our summer has come at us like a tidal wave... one i watched with anxiety from the distance. but there's nothing you can really do to stop a tidal wave. you just have to prepare as much as you can, and then ride it. or, i suppose, drown in it. that's an option too. ok, maybe this is a poor analogy.
anyway. david and i got back from cape cod and boston about a week ago. we retreated for a few days to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. boston and the cape was one of the cheapest trips i could find, and it ended up being perfect for us. we rented a room with paperthin walls in a big old beach house that gave us sweeping panoramas of the atlantic as we ate our breakfast in the kitchen. the weather was cold, and the cape was so much less polished, less touristy that i'd expected, in such a good way.
everything was saturated in deep color and character and frozen in time. every fish and chips shop, every ice cream joint, every flea market and main street and dive bar. every little local boutique, every art gallery, every house turned into an antique shop or thrift store (on our last day david and i were give a huge brochure entitled "thrift stores of the cape" and i about died and went to heaven), everything we encountered was local and paused in time somewhere around the 1960s. each day we plotted our destination and took windy little roads to see what we could find. david was so great at chatting with the locals, asking questions and gathering recommendations. he's such a perfect travel companion.
a major highlight was the whale watching tour in provincetown. we saw whales breach out of the water, and swim under our boat. we saw them spray water, and lift their massive tails. they were everywhere, and they were somehow holy. their sheer size and the grace with which they maneuver is like paint gliding onto a canvas. breathtaking. it was fun to share the experience with a bunch of strangers too. we'd all gasp and 'ooh' and 'ahh' at the same time, crowding shoulder to shoulder as we hung over the railings.
other highlights include eating tons of fish, from salmon tacos to stuffed cod to fish and chips. we also discovered the best breakfast joint i've probably EVER been to (i had bananas foster french toast and went into a sugar coma), and drank loads of dunkin donuts coffee. we also loved the nature. the cape cod national seashore stretches on for quiet miles, complete with old new england lighthouses and dozens of odd characters playing in the surf. also, we loved our day trip into boston. we rode the subways (which always makes me feel cool and cosmopolitan) and followed the "freedom trail" all through the maze of a city. we got lost at first, but there was so much to see, we didn't mind. we ended the day at a local italian restaurant in the italian district, and i feel like we got the most we could out of the city.
so, trip one is down. i'll try to get some pictures on here sometime.
we came home to VBS in full effect. it exhausted me, but i feel like it was one of the best vbs weeks we've had. we had some all-star volunteers and some really cool bible stories to share.
vbs ended today, and i have just finished packing for colorado. we leave tomorrow, at 5:30 AM. ugggh. david and i are chaperoning the high school kids on a mission trip in estes park. i know it will be amazing, i just hope and pray i've got the energy to pour into these kids. they need love and Jesus, and i've got to surrender and let him work through me. i want to make sure to document all this stuff - write down the experiences and memories - before they all pile up and i start to forget. but for now, i just better get some sleep.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
bikes and trails
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| goodwill bike rack, garage sale bike |
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| sustenance in iced coffee... this was taken shortly before the wind blew the coffee off the car |
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| gotta protect that beautiful skin |
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| david's classy ride |
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| mine |
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| preparations |
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| picnic lunch time |
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| staple foods |
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| LOST |
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| up high and being blown over |
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| squares |
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| angles |
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| picturesque |
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| cranes |
Sunday, June 5, 2011
don't blink
sunday nights have always come with a slowly shifting feeling, for me. as the weekend ends, the week hasn't quite begun and there's always this small window left open for reflecting.
