A bad day on vacation beats a good day at work anytime.

Well I must say that today was a much better day. The Princess and I took a mini-vacation in our convertible today after church. We traveled to Ohio’s “North Coast” to visit some of our favorite places and take a breather from all the ‘stuff’ going on. After a nice drive we stopped at Firelands Winery where the Princess tasted some of their best work and I made my customary ‘pilgrimage’ to the winecellar to take in that wonderful aroma. After a quick look around we departed with some unfermented grape juice for me and some ‘big kid juice’ for the Princess. From there we continued on to East Harbor State Park where we walked along the beach and the Princess actually got her toes wet in Lake Erie. After some more sightseeing our next stop was the local legend Cheese Haven. Nothing goes with the Princess ‘big kid juice’ quite like cheese, so we had to get some cheddar and some Swiss to go on the corned beef the Princess cooked up yesterday. We returned home refreshed and as ready as we can be to return to work tomorrow.
Here is a picture of the Princess and me on vacation earlier this month

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Dave and (the temporarily refreshed Princess) Julie

Bad news, good news.

I’m reminded of the story about the old Native American chief who came out to address his tribe late one fall and said “I have bad news and I have good news. The bad news is that all of our crops have failed and we’ll have to subsist this winter on buffalo dung”. After a few moments of stunned silence, a voice called from the crowd “So what’s the good news?” The chief replied “The good news is that there is an abundance of buffalo dung”.
So goes the Princess luck with doctors appointments this past week. The good news is that they believe they’ve finally found the source of the elusive infection that has been ‘eating’ the Princess since shortly after her surgery. The bad news is that it’s going to require more surgery to fix. So the Princess is scheduled for more surgery on Thursday September 11th. The good news is that this surgery will not be nearly as extensive and her post operative restrictions will not be either. The bad news is (according to the Princess) that she’s not ‘done with all of this’ yet and also (according to me) that she will be at the mercy of her partially blind, inept caretaker again (and by the way SHE will do the grocery shopping before she goes under the knife). Perhaps by the holidays she’ll be back to being better than her old self. Time will tell. At any rate, please remember to keep her, and her medical team, in your prayers.
As for my medical week, I had a ‘routine follow up’ visit to my eye surgeon this past week. The good news is that my intraocular pressure is staying down on its’ own so I won’t need to continue medication for it. The bad news is that the ‘bad blood vessels’ have started leaking again. At this point it’s not bad enough to require intervention, but it is yet another reminder that I’ll get to ‘enjoy’ having that treated again. Yuck. I do not enjoy having needles stuck directly in my eye or any of the other ‘fun’ stuff they have to do.
So with all of these time and financial constraints, it’s pretty obvious that I won’t be taking any classes this semester. I guess that just means that I’ll have to devise my own study plan. The plus side of that is not having to worry about papers or exams.
The grapes in the vineyard are ripening nicely so hopefully I’ll soon have fruit to do ‘something’ with. Gee, I wonder what that ‘something’ will be.
Well, that’s all the “good news” I have to report right now. Hopefully the next blog post will be much ‘brighter’. Until then…..

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Dave and (the hopefully soon uninfected Princess) Julie

Of hose bibbs and hummingbirds.

This past weekend was a very full and productive one for Andrew and me. We installed a new hose bibb out front so the Princess won’t have to drag a hose all the way around the house to water the flowers out front. We also got the ‘mini-dozer’ out of the barn and running so it could pull the sprayer trailer. And on that note we also built a frame to support the sprayer in the trailer so we won’t have to wrestle with cinderblocks every time we want to set up to spray. During one of our construction breaks we sat on the porch and watched the hummingbirds around the feeders. We counted six hummers at one time around the feeders. I believe I saw seven at once on Sunday. In the past we’ve never seen more than three at a time. It’s great to watch them flutter about.
Unfortunately the Princess was not able to accomplish as much. She and Andrew ‘cleaned up’ the raspberry patch on Saturday and that sapped most of her strength. I made her take it easy on Sunday and she actually took a nap (something she NEVER does). She heard back from the doctors office today. While her ‘culture’ did not yield an identifiable individual source of infection, it did show that she DOES have an infection (of some type). So she’s started on yet another round of general antibiotic drugs. I really feel for her. I know how bad she must feel and I know that it really tears her up that she doesn’t have the energy to do all she typically does.
Saturday night Randy and I played a gig at east harbor State Park Marina. It was fun (as always when Randy and I get together to make music), but it wasn’t the same without the Princess.
All this running around hasn’t allowed for a whole lot of study and reflection time but I do have a few ideas bouncing around in my head that I’ll elaborate on as soon as it’s ‘condensed’ enough.

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Dave and (the continually infected Princess) Julie

Be the Turtle.

I’m pleased to report that I did not live an un-‘deliberate’ life today. I worked hard at maintaining focus on the ‘big rocks’ and generally “practicing what I preach” (but it’s only Tuesday). I usually live like the rabbit in the story of the race between the turtle and the rabbit. Today I tried to live ‘slow and steady’, rather than burning out early. The Princess, for her part, went out of her way and made hot bacon dressing this evening. It was yummy on a spinach salad for dinner. I just went to the kitchen for some fudge (hey, we WERE in Mackinac), and she shooed me away from it (sigh) “For my own good”. Still no word from the Princess’s doctor on the infection today. Maybe tomorrow.
I’ve been listening to the audiobook “The Language of God” by Francis S. Collins and was intrigued by something today. He speaks of a ‘peace’ accompanying the decision to take a particular job. I have been thinking about ‘peace’ ever since. I believe ‘peace’ is an important part of a ‘deliberate’ life. To muster the required focus in living a ‘deliberate’ life one must have peace. I’ve been studying peace this evening. I’d love to report some earth-shattering realization resulting from it, but I can’t. I’m still studying. How does one “get” peace? I think peace is like happiness. To paraphrase an old adage ”….it’s like a butterfly. If you chase it, it will elude you. If you sit quietly, it will come and perch on your shoulder”. How does one keep from going crazy while sitting quietly and waiting for peace? My answer is “I have NO idea (but I’m workin’ on it)”. But if this picture the Princess took of the Mackinac Bridge taken through a porthole of the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse tower doesn’t bring about some peace, I don’t know what will.

