Dandelion Greens and Sheds

Last weekend I had a new experience. Dad, Jadon and I went to a nearby field and picked Dandelion greens. Dandelion greens are quite controversial. Some people hate them and refuse to eat them, and other people are reasonable and wise.

Here is a dandelion:

Now I am a very reasonable person. I had only pulled Dandelions in the past to get rid of them as a weed. I got wind of the fact that many New Englanders prize them as "spring tonic" and I was intrigued. Apparently my wife's grandmother loved them, but her mother does not. My father-in-law loves them, but my sister does not. Some of the locals celebrate when brought a bag of these leafy seasonal treats and others consider them to be cow food.

Where would I stand? Two weeks ago, I tried one raw. It was growing in the front yard and I gave it a shot. Not bad! Sort of like a salad green with a twist. We picked 6 grocery bags full last weekend. Dad delivered 4 bags to eager weed lovers. We had cooked greens twice this week and I loved them. I put a little vinegar and oil on them, but they would be good with butter, salt and pepper too. Apparently the key is to get them before the flowers come out. That way they are not too bitter. They are reportedly among the most healthy greens for your body. I am hooked. I just wish you could get them all year round. Oh well, there are some frozen ones waiting for Karen and Kayla to try when they come East.

Sheds: Our new home is a mobile one. We live in a very nice trailer park in Charlestown. I can't believe what a nice neighborhood it is, and the price was amazing. We have been fixing up the trailer in order to get it ready for the girls. We actually have the same usable square feet in the mobile home as we did in the Santa Rosa condo. There is more cupboard space, but less storage space. We have an extra bedroom, but I felt the need for some storage space. Lawnmowers, snowblowers and yard tools need a home too you know.

Enter the shed. I was planning on building one from scratch, and hope to do so in the future. But dad found one in the paper yesterday that was too good to pass up. A metal shed (8x10) that is only a few years old. We went to pick it up today at 9am. It was not quite ready as we expected. We had to wait 45 minutes for the guy with the key to get there, and another 30 minutes for it to be unloaded. We negotiated the price down a bit, then spend 2 hours dismantling it. It is in pieces on the side of my home now and will probably take 2 days to put back together, but I am very pleased. Now, to get a lawnmower.

2 for $5 and countdowns

According to a study at George Mason University, New Hampshire is the most free state in the union. They examined several things that ultimately put the "Live Free or Die" state at the top of the list. I won't go in to all that here, but I was reminded again tonight of one of the freedoms to be found here in the state that has the lowest government expenditure per capita than any other: Sales tax.

We are having a pot luck lunch at work tomorrow. My wife is on the West Coast and I was concerned that if I tried to cook something they would make me stay in prison for a night or two. I signed up to bring chips. I have mad chip buying skills.

I browsed the shelves of our little Charlestown grocery store where Karen's great grandfather used to be a delivery man and found a deal on chips. Two bags for $5. Probably a different price structure than it was in great-grandfather Buswell's day, but not to bad a deal. I went to pay and it was an even $5. Not 5.48 like it would be in other places, but an even $5. It was odd handing the cashier a 5 spot and being done with it. Live Free or Die baby! (Edit - Food items are actually not taxed in most places. When I bought this one item the lack of sales taxes stood out. The same thing would happen if I had bought a pair of socks too, but I couldn't very well bring socks to the pot luck.)

Countdowns: At the right you will see my countdown. We hit the half way point of our separation last week. I have mixed feeling about the countdown because it seems way to stinking long, but I have to say it is better to be on the downhill side at least.

I thought I would share both Karen and Kayla's countdown method with you.

Here is Karen's:

Those are packages of Starbuck instant coffee. Not bad stuff. When I boarded the plane Karen decided to go without coffee for a month or so. She had counted out the "Via" packets remaining and did not start drinking coffee again until the amount of packets matched the amount of days left. She took this picture a week or two ago and I have been meaning to post it. I forget how many packets are in each of these boxes, but you get the idea.

