May the 4th be with you.

Long day yesterday that ended with an elder meeting that had me home about 9:30, way past posting time.

I got the deck lids from Pat! The rear lid is installed, a tricky job because of the big spring under significant tension that holds the lid up when open. Pam will help me tomorrow morning put the front deck lid on. That's a two-person job.

I can't get the doors to close. They have two positions, not unlike a modern car's hood. I shut the door and it looks like it's latched, but when I pull on it the door comes open to that safety position. I have adjusted it every way imaginable and cannot get the latch to settle into the inner detent. I don't know what else to do. Is it possible that for some reason the door handles have to be installed for the latches to work correctly?

I had breakfast this morning with Sherwood. He was the men's dorm parent when I lived in the dorms at GBC. He and his wife now live in Seattle but have a snow bird place down here where they spend two months this time of year. We've said hello to each other when our paths cross at the church where I grew up and where they now attend. But this was our first real conversation since the early 70's, and a lot has happened in both our lives since then.

We've had very different tracks, especially for two guys that graduated from the ministry program at that college. But despite the differences in vocation there was a common feature between us. We've both taken some smacks upside the head, been blind sided by circumstances and people. But we can each look back and see that despite being bloodied the long-range outcomes were positive. In some cases the events steered us in a direction we would not otherwise have gone, but that took us to a very good place. In other cases it just made us stronger, wiser, better.

I got a haircut this morning. When I look down at the apron I'm always surprised by how white the clippings are. I said something to that effect, and the gal cutting my hair said, "Just don't color it."
"Don't worry. I wouldn't ever go there!"
Not only does coloring my hair strike me as vain - both definitions of that word - but I really don't have a problem being this age. There are plenty of benefits, including the wider perspective that only comes after several decades of living. What feels like a fatal blow often turns out to have a significant positive outcome.

Good breakfast.