Bad Hair Week...at the Least

This was a busy weekend, complete with two late night/early morning interstate trips sandwiched between taking Penny to the ER and getting talked into a very bad haircut by my mother.

The Penny Scare was a false alarm.  It ended up being a possible carpal tunnel flare up instead of the feared heart attack.  No permanent damage was done.  On the other hand, my haircut will take a while to heal itself.  I have been on the receiving side of plenty of comments from “It’s not so bad” to “It makes you look thinner.”  Both are not true, but they were futile attempts to soften the reality that I look like a middle aged washed up Marine.  To top it all off I am in charge of the office devotional in the morning so there is no hiding.  So what does a preacher do when he gets a bad haircut?  Of course, he makes an object lesson out of it.  As a result my theme for the week is “Choices: The Good and the Bad of It.”

I have a rare week of no significant travel.  Red Rock is within a half an hour from the office.  I went there today.  The planned visits to Maricopa Village and Sacaton (sp.) later in the week were unexpectedly postponed by the Tribal agencies.  The good news is that they want to meet, but in a more formal manner. 

Penny and I have finally gotten into the habit of connecting via “Face Time” on our respective Apple machines.  It is kind of nice—not quite being there, but better than just calling on the phone.  We even have our “Evening Watch” to close the day.  We are going through the book by Dwight Nelson titled “The Chosen.”  I’m enjoying the book quite a bit.  Gotta go, Penny should be calling any minute. Good night. (227.2)

Do I Do That?

I cannot take too much time to blog today.  I do want to bring you up to date on my schedule yesterday—which was an eventful day to say the least.  The morning was pretty uneventful other than the fact that I dropped off my car at the mechanic and then proceeded to walk to work down Scottsdale Road.  I was hoping no one would notice me, but alas, that was not to be.  My wandering the main street in Scottsdale was promptly reported to my coworkers in the office who then razzed me nicely for not calling them for a ride.  Oh, well, it was a refreshing way to being my work day.

Two major meetings filled most of the rest of the afternoon.   One was a discipline committee in a nearby school and other a strategic planning committee for another school.  The first meeting was supposed to take an hour or so, thus allowing me sufficient time to travel to the other meeting across town.  It ended up taking the better part of three hours, although the results were favorable and positive both for the parties involved and for the school.  There was a lot of prayer that went into the meeting: before, during, and after.  It was a good meeting, but it was long.

I arrived at the planning committee quite a bit later than my apologies, which I had texted earlier.  By the time I did arrive a lot of the work had already taken place, but I was brought up to speed about the decisions that had been made regarding a town hall meeting to take place this coming Sunday.  Since I had been at the first meeting of the strategic planning committee, I was not surprised by the direction the school was taking.  In fact, I am quite excited about the possibilities.  Good things are in the pipeline.  I will have more to share after the town hall meeting.

On a personal note, as some of you know I am still hanging in there with my media fast (no TV, no Radio, No Media which is under my direct control (a convenient loophole) for as long as I can go!).  Well, I often have wondered if I am working out more regularly in the evening because I can at least watch TV if not listen to it while I work out.  Penny and I enjoy watching TV programs on-line when she is around.  I think she enjoys the fact that she gets to choose the program.  Even more, I think she enjoys the fact that she does not have to compete with any media for my attention.  I am a much focused person who can get lost in an activity, a project, just as easily as in a sporting event, news, or movie.  It has served me well professionally, but obviously not when it pertains to relationships, particularly my wife Penny.  It has been a good thing to give her back the priority in a tangible way.

In any case, I bring this up because yesterday revealed a real crack in my resolve.  I was waiting for the tires on my Prius to be changed (all four—almost one grand—ouch!).  I had developed some serious gashes on my tires in my many journeys across the state.  Only some heavenly glue was keeping my tires together, but the steel threads were showing.  I was pressed for time knowing I had to be at the discipline committee at 3:30 p.m. and the Discount Tires place assured me they would have me ready with plenty of time to get there (I was 15 minutes late!).  After my car was taken into the repair bay I found myself with 40 minutes or so to kill.  I decided to go to a restaurant across the parking lot from the tire place. 

