This and that:

Lisa and I moved around the corner from where we have been since we arrived in Loma Linda in early December.  Because Lisa was extended three weeks at the last-minute – we were unable to keep our apartment and secured a room here in the Loma Linda Inn – literally not more than a hundred yards away.  The room is nice but is just that – a room.  We have already bumped into each other and feel cramped – but (trust me) we can survive these last eleven days.  (Hang on a minute – Lisa needs to get around me…, “My gosh! Will you get settled – Your knee is in my side”).  Ok – maybe this won’t be as easy as I thought.

We have made some friends who are here for the proton cancer treatment and had been living across from us at our apartment.  Richard and his wife are here from Arkansas (Little Rock) and he is undergoing the treatment for prostate cancer. He told me that there are three locations in the United States that provide proton cancer treatments and that Loma Linda University Hospital has the most experience and came highly recommended.  I hope to share more about the treatment and share that here on our blog.  They are extremely nice and we promised to look them up for dinner if we are ever in Little Rock.  One of the things Lisa and I have enjoyed most in our travels is getting to know people and we have stayed in touch with friends in Hanover, Pa. since we left there in October.

Lisa met a lady at her work whose (former) boyfriend married “Little Debbie” of the snack cake company.  I’m not kidding about this.  There really is a “Little Debbie” whose family owns the company and her face is who is seen on the box.  They live in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  I confess I’ve had a love affair with Little Debbie for a long time – “Devil Squares”, “Swiss Rolls”, and “Cherry Cordials”.

Lisa and I had to kill some time today waiting for our room and we visited some car lots to kick some tires.  Met a sales manager for the local Hyundai dealership whose aunt (his dad’s sister) married the Greenwell of Greenwell Chisholm printing in Owensboro.  He has been to Owensboro several times.  Small world indeed.

We were told today that when you live here long enough you can actually hear a rumbling before an earthquake hits.  Apparently you hear it before you feel it.  For most of the earthquakes we have had – I’ve not heard or felt them.  Lisa will also tell you – I wouldn’t notice a moose in our backyard.

See Everyone Soon!

Love, Steve and Lisa

Update: Lisa and I will start home on Thursday March 28th after she is done with work and we will try to get to Flagstaff Ar. On Friday our goal is to get to Oklahoma City and then be in Owensboro Saturday night (Easter Eve).  We have to move out of our apartment this Sunday and will spend the last week and a half at the Loma Linda Inn which is just around the corner.  It is essentially a hotel room – but we will make do.  We are excited to get home and spend time in Owensboro before Lisa’s next assignment – wherever and whenever that will be.

We have lived through some really bad weather situations in our lives – a couple of tornadoes, severe ice storms, and many high wind thunder storms come to mind.  Now we can add “earthquake” to that list.  In fact there have been five minor earthquakes felt here in Loma Linda in the four months we have been here – four in the last three weeks.  Lisa thought I had fallen out of bed last night only to realize it was yet another earthquake.  Fortunately – they have all been minor (5.2 or less) but have been enough to shake us up.

People who have lived in California seem to pay very little attention to earthquakes.  I would assume they blow them off about the way people at home ignore tornado watches.  But I am not gonna lie – these earthquakes scare the bejesus out of me.  There is something unnaturally powerful about the sound and reverberations earthquakes cause.  I can now fully appreciate their severity and understand their potential devastation.  No wonder places like Haiti were so decimated by the power of an earthquake.

Where once the drill was to get under a desk or something sturdy, now they tell everyone to exit any building during an earthquake and to be on guard for possible aftershocks.   So I have spent time running down our steps to get outside our apartment and have it down to about six seconds.  In recent days there have been some forecasting a bigger earthquake is possible – especially in the next seventy-two hours. I may just stay outside for the next three days – geez! They are also telling people to have two weeks of supplies at the ready in case of power outages and travel limitations. Ain’t no problem

Should something like that happen Lisa and I will be ready – we have a full tank of gas and a good map to get us home.  We will be out of here!

God willing we will see everyone in a couple of weeks.

Peace! Steve and Lisa

Here in California Lisa and I have discovered that one doesn’t have to look long for places of business specializing in hair, nails, eyelashes, or massages.  Those businesses are everywhere.  Lisa has tapped into the fake eyelash craze and is amazed at the amount of business at these places.  At twenty to thirty dollars a pop – I realize I missed my calling.  Forget college – heck I should have learned how to glue fake eyelashes on.  Maybe there is still time.

