méli-mélo

Daniel and Flor (meaning flower) were married Saturday night with a couple hundred people as witnesses. People are married in a civil ceremony as well as a religious one. According to Les and Rita who conducted the religious ceremony we attended, the two of them were very nervous.

I was asked by Erick, Daniel's father, to take the pictures. I had to remind them to smile, they were so serious. They both looked really good though. After the ceremony which included a supper and some musical entertainment (marimbas and flute with piano accompaniment), both Daniel and Flor stayed by until 11pm to clean up the church, load chairs, move benches and load gifts into their vehicle. I thought they would have better things to do.

On a very different note, I was shaken by a story of three girls beheaded on their way to a Christian school in Indonesia. Pray for their families and for Christians in Indonesia.

The power went out just as I was about to blog last night. My unlimited power supply did not work.

A couple days ago a man came by selling big baskets for $8. We bought one for laundry from him. A couple hours later, we bought oranges from a man who was carrying a huge (I mean massive) bag of oranges - selling them at about 50 oranges for $1. We bought 25 and I juiced them by hand immediately. A bit zingy, but for 50 cents, it was pretty good.

I finally broke down and bought Lux, a risk style computer game, online. They have Canada Risk and Montreal Risk and dozens of others like WWII, Vietnam, Europe, etc... Dean has it too, so we'll be able to play online together. I haven't told him yet. Unfortunately, I can't play Settlers of Catan online anymore, something about my connection.

Walter was just over for his English lesson and after studying directions on a Guatemalan map, we decided to plan a canoe trip from Tactic to Livingstone for November 2006. I envision taking a bunch of the young men from the church as a retreat. I sure my friend John Fraser would be proud.

Last night, Rita preached on the fact that Christianity should not be a religion. Religions are human methods of pleasing and appeasing God or gods. Christianity is a relationship where both parties willingly give. She shared the message with a lot of clarity. It is a message people need to hear everywhere - Canada and Guatemala.

Blue Steel

Blue Steel. I think it works. I think it really works.

Happy Birthday Les!

He turns 50 today.

Rita threw a surprise party for him last night. As I was riding back with him (Johnny and Erick were in the other van), we were told to try and delay him in Guatemala City after dropping off the team at the airport. I had to make some purchases in the capital, so that was all I could muster. I knew he had work to do and he was tired (we got up at 3:30 am) so I didn't really want to delay him too much. His party was at 4:30 and we left the capital at 10 am. Just 38 km out of the capital, traffic stopped. We travelled 15 kms over the next 2 1/2 hours because of a transport truck that tipped onto the highway. So, we arrived just in time for the party. Johnny figures God caused the delay. I'm not so sure, but it did work out quite well. Les and I discussed many ideas on the road.

Many people came to the outdoor party (it was a bit cold and windy) and spoke kind words to him. I shared a few words, and although having started my short speech in English, I ended up speaking the whole thing in Spanish.

New Brunswick men came and went

I have 15 new friends in New Brunswick.

They came to do some work on the school in Chicoy. This work ended up being diging out the final holes for the foundation to the second building (for the bathrooms) and then building the rock and mortar foundation for the future concrete block 2-story structure. The foundation is about a metre deep into the ground with some corners another metre deep - the earthquakes here can be quite devastating, so the builders take extra precaution). I pitched in for 3 days and worked alongside them with a shovel and pick and buckets of mortar. I chose not to use gloves to toughen up my girly teacher hands. It worked - lots of cuts, blisters, and calouses. Nice.

So, as an Acadian, I had some preconcieved notions as to what this band of loyalist descendents would be like. I was dead wrong. They had very tender hearts and God spoke them quite strongly through the kids at Chicoy. I think they are all going to sponsor at least one child and then get others from their area to sponsor too.

I visited quite a few villages with them: Pombatch, San Antonio, Chicoy, and a place really far up a mountain where a church is pastored by a 74 year old man who just recently received a bed to sleep on from Impact Ministries. We ended the trip with a day in Antigua where the guys tried out their bargaining skills at the market (they are very nice guys, and they paid for it). We also had a very wonderful sharing time the night before they flew home yesterday. Some very touching words from all of them. I will miss them.

there and back again in 23 hrs

2:50 AM is our rendez-vous time outside my house. I meet up with Walter my neighbour, Oscar (a fellow teacher) and Eddie, Heber, and Johnny (students at Beerseba) in the light rain. Les picks us up in his Kia van and we hook up with Estuardo and Erwin and their big cattle truck. Eric misses the departure despite our best efforts to wake him.

