazing views once we got around to the back of the ridge--the rocks were enormous! I'm not sure this picture does it justice, but I figured I'd give it a shot.

The trail continued, though, and to get back to the Settlement side of the ridge, we had to do some tricky maneuvering:
This picture was taken after we climbed through this crevasse. At one point, I couldn't have fit between the rocks if I weren't walking sideways...my shoulders were too wide to walk normally!

When we got to the top of the ridge, we were taller than the trees! (No, my bangs aren't THAT terrible--it was just very breezy.)
Then we plowed pretty much straight down the mountain and ended up in the cow pasture in the valley below most of the Settlement buildings.

According to Mike's hand-held GPS, we hiked about two and a half miles. It was a beautiful day and a great way to enjoy God's creation! Maybe when it gets warmer, we'll venture out with the tent and spend the night on the mountain...who knows?

kentucky cut

2008-01-27T19:08:00.000-04:00

I went to get a haircut yesterday, it is the first time I have been to a barber since I got an Underwood special at 10 or 12. I looked through the Cabela's catalog while waiting like I knew what I was looking at and got up in the chair when it was my turn. I said I wanted an inch or two on top and clipped on the side, he then proceeded to use the clippers that were attached to a flowbee type system on all of my head, no scissors needed. I did want it short, maybe not that short, but I think it makes the beard look that much more impressive. I will give an update when the beard comes off, but for now its still too cold.

in the news

2008-01-27T18:30:00.000-04:00

Over a week ago an elderly man in the community, Bill Taylor was robbed and beaten by others in the area. This past Tuesday he passed away from those injuries. He was married to Mabel Taylor, daughter of Bill Henderson, whom the settlement is named after. Apparently the individuals who did this were addicted to drugs as is common in this area as jobs and recreation are hard to find. Its hard to imagine what it may take to break a cycle of poverty and addiction in families in our service area. The response by our pastor Mike Tupper has been to bring together community members to pray, many others feel the need for vengeance as the history of the area has taught them to follow, and can be seen in comments on the articles.

The story by WYMT news includes some family and community reaction as well as a clip of our very own Jerry Lambdin, Work Camp Coordinator. (click on the "community members are in shock" video)

In informal conversation with community members most are aware of who has done the act and can share more information and details than the news can provide. That being said it is tragic and has highlighted the issue of addiction as a need to be addressed in the area.

snow!

2008-01-24T11:59:00.000-04:00

Howdy, y'all!

I just need to share this with you--it's snowing in Kentucky!

Fay

2008-01-22T20:05:00.000-04:00

The first Sunday that we went to the Hope UMC here in Frakes, one of the people who really caught my attention was Fay. Fay is an older woman, around eighty years old, with white hair pulled back into a sort of bun. She often wears a big maroon sweatshirt and jeans, but to church she usually wears a long dress or skirt, giving her the look (as one volunteer put it) of an old-fashioned schoolmarm.

Fay sat next to us at the potluck dinner that first Sunday. She told us how she wasn't alive when Hiram Frakes arrived here in the Laurel Fork Valley, but she was born shortly after. It was clear to us as soon as we met her that she was a force to be reckoned with. She's a Methodist, even though all of her family (and most of the people around this area) are Baptist and think she's going to hell, and she is a strong, independent woman.

She started a women's Bible study at the church, so of course I wanted to be part of that! We are studying all of the women in the Bible, starting with Eve, and it's really interesting to hear Fay's perspective on women like Tamar (check out Genesis 38 if you don't know the story)--she thinks Tamar was really admirable for taking charge of her situation. (I've had the chance to spend some time with some other really cool women from the church in this study, too.)

We were able to have dinner with her at her home last week, and her house is great. She lives up a steep driveway in a little house with a couple of additions and a purple fence. She has four dogs that she rescued from being strays, and her house is FULL of books. And she paints, too--she has several of her own paintings hung on the wall, and she did a beautiful mural of a countryside scene in her bedroom.

Fay has had so many interesting experiences in her life, and those experiences have made her very strong-willed...and just strong in general. She knows exactly what she thinks about things, and she has so many incredible stories to tell. I know that my description of her doesn't really do her justice. I'm very grateful that I'm getting the chance to know her and talk with her and learn from her.

photos

2008-01-21T00:23:00.000-04:00

Hi friends.

