Wordle!

 

Yes, Bre and I have been bitten by, or bit, the Wordle bug. I you are one of the few who haven’t heard Wordle is a NY Times game that shows up each day. In Wordle the object is to guess a 5-letter word based on the game showing you which letters are in the word (yellow) and which letters are in the right place in the word (green). It takes strategy and thinking and it most commonly takes 4 guesses to get the word. Some of these words are not common in English—though I admit they are legitimate words—with only one exception (glyph).

We typically do the puzzle first thing in the AM to share with our son in Japan who gets to do it 14 hours earlier than us. He does it most every day and posts it late in the afternoon before we get access the net morning. It is fun to share it with him—and also fun to be challenged to think of the right word.

I probably take it a bit too seriously. A few months back I created a “wordle” doc wherein I often write down the potential words in order to be able to pick the one most advantageous. I have words that start with each letter, and words that end with certain letters (e.g. “e”). I also have words excluding certain letters and including others.

It’s fun and I guess it keeps us mentally exercising…but mainly it is fun.

Grace Men’s Retreat

We had our Church men’s retreat the first weekend in November, right in the middle of the deer archery hunting season. We drove an hour west to Timberlake Camp, where we have had several retreats. I rode with Mark and Danny and we had a nice chat all the way over.

The Camp is a very nice setting with a large lake and totally surrounded by woods. The Burns family operates it. The dining hall is HUGE and our first meeting was in there. I was the first speaker, and despite my dislike of speakers, after my first few words were lost in the open air of the high, high ceiling, I had to use the sound system. It was not properly set up and I still sounded bad. Afterword the sound expert told me that you always, always want the microphone behind the speakers. Thanks, but your advice is 30 mins too late!

It was great and rare to have time chatting with other men. We had a nice roaring bonfire Friday night, and the steady rain for much of Saturday gave us even more. Men seldom get these relational times. Men have a harder time with relationships than women, and many men have few-to-none friends they can relate to on a deep level.

And, this was the joy of this time. I talked to as many men as I could. I rode back with Keith, who I have known a long time. Our ride back together was a good conversation and good bonding.

Men, let me encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities to spend quality time with other men. The opps are not common, so they can’t be wasted. G^d made us for relationship—with Him and with others.

Let’s relate!

Another Deer Season

Each Autumn brings along another chance to enjoy the outdoors. Fall is the season of leaves turning, and the start of another deer season. Archery season began 15 October, as always, but we were in the midst of a month of travels not ending until the beginning of November.

For one reason or another, I only did three archery hunts this fall. I was supposed to hunt with my great hunting buddy, Mark, but his Chemotherapy derailed those plans. To be honest, my enthusiasm is the weakest it has been—ever. I am not sure why. My right foot/ankle problems have continued, and that has detracted some. We had our Grace Men’s retreat, and that took up a Friday and Saturday. I think too, retirement has made me a bit lazy, and that combined with the loss of energy consequent to old age has taken some wind our of my sails.

But, I write this blog from a beautiful spot in Greene county, where I have seen scores of deer through the years. And, yesterday afternoon I got to hunt with my grandson, J. AG hunted with Andrew and that family hunt was a lot of joy.

The stillness of the early morning, and the quietness of these fields and woods are a rate treasure in this day and age. And, there is always the thrill of high expectations. This could be the year I kill my biggest buck ever!

Hope springs eternal. What is your hope?

A Happy Veteran's Day

 I am a bit perplexed by how Veteran's Day has changed in the last few years. Today I started with the FIRST in modern times Veteran's Day Parade in downtown Northport.  It wasn't too big, but was a nice thought. Then it was a FREE carwash at OverFlow. About 1 PM I took granddaughter Hazel and we went first to Texas roadhouse for a coupon for a free meal, then for 10 Wingbites, plus fries and soda for free for veterans. We couldn't eat it all. From here we went to TCBY for a free 6-oz yogurt that was delicious.  Then we swung by Krispy Kreme for a free donut and coffee.  Our last stop was at Smoothie King where we got a very good 20oz mango-papaya smoothie.  Whew, I couldn't eat it all.

