Some funny writing from my husband

Toast and Jam

Here I sit, at my computer, whiling away, thinking of friends faraway in Balalaland. They never seem to write despite the fact they now live in the computer age.

My wife peers over and shoulder and asks, "Why are you writing a letter like that?"

"I'm not going to email it... just putting my thoughts to paper... you know, therapy. Get it off my chest, so to speak."

"Don't you dare send it... it'll hurt their feelings and they may never stop by to see us again."

"Yeah, I know, but at our age all I have left to do is remember the good old days, basketball, dinner out, them coming over to our house, us going over to their house, the kids squealing and crying all the while playing together, us drinking coffee and shootin' the breeze. Life was good."

"We were much younger then. Life has changed. Times have changed, people just don't seem to communicate any more. In the old days people just showed up for a visit and stayed until the chickens went to roost. Then it was the telephone... two longs and a short and everyone picked up the line... you could hear the neighbors' phones click as they listened in on the party line..."

"My aunt and uncle had a phone like that... even I listened in one time."

"Then we got a private line and it cost a dollar more a month for the service but it was worth it, I'm sure."

"You had a phone? We had to use the neighbor's."

"With the advantages of the phone people quit visiting, or so it seemed."

"'If you decide to come over please call first,' yeah, right. Poor excuse."

"Probably glued to the tube most of the time."

"Then if you call, and you do get invited, it has to be during a time when their favorite show is not on. Then they don't turn off the TV during the visit. You practically have to shout over the noise. In the old days you could tell the noisy kids to go outside and play but you can't do that to the TV."

"Ah, the good old days. Remember them well."

"Things changed when we moved... left a lot of good friends and good times behind."

"But the memories followed right along and one day they too will fade."

"Shouldn't be the case, not with the internet. Just tap out a few words, hit 'send' and within seconds they have a message."

"The trouble with email is the nonsense people 'forward' to you thinking you'll enjoy their thoughtfulness. If you're so thoughtful spend a few minutes and tap out a real message and tell us what is going on in your life. Sheesh."

"That sort of went by the wayside with 'My Space' and 'Face Book....even Twitter' People don't mind talking about their personal lives right out in public. Just like people who have cell phones. Give their pertinent information out loud for all the world to hear and then shoot you a dirty look if you appear to be listening. Crazy."

"When I was younger people would whisper into the phone for the sake of privacy.... or they'd use a phone booth and shut the door. Now people walk down the street, or in circles, telling the world as well as the person on the other end all that is going on in their life."

"More like a status symbol...'I have a cell phone... see how big and purty it is? It has more buttons than your keyboard!'"

"How about this: 'My cell phone has more giga-bytes than your satellite TV dish! I can watch an entire movie and ignore you at the same time.'"

"Do people really want to be friends or just appear friendly?"

"Good question."

"When I was a kid you could get up a ball game by word of mouth faster than person with a cell phone. Or you could get a group of kids together and go for a bike ride, all for the sake of doing something on a summer evening."

"We used to ride our bikes all the way to Umatilla for an ice cream cone."

"Now we ride stationary bikes so we don't go anywhere that we might be seen."

"Yeah, with an iPOD in one ear and a Blue Tooth in the other. Don't want to miss a call while we're being entertained and reducing our derriere. Then on the way home we stop by the DQ window and order a small cone and as we pull away we see someone we know and are glad that they are inside and we're driving away and don't have to visit."

"Then we flip them the gesture of the thumb in the ear and pinkie to the lips and mouth the words, 'Call me.'"

"I guess we just want to appear friendly."

"Uh oh!"

"What did you do?"

"I sent it."

Our adventure is almost over

After 4 months in Africa, we are now only 3000 miles from home, having spent the night near Dulles International Airport.

At 1 p.m. Eastern time we'll catch a United flight winging our way towards Seattle. Then a brief layover until evening when we'll fly about 45 minutes to Pasco, Washington. It will be good to see our pastor and wife and catch up on everything that happened this summer. Then home to our very own bed and I hope we sleep all night long.

Tomorrow my dear mother turns 90 years old and we are having a simple birthday party for her. Shortly after we are settled we'll be working on getting my parents into an assisted living facility. My father is having more and more difficulty in caring for my mother, as she cannot walk at all.

We are looking forward to seeing our grandkids in Milton-Freewater and then going to Texas in November to see our son and family.

It's been an incredible summer, but it is now time to go home. You CAN go home again.

Saying Goodbye

The time has come to begin the Goodbyes to Botswana and to the wonderful people with whom we have become friends.

When we arrived in May at least this time we knew what to do and so we could hit the ground running. The first year we came in 2006, when Janet took us to the grocery store to stock up our little flat, I couldn't even hardly think of what to buy as I was feeling a little overwhelmed. Now....living here is a breeze.

For many that we say Goodbye to we are fairly certain we will never see them again this side of Heaven. There is Noah and Kabelo--a dear engaged couple with whom we have become close. They'll be getting married next April.

Tinaye has been such a marvelous help to Aaron and he and Aaron have become great friends. Aaron has introduced the new world of "Coffee Break" to him and Tinaye loves to have a cup of hot chocolate at one of the coffee places.

Chuck and Janet have been friends for around 30 years and we have so enjoyed helping them out here in Botswana. Mark and Victoria in Namibia we only met in 2007 but we are close to them and it was wonderful to be able to take a side trip to Namibia for 12 days.