Lisa and I share many things in common and a healthy amount of differences to keep our marriage interesting.  She loves home improvement shows on television and I love sports.  She loves Lifetime movies – I love sports.  You get the idea.  But we share one common, frustrating trait that manages to rear its ugliness anytime we go to purchase shoes.  We both have really weird feet.

Lisa was blessed with nice looking feet but they are extremely small.  Let me put it this way – most of the time the only tennis shoes she can find that fit her size four and half feet – light up or have cartoon characters on them.  I am amazed she can stand up on those things.  It is especially frustrating for her seeing all the latest fashions here in southern California.  Unfortunately the women out here must have whopper size feet to fit into these things.  Now let me tell you about my dogs.

My feet are flat, wide, high arched, bunion jutted atrocities that even my kids refuse to look at.  When I say they are wide – let me explain.  They are WIDE – like 4E wide.  They are almost as wide as they are long.  Where Lisa’s feet seem almost out of balance to give her support – mine are so wide one would have to wonder if I could ever be knocked over with these things.  Most of the shoes I find to fit these freakish clown feet only come with velcro straps.  I am absolutely convinced that all shoe manufacturers sit back and laugh at the wide shoe styles they come up with.  I mean they not only are not stylish – most look like something that should be sold only in a medical supply store.  Could they at least put a stripe or add a little color or is there a weird shoe rule that wide sizes must come in only solid white or solid black without any other markings?  Come to think of it – maybe that is a good thing.  I don’t want to draw any more attention to these kayaks at the bottom of my stumpy legs than I have to.

Recently, Lisa talked me into going with her to one of the many nail places in Loma Linda for her to have her nails done and talked me into having a pedicure.  I actually felt sorry for the little Asian lady as she sat on the stool at the end of my recliner and watched as I removed my shoes and socks.  I did notice that once my file cabinet feet were revealed she turned the water up a little hotter and poured more of the disinfectant into it  She then motioned for me to place my feet in the water and they boiled for several minutes before she was (apparently) ready to place even her gloved hands on them.  But really – I don’t blame her.  If I didn’t have to put my shoes and socks on every day I wouldn’t touch em either.  After adequately disinfecting my Fred Flintstones, she proceeded to pick, clip, scrape, sand and massage before returning them back to more disinfectant and finally a clear coat of polish.  Wow! I could not believe it!  They were still the ugliest feet I had ever seen – even cleaned, clipped and polished.  I paid thirty bucks for that treatment and felt like I should have apologized to the nice lady and slipped her another twenty just for touching these things.

Soon I will be needing a new pair of tennis shoes and will once again go through the frustration of trying to find a cool looking pair of ten and half, quadruple “wides”.  I will go into the shoe store with high hopes thinking that Nike or Adidas or other name brand shoe companies finally gave in to that small population of people like me with two by six feet by giving them something with style.  I will see many really nice shoes on the shelves and not one of them will fit.  I will even try to squeeze into some of the needle wide “cool” shoes and limp around for a moment thinking they may work.  But then, realizing my bunion is about to pop some threads on the side and that my toes are turning blue – will return to the only pair of  “wides” in the store.  They will be a solid white pair with two velcro straps and given a really cool name like, “Air Comforts”.  They might as well call them, “Air Ugly Asses”.

So the search continues.  If you find some 4E’s for men or Barbie sized shoes for women – go ahead and buy them for us.  The check is in the mail.

Ouch and Out!

Steve and Lisa

Yorba Linda, California is about forty miles from Loma Linda and Lisa and I traveled there yesterday to visit the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.  Nixon was born on the property and the original farmhouse where he lived until the age of nine is still standing and can be viewed by visitors.  Nixon is probably the most controversial President in history and to view exhibits detailing the Watergate scandal seemed surreal.  The Museum holds nothing back about the scandal and eventual resignation of our 37th President.

But much that is displayed was memorable for Lisa and I beyond all the controversy.  The space program and Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon is highlighted as is the work Nixon did in China and, of course, Vietnam.  In one corner of the courtyard you can see Buzz Aldrin’s footprints imbedded in concrete and displays feature recordings of Nixon on the phone with the astronauts on the moon and food that was taken to the moon on Apollo 11 that was never opened.   Nixon’s presidency reminded Lisa and I of our childhood and many of the displays feature sets designed to reflect the 1960s.