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Dave and (the Princess who makes me behave) Julie

Monday after vacation.

I’m of the belief that the Monday after vacation is like a brick wall at the bottom of the first roller coaster hill. Today I hit that wall. Actually the day back at work wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it might be. John my new ‘partner in crime’ at work did a great job of taking care of things that previously would have piled up for me until I returned. I’m really happy to have the help of someone as capable as him.
The Princess went back to the doctor to be ‘cultured’ again (as if high tea at the Grand Hotel last week didn’t make her cultured enough). Hopefully they can arrive at the correct antibiotic cocktail this time and get whatever is eating the Princess knocked out once and for all. Generally the Princess is feeling and therefore looking better than she has in years. Last week Naubinway Jeff commented “You look ten years younger” to her. I think he really meant it. We’re very thankful for the medical developments and professionals that allow people to have an improved quality of life like that.
Health is one of those things that a person really doesn’t appreciate until it’s gone. I’d say it’s one of the ‘big rocks’ in life. The term ‘big rocks’ is from a story that Steven Covey tells in his book First Things First:
by Steven Covey
I attended a seminar once where the instructor was lecturing on time. At one point, he said, "Okay, it’s time for a quiz". He reached under the table and pulled out a wide-mouth gallon jar. He set it on the table next to a platter with some fist-sized rocks on it. "How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?" he asked.
After we made our guess, he said, "Okay. Let’s find out." He set one rock in the jar…then another…then another. I don’t remember how many he got in, but he got the jar full. Then he asked, "Is that jar full?".
Everybody looked at the rocks and said, "Yes".
Then he said, "Ahhh." He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar and the gravel went in all the little spaces left by the big rocks. Then he grinned and said once more, "Is the jar full?"
By this time we were on to him. "Probably not," we said.
"Good!" he replied. And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went in all the little spaces left by the rocks and the gravel. Once more he looked at us and said, "Is the jar full?"
"No!" we all roared.
He said, "Good!" and he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in. He got something like a quart of water in that jar. Then he said "Well, what’s the point?"
Somebody said "Well, there are gaps, and if you really work at it, you can always fit more into your life."
"No," he said, "that’s not the point. The point is this: if you hadn’t put these big rocks in first, would you ever have gotten any of them in?"
Part of living a ‘deliberate’ life is to know what the ‘big rocks’ are in your life, and then living accordingly. For me personally, I’d have to say that my ‘big rocks’ are: my faith, my family, my farm, and my friends (I didn’t start out looking for alliteration, but if it works, go for it). Where many people struggle (me included) is after having identified the ‘big rocks’, making sure they go into the vessel of our lives first. To do this requires constant thought and continual focus on the ‘big rocks’. I’ll be honest and say that I’m still working on how to do that in my own life. I do believe however that an occasional ‘depressurization’ from the stresses of life in the form of a vacation is a good place to start. Here is a pic of the Princess and me along with the Naubinway Queen and youngsters on our recent vacation.

Aren’t we a sharp looking bunch?

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Dave and (the re-cultured Princess) Julie

One foot on the brake and one on the gas.

The opposite of a ‘deliberate’ life is the life we’ve been living lately. As I’m sure you know it’s been a while since I’ve updated the blog. I’ll try to bring you up to date. On Friday August 1st the Princess and I headed out on vacation to ‘da yoop’ to spend some time with our good friends at the Naubinway Nook (http://naubinwaynook.blogspot.com/). Friday was a ‘travel day’ and Saturday was spent getting the ‘lay of the land’ and boating on a small lake near the cabin. Sunday brought a trip the Rexton Mennonite Church, followed by a trip to Tahquamenon Falls, and then on to the shipwreck museum at Whitefish Point. Monday was a work day. Naubinway Jeff had a large rock that needed to be moved. He said it’s been his nemesis for several years and has never been able to move it. I guess all he needed was a big, dumb ox from Ohio to supply the horsepower. We had it moved in about three hours. Right after the rock was moved, the girls (Princess and Naubinway Queen) called to inform us that they were stranded. Seems the Convertible decided to run out of power. Had to jump the battery and drive it back to the Nook. Charged it all night, but alas, had to take over to Car Doctor Dan and have the battery replaced! Tuesday was one of my favorite days of the trip. We all went over to Mackinac Island for the day. While we were there we had dinner with some island residents and a matriarch of the island (and mother of the mayor), Mackinac Island Town Crier/St Ignace News columnist Ms. Jeannette Doud. The meal and the conversation after were great. Wednesday brought another island trip for the girls and another day of work for the guys. Thursday was a trip into Mackinac City for the Princess and me. We saw toured Fort Michilamackinac, The lighthouse, were we were able to go to the top, then to Mill Creek, There we saw how the mill was operated with water power. A long, great day. Friday was a drive back home to the highly pollinated state of Ohio. Our allergies (among other things) have us wanting to return to the great white north. Well, I’m off to bed before the Benadryl kicks in. Here is a pic of the Princess and me on vacation.

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Dave and (the sneezy Princess) Julie