Beach 2017

For the first time in several years we made it to the beach this summer! One of Libby's relatives let us have their condo for several days. Briggs asked if we could get up early one morning and go watch the sun rise. He was ready this morning. It was cloudy, but he still got a pretty nice video. He shot for about an hour. We finally decided the sun wasn't going to poke through the clouds so we left.

 

The South Carolina coast is getting some beach renourishment this summer after Hurricane Matthew last year. The equipment in the background is part of that.

Backyard camping

 

The weather the past few days has been glorious, and quite unlike typical July-August weather. Low temps and low humidity have made for a delightful few days. Calvin often asks about camping during summer, which is tricky especially since a good combination of available time and agreeable weather is hard to come by. So I seized this opportunity: I asked Calvin if he would like to set up the tent in the yard, and he took me up on it. We set up the tent Sunday evening, and Calvin slept outside by himself. He said it was a little chilly Monday morning, but otherwise just fine. Monday we invited a friend, Tyler, over for Monday night. I decided to go for the whole camping experience by doing dinner over the fire pit. The boys had a blast. Tyler and Calvin tried to sleep in the tent but Tyler was too distracted by critter noises, and they finally came inside about midnight. I suggested to Calvin on Tuesday that it might be time to bring down the tent, and he asked for a third night. He stayed outside by himself again last night!After supper Monday catching marshmallows in the air got to be the big thing with Tyler and Briggs. They actually caught a few! We also learned that Tyler prefers gooey bits of carbon on his s'mores.

Ball, and more ball

It's been a couple of years since I took Briggs to watch the Braves play in Atlanta, and that was at the old stadium. I decided we should go again this year, with Calvin and see the new digs. We went to a day game on a Wednesday a couple of weeks ago. The trip down was a piece of cake. The trip back took forever. We were leaving at evening rush, and night-time construction held us up in SC. The game was fine, though Atlanta lost against the Cubs. The boys didn't really mind since they really didn't love either team. We spent some time roaming the stadium. On the way back we stopped for supper in Clemson, and took a drive through the university.

 

Early in the season, friends took Calvin to a Tourists' game. Somehow he got a coupon for a free package of 4 GA tickets for later in the season. We cashed those in this weekend. The weather was glorious, which is the only way I would have consented to a daytime game in the middle of summer. The Tourists lost, but the boys had a great time. One of the perks of day games is that children can run the bases after the game. Briggs and Calvin also stood in line to get autographs afterward. We used only 3 of our 4 tickets, so I gave one away to a guy in line with us. He couldn't stand it, and slipped me a few bucks as we walked in. I bought Calvin a mini-bat. Briggs snagged a fistful of balls during the game. Those were the items they got signed.

 

Late-winter 2017

It was a fairly mild winter, so the apple trees were looking pretty good as they budded. There was no late frost, so they were looking good for October apples. At some point Briggs got a notion to bake a cake, so he did. It came out fine. I was reminded of the time Eli got a similar idea. Without Eli at home, food consumption is different but things still manage to disappear regularly. I came home one afternoon to a flurry of activity in the back yard. A hawk had gotten a critter and was trying to finish it off. Mostly flying leaves and feathers, but I was cool if a bit gruesome.

Birthdays and sports in winter 2017

Here are a few pictures from winter-time birthdays and sports. It's a fun season of the year.

Calvin worship symposium

This was the 2nd year I had been to the worship symposium at Calvin College in Michigan. It's a really good event: lots of student groups are present giving a youthy vibe to everything. It's also a very large event on a rather small campus, so it get a little crowded sometimes. While I've enjoyed the event both times I've attended, I'll probably try for something different in 2018. This year the trip back was a nightmare. It began with a damaged window on the plane I was supposed to fly GR-ATL. I was delayed, missed connections, and then Delta had a massive tech incident which brought everything to a halt. I finally crawled into bed at home at 530am! I had to drive from AVL in snow! An international travel ban was put in effect while I was in GRR; there was a protest at the airport while I was awaiting my later flight. They disrupted car traffic but nothing in the airport was really affected. Eli was going to be heading out for AmeriCorps a few days after I returned, and he had lots of questions about air travel, so I took lots of pictures for him

Pirate days

Calvin has been on a pirate kick for a while. But it seemed to jump into overdrive of late. Last night we watched The Princess Bride. As we watched I asked Calvin questions about what was about to happen, and he nailed everything! This morning for his Lego noodling time, the focus was on Princess Bride scenes and characters. I voluntarily took the first few photos, but as morning wore on, Calvin was asking me to shoot each new thing he created. He was desirous of watching the movie again this evening using our VHS. Sadly it has deteriorated, ("glitchy" according to Calvin) and we weren't able to watch. Herewith, a photo essay of the story using his Lego creations, in no particular order.

Count Rugen and Westley in the Pit of Despair

The Albino and Westley in the Pit

Prince Humperdinck

Pit of Despair again

Westley

Humperdinck

Westley in the Fire Swamp

Inigo Montoya

Dread Pirate Roberts

Inigo Montoya and Roberts on the Cliffs of Insanity

Westley bests Humperdinck, "to the pain"

Roberts in a small boat

Inigo gets his revenge on Rugen

Rugen and Humperdinck at the site of the sword battle

Sword fight at the cliffs

Battle of wits with Vizzini

FEMA Corps

Libby wrote this today to update her co-workers at Manna. I haven't bothered to change anything...

He left home for California in mid-February and had four weeks of orientation and training at the AmeriCorps campus in Sacramento. He is a member of FEMA Corps Team Opal 1, along with four others (2 women from Florida, one from eastern NC, and one guy from upstate NY). He’s the baby of the team.

 

Following that were 2 weeks of FEMA-specific training at the FEMA Region 9 headquarters in San Luis Obisbo, CA. At the conclusion, they made a grand three-day road trip from Southern California to Denver, passing through Las Vegas, northern Arizona (Petrified Forest and Painted Desert), NW New Mexico, and Colorado (thru the Rockies, with snow!).

 

They arrived in Denver last Sunday and began their actual work last week; they’re staying at an extended-stay hotel for 2 or 3 weeks while the brand-new AmeriCorps housing facility is being completed. Their current project is working with FEMA Region 8 to help with planning for a potential major earthquake in Utah. The FEMA offices are housed in a Cold-War era underground bunker, which is very exciting! You can get an idea of the many projects that AmeriCorps NCCC and FEMA Corps teams are working on here: https://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/americorps-programs/americorps-nccc/nccc-and-fema-corps-deployment-reports#Pacific%20Region%20FEMA

 

Each team member works with a FEMA staff member on a specific area of preparedness (transportation, ecological impact, etc.). Eli’s assignment is reviewing and verifying logistical information regarding staging areas, supplies, etc. His staff contact, Maria, is a 20-year Air Force vet and has worked for FEMA for three years. He’s enjoyed discussing aircraft with her, and they’re hoping that their team can tour the Air Force Academy and NORAD (which is not really open to the public—but they apparently have connections).

 

They’ve all had fun exploring the Denver area (e.g., going to the immense REI store, going to the modern art museum and being thoroughly confused by the works on display, having lunch at a diner and striking up a random conversation with two stagehands from the “Sesame Street Live” tour, etc.) and are looking forward to some hiking and rock-climbing expeditions. This week they’re attending an emergency responder conference in Denver. Pending any disasters that will require their deployment elsewhere, they’ll be in Denver until May 24.