Our first destination is a church compound in Guatemala City, three hours away. There is very little traffic, but that makes us an easy target for the police. We are asked to pull over three times in as many hours because of our suspicious behaviour - traveling at night with a big truck full of cargo. We had loaded the truck earlier this evening with pasta, sugar, soap, clothing, five barrels of dehydrated soup from the Okanogan Gleaners, salt, and corn flour. The suspicion is that we are transporting wood, a felony without proper licensing in Guatemala from what I am told. We are let off without any problems each time.

The sun rises as we enter the city limits of the capital. We wind through the perimeter highway to Zone 11. Ministers are waiting for us at the Tierra Prometida Ministerios with the rice, water, beans, blankets, sugar, and vitamin enhanced porridge which was purchased on our behalf with money donated by Guatemalans and Canadians who responded to this need. We load the truck and head to Pollo Campero for breakfast. Our truck is full



My primary duty on this expedition is to document with video and photo. As I pull out my little Canon DV Camcorder to record the awesome view of both fuego and agua volcanoes (fire and water), I realize that I left it on and have consequently killed the battery. Hmmm.

The vistas on our journey from the capital to Lake Atitlan fill our tired senses. Fields of sugar cane and a plant they use to dye food red line the busy road. Les and I spend our entire time in the van chatting about Acadian history, Mennonite history, the vision of Impact Ministries and other topics, less noble.

We drive south, then west, then north through the coastal plains to bypass the mountains. The sun shines bright. It is much warmer here than in Tactic. I'm thankful for the air conditioner and a little cold.

We meet Jorge at our junction to the north road that will take us to San Lucas de Tolimán on the shore of Lake Atitlan. He speaks like a Canadian and a Guatemalan. He's lived in B.C. and Calgary for several years. His father leads the Tierra Prometida Ministerios that we are collaborating with. Our caravan winds through the villages, some cleaning up from flooding, others visibly untouched by Hurricane Stan. This road has just opened on Thursday. Today is Saturday. We drive over a makeshift bridge and see to our right how our road has been washed out about two metres deep and six metres wide. Huge boulders line parts of the road where they have been moved to clear the way. These same boulders rolled through villages from way up high. The devastation here is astonishing. It has been 10 days since the hurricane loosened the earth in the mountains and the people have been busy cleaning up. People scrub the outside of their houses one metre high where mud stains the walls. People shovel mud out of their homes onto the already massive piles of muck still stinking.



We reach our second checkpoint in San Lucas at noon. Many people from the ministry have been busy here. They have separated many goods into family bags to ease the distribution process.

Jorge has the same Canon camera as me, so he charges my battery quickly and I'm back in the game.

Many hands move the supplies from our truck to the middle of a meeting hall. We eat and load three pickup trucks with enough staples for the three hundred eighteen people living in the Nazarene Church in Santiago Atitlán. The rest of these supplies will stay at this centre to be delivered tomorrow to 3 other hospices.

The drive to the church allows us to see further devastation and the beauty of the volcanoes surrounding Lake Atitlan. Jorge shares local legends over the walkie-talkie as we marvel at the sites. It is three in the afternoon when we arrive at the refuge. There are children everywhere and many many women in the Spanish imposed traditional dress of the Tzutujil people group.

Our men unload the pickups in a passing line and pile the supplies at the front of the church. The leaders, including Les, share with the refugees who we are and why we are here. Prepared soup and tortillas are served to the hungry. I visit with a man with a big smile named Jose Mesia-Chavez. He lost his home, clothes, and food at 3:00 AM ten days ago. He is smiling because none of his family were killed. A landslide woke them up and they were able to escape through their door and flee to safety as their house was toppled over and buried along with all he had to provide his family with.

I snap photos of people eating and being served. Then they begin to call family names. The boys from our church stand ready with a blanket, bag of soup, bag of rice, bag of soaps, and two bags of various food staples (beans, corn flour, salt, sugar, water, Gatorade to fight dehydration, oil, instant noodles, enriched porridge and more). The people stand in waiting ensuring that they do not miss their name. Those whose names are missed have their items set aside on the platform.