This is just a quick post to let you know that I've spent a long time this evening putting up pictures of our Christmas break on our photo website. You can see them by clicking here.

Amazing Find from the Opportunity Store - Part 3

2008-01-14T18:33:00.000-04:00

Every so often, the maintenance people take off with a big box truck to pick up food from God's Pantry for the food pantry here at Henderson Settlement. The non-perishable items are unloaded into the food pantry, but things like potatoes and onions and grapefruit are put in or near the Opportunity Store so that community members can pick them up before they spoil.

That's how we ended up with this giant bag of oranges: (Yes, I know that the bag says that they're onions, but they are definitely oranges.)

As soon as I brought them into the apartment, Eric said, "What the heck are we going to do with so many oranges?" I said, " Well, I'll eat a few...." After thinking a little while, Eric came up with the brilliant idea that we should make juice!

Fast-forward to Saturday afternoon. With only half an hour left of Opportunity Store open hours, we headed up the hill, hopeful (but not terribly optimistic) that we'd find a juicer. As we looked at the shelf of kitchen wares, we found a plastic man-powered juicer--mission accomplished! But since we had time to spare, we started wandering around. Eric ended up near the small appliances, and, lo and behold, he found an electric juicer named "Juicit"! We tested it out, it worked, and we gave up on the man-powered one.

After paying our 99 cents (plus tax) for the Juicit, we headed down the hill to try it out! Here's an action shot:

Suffice it to say that we were more than pleased with the results. We had fresh-squeezed orange juice to drink both days this weekend. Amazing.

small disaster on Christmas morning

2008-01-10T20:45:00.000-04:00

Ok, friends, as promised, here is the blog entry about our Christmas morning experience. The story is most easily conveyed by this very small documentary film that we made:

furlough

2008-01-09T21:56:00.000-04:00

Our apartment is starting to look rather normal again, and we're still hanging up Christmas cards. It's time to blog about our two-week jaunt in the northeast.

Please forgive the bullets--it just seemed the easiest way to include everything. Also, the links included below will take you to pictures, but the pictures are NOT from this trip. They're just to remind you/let you know what everyone looks like.

Here we go!

We left Frakes the morning of Saturday, December 22, and we drove to Baltimore to spend the night with Christie and Tim. We had a delicious dinner with them and Brian--it was great to see my sister for the first time since she got married!
Sunday, we drove back to NEPA and experienced some very horrendous fog, which made Eric's eyes want to fall out of his head.
We stopped at the Reid parents' home for the afternoon, and then we headed up to the Kazinskis' in Binghamton to hang out with a few of our YAR friends.
Monday was Christmas Eve. We had lunch with Abby and braved the mall...yeah, we're crazies. We joined Doug and Linda for a delicious dinner at Doug's place and went to the Christmas Eve service in Cortland.
Christmas Day we battled treacherous roads (more on that in another blog) to get to the Yetter Christmas breakfast and to enjoy some time with family and received a cow (!!!) as a Christmas present from Dad Yetter.
We travelled then back to NEPA, where we spent the rest of Christmas and the next couple of days. We saw family (both Reids and Nanstiels, ahem) and friends (Sky Lakers and Liz and Matthew) and relaxed, all of which was wonderful. Oh yeah--and Eric and Tim cooked deer legs.
Friday we travelled back to Lisle for dinner and visiting at Mom Yetter's.
Saturday we picked up Doug and headed to Oxford to spend time with friends at the Martins' house.
Sunday we went to the New Milford UMC and got to see some of our youth group....we miss them a lot!
Monday was New Year's Eve. Eric spent time with Ike and Tim, working at the Stoughton Farm, and Sarah hung out with Kristen and Ben. Then we headed to the Shelps' for a rowdy New Year's Eve party, complete with about 13 separate countdowns to the New Year.
New Year's Day was Stoughton Christmas at the Smiths'. We had good food and good company, as usual! We spent the evening hanging out with Kevin and Ryan, who were our gracious hosts for several days.
Wednesday Eric went with his dad to work, and Sarah....well, she went shopping. Then Grandma Yetter cooked us an amazing dinner so that we'd get another chance to hang out with the Yetter Clan.
Thursday we stopped in at Achieve to visit Eric's co-workers and other friends he made there--we had fun saying hi to everyone! Then we headed south, stopping in Lenox so that Eric could meet with the General Conference delegation and then heading to Mom and Dad Reid's.
Friday was Scranton day. We headed to the Albright and the Children's Libraries, having the obligatory lunch at Pappas. It was great to see everyone there...it almost made me want to come back to SPL...
Saturday we took a few moments to breathe and do laundry and pack, and Sunday we drove back.

