hot diggity dang

It's 11 a.m. on Monday morning, and I've gotten some stuff done, and not enough all at the same time. I've got about 60-65 pages of papers to write in the next five weeks. I've really enjoyed my classes this semester, but there just doesn't seem to be enough time for everything! My grandfather is back in the hospital, and with my parents 20 hours away by car, there is some implicit responsibility and worry that I have in trying to keep some things together for them in looking out for their folks. Church is in the crazy spin that goes into the summer (which I have thankfully gotten to slow down!). And I've got classes tonight and tomorrow, and the next week are finals and a lot of papers being due! And let's not forget that the wonderful, teacher wife's exhaust pipe fell off of her car...

With all that on the plate right now, I have to say, last night, working to get the garden going with my great wife couldn't have been any more amazing. I was rototilling more of the soil (pictures to come soon) and Shey raked out a lot of the grass from my previous adventures of rototilling and then started shoveling compost in for the final batch of tilling before planting this week. The weather was absolutely perfect and the sun was setting with a guy on his tractor in the other field, the stream was rushing nearby, and a beautiful barn and silo in the next field over set the backdrop...it honestly couldn't have calmed my heart more. The great family we are living with has had some tractor trouble, they were going to help speed the garden making process up for me by plowing a small section for the garden...so I waited a bit for that to happen, which then couldn't b/c the plow got stuck on the tractor, so getting the garden started took a bit more work...but I love being out there. It is so amazing to enjoy the outside again...and the time with Shey was perfect.

I hope all is well folks. I'm going to get back to Rollins' soon. But I've got Pseudo-Dionysius, Christian Ethics, Eschatology & Spiritual Formation, and Who is God to be finishing up in the next couple of weeks. I will try to get to Rollins again post-finals. Otherwise its papers, gardening, and hanging out with the Mrs. and church stuff right now....peace.

Henry (HT), my favorite barn, and Ash Wednesday

Well, i'm back in Warrenton after the trip to San Diego...upon which i returned to the week of ice, i'm finally back to writing again (though I'm sure school will take over my blog again soon). First, i wanted to introduce you to my latest friend Henry (Hermit Thrush). Shey has a funny and fun habit of naming everything, staplers, animals, cars, etc. and I beat her to the punch in naming one of the most fun birds that has come to the house yet. I first met Henry in the forest behind our place. He followed me around the forest, curious, and trying to communicate...shrugging his wings and flapping his tail at me. This was over a month ago, and yet with all the ice we got last week, the birds have been struggling to find some food and so I think Henry came all the way to the house for the first time in search of food. He's been hanging out by our front door, has followed me down the driveway, and comes pretty close...he's one of the most curious birds i've been around. so, i thought i'd share a picture of my latest favorite bird...

below is my favorite barn from the drive to our house from town. the sun came out for the first time in forever yesterday, and i just absolutely love the way the sun hits buildings and trees in the winter. and finally, the sun was hitting the barn in cool manner yesterday and i got to snap a few pictures. the farm estate is up for sale where this barn sits and Shey and i dream about living there one day. it is a wonderful piece of land.

Lastly, for the first time in my life i am participating in Lent or as the Orthodox call it "Bright Sadness." something had been stirring in my spirit to participate this year and to try to understand a bit better what it means to join the church in this season. the youth talked about it last night for about an hour and they really seemed to catch on with the spirit of Lent. they were willing to fast and be disciplined with some areas of their life that i don't think that i'd have the desire to hold to. i am really proud of them. as baptists, many of them have never done anything even remotely close to this, and yet they seemed to understand the significance immediately. i had them (if they chose to participate) write down what they would like to fast and be disciplined about on a piece of paper of which we then burned and i used to mark their heads and bless them. it was pretty neat. after we had finished, one of the students asked if i would like to be marked as well...so that i too could be included. and two of the students made the mark on my head and blessed me...i can't imagine a better first time of beginning Lent.

i am fasting from all soda and upon Shey's recommendation, not purchasing any new music. i'm looking forward to this time, and hope that this practice may become a more regular one for me in the coming years...

in light of recent technical difficulties...

Well, part of the reason I've been soooo slow in posting is that the new Beta Blogger in co-operation with Picasa, has not been making my life (or many others) life very easy in posting pictures. I've been struggling for a while to get it taken care of, and that day has finally come. So here's another post, one which I've been anxious to share for a while now.

My lovely teacher wife and I moved in the fall (Novemberish) to a new place, a bit outside of town, but absolutely beautiful. We hoped that moving to Jefferstonton would provide a more quiet and open space for us to create, whether in photography, simply enjoying creation, or writing papers, painting, or our new favorite joy--birding. Here are a few pictures from some walks or from the drive home that either the lovely teacher wife or I have taken. The barn and silo is near our place, and a wonderful sight in the winter sun. The bluebird was a fun sighting on another walk one afternoon. And the last two shots are from the drive to and from town.

If you haven't read any of Wendell Berry's novels yet...I hope these pic's inspire you to do so!

snow day!

Well, I'm just going to be up front about this:

I've become a birder.

I know, I'm a dork, and I've dragged my wonderful and much less dorky wife down into the depths with me...but it is true. I just love it. And let me say that when it snows, the birds go crazy. I think they realize that they are going to have to consume a lot of food to stay warm (and alive) through the night. This is all to say, on the snow day this weekend, we saw more birds at the feeder at one time than ever before. We didn't see many new species, but we saw a lot of interesting interactions at the feeder and on the ground below the feeder. I won't bore you with much more...I will share a couple of my favorite picks from the snow day (which was awesome by the way...a needed break!).

our new place

after the craziness of the last couple of weeks, i finally have gotten to enjoy a little bit of what Shey and I hoped for in moving out of town. this morning I got to sit and watch the morning fog move through the fields and over the mountains. I watched as the sun began to peek through the trees, casting its soft morning light onto the yard.



Better still, I watched for quite awhile as different birds moved back and forth and sang their different and varied songs. I saw for the first time (that I could recognize anyway) a Yellow-shafted Flicker, which is a type of woodpecker. It's pretty awesome to see it forage for insects in the trees, and to hear the tapping sound as it searches for food. here's a picture of what it looks like, though its not the one I saw...(hopefully for Christmas I'll get a telephoto lens so I can post some of my own pictures of birds!)