I was struck with Nixon’s fortitude. We remember his resignation speech and the way he smiled and saluted when he and his family left the White House on the Presidential Helicopter.  His famous “you won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore” speech came after he lost the California governor’s race in 1962 and is detailed at the museum.  The amazing thing is that Nixon lost that election after serving eight years as Vice-President under Eisenhower.  And yet he came back in 1968 and in 1972 and won the Presidency.  It was impressive that the museum did nothing to hide the man’s defeats and I find that admirable.  It was interesting to Lisa and I that while living in Gettysburg – we visited Eisenhower’s farm and home located near the famous Civil War battlefield and here in California we were able to visit Nixon’s birthplace and realized they served as President and Vice-President together for eight years.

There is also some attention given to the famous Nixon meeting with Elvis Presley and we were told the photo of Elvis and Nixon together in the Oval Office is the most requested picture at the National Archives.

One room is dedicated to gifts Nixon received while in office.  Interestingly enough – presidents then were not allowed to keep any gift valued over $50.  Today that minimum amount is $350.  There is also a banquet room that is an exact replica of the White House “East Room” and workers were setting up for what looked like a wedding and reception while we were there.

The funniest story detailed at the museum is one about Nixon presenting Russian leader, Leonid Brezhvev with an automobile as a gift while at Camp David.  Bezhnev insisted on taking it for a ride around the camp and Nixon didn’t think he would live through the experience.  Brezhnev was taking turns designed for twenty miles an hour doing fifty.  Really funny to read and imagine those two in that car spinning around Camp David.

But, perhaps the most interesting part of the Nixon museum was touring the helicopter.  Seeing where the President and first lady sat as they were flown away from the White House after his resignation left me wondering what that ride must have been like and feeling a bit sad for he and his family.

Nixon and his wife, Pat, are buried on the museum’s grounds.

Take Care!

Steve and Lisa

Update:  Lisa learned yesterday that a request has been made to extend her contract here in Loma Linda, Ca. (for how long we don’t know).  Should that happen – she will request time off to go home and be with our daughter and son-in-law in time for the grand baby.  This is part and parcel of travel jobs in that we never know from one assignment to the next how long we will actually be in one place.  We will keep you posted.

I miss teaching the Bible.  For years I taught Bible studies at my church and miss the great conversations and discussions that would be generated.  Today I am doing something a little different with our blog – a Bible study.  If you want to go ahead and click off until our next post – feel free.  For those who want to keep reading – my hope is that this will generate enough interest that you will read the scripture for yourself.

In a few weeks (God willing) we will be home to celebrate Easter with our family and friends at our home church.  Lisa and I have missed the activities around our church and church family as we have struggled to find a church to settle with here in Loma Linda.  And as they say – there is no place like home.  Lisa and I are flattered knowing that people have followed our blog that don’t know us personally and being able to connect that way with strangers is really amazing.  It is with that in mind that I share the fact that we are Christian in our beliefs and the impact of Christ on our lives and our faith in His providence has sustained us in our travels.  If that turns some away from reading our blog we are sorry.  It is just who we are.

Recently I have been giving thought to the cross of Christ and spending time reading again the passion story as it is in scripture.  In my studies I have re-discovered some marvelous truths and have been challenged with some facts that make me question some of the things I have believed in the past.

1.  Did Jesus really ask God to not make him go to the cross?  I have always been told that Jesus agonized in the garden of Gethsemane over whether to go to the cross or not.  This common interpretation is that Jesus was begging God to not make him suffer.  But is that what he was praying?  I have a problem thinking that Jesus ever asked God to change his destiny.  Jesus had foretold his death to his disciples numerous times (Mark 9:31) and even in his prayer He said, “let this cup pass from me not as I will but as Thou wilt.”  Furthermore we read in Matthew 26:53 Jesus telliing his disciples who are ready to fight over his arrest, “do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”  In other words Jesus is saying all he would have to do is ask God to deliver Him and He would.  I conclude then that Jesus never asked God to take away the cup. To say Jesus asked to get out of going to the cross really is a problem for me.  I believe Jesus was saying – let this end quickly not the way I want but the way you want.