It was nice outdoorsy type establishment—I figured I could get an Arnold Palmer and some chips or something and stretch it out for forty minutes.  It was a well-lighted, open and woodsy establishment.  Pretty typical for a down to earth family restaurant.  Walking in for me, however, was like a child walking into toy shop or candy store!  There were TVs everywhere!  It was media over-kill.  TVs in the booths.  TVs overhead.  TVs in banks across the walls.  TVs at every conceivable angle.  It was amazing—and none of it of my volition (or so I rationalized).  I was asked if I was by myself to which I answered yes with my eyes transfixed.  I was asked if I had a preference as to where I could sit.  I said yes and began to walk like a moth to the heat—I settled on a tall table meant for four people with a clear view to all TVs in sight.  I was in a trance.

I was there for about ten minutes soaking in all the media, not particularly paying attention, or at least not connecting the dots as to everything else going on in the room.  I noticed some odd scenes, but I did not dwell on it long since I had better things to do—after all “Golf Celebrities” was on one screen.  Football on another.  Tennis on yet another one.  Sports news on two other screens—large and small.  It was a buffet of media and I felt totally justified—all because I did not personally turn the TV sets on.  Well the joke was on me in the end, because when I took the time to really look around, beyond the young couples, beyond the groups of seniors, beyond the festive albeit subdued ambience, I immediately pulled out a $20, put it under my half consumed Arnold Palmer, and before my appetizer had even arrived, I left the restaurant.  All I can say is that as I was leaving I imagined what the temperatures might be like in the Siberian Conference.  I laughed as I was leaving and I even laughed when I told Penny.  It was not funny when the realization hit me.  All because I was too absorbed in the media blitz!  Lesson learned. 
 

The end of the day is here—a very tiring day, yet mostly in the office doing paperwork or catching up on phone calls and emails.   It’s amazing how leisurely day can be more tiring than a physically demanding day.  I suppose it has to do with how much you enjoy doing what you are doing. 

I spoke today with a potential principal for Thunderbird.  He is an excellent candidate, and at this point intrigued by the possibilities.  I will share more on that developing story when it develops.  Well, time for some face time with Penny.  Good night! (225.6)

The Algodones Incident

I spent the lion's share of the day in beautiful Yuma-- the winter haven of choice for many snowbirds from the northern regions of this country and beyond.  I enjoyed some observational moments in both classrooms of the Yuma SDA School.  I enjoyed playing some basketball with the 3^rd through 6^th graders.  I also got to know the lower grade students as well.

In the middle of the day I took a break for lunch.  I asked the teaching principal how far Mexico was.  She responded, "About 15 minutes to Algodones."  That was good enough for me!  In spite of the warning from my administrative source of the possibility of getting stuck behind a long line to cross back from Mexico I decided to go.  I crossed with no problem at all and saw only a short line crossing back from the southern side of the international line.

I was relieved to see the short line since I had told myself I would turn back and eat locally in Yuma if the line seemed long since I wanted to get back for my afternoon observations.  I crossed over and was immediately impressed by the amount of doctors, dentists, and pharmacies so close to one another and located side by side with small roadside trinket shops marketing their traditional wares to the tourists.  But I was on the hunt for some Mexican food (in Mexico—imagine that!).  I asked around and I was direct to a small stand that was all too happy to serve me up a helping of homemade Mexican delicacies.  I did not even consider the potential for gastronomical consequences.  I ate sufficient to satisfy my recently shrunken appetite and soon found myself headed back to the border crossing.

I came around the corner of 2^nd Avenue (I assume 1^st Avenue was located immediately next to the border).  I saw a short line on the opposite side of the street.  I was encouraged.  That is, I was encouraged until I got closer to the corner where the line suddenly disappeared.  I made the turn and suddenly I was confronted with what I believed to be the entire retiree population of the US and Canada waiting in line to get across the border into California.

This picture was additionally confusing since it did not appear the town of Algodones, Baja California was large enough to accommodate the number of retirees populating of the US and Canada!  I consoled myself by thinking I had enough time until the evening school board meeting.  I even thought to myself, "It can't possibly be that long," as I began my trek to the back of the line which I could not see from my vantage point.  I walked and walked.  I believe I could have walked back to Yuma by time I glanced at what I believed to be the end of the line-- either that or the edge of the world spoken of by the ancients.  I quickly surmised I could not afford to wait.  That was a recipe for disaster.

Luckily I was wearing my Ray Ban Aviators and as a result gave off certain amount of presence if not pretense as I quickly turned around in mid-step and began my determined walk to the front of the line.