And, whereas we enjoyed the feast, the thought was even sweeter. It is always nice to be appreciated, and this seems a massive ramp-up in gratitude. And, that has a message for us all. We all ought to DISPLAY gratitude as deeply and often as we can. Robert Winfield McKenzie said that, "We are closest to G^d when we show gratitude."

Indeed!

It's a small world isn't it?

 I have a Faculty Commons friend, John B, whose wife, Steph has a brother Tim. Tim was a youth pastor near the University of Alabama. Tim married a UA alumna named Shelly, and after several years moved to Sumter, SC.

Across the Atlantic, I have a Cru friend, Courtney, who grew up in Sumter and ministers in Roma, Italy. During my recent mission trip to Roma, Courtney related this story.

One sunny summer day Courtney is visiting her family in Sumter and takes her kids to a local park. She marvels that the park is almost empty, but there are two women nearby chatting.

Courtney overheard a few words from the women and is surprised to hear a conversation about Christianity. Courtney politely enters the conversation.

The lady speaking, Shelley, relates a story from her undergraduate days at the University of Alabama. She recalls hearing a professor speak on the topic of "How to make better grades and have more fun." Courtney recognized the title of this talk because she had heard it a few years earlier given by Phil Bishop to some students in Rome, Italy.

Shelley goes on to say that for some reason that Christian talk really impacted her life. Furthermore, after I contacted Shelley, she told me that she knows my daughter Kelly. They lived together ~ 97-98. Shelley heard the talk the fall of her freshman year, which was 1994.

Most likely the speaker who had given that talk was Dr. Rae Mellichamp or me.

So I have just heard a story in Roma, Italy about a talk given years before in Alabama, told by an alumna who is sister-in-law to one of my friends.

It's a small world isn't it?

Here's a little more to the story as related by Shelley.

The lady I was chatting with at the park has two high school sons who she homeschools. She was sharing that they struggle with getting their work done and being able to be involved in other activities. So, I shared about the how to make better grades and have more fun talk because it really helped me order my schedule in college! I told her I bet we could find a YouTube video of the talk ! Then this other mom (Courtney) whose kids were playing near by interjects that she is on staff with Cru and that they still give that talk, we ended up having a great conversation about the Lord

And just an added cool part of the story ,my friend and I had invited another lady, who is not a believer and has young kids, to the park. A few days later I was talking to her and she was really amazed how God could use a talk about making good grades to connect people. She said, I didn’t really think God cared about small details in our lives like that! Which of course has lead to some great conversations. She has not become a believer but we can see the lord working!

Beautiful Leaves

Bre and I drove up to Annapolis recently. We caught the leaves at near peak color I would say. Some of them were magnificent, and the bright sun magnified the effect.

We had a little color south of B’ham. The color got better and better all the way to our detour in NC. From there northward it was terrific. This same time last year we were driving between Charleston, SC and Eu Clair, WI. We had great leaves that trip too.

G^d made a beautiful world indeed. Who would have thought to hide these colors under green chlorophyll, and make the reds come alive with the waning sunlight. I have heard it said that one of the most frustrating things for atheists is to feel grateful and have no one to whom to express it.

Well, Thank you L^rd for the beautiful Fall colors.

And yes, we got NO photos of leaves!

Just Another Honeymoon

Bre and I just did two trips back-to-back. We think of these trips as “just more honeymoon”. As I have recounted before, we travel a bit more than most, I’d say. We are right now driving back from Annapolis, which was preceded by a trip to NC, which was shortly preceded by a trip to Panama City Beach. Before that we were in southern OH, and before that in Milwaukee.

But, if we look back we have many, many more trips as part of our honeymoon. What prompted this was driving by Sweetwater, TN where is the “Lost Sea” and underground lake. We went there on our first honeymoon.

We do love traveling together. We both feel our favorite travelers are each other—and after 50 years that’s pretty sweet! Mostly we drive these days. Rather, mostly Bre drives and I work on this laptop. But we both enjoy it and make the most, pretty much, of what G^d has given us.

After 50 years of marriage, we know how to honeymoon much better than we did right after our weeding. Heck we were total rookies. Now we are veterans!

So, here’s to many more honeymoons.