2.  Did Jesus carry His cross?  In Matthew, Mark and Luke we find the person of Simon of Cyrene being chosen by the soldiers to carry Jesus cross.  Tradition has it that Simon was a black man from an area of Africa which would be Libya today.  We just don’t know.  But the question I have is whether Simon really carried Jesus cross for Him.  The symbolism of the cross is so significant in that we know Jesus had to go to the cross – and go alone.  It was on Him and Him alone that the burden of sin was placed.  I struggle then to think how having a human being carry Jesus cross for Him works into that symbolism.  But maybe that is not what really happened.  If I try to pick up a ten foot beam and drag it along the ground – it will be a struggle.  If someone steps behind me and lifts the beam higher than I can lift it – I now am carrying the full weight of that beam.  I believe that is what happened with Jesus.  Knowing that he was already slumping from the beating He had recieved, I have to assume that when Simon lifted the back of the cross – the back was higher than the front which Jesus held. This forced Jesus to carry the full weight.

3.  Can we really grasp the horror of crucifixion?  Movies and depictions of the crucifixion have tried to capture the suffering of what dying on a cross was like.  I just sense there is no way that can be done accurately.  According to historians – many died due to the flogging – exposing ribs and bones to the extent that they bled to death before going to the cross.  Jesus lived for six hours on the cross and in that six hours he was forced to push up on the nails in his feet to catch a breath or else he would have suffocated.  Can we really fathom the level of Christ’s suffering?

4.  How many men were crucified with Jesus?  Tradition tells us that Jesus was with two other men who were also crucified.  However, when you do a parallel study of the gospels and look at all the facts – it may lead you to believe as I do that Jesus was one of four and possibly five crucified.  Consider the facts:

Matthew:  In chapter 28 verse 38, the scripture says “At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.”  That would seem to be evidence enough that there were only three.  But hold on.  With this verse we can only conclude that Jesus was between two robbers.  So we know there was at least three men crucified including Jesus and that Jesus was “between two robbers”.  But maybe there were more.

Mark:  The account of the crucifixion in is very close to that of Matthew with the description of Jesus being crucified between two robbers. See Mark 15:27.

Luke: Here we find more detail regarding two of the men hung with Jesus.  Luke describes these two as “criminals” and goes on to tell of the conversation between them with one “hurling abuse” at Jesus while the other is described “rebuking” the other criminal for his insults.  Is it possible there is a difference between “criminal” and “robber”?  Perhaps there were two robbers and two criminals along with Jesus.

John:  Now it gets interesting.  In John 19:18 we read, “There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between”. In the original text the word “one” is not there.  This would lead me to believe that there may have been five crucified.  After Jesus had died on the cross – John describes the soldiers coming to break the legs of those being crucified (which forced their suffocation since they would no longer be able to stand up on the nails in their feet to catch a breath).  John 19:32-33:  “The soldiers therefore came, and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other man who was crucified with Him. But coming to Jesus when they saw that He was already dead they did not break His legs.”  If I follow those verses carefully I have these soldiers walking down the line of crosses breaking the legs of those still alive.  If I am to assume there were only three – why would they break the legs of one – skip Jesus – break the legs of the other and then come back to Jesus in the middle only to find him already dead?  Putting all this together I conclude that Jesus was, in fact, crucified between two criminals and two robbers for a total of five.  Does any of this really matter?  Nope.  But maybe you will now read the story for yourself and ask these questions.

5.  “It is finished”.  These are (to me) the most powerful three words in scripture.  What is finished?  Where common interpretation of this verse is that Jesus is saying simply – his earthly life is finished, I happen to think He is saying far more.  The work of Jesus is finished.  We cannot add to or subtract from His finished work.  His work on the cross and His suffering and death in our place – reconciles once and for all our broken relationship with God who now sees us, His children, as blameless and without condemnation – not based on our ability to ever please Him – but based on Jesus finished work on the cross.  Romans 9 says it best – “Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God.”  If we are trying to earn God’s love – forget it!  It has been earned for us.  I love Christian speaker Steve Brown who on his radio show will offer listeners three free sins.  I get his point.  We are sinners and that will not change on this earth.  But scripture says our lives are now hidden in Christ.  In other words – when God sees us – He sees Jesus.  We are free indeed.  So live in that freedom.  The grace of the cross is the greatest truth known and yet one hard for many to accept.  It is a grace earned at a great cost (even “violent” according to Michael Card) and the last thing we should do is cheapen it by trying to “earn” it.