I was determined not to be deterred from my mission.  I ran into a minor snag at the metal revolving door which usually provides a higher level of human congestion than the otherwise slowly meandering line of people with glazed-over eyes following the others in front of them in line like so much cattle headed to the branding station.  It beats the slaughter house, but not by much.  In any case, I made it through the revolving door with hardly a second glance from the hundreds of people I passed in line.  I pressed on although I sensed more than a few of the people wondered who this striking fellow was who dared press through moving past them in line.  As I began to approach the front of the line a frightening thought finally struck me-- "Now what do I do?" I couldn't just come up to a group of people at the front of the line and pretend they were long lost friends!  I may be nearing retirement age, but I was not as old as the slice of Americana now surrounding me. 

But stop I did.  I had to.  Any further forward and I would have found myself at the absolute front of the line.  I stopped as inconspicuously as possible next to man connected to an oxygen tank and felt the warm stare from the gentleman which whom I now stood in solidarity behind a couple who I soon discovered were snowbirds from Alberta, Canada.  I made small talk with both those ahead of me who probably wondered where I came from but did nothing perhaps thinking I was with the man next to me, who in turn considered the possibility that I was with the couple ahead with whom I was talking.  At this point it did not matter any longer.

In my mind I was prepared for the eventual unmasking of my deed from the crowd behind me in line who I was convinced would shout the well-deserved accusations against me upon my arrival before the customs officer.  Alas the fact that I am confessing this event must mean I survived my desperate act to salvage my duty as curricular supervisor.  I was prepared for the worst, but I was the recipient of corporate grace, albeit perhaps unwilling and unwitting, from the entire line of people I overtook in push to the front.

I escaped and was able to return and spend the afternoon with the small “yumans” at the Yuma school instead of sitting behind bars in a Customs Holding Cell for International Line Jumpers not to be confused with International Border Jumpers, which is a totally different story altogether. (226.8)

Saturday Night Summary

Well, I finally have a chance to sit down and blog for a few moments.  The last couple of days leading up to Sabbath were a bit trying due to an unexpected intrusion by a hacker into me FB account.  It took me the better part of 10 hours to unravel and clean out the mess created by the unidentified purveyor of personal electronic pandemonium.  In hindsight I know the exact moment when I was compromised—it was a FB invitation by a family member, who will go unidentified, to see myself in a video (does that sound familiar?) in some embarrassing emotional state.  I couldn’t resist.  I should have my head examined for opening the document, which ended up being a pointless video of a mediocre music band singing a non-descript song while doing nonsensical pirouettes – who knows anymore?  In any case I will not soon forget the hours of tedious searching for the threads of misinformation on many of my friends’ accounts.  Oh, well….

On a brighter note I spent the first hours of the day in the North West Heights SDA Church in Tucson this morning and early afternoon.  And contrary to my older brother’s snide comment on FB, there were actual people there.  My sermon was based on the series of stories in Genesis 12-19.  I enjoyed preaching it.  I hope the people got my point and actually enjoyed it along the way.  Penny gave me a B+, which was lowered from an A- due to the use of the expression “Lot was a little” once too many times for her taste.  I have been receiving a grade on my sermons by Penny for over 30 years so I am used to it.  The good news is that I have never received a failing grade by her.  There may be some bias associated with her grading system although she denies it.

Tomorrow seems to be lining up as a work day in preparation for a busy week:  Yuma on Monday; Sacaton (Gila River Indian Nation Headquarters) on Tuesday morning; Glenview on Tuesday afternoon; in the office on Wednesday (two major projects due that day!); Maricopa Village on Thursday; and then off to speak on Sabbath in Rubidoux, California for an Adventurer Sabbath.

I am most concerned about the two projects than I am about any other commitment this week.  I am partnering with the president’s office (AZ Conference, mind you) to pen a letter to all the pastors in the conference to officially launch the “Save Our Children” Education Tax Credit Initiative.  In short it consists of a conference-wide, three-year initiative to stabilize, strengthen, and spread our educational system in the Arizona Conference territory.  The plan received the endorsement of all pastors during their meeting last week, but the implementation and accountability details have yet to be outlined—that is the project due Thursday.  The results of the letter will hopefully be a whirlwind process by which every church board in the conference is visited in the next two months (by a core group of pastors/educational stakeholders) to explain the plan, elicit support, and encourage the participants.  Critical to this stage will be the local church leaders seizing the importance of the initiative for the future of the church, not just the Adventist school system.

