Thoreau

I need my "Thoreau" time. No contact by any technology at all. We just got four days of that special time. Books, The Word, my U.S. History materials, a lake, cool days and nights. As you can see our campsite was right beside a small part of Clear Lake. It appears serene and quiet but from 8:00 a.m. until 8 p.m. it is a constant buzz of boat motors towing all sorts of people on all sorts of objects. Still, it was fun to get away and watch families enjoying their lives. I do wonder if/where their "Thoreau" time occurs. Everyone needs time away from the fast pace of life. We don't need to replace a fast paced life with a fast paced break. The boaters, it was fast paced, attempting to squeeze every ounce of time on the lake. No time to sit and talk, relax, walk, watch, be still, be quiet..........as John Wayne said in The Cowboys, "We're burning daylight." What a motto for most of the lives in the 21st century.

Vicki and I have returned from our fifth trip to Altamira, Para, Brasil. This trip was very different from our previous work-centered travels. We focused on introducing our fellow traveler to the various mission projects of the Xingu Mission. We also spent our first week of the trip on the Xingu River. Four church services in five days with time spent daily in devotions, reflection, swimming, fishing and generally enjoying creation.
We traveled the river with a team from Ohio, Angie and the entire Simon family. Angie is a dear friend from an earlier trip who has actually been in Brasil the past six months teaching English at CDR and helping teach the Simon children. While we were there Angie was offered and accepted a job at Cedarville U. as a R.D. starting August 1. She will need prayer relocating in such a short time.
My image is a typical Xingu River sunset. It is simply hard to put into words the peace and calm of river travel. When visiting villages I am impressed with the joy expressed by the people when daily life is so difficult when compared with my relatively easy life. I will continue to post some images and reflections in the days ahead and try harder to keep the blog more current.

Moraine View State Park

Spent last night at Moraine View, beautiful evening for a campfire. Only two others camping and we were able to be several hundred yards away. Saw six deer, read, ate junk food and slept in. The Hawk camper has been great, bed is comfortable (36 years of tent camping anything off the ground is probably great), and our small heater makes the interior toasty. Good chance to read and relax.

Timing

Those familiar with Vicki and I know that since 2004 Brasil has been near and dear to our hearts. Four short-term trips have changed our view of life and the Christian walk forever. We have been planning a return since about this time last year and as of a few minutes ago that trip was confirmed. Tickets were purchased for a trip later this year. What I find amazing is that we have always had to fly all the way south to Rio or Sao Paulo and then back north to Belem and on to Altamira. I had been watching prices for the last three or four months and there was a cheap flight that went through Manaus! Peoria to Chicago, Chicago to Miami, Miami to Manaus and Manaus to Belem with no flight longer than 5.5 hours! That is truly a blessing. Today, all the flights out of Peoria to Manaus were gone AND the price of a ticket was up. Semi-beat, I started looking at the flights to Rio and Sao Paulo and felt myself needing a nap. Bloomington. What? Bloomington. I had just read a newspaper article where the writer was complaining about prices out of Peoria always being higher than prices out of Bloomington. Tried it, boom! There was the very same flight I had been watching earlier except now flying Bloomington to Chicago instead of Peoria to Chicago the trip was $60 per ticket less. God is good. Now, I only have to worry about going through customs in a city (Manaus) where I have never traveled. Time for a new adventure.

Time, Part II

It has been quite some time since my last post. How do you summarize life and change in a brief time? Lists!

1. Decision to "retire" in June 2013. This will be the subject of some future posts. My priorities are very different from those in charge.
2. Bought an old truck and a slide in the bed camper. Thirty-six years of tent travel with Vicki have come to an end.
3. Attended the Virtual Schools Symposium in November. WOW!
4. Blackboard is unable to recover my on-line class that was accidentally deleted even though a back-up of the class was created according to their instructions.
5. Currently planning for a return trip to Brasil in June (Vicki and I).
6. Vicki is planning a trip to Liberia (check out some options for training teachers) in October.
7. Searching for a host for Moodle. see #1, I didn't say I didn't enjoy teaching, would love to develop on-line World History and U.S. History classes for Missionary students and Home School students. More later.
8. ASCD conference in Philadelphia in March! Our arrival allows me to do some history site visits on Friday, pictures for use in class next year. Registered to hear Charlotte Danielson (teacher reflection and evaluation)
9. Planning for best use of education skills in retirement. Currently getting ready to send final paperwork to Oregon for certification. Would love to assist a district starting a virtual school.

Friendship

Malcolm MacCannell, age 61, passed away on September 27, 2011 and on goes the obituary. It tells the usual things about Malcolm, how he is survived by a mother, seven brothers and sisters (one is a twin sister). His father was Dr. Bruce MacCannell. The obituary even included his membership at First United Methodist Church and his traveling on mission trips (No Greater Love to New. Orleans for street ministry). The obituary did not mention that I considered him a close friend or that he taught Rich Schurter about patience, love, kindness, gentleness and meekness.

Malcolm and I went through Emmaus together and shared a room for the weekend. Wow, could he ever snore. It was during that weekend that Joe, Malcolm and I became friends. From that time on Malcolm and I shared life. He would keep me posted on how his medications were going (or not going) and how his new job at Taco Bell was treating him. I learned that a job is not what defines us, Jesus Christ does that, a job is a means to an end. That end being to share the love of Christ with a world that desperately needs that love. Malcolm had to cut down on his hours at Taco Bell because he was unable to deal with the stress and he needed to make the Mardi Gras trip with No Greater Love Ministries. Malcolm always asked me how teaching was going and he could read in my eyes the growing stress of these past few years. "Your students are lucky to have you," he frequently would state and then, as an after-thought he would add, "Don't let the stress outside your classroom mess up who you are in the classroom." We would hug and continue on our way.

Malcolm McCannell understood life in a way that I'll only dream about. He challenged me to live for Christ in ways that other, more famous or more sophisticated people could never do. He lived life, he loved people, and most importantly, he loved the Lord. I can't imagine a life without having met Malcolm. I thank God for his influence upon me and the friendship we shared. I won't get to hug Malcolm again in this life but I look forward to the day when we will again share life and share it eternally.

Hugh Glass, early western explorer.

You think you're tough? Listen to this story. We were camped at nearby Shadehill Recreation Area. Great place for fishing and boating activities. Located just south of Lemmon, S.D.

Lemmon is also home to an interesting petrified wood display, enough said, you must stop and see it to believe it. Also, be sure to eat breakfast at the Alaska Cafe. You don't have many choices so it's easy to find.