6.  Why was the stone rolled away?  Did Jesus need the stone to be moved in order to come out of the tomb?  Absolutely not!  The stone was rolled away not for Jesus to get out – but for us to look in and see that it was empty.  And that empty tomb is the great conundrum for the skeptics and atheists today.  They can deny Jesus was the Son of God.  They can call Him a fraud and a fake.  But they have never been able to explain that empty tomb.

Recently I read a powerful quote from Christian theologian Robert Capon.  “If Jesus did not arise from the dead then nothing else matters.  And if Jesus did rise from the dead then nothing else matters.”  I love that!

Happy Day!

Steve

     “I am packing my belongings in the shawl my mother use to wear when she went to the market and I am going from my valley”

One of my favorite books is Richard Llewellyn’s  “How Green Was My Valley”.  That opening line comes to mind as Lisa and I near the end of our stay here in Loma Linda, California.  Our “valley” for the past three months has not been a Welsh mining community as depicted in the book nor did my mother even have a shawl that I know of – in fact, the San Bernardino Valley (where we have lived since early December) is the antithesis of the world Llewellyn created.  Where his was one with soot filled skies and harsh winters, our winter here in southern California has seemed like paradise in comparison.  And yet we are excited to begin thinking about home as we prepare to go from our valley here in California’s “Inland Empire”.  We are not looking forward to the two thousand mile drive ahead of us – but it will probably seem like a quicker trip knowing we are finally going home.

We left Owensboro December 7th and will not get home until around March 12th.  In some ways this assignment has seemed much longer than our four and half month stay in central Pennsylvania.  Much of that has to do with being away at Christmas coupled with Lisa’s two-week delay in starting work which was frustrating, to say the least, and made those first two weeks (which included Christmas) even more painful and slow.

Finally, we managed to work our way into a routine and have adjusted to the pace and living conditions of the Pacific coast.  I have described it as ‘easy living’ and Loma Linda would really be a nice place to retire.  We will miss the palm trees, orange groves, blue skies, green grass and mountain vistas.  We will not miss the $4.50 gas prices, ambulance sirens going to the hospital two blocks away at all hours of the night, the radio obsession with the Lakers (it is all they talk about), or the spandex wearing -vegetable eating – bicycle riding – tofu loving – granola eaters.  (I believe I can get away with saying that if I end my diatribe with a “bless their hearts”).

Lisa had a job offer in Santa Rosa, which is about seven hours north of Loma Linda above San Francisco.  The job would have started March 11th but was for four weeks or longer.  That would just not work out for us as our first grandchild is on his way and we didn’t think Conner Jack would wait until the middle of April for us to get home.  So she declined their offer.  We are interested in a possible job in Washington DC.  Her recruiter was very excited about her putting in for that job which will begin in May.  We are somewhat familiar with the area and think it would be an interesting assignment. But for now, we are happy about being home for at least a month with our family.

We managed to finally get to “California Adventure” which is the Disney theme park adjacent to “Disneyland”.  It was absolutely fantastic.  We visited Disneyland several years ago and were really unsure if the $87 per person cost would be worth it.  It really was.  The newest area is called “Cars Land” and it is an exact life-size replica of “Radiator Springs” from the Pixar movie.  Even though Disneyland and California Adventure do not have the luxury of size that Disney World enjoys, they utilize their space amazingly well at both parks.  Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Finally – it is good to say: We will see you soon!

Steve and Lisa

Life here in southern California has been pretty exciting in recent days.  This week our little hamlet has been in the news – first for a terrible bus accident that killed eight and injured forty just outside Loma Linda. Lisa and I actually heard the sirens and helicopters bringing the bus crash victims to the hospital.  We did not know until the next morning what had happened and people at the hospital reported that it was one of the most horrific accidents in memory.

Now we learn there is a massive manhunt for a former LAPD officer who is on a killing rampage and whose car was spotted at Big Bear Resort, which is also just a few miles from us.

But the big news here is that Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard can’t get along.  It seems to be the only thing on the news these days.  Thank goodness the soap opera LA Lakers help keep our priorities straight.