I am pretty excited by the possibilities!  There is a steady move across the conference within the educational system.  Maranatha International is beginning to arrive on the campus of TAA to begin their renovation project (the first of at least two phases).  Budgets and personnel decisions are being forged at the local school level.  Curricular interventions are in being put into place.  Documented teacher observations are now the norm.  School evaluation teams are being formed.  The load is beginning to appear a little more daunting, but only if I stop to consider it.  Otherwise, it’s what needs to happen—and somehow, God will make it happen.

Penny is here for the weekend as you may have surmised from my previous statements.  That’s pretty nice.  She went with me to church this morning.  It required an early start since the service was in Tucson and we arrived for Sabbath School.  We were both pretty beat (and sleepy) when we got back home.  I must confess there were some serious “lay activities” taking place upon our arrival back home about 4:00 p.m.  We will enjoy the time while it lasts. 

To close, a brief “shout out” to my brother-in-law, who is the only consistent commentator on my blogs.  Thank you, Skip!  Blogs are always welcome as long as they are constructive.  Humor also helps.  Good night. (228.8)

Wednesday Wamblings

In spite of my media fast I find myself letting it encroach on me in ways that are avoidable but not in a practical way.  I have succeeded in avoiding most media when I am by myself.  My long trips allow me more opportunity to talk with my passengers or to talk out loud with God.  It is different and not at all natural yet.  I sometimes blurt out in song to break the silence.  Other times I make a phone call (hands-free) to family or friends.  That makes time seem to go by more rapidly.  Ultimately, it provides me a lot of time to think.  That can be frustrating at times.  My mind races in all sorts of directions, often at the same time.  Other times it just tunes everything out and just sits there in neutral. 

I must confess that I am re-evaluating the Internet in the context of my media fast.  I rationalized the Internet as a sort of informational lifeline.  In spite of the obvious inconsistency of listening and at times watching news clips on the Internet, I considered it a necessary evil so to speak.  I am not sure I can do without that media, but I am thinking about it because it is becoming a sort of crutch to me in my quest for a clean slate—I believe I called it detoxing the mind.  Well, I am getting closer to shutting that channel off, at least as pertains to video media.  I thought the music media would be the hardest—it hasn’t been.  Like I said, I sing when the silence is deafening.  I am a visual person more than an auditory one.

I find myself watching a lot of silent TV while I am working out late at night at 24 Hour Fitness.  That is somewhat a concession and I am wondering how I would deal with that without seeming just plain weird to my fellow fatigued followers of fitness.  I could feign blindness and wear a dark set of Ray Bans.  I don’t know.  It’s an experiment.  So far I like the results, but not always the silence.  I often wonder if I enjoy visiting people more than I did before due to the possibility they will be watching TV.  Very sad… (230.3)

Late Tuesday and All is Well

I am back from my wanderings in California.  My son, Ruben turned 30 years old this weekend.  It was truly a wonderful time with family.  I can’t imagine living without them.  I look forward to seeing them every day—forever.  Memories will be so much better then.  It’s easy to forget that this world is not as good as it gets.  It can get pretty good.  But as long as someone is hurting or lacking, or dying—we all are. 

Today was busy day.  The morning was spent trying to catch up with paperwork that has to be done, while at the same time being sensitive to visitors that took the time to come see me.

After enjoying a home-cooked meal prepared my determined-to-feed-me-constantly-and-expand-my-peronsal-territory mother, I escaped to Mesa to visit the Adobe school.  I had a short but pleasant visit with the teaching principal and his educational specialist.  She is amazing and quite a blessing to the school.  He is a good guy with a deep passion for Adventist Education.  There are daily miracles taking place at the Adobe school.  I stayed for the school board meeting in the evening before returning home.

I still have to finish the newsletter for the education stakeholders.  I began it this morning, but I could not complete before being pressed into service by tasks outside the office.  Good day. (231.4)

Friday Evenig Funk

I am very tired tonight—both physically and emotionally.  The day did not being with such low expectations.  It was relatively late morning before my mother and I left Scottsdale headed for California for the long weekend.  It was a passage that gave me new insights into my family’s history—from my mother’s point of view.  It was enlightening and sad to hear the events that speckle my family record on my mother’s side.  My dad’s side is equally tragic.

