June 7 – “We’re Back”

Thank you so much to all you great folks who wished us well yesterday.  And add to that all of you who joined us on our little journey over the last few weeks through reading the blog or checking out the occasional FaceBook posts.  Special thanks to Larry and Diane Huntley for being incredible hosts to us for our few days in Huntsville, Alabama.  The “Five Starfish Bed and Breakfast” treatment went far above and beyond what we ever expected or deserved.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Thanks as well to David and Kim Cullison for the great lunch you treated us to there in Evansville, Indiana, and for giving us a place to attend church with a familiar face or two.  Thank you to Mike Bell and Bryan Holt and Wes Foshee and all our “regulars” for teaching in my stead and for holding down the fort at Seaside while we were gone.  It really helps to know the Body was in great hands. 

We pulled into Galveston on Friday afternoon and have been recuperating ever since.  Anyone who has been on a vacation anywhere knows that it takes a while to get back into the swing of things when you get home.  We have seen all our Galveston area kiddos and grandkids, so that much-needed fix has been dealt with.  I still have to sort through the literally hundreds of pictures Chris took (OK, so I took a few as well).  Anybody want to come over and watch some home movies?  We could pop some popcorn.  I have a really scary one from the Babyland Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia.  See, even the name of the town is spooky.  Cleveland is supposed to be in Ohio (or maybe Texas).  We would be happy to rehash old memories (Wow.  “Old memories” from way back last week). 

I think Chris really liked her 40 yellow roses.  My accomplice couldn’t fit all of them into one vase. So he put three in a separate vase in the bathroom.  Guess which ones she found first?  Yep.  The bathroom.  She thought it was very sweet that “someone” got her a rose for every week of our vacation.  I assured her that was exactly the case.  When she saw the others, she asked if I knew anything about what was on the table.  I managed to come out with a little flower-lips speech professing my undying love, but I don’t know how well I sold it.  I think she might have a bit of an idea since she has stuck around for 40 years.  She liked the poster, though.  Took her about twenty minutes to track through all the pictures and find the one for each year we have been together … in order.  That’s my organized wife. 

She made some turkey enchilada pie for our big anniversary meal.  We decided it would be foolish to fight the tourists for a spot at any restaurant table on the Island, and who wants to drive clear into Texas just to eat?  Yep.  We’re back to being Islanders again.  Oh, and she presented me with a quilt she has been making for me by hand.  She’s been working on it for a while, but it’s not quite finished.  The best part of the presentation, though, was the letter that accompanied it.  She apologized for not being as adept at being “flower-lips” as I am, but the letter was incredible.  The binding around the outside of the quilt representing Jesus being the binding of our marriage was a great touch.  Even down to the part she added about it not being finished, but then neither are we.  We are constantly growing together.  Very sweet.  And yes, I couldn’t help asking if that meant when she finished the quilt, then we were finished as well.  If so, I’d just as soon she stop where she is and I’ll live with some frayed edges. 

It’s good to be back on the Island.

Proverbs 31:30-31 says, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.  Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”

Father, thank you for a really good time with the fabulous gift you have given me.  Help me to cherish Chris as just that – a precious gift from you.  Amen.

June 6 – “THE Day”

Well, yesterday started out as many others have over the last few weeks – in the car.  We left Waco and headed South for Galveston … for home.  Just two stops this time.  First was for lunch at … Cracker Barrel.  Maybe we can petition for them to come to Galveston.  Then second was kind of a memorial thing.  Bucc-ees.  No particular reason other than we had not seen one in our entire travels.  Gotta stop at Bucc-ees at least once, you know. 