This has been an interesting place to live – I would call it a world of contradictions.  Here we are in a place known for its healthy lifestyle and world renown hospital and medical school and yet I am alarmed at the number of homeless and destitute.  Jesus said the poor we would have always and I need to remember that human suffering is real everywhere – even in ‘Tinseltown’.

There seems to be a ‘stand off’ kind of attitude with people here.  According to a co-worker Lisa has gotten to know – people are friendly but have very few friends.  There is a sort of guarded reserve with people here and Lisa’s southern hospitality, just like in Pennsylvania, has made a positive impact on her workplace.  Recently she invited a co-worker to go to Disneyland with us and she was thrilled and shocked to be invited.  People just don’t normally reach out to others like that here. The other day she asked Lisa if they could stay in touch after Lisa returns home.  People want to have real friendships but struggle with knowing how.  Lisa and I have a heart for these who seem so lonely and shut off from others but who want to have people they can share life with.  It is my hunch that this problem is everywhere – not just here in California and I am sad about that.

In our travels Lisa and I have depended on each other in ways we never had to before in our married life.  Our hearts break when we see people eating alone and we cannot imagine living our lives without each other or without the friends and family in our lives.  In one of the most populated places in America we have discovered so many people living in desperate loneliness.

In four weeks we will head home to our family and friends – a fact we hope to never take for granted.

Life here in California can best be characterized as easy living.  Lisa and I came to that conclusion after recently driving on I-4 in Orlando Fla., a city known for Disney World but based on crime statistics was recently labeled the angriest city in America.  We were actually screamed at twice while in Orlando – once by an eighty year old codger on a golf cart and once while digging in our trunk for change to get through a toll booth.  Angry indeed.  Our son, Justin, lived in Orlando for two years and had to drive I-4 often.  He never wants to go back.

That is not the case here in California.  Traffic is crazy busy and ten lanes can be intimidating.  But drivers seem far more accommodating here – even more so than in central Pennsylvania.  The stereotype of the laid-back California beach comber may not be such a bad thing – ‘Cheech and Chong’ at least will let you change lanes.

So life is easy here and I spend a good amount of time walking around enjoying the weather and the mountain views.  Although it does not really compare to walking the battlefield at Gettysburg, walking around Loma Linda has become my main past time outside washing, cleaning, cooking and all the other domestic chores I have agreed to while Lisa works.  It is an arrangement that works.

An enterprising grad student could probably get a doctorate degree researching the spiritual benefits of walking.  I have even considered writing a Bible study based on scripture where walking is involved.  The first century may have looked much different had the combustion engine been invented and I have no reason to think that Jesus and the disciples would not have tooled around in a mini-van rather than hoof it all over Galilee.  However, we know that was not the case and walking became a part of the gospel story.  For me – walking is a spiritual endeavor.

My journey here begins with a walk through the Loma Linda University campus.  There I dodge passing students with their noses in a text-book or study guides.  These are mostly medical or dental students who seem stressed and tired.  I feel sorry for them.  Often I will see them with their lap tops open typing something or looking over a program about kidneys or bicuspids.  The hospital campus is a beautiful place – the prettiest hospital Lisa and I have ever seen.  It is a world renown hospital and is the answer to an obscure trivia question.  Alan Reed, the original voice of Fred Flintstone – donated his body to the hospital here for medical research.  So one can say this is Fred Flintstones final resting place.  You would think there would be a “Yabba-Dabba Doo” sign somewhere.

I walk on and from there I make my way to the first busy cross-street, one of many I will eventually traverse.  Here pedestrian right of way is honored by almost everyone as there are many walkers, bikers, joggers, skaters, and even a few homeless people pushing grocery carts. While I have been here – no one has been run over (someone knock on some wood).  So I push the pedestrian crossing button and wait until the yellow stop hand turns into a white stick person and then I proceed.

My hike next takes me past the University Fitness Center.  Here the parking lot is always full as people serious about their heart rates come and go non-stop.  The outdoor lap pool is normally busy with swimmers of every age and I am reminded I am in southern California where outdoor pools are the norm.  Just past the outdoor pools are the sports fields where both adults and youth play soccer.  I have to wonder why there are not more adult soccer leagues back home – but maybe there are adult leagues and I am just out of the know on that since I never really cared for the sport – just saying.  I do know a lot of adults play it here.

