Caveman Rock Star

So I wrote recently with a mixture of admiration and apathy about my experience at the rodeo. Watching men attempt to ride a raging bull or bucking horse was alternately silly and terrifying.

Well. Now imagine my excitement at watching men heave a rock. Not a baseball into a strike zone. Not a football at a sprinting, zigzagging target. Just pick up a rock. And throw it. As far as possible. Can a sport get more primitive than that?

But here's the deal. It's an oddly shaped 138 pound stone. When you lift it, if you can lift it, with arms extended straight overhead, you can not, if you want to survive, drop it.

If you do get the rock up there, you now run, or stagger a few yards to the foul line. An experienced thrower does a nifty little jig right at the line, allowing him to propel the rock from high overhead while his feet stop just short of the line.

Good throws range from 9' to 11' or so. Over 12' is rare. The all-time record is 14'6". It doesn't sound like much until you watch big beefy looking guys stagger under the weight. Style is useless, but technique helps.

This is Steintossen, Stone Throwing, at the Ohio Swiss Festival in Sugarcreek. It is a raw, simple, powerful, and visceral contest between a man and a rock. The men do okay, some of them. But I think the rock wins.

Gratitude Schmatitude

We will return to our regularly scheduled programming after this tantrum from my inner Calvin. Please stay tuned.

Gratitude Schmatitude!
The genies left and took the electricity with them.
I want lights!
I want water!
I want it now, or I’m moving to Mexico.

This just in: Power has been restored in your area.

Thank you for your patience.

Oh. Never mind.

Empowered Gracias

Sometimes it's the little things...

* A light in my closet.

* Water for brushing teeth.

* Cold beerverages ;)

* Not using the shower in Mom's basement.

* A late night chorus featuring critters, not generators.

* The electricity genies who left my neighborhood at 10:30pm.

* That the power, or the water, isn't off every Monday. Unlike mi amigos'.

* shhh...tv.

Powerless?

It was a beautiful scene, my neighborhood in the ethereal light of a full moon. I sat on the front porch watching as patches of light and shadow danced across the grass. My dog- I mean Jo's dog- was sniffing the air, growling as best an 8 pound dog can growl at perceived dangers. That wonderful chorus of night sounds rose and fell in waves - the crickets, locusts, cicadas, bullfrogs etc, joined by the cacophony of clattering generators.

Oh yeah, the power was off. Which is why I was out on the front porch to start with, because I had no TV or computer, unlike my more 'fortunate' neighbors who were generating their own power. That was last night.

The previous night, the kids and I piled into the car and made a food run to Java Jo, which still had intermittent power. Back at home we sat around the dining room table with candlelight and a battery powered lantern. We enjoyed the food and the company, read books and comic strips, and forgot to complain about the inconvenience.

It's two days since the remnants of Ike's winds took out our electricity. What it did not take was our power to choose how we respond. Not ready to permanently 'live Amish' as my wife calls it, but knowing it's better than the ice storm was, better than Galveston.

Sans electricity? Yes. Powerless? Not with an innate, divine imperative to choose our thoughts. Now that's a beautiful thing.

As a man thinks, so he is. Whatever is good, think on it.

Be the Bait

The really cool fish symbol, I think, is the one with the little cross for an eye. Except it reminds me of the X they use for eyes in cartoons when something is dead. I suppose that's weird.

I guess the use of a crude outline of a fish to symbolize Christianity came from Jesus' invitation to a couple of his future disciples that he would make them 'fishers of men.'

So I've always wondered, what did He say to the Dr. Luke? I will make you a healer of men? Cool. But then it gets a little dicey. What do you say to Matthew, the tax collector?

More to the point, what would he say to me? How can my day to day stuff be adapted as a follower of Christ?

My good friend Phil's natural talent showed up in two areas of his life. He was great at convincing people on the benefits of buying a car from him. He is just as good at convincing people of the benefits of living life according to God's plan.

But of the disciples, I like Andrew's style best. He simply introduces people to Jesus. In John's account, he tells Peter, "We found the Messiah," then takes his brother to meet Him. Later, with a starving crowd at hand he tells Jesus, "Here is a boy with bread and fish."

Andrew sees people with something to offer. He takes them to Jesus, not because Jesus is lacking, but because that's where they, and their gifts, will be best used and most appreciated. How simple is that?

Chillin'

Yes, this actually was the scene at the end of a long lazy Sunday afternoon. *

After church, a 45 minute drive down Rt. 93 through scenic rolling hills (did I type that out loud?) took us to Roscoe Village. No, it was not founded by Rosco P. Coltrane, sorry. We did find parking, but only after I drove all the way from one end of the village to the other waiting for Jo to show me the restaurant, while she was waiting for me to pull into the next empty spot.

We ended up under the trees on the patio at Lock 27 Tavern. The chili-burger and baked beans were amazing - well okay, they were really good. Along the way the question came up, if your server doesn't smile, and you see another who is very friendly, shouldn't you be able to switch?

After a brief chit-chat with the couple who had their rottweiler and blue heeler in a trailer behind their motorcycle, we wandered across the street to the wine/coffee bar. We did not have wine. We did not have coffee. But we did have ice-cold beverages, (one each, Naomi,) which really put me in the mood for a nap. The shoes came off, the feet put up, and much relaxation was had.

Yes, indeed this was a day of rest.

*See 8/15/08