Home Again, Home Again, Jitterty Jig

I am home from presbytery. It went very well. A full report may follow.

American Fiesta

There is a new Broadway play that will premiere next month. American Fiesta is about a collector of Fiesta Ware and how fiesta relates to both 'blue and red' states. Blue and Red were original colors when Fiesta was introduced in the 1930s.

The spin on the play is that homosexuality has to be brought in. I am not sure if it is because it is trendy to talk about homosex or because Fiesta has become so popular amongst this population of people (well, the men anyway). It is a shame that a great play about an American Icon has to be ruined with same-sex trash. Straight men can collect Fiesta too (I hope)!

Columbus, Indiana? Where?

Next week I will be in Columbus, Indiana for presbytery. I have only been through Indiana other than stopping to fuel my car.

Columbus Reformed Presbyterian Church will be hosting this event. I am travelling with Rev. Lanning and Mr. Sikma who are going on business concerning our local congregation.

The fall meeting held at Southfield was a really great experience. I have enjoyed getting to know the ministers in the RPCNA. I hope that this meeting will go equally as well. I know some of the issues that will be discussed with me and I am looking forward to seeing how the Lord's hand will work all of this out.

Quilts for Soldiers

Our friends, Shane and Toni Dunmire, have a son, Zac, that is in the Marines. He is being deployed to Iraq in July. Toni has a special request and I hope that some of you would be compelled to help. Here is a letter I got from Toni this week:

I am making it my mission to make Rag Quilts for all the guys in Zac's platoon (about 60). Their deployment to Iraq has been moved up to July. If you would like to help me in this quest, you can send me masculine flannel fabric, cotton batting or money for me to buy it or pay for postage to send them. I will send a copy of the receipt so you know where your money went. Please do not feel obligated in any way!! This is something I want to do, I just thought if any of you ever wanted to do something for our troops, but didn't know what, this would give you the opportunity. I spoke with Zac and he said he knows the guys would appreciate it.

Thanks for your time! And thanks for your help!

Toni Dunmire
20620 Welch Hill Rd.
Corry, PA 16407

I hope that some of you would be glad to help out. Zac is a really neat kid and has shown a lot of courage by signing up service in such a time as this!

Butterflies are in bloom

We got to go to the Meijer Gardens for the first time of the new season. We love to kick off Spring with the butterflies at the Gardens. They have a really cool clear butterfly this year.
Lydia enjoyed the sun...for one minute.

This butterfly was really pretty. It was blue-green and the texture looked like velvet.
There were a lot of this one. They seemed to fly in groups. Click on the picture and you can read his expression, "I've got two weeks to live and I have to be on display for you!"
I edited a paper while we walked to the 'Michigan Farm". This year they have added a lot of great sculptures to the farm.

Here is Anna in the backyard garden. It smelled great in there- tons of bulbs in full bloom!
Here is on of the sculptures at the farm. Owen tried to feed it grass. He was not interested in eating.
Here is the famous Alexander Calder mobile that my dad tried to spin. I laugh every time I walk by it. I have never seen so many security guards! And the sirens! Wow!

I would suggest getting a membership this year if you have not in the past. Remember that the Tuesday night music series is coming up in August! What a great place to visit!

So, is this the real thing?

There are many signs that Spring is in the air. Today we have our windows open and the smell is so nice. The kids are excited and we are hoping that the season is ready to burst forth. There is always so much gardening to do around here and we are all looking forward to getting things back how they belong. Owen and Anna want to be outside all of the time now. Today I think we may go play at the Gardens and see the butterflies for the first time this season. I hope that they have that blue butterfly that is the size of a hand again this year.
Sunday was the beginning of all of this goodness. Here is Mrs. Lanning stealing some sun before we entered the chapel. When we were there Anna wanted to walk over to Dr. Beeke's house so that she could see him. We walked over (but he was at the MacArthur conference in California). She then wanted to run through the woods behind the seminary. Of course, I would not allow her to do that since that is where all the wild and crazy seminary drop-outs are forced to spend the rest of their existence.
However, the greatest sign that Spring is just around the corner is the fact that the Crocus are coming up all over the place! They are in full bloom. The tulips and other bulbs are coming up, but the Crocus are already singing the praises of Springtime.

Can't Say

I would tell you what we are doing, but I have been asked not to. I guess that the pictures are going to have to tell a story that only history will reveal. It takes a lot of work to do the job of an historiographer. Just ask Lydia how much of the last 4 months have been spent on 5 typed pages.