Next my journey takes me past the “Jerry Pettis Memorial Veterans Hospital”.  I actually tried to volunteer there but they could not even talk to me until April – not kidding.  My heart goes out to these men (mostly) who are patients here and many suffer from mental illness along with other physical conditions.  I never know what I will encounter as I make my way past the people milling around and the dozens of poopy ducks that make the hospital grounds their habitat.  Ducks are just nasty and here I have to be careful where I step.  All part of my daily adventure.  Loma Linda has bike lanes on nearly every street and just past the Veterans hospital it is not unusual to see as many as thirty very serious spandex wearing bike riders in law-abiding formation.  Before I leave here I hope to stir the ducks up just at the right time to greet the bike riders.  Bombs away!

It is about this point in my journey that my arthritic left knee begins to cry out followed soon by the bunions on both my flat feet.  Inevitably I will reach down and cover my knee with my hand as if I just became Bennie Hinn.  It never relieves my pain – only throws me off stride and makes my knee hurt even worse.  So – I just keep hobbling along.

I sometimes stop at the Loma Linda Public Library – which is just across from the Veterans Hospital but closed Fridays and Saturdays (you read that right).  I just can’t get use to the Seventh Day Adventist Calendar.  (We have been told this is the only place in the US where mail runs on Sunday – again not kidding).  But most days I just walk past the library as I near my halfway point.

Here in Loma Linda we have “Carls Jr.” which is the western version of Hardees.  “Carls Jr.” is the next significant landmark on my journey.  Everything on the menu at “Carls Jr.” has a Mexican flavoring.  I believe even the soft drinks have salsa in them.  My walk goes past “Carls Jr.” and toward the “Stater Brothers” grocery – our Krogers.  Tired and (always) hungry at this point I often pit stop at “Mannas” Donut Shop.  For all the health food emphasis in Loma Linda – you would not believe how many donut shops there are here.  I hope to try them all and leave my review of each. Still, I would pay good money for a Rolling Pin long-john.  From there my journey continues past the Loma Linda Golf Center where I sometimes stop to practice my golf game.  Amazing how good I am on the driving range and how terrible I am on a real golf course.  I suppose I’m a practice player. Cue Allen Iverson – “We’re talking about practice, man!”

The last part of my hike takes me across a railroad overpass.  Trains run here night and day and if it’s not the ambulances and helicopters going to the hospital that wakes us up in the middle of the night – it will be the blaring train whistles.  But I love trains so – no big deal.  Finally I reach a point where the sidewalk ends and stop, turn around and head back home.  My total journey is about nine miles – not bad, I suppose, for an old, fat guy.

But all that walking gives me (more than anything else) time to think about stuff – pray about stuff – appreciate God’s earth – and much of the time – long for home.  I think about our friends and family. I smile when they cross my mind and I thank God for his goodness in giving them to me.

And then I thank God I can walk – because I plan on doing it again tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!

Steve

Lisa and I just returned from a week at Disney World where we met up with our daughter, Heather (seven months pregnant) and our son’s girlfriend and fellow Disney freak, Lori Johnson.  We were also able to spend time with our good friends Steve and Michelle Luck who are now living in the Orlando area.  This was a trip a while in the making and was even written into Lisa’s contract when we came to California having been planned since late last year.  It was good to get to a place we were familiar with and to see everyone.

With the exception of a stomach virus I contracted while there – it was a wonderful trip.  There is nothing quite as bad as being sick at the happiest place on earth.  I came back to California ten pounds lighter and still recovering.  I told Lisa I would like a “Disney do-over” since this trip was such as disaster for me.  We now get back into the swing of things here in California with a little more than five weeks remaining of our time here.  Having been gone since December 7th – we are looking forward to getting home.  Life in Loma Linda is comfortable and easy-going.  But where Gettysburg was full of history and activity – Loma Linda has very little to see and do that does not cost an arm and a leg.  We still enjoy the weather and breath-taking mountain views and will certainly miss the vistas that only California can provide.  But our hearts are in Kentucky.