I survived nonetheless and even got some work done upon arrival in Riverside.  I was late for an appointment with Penny and that began the domino effect that set everything behind schedule, which is a formula for unnecessary stress on my part—I don’t like being or running late.  We tried our best to make the appointment through Friday afternoon traffic to an unknown location but without eventual success.  We had to turn around and go home without resolving the issue we had traveled in order to solve.

In the meantime the plans for a family gathering in Rosarito, Baja California were unraveling due to some miscommunication and a shortcoming in pre-planning.  It took a while to make the arrangements that needed to be made, but by then the plans had been delayed until tomorrow after church.  Family dynamics are both a joy and a challenge.  I wouldn’t trade them for anyone else’s, but they certainly test your mettle on a chaotic Friday afternoon.  I am sure I was not at my best today.  There will be some fences to mend.

I know I will recapture my anticipation for the events of the weekend, at this moment I am just tired and a bit beat up.  I am hungry too!  There were slim pickings today in the eating department—and not by choice but by circumstance and timing.  Hey, maybe that is why I am feeling sluggish.  Perhaps it’s just the back end of a very challenging week.  Or my bio-rhythms are on the ebb—who knows!  Sabbath is here and I am with Penny.  Tomorrow I will be surrounded by my children and my grandchildren.  Good is good.  I’m not feeling so bad anymore. (228.8)

Wednesday on Friday

Wednesday Evening...only a short entry tonight.  Office work in the morning.  Prescott school in the evening.  Ripples from yesterday’s presentation are circulating.  I am excited about the possibilities.  It’s late.  I’m tired.  Got to go and work out at 24 Hour Fitness!  (229.8)

The Plan is Presented Plus...

Today was a wonderful day.  The weather was pleasant.  The sun was shining.  And a minister’s meeting was taking place at the Arizona Conference Office.  About 12:15 p.m., right before the contingent of pastors was dismissed for a delicious lunch prepared for them, I was given the floor.  The mission was to make the presentation on a three year strategic plan for Adventist Education in Arizona in those fifteen minutes, and do it in such a way that would not include a tar and feathering activity at the conclusion, with me as the main attraction.

I am convinced some divine intervention took place, because I am sure I would not be able to duplicate what I said as the power point presentation was moving from one slide to the other.  In the end, the entire contingent of pastors gave unanimous approval to the plan set before them, not to mention a strong and lengthy applause at the conclusion of the presentation (It could be they were happy lunch followed!).  This is not a small matter since the plan with more detail added now goes to the Arizona Conference K-12 Education Board on February 6 and the Arizona Conference Executive Committee on February 7 for final approval and immediate implementation.  It’s a great day for education, since the plan, as it was presented provides a three-year plan for stabilizing, strengthening, and swelling our educational system.  God opened hearts and provided a vision for the group.

Now comes the work of following up and implementing.  I trust God will help us ride the crest of the wave of pastoral commitment and will help us meet the first goal by April 2012 as the first milestone in the plan.  I am very excited!

Something else took place before the meeting had progressed far beyond the morning devotional.  The president of the conference, a math teacher at TAA, the chef in charge of preparing the meal for the pastors, and yours truly sang a rendition of “Jesus Loves Me” by the Gaither Vocal Band.  In spite of pesky sound problems that made concentrating a difficult task, the song came off quite well.  It was an easy song compared to the Christmas ones we sang last month, but considering we only practiced last night and a bit this morning we are all very happy we did not crash and burn.  It was lot of fun!  I am sure we will be singing again at some point.

My vow of silence enters its eleventh day.  I am finding it easy to go without listening to things in the car, but I am intrigued by the concept of not thinking about anything in particular.  In other words, what is my mental “default drive” so to speak?   Where does my mind go when there is no input?  How will it impact me in my interpersonal encounters?  Will it influence my spiritual encounters?  I have already discovered that I have become more sensitive to responding to requests people make of me without much resistance.  I venture to say it is because there is nothing competing with the request whereas before I was usually watching, listening, or otherwise engaged in some media input activity.  I am a pretty focused person—I tend to zone out when I am doing an activity that interests me.  That is not good when you are being called to do something, go somewhere, or engage in conversation unrelated to your present activity.  The experiment continues…. (231)

