How I spent my Christmas vacation

Overwhelming.

That’s the best term I can come up with to describe my family’s recent trip to the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum.

None of us had been to either before, since they’re still relatively new, so we didn’t know what to expect. We went in December (obviously), and it was cold, even though the sites are in Kentucky. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Covington, Kentucky, which was very nice. The second morning we were there, we found ourselves watching an Indian wedding procession (I think). A crowd in traditional Indian dress (that’s the country India, not the Native American Indian) was dancing through the lobby. The hotel bar was draped in red and gold material, and Hindu statues flanked its sides and the doorway to the ballroom. The group probably spent 20 minutes making its way through the lobby, with spectators on almost every floor of the hotel. We determined this was day three of the Indian wedding ceremony, which is basically a big party. Cool for them.

But that wasn’t why we were there. We didn’t have the dresses.

The first day (Dec. 27) we visited the Ark Encounter. Now if you’re like me, you have a cartoon picture of the ark in your head with animals hanging over the sides. That’s what we saw in our Sunday school papers and illustrations, after all. I’ve always pictured a crowded, uncomfortable ark, dark and dank with unhappy animals and irritated people having to take care of them. I don’t know why, that’s just the image I always had.

The Ark

That has now changed. Seeing a structure built to the size God commanded with an idea of how animals were housed and cared for and the living quarters for the people was incredible. This thing is massive. It’s four stories tall to begin with and a football field and a half long. I’m sure I’d heard that measurement before, but for some reason it didn’t stick. 

From left: (front row) Brenden, Mark, Emma and Ryan; (back row)

 Ken, Alissa, Erin, Avery, Amanda, Nathan, Mom, Me

We came in on the bottom floor, which was home to many of the stores - water, food - and some of the small animals. The Ark creators chose to put small reptiles and other small animals in individual containers, stored on shelving. Makes perfect sense when you think about it. Cages along the sides and in the center of the structure held larger animals. Ark builders designed feeding and waste removal systems, as well.

Moving up a level, more cages held more animals. The outside of the second level included information on the time of Noah, how the ark may have been built, a section that looked at the pre-flood world (which we didn’t go through because the line was so long), another section that displayed pictures, games and storybooks with inaccurate depictions of the ark, a petting zoo and the door.

The door was where Noah, his family and the animals would have entered the ark before God closed it. It’s a great place for photos and includes a cross of light that appears above those getting their pictures taken. It was pretty impressive.

The Ruggieros

The Crostons

The third floor was where the humans lived. Their living quarters weren’t the cramped, dark rooms I’d imagined (for no reason, really). They were light and airy and comfortable. A garden of herbs and vegetables provided food for Noah and his family. Each son and his wife had different interests reflected in their rooms. Researchers found the names of the women in other writings, so that was interesting. Each family member was responsible for over 800 animals, so they would have stayed busy.

It was fun to restructure my mental photo album. I always felt a little sorry for Noah and his family because of the conditions they were forced to live in for over a year. But now, I kind of envy them, at least the rooms the Ark builders made for them.

Animatronic robots played Noah and the fam. I appreciated the effort that went in to make them more realistic than the mannequins you see in department stores. Of course the mouths don’t move exactly with the words being said, but they’re not horribly creepy like some robots are. The movements are a little more lifelike, so that helped.

Noah releases the dove

So, would another shape of boat have worked to save everyone? No.

I don’t think the Encounter is quite finished, though. It looked to me like they were still adding to the grounds. I think the entrance we used was temporary with the actual permanent entrance to be on the stern end of the ark. We walked down that direction and found a pile of 12 stones like the altar Noah built when the water receded enough to leave the ark. There’s a sign that says the flood is coming, which felt more like an entry than the “ark entrance” sign we followed. There’s also a series of monoliths depicting the world’s story from creation to the flood. So my guess (we’ll see if I’m actually right) is that visitors will be dropped off at the beginning of the monoliths. They’ll walk down the path looking at the carvings to the entrance of the ark.

There’s also a small “town” on the bow end of the ark. It’s filled with small shops and places to shop, so that’ll be fun when it’s all done. There’s also a small outdoor petting zoo and a huge restaurant. They serve a buffet lunch (at least they did the day we were there), and it was delicious.

