Geek-Pride Flag Flier

I was listening to NPR on Friday about this clip/interview. There are some interviews that just need to be seen. This was one of them. So cool. An Homage to our amazing Creator.

Here's the website for more info:

http://www.sciencefriday.com/videos/watch/10397

Camp Hemlock photo diary

Worthy and I spent Wednesday through Saturday the week before last at Hemlock Wilderness Brigade Camp. My brother and his son have been able to go every summer for the last 4 years, and I had lamented that I wouldn’t be able to take Worthy when he came of age because we would be in Europe. But seeing as we were unexpectedly in the States, I took Worthy to the camp at which I had spent parts of seven summers growing up, including the entirety of three summers as junior staff. It had been 19 years since I was last there!

And it felt like it. How best to describe our 72 hours there? Through two conversations:

“So how are you liking camp?” I asked another father.

“It’s great. We’re having a lot of fun. It’s also…” he paused to search for the right word.

“Grueling?” I suggested.

“Yes, that’s the word.”

The second conversation is more of a monologue given to us just before meal-time by the one who oversees Father/Son week:

“A lot of dads ask me why we don’t have more free-time. The truth is, you get lots of free-time. From 10pm to 7am every day.”

Worthy did all of the activities with two other boys, one of whom is the son of an old friend of mine from Annapolis, Daniel Buckingham (on left):

And in 72 hours we did riflery, ...






...hiking, ...







... the low ropes course, ...








... crafts, ...


...slingshot, ...



...archery, ...


...lots of pool time, ...


...tomahawk (axe) throwing, ...






...ride in a M35 2 1/2 ton cargo truck:


...and model rocketry.














I did not get pictures of meal-time (with all the same rituals as 20 years ago), nightly campfire (with many of the same songs and skits), flag-raising and flag-lowering ceremonies, and the 100 degree heat on Thursday and the 108 degree heat on Friday. That is not a typo.

The degree to which I was exhausted is the same degree to which I had fun. This will be a memory with my son I will treasure for the rest of my life!

Recent reads

Here's some recent reads...

The Unlikely Disciple

by

Kevin Roose

We really enjoyed this book. The humor, insight and outsider point-of-view were very interesting and thought provoking. We spent a good deal of time reading this out loud during car trips and definitely included some out loud laughing.

(Thank you Burge's for the recommendation... and the book!)

Hunger Games Trilogy

by

Suzanne Collins

So far, this was just read by me. It's in Dan's queue. This was recommended by the Annamae Giles - who's opinion I trust completely in all things Reading Related. It was hard to put down. I read all 3 books in about 1 week. Addictive and fun. Light-weight read. Found myself continually saying "Just one more chapter..."

Currently Reading:

Ender's Shadow

by

Orson Scott Card

Loving it. Read the Parallel Book first: Ender's Game. Love this story.

Golazo

1.	golazo
	football/soccer expression referring to an awesomely amazing goal.

Worthy attended Grace Church's (Bath, OH) soccer camp a couple of weeks ago. A few days before it started, my sister-in-law, who coordinates the event, asked if I could be an emergency replacement for an assistant coach for one of the teams. Since I've never coached or played soccer before, the key word is obviously "emergency." However, it gave me a front-row seat to witness Worthy's heroics.

Monday through Thursday we spent working on skills and drills. Friday night was the tournament among the six teams. Worthy has never played in a game, so was new to all of the positions. He liked goalie the best, but required some personal coaching:




This is what I think was his favorite position:



Towards the end of the third and final game, Worthy was placed on offense on the right. He has never really played soccer, so the whole night he pretty much stayed planted right where he was assigned. He would move sometimes to make a mean slide tackle, but offense was fairly confusing to him, and the game just went by him from end to end while he stood there, no matter how much I encouraged him to move.

But then the ball was kicked to him in midfield by the goalie and there was nothing between him and the goal. He got the ball at his feet, dribbled all the way up the field, and slid the ball into the near corner. The assistant coach went nuts :) It ended up being the winning goal in a 4-3 match which clinched 3rd place for the evening.




Obviously he was inspired by Messi:






He glowed for the rest of the night and did not tire of mom and dad telling him all about how he scored his first goal.

Baptism in West Virginia

A couple of weekends ago, my whole family traveled to be together for my dad's baptism in the Little Kanawha River in his home town of Grantsville, WV. Our whole family was gathered together - a gift in and of itself. My younger brother and his wife came up from Florida and many of my dad's sisters joined us as well.

Our Family

and

Just the Grandboys

This was at a family friend's home right on the river. This house used to belong to my father's family, then he purchased it and completely renovated it. It belongs in Better Homes & Gardens kind of remodeling. Just beautiful. From here, we went down to the River and my dad was baptized.

It was a lovely time - gospel filled and almost ended in a stoning (thanks to all the great rock skipping...)

Great day, great family, great food, great Gospel.

Will's Medical Adventures

"Dan, I'm taking William to the ER," Jen breathlessly says.

"I'm on my way."

I was 20 minutes away when I hung up the phone, jumped in the car, and started racing from Wadsworth to Akron. I called back, because I had no idea why William would be needing a trip to the hospital. It turned out to be nothing severe; he had fallen on a rock and gashed his knee open. Eight stitches plus two weeks later, Will has this Voldemortian scar on his right knee:



One week after that first phone call, I get another. I'm at Worthy's soccer camp when Jen informs me that Will had pushed a rock waaaaaay up his nose. Fortunately, Dr. Emily, a good friend, agreed that we could bring him over her house. She pried it out, leaving us another souvenir of our summer in the States:

Farmhouse

We've been in the States a little over one month now. In some ways it seems like we never left and in other ways it seems like we've been gone a long time. The transition back has been virtually seamless. God has gone before us in every step along the way here. He provided a place for us to stay - without us making even one phone call. We're staying in Akron, Ohio - near some of my family which has been a tremendous blessing. Instead of calling our temporary residence "home" we call it the Farmhouse. We're so thankful for this wonderful place. We have an expansive yard and a kitchen 3 times as large as the one in our apartment. (And for the sake of our Vienna Friends, I'll try not to stress our happiness over Air Conditioning...) The house is great and we've quickly turned it into a temporary home. Once again, we're amazed by the generosity of virtual strangers.

Home Sweet (temporary) Home