Now back to Disney World.  It’s funny how my mind works – that is I tend to see things and get stuck on images that others may see but soon forget.  During an evening at Epcot something happened that really impressed me about how Disney works that made me think it should be the way of every company and organization in the world.  We had just finished watching the night-time fireworks show, “Illuminations”, and were exiting the park along with the other thousands of guests.  As we were herded along, someone in our group spotted a group of Disney workers lined up along the side of the shuffling crowd.  They were wearing those large, white Mickey Mouse gloves and giving everyone a “high-five” as they walked past.  I could not help myself but had to move to the side and smack hands with them.  Their smiles were infectious and I quickly realized from the brooms they were holding that they were custodians.  Further upon hearing their dialect – guessed they were of Haitian descent.  They were so happy and having so much fun saying good-bye to everyone and I thought how great it was that they had been allowed to be such a sweet part of the “show”.

Over the course of the week we watched some fantastic stage shows that featured some amazing performers.  Some received standing ovations for their performances and deservedly so.  But my mind kept going back to those workers at Epcot.  Wouldn’t it be great if organizations had a way of being more inclusive of all their staff – not just the ones with degrees or certificates of achievement or letters behind their names?  How cool would it be for custodians in a school, for example, to be given Mickey Mouse gloves in the morning and slapping “high fives” with every student that enters the building.

One summer years ago my brother worked at a Baptist conference center in North Carolina called “Ridegcrest”.  There he worked in the cafeteria washing dishes.  I remember him telling us that they called their large, industrial size washer “the dragon” and before each shift, the workers would gather and sing the National Anthem before starting it up.  It became a tradition.  I actually visited him that summer and witnessed for myself their singing the anthem and guess what?  I wanted to be a dishwasher at Ridgecrest.  It was the coolest thing I had seen – they had made washing dishes seem like fun.

Businesses and organizations seem so focused on efficiency, production and outcomes that they may forget the importance of first making every employee feel valuable.  But beyond that it may be necessary to find a way to make a workplace fun.

If nothing else – just give everyone Micky gloves.

High Five!

Steve and Lisa

We have been told that Loma Linda Ca. has been declared the healthiest community in the United States.  In particular the community is proud of the health quality of the senior adults here and boast about the extended life expectancy here in comparison to the rest of the country.  People eat better – exercise more – and have the best health care available.  They also will tell you they worship on the right day.  I’m telling you these people have got it together.  Which is why Lisa and I just don’t fit it.

I really can’t speak for Lisa – but I am writing today to admit – I don’t have it together and I never will.  If not for God’s grace and forgiveness – I would not have a chance.  The positive influence of living a healthy lifestyle that Loma Linda has pressed on us is to be appreciated and perhaps will rub off.  But of late I have thought about driving my gas guzzling SUV past the health club with my windows rolled down playing AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell” while eating a Big Mac.  There will be no beating or joining them – so might as well piss em off.  Perhaps that is why Jesus hung out with sinners – the people who had it together were just too boring.

We live in what is known as the “Inland Empire” (or the I.E.) which is the metro area of Riverside, Ontario and San Bernardino in southern California.  Of course “valley” would be too quaint a description for Californians.  They would never want to be in the same category as the “Ohio Valley” by which our home in Kentucky and surrounding area is known.  Nor would they want to be equal to the beautiful “Susquehanna Valley” which is the area in central Pennsylvania where we lived this past summer.  Here it is an “Empire”.  Give me a break.  But enough sarcasm – people here have been nice – just a little different.

The old adage, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” has certainly held true for us as we think about home.  Entering our sixth week here we are glad to be at the halfway point of this assignment.  We miss some things about home that may be a surprise.

You may not believe this one – but part of us misses the Kentucky winter.  According to the locals we are experiencing an unusually brutal winter here in southern California with highs in the mid 50’s.  (We may need to get dog sleds).  During the writing of this post, I understand it is sleeting in Owensboro and students and teachers are right now praying for enough to shut down the town tomorrow.  Not here.  Kids (and teachers) in southern California will probably never know the joy of a snow day.  And as bad as winters can be back home – springtime is all the more welcomed.  Here in California the January weather has reminded us of spring in Kentucky.  That’s great, I admit.  But what is there to look forward to.  Here it seems one season sort of blends in with the others.  Kentucky (for the most part) has distinct seasons and with those seasons it easy to turn a new leaf – set a new goal and landmark your life and time.  I would miss that.

So Lisa and I have about six weeks left here in California and we will soak up all the sunshine and fat dripping calories we can.  Just leave us a little really bad winter when we get home.  Maybe even throw in a snow day for old times sake.

Peace!

Steve and Lisa