It’s a place I’d definitely go back to and hope to in the future. Maybe on a warmer day, though, just so the outdoor activities and exhibits are more enjoyable.

When we got back to the hotel, we walked across the Roebling Bridge, which was designed by the same engineer who designed the Brooklyn Bridge. Yes, it was very cold crossing the Ohio River. But now we can say that we’ve walked across that bridge.

We had Christmas after dinner. It wasn’t as crazy as the Christmas at either Nathan’s or Alissa’s homes, but it was fun just to spend time together.

The next day (Dec. 28) we planned to visit the Creation Museum. Mom and I started out, though, walking along the riverfront and looking at the Roebling Murals painted on the river all. They hit the high points of Covington’s history and are really beautiful. And it was still cold.

Off we went to the Creation Museum. As a believer already, the museum wasn’t filled with new information for me. But it was beautifully put together. One of the first things I saw was a sculpture of Mary, Joseph and Jesus beneath the star. You really can’t go wrong starting a museum with that. A mastodon skeleton stands to the left next to the bookstore doorway. On the other side of the bookstore, a swamp pond includes fish and turtles, which the kids found fascinating, and animatronic raptors and people.

Don't look up, Adam and Eve.

Erin and Nathan listen as Noah explains how many people were on the ark.

The tour through the museum starts with fossils. Visitors get the chance to find fossils hidden in the wall, so that was fun. A short video goes through the six days of creation. The Garden of Eden comes next, with Adam and Eve and the serpent, followed by Cain and Abel. The flood and the ark had a prominent place, but we kind of skimmed through that since we’d just seen the Ark the day before. Visitors see how man’s sin is played out in the violence and cruelty of people today. But you don’t leave hopeless. Christ and the cross are prominent at the end of the tour. Salvation was evident throughout, so visitors to the museum can’t say they’ve never heard.

Side exhibits focus on dinosaurs, dragons and the incredible diversity of insects. We also went to the planetarium show called “The Star” which presented a couple explanations for the star that guided the wise men to Jesus. It could have been a conjunction between Jupiter and Regulus, but that doesn’t fit all the scriptural criteria. It could have been a supernova, but that doesn’t fit all the criteria either. Mom and I were talking about it on the way home, and we decided it was probably a miracle star. Why not? Other miracles happened at the same time, after all.

Outdoors featured gardens, fountains, a pond and a petting zoo. The kids took camel rides, which they loved. The gardens were lighted for Christmas, which was beautiful, and characters from the nativity story waited at locations around the gardens (with fire pits because it was cold) to share their stories. A live nativity finished the walk in front of the museum entrance. We saw Anna the prophetess, and I saw a centurion at one of the concession stands.

From left: Erin, Brenden, Ryan, Emma, Avery, Mom, Mark, Alissa and Amanda with a new friend

After supper at Cheddars, we headed back to the hotel where the kids went swimming and then we all crashed. We had breakfast together the next morning and then went our separate ways. Our drive home was cold with snow in Illinois and freezing rain around Hannibal. Road conditions weren’t bad, so we were able to get back to Mom’s about 9.

As I said before, seeing these sites as a believer strengthened and augmented my knowledge of the flood and creation. There’s so much information, after a while I was just looking at words. I was reading them, but my brain was full and comprehension wasn’t happening. I know there were things I missed or looked at but didn’t get. I’d love to go back in a few years to see how it’s improved and pick up what I didn’t this time.

Memorial Stadium on the horizon

Has it been two months since my last post? Yikes! Time certainly does fly. So what's happened since I finished reading Hamilton? Well, I read "In the Garden of Beasts" by Eric Larson. It's the true story of the American ambassador in Germany and his family as Hitler came into power. It was fascinating, really. We learn a lot about World War II in history classes, but I'd never heard of Ambassador Dodd or his family.