I film as Les interviews an older man who has lost his wife. The widower has known God for 45 years. He has also lost his house and all he owns.

A woman is interviewed who has lost a finger and has huge lacerations on her other fingers on her right hand. She was reaching for her father when she received the cuts.

Another woman lost her 3-month old baby and her house when the river swept them away. I have a 3-month old baby. This same mother has a 6-year old son who is recovering now from a massive headwound.

Les and I managed to keep ourselves together to finish the interviews. It was hard to see these stonefaced women, who suffer unimaginably, answer questions.



We then retraced our path with stops in San Lucas and Guatemala City to pick up the truck and to eat. I had a headache when we got to the capital. I don't know if it was from the heat, the lack of water, hunger, emotional distress, lack of sleep, or the intense diesel fumes. It just hurt. I was silent for about an hour approaching the capital. Les bought me 1000 mg of acetaminophen at a pharmacy next to the Pollo Camero. They cost Q1.10 (about 17 cents). They really hit the spot.

Les and I share heart stories all the way home as five guys sleep behind us. The truck weaves frighteningly along the road ahead of us as we cross numerous mountain ridges.

We arrive at 1:30 AM and I check my email and head to bed in my house where my wife and baby boy are sleeping.

Off to bring relief

What a priviledge to carry the gifts from our church here in Tactic and gifts from Canadian Donors to the refugees of the mudslides southwest of us. According to some reports there are as many as 200,000 homes destroyed or damaged. Mixed reports say that 652 people are confirmed dead with the number rising possibly to 1000 from the initial hurricane damage and the town of Panabaj was completely buried, pop. 1400. So, to me, this reads as over 2000 dead in Guatemala alone. We're leaving at 3 am tomorrow morning to bring the food and supplies and already the reports on this catastrophe which doubled the death toll in New Orleans/Mississippi have left the newswires. I guess there's nothing left to say - people know what needs to be known.

We're going to El Salvador in a couple weeks to bring relief supplies to a hurricane, volcano and earthquake stricken country. It will be the first mission trip from our little Mayan town. I post updates as to what we're doing right here.

Incidentally, if you would like to donate to our particular relief fund, you can go through Impact Ministries.

3 months, 3 weeks, 3 hours

Blaise turned 3 months yesterday. He's a big boy now. He's slept 5 nights straight through in a row now. Very very precious.

Amber and I have been in Guatemala 3 weeks today. It feels like much longer as it feels very familiar already and Canada feels quite distant despite the ability to chat with almost everyone. Today the students at Beerseba graduate, five different classes do. I put together an 11 minute tribute to the students who attributed their success to God, parents, sponsors, and teachers. I wonder if many of these students would have learned to read if the school had not existed.

I left a little gadget attached to my iPod last night that serves as a mic and a mini speaker. The iPod had an alarm set for 3:50 am which we used 3 weeks ago to wake up in Calgary to load the car and drive to the airport to stand in line for 1 1/2 hours. Anyway, it went off with "Chunari, Chunari... " blaring. Man, from a deep sleep, that's such a weird feeling when you're not expecting it. I bolted out of bed thinking someone was at the door or my phone was ringing. Well, I didn't sleep too well after that because at about the same hour, and I've heard this before in the middle of the night, the sound of 50 swine being slowly butchered one by one with dogs barking rang steadily for about 1 1/2 hours. It turns out as the vehicle approached the house at about 5:30, that it was just a truck running with loose fan belts and a really loud diesel engine. Then I got up with my son and I just finished changing him after his first feed in 9 hours. I don't think he thought it was a knife coming down on hogs when he heard the sound.

Mud Slides and many dead

"Our Guatemala is in pain." A man in our town square this morning was speaking into a microphone.

