I've caught more than a little flack about omitting a certain detail from our New York trip last weekend. It was not intentional, I just did not know how to express my reaction to the situation in a way that would not be...taken the wrong way, for lack of a better way to say it. So here you go, the omitted detail, unedited. You've been warned. :)
Like I said, the McCallums took us out for lunch...I did not mention where they took us. I guess I didn't realize that Woodstock was actually a real live place that still supported life; honestly, the only thing I'd ever heard about Woodstock was what everyone in my generation (unless you live there) knows about Woodstock--that it was sort of like Sonshine Music Festival for hippies. And we usually leave it at that because (a) none of us are hippies and (b) none of us really know what it is that hippies do and (c) there are no national monuments in Woodstock and it is not a capital so they don't cover it in Geography class.
But, lo and behold, it actually IS a place, a place that you can DRIVE to, even, and there are people there. I was impressed before I even got out of the car! :) At first glance it appears to be just a normal summer tourist town, brimming with random shops and flea markets and out-of-the-ordinary restaraunts and people who are just happy to be out in the sunshine. But as you start to really look at stuff, you notice some very not-normal-summer-tourist-town things. Such as the fact that you can buy a bong in several of the little shops. And not just bongs but things to go with bongs, if you know what I mean. You can also buy just about any occult item you could conceive of buying, have your fortune read by any number of psycics, and participate in a healing drum circle in the middle of town most any afternoon of the week. And these are normal town events.
We actually ate lunch at a pretty normal restaraunt called Joshua's...I would go there again if I had to be in Woodstock over a mealtime. I had a turkey, apple and brie sandwich (first time I've ever had brie...it is a nice cheese, I've decided, but I will stick with sharp cheddar) with sweet potato circles (they were actually called 'chips' but they were not crispy) and Nate had a chicken, pesto, tomato and (fresh!) mozzarella sandwich minus the tomato. Both were really good, we thought. But I think I was too creeped out to really enjoy my food...on the beam next to Pastor McCallum's head was a poster advertising the Shaman healing drum circle, and I was weirded out just reading the bio on the leader, Julie Straightarrow. Note, Native Americans often have names like that and it actually is their name...there are no Native Americans in Woodstock and names like that only come from the "enlightenment" of the individual. No offense meant, I am just stating a fact.
I guess I am just showing my ignorance and my shelteredness by being so creeped out. I just didn't grow up with marijuana and bongs and voodoo dolls and such...those are things I've only ever heard about in a negative context and my first reaction is to run away when confronted with them. But stretching is good, and I am feeling more and more well-rounded by all this travelling to new areas we are doing.
McCallums, thank you again for welcoming us into your home and being such wonderful friends! I hope you really can make it down here for some time away...there's a cabin with your name on it! :)
July 20, 2006
July 17, 2006
Another weekend camping...I could get used to this!
We jetted away for yet another weekend camping this weekend...this time we headed up to New York to check out one of the other KOAs that RAC (who owns our KOA) runs. The Newburgh/New York City North KOA is about an hour north of the city and is actually in a VERY rural part of NY called Plattekill. Everything there ends in "kill," I noticed; not a very pleasant realization for someone who already doesn't care for the east coast. :)
We did have a pretty good time, though. We had thought we'd drive into NYC and try to catch a show since that is where "we" began (yay for Chorale's New York tour!), but we had Jasper with us and you can't just board a dog in a kennel for a night without having vaccination records and test results and stuff...we don't normally carry those types of things in the car, so needless to say we were forced to find dog-friendly activities. We looked up Wesleyan churches online (not that church is a dog-friendly activity...we just thought he could manage in the car for the length of a sermon) and found that the closest one to us was about an hour north, so we dressed in our nicest camping clothes and drove up for the 9:30 service. As it turned out, the pastor there is the father of Nathaniel McCallum whom we knew from Chorale. When we "meeted and greeted" we explained the connection and it was like instant credibility...we were no longer heathens off the street who didn't know any better than to not wear shorts and t-shirts to church--we were friends of Nathaniel McCallum. His parents, Wes and Patty McCallum took us in like they'd known us their whole lives, inviting us over, taking us out for lunch, etc. We had such a wonderful time with them and for three hours did not hate the east coast.
On the way home we stopped and checked another high point off our list...New Jersey's high point was six miles off the interstate we were travelling on, so it would have been rediculous to not stop. It was a decent high point, and had this fun obelisk-shaped monument on top that you could walk up in...sort of like a mini Washington Memorial. We braved the 292 steps and were rewarded with pretty much the same view we had at the bottom of the 292 steps, but it was fun. We did take some pictures but will be putting them up in an online album with all the rest of the high points pictures, hopefully this week sometime.