When we arrived Chris discovered the arrangement of 40 fresh yellow roses on the table.  I had made arrangements with a secret co-conspirator for that to happen.  I got up early this morning to finish another project for her.  Every time we reach another decade milestone I create a poster or “image suitable for framing.”  On it I write a poem of sorts, link it with a golden chain (on the paper), and surround it with random events that have occurred in our lives over that particular ten years.  I also include photos, usually of us or our kids.  It is next to impossible to keep it a secret from her.  I finished all but one thing on it before we left for vacation.  The one thing missing?  This year I included one photo of the two of us together for each year we have been married.  Yep. 40 photos.  I had two problems, though.  The first I solved through the miracle of photo-shopping.  One year I had no photo available of us together.  None.  Plenty of each of us, just not one together.  So I took two Christmas morning pictures and spliced them into one.  Close enough, I guess.  At least we were in the same room.  The second problem was a bit more challenging.  This year.  I was determined to get at least one picture of us this year to add to the landscape.  That’s why you were blessed with so many selfies from our trip.  Number one, I had never done a selfie before and wanted to try it out.  But number two, we were going to have 2015 pictures.  Having finished the project, I put it on the table next to the flowers and waited.  We’ll see how she reacts.

Not sure what else special we can come up with for today, what with all the tourists in town and all.  She does want to eat somewhere nice that’s not Jack in the Box (been there, done that), but not quite so nice as Gaidos.  What a great girl.  Gotta convince that gal of mine that she is something really special.  See our actual anniversary day … THE day … is today.  June 6, 1975.  40 years. 

Happy Anniversary, Chris.  I love you.

Proverbs 31:10 says, “A wife of noble character who can find?  She is worth far more than rubies.”

Father, thank you for the most incredible gift I have ever received from you outside of salvation … my wife.  Bless her.  Surround her with your love and protection.  Give her strength and energy.  And most of all grant her your peace that passes all understanding.  Amen.

June 5 – “Day Nineteen: Back in Business”

We went to the park first thing in the morning to play some baseball.  That didn’t last long, though.  It was really hot, and Caleb had some constipation issues, so we adjourned to the swings.  Hot just doesn’t feel quite so hot when you’re flying through the air in a swing, I guess.  Still pretty warm for the ones providing the power, though.  The boys figured out a way to keep us “in the game,” so to speak.  Seems they had some problems with Nani Power pushing their swings.  In fact they scoffed at it (well, unless it was the only thing available.  Then they could be quite encouraging).  But given a choice, they wanted Man Power.  Man Power was “much stronger and doesn’t use as much fuel.”  They finally decided that Ultimate Nani Power is roughly equal to, well, some of Man Power anyways.  Here’s the formula they came up with in case you ever need to refer to it: 8 Nani Power equals 1 Man Power.  Ain’t it great being around boys?

Back at the house the sprinkler in the yard was just the trick for an afternoon of fun.  Of course, old DadDad missed most of that fun.  That old stick-in-the-mud fell asleep on the couch watching the results of the Astros game come across the ESPN app on his cell phone.  Disappointment there.  The Astros lost a close one.

Zak and Caleb made up some promising stories after supper.  They were doing their best to scare their Mom, and it certainly appeared to be working.  Sounded like Christi was not much for spiders and snakes and zombies.  And then they came out with “a desert with no way in or out, where neither the sun nor moon ever shines; only stars provide light.  And where there are places where you can sink into the ground and never be able to escape.”  Those last ones were Caleb’s words, not mine, though I might use them some day.  Budding creative geniuses, I’m sure.

Those geniuses were pretty worn out after their day in the sun, so by 8:30 they were already in bed asleep.  Gotta confess this guy was right behind them.  We did hang out and talk with Josh and Christi for a while.  Just long enough to say that we were the adults and we could stay up longer than the children if we wanted to.  Come on, you know you’ve thought that before.  Christi is doing much better, health-wise.  She was up most of the day, and at one point she made the comment to Caleb, “I can see with my Mommy eyes again, and they’re telling me we need to do some clean up around the house.”  If the Mommy Eyes are back in business, play time is over, Guys.

Psalms 17:8 says, “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.”

Father, thank you for Christi’s improvement.  It is great to see those Mommy Eyes back in service again.  Amen.