Tactic, where we live, there are no effects of Hurricane Stan, but it is so much easier to empathize with the people affected by the mud slides when you recognize the faces as those of your neighbours. Almost 2000 are feared dead. That's nearly double the death toll of Katrina which held CNN hostage for 2 weeks. Thousands more are homeless, many of whom are taking refuge in churches and Christian schools. Our church is giving money and support that we will personally bring down to help known existing ministries in the Lake Atitlan area. I may have the opportunity to go with Les to do this on Tuesday. We have to wait until roads and bridges are returned to usable condition. We're bringing rice and dried soup and blankets and money. We will bring whatever money is donated to Impact Ministries for these victims, you can call and make a donation Monday (business hours Pacific Time Zone).

public confession

A man stood before his church this evening. He opened his heart and let his guilt be exposed before his parents, his siblings, his girlfriend, his friends and some strangers. His girlfriend is pregnant and his sin is exposed. The reaction of the church was complete grace. The church leaders surrounded him with hugs and prayers of forgiveness. His family embraced him with complete acceptance. His confession allowed for this. The blood of Christ allowed for this. He didn't keep his sin hidden. Their child will be well regarded in this church community. The child's parents will be well looked after and they won't be looked down upon because he made himself vulnerable.

What would have happened in my church back home. No mention. Maybe a visit from some concerned people. I don't think a confession would have happened, let alone publicly. It would be winked at. There's no healing in this. There's no community in this. People would have been gracious, but I think the hidden sin's effect would stick. Public confession, at least in a small community, carries with it the healing power. The larger the group, the greater the healing, the vaporization of shame. It was literally one of the most beautiful moments I have experienced in church.

We're Cool

Just so everybody knows, we were not, nor shall we be in the path of Hurricane Stan. But thanks for your concern. School was cancelled nationwide for two days though. Gave me a chance to go up to Fray Bartolome, about a 3.5 hour drive from Tactic. Limestone mountains, green ridges, and palm trees dotted the way there. Les, Rita, and Vicky interviewed some teachers there.



I've been teaching guitar pretty steadily to a few students. Discovered that guitar strings are less than half the cost they are in Canada. These kids are really tenacious, they'll be playing C#M7 in no time.



Hey Carl, would this be considered as desecrating a basketball?

If I could do anything I wanted to today...

I would not change a single thing.

I meant to post this yesterday. I got up and made some coffee for me and a guest. Edited some old footage to help clear my hard drive. Played with my son. Brought my PowerBook to an internet cafe as Impact Ministries interent connection was down and downloaded 4 days of emails. Walked through town to pick up a video cassette, 2 mousetraps (ratoneras), yogurt, and cheese.Had a meeting with Les, Rita, Amber, and Michelle. Gave Walter an English lesson. Helped Amber make supper. Attended the youth meeting at the school with a couple dozen youth and teachers from the school where each person shared either a song or an instrumental or a verse and word from God. It was really, really good. Some real soul. Then I came home and Skyped with Mom and sent a few emails out, now that we're back online.

Today, it's raining gently. I taught the Cuarto Primera class English and I have another couple classes later this morning. Blaise has slept 2 whole nights straight this week. He's a little man and he loves it when I blow into his face. He takes a quick breath and then smiles wide and sometimes laughs.

We attended Vicki's birthday party on Monday night. It was a surprise. When she entered, Hector and Hector David lit firecrackers, lots of them. The feast consisted of baked potatoes, beans, tortillas, salsa, bbq chicken, bbq steak, bbq sausage, and cake with delicious pineapple melon juice to drink. It was a good time. Though I understand a lot, it's still too difficult to engage in group discussions, so I stick to one on one conversations where I can stumble through sentences under more grace.

Avocados - 25 cents each

... and they're green and ripe! Ripe when they're green!!!

I'm learning Spanish pretty well. I figure by Christmas time I'll be quite fluent. This immersion thing is as good as theory declares it to be. I have an English protogé, my neighbour/friend/coworker Walter. We're having lots of fun laughing about the b-v interchangeability and -ed extensions. My English students at school have taught me a lot too. When playing hangman, they put spaces for what they say is an English word (it's English class, so I've placed natural restrictions on the game - no Spanish words) and it ends up being a local town name Paranaagulisijuaquorira or something like that. My marker dude was hung. I've also been commissioned to produce the graduation video - lots of fun to participate in here.



I've set up my office, my temporary office I should say as I will have to clear out when a short term team comes here to stay for a week at a time. It's great! I've got a closet for all my mini DV tapes, books, discs, RCA cables, tools, games, and frisbee. My desk is a slightly warped 6' X 3' table and on it... iMac, PowerBook, iPod, speakers, 3 external HD, miniDV camera, cell phone, and digital camera. Pretty sweet. It's almost like Carl's spread!