Where in the world (ahem, east coast) will the Lails be next weekend??!??
We did have a pretty good time, though. We had thought we'd drive into NYC and try to catch a show since that is where "we" began (yay for Chorale's New York tour!), but we had Jasper with us and you can't just board a dog in a kennel for a night without having vaccination records and test results and stuff...we don't normally carry those types of things in the car, so needless to say we were forced to find dog-friendly activities. We looked up Wesleyan churches online (not that church is a dog-friendly activity...we just thought he could manage in the car for the length of a sermon) and found that the closest one to us was about an hour north, so we dressed in our nicest camping clothes and drove up for the 9:30 service. As it turned out, the pastor there is the father of Nathaniel McCallum whom we knew from Chorale. When we "meeted and greeted" we explained the connection and it was like instant credibility...we were no longer heathens off the street who didn't know any better than to not wear shorts and t-shirts to church--we were friends of Nathaniel McCallum. His parents, Wes and Patty McCallum took us in like they'd known us their whole lives, inviting us over, taking us out for lunch, etc. We had such a wonderful time with them and for three hours did not hate the east coast.
On the way home we stopped and checked another high point off our list...New Jersey's high point was six miles off the interstate we were travelling on, so it would have been rediculous to not stop. It was a decent high point, and had this fun obelisk-shaped monument on top that you could walk up in...sort of like a mini Washington Memorial. We braved the 292 steps and were rewarded with pretty much the same view we had at the bottom of the 292 steps, but it was fun. We did take some pictures but will be putting them up in an online album with all the rest of the high points pictures, hopefully this week sometime.
Where in the world (ahem, east coast) will the Lails be next weekend??!??
July 11, 2006
It's like circumcision...
Or atleast that's what I am told. The DeNeff sermon we listened to this weekend focused on circumcision...of the Old Testament, that is, and how it is to be paralleled in our lives today. Not literally. But sort of.
Let me start over. It was a great sermon on obedience to God and bearing the mark of a covenant with Him. Biblical example: God chose Abraham to be the father of many nations (covenant) and He told Abraham to have all the men circumcised before they went any further to set them apart as chosen by God (bearing the mark). Probably not the way Abraham would have chosen to be set apart, but that's usually the case with God. There is nothing wrong with not being circumcised...God still accepts into heaven people who are not. It is not the mark that gets you into heaven...it is, in a way, being willing to bear the mark. Not entirely, but you know what I mean.
DeNeff's crossover application into our lives was the challenge to live a circumcised life. It reminded me of the classic youth camp sermon on giving up what you know is wrong of you to be doing because you are a Christian...giving up what you feel God is asking you to give up...except that DeNeff wasn't asking us to give up bad habits, necessarily. He put it like this: "You say, 'But God, there's nothing wrong with this.' 'I know.' 'Other people don't have to give this up.' 'I know.' 'This has nothing to do with spirituality.' Silence. 'This is stupid.' Silence." Sometimes God asks us to give up perfectly good and natural things so that He can do something supernatural. Sometimes we can have those things back eventually, sometimes we can't. Sometimes the "something supernatural" is seen clearly by all who cross your path, sometimes you won't even know what it was all about until you get to ask Him to His face.
My thing for right now is exercise. And do not think for one moment that I am even the slightest bit happy about this. I know, it is strange because 90% of our nation has given it up with joy and relief...but it has been one of the hardest things for me for several reasons. First and foremost, I am terrified of gaining weight. Of all the things I do not want to be, chubby is the number one...been there, done that, not wishing to repeat. But second, and forgive how pathetic this sounds, but it is the truth, Denise Austin is the only friend I have out here. I am not even kidding...I so look forward to working out with her on her TV show every morning because she is encouraging, upbeat, and I can pretend it is just her and me hanging out, working out. It sounds lame even to me, but it is the sad truth.
But I understand why God is asking this of me right now--not that I need to understand, because obedience should not depend on understanding. But it certainly helps when you have an idea what's going on. :) I let my half hour with Denise be all my socialization because I am afraid to get out in the community and meet people (not having a church is not helping). I spend more time with Denise than I do with Him by far, and there are some very serious issues at hand that need immediate addressing...I need to be pouring that energy into my walk with God and into praying for and growing through these issues. I don't think He will ban me from working out forever, but my priorities are seriously misaligned and it is doing more damage than I am willing to admit.
So I am concluding my third day of 40 days without Denise, and so far I have not been making good use of the extra time. Dealing with issues does not mean taking naps. But maybe now that I've gone public with it, I'll feel like someone's checking up on me.
