A Short Trip to Austin

Gary and I went to Austin on Thursday and stayed in a lovely motel. I-35 splits at that point, not to the east and west, but up and down, into two layers. This feature means you get twice the highway noise per mile than your ordinary freeway. Besides that, the toilet didn't flush, the temperature was either too hot or too cold, and one of the wall circuits didn't work. But it did have high-speed internet access, and after all, isn't that what's important these days for the saavy traveler?

(If you want to see the surprise I got while there, check my other blog.)

Do We Ever Really Know Our Kids?

First I have to read his blog to find out he's having his broken heart checked out.

Then I have to read his myspace to see all the girls flirting with him.

Now I discover on the internet, of all places, that's he's been hiding secrets about neutrinos!

I wonder what else I'm missing??

Unique Names, Please

I have nothing at all against Andrew or Rachel as people, but I am somewhat glad that my two as-yet-unmarried children are no longer dating people with those names. Just too confusing.

At one point, shortly after Laura joined the family, David was dating someone named Lori. I told Rachel she absolutely could NOT date anyone named Larry. Just too confusing.

I do know a man who married someone with the same first name as his mother. That led to two closely related women with the same first and last name. Just too confusing.

That reminds me of a favorite linguistics story in our family. (If you don't understand linguistics, you might not think this is funny.) We were living in Papua New Guinea and we went to market one Saturday morning. There were dozens of different kinds of bananas for sale (have you noticed we only get one or maybe two varieties here in the States?). So we asked someone, "Well, how do you tell all the different kinds of bananas apart?" To which they responded, "It's easy--they all have different names."

Comments

When I first started blogging I thought it was so cool to get comments on my posts. It felt like someone actually was acknowledging me as a person, and a person they cared enough about to converse with. Or, if not that, at least acknowledging I'd said some something worthwhile, or funny, or .... I kind of gave up on that idea by rereading the tag line on my blog and reminding myself that I'm just talking to myself, so if I want comments, I should just leave comments for myself.

I was talking to someone else about comments on blogs. She felt sad that no one commented on her blog. I then asked her, "Well, how often do you comment on the blogs of others?"

Then there are the people, usually my age or older, who think if they leave a comment someone will steal their identity and they'll end up in the poor house due to credit card fraud.

Over the two plus years I've been blogging, I've had a number of comments deleted that I've put on other people's blogs. I can think of about five or six times this has happened. Only once did the person explain to me in an email why they deleted my comments. I suppose if I were to express a touch of cynicism inside of me, I'd say people mostly want flattering or sympathetic comments, your basic feel-good stuff. I guess if I'm going to play the commenting game, I'd better brush up on my interpersonal skills.

Large Print Labor of Love

Gary really likes this CD of Christmas music. He's been trying to copy the lovely version of Silent Night from the CD for a couple years now. And he could probably do so if it were just in the key of C. No, this song is written with 6 flats! So in order to learn it he had to get the music. But then he couldn't read it because it was too small. So I enlarged it on the photocopier, taped it all back together, mounted it on giant pieces of cardboard, and stuck it on the piano. As soon as he finds it he will probably start trying to learn it. If he hurries, he'll have it memorized in time for the holiday season.

A Promotion?

Today Gary got a letter congratulating him on his appointment as Adjunct Professor of Applied Linguistics. We think that is a promotion from his previous appointment of Adjunct Associate Professor. However, just so there is no confusion, the next paragraph read: This appointment is unsalaried and non-tenure-earning.

Fortunately, we did not join up because it was going to make us rich!

Dryer Lint

Just when you thought I could come up with no more useless things to post about, today I'm talking about dryer lint.

And apparently I'm not the only one. If you google "dryer lint" you will find such things as an official dryer lint webpage, ideas for using lint in craft projects, a website that looks like a science fair project on dryer lint, and even dryer lint pets.

But today the point is to thank the Lord for protecting us from a dryer fire. We did have a small dryer fire a few years ago, so since then I have tried to be more careful about cleaning out the dryer vent hose. Today I decided to try venting the warm, humid air into the house while I dried the clothes (don't try this if you have a gas dryer). When I disattached the hose I jiggled loose a large amount of dryer lint that was apparently being held inside the dryer with a bunch of toothpicks (these must come from Gary's clothes, since he carries them around). I was amazed at home much lint blew out of the dryer and I realized that it could have easily caught on fire.

Stuff

My job was pack up a china closet. It contained everything from delicate china that grandma had used for tea parties with her granddaughters to a brittle bird's nest. Also, broken music boxes, faded photographs, and a cross made out of burnt matches--a VBS project, I suspect.

My nose is full of dust and my heart is full of sympathy for Mrs. B who has to make decisions about the stuff she's collected over 30+ years. It might be tempting to be critical of her for never throwing anything away, but on the other hand, I surely feel sorry for her now, having to make a mountain of tiny decisions all at once. That is emotionally exhausting. One thing that makes it hard is that many of these items are gifts from her six kids, all of whom are now grown, and all of whom still love her.

Gecko

It has been a while since I've posted a photo from my Bugs and Creatures collection. This one was taken a couple days ago from inside my bedroom looking out. In other words, we're looking at the underneath of it through the window glass.