[note to zaakistan.como fans: new pictures posted. Got connected to ftp with the help of Dave in Calgary, our network administrator by proxy]

Birthday Blessings

I just returned home in the rain (fortunately I live next door) from a youth meeting. This week celebrated the September birthdays of some kids in the group. After eating pizza and visiting with people jamming in a corner and after a 30 minute time of open worship and prayer and after a story about El Spiritus Sanctus, girls gathered around their girl friends who had birthdays this month and likewise for the boys. They prayed for eachother without being shy about their devotion to their friends. It was really beautiful.

Elsewhere in our exhilarating lives... I've taught some elementary classes and one of the teachers named Walter (he also leads the youth group) English and I've taught a couple guitar lessons... in Spanish. Brutally funny. I have 17 guitar students divided in 3 groups. We've also moved to the back room of our house, with the help of Rolando, so that we aren't so close to the main road where big trucks barrel down early in the morning and in the afternoon. Mind you, as I write this at 9pm, there is a group of about 12 youth beside the back of our apartment enjoying a lively discussion which I know is keeping Amber awake (I think Amber needs sleep callouses so that she will be able to sleep through explosions and floodlights, this way I'll be able to read in bed before The End comes). We have closets in this room too which is fab.

Amber and I were treated to lunch by Rita, Les and Vicky. It's so good to know that we'll be spending so much time with these people of vision, rather than just a quick visit.

God's presence sure is great.

[note to those zaakistan.com fans: I'm having severe difficulties connecting to my website via ftp, so I'll post pictures and such when this devastating issue is resolved. Hang in there! Life without regular updates will prevail, I think.]

fwd-rwd

Bought a Nokia 1108 phone today in Coban. Bought two, same color for Amber and I. Paid Visa and was able to call Alberta directly from Guatemala immediately - no wait, no hassle, no contract.

Bought tree ripened bananas for 1 Quetzal (approx CAN$0.15). Bought six, same color for Amber and I. Paid cash and was able to walk home immediately with them within 3 minutes - no gas, no crosswalks, no rip-off.

Praise God we're here and we're so glad that we are!

Well zaakistan.com visitors, after months and months of planning and prayer and excitement and stress here and there and a lot of packing and a trip to Calgary and 2 flights and a great rest in the capital and a 3 hour drive from Guatemala City: we're here in our new home with an internet connection and beds (lots of them!) and a roof over our heads to keep us dry (lots of rain). We've here for about 90 minutes already. We're thankful and jubilant right now.

I've got our 5 large luggage pieces and 2 smaller ones to unpack, so I'll tell the detailed story of our journey in the future, perhaps, if there's nothing else exciting happening in the next couple days, so stay posted. Send us an email if you want.

Blaise has started to laugh in the past 24 hours. Very cute laugh and he's so big. He's in his swinging bed right now and he seems much lower than Tuesday night when he last slept in it.

5 weeks, now 3

Oh man. This has been a whirlwind summer. I haven't had time to think of the next 3 weeks.

So we had a great time in Montreal. Groovy place! I miss it even now. Tennis is the rain. Food that I've never heard of before. Quick friends. Gosh.

And then to Acadie. Grande-Memere could make Blaise smile so easily. Pepere turned 55. We visited a vinyard and Cap d'Or and Kevin and Pam and Peter and Shari and Jeff and Marta and Jean-Pierre and Sherry. Such a rich life there. And stars. Canoed a bit too.

We fly to Guatemala on the 23rd of Sept. I have to check online to see if my flight is still good as a bunch of flights are being cancelled due to this supposed fuel shortage. But, man, too many logistics to think of to really think of what life will be like there.

Is anyone else out there listening to Arcade Fire?

Now we're trying to pack in as much visiting with friends and family as possible and figure out which 280 lbs of our possessions we will bring to our new home. Check out www.zaakistan.com/guatemala/support.html for more details about our move.

Amber's funny today. Especially funny I should say.

Vacation Midpoint

Exhale. Inhale.

Amber is in Montreal with my baby boy. I'll be joining them and visiting my good friends on Thursday. Until them, I'm holding up in Red Deer at mom's.