I got to cover a state champion volleyball team last week, so that was fun. I've gotten to cover a variety of state champions in the time I've been in Seward, everything from team titles to individual championships. A lot of times I get to talk to kids on those teams, which is pretty fun. I like to think I'm not a scary person to talk to (although I suppose talking to "the newspaper" can be intimidating). In fact, today I got to talk to the team captains of a football team that will be playing for a state title next Tuesday. All three were excited to get to play at Memorial Stadium, of course, and I have to say I'm excited about going there, too.

Memorial Stadium, for those who don't know, is where the Nebraska football team plays its home games. It's the dream of almost every young football player in this state to play there, wearing the traditional white helmet with the red N on it. Some, like this group of athletes from Centennial, will get to play there wearing white helmets with the CHS bronco on them. Most will never get the chance to play a game on Tom Osborne Field, so those who get that opportunity know it's a dream come true.

But tonight is Friday night and I'm not at a football game. And that's kind of weird. This is the first Friday night I've been home since the beginning of August, I think. I'm not entirely sure what to do, so I'm doing as little as possible. In a couple weeks, I'll be back in the groove but with winter sports (basketball and wrestling). So I can't get used to just going home after work and settling in for the night.

Hamilton and Kooser

I finished it! I finished it! (Does happy dance around the living room)

Yes, indeed, I finished reading this biography of Alexander Hamilton. All 731 pages. It took me most of the summer, but it's not a book one can simply blithely fly through.

Let me preface the rest of my thoughts about Hamilton and this book by saying I didn't know much about the Revolutionary War and the beginnings of America. My history classes sort-of glossed over that, choosing instead to focus on the Civil War and the world wars. Those are fine, don't get me wrong, but it's also good to know how it all began.

I read a book about the early American newspaper industry called "Infamous Scribblers" awhile back. Its author talked about the essayists whose work filled those early newspaper pages. Hamilton was one of them. He was also part of the first sex scandal that rocked the young country. So I knew Hamilton was a prolific writer who had a, shall we say, shady side.

As you may have guessed at 731 pages, Ron Chernow (the author) did a lot of research. Even though Hamilton died relatively young at age 49, he was a busy man. He had his hands in almost everything, from the creation of the national bank and stock market to delineating the roles of government offices and agencies. Not only that, he was a lawyer, read voraciously and had eight children with his wife, Eliza. And he wrote. A lot. Thousands of words per essay. (And Kevin thinks we write long stories. He has no idea!)

Chernow did an admirable job distilling Hamilton's life and work into a more manageable package. I can't imagine the hours he must have spent reading everything Hamilton wrote, everything that was written to him and everything written about him. I think I would have despaired at ever getting through it all, in the first place, putting it into an organized whole and then deciding what quotes and comments from that time to use. It had to have felt overwhelming.

Hamilton himself was an interesting paradox. On one hand, he was brilliant. His ideas came from his head to his paper fully formed, without any need to make corrections. The institutions he set up still exist today, and our government runs as he determined it should. On the other hand, he made some really stupid mistakes. His affair with Maria Reynolds was one of them. And he didn't always back the winning horse. Once his influence began to wane, he seemed to grow more desperate to get back into the public spotlight, even though he said he didn't want the attention.

As you probably know (unless you've been living under a rock for the last couple years), this biography was the basis for the musical "Hamilton" by Lin-Manuel Miranda. While I haven't listened to the soundtrack yet (I know, I know), now that I've read the book, I'll have a better idea of what's going on.

Once I finished "Alexander Hamilton," I decided I needed something completely different. So I picked up "Local Wonders" by Ted Kooser. I've read it a couple times before, and I thought it would be a good balance to the extraordinary life I'd just read about.

One thing I admire about Kooser's work is its simplicity. He takes the ordinary, uses ordinary words to describe it and turns it into the extraordinary. I wish I could do that. "Local Wonders" works through a year, divided into seasons, of course. Kooser writes essays of varying lengths describing things like the outhouse on the farm, his dogs hunting for frogs, the small-town way of life that I know so well. He lives just over the way in Garland, so I know the area he describes.

I know the kind of people he talks about, too. The farmer driving down the road in his old battered pickup truck. The postmaster letting you know your paper will be late. The shopkeepers and people from town. I've met them throughout my life. That girl who grew up in a little town where everyone knew her and her family - you know, the one who always saved the world while delivering the morning paper and who preferred reading to almost any other activity. Yeah, I know her pretty well, too.