Change in Plans and Attitude

Oh, of our best laid plans….  I was all prepared for a morning presentation on the Arizona Conference Office of Education Three Year Strategic Plan for our schools, that is until I opened a program for the two-day Ministers’ Meeting and found my slot missing from the first day—in fact from either day as other than a simple report—a practice of which I am not very fond.  I was able to salvage a morning slot before lunch tomorrow, but I will believe it when I am actually making the presentation.  I get the feeling I will be relegated to the afternoon after lunch when the pastors are in a post-luncheon stupor and in no mood for another report….in any case, I have been praying for a miracle.  Maybe keeping the pastor awake and engaged will be the beginning of the greater miracle.  In truth I am anticipating some serious discussion on the merits of the proposal before it is taken to vote.  I am praying for a miracle!  Send up a prayer for me tonight and tomorrow morning.  It is a watershed event.

I found myself with some extra time after the preempting of my imagined time slot, at least in my own mind, so I took a flash trip to the Desert Valley School in Tucson.  I had a relatively short amount of time to do an observation in the upper grade classroom.  I was informed while there that I had to be back in the Scottsdale office for a 4:15 p.m. meeting.  I had to leave suddenly.  Believe it or not I arrived at the conference office at exactly 4:15 p.m., only to discover the ministers’ meeting had not yet ended.   Aaaaargh!  It ended closer to 5:15 p.m. and after post-meeting gatherings and de-briefings it was almost 6:15 p.m. when we began our previously scheduled meeting, which was actually a rehearsal for tomorrow’s meeting.

I had a good work out at 24 Hour Fitness.  I might as well share my physical fitness goals for the year.  I want to regain some of my lost flexibility and nimbleness—maybe even run another marathon.  In the absence of any progress in that area I hope to at least lose a few pounds in the process.  I had ballooned to over 240 lbs. over the holidays!  I hope to get down to at least 200 lbs. although my doctor believes I should lower my weight to 175 lbs., at which point I will look like a bag of bones (big bones at that!). 

The good news is that my guest, i.e. my mother, is into her own exercise program.  She has gotten into taking walks around the campus of TAA in the late afternoons—her and her walker.  It is a matter of time until she begins to meet the students who will undoubtedly pump her for stories, which my mother will be too happy to concoct on the spot for their delight.   Oh, well….

Sunday Sojourn

I am back in Scottsdale after a hectic weekend of over 800 miles of driving and then some….  Tomorrow awaits—the Arizona Conference Minster’s Meeting at the conference office is slated to begin in the morning and last for a couple of days.  I will be sharing what I consider a watershed presentation for Adventist Education in the Arizona Conference.  The pastors gathered in session are pivotal in moving in the direction I believe we need to travel in order to shift out of survival mode.  I will report more on that tomorrow.  Suffice it to say that a failure to secure the pastors’ corporate commitment will certainly create a major detour in the strategic plan that is developing.  More to follow.

I traveled back today from Riverside, California—the midway point of my sojourn to the California Central Valley, with my mother in the mid-morning.  I was determined to return to Scottsdale at a decent hour in order to get some homework done before calling it a day.  The plan was to leave no later than 9:00 a.m.  This was not to be.  The reasons best be left alone.

One begun, the trip was uneventful for the most part.  I did surprise my mother by picking up a hitchhiker at the Chiriaco Summt exit after I had fueled the Prius sufficiently to get me to cheaper gasoline in Arizona.  The words, “Are you crazy” did not get out of her mouth fast enough to prevent my stopping the car and inviting Jerry (his name) to get in the back. 

Jerry, a gentleman who appeared to be in his mid-60’s, traveled with us until I dropped him off at the Vicksburg exit Valero Gas Station where he had told me earlier in the trip he was headed to do some laundry.  He did not stay awake very long but I was able to engage him in some conversation.  He is a native of New Hampshire and presently living in Santa Barbara while he tries to get back on his feet.  He seemed jovial enough in spite of his present state.  He smiled often through a full set of upper teeth lazily falling between the book-end set on the bottom.  He spoke of his desire to return to college and someday teach at a college someplace.  I commended him for having aspirations for the future.  He had never been married and had no children or living relatives—a fact I found very sad when I thought of my family.  He said his last living relative had recently passed away.  Soon after that Jerry closed his eyes and fell asleep until we stopped for more fuel on Exit 5 in Arizona.

I am learning that I am not much of a conversationalist unless I feel it is necessary to speak and even then it does not come easily.  I can travel for miles in silence without noticing.  Penny certainly notices when she travels with me—and she does not like it.  My mother finds a way to break the silence.  I guess I like the silence—it makes me wonder why I had grown so accustomed to noise. 

