"At my age flowers scare me." - George Burns

This is why the Oxford/Harvard comma is important.

This is soooo cool. I want to do this! I looked briefly at Craig'sList and the toughest part looks to be finding the right trailer as the basis for the build. That was a high end horse trailer back in the day, and he sure did it justice.
Having built the teardrop I know things like insulation, electrical and lighting aren't all that tricky. The cabinetry would require either that I buy a table saw or accept a lower level of craftsmanship.
Yeah, I'm impressed.

It's going to be a busy week and I want to do my best work, so I started my Monday with an extra piece of BACON. I now feel like I have superpowers.

Pam doesn't read my blog so last night while we were watching TV I read her the title from yesterday's post.
Silence, for about 15 seconds.
Then she burst out laughing.
Gotcha!!

The forecast for today called for .25" of rain. We had that by 5 a.m. and it's been raining ever since.

Joe and Michelle Campos were students of mine when I was teaching at GBC and Joe was in the pastoral program I chaired. They're both from Brazil - Michelle the daughter of career missionaries there - and now work there in the city of Recife. Joe pastors a church and also oversees another three churches in that city and another four or five in the city of Aracaju, six hours south. He (they) hosted me a year ago when I went there to teach and have invited me bak to do more of the same this August.

In this picture are two of their four kids. Missing are their two adult daughters who live here in the States. My point in posting this pic is to call your attention to their youngest, Bella. They adopted her as an infant and brought her home from the hospital. Bella turned 16 last week and is the kind of girl who gives you real hope for the future of God's work in this world.
(Nathan is the same, a seriously committed believer, but...)
Bella was an unwanted child of a woman who got pregnant while single and had no resources or desire to be a mother. She couldn't get an abortion (I *think* they're illegal in Brazil because of its Catholic roots but I'm not sure) so she tried to abort by drinking crazy amounts of liquor. It didn't work and Bella was born. Joe and Michelle got a call from a mutual friend asking if they'd be interested in adopting again (the two daughters here), they immediately said yes, and drove to the hospital to get Bella.
Yeah, adoption is/was a lot simpler there and then.
Besides being beautiful, Bella is spiritually dialed in, as sweet as sugar, bright, a talented dancer, sings beautifully, and is any parent's dream daughter. I had some fun conversations with her while staying at their house. Fun girl.
Abortion?? Bella!

Click to enlarge:

Last Thursday Brett stopped into my office to say that he'd had a visitor the day before who drove in as I was driving out. Mark is in his early 60s, knows Brett from their days at First Baptist (Mark was the janitor, Brett an assoc. pastor), and is a car guy. Brett gave him my phone number and we set it up for me to stop over at his place in Veneta on my way home today.
Mark has a 1999 Miata that has been...as they say...massaged. Weight is down to just a shade over 2,000 lbs. thanks to lightweight wheels, an aluminum hood and a few other goodies. (Wheels, because they rotate, have a bigger impact per pound than anything else on the car.) Horsepower has been bumped up with custom headers, dual exhaust, a cold air intake, and some ignition mods. Add in several suspension upgrades and this thing will scoot!
Mark took me for a drive. I prayed and reminded myself of the total sovereignty of God in all things, including the time of my death.
Mark is in the advanced stages of Parkinson's and I suspect the authorities would take a dim view of his driving if they new his condition. Let's just say his shifts were not silky smooth and the road's centerline was treated as a suggestion.
Logging trucks from the opposite direction. "I'm in your hands, Lord."
Then he let me drive it for the return leg of the loop.
Yes please!! Very quick, shifts easily, corners like a go kart with no lean, has a beautiful exhaust note, and is designed for "recreational driving."
The highlight of my day. Even better than that fourth piece of BACON.

While we're on the subject of cars. see yesterday's post.
Marta pointed out that we had the Barracuda back in the day. That made me think of the Marlin.
So there were cars named after fish!
Score one for Marta!