Let me start over. It was a great sermon on obedience to God and bearing the mark of a covenant with Him. Biblical example: God chose Abraham to be the father of many nations (covenant) and He told Abraham to have all the men circumcised before they went any further to set them apart as chosen by God (bearing the mark). Probably not the way Abraham would have chosen to be set apart, but that's usually the case with God. There is nothing wrong with not being circumcised...God still accepts into heaven people who are not. It is not the mark that gets you into heaven...it is, in a way, being willing to bear the mark. Not entirely, but you know what I mean.
DeNeff's crossover application into our lives was the challenge to live a circumcised life. It reminded me of the classic youth camp sermon on giving up what you know is wrong of you to be doing because you are a Christian...giving up what you feel God is asking you to give up...except that DeNeff wasn't asking us to give up bad habits, necessarily. He put it like this: "You say, 'But God, there's nothing wrong with this.' 'I know.' 'Other people don't have to give this up.' 'I know.' 'This has nothing to do with spirituality.' Silence. 'This is stupid.' Silence." Sometimes God asks us to give up perfectly good and natural things so that He can do something supernatural. Sometimes we can have those things back eventually, sometimes we can't. Sometimes the "something supernatural" is seen clearly by all who cross your path, sometimes you won't even know what it was all about until you get to ask Him to His face.
My thing for right now is exercise. And do not think for one moment that I am even the slightest bit happy about this. I know, it is strange because 90% of our nation has given it up with joy and relief...but it has been one of the hardest things for me for several reasons. First and foremost, I am terrified of gaining weight. Of all the things I do not want to be, chubby is the number one...been there, done that, not wishing to repeat. But second, and forgive how pathetic this sounds, but it is the truth, Denise Austin is the only friend I have out here. I am not even kidding...I so look forward to working out with her on her TV show every morning because she is encouraging, upbeat, and I can pretend it is just her and me hanging out, working out. It sounds lame even to me, but it is the sad truth.
But I understand why God is asking this of me right now--not that I need to understand, because obedience should not depend on understanding. But it certainly helps when you have an idea what's going on. :) I let my half hour with Denise be all my socialization because I am afraid to get out in the community and meet people (not having a church is not helping). I spend more time with Denise than I do with Him by far, and there are some very serious issues at hand that need immediate addressing...I need to be pouring that energy into my walk with God and into praying for and growing through these issues. I don't think He will ban me from working out forever, but my priorities are seriously misaligned and it is doing more damage than I am willing to admit.
So I am concluding my third day of 40 days without Denise, and so far I have not been making good use of the extra time. Dealing with issues does not mean taking naps. But maybe now that I've gone public with it, I'll feel like someone's checking up on me.
July 10, 2006
Pennsylvania Saves the East Coast
Nate and I took a much-needed getaway from the Harpers Ferry KOA this weekend and went camping at the Hershey KOA in Pennsylvania (one of the perks of managing a KOA is great discounts at other KOAs). We were both interested in visiting the city that supposedly smells like chocolate and in checking out some new territory, so we loaded up the family station wagon (sorry, the Subaru) with the dog and all our camping supplies and set out for some relaxation.
It was a really great weekend. Touring Hershey's Chocolate World was pretty neat (and free) and I really enjoyed just lounging by the pool in the afternoon. We even decided to "luxury camp" this time and took the air mattress..it felt like we were cheating, but cheating has never felt nicer. :) We had time for another great DeNeff sermon on the car stereo (which will be a topic for later discussion) and slept more in two nights than it felt like we did in the last month. The absolute best part of this weekend, though, was that someone talked to me.
Several someones, actually. The first was a woman who was coming out of the campground shower just as I was going in. Upon spying my shower gear, she smiled and said, "Oh, are you needing the shower? Let me get my stuff out for you." I just stood there like an idiot with my mouth hanging open in total disbelief first of all that she had smiled, and second that she had spoken to me. Then, after my shower, Nate and I had a nice little conversation with a couple whose site we walked past on the way back to ours. A whole five minutes of talking to smiling people! And later in the afternoon, as Jasper and I waited in the car for Nate to finish a game of disc golf, a couple who had parked next to us and their puppy walked up and we chatted about dogs and the area until Nate came back.
It seems silly, but it has just been so long since a stranger initiated interaction with me that I've almost forgotten how to respond. People in the Harpers Ferry area are not friendly and do not even acknowledge your presence unless absolutely necessary. Cashiers at Wal-Mart will complete your entire transaction without speaking to you or even looking at you unless you make them. Sales people at various stores will not ask if they can help you and will even let you stand at the register for several minutes before putting aside their current task to ring you up. Drivers are rude, servers are not friendly, and campers...we won't even go there.