On Sept. 16 we begin the long, long trip home. And as difficult as it is to leave, arriving home and seeing the kids, the grandkids, and my elderly parents will be wonderful

My prayer for those we leave behind is: "God be with you til we meet again."

Driving Me Crazy

Evidently it is fairly common here in Botswana for people to not have a driver's license or carry car insurance. At least it is common for the 2 people who have plowed into us since August 25. (Today is Sept. 5)

The first accident occurred right in front of policemen so there was no quarrel with whose fault it was. BUT, the police did not even ask to see the other guy's license, registration or proof of insurance. I guess it is a good thing, because he had NONE of the 3. I know this happens in the USA but I think that licensed, insured and registered drivers far outnumber those who are not.

Today we were in the parking lot of the nearby mall, getting ready to enter onto a side road to head towards home. A young lady driving a Mazda 3, newer model, was distracted (her word) and failed to see the stop sign. Fortunately Aaron saw her barreling towards us at a rate of speed that was WAY too high for a parking lot. If he had not slammed on the brakes, she would have hit our pickup in the passenger door and I probably would have been hurt.

When speaking with her and obtaining her name, phone number, etc., we discovered she had no license, and no insurance. How could we be so lucky to have two people hit us in two different vehicles who are both uninsured, etc.

I am thankful that in both cases no one was hurt.

Two Months in Botswana

We have been in country for two months and a lot has been accomplished. Aaron is very busy building, fixing, maintaining, and being the go-to guy. He thrives on it, even though it makes him very tired at night. So far I have 269 of the books entered in to the computer so that job is going along very well. I just finished listening to Michael J. Fox's latest book, and now I have a new one to start--Bill O'Reilly's "A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity." I bought it from Barnes and Noble, downloaded it to the computer, then to iTunes and then to my iPod. Easy--well, pretty easy. Yesterday we had an appt. at the Embassy to get new pages put in to our passports. We might not need them before the passport expires in 2011, but just in case. Because the consular is going home later this month and in August, we had to make an appt. and the day available to us was the 15th, and the time given was 10. No choice in that area. We got there a little early, went through the check-in procedures and security, and were escorted to the office in the embassy. Aaron, of course, spoke to the Marines on duty (I sure wish my nephew could get that easy duty.) When we went inside there was a lady sitting there who appeared to be upset. CNN was on and the volume was down. I asked the lady if she was okay and she said she just didn't like hearing the news. We got to talking and found out that she and her husband have lived in Botswana since '92. He was a commercial airlines pilot but is now a pilot for Missionary Aviation Fellowship. This couple adopted a child from Botswana who when she was 10 days old was in an accident with her parents and another person. They were in a pickup when the accident occurred and the baby was thrown out and landed on her head. She lay on the road until sometime the next day before being discovered. The people who adopted her were told that she'd be blind, never be able to walk or to talk. But she is now 8. She can see (although she'd be considered legally blind) and she can walk and talk a bluestreak. The family spent 5 years in America getting her the medical help she needed. The mom was there to pick up her new passport since they are making a trip to the States to see family. We were at the Embassy for about 1.5 hours so it was nice to have this lady to talk to. After we got our passports back, we came back home for awhile before heading out to a hotel for lunch. Some mission executives from Springfield, MO were here very briefly and lunch was part of the plans. We went to the Grand Palm Hotel where they serve a buffet that would knock your eyes out. I threw caution to the wind and ate anything I wanted, and I seemed to want a lot. While I was out getting a dessert for Aaron and me, they execs were question Aaron about our future plans. Now all along we'd planned that this would be our last trip over here. We pay for this ourselves and maybe out kids want us to leave them a little something when we go to heaven! Actually, I think they are pleased that we are serving God in this manner and don't mind the money we spend. These guys told Aaron that we could be used in a lot of places. So who knows where we'll end up next. Every day is an adventure when Jesus is in control.

WWHWWWH

June 5 ended the first week of Fundamentals of Music.  To demonstrate one of the Musical Skills--Creating, I broke the class into 4 groups and assigned them the scripture Psalms 145:8 to create a song.  To the left you see a group outside practicing.  The other photos reflect the performances.  Oh what fun it was!

Today we worked on the major scales, thus the WWHWWH you see in the title line.  A major scale is Whole step, Whole step, Half step, etc.  I had a keyboard on my projection so could write on the white board to demonstrate a scale.  I think we made very good progress.

Nothing to Sneeze At

As we entered the country of Botswana, as residents of the United States of America, we were asked to fill out a form concerning the Swine Flu--now known as N1K1 or something.  Fortunately we have not been touched with that illness so could safely answer No to all of the queries.  I wonder if we would have been allowed in to the country if we'd had any of the symptoms.

I have been rearranging library books to get all of a certain Dewey Decimal number together.  Books of a similar number were on 2 sides of a book case, making finding a book more difficult.  A student who also has a BA degree but is now training to be a pastor, is the paid library assistant so he pitched in and helped me and I really appreciated his help.

So far I have not started the work of adding the 600 new books.  Besides the work of entering each book into the computer, printing out bar codes and spine labels and applying them, there will also be much more moving of books to accommodate the new ones.  Aaron is going to build a new book case.  By the time I have finished I will have handled thousands of books--moving them, moving them, moving them.