Ping Pong and Pool

I had the esteemed pleasure of playing Tony Snyder in ping pong and pool yesterday. This man has skills in table tennis. He uses a sandpaper paddle (same as I do) however, somehow he is able to use it much more effectively than I do. I did score in the double digits the first two games but I think I only reached 9 in the third game to 21. I might add that if we were playing the "skunk rules" he would have had me at 7-0. He either stepped up his game or I just fell apart. I thought it was interesting that I was able to his some shots off the side wall so that they land on his side of the net, but Tony mentioned that we weren't counting those shots as good. In any case I was happy to move on to the game of 8-ball, where I was able to achieve a small measure of success. I was able to pocket the 8-ball while he still had a couple balls on the table in the first game. The second was a bit closer, as he had the first shot at the eight with no other balls on the table. His best attempt was to rail it longways into the corner pocket. His miss set up an easy close corner shot which I was able to execute without any trouble. I might add that Tony was a perfect host and fixed me something to eat afterwards. He had no hard feelings toward me, but he did state that he wanted a rematch (in pool) after he has a chance to practice up a bit. I think I will concede ping pong to THE MAN. Anyone out there feel lucky?

Missing the kids

We are missing these three little boys who are far from home--check that, they are in their new home now across the big pond. Dawson, seen here playing in the sand, should have quite a bit of sand to play in where he is now, Mali, West Africa. Kenan, the one in the next photo, will have a nanny to help take care of him in Mali as well as Dawson. And Zachary, the one in the Hawaiian shirt and holding the golf equipment, will hope to find some kind of ball to play with over in South Korea. These three boys may be gone but they are not forgotten.

Lunar Eclipse

I know there are plenty of folks with a pic of a lunar eclipse on their blogs. So here is one more. So what? I think they are pretty neat. I got up, went outside at about 4:45 AM to see the top of the moon starting to be shadowed by the earth. I went out again about 5:45 but it was too cloudy. One of the neatest ones I have seen was several months ago when my wife and I were traveling to Raleigh, and we were able to watch it during our entire trip east. Neither one of us knew about it before we started watching it. Once when we were down at the lake (High Rock) and the boys were fairly little, I tried to get them up to see one in the middle of the night. I don't remember being successful in getting them awake enough to view it. By the way, this pic came from Mr. Eclipse. Check it out here: http://www.mreclipse.com/LEphoto/TLE2004Oct/TLE2004Oct-1A.html

Heading to Mali

I have trouble getting the pics in the order that I want, especially when I throw a bunch together like this. The top one could be the kind of plane that the MacLanes rode across the big pond to get to Mali, West Africa. (Probably not, but I couldn't get a shot of the plane as it was leaving.) And if I hadn't told you, would you really know the difference? The next one is Dawson looking cool in Pat's sunglasses as we leave the park. He played outside the baseball field rather than on the swings and slides that were in the hot sun. The 3rd shot shows Brett, Sheri and Kenan trying to get the bags checked, and the next one shows them strategizing for flight. Next we see two grandmas getting their security passes to see the family off, and below that one, we see the missionary couple right before leaving us. The next two are of Dawson in the McDonald's play area, inside a car. Next we have Brett and Sheri performing the double human pretzel on the couch. I was privileged to ride in the van with on the same seat as Sheri and Kenan, so you see those pics. Please pray for them as they continue to adjust to the new culture, time zone and weather. We will surely miss them, but we know they are doing the work that God has for them to do.

The Rileys and the Michels

We had a good visit with the Rileys over the weekend and had the privilege of being a part of a birthday celebration as well. Of course I won't mention whose birthday it was, or when it was, or how old anybody is. We were celebrating several all at once, the best I can tell. Everyone seemed to have a great time. From the pic of the table you can see that we didn't lack for food, and I would go into more detail, but it would only make you feel sad that you weren't there to enjoy it for yourself. We topped off the evening with a telescope viewing of the moon, and some Wii Golf. What more could one want?

Salem Lake

It was a beautiful summer morning. The air wasn't crisp, but it was fresh. You could hear the sound of the cicadas buzzing like a minature saw mill. People had come to Salem Lake for running, cycling, and one could see evidence that there were some horses on the trail, although I never saw one. The path was dry, and hardened from the lack of rain for weeks. Getting around the lake could have been tricky with all of the runners; they were running in herds. One particularly large group was heading up a hill as I approached, and I was considering how to navigate when a guy in the rear hollered, "Bicyler!!" Then everyone moved to the right, and made it easy for me. Now you know that I always call out, "On your left!" when I come up behind a group of runners, but this group startled me a bit. I was glad the guy bringing up the rear was watching over his shoulder. Well, anyway, I was glad to try out my new pedals that I had put on a week earlier. My tires were pumped and so was I. It seemed that I was riding at a fairly good speed, and although this 33:46.9 isn't a record, I can say that I am happy with it, and hope to better that in the days ahead.