June 4 – “Day Eighteen: The Bird Knows”

First job of our stint as … well … grandparents was to make a donut run with Caleb.  He was actually the first one up, which in itself is an accomplishment for him.  He got dressed for the trek, but he insisted that he bring along what I thought was a change of clothes.  He helped navigate to Shipleys and carry the array of donut holes and blue ninjas and pink sprinkles and plain glazed back to the car.  But when we got back to the house, he requested that I block the door so he could change in the car.  Ah, of course.  The change of clothes.  But much to my surprise, it wasn’t a change of clothes at all.  It was his pajamas.  Interesting.  I guess he felt cheated out of some valuable pajama time.

Christi had had another bad headache/nausea attack in the middle of the night.  So we took the boys to the zoo so she could rest.  Josh had a couple of meetings, so that freed him up to do his pastor thing as well.  And the zoo excursion was certainly a noteworthy one, if you just pay attention along the way.  Oh, we’ve been to the zoo before.  We’ve even been to this zoo before.  But you never know what awaits when you go with three youngsters.

The first encounter was with the bald eagle.  He sat regally on a tree limb guarding the entrance to his aerie (Great word, isn’t it?  Means sanctuary, stronghold, hideaway, refuge.  Basically … nest.  I learned it from doing crossword puzzles), and totally ignoring the interlopers outside the cage.  That is until Caleb let out a shriek.  The eagle immediately turned his head in Caleb’s direction.  And Caleb managed to hold quite the conversation in eagle tongue.  What was said remains a mystery, but the bird knows.

The Galapagos tortoise walked right toward us.  Luke thought that approach was just for him, and he squealed a welcome in tortoise-ese.  I’m pretty sure the creature understood.  (You know, of course, that before children learn to talk they know all the secrets of the universe.  They have to give that up, because learning to talk means connecting with the parental units in the only thing worth giving up the knowledge of the stars for … love.  Sound sappy?  Sound unbiblical?  Of course it is.  I saw it in that movie where babies can talk).

We swam with the otters.  Sort of.  The zoo has a plexiglass slide that travels through the water like a tunnel in the otter enclosure.  As you slide down the otters play with you.  They enjoy the swim and you don’t have to get wet.  Great exhibit.  Lots of fun.  (Oh, Zak and Caleb and Luke liked it, too … I think).

As Luke and I stood mesmerized by the majestic giraffe feeding from the high tree in his enclosure, a clamor was heard from the pen next door.  Tow rhinos were squaring off in a confrontation.  We could only assume it was two males doing battle over the right to lie down next to the female.  Two of them were standing face to face (or rather horn to horn), scraping the dirt like a toro in a bullring.  One had a huge front horn.  The other was apparently the younger.  The crowd was silently cheering them on, hoping for a battle royale in the rhino pit.  Alas, we were all disappointed.  The one with the shorter horn suddenly plopped to the ground in a heap and gave up the battle as if it were just not worth the effort.  The silence of the crowd became an audible groan of disappointment as they all wandered off in search of the next bit excitement

For us that came at the reptile room.  One of the boa constrictors had noticed Luke and was actually jumping up at him (against the glass, of course).  Luke thought it was hilarious.  Zak noticed what was going on, and entered “Oldest brother to the rescue” mode.  He sat down next to Luke and began a process of mesmerizing the snake by waving his hand, then swaying his hips in a somewhat awkward rendition of a hula dance.  The snake followed it back and forth and up and up, until it either reached the height of it ability to rise, or saw Luke and lunged again.  (I think maybe the little guy looked like lunch).

