Legal blogging

There is a little known law in New Hampshire. Blogging is illegal in the months of July and August if you have lived in the state for less than a year. Live Free or Die obviously has its limits.

Time to play some catch up.

July and August in 2 pictures each:

Here is a shot taken on the 4th in the evening. We were at a local fireworks display, and Kayla dressed for the occasion.

Now for the shed. Kayla helped me to assemble it. I don’t have a picture of the finished product, but trust me, it looks very shed-like.

Pre Irene picture: The smallmouth bass I caught before the local fishing dock was destroyed.

Post Irene picture: My cute 13 year old playing in a puddle during a lull of the storm.

OK, time for some verbiage:

The last two months have been very full. It has obviously been good to have Karen, Kayla, and the dogs here. The house does not feel so lonely. It is great to come home to a soft and friendly place, rather than an empty makeshift bachelor pad. It has been so comforting to have my partner of 25 years by my side again.

On the more difficult side, missing Katherine, other family, and our church family in Sonoma County has been more difficult. That was hard before, but I think that most of my “missing you” energy went towards Karen. Now that she is here, I feel the sadness of the other losses even more.

I knew that I would miss having in depth conversations and spending quality time with people that I have known and loved for years, but I did not think about something more subtle. It did not occur to me that I would miss out on brief, casual interactions that only take a few minutes. I was at Spring Hills Church for 16 years, and in Sonoma County for over 20 years. Hardly a day would go by in which I would not see somebody in passing that I knew. Sometimes we would only say hello and shake hands with a casual “howzitgoin,” sometimes we would talk for just a moment more than that. On Sunday mornings, I would would greet dozens of people that I knew to varying degrees. Obviously some of these greeting would lead to more meaningful conversations, prayer requests shared or humorous stories shared. These bigger conversations are probably more important, but there is something to be said for the casual, quick interactions with people you have known for a long time. I do not have that anymore, and I miss it.

On a more positive note, some good things are happening out here. We were expected to get hit hard by Irene, and our town did not. The surrounding areas did get hit hard, but not so much here.

Kayla has started school, and we are very proud of how she is doing. She has not been in a traditional school setting since starting home school in the 3rd grade. Going in to a new school, in a new town, will all new friends in the 8th grade would be hard for anybody, even a person who had not home schooled for so long. Kayla has been adjusting very well, and making friends along the way. She is still very sad about leaving her friends and family in Santa Rosa, but she is making the best of it and growing along the way.

Karen has been busy getting the house settled, getting to know our new neighborhood and being a superb support for Kayla and I as we go to school and work. She and I have had a light hearted argument over the years in which she incorrectly tries to take credit from me for first coming up with the name of the Spring Hills class “Jam Packed.” Well, I have to give her full credit for being the first to suggest what is now the name of our new church … “Hope Mountain Church.”

Hope Mountain is still a home church at this time. We meet each week in my in-laws’ living room. We have grown, and not just because Karen and Kayla moved out. Kayla invited two of her friends, who have been coming and we invited our wonderful neighbor Marie, who has been joining us too. Marie lives right next door to us, and has been a great blessing to us in many ways.

Prayer requests (since that 1/2 the reason for which this blog was originally created):

Hope Mountain - please pray that we will find the right place to grow, have the right timing in our “launch,” and for wisdom regarding the official structure and organization of our church.

Health - Please pray for dad (Richard). He had a bout with cancer recently and is still getting his strength back. In the mean time, he had a new growth that had to be cut out last week.

Kayla - Please pray for her as she continues to adjust to her school work and social environment.

Katherine - Please pray for her to have wisdom and strength as she juggles college, work, ministry at church and her social life.

Thanks for your prayers. Now that we are out of July and August, I will be allowed to blog on a regular basis again.