I might have even made a good monk in another time and place.  For now, however, I am expected to present my strategic plan for education tomorrow.  I better get back to work.

Friday Travels

Today brought an unexpected travel day for Penny, my mom, and me.  I received notice a couple of days ago that my stepmom returned from the Philippines with a serious bout of pneumonia.  She is quite advanced in age so she was admitted into the hospital for a couple of days.  Although she is home, my children wanted to go see her.

My mom stayed back in Riverside, but the rest of the Escalante Clan hit the road after the work day and traveled up north to Clovis, California.  It was a long travel day since it came at the heels of the Arizona to California trip.  I am dead tired and ready for some sleep.

My vow of silence remains intact and I have dropped a couple pounds to boot.  It’s been a good week on that front.  Sabbath will be a great day.  I need it!

Vow of Silence

New Year—new beginnings!  I am back in the office since yesterday, but I have not had a moment to bring you up to date on the happenings around the office and in my life.  Let’s begin in the office….

The pace is as busy as ever entering 2012.  The schools opened today and by most accounts this has taken place without any major glitch.  The good news from TAA is that the funding from back east has come through to continue the capital improvements in the dorms and around campus.  This opens the doors for the Maranatha International group to come on campus in February to do some major renovations.  That is exciting news.  The asbestos has already been removed from both dorms.  This took place during the Christmas Break as a step of faith, since the funds to cover them had not been secured yet.  But God is working.

Budget time has arrived in the conference.  The economy has not turned totally from its enduring malaise, but there are encouraging signs.  Schools are faced with increased costs due to new policies impacting teacher remuneration.  A conference-wide intervention will be needed to address the impending crisis, but once again I am confident that the doors of generosity with open and the apparent pitfall will become nothing more than another stepping stone in the Journey to Excellence ™ (a little plug for the sponsor).

On a personal note I have come to a few decisions regarding my future.  I realize my time in Arizona will not last forever.  God alone knows when my time will end either by attrition or volition.  The point being that I want my time remaining to be as productive as it can be.  The holidays left me feeling sluggish, heavy, and a bit bloated.  I have already begun making some changes that will address the excess baggage.  It will require a bit of discipline, but I think I can muster that much.  This is not a New Year’s resolution per se.  It just seems like a good time to eliminate certain things, while adding others to return me to a better physiological place.

There is a second choice I have already begun putting into place with little fanfare.  I believe it is a bigger change for me that the first choice. It came about as a result of my wife Penny’s notion of detoxing our bodies through a regimen that cleanses the system of impurities that have accumulated over time.  Well, I thought to myself, perhaps a detoxing of the senses would not be a bad idea.  After all, the mind is the catch-all for visual, auditory, and generally all sensory input.  I simple took a “vow of silence” for the year.  Yes, you heard correctly, a vow of silence.

Now perhaps some of you are thinking, “That’s a good idea—Ruben not talking!”  I am sorry to disappoint you but the silence has little to do with my speaking and more to do with what I see and listen to—in other words I am going to try to refrain from any audio and visual input under my personal control.  No radio when I drive.  No Netflix when I want to unwind at the end of the day.  No Veetle for TV streaming.  No Pandora.  No Radio Streaming of any kind.  No news radio.  No talk radio.  You get the idea.  It all adds up to a lot of silence where input used to be.   Even I think it’s crazy, but I am doing a self-experiment hoping to blog along the way and in the end have day to day journal of my self-discoveries.  Mostly for me is a sort of media fast to clear the slate and be more open to Divine leading that I may miss in the cacophony of noise that my life had become.

Other than this blog, it is an otherwise very understated transition.  In fact, Penny has not even made note of it.  I have already discovered certain things about myself in these three preceding days.  For one, if there is nothing blaring from the radio as I drive, I will find something else to do.  I have made more phone calls to friends and family on my Bluetooth hands-free car phone; I have had spontaneous conversations with my wife; I have even traveled for miles wondering what my brain is going to do with no input!  Nights are quiet without my usual music playing in the background. 

To be sure I will not be evangelistic about this.  The truth is that I watched some Netflix with Penny a couple of nights ago: a very funny episode of Psych she asked me to watch with her.  It’s early so I can’t say yet whether this crazy experiment will run its course.  Stay tuned.