It was a whirlwind tour, but it was wonderful. Thank you to everyone who housed us and fed us. We missed seeing a few people, but we were so grateful to see the ones we did. It was so wonderful to spend time with y'all! We love you!

home again, home again, jiggety jog

2008-01-07T08:28:00.001-04:00

We're back from our whirlwind tour of the northeast. We'll be posting sometime in the next couple of days all about our trip. While we miss everyone up there, it's nice to be back in our own apartment, where we can leave our stuff all over the place and not feel guilty about it.

It was great to see y'all.

Christmas time is near.

2007-12-20T20:29:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we had to go to Knoxville so that I could get my bee shots, and we took that opportunity in the city to do some Christmas shopping. WE ARE DONE. Hooray!

Although there is no snow here, there are some very real signs at the Community Center that Christmas is coming--things have been hopping since the beginning of December! There was a Christmas party for the families involved in the Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker (MIHOW) program, but unfortunately we missed that because we were away at the craft show near Indianapolis. I mentioned earlier about the Outreach Department's Christmas party, complete with gifts for the children, a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and blankets and other necessary items for the adults.

The craziness didn't let up after those parties, though! Lisa, who coordinates several programs in the Outreach Department, has had her hands full with Angel Tree gift giveaways. What happens with this program is that churches commit to buying presents for specific children, working from information about the children's ages, clothing/shoe sizes, and interests. People are so generous! A couple from North Carolina came with a big SUV and a car both stuffed to the top with presents from their church. Another group (I'm not sure where from) came with a fifteen-passenger van, a pickup truck, and a U-Haul trailer, all carrying gifts for these children! As we unloaded the vehicles, we were amazed by the generosity of the people who sent these gifts. As Lisa and Shannon dealt with the rather overwhelming task of sorting out the packages and making phone calls, people from the community began to arrive, eager to pick up the gifts that would make their children's Christmas happier and more exciting. Altogether, gifts were collected for nearly three hundred children!

In addition to this daunting task, Lisa also worked hard on making the special Christmas boxes for the families that receive food from the food pantry. Lisa is an amazing person, and she's not the only one! I work with so many loving and giving and fun people....but there's not room in one blog entry to talk about them ALL!

Last week, as I mentioned, Henderson Settlement had its staff Christmas dinner, complete with wonderful food, good company, and some signs of Christmas. Eric snapped this picture of the Settlement's executive director, Mark, in an elf hat:

And after dinner, we sang some Christmas carols. (Pictured below are Mike, Gary, Wendell, Jim, Linda, and Mark.)

As we keep saying over and over, we are really enjoying our time here, but we are also really excited to come home for Christmas!

I'll leave you with one last sign that Christmas is coming.....click here.

oh well.

2007-12-20T20:15:00.000-04:00

Here's why we originally put birdseed on our windowsill:

Here's why we won't be doing that anymore:This is a flying squirrel. There's something living in the attic above our apartment, and we're pretty sure it's this guy and some of his friends. We love to see the birds at the window, but we don't want to make these guys think that it's ok to keep having a party in our ceiling.

let it snow...

2007-12-13T21:18:00.000-04:00

As I was driving back to our apartment from the Settlement's Christmas dinner yesterday evening, I heard on the radio the song "Let it Snow." It made me think of home, where they got a whole bunch of snow yesterday--enough to close the library in Scranton and enough to close everything in the Binghamton area!

I am jealous. We're supposed to get a whole lot of rain tomorrow, and then we may get a wintry mix tomorrow night into Sunday, but that's going to max out at an inch....if we're lucky.