Over in the bird house, we were stalked by a grounded seagull the first time through.  He walked just ahead of us all the way, and almost made his way through the door before the folks in front of us noticed they were being followed and slammed it shut.  That forced him to turn back toward us.  I’m not sure who was more frightened – the bird or the boys.  He made his way past us to the relative safety of his bird house, and we made our way out of there.  Our second time through there was a duck.  Well, maybe it was some kind of exotic duck, but a duck is a duck, nonetheless.  It was precariously perched on the railing, and as I pulled all three boys in the wagon past his domain, the duck, as ducks are prone to do, let out a quack.  The noise itself, as well as the close proximity of its source, proved somewhat … startling to the boys.  Zak and Caleb made their way out of that wagon faster than an ostrich in full run.  Luke knew something was up, but he couldn’t quite figure out his brothers’ rapid exodus.  We managed to escape the quacking menace and make our way out of the bird house, Zak and Caleb breathing a collective sigh of relief.

Of course we had to stop at the zoo’s play area for a few minutes, and then the boys crawled into one of those photo booths for pictures.  Luke was pretty much done with the whole experience, and was barely keeping his eyes open.  We swung by Chick-fil-a for lunch, and the afternoon was filled with a movie about Paddington Bear.  Fit the zoo theme quite nicely.

Last night we made our way over to the neighborhood “Splash Park.”  It’s one of those places where water randomly squirts from structures or even from the ground.  It was a bit crowded, and Luke was very tentative to get into it, but Zak and Caleb joined right in with the wildness and ran from jet to jet like a bunch of monkees.  (Just can’t get away from that whole zoo thing, can we?).

Genesis 7:8-9 says, “Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah.”

Father, thank you for Christi’s progress.  Be her healer.  Be her pain reliever.  Amen.

June 3 – “Day Seventeen: Doll Hospital II: The Misfit Island Shoppe”

We set out on the next leg of our journey toward Waco.  With the Christi Crisis somewhat under control, and with the knowledge that there was really nothing we could do about it anyway, we reverted back to our original planned route, which only added a few extra minutes to our expected arrival time.  And this way we could once again avoid intertstates. 

Before we even got out of Texarkana, we hit a minor traffic jam.  Car wreck.  Fire department was on the scene, though, so they were in good hands.  Back to our activity of the day while driving … looking for high water.  And we were not disappointed there.  Every creek and river we passed was full and lakes were well outside their boundaries.  One would think Texas got a bit of rain while we were gone.

We met with some more traffic difficulties just outside of Gilmer.  The road was down to one lane.  The kind of situation where you have to wait for the flag man to let you through.  But the road looked really nice where they were done.  Gotta git Gilmer goin’ gungho, guys. 

The Lord was blessing me mightily when we drove through Winona, Texas.  The world renowned “Pat’s Bear.Doll.Toy Hospital,” and its adjunct business, “Misfit Island Shoppe” were both closed for three days.  They had pictures of some of their “clients” posted, though.  Broken dolls.  Cracked face dolls.  Very spooky.  Moving on to a much happier note, one of the outside walls of the building had been muralized (Is that a word?).  All sorts of cartoon characters from my childhood adorned the building, like the Flintstones and Yogi Bear.  Now that was cool.

We continued on, meandering through the small towns and dozing off and on (Chris was meandering and I was dozing).  One time when I woke up, Chris asked where exactly we were.  I checked with Google Siri, only to find out she had selected an alternate route for us that was veering us off course unnecessarily.  Chris was not a happy camper.  Combine that with the text we got from Josh not long after that.  He said if we could be in Waco by noon we could help logistically with Caleb’s appointment for an electrocardiogram to check out a murmur they found.  That put Chris in absolute focus mode.  Google Siri better mind her p’s and q’s for the rest of this leg of the trip.

When it became apparent that there was no way to get there in time, and after we received assurances from Josh that they would be OK, we stopped in Corsicana for some lunch.  After two weeks and a few thousand miles, we were finally able to have our true anniversary dinner … tacos at Jack in the Box.  Hey, don’t knock it.  Back in the day when we got married and made our way to the “honeymoon suite” at the Holiday Inn in Alvin, Texas, we were hungry.  The only place in town still open was Jack in the Box.  And we had to eat in a hurry because the high school football game was almost over and they all come to Jack in the Box to celebrate.  Now, our plan is to go someplace nice on Saturday (the actual anniversary day – June 6^th).  Not sure where, though.  Is there a place in Galveston that is nice but doesn’t require coat and tie?  Or collared shirts?  Or long pants?  Or closed toe shoes?  Maybe she’ll be happy with Shrimp and Stuff. 