On July 25 we moved out of Spruce Grove and into my mom's house in Red Deer where we'll be storing our stuff during our stay in Guatemala. Then on the 27th, we shot up to Smithers to visit Amber's relatives and we were treated to some delectables and great company and the Kispiox Music Festival. Aunties Emily and Jessica, Grandma, Greatgrandma and Greatgrandpa and a host of great aunts and uncles fell in love with Blaise. After a week we drove to Squamish to see Aunt Salome and the gang at her house. I climbed the Chief with Sal and Ron and Ride. We spent a day in North Vancouver with Amber's relatives and had a piece of a 51 lb salmon Uncle Sam caught in the Queen Charlottes. Good stuff. We motored through the Washington desert to Moscow Idaho to visit Remy and Bethany and their 2 kids and the Joneses. Some sweet garden veggies - oooh the zucchini. Amber and I used our won stay at the Lizard Creek Lodge in Fernie (see my early April blog) where we ??? SLEPT!! and the luxury - 2 bathrooms, 3 beds, dishwasher, fireplace. Blaise took 2 baths.

I'm well rested now. Ready to go again. Mom was pretty pleased to see Blaise again though.

sleep, oh precious sleep

Blaise was born yesterday and I'm so, so joyful. But I can not rest. every gurgle and whimper wakes me. I've slept about 3 1/2 hours since Amber went into labour - or 5 1/2 hours since 9 am Tuesday - now 5 am Thursday.

Our goals for today: change our sheets and

I forgot the other goal. I am driving grandma Judy to the airport now. buy.

Wow, everyone was totally right about being tired for the rest of my life. It sort of hurts.

Blaise is gorgeous though. Wow, no cry will upset me, just gets me to find the source of his discomfort. I love fatherhood. Wow, and Amber is amazing. This is such a rush.

July 10 - due date.

Amber to Zaak: Maybe if you read to my tummy, he'll want to come out and see the pictures.

Amber imitating Zaak: Amber's holding my baby hostage.

Amber singing: I need you baby.

Amber lamenting: I'm tired of being pregnant.

Single Friends

Last night, Amber and I were photographed by Justin. This guy is awesome. Why he isn't beating women away with a stick? Photographer. Musician. Chef. Graphic Artist. Racquetballer. Eastern Canadian. Valedictorian. Generous.

This is one shot he took last night.


So many great guys: Alan, Kurt, Brian, Kris, Ty, Kevin, Mati, Shane, Karel, Gary, Landon, etc...

Cupid. I could be cupid if I weren't so hairy. We have diapers, but they are pretty small (newborn to 6 months).

So many fabulous ladies too.

I sang a Caedmon's Call song at a awareness concert for eating disorders back in 2002.

Table for Two:

Danny and Ispent another late night over pancakes
Talkin' 'bout soccer and how every man's just the same.
We made speculation on the who's and the when's of our futures
And how everyone's lonely but still we just couldn't complain.

And how we just hate being alone.
Could I have missed my only chance,
And now I'm just wasting my time
By lookin' around

But ya know I know better, I'm not gonna worry 'bout nothin'.
Cause if the birds and the flowers survive, then I'll make it okay.
If given a chance and a rock see which one breaks a window.
See which one keeps me up all night and into the day.

Because I'm so scared of being alone
That I forgot what house i live in.
But it's not my job to wait by the phone
For her to call.

Well this day's been crazy but everything's happened on schedule,
from the rain and the cold to the drink that I spilled on my shirt.
'Cause You knew how You'd save me before I fell dead in the garden,
And You knew this day long before You made me out of dirt.

And You know the plans that You have for me
And You can't plan the end and not plan the means
And so I suppose I just need some peace,
Just to get me to sleep

I got stuck in a DVD vortex

Went to town-killer tonight to see if there were any good headphones there, there weren't. But Wal-Mart has this three foot deep bin full of $7.88 DVDs. Of course, when you're as addicted as I am to owning all good films on DVD, you must see every title. I realized and pondered my own addictive behaviour as I pawed through Police Academy 5 - Operation Miami and Presumed Innocent DVDs. Of course I did see every title except for about 10 in a corner just to satisfy myself, to prove to myself for the time being that I was able to stop at anytime. I didn't look up to see if anyone was watching me.