From 731 pages of Hamilton to 153 pages of local wonders. It doesn't get more disparate, or more similar in some ways, than that.

What's next on my reading list, you ask? Why, Harry Potter, of course.

Eclipse 2017

I was one of the fortunate ones in America who got to see the full solar eclipse Aug. 21. It was one of the most hyped events I've ever been part of, but it lived up to the billing.

It was on a Monday. Of course it would be on a Monday. That's one of our production days at the paper, so I knew it would be even crazier than usual. I'd decided I was going to go to the Seward County Historical Society Museum in Goehner to see what I could get there. I knew the skies would be open - no trees or power lines to contend with. I didn't know what kind of crowd would be there, but I figured I'd go anyway.

As it turned out, there were maybe 20 of us. We each had as much space as we wanted to spread out and set up. I got there a little after noon, so the eclipse had already begun. But if you didn't know it, you might not have noticed. As the moon progressed over the sun's face, looking with the naked eye, I didn't really notice any different in the light. But with the eclipse glasses, the movement was obvious.

I'd thought about how I was going to approach this event. What was I going to try to get for photos? How much would I actually be able to just enjoy the eclipse without watching through the telephoto lens? I had visions of the pictures I really wanted, but would I be able to get them? I knew I had one shot (no pun intended) to get them, so, you know, no pressure.

I watched the sun gradually disappear through my eclipse glasses. Without them, I didn't notice a difference in the light. But then, the light changed. It went from daylight to a sort-of in-between light and then it was gone. I took off the glasses and caught my breath.

Everyone at the museum burst into spontaneous applause and then fell silent, awed by what they were seeing. I'm not sure what went through my mind. I think I was stunned by the incredible beauty in the sky and overwhelmed by the divine planning that had gone into creating that moment.

I'm not sure if I breathed during the minute-plus the sun was dark. I'm sure I did, or I would've passed out. I don't know if the crickets or night bugs were chirping. I don't know if the street lights came on. I don't know what anyone else was doing. I was trying to take as many pictures as I could and still take a moment to try to soak it all in. Unbelievable. Awesome. Incredible. Amazing. Overwhelming. Every adjective I could think of fell so far short of reality, I gave up trying to describe it.

As I've thought back to that minute, I've tried to think of things to say about it that haven't been said. I saw one person called their eclipse photo "one ring to control them all," which, as you know, is not accurate. It's "one ring to rule them all." But that's irrelevant. Of course the verse "the heavens declare the glory of God" is a commonly recited phrase. And Andrew suggested "day to day utters speech, night to night shows knowledge," which is also good.

And then, just like that, it was over. The light got funky - otherworldly, according to SCHS Museum Curator Jordan Miller - and we were back to daylight. When I thought about the eerie light, I found myself thinking about the Song of Albion books by Stephen Lawhead. His protagonist goes between our world and Albion during the time between times, and I wondered if that's what the light was like. My pictures didn't reflect the strangeness of those moments, so memories will have to suffice.

I'm still not sure what to say about the eclipse. Awesome is an overused descriptor, and I hear amazing too often to be able to apply it. Incredible might work, but even that doesn't quite get there. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience here. I doubt I'll ever see another one.

It was so fast. I think the eclipse crossed the entire United States in a couple hours. That's crazy. I heard stories of applause everywhere. I love that - the spontaneous outpouring of appreciation for God's creation and perfect plan that allowed us to witness this phenomenal event.

Adventures in Kansas - illustrated

So I said I'd have some pictures from my Kansas trip, so here we go.

Giraffes lounge at the Rolling Hills Zoo near Salina.

It's an actual letter from Alexander Hamilton! I know! A letter from Aaron Burr was next to this in the display, and one of Hamilton's jackets was elsewhere in the museum.

I've read "Band of Brothers" by Stephen Ambrose, and here are autographs from all of them. Pretty cool.

It's a very tall rocket at the Cosmosphere. Visitors could walk out underneath it. While I knew it wasn't going to fire, it was still a little nerve-wracking.