We finally pulled into Waco around two.  We did the typical grandparents thing the rest of the afternoon, and then went to Zak’s baseball game last night.  It was a coach pitch game. The coach pitches to his own team.  Now. I’ll say up front that Zak’s team won … by a lot.  And Zak did really well at bat and in the field.  But the odd thing was, the opposing team’s pitcher (remember, it is coach pitch.  He was pitching to his OWN team) hit almost every player he pitched to.  Even plunked one kid right on top of his helmet.  A lot of his pitches went behind the kids’ back.  I was not surprised that the kids didn’t hit much.  After the game (last one of the year) that coach was handing out medals to his players.  Josh wondered aloud if they might be Purple Hearts.  Ouch.

Luke 6:17-19 says, “He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.”

Father, we’re still praying for Christi around here.  She could use one of your touches.  Ease her pain.  Help her body deal with the medication that makes that easing possible.  Give Josh and the boys some of your kind of peace.  Amen.

June 2 – “Day Sixteen: Greeted by a Crisis”

We left Arnold early and set our sights south … and on an interstate no less.  I think someone might need a grandbaby fix.  No names being mentioned here.

The drive got so boring today that we picked a random place to stop: Diebold Orchards in Benton, Missouri.  Three or four big greenhouses with all kinds of plants.  I know Chris was truly suffering on this one.  Sadly, they were plants that could never survive a journey into Texas.  Chris did see her new favorite bush, though.  It was called an agave.  This one was planted in 1922.  It looked like a giant oversized aloe vera to me.  Strangely, there was an antique mall right next door and Chris didn’t even make a move in that direction.  I’ll have to watch her temperature.  She may be getting sick.

The drive after Diebold didn’t get any less boring.  We even stopped at both the Missouri and Arkansas welcome centers.  I dozed off and on.  Chris forged ahead.  We finally switched interstates in West Memphis, Arkansas.  This new one was in terrible condition, but I guess it helped Chris stay awake.  And by switching roads we missed all the food stops.  Had to drive an extra 30 or 40 miles to eat.  She did let me drive for a little while, though. 

We finally stopped for the night in none other than … Texarkana, Texas.  Home.  But right after I checked in and returned to the car to unload, Chris was on the phone with Josh.  He was headed to the emergency room with Christi.  She has been having an extreme headache for the last few days, so they were getting it checked out.  We offered to forego the hotel stay and head right on there, but he assured us the boys were covered for the night.  If Google Siri is telling the truth, we’ll be there within 4 hours in the morning.  I think Chris in particular needs a good night’s sleep before a run like that. 

We did hear back that they were giving her fluids and some stronger pain meds.  They also did a CT scan and found out she has a brain.  Awesome news, Christi.  They even sent her home to recuperate.  Nurse Nani is still chomping at the bit to be there, though.

Hotel Rating: Well this Comfort Suites is not bad at all.  Cheapest rate we have had this entire trip, for one thing.  Great room.  King size bed and a couch.  Indoor pool (but it’s only 3 feet deep.  We can’t do any of the exercises in waist deep water).  I’m leaning toward a four starfish, pending breakfast.

Malachi 4:2 says, “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.”

Father, please ease Christi’s pain.  Give Josh and the boys a peace that passes understanding.  And give the doctors wisdom to know the right course of action.  Oh, and give us safe travels there.  Amen.

June 1 – “Day Fifteen: Church, the Arch, Busch and Beyond”

At breakfast we met some folks from Buffalo, New York.  A lot of folks.  They were on their way home from a group trip to New Orleans.  The guy we talked to was a Yankees fan, of course.  He didn’t begrudge me my Astros fandom, though.  His philosophy was, “At least it’s baseball.”  A man after my own heart.