I got the strap from my principal

I told my grade 11 math students I would write a blog post for them tonight.

Tonight they were awarded for their accomplishments in academia, athleticism, and encouragement. Many many well deserving kids. I congratulated many parents on their children's accomplishments. Though, the entire notion of recognition alongside others who are not awarded... tough call. I think of kids who are strong in areas of their life that aren't categories for awards. Yet there are some kids that do stand out - who are stepping out in their gifting - pretty cool to see these characters and what they can accomplish. Last Thursday, Nik showed the films the grade 9-12 students produced. I was thoroughly impressed at the level of skill and intuition that these students have. In some ways, their skills dwarf mine and then I get discouraged and set aside my own projects. Alas! Whatever. I'll continue film editing and producing till I die, even if my films don't receive recognition.

Tonight I got recognized for leaving - I got a brand new maple leaf guitar strap - which I need, I've been using my mandolin strap on my acoustic the past 7 years. Keith, my principal presented it to me. Great stuff. Ken, one of the fathers, prayed for me, that I would be blessed with clarity in hearing God in the coming years while we will be in Guatemala.

-- I promised to post their names as well (in alphabetical order to avoid the notion of favoritism): Aimee Angele, Andrew, Brittney, Danielle, Diana, Jennifer, Krista, and Shara-Rae.

(incidentally - the spell checker for blogger doesn't recognize the word "blog")

The Man & The Dude Dichotomy

Nik called me The Man on Saturday night. I'd rather be The Dude. Alan calls me dude. Not really anyone else. Nik rationalizes that I am The Man because I am a teacher, an authority figure. I'll be a father soon and that makes me The Man too. But I feel more like The Dude. I don't buy into The Educational System but... well, I have to do something and I love the exuberance of youth and I love learning and sharing the experience. Lebowski - he's The Dude, but I don't buy into everything he stands for either, well, maybe I do, have to watch the movie again.



Been reading J-J Rousseau's "Emile." Nice stuff. He figures babies should be bathed in warm water, but slowly weaned off of it and ultimately bathed in cold water to build their strength and tolerance. Lots of good stuff though. I'm stirred by his statements of father as the teacher of the child and as soon as we shirk that responsibility and attempt to pass it to someone else, we mislead the child and lead him down a path of darkness. No one else can teach the child. I'm honestly glad to have been taught by my father. He took a real interest in teaching me about society, history, geography, sports, music, politics, and spirituality. He's a good Man. I want to be a good Man too, with hints of Dude.

Love, White Balls, and Queen Elizabeth II

Ah! People in love.

We spent a good portion of Saturday with our newly engaged friends Sabrina and Trent. Sabrina's sister Myra was married in a tiny ceremony back in October and her reception was held on Sunday. The sisters were nice and emotional during the toast. I recall my sister's wedding - I had a good cry then (nothing against Dean, just lots of emotion). And then there's the baby coming of our little one. I can hardly go a few minutes without stifling squeals of anticipation. We asked our friends Sarah and Tim how they were able to tear their eyes away from their baby after it was born. They said it's still a struggle 8 months later.



Jason is a golfer. So the morning of his wedding reception, he amassed his family and friends to play 18 holes. The only golf I had ever played was miniature golf and one hole my senior year of high school in P.E. I was partnered up with Trent and Clive, both experienced, and both patient. Par for the course is 72. I managed 75 over par. I have a much deeper respect for golfers and currently I hold no aspirations to become one - though it was a lot of fun - I just don't think I have enough cash to shell out for broken windows and lost golf balls.



I saw Ralph
I saw the Premier
I saw the Queen in her royal rain gear.

Cold. Rainy. Cut short. She didn't say anything. The warm mini doughnuts were great. The presentations were cool. Almost passed out at the park-n-ride bus lot with all the diesel fumes.

Distant Thunder

7-10 band is coming together nicely. Our spring concert is May 26. Our primary cut is a piece called Distant Thunder of the Sacred Forest. Lots of rhythms, in fact I had to pull 2 wind musicians to play percussion. It sounded great today.

We had our summer tires put on today. It's been raining 2 days now. I think it's about 70% safe to proclaim that winter is over here.