Now for Kayla's:

These are post-it notes on the side of a filing cabinet. Kayla does not yet drink coffee and my creative little redhead decided that she needed a visual countdown too. This picture was taken a few weeks ago. Apparently with all the packing that Karen has been doing, Kayla's countdown is tucked away behind some boxes. Still reachable for counting but not much for taking pictures.

44 days left as of this post. Hey, that's Willie McCovey's number!

Another edit: Karen sent me this picture today. The dogs have a countdown too!

A Sunday hike

My sister, nephew and I took a nice hike last Sunday. We walked along an old Railroad Bed that has been converted in to a trail for hikers, bikers, snowmobilers, ATV riders and the equestrian types. I don't like to ride horses, don't have a bike or ATV, and the snow was melted. So we walked. It really was beautiful. Since I am not addicted to shopping at malls, it is great to have great hiking available around here.

We paused along the way and contemplated 12 different passages of scripture having to do with the great outdoors in one way or another. Here are a few of them (from the NLT):


Job 12:7-10   “Ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you. Let the fish of the sea speak to you. They all know that the LORD has done this. For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of all humanity.


Psalms 42:1   As the deer pants for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.


Romans 1:20 From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.

And just because I was in the mood I threw this one in the mix: Genesis 27:3 Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows out into the open country, and hunt some wild game for me. (Hmm, am I allowed to take this out of context and call it a commandment?)

Jadon and I with an old covered Railroad bridge behind us.

I Samuel 12:23

1 Samuel 12:23   As for me, I will certainly not sin against the LORD by ending my prayers for you. And I will continue to teach you what is good and right. (NLT)

Been thinking about this verse a lot. It seems like a good life verse for a pastor or an old prophet who can kick some tail when needed.

Brief thanks for the prayers

I was at about 80% yesterday and at about 85% today. Thanks for all the prayers everybody!

Pretty Tombstones and Reactive Arthritis

I stopped by a church and took this picture while driving up north this week. Before I decided to go to the Charlestown area it was a church that I had considered pastoring. Seeing the nice church building reminded me of what I have thought many times since coming out here.


A lot of these church building are like pretty tombstones.

I want to be clear, I am not singling out any one church, especially not this one. I got a sense that this one is alive and well. But, most of the churches in pretty buildings out here are not alive and well. Most of them are either not committed to God's truth or uninterested in reaching out effectively to the community. Some are doing neither, they are like lifeless buildings with a rich history and great architecture.

I suppose it could be a depressing thought, but it actually inspires me. I am so grateful for my 16 years at Spring Hills. I am glad that I got to be a part of a live and healthy church both before and after we moved in to our own building. Any church that looses touch with why it exists will die. I pray that when our new church is going that we will always stay focused, alive and healthy, no matter where we meet.

Reactive Arthritis: Well, my old friend is back. I have been without an episode since November. I was thinking that I might actually be done with this annoying pest.

For those of you who don't know, I will give you a short summary. Back in December of 2009 I got Salmonella. No problem, my immune system kicked in an vanquished this foe in a day or two. About 10 days later I developed what is called "Reactive Arthritis." It is similar to Rheumatoid arthritis, but happens in reaction to a major immune system event. My immune system essentially goes in to overdrive and attacks cells it is not supposed to attack. Inflammation take over. For the first few months I was miserable. I missed 6 weeks of work, had such pain in my joints that I could barely walk or get off the couch, had very red eyes and had great pain in my chest.

After the initial hit, things settled down, and since Easter of 2010 I have simply gone in and out of minor episodes. These basically consist of inflammation in the lining around my heart and lungs, accompanied by chest pain and extreme tiredness. These have been kept under control by prayer and medicine, and usually only last a few days. I had not had an episode since November, and even though the doctor said that it is something that I will have on and off for the rest of my life, I thought that it might be all over with.

I was wrong.

Oh well, it is not what I would prefer but I can live with it. Many people I know and love have much worse things that this. This life is temporary and inherently painful since sin entered the world. I know that someday I will be totally healed. I would love that to be on this side of heaven, but if it is not until I get to see Him face to face, so be it. There is too much to do in this broken and temporary home to get too wrapped up in it. I will admit though, that I miss having my girls here to wait on my hand and foot when I am sick. I am so spoiled.