Our buddies brought their boat to our house today. The kids were properly flung around the bay on the water biscuit. 4 adults, 9 kids, bottles of sunscreen, picnic on the water…no major injuries…
Perfect day!
How big is your booty? It’s Talk Like a Pirate Day! It is only appropriate that I introduce you to some of our new friends.
This is Barnacle Brett, the Captain’s daughter and Lady Fayre.
Lady Fayre is Captain Arrrhhdee’s wench. He led me to believe he wanted to purchase some booty for her, but then tried to hornswaggle* me. I declared mutiny* and since he was loaded to the gunwalls*, I was able to grab his gun and demand payment or else I’d send him to Davy Jones’ Locker*. As he was leaving I told him if I saw his kind in my shop again, I’d keelhaul* ‘em! (Sorry, pirate friends. This is also how I sound when I try to talk gangsta…)
Glossary of Pirate terms I am sure I used incorrectly:
*Hornswaggle- To cheat.
*Mutiny- To rise against authority, especially the captain of a ship.
*Loaded to the Gunwalls- To be..um…tipsy.
*Davy Jones’ Locker- A fictional place at the bottom of the ocean. In short, a term meaning death. Davy Jones was said to sink every ship he ever over took, and thus, the watery grave that awaited all who were sunk by him was given his name. To die at sea is to go to Davy Jones’ Locker.
*Keelhaul- To punish someone by dragging them under a ship, across the keel, until near-death or death. Both pirates and the Royal Navy were fond of this practice.
Happy TLAP Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The unpacking process is brutal…
There is no taking of breaks…
Or the psyching out of siblings that think you’re going to jump in with them…
Bird On Bolivar
Galveston, Texas Cemetery with Spring flowers
I am having a hard time staying in the shop. Wildflowers are everywhere. I am especially fond of this one cemetery that seems to be bursting with life! Just kidding…But they’re pretty, no?
This letter was written by a close friend who lost his son in a tragic accident a year ago. We eat dinner with him on Wednesday nights at church, we laugh, joke and sing together in choir. Randy has been such a blessing to us. He wrote this to encourage and bless others who might be hurting.
EVAN’S BIBLE
May 9, 2009, Mother’s Day Weekend
For the past 3 or 4 months I have had doubts about Evan being with Jesus in Heaven. He hadn’t been involved in a church for several years. Did I teach him well? Did I make God’s plan of salvation clear to him? As parents we second guess ourselves sometimes whether or not we have done every thing we could do. I had asked God on several occasions for a sign or an answer of some sort.
Last Wednesday I received a message on a cell phone that I don’t use very often. On my way home from work I heard the message alert beep but I put off checking the phone because I didn’t want to check messages while driving. It wasn’t until later the next day that I decided to check the messages. The call was from a woman named Beatrice who found a Bible with Evan’s name on it in a car she had bought several years earlier. She wondered if she had the right family and if we wanted it. After several calls we finally made contact and I asked her if I could pick it up. She said she lived in Wharton , Texas and could meet me somewhere on Saturday. That day I drove to her home and met with Beatrice.
Beatrice told me that she and her husband bought a used Miata from Dealership in Hempstead several years ago. Since then they divorced but remained friends. She continued to drive the car until the transmission gave out, so she parked it in a garage on some family property in Garwood. Before she left it there she cleaned everything out of the car. That’s when she found a compartment behind the back seat that she had never noticed before. In that compartment was a black Student Bible with Evan’s name embossed on the front cover. She kept the Bible thinking that some day she would try to find the owner. This was about five years ago.
In August of 2008 Beatrice’s former husband died of cancer, so she collected his things and stored them where she had placed the Bible years earlier. Last Sunday morning she was going to attend Mass but something prompted her to stay home and go through his belongings instead. That’s when she came across the Bible again. This time she decided she would find the owners and return it. Looking through the Bible she came across a 1996 church bulletin from the church in Somerville, Texas. She noticed that one of the staff people listed on the bulletin had the same last name that was on the outside of the Bible. She called the church to see if anyone knew Randy. The person who answered the phone just happened to be 93 year old Elva, a former choir member. She answered all of Beatrice’s questions about me and even filled her in about Evan’s accident. Beatrice said she had been a little reluctant to call and open old wounds, but decided it was the right thing to do. Beatrice mentioned that several times in past years she thought about trying to contact the owner but never got around to it. We both decided that Evan’s Bible is now home.
When I got home I looked through the contents of Evan’s Bible. Inside were Bible study notes from youth groups, a flyer from the summer Baptist All State Youth Orchestra and Choir that he attended, an envelope containing Evan’s spiritual goals written and saved for later, a few other miscellaneous papers, and the bulletin Beatrice used to locate me. I took out the bulletin and began reading over it to see what we had done that Sunday. It was the usual praise and worship material and announcements. What a blessing to get this Bible back!
One miracle for me in all this is the timing. Evan died on Mother’s Day weekend. His Bible came home on Mother’s day weekend. The church bulletin that Beatrice found in the Bible? It was dated May 12, 1996; also Mother’s Day. It was the only bulletin in his Bible.
The second miracle is God’s direct answer to my prayer. How can this be circumstance! The day I needed peace, God sent me a message. Evan is okay and in the very presence of our Heavenly Father. God used several angels to bring all this together. Beatrice, who put off contacting anyone about the Bible until God said the time was right. Elva, one of my favorite people in the world, who just happens to still be kicking at 93 and was probably the only one at the church who had my phone number. God knew all this and knew I would need something special on this particular weekend. He is a God of miracles and of Love!
I miss Evan greatly and think of him every day. But now I know for sure I will see him again when he can escort me through Heaven and show me all the places he has been. But as of today I have been truly blessed…………………….
Randy, May 9, 2009
This was in our harbor today. It’s a Spanish naval training ship. She’s one of the largest and oldest tall ships still operational. You can read more of her history. It inpsired words like, “Coooool” and “Aaaawesome” from my boys.
It was cold today. Not just breezy, but COLD. The wind comin‘ off of the water here near the harbor makes me want to kick someone in the shins. But…if you build it, they will come. We had some pretty colorful people come in the shop today. Everything from wealthy beach home ownin‘ “locals” (here every weekend, but live in the Houston area) to some Scottish guy that just wanted to check out the recovery effort here. You know what? The island has recovered! It’s all just icing now. People do not walk around moaning about what assistance they’re not getting. They DO (as in…make things happen) and they accomplish. I’ve never felt so much a part of a community and I don’t even live here yet. I’ve said it before, the spirit here is soooo inspiring. There is so much talent here. People need to see this. That’s why we’re here. **jumps off soap box**
We had an artist in today and his work escapes my thesaurus expertise. He’s a welder…
Darren couldn’t resist actually wearing his art today. Don’t try this at home.
Please…