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Home again!
By Pastor John Carroll | August 1, 2008
As you may know, Mary and I spent the last two weeks on vacation with family in VA and Atlanta. Here are some observations and “lessons” learned:
1. Southwest VA, where we grew up, is beautiful and we know what to see and not see if you are a tourist in the area. Avoid the Monster House and Dinosaur Woods at Natural Bridge but Dixie Caverns and the Wild Life Safari is worth the trip. We made our second annual trek up Sharp Top (one of the Peaks of Otter) and it was a clear, dry day so the view was spectacular. They say you can see West VA from there but why would you want to do that? (For you Lone Star State folks, the VA-WVA rivalry is similar to the Aggie-Longhorn thing).
2. If you buy a 12 by 3 foot plastic pool, the kind with the inflatable ring top, it’s probably not going to work anywhere in the vicinity of the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge mountains as it depends on completely level ground for proper functioning. OK, you could get a pick and shovel and dig out the mountain to make it level but… hey, I thought this was a vacation!
3. We learned that a four year old has a limitless capacity to listen to the same kids’ music CD’s while traveling in the back of a mini van. Her grandparents are not sure how to get the Veggie Tale’s version of “On the Road Again” out of our brains.
4. This may be small consolation but we found Atlanta’s traffic to be worse than Houston’s. We did enjoy a free upgrade on our rental car and had the use of a Chrysler PT Cruiser Convertible for 5 days.
5. Did you know? At the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, we learned that Carter spent 48 straight hours in the oval office during the final days of his presidency negotiating the release of the US hostages in Iran. They were actually released the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated so it appeared that Reagan got the credit, payback to Carter for allowing the Shah access to US health care system. Reagan, however, honored Carter by sending him to greet the returning hostages when they landed in Germany on the first leg of their return journey.
6. All in all, we enjoyed being with family. Everyone is doing well. We helped celebrate my twin nephews’ graduation from High School. We saw son-in-law Tim’s laboratory and office at Emory University.
7. There’s no place like home. This is home. Psalm 4:8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
See you soon.
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Welcome back. I was starting to think you guys had fallen of the end of the world! How is Fred and how are things at the church?
Kevin,
I blog therefore I am. (Fred, can translate this into Latin, not me.) Glad you are watching us. Check the obits and if I am there let me know.
John
Blogio ergo sum.
Everyone knows that new Latin verbs are fourth conjungation.