What's New?

Remember my post about the job search. Well, I finally obtained a job at a local school district as a computer technician. So far so good ... just some schedule adjustments since I have been off for about 4 months. Anyway, I started thinking about how techy a person I have become over the last 8 years. Some of you may not be interested in this adventure. It takes a special person -- a person that carries an iphone, has multiple computers, a digital camera, pin drives, a multi-card reader, awesome speaker system, 100 Gb external backup drive, .... someone that keeps network cables, USB cables, extra keyboards, mouses, hard drives, motherboards, and video cards in her closet. Someone that keeps her life organized by an Outlook calendar and uses Twitter and Facebook along with dozens of other online services....... I finally added to my techy frenzy by joining NETFLIX!

Trudi and A Voice in the Wind

This adventure began soon after I arrived in San Augustine and has continued until this week and maybe even longer. I've been reading! Books! Actually a series of books by Francine Rivers. They began with A Voice in the Wind and I was hooked the first page. It starts out with the destruction of Jerusalem and tells the story of a Jewish girl named Hadassah and how she survived to become a slave in a Roman household. It is rich in culture, history, faith, and hope. If I ever have a baby girl (which I sadly won't), I would want to name her Hadassah. The book reveals other valiant and faithful characters and ultimately the entire series makes Christ the center of everything. In comparing our culture today with that period in history.... well there is so much to consider and rethink about the way we live our lives today.

I have my friend Trudi to thank for creating this adventure for me. We first met while I was walking my dog in the neighborhood. After talking and sharing with her, she excitedly entrusted the books to me in a basket and told me to take as long as I needed to read them. I can understand why she felt a need to share them. They were wonderfully uplifting!

Auction at the Court House

Our court house is being rebuilt. I do not know all the particulars except that it needed it and that this is a wonderful thing for San Augustine that the community has been working towards. Today the Garden Club of San Augustine held an auction to raise money for this effort. Items being auctioned were taken from the court house and included old ballet boxes, railings, 2 x 4 studs, fluorescent lighting, shelving, desks, doors, miscellaneous electronics, windows and glass, water fountains, and old clay roofing material. This was my first auction to ever attend. I knew my husband wanted some of the fluorescent lighting for his brother's shop use. However, I was afraid of what we would walk away with. Everyone there cared about the court house and wanted a piece of its history and to support the rebuilding efforts. I dare to say that maybe the auction wasn't as successful as it was hoped to be, but I was glad to see the community support and to be a part of that support. We ended up with a plastic milk crate, 2 old ballet boxes, 150 2x4s, 12 fluorescent lights, a bookshelf and some auction bidding experience.

Deer Siting

We have heard that deer visit City Lake some nights. We see the food left for them by neighbors, but have not seen any deer until this week. As we were coming home, our headlights illuminated about 3 deer in our yard near the road. I slowed down and counted as the deer left our yard and slowly made their way across the road to the woods. There were 8 in all. A few nights later they visited our yard again. I am glad we do not have a garden. I'll go check and see if they are there now...

Lost in Arkansas

We visited Arkansas this weekend, mostly to see our son at college. However, the real adventure of the weekend happened at Petit Jean State Park. We decided that since we traveled all this way might as well take in some hiking and see the natural side of Arkansas. We planned a 2-mile hike down to Cedar Falls and back up to the Mather Lodge where we parked our truck. We figure that we had plenty of time to do this and eat before dusk. The trail was beautiful with smooth rocks, ledges, winding paths, and creek water flowing down the mountain. We walked along the creek until we reached the area of the falls. There was layered rock all around forming a canyon around the falls. Hikers were climbing behind the falling water and resting on huge boulders throughout the area and in the water.... very picturesque. We left and decided rather than doubling back we would take the trail that leads to Blue Hole. This is a long deep calm area of the creek. We crossed over it using stones arranged in the water for hikers. Once on the other side we followed the blue trail back to the lodge or so we thought. The map we were using was not really to scale if you know what I mean. Let's just say our 2-mile hike ended up being a 7-mile hike and we barely made it to a main road before sundown. We were actually lost for about an hour and our cell phones had no signal. I thought we might end up spending the night under some of those overshadowing ledges. Before we realized that we might be lost, we were having a wonderful time enjoying the scenery, listening to our iPhone music, enjoying the sunset and stealing a kiss near the Turtle Rocks. Another look at the map and we started double-time back tracking to a main road. Good thing we brought water and a light jacket. Once back to the main road, we contacted the lodge with our iPhone and they pointed us in the right direction which was another mile uphill in the dark. By midnight we were in Texarkana and enjoying a hot shower. I learned that... Arkansas has some beautiful and adventurous state parks.

Dinner Invitation

When I first came to San Augustine, I would walk up East Columbia towards the library and admire the beautiful old homes. They are all well landscaped with azaleas and mature trees. Most have large porches and rocking chairs. I was so thankful to experience a wonderful evening in one of these homes this week for a delicious meal with some of our new friends from church. I feel that when someone invites you to their home, they are opening up their lives to you and value your friendship. I observed the hostess finishing up the final preparations and having us serve our plates and set us at the large dining table. The table was decorated with Easter bunnies and chocolate. We all enjoyed each other's company conversing about family, concern for our country, San Augustine, schools in America, and so on. The hostess continued the evening conversing, listening, and serving coffee and dessert. What a wonderful act of hospitality and kindness! This was her act of love and a most memorable evening for me in San Augustine -- one that I wish to pay forward soon.