Astronauts took lots of pictures while they were in space, and they're amazing.

It's a rock - from the moon!

The Botanica included a lot of statues like this one called Playmates.

It's a day lily called Darth Vader. Awesome!

Cowtown had businesses of all types, including a millinery shop.

The modern world intruded on the old-fashioned one. Crews were doing some work on Cowtown's main street, which damaged the ambience.

Adventures in Kansas

Here we are in Wichita, Kansas, the most unusual, incredible, exotic location we could find. Melissa and I decided we'd meet in the middle for vacation this year, and Wichita was it.

It's been a good few days so far. We started out at the Rolling Hills Zoo near Salina. I’d never heard of it, but I was game. It was one of the best zoos I’ve been to. It’s not quite on the level of the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha (very few zoos are), but it was pretty impressive. It’s kind of out in the middle of nowhere, which means you don’t have all the city noises in the background. You can actually enjoy the animals in nature. Add to that, the zoo has a wildlife museum, which is filled with dioramas representing ecosystems around the world and through time. Talk about impressive! The detail was phenomenal. I’ve seen wildlife scenes before, but nothing like that.

We went to the Museum of World Treasures the next day, and it was off the charts. I went through several of the exhibits backwards (not walking backwards, that would be weird, but from end to beginning instead of beginning to end). Sometimes I think that’s almost better because things can fit together a little better. Anyway, we started with the dinosaurs. I’m telling you, you can’t go wrong starting with dinosaurs. From there I wandered through rocks, Asian religions, Egyptian sarcophogai and mummies. There was a time line of the Roman emperors complete with coins from most of their rules, a shrunken head (creepy) and a piece of the Berlin Wall. That was pretty impressive, I must say. And that was just the ground floor.

The second floor was more American history and included a display of all the presidents, Civil War memorabilia and pieces from World War I, including a replica trench, World War II, including a model of the Arizona and its memorial, Vietnam and Korea. One of Alexander Hamilton’s jackets was on display, as well, and that was cool.

The next day, we headed up to Hutchinson for the Cosmosphere. The Cosmosphere focuses on man’s attempts to get to space. Starting with rockets designed during World War II, it chronicles the development of rocket power, ending with the space race and its aftermath. The museum includes a lot of replica spaceships, suits and equipment, but there’s quite a bit of real stuff there, too.

One of the most interesting exhibits was a pair of German rockets. The V-1 and V-2 were built during World War II and rained death and destruction on London. Hitler was convinced they would be a gamechanger for the Nazis and poured a lot of money into their development. As the war wound down and German fortunes faded, the scientists responsible for the program decided to take their talents to the United States. Werhner von Braun was the head guy, and once he got to America, he helped develop the U.S. space program.

I'll post some pictures once they're downloaded. Hooray for technology.

Book sparks deep thoughts

I recently read "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot. I'd heard of it, probably on Fresh Air or Weekend Edition or something, but I hadn't read it. A coworker loaned it to me, so, I read it.

Now, I don't read a lot of nonfiction. Not that I don't like nonfiction, I just don't gravitate to that section in a library or bookstore. This book is the story of a family whose mother was apparently exploited by the medical community. Henrietta Lacks died of cancer in 1951, leaving a husband and five children. Doctors took samples of the cervical cancer she carried, and those cells, known in the scientific community as HeLa cells, didn't die. Most cell samples in those days lasted a few days and then died. These lived.

And her family had no idea.

When they found out that Henrietta's cells were still alive and still being used in research, decades after Henrietta died, they felt betrayed. They were hurt and angry. They didn't want to talk about it to anyone.

Rebecca first heard of Henrietta and her cells in a college science class. That was the beginning of a decade-long journey for her, searching for what really happened to Henrietta and her family and the immortal cells. She had to earn the family's trust - especially Deborah, who was desperate to learn more about her mother. She helped them discover the truth about the cells and helped many of them find some measure of peace.

It was a fascinating read. Rebecca certainly did her research, talking to anyone and everyone she could about HeLa, its origin, its uses. She listened to stories from Henrietta's family and friends, learning everything she could about this relatively young woman and her life. I think she even became a defacto Lacks family member.