My mom was kind enough to take pictures of the winter wonderland at home, so here's what the beehives at Honey Hills Farm looked like yesterday:

We love it here, but we are anxious to come home for a little while. We miss snow and closings and Interstate 81, but most of all, we miss our friends and family! Up until this week, Eric has been more anxious than I have been, but now every time I hear a Christmas song, I get really sentimental for home.

So would y'all please save some snow for us? We're going to need to get our fill in the two weeks that we're home.

I leave you with another picture taken by my mom:
The message is mutual--we love you, too! We can't wait to see you!

visuals

2007-12-12T23:36:00.000-04:00

For those of you who need photographic evidence of our adventures in Kentucky, head on over to our picture website. I just added a whole bunch of new ones in the section labelled "Kentucky." More will follow....

indy and cinci

2007-12-11T20:45:00.000-04:00

Over the first weekend of December we had the opportunity to go to a church in Avon Indiana which is near Indianapolis. One of the missions here at Henderson is the craft shop, where local artisans and crafters are able to sell their items. Frequently crafts are taken to churches and conferences to be sold. We took a minivan full of stuff to Bartlett Chapel UMC, we stayed with a great couple from their church, Sarah and Brad. We had some great conversation and got to see their postcards (and take some home) and they gave us the driving tour of Indy.

On the way back we stayed Sunday evening with Abby and went to see the band Peter, Bjorn and John. They are not the remnants of ABBA but an indie rock band from Sweden. It was an excellent show. They went from ambient to pop to rocking out on the floor. An attempted guitar throw from peter to the roadie went awry when he was standing on the cord, it made a beautiful sound when it crashed into the amp though. I managed to get the set list from the sound guy, which made my night.

missed opportunities

2007-12-09T19:21:00.000-04:00

I have missed several opportunities lately to get great pictures.

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, the children at Hope UMC (where we go to church) put on a Fall Fun Feast where we had to guess what the menu was based on clues, and we had to put the clues in order of what we wanted. We managed to do pretty well, but one of the tables ended up having their dessert first! Lori (our pastor's wife) cooked some darn good food for us, and she coordinated the kids to do a great job with serving the meal and providing some fun entertainment. I especially wish I could have taken a picture of the kids performing a puppet show!

Yesterday, I forgot my camera again when Eric and I helped with the Outreach Department's Christmas party for the children in the community. (If any of you send Christmas gifts for kids at Henderson Settlement, this is where many of them get handed out.) The gym was full of Christmas gifts, all divided up by age and gender, and once the kids lined up to get them, it was WILD! I wish I could have got some shots of that!

And then I forgot my camera AGAIN last night when we went to a concert at the Frakes Elementary School. The concert was a fundraiser for a playground for the school. There were two bands that played: S&S Express and The Charlie Bays Unit. They were both REALLY enjoyable, so we're looking forward to another bluegrass concert that they're going to have in January. (Maybe I'll remember the camera then...).

This last one is the kicker, though. Eric and I went for a hike to day with Mark (the executive director of the Settlement) and Mike (the pastor of Hope UMC). There is a trail that goes through Settlement property, and I purposely didn't bring the camera 'cause I didn't feel like carrying it. We started behind the emergency housing, and we heard that we would end up near the reservoir that supplies water to the greenhouses. We hiked up to a ridge, and then we didn't see any more trail markers, so we ended up king of forging our own trail. When we ended up at the reservoir, we were all pretty worn out and warm. Somehow the topic of swimming in the pond came up, and Mike said to Eric, "I'll do it if you do it." Well, next thing you know, they were in the pond! They didn't stay in too long (after all, it IS December), but it was long enough that I could have had a hilarious picture of them, but alas and alack, I didn't have it with me. But we had a good time and a good laugh.

better late than never

2007-12-07T21:27:00.000-04:00

We have been delinquent in keeping up with our blog, hopefully we will get to catch up some over this weekend. My mother was here for the week of Thanksgiving, we put her to work in the Library for a few days and then did some eating and touring.

Mom made the pies and squash and I made the bird and the rest, I ended up stacking dishes in the oven and mashing the potatoes with a tomato slicer.

