Virtual-Doug

The Tsunami Crisis

Each morning brings fresh revelations about the enormity of the catastrophe in the Indian Ocean.  I simply cannot get my head around the sheer magnitude of the disaster.  CNN now reports over  116,000 dead.  Incredible!

Messy Christian has begun a virtual prayer room on her blog - even if you are not the praying kind, drop by and read what others are saying.

One of my favorite bloggers is Bene Diction, and he noted the various ways we as believers have reacted. 

Still another favorite is Real Live Preacher - he had the audacity to suggest, as a matter of simple charity, that President Bush cancel his inauguration and donate the funds to the relief funds.  The political diatribes that resulted in his comments section indicates many people still "don't get it."

In our talks with father this morning, C and I lifted up all the victims - dead or alive - , but we also lifted up those who who wonder about how a creator who could let this happen and those who say it is the creator's revenge on us for all the evil in this world.

Sorry folks - no answers to this one.  My mind is too small to grasp all the whys and wherefores.  I shall leave that to he who is far greater than me.  In the meantime, I'll just keep up my conversations with him, and send what money I can to the Red Cross.

And be thankful Viet Nam, Cindy, and I are spared.

Its Hue

Can you say “Hway”?  That’s how Hue is pronounced.  Hue is where we’re going – and we are excited.

If you look at the narrow waist of Viet Nam, on the coast, right in the middle, you find the city of Hue.  With a population of about 200,000, it is a thriving – and growing city – with a rich cultural history.

Hue was the seat of the last ruling family in Viet Nam – the Nguyen dynasty.   The court was held in The Citadel, an impressive and massive fortress.  Though heavily damaged during both the French and American wars, much has been restored and is now open to the public.  C and I truly look forward to exploring all of it in person.

Click on map to see larger version.

But even more, we look forward to teaching.  We have already swapped emails with our teaching supervisor.  Her enthusiasm seems boundless - - and of course, she will need every bit of it to put up these two rookies.

Hue it is – couldn’t be happier!

We finally know
we will be living in Hue.
And a Hue we go!

Next Year at This Time

The only thing different about this Christmas is the anticipation of where we’ll be next year.

It won’t be my first time spending Christmas in Viet Nam.  Not even the second.  Next year will be the third – but under very different circumstances than the previous two.

Christmas 1967 saw me “in country” as part of the newly arrived 199th Light Infantry Brigade.  I remember sitting on a cot inside a tent with the sides rolled up.  It was hotter than the hubs of hell.  I sat with the other lieutenants in the company - sans shirts – grousing about being in there.  Yeah, yeah, yeah – we were all officers and “volunteers”, but that didn’t change the stark reality that we were a long way from home and hearth.  We hadn’t seen our first firefight yet, but we knew that time would arrive soon enough.  At the moment, we just dwelled on it being hot, dusty and not Christmassy at all.

Christmas 1969 was a lot different.  Well, not that much different as I was in Viet Nam again.  But this time I had already spent my time out in the weeds with the 1st Cavalry Division, was a Captain, and was visiting the lady who would eventually become my wife.  I spent Christmas Eve at the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh.  My driver, a guy named Bob Cummins from East Pascagoula, Mississippi, put on a Santa hat and helped Barbara Crookshank, another 24th Evac nurse, hand out presents to Vietnamese orphans.

In the present time, our Sunday meetings end services with this:

“And now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses . . . “ 

Next year, we will indeed be doing just that – the work He has been given us to do.

Trust me on this – it will be a blessing to spend Christmas in a peaceful Viet Nam.

What Are the Odds? - Update

As I write this, there are three Winter Storm Watches posted in the United States.  The first area is around Buffalo, New York, and the second is around Watertown, New York. 

The third is in Deep South, Texas - - the Rio Grande Valley - - an area on the same latitude as the upper Keys in Florida – a place where there has not been an accumulation of snow since 1924 – a place where there are no signs telling motorists that bridges freeze over before the roads.

Having it snow at all is against the odds.  Snowing on Christmas Eve . . . . . . . . .

Click on Photo to See Larger Version

It is snowing here.
I wonder who wished for this,
A real white Christmas.

This update is written Christmas morning.  A lot more snow fell during the night - and temperatures plummeted to a most untropical 26 degrees F.  This is record-breaking stuff, folks.

Pictures taken this morning:

Click on Photos to See Larger Version

Now Let’s Get Going

Monday was it.  It was good to leave a job this way.  I have absolutely no regrets, the job was fun, I learned a lot, and best of all, I worked with great people.

(Click on Photo to see Larger Version)

Yesterday and today are the first days of my retirement, but the reality is that I’m not retiring.  I’m just leaving one job and going on to another, just as I have done six times before.  Most likely I shall be working considerably harder at my new job of teaching English in Viet Nam than I have been working in my recent job as Director of the Center for Distance Learning.  (My former secretary can affirm how little I worked in the past few months.)

We are often asked – on a daily basis – if we are excited.  The answer is yes, but not, perhaps, in the way the questioner means the question. 

Here’s how we are excited –

• This is a new adventure.  He who sends me knows I am a bit of an adrenalin junkie and has made sure I get plenty of adrenalin

• This is a new job.  New jobs and new tasks are always fascinating.

• Living in a new and very different culture is exciting.