After breakfast we left for Evansville, Indiana.  We decided to surprise some old friends from our South Oaks days in Arlington.  The Central Time Zone kicked in somewhere along the road.  Evansville is located in the bottom corner cluster of Indiana counties that held out for Central time.  Good for them.  Makes it feel like we’re closer to home.  At some point along the way I woke up (Hey, it’s one of the benefits of being the navigator, and Google Siri has just announced 115 miles of “go straight”) and noticed a road sign for Santa Claus, Indiana.  Couldn’t pass it up.  So I changed our route - to the dismay of Google Siri.  Santa Claus had a massive three-roller coaster theme park called Holiday World.  It was even open for business for the three or four people who had showed up so far.  Should we join them?  But alas, it was cold in Santa Claus.  56 degrees.  I expected snow any minute.  Chris must have, too, because she wouldn’t stop.  We did take some pictures.  The Santa Liquor Store.  The Santa Claus Hardware Store.  Frosty’s Mobile Home Park. 

As we left town we inadvertently stumbled into the Abraham Lincoln Boyhood National Park.  All was quiet there.  Even the two Santa Claus police cars were at rest in the park.  Again, just photos of the huge flagpole in the trees to prove we were there.  Our next discovery was a sign designating the Warrick County Coon Club area.  Interesting.  I looked it up.  Just what it sounds like.  Coon Hunters, Inc.  Quite the organization.

We made it to Evansville in plenty of time for church.  We walked right past David’s office, but he didn’t recognize us.  We saw Kim in the hall talking with someone, so we avoided her gaze and slipped into the sanctuary.  Our efforts at incognito proved fruitless, however.  Kim recognized us from her spot in the choir.  She spilled the beans to David at the visitor welcome time, and he did some “reminiscing” from the pulpit.  We continued the rehashing over lunch.  Great fun with great friends.

Finally, we headed in the direction of St. Louis to look at that big arch thing they have there.  That meant a looooong stretch of freeway driving.  Chris handled it like a trooper, as always.  I drifted in and out of consciousness, hoping to awaken to another surprise in the category of Santa Claus.  On that particular stretch of I64 through Southern Indiana/Illinois there are lots of trees, some farmland, a river or two … and very few surprises.  Well, until we got within spittin’ distance of St. Louis (Is 40 miles spittin’ distance?  It’s a perspective thing).  That’s when traffic came to a dead stop.  Road work.  On a Sunday.  After two weeks of successfully avoiding interstates, the one time we take one, and the only one that would take us right past the attraction we wanted to see, and we get stuck with road work.  Of course.  We stuck it out, though, and finally made it into downtown St. Louis.  Oh, we never intended to stop.  We just wanted to say we saw the arch.  We did.  And for a bonus I didn’t expect, there was Busch Stadium, the home of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team right next door.  Two for the price of one.  (Well, we didn’t pay for either one, actually.  But it was exciting to see).  The only photo I missed was the Welcome to Missouri sign over the Mississippi River.  I got the R and the I.  Oops. 

We made our way around the city’s loop and found the freeway that led south out of town before we started looking for a hotel.  It was already almost seven p.m., so we pulled off in a place called Arnold.  Really.  Wouldn’t you love to live in Arnold, Missouri?  Had some crab cakes at a Ruby Tuesday’s.  Even ordered a dessert for the first time since we left home.  Mega-chocolate thing.  Yum.

Hotel Rating: Comfort Inn.  Lost its five starfish rating as soon as the elevator opened on our floor.  Distinctive odor of smoking.  Thankfully the room itself had been deodorized.  The room was pretty nice, actually.  King bed.  Four-cup coffee pot.  They had an indoor pool (no, not in the room), but for some reason it was closed.  Strike two.  Waiting to see how breakfast goes, but we’re starting with three starfish, so it’s not looking good for old Arnold.

Psalms 33:9 says, “For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”

Father, thank you for David and Kim and their ministry.  Bless them in a great way with joy and peace as they serve you.  Amen.