So I sit here waiting to go to work while poor Dad is out in the yard trying to get the lawnmower working. Lawnmowers are truly the bane of his existence....There are two at the trailer park and one here at the church - and none of them will work for more than a week or two..He is constantly behind in maintenance as a result...I don't think anyone should become a landlord who does not have excellent plumbing and mechanical skills!

We are more-or-less organized and ready to leave for Toronto early in the morning. I will work until midnight then have to be up by five, so will be going with a sleep deficit but am well-trained in that!...I am so excited about seeing Tim, Aileen and the kids but must admit I will miss the weather here - seventies and eighties, with blue sky...Perfect South!...May there be much more of it this spring!

I had an interesting call last week from a young fellow who was probably on something as we talked - very concerned that a tsunami was going to hit in the inland desert area where he lives....I assured him that would not happen, but he said only the people in his state had inside knowledge on that...He was a young transvestite living with older men....As he waited to talk with me I could hear him muttering swear words, then continued that through the conversation - but quite lovely and interested in the gospel - at least while high!

Wayne made a really interesting point in his sermon yesterday - on evil - saying that Christ had twelve legions of angels-72,000- at his disposal as he was betrayed, beaten etc - and remarking that just one angel had taken care of Sennacherib's whole army...That really does put things in perspective doesn't it? Evil does not befall us for lack of God's ability to prevent it!

I am going to miss my family here while I go away - always miss you in NYC and Toronto! Man! Always missing somebody!

And, finally, praying that we might get news on Nancy's son this week so - if he is in Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal we might possibly see him while in Canada....

I don't know which walk I prefer - that among the living or that among the dead. I can drive five minutes and be down by the Tennessee River...Crossing the bridge, encircled by the hills, and passing by runners, moms with strollers, more leisurely pedestrians....Beautiful reflections in the water, breeze on my face, lively, stirring - the best of life.

But then there are my friends, the dead. I can walk five minutes and climb a bank from road to cemetery. Then I go up, up, up a series of ridges and roads until I am on top of the world. I look around and see hilltops in every direction. And I am in the sky with them, surrounded only by granite, shrubs, and other people's memories. Quiet, pensive, "intimations of mortality" - the "best" of death.

I love them both. And I always wonder when I walk... How many of the living are dead and how many of the dead are living? What a wondrous thing it is to live in two worlds. But how much better to live in that which is coming - where death will be swallowed up by life, and every day a child's day of delight in waking up and finding himself strong and healthy with nothing but wonders ahead of him...

I'm waiting!

Cold, cold, cold - My feet are cold...Tossing, turning...Can't get up - too cold...Why didn't I put on socks last night?

Warm, warm, warm - My freezer is warm...Why?...Oh, I see....The tea towel has kept the door slightly ajar...Whew! Meat is solid....Just the bread and tomatoes have defrosted...Well, no big deal...They will be alright, and so will we be if we eat them!

Wet,wet,wet - The floor under the freezer is wet... Not a problem...The same offending tea towel will wipe it up.

Cloudy, cloudy, cloudy - My head after too few hours of sleep...Buzzing, heavy...And how can going on and off just a couple of mouthfuls of coffee make me feel dazed? But it does...

This sounds like a weather report but is not...Just the beginning of my day.

Wake up, Self!