Lara Logan

I see this young lady on the CBS news almost every night. She reports on what is happening in Iraq. I know that reporters and news correspondents take risks all the time, but I hope that she can get another assignment soon. Our prayers are with her and the men and women who are fighting there.

The Lake

We went to the lake this past weekend, and all in all we had a good time. But I did meet up with a dog from next door, a species I had never heard of. This dog is a Staffordshire bull terrier, and his name is Ozzie. He is all muscle. I met him coming out of the gate to go to my car. He tagged me with two paw prints on my light khaki shorts. The red mud looked like it might have been a problem to get out, but with a little extra attention, they did come clean. I am sure all he wanted to do was give me a love pat. You don't think he is sticking his tongue out at me do you?

Tiger Woods Golf for Wii

Last night I played a round of Tiger Woods Golf for the Wii. I played the Kiawah Island course. I got par on 18 holes on my first game! I had an eagle on 2 and 3! It is a very realistic game, not as cartoonish as the Wii Sports version of golf. Your swing is not as forgiving. You can hit a shot and slice or hook much more easily. When you mess up, you can see Tiger show his disappointment, and you have an announcer with a British accent saying the kind of things you are accustomed to hearing when you watch golf on TV. There is only one real problem with this game. It has the potential for being addicting.

One more...

Here is another shot of the New River Gorge Bridge. It must have been taken from below, close to river level. Obviously, I didn't take this pic. I got it from someone else's blog. I think it has a nice perspective. With the weather being as hot as it has been, we are taking off to the lake tomorrow to chill for a spell.

Thurmond, WV

Here is my last post from our trip to WV. I know some of you are tired of reading about our week of babysitting. The building in the top pic is the restored train depot, and there are several history exhibits inside. The next pic shows the one lane bridge we had to cross to get there. It is made of a catwalk and concrete. The next pic shows what you see when you walk across it and look down. You can look through the catwalk and see the New River. That was kind of a weird feeling. The last pic shows several buildings together, and the one to the left was the Bank of Thurmond. This town used to be one of the richest in the state when coal mining was at its peak. The train still runs by here, but it is only a tourist attraction now. Now how many of you can say you have been to Thurmond?

A Simple Poem

For all of you poetry fans out there, here is a little poem I wrote a teacher friend of mine to try to encourage her to post again after she started a blog this summer.

Very soon will come the end of summer,
In some ways, to many that will be a bummer.
Especially folks like teachers who
start back to work,
'Cause they can't afford to goof off and
act like a jerk.

Then there will be oh so little time
for writing,
As there will be papers to grade and much
nail-biting.
There will be no time for writing on
your blog,
'Cause school has stolen all your time
like a hog.

"A word to the wise is sufficient,"
my teachers would say.
I hope there is one teacher who is
listening today.
Make time for those things that bring
others joy,
Like communicating with friends if
they be girl or boy.

I know this will never become one of the great works of poetry that students read in English class, but this teacher did give me an A+! Now lets see if we can all read her 2nd post soon.

New River Gorge

The first two pics here might seem a bit out of place. But they do belong here. Some kind of caterpillars were eating up this tree that I can't even determine its type because all the leaves are gone. I have shown one of the creatures up close, but as you can see the entire tree was eaten alive by them. The other shots show three different views of the New River Gorge Bridge, which is the longest arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere.

On the way home

Well it was just last Saturday that we were heading home from WV. Here you can see pics of around Summersville Lake/Reservoir and the dam. I liked the sign, so you get to see that pic here too.

WVU Hospital

Here is a shot of the WVU Hospital where I picked up Brett and Sheri last Friday in the rain. It was taken through a spotted windshield so that is why the quality is a bit substandard.

Mother and Son

And here is a shot of Sheri and Kenan during some family time. I suppose I could use Photoshop to put this together with the father-son pic and make it a family photo. But I am hoping to get one in Raleigh soon. Today Brett and Sheri finish their study of jungle medicine at WVU.

Father and son pic

I have posted a nice photo of Brett and Dawson at the top. And below we have a couple of monkeys, Curious George to be more specific. How many of you can distinguish between the TV version, and the full-length feature film? I did get aquainted with this character last week.

Answer

For those of you who are still scratching your heads after reading the Duke's answer, I have posted the explanation that Marilyn does so well.

Marilyn

Here is a little math problem (straight from the Parade in the Sunday paper) for those of you who like this sort of thing. I do this also to break the monotony of family photos which I have been doing to catch up from last week. So are any of you game? If you read her column, I suppose you won't have any trouble with this.

More from Morgantown

I know what some of you are thinking. That top photo is upside down. Not really. Its the way I took it. Kenan was laying upside down when I snapped it. Of course I could have turned it around, but then I thought, "this will have a real artistic effect." Watch out, I may becoming an artist! These are just a few shots I took midweek while we were pulling our 8-5 last week.