this week and weekend have been good and full of summer. monday - memorial day, david and i went on a monumental bike ride from slater to the high trestle trail and back. it was so windy, but felt great in the sun. the day ended with a bbq at the grandparents, where we all whittled the night away on lawn chairs in the front driveway. tuesday was a solid, thought-provoking small group time, topped off w/ice cream from van dees. wednesday, my cousin joey came over to teach david how to change oil, and we fed him pizza before heading over to soup night. thursday was a vbs training meeting that had me so stressed out, but ended with charlie and the chocolate factory being shown out on the lawn outside, across the street, at the art center, so we loaded up on bug spray (it just smells like camp when i put that stuff on!) and popcorn and huddled on blankets w/friends. friday was a party at 8/7 central with yummy food and a good chance to catch up w/some rarely seen friends. saturday we woke early to meet my dad and jenalee as they finished their 20K. i felt so proud of them, and my dad was in fine form as we strolled the farmer's market, talking to anyone who would pause to listen. saturday night was a bbq for citybranch, where we got some free food and played yard games w/friends. sunday was a neighborhood outreach with outrageous inflatables, and delicious tacos, and fun times w/zion kids.
in the midst of all this busyness, i got a text on saturday morning that a guy at my church had passed away in his sleep, suddenly. he was 43. i know his family well, and he was a wonderful example of a faithful, gentle man. he always helped usher, or sub for sunday school. he was peaceful, a staple at the church with a kind word or a warm grin. i don't mourn for him - i know he's where he's meant to be now. but he leaves behind a wife and 3 kids. two sons who won't have a father to teach them how to drive. a daughter who won't have her dad walk her down the aisle (who's facebook post tonight said something about the time of "daddy's visitation" and i about burst into tears). a wife who comes home to an empty bed. that breaks my heart.
that kind of stuff can stop me in my tracks. suddenly, all the busyness and rushing falls away. the pettiness and the short answers become embarassing. the urgency and the beauty of life flower up all around me. this is going to go so fast. i want to be so incredibly thankful, and i want to treasure it all, and i should never be so arrogant as to think that i'm immune, or invincible. we can't run or hide from the inevitable tragedy of life. but we can fight it for all it's worth, by loving dangerously, unabashedly. every. single. day.
this week and weekend have been good and full of summer. monday - memorial day, david and i went on a monumental bike ride from slater to the high trestle trail and back. it was so windy, but felt great in the sun. the day ended with a bbq at the grandparents, where we all whittled the night away on lawn chairs in the front driveway. tuesday was a solid, thought-provoking small group time, topped off w/ice cream from van dees. wednesday, my cousin joey came over to teach david how to change oil, and we fed him pizza before heading over to soup night. thursday was a vbs training meeting that had me so stressed out, but ended with charlie and the chocolate factory being shown out on the lawn outside, across the street, at the art center, so we loaded up on bug spray (it just smells like camp when i put that stuff on!) and popcorn and huddled on blankets w/friends. friday was a party at 8/7 central with yummy food and a good chance to catch up w/some rarely seen friends. saturday we woke early to meet my dad and jenalee as they finished their 20K. i felt so proud of them, and my dad was in fine form as we strolled the farmer's market, talking to anyone who would pause to listen. saturday night was a bbq for citybranch, where we got some free food and played yard games w/friends. sunday was a neighborhood outreach with outrageous inflatables, and delicious tacos, and fun times w/zion kids.
in the midst of all this busyness, i got a text on saturday morning that a guy at my church had passed away in his sleep, suddenly. he was 43. i know his family well, and he was a wonderful example of a faithful, gentle man. he always helped usher, or sub for sunday school. he was peaceful, a staple at the church with a kind word or a warm grin. i don't mourn for him - i know he's where he's meant to be now. but he leaves behind a wife and 3 kids. two sons who won't have a father to teach them how to drive. a daughter who won't have her dad walk her down the aisle (who's facebook post tonight said something about the time of "daddy's visitation" and i about burst into tears). a wife who comes home to an empty bed. that breaks my heart.
that kind of stuff can stop me in my tracks. suddenly, all the busyness and rushing falls away. the pettiness and the short answers become embarassing. the urgency and the beauty of life flower up all around me. this is going to go so fast. i want to be so incredibly thankful, and i want to treasure it all, and i should never be so arrogant as to think that i'm immune, or invincible. we can't run or hide from the inevitable tragedy of life. but we can fight it for all it's worth, by loving dangerously, unabashedly. every. single. day.
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