But the question that kept rattling around my mind as I read this incredible story was does the end justify the means. HeLa has been used to develop cures for diseases. It's been used in varieties of research around the world. Without HeLa, thousands of people alive today wouldn't be. But the cells were taken without Henrietta's permission. They were used without the family's knowledge. The family has not been compensated at all - or at least they hadn't been when the book was published in 2010.

It's a hard question, though, and one whose answer depends on your viewpoint. From the science end of things, the answer would probably be yes. Look at everything HeLa has helped scientists accomplish. But from the family end of things, the answer would probably be no. They felt they'd been exploited and taken advantage of. They didn't have the money to go after Johns Hopkins, the hospital that treated Henrietta, but family members felt they were owed something they never got.

I don't know the answer.

Time to reflect

It's Memorial Day tomorrow. That means flags will wave proudly as veterans participate in 21-gun salutes, programs, dinners and moments of remembrance.

While I haven't served in the military, I have relatives who are serving and have served. Great-great-great-grandpa P.O. Avery started things off for us, fighting for the Union in the Civil War before homesteading in Nebraska in 1866. More recently, Avery cousins Anna and Mark and Croston cousins Mark, Michael and Malcolm have enlisted. Anna and Malcolm are not currently serving, but Mark, Mark and Michael are. Thank you, all of you, for giving of yourselves for this great country.

As I attend the Memorial Day service at Beaver Crossing tomorrow, I'll probably tear up when the trumpeter plays "Taps." There's something about that music that gets me every time I hear it. Maybe it makes me think about those who died in any war. Maybe I find myself thinking about the families with holes left by those deaths. Either way, it's one of those moments when I hope no one is watching me as I blink back the tears and take a deep shuddering breath.

"Taps" has been played at military funerals since 1862, according to todayifoundout.com. It was written by Union Army General Daniel Butterfield, who was with the Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac. The song became a standard part of military funeral rites in 1891. In 2013, Congress designated "Taps" as the National Song of Remembrance.

The original lyrics to the song are (according to Wikipedia):

Day is done, gone the sun,
 From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;
 All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Fading light, dims the sight,
 And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright.
 From afar, drawing nigh, falls the night.

Thanks and praise, for our days,
 'Neath the sun, 'neath the stars, neath the sky;
 As we go, this we know, God is nigh.

Sun has set, shadows come,
 Time has fled, Scouts must go to their beds
 Always true to the promise that they made.

While the light fades from sight,
 And the stars gleaming rays softly send,
 To thy hands we our souls, Lord, commend.


It's only 24 notes and is usually played in less than a minute, but its impact lingers with the final note.


Again, to my cousins and everyone else who has served or is currently serving in the military, thank you. God keep you safe and bring you home again.

Missed deadline

So I told you last time I was going to have a poem for the library's poetry contest. Well, I missed the deadline for entry. Leave it to life to get in the way of entering stuff. Anyway, here's my final draft. You may notice there's more to it than the last attempt. The contest required a 150-word creation. My original "sonnet" was 117 words. So I had to add more. Enter haiku. I added three haiku verses to reach 150 words. And thus, a new form was born - the hai-son. Or perhaps a son-ku. I haven't decided.

Prairie Lights
I.
You see Friday night
Lights, not just on football fields
But all through the town.

II.
There's a song by C.W. McCall called
Aurora Borealis. In it, he tells
Of a city boy who hadn’t seen the stars
Or the Milky Way. I wonder if the swells
and swirls of the prairie eluded him also,
if he'd ever seen the wheat, gold under sun,
or felt the fierce terror of a tornado
or watched the light vanish below the horizon.
I'm guessing not.
                                I'm fortunate that way.
I've watched the sun fade out and stars fade in.
But it took a southern semester before, I must say,
their splendor rose again above the din
Of busy life and no chance there to see.
They give perspective, out here on the prairie.