Sarah did not feel well wednesday or thursday, we tried to take care of her but I think The Monkees on DVD did it better than I did.

On Friday and Saturday we saw some buffalo, and went to the overlook at Cumberland Gap. We looked for antiques and crafts and christmas gifts.

Saturday night we went to Webb's and ate too much food and saw some live music.

wedding

2007-11-18T14:48:00.000-04:00

This past Friday afternoon, Daryl (who works in the Community Center with the after-school program and the recreation program) came into the library and said, "I'm getting married in about an hour over by the crosses--you should come over!" I had known he was going to get married this weekend, but I didn't expect it to be then! So, of course, I ran down and got the camera from our apartment.

It was a beautiful day (although chilly!) and it's a beautiful place that they decided to have their wedding. This is an area on the campus set up mainly for work camp groups to have their morning devotions. It overlooks the valley that serves as one of the pastures for the cows.

Daryl and Diane (who works at the Settlement's day care) decided to have a very simple ceremony to exchange rings. Wendell, who works in Mission Resources and is a retired pastor, officiated at the wedding. About ten or twelve people who work/volunteer at the Settlement were there to witness the ceremony.

I guess it just goes to show that you never know for sure what's going to happen on any given day! It was great to be part of this special time for Daryl and Diane. It was fun to wear jeans to a wedding, and it's good to know that the thing that was important to them was to get married--not necessarily to have a big to-do. I wish them the best as they start out on this new adventure together.

come and see

2007-11-14T11:29:00.000-04:00

We have sent letters to some of you that have said you were interested in coming for a work team or we thought me might pester you to see if you would come. If we have overlooked you(our apologies) and you would like some information and or a DVD about Henderson Settlement, let us know and we can send that out to you asap. For those of you that may be planning a trip, we would love to have you any time but keep in mind that we will be away from here the weeks of May 25th, July 14th, and two weeks from April 21st to May 4th. Two weeks in June are already booked full so don’t wait too long to reserve your lodging. If you do plan on coming down let us know when it would be.

America

2007-11-13T22:39:00.000-04:00

As we were driving over the mountain toward Middlesboro the other evening, a good song came up on the iPod: "America" by Simon and Garfunkel. It seemed so appropriate to be driving over a curvy road through the woods, looking out on the fall beauty of the Appalachian Mountains, hearing the lyrics, "I've gone to look for America."

During another instance driving on this (or a similar) road, the iPod brought up "This Land is Your Land" by Woodie Guthrie, and I felt like this, too, was exactly right.

Right now, Eric's watching a documentary on baseball that was made by PBS, and it started out with playing (appropriately) a big, impressive version of our national anthem. It reminded me of what I thought while listening to those other two songs--"The Star-Spangled Banner" doesn't really represent how I feel about America.

I tried to explain this to Eric last night, and it didn't really work, so I'm not sure if it will make sense to y'all, either.

I think part of why we came to Kentucky was that we came "to look for America," like Paul Simon wrote. We came to see what it's like to live in the mountains. We came to hear bluegrass music. We came to hear stories. We came to find out how God is experienced here.

I don't see America with all of the pride and pomp of "The Star-Spangled Banner"--I see it with the grittiness of "This Land is Your Land." I'm not so hung up on the flag as I am on the natural beauty. I prefer simple strings to big brass in telling the story of our country. I don't love big business America--I love tree-covered America. I don't appreciate suits as much as I appreciate dirty overalls in making a living. It makes more sense to me to build your body up with hard work instead of with fancy exercise machines.

While we've been here, I've seen lots of things that I came to find when I look for America: a restaurant where they have open mike night every Friday and where the owner showed us to our table; coal miners who stand at the picket line to show solidarity with striking nurses; a national park that's trying to restore a cave to some of its natural state after it had been a money-making tourist stop; women who sing hymns a capella with such beauty that you wish the piano had never been invented.

Maybe I just have a romanticized view of it all. I'm not sure. But I'm definitely glad that we "walked off to look for America."

pictures

2007-11-11T22:08:00.000-04:00

Ok. Those of you who have been begging for pictures (ahem, Mom.) should now be satisfied. All of the Kentucky pictures that have been put on the computer are now on our picture website. Enjoy!