That saves me from having to post about my recent baking disaster where I forgot to put in the flour. Aaarg!

Exploding Baby Carrot Myths

After finding this exploded baby carrot today, I was forced to search the internet high and low (well, actually it took 0.21 seconds) to figure out where baby carrots came from anyway. It's a conspiracy--we've all been misled.

The Blind Leading the Blind - Part 2

I'm getting old, and I bet one day I'm going to die of Alzheimer's. By then I won't remember what a horrible disease it is. Nor will I remember how clever Google is (or is it Firefox doing this??) to keep a history of all the things I type in. For instance, today I thought I'd be cute and post a photo of Gary helping our blind friend--only to discover via the search history that I'd already had that cute idea before!

This isn't the first time this has happened. Recently I was watching an episode of LOST and was trying to figure out if the actor who plays Desmond on LOST was the same actor who played Jesus in The Gospel of John, The Movie. When I typed in all those hints into Google, the history popped up informing me that I had already asked myself this question earlier and answered myself as well. (Yes, they are the same actor, Ian Cusick.)

I must be losing my mind, and a mind is a terrible thing to lose. Maybe this blog will be all that's left of me before long.

"Last Voices From Heaven"

Ma isn't the only one who's gotten a CD in the mail this week. I actually paid money for this CD, which I had to order from Amazon UK since it isn't carried on Amazon USA.

I thought I was going to be getting some interesting, reasonably authentic native music from Melanesia. But what it turned out to be is a little bit of authentic music with a lot of western beat and electric guitar polish slapped all over it. It still is interesting music, but for all the missionary-bashing and glorifying of the pagan way of life in the album booklet, I was expecting something less commercialized.

Here's a link where you can listen to a few snatches of the songs on this album. Apparently there was a film documentary made about the process of collecting this music, shown at least in Australia.

A Memorial Service

This morning I left work early to attend a memorial service at church. I didn't know the deceased, but I do know her daughter and her daughter's family, so I attended to lend support to them. Her death was from Alzheimer's. I don't know that much about the disease, but I do know that it is a hard way to die, if not for the person, then at least for the family.

It was pretty heart-wrenching to hear stories of her slow demise from a vibrant school librarian to a thin and frail shell who finally stopped breathing. It was sad to hear the regret that some family members expressed at not "being there" for her enough in her last years.

May God give them all grace as they grieve and move on.

Liastris sp.

We've had a long, hot, and very dry summer, but at the state park I still found a couple wild flowers ignoring the hostile environment and blooming beautifully anyway. (Maybe this species likes it hot and dry, but even the cacti seemed to be shriveling up from lack of water.) According to my wildflower books and the internet, this is a species of Liastris, with a common name of Gay Feather.

One of these days I'm going to make an album of my best wildflower photos.

Moon Shadows

 
Last night we slept in our tent at the nearby state park. When we got situated in our sleeping bag I looked up and noticed the full moon trying to shine on me. So I got up and removed the tent's rain roof, and then I was bathed in moonbeams all night long.

Maybe I'm a lunatic.

(For some daylight photos, you can check my other blog.)

My Son Now Has a Blog

He has finally joined the 21st century.

But is this how I should find out that he's wearing a heart monitor and thinks his middle name is a girl's??

(Ma Hoyt might have something to say about both of these items: she knows all about bad hearts and men named "Loren.")

Happy News!

Rachel got a call from a family friend today with news of her engagment and upcoming marriage in January. Congratulations to Jessica and John!

We also got sad news, the death of a friend's mother this morning.

And more news of pregnancies and births.

Life goes on.

A Cotton Slip

Every old lady missionary needs a sturdy cotton slip to take to the field. In the steaming jungles of South America it is way too hot and humid for a nylon slip under those long frumpy skirts. But do you think an old lady missionary could possibly find a cotton slip in the entire Dallas-Ft.Worth metroplex? No. So I made her one. No, I made her two--one with free cotton fabric from the missionary barrel and the other with eyelet that I bought at Walmart for a few dollars.

My friend is off to Guyana to see about taking the place of these folks.

The White Dove

I know it is just a bird, and I don't believe in omens, but almost every day when I walk to work I look up into a small tree on campus and there is a white dove. Sometimes I see her on top of one of the buildings, but usually she is in this tree For some reason it seems like she is watching over my place of work, which of course, can't be true, but she gives me the feeling of being watched over.

We can all use the Lord watching over us and protecting us. Tonight we got news of two singles from church in a 5-car accident on I-20. Three of the five cars were totaled, yet everyone walked away from the accident.

Intentional Dating

We had lunch recently with some friends who told us their son was dating someone. Since I know this fine young man personally, I pumped them for details. :-) I mean, isn't that what parents do when they get together--talk about their kids??

It was nice--indeed, inspiring--to hear the story of how their son was approaching this relationship. He had taken the time (and money and effort) to visit the girl's parents to ask them if it was OK with them if he pursued their daughter. How nice to learn that this sort of thing doesn't just happen in books and fairy tales--a real life case where the young man is intentionally seeking marriage, and in such a respectful way.

I hope the next guy who is interested in our daughter is like that.

(And I'd be proud of our son if did this when he finds a girl he is interested in.)