So even though Pennsylvania does not get great marks for appearance or road quality (sorry, Combs, but you know it is true), its people saved the reputation of the entire East Coast for this midwesterner. I feel a little bit alive again and like there actually is hope of making friends here.
It was a really great weekend. Touring Hershey's Chocolate World was pretty neat (and free) and I really enjoyed just lounging by the pool in the afternoon. We even decided to "luxury camp" this time and took the air mattress..it felt like we were cheating, but cheating has never felt nicer. :) We had time for another great DeNeff sermon on the car stereo (which will be a topic for later discussion) and slept more in two nights than it felt like we did in the last month. The absolute best part of this weekend, though, was that someone talked to me.
Several someones, actually. The first was a woman who was coming out of the campground shower just as I was going in. Upon spying my shower gear, she smiled and said, "Oh, are you needing the shower? Let me get my stuff out for you." I just stood there like an idiot with my mouth hanging open in total disbelief first of all that she had smiled, and second that she had spoken to me. Then, after my shower, Nate and I had a nice little conversation with a couple whose site we walked past on the way back to ours. A whole five minutes of talking to smiling people! And later in the afternoon, as Jasper and I waited in the car for Nate to finish a game of disc golf, a couple who had parked next to us and their puppy walked up and we chatted about dogs and the area until Nate came back.
It seems silly, but it has just been so long since a stranger initiated interaction with me that I've almost forgotten how to respond. People in the Harpers Ferry area are not friendly and do not even acknowledge your presence unless absolutely necessary. Cashiers at Wal-Mart will complete your entire transaction without speaking to you or even looking at you unless you make them. Sales people at various stores will not ask if they can help you and will even let you stand at the register for several minutes before putting aside their current task to ring you up. Drivers are rude, servers are not friendly, and campers...we won't even go there.
So even though Pennsylvania does not get great marks for appearance or road quality (sorry, Combs, but you know it is true), its people saved the reputation of the entire East Coast for this midwesterner. I feel a little bit alive again and like there actually is hope of making friends here.
July 08, 2006
You might be an employee at Harpers Ferry KOA if...
1. You can do a whole load of laundry of just yellow shirts.
2. You answer your home phone with, "It's a great day at Harpers Ferry KOA..."
3. You cannot find the piece of equipment/tool you are looking for.
4. You find the missing piece of equipment and discover it is broken.
5. Your alcohol consumption is directly proportional to that night's number of reservations.
6. Your phone rings at 1:30am and it is a camper calling to say they are sorry they are late but they are about 10 minutes away now and want to know what site they are in.
7. You realize at work one day that all your fellow employees are 14 years old.
8. You realize the next day that the ones who aren't 14 still act 14.
9. You come to work the next day and no one else does.
10. Upon clocking out for the day, you run to the bathroom and change into your Casual Camper costume so no one will stop you on your way home and ask you to please deliver 2 cords of wood and a six-pack of Bud Light to their site.
11. Your little sister, who is doing volunteer work this summer, makes more money than you do.
12. You go down to the pool for a little pre-work swim and discover that the pool is closed because someone pooped in the skimmer last night.
13. The computers go down, the theater floods, two new hires don't show up for their first day, the city shuts off your water for repairs and forgets to notify you, the health department comes for inspection, and you catch an underage employee buying themselves some beer all in one day and it is not the worst day you've had all summer.
2. You answer your home phone with, "It's a great day at Harpers Ferry KOA..."
3. You cannot find the piece of equipment/tool you are looking for.
4. You find the missing piece of equipment and discover it is broken.
5. Your alcohol consumption is directly proportional to that night's number of reservations.
6. Your phone rings at 1:30am and it is a camper calling to say they are sorry they are late but they are about 10 minutes away now and want to know what site they are in.
7. You realize at work one day that all your fellow employees are 14 years old.
8. You realize the next day that the ones who aren't 14 still act 14.
9. You come to work the next day and no one else does.
10. Upon clocking out for the day, you run to the bathroom and change into your Casual Camper costume so no one will stop you on your way home and ask you to please deliver 2 cords of wood and a six-pack of Bud Light to their site.
11. Your little sister, who is doing volunteer work this summer, makes more money than you do.
12. You go down to the pool for a little pre-work swim and discover that the pool is closed because someone pooped in the skimmer last night.
13. The computers go down, the theater floods, two new hires don't show up for their first day, the city shuts off your water for repairs and forgets to notify you, the health department comes for inspection, and you catch an underage employee buying themselves some beer all in one day and it is not the worst day you've had all summer.
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