But here are the ways I am not excited –

• This is not some sort of special thing we’re doing.  Neither of us has any sense of sacrifice or forfeiture.  We’ve been called to do this, and we’re doing it.  No different than any other job – the Boss gives instructions and you do it.  ‘Nuff said.

• There is no sense of danger in returning to live in a country where we were once in a war.  The war is over!  Get over it, people!

• There is, however, a sense of irony.  Only He could come up with the idea of sending two vets back to Viet Nam.  (Yeah, He does indeed work in strange ways.)  But, irony is not the same as excitement.

In the meantime, retirement means there seem to be more things on the “To Do” list rather than fewer.

We are thrilled to go
for Him who said to follow
and love each other.

The Poet

In reference to Wendy's comment:  "So when did you become the poet?"

He blogs my poems
But doesn’t really like ‘em.
Phooey haikuey.

Fooled ‘em Again

Today I was in my very last official meeting at work – I made my monthly meeting with the university Provost, discussed one small matter of any consequence, and then we exchanged pleasantries.

Walking back to my office, I realized I had fooled them again.

They didn’t catch me this time either.  I have managed to go through my entire work life without being discovered.  It’s a minor miracle they have never caught me – or if they have, they’ve taken mercy on me and never mentioned anything.

Oh, you know what I’m talking about.

Picture this.  You’re sitting at your desk deeply absorbed in some problem – fixing a budget, or reading another report, or writing a new strategic plan.  Slowly, you become aware that there is someone in your office, though you were too engrossed in your work to hear or see anyone come in.  You look up and are startled to see them standing there, smug smiles on their faces, and their arms crossed.  No words are exchanged, but you know why they’re there.

Finally, one of them speaks –

It’s been so much fun watching you.  We’ve made sure you didn’t break anything important, or hurt anyone.  But, you really have no idea what you’re doing, do you?

There is no argument from me – I know they’re right.  I am a fraud.  I quietly gather my belongings and leave the office.  The secretary tries to hide her Cheshire cat grin, and I know she has been in on the gag.

But today, I realized I’d done it again.  Nobody had showed up in the office – my fraud had been overlooked again.   Either “they” have been nice to me, or I really have fooled them again.  I’ve worked for over forty years, and “they” haven’t caught me yet.

The mercies of this life are great.

He is a fraud,
Doesn’t know what he’s doing,
And now he is gone!

Northern Ohio

I had forgotten how small the house is. How my wife’s parents raised four kids in this cracker box is a mystery.  Like many of the Greatest Generation, she has survived her husband, who was a World War II  veteran.  The house was paid off long ago, and the furnace still keeps out the winter cold. As I glance across the room at her now, she has her Bible in her lap, but she is asleep.  Rest easy, Thelma – you have earned your nap.

And yes – Nature will leave us with the memory of snow and cold.  Actually, its one of those “tween” days.  The temperature is 34 degrees, yet it is snowing.  Obviously, it is not sticking – and I hope it doesn’t.  Today will be filled with visits from family.  When I married into this family, I married into half of the population of northern Ohio.  I just hope they don’t give me a test today because I don’t know most of the names.  I’ll just smile nicely and tell them how good it is to see them again.

Christmas cookies and
Delicious cheese on crackers.
Laughter warms the house.

Travel to the Northland

Two hard days of driving – the kind of driving we used to do with aplomb, but now find hard.  Getting older does that to you – I guess it has something to do with one’s elasticity disappearing.

Sumpin’ like that.

The two cats are newly ensconced at my sister’s in mid-Ohio.  And they didn’t go easily.  Bao (the younger one) stayed under the driver’s seat the entire first day, and Pookah (the Calico) stayed in somebody’s lap all day – and growled if she thought she would be dumped.  We made Memphis the first night, and they kept us awake most of the night, either growling at each other, or walking over our heads exploring the motel room.

Did you know it takes all day to just get out of the state of Texas? Unless you leave the country, which takes about 15 minutes from where we live, it takes a minimum of seven hours to get to a state line.  In our case, since we were going to Texarkana where we crossed into Arkansas, it took us about nine hours.  While the road is good, we went through lots of little towns before finally getting on an Interstate.

We’ll be here near Cleveland until early Monday morning.  I believe Nature has some sort of lesson to be learned.  Before we live in tropical Viet Nam, we may be in for a dose of snow here in the Great White North.  C and I just returned from a walk around the block.  Our ungloved hands informed us that we were only eight degrees away from the mist being snow flurries.

Thanx to Sister K for watching the cats for a year – and thanx for the invite to see the Christmas concert.  Music is better than words at explaining why the Son came for all of us.

Kitties transplanted.
House explore, then us ignore.
Kitties now at home.

Off on a Trip - a Short One

As you read this, we're on the road to Ohio.  First to Columbus to see my sister and drop off the two cats.  They don't know it yet, but that's their new home for the next 1 1/2 years.  The cat's names are Pookah and Bao.  Strange that the only critter in the house with a Vietnamese name (Bao) is not going to Viet Nam.  We'll also enjoy an evening at my sister's worship group's Christmas chorale. 

Then on to the suburbs of Cleveland to see C's mom.  We'll check on the recent widow, give a presentation at her Sunday gathering, and see some family.  Gone seven days, and driving for four of those days.  Yuck!

If something really strikes me, I'll blog, but most likely I'll be out of Internet range for a week.

We are on the road
To Ohio with the cats.
No email this week.