III.
Pioneers called it
Great American Desert.
They crossed anyway.

IV.
Inextricably
Linked, windmills and water draw
New lives to the land.

Poetry contest

So the Seward Memorial Library is putting on a poetry contest to help celebrate Nebraska's 150th anniversary. Only original poems about Nebraska or connected to Nebraska are allowed. Now, I'm not a poet - I don't write poems, generally speaking, but I thought I could maybe give it a shot. So, because I'm not Shakespeare, I decided to go with a sonnet. Well, a sonnet-ish poem, anyway. Here's what I came up with.

There's a song by C.W. McCall called
Aurora Borealis. In it, he tells
Of a city boy who had never seen the stars
Or the Milky Way. I wonder if the swells
and swirls of the prairie eluded him also,
if he'd ever seen the wheat, golden in the sun,
or felt the fierce terror of a tornado
or watched the light vanish below the horizon.
I'm guessing not.
                                I'm fortunate, I guess.
I've watched the sun fade out and the stars fade in.
But it took a southern semester before, I confess,
their splendor rose again above the din
Of busy life and no chance there to see.
They give perspective, out here on the prairie.

As I said, I'm not a poet. So my question is, should I enter it in the library contest? Should I forget I ever put pencil to paper and created this? Should I never, ever, ever again attempt or even pretend to attempt poetry?

My "Christmas" letter

A lot of people send out annual updates around Christmas, letting their family and friends know what they've been doing all year. I've done that in the past, but this year I didn't get my Christmas letter done until sometime in February, I think. And I haven't mailed copies this year, either. I know, I'm a slacker. So, I thought I'd post it here for anyone who wants to read it. Sorry it's late. Or maybe it's early for next year. Enjoy!

Did you miss me?

The last time I wrote anything here was before Thanksgiving. It's now March. For those of you who check here regularly, sorry about that. It's been hectic.

What have I been doing? Well, let's see. I went to South Carolina after Christmas to spend a few days with the fam. We were all together for the first time in a long time, so that was really nice. It's always good to see my siblings and their small fry. I wish we lived closer so we could get together more often. But we've all carved out lives for ourselves in our corners of the world, and it's hard to move those carvings. So, I treasure the brief moments we do get to spend together.

Of course I've been working. That is my life, you know. November, December, January and February are always full of basketball and wrestling, so my life is full of the same. I got to cover a couple dozen wrestlers at the state tournament, which was really fun. None made the finals, which was unusual, but four earned medals. While everyone wants to be a state champion, winning a medal (the top six get them) is pretty impressive.

Then there's basketball. Three of my girls' teams qualified for the state tournament through the wild card option. None made the finals, but two at least got to the semifinals, which is good. One of my boys' teams got to the state tournament for the first time since 1984. Their coach wasn't even born yet. I was in junior high. I feel old.

At the college level, one of the Concordia wrestlers finished as national runner-up, and another (who happens to be from Milford and I covered when he was in high school) finished sixth, earning his third All-American honor. The women's basketball team received one of the four No. 1 seeds in the national tournament and is ranked No. 2 in the country. Pretty cool!

Our staff decided to choose words for the year, each picking one we felt we wanted to be our "guide" or something. I chose the word "focus." Not only does that play on what I do with a camera (ha, ha), but it's also something I sometimes struggle with. My mind sometimes wanders when it shouldn't, and I don't always use my time wisely. So, focus is a good goal. We wrote our words on rocks that we leave on our desks (currently), so they're a good reminder.

I'm currently reading "Reflections on the Psalms" by C.S. Lewis. I don't necessarily agree with everything he thought, but seeing a different perspective isn't necessarily a bad thing. I've also started rereading Laura Childs's Tea Shoppe Mysteries which are easy reading but a fun escape. I haven't finished "The Return of the King" yet, but I will. I just can't take it to lunch with me because I know the end will make me cry. (I know. It's just a story. But I get attached to characters almost as much as I do to real people. And good-byes make me cry anyway.)

I got to see "Star Wars: Rogue One" which I liked. I also saw "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" which was really fun. I wasn't sure what the filmmakers would do since the book is basically an encyclopedia of magical creatures. They created a good story to go with some of the creatures and the book's author.

So, in a nutshell, that's where I've been. Sorry it's been so long. I'll try to do better.