"You can be sure that the Americans will commit all the stupidities they can think of, plus some that are beyond imagination." - Charles de Gaulle

The latest storm seems to be winding down. This makes for a total of three Nor'easters since I arrived three weeks ago and this was the strongest. Wind gusts have dropped to 26 mph from 41 mph earlier today and we're now just getting the occasional flurry. I don't know what the official snowfall is but I'm guessing about 6". Because it's a heavy wet snow it's hard for me to tell.
The storm has had me inside all day, alone and mostly bored. I worked on slides for Sunday, read the Zane Grey novel, and took a nap or three.
I'm ready to be home.

I also stumbled on plans for making a smoker out of an old filing cabinet. There are several versions on the internet. Gonna try that when I get home. Smoked goat!

Heavy sigh.
Pam's mom seems to be struggling more with her memory, her attitude, and some behaviors. Tom, Pam's younger brother, lives there and bears the load of caring for her, and that's sometimes pretty taxing. Pam's going back next month to help out.

Sorry.
I attended the first 30 minutes or so of the EBC elders' meeting last night for something like a debrief of my time here. (Good guys who clearly care about and serve this church.) I came back to the house, turned on PBS, and got caught up in a fascinating documentary about war crimes trials. Right after that came a documentary about the only two people to escape from a German concentration camp and the outcomes of their efforts to tell the world about what was going on in the camps. By the time that was over I'd completely forgotten about finishing this post and climbed into bed.
So here's today's post, written throughout the day in the hopes that will insure I have enough to warrant hitting "publish" this evening. (It's 6 a.m. now.)

Laura, wife to EBC youth pastor Jeremy, also writes a blog and her most recent Facebook post linked to it. The school system here is WAY in the red and having a meeting tonight to talk about budget cuts to balance the budget. Jeremy & Laura's two kids have been involved in school sports and music, two items on the chopping block, and she shared her thoughts on that in her blog post.
After reading it I felt like I should apologize and explain my posts.

First, I write for me, not you. I get too much stuff in my brain during the day and if I don't clear at least some of it out I'll never get to sleep at night. This blog is a brain enema I take for my mental health.
Also, it's totally stream of consciousness writing. I (obviously) write as I speak. Which is to say I don't worry about grammar, syntax, or even using the right word. I don't proofread. If I get that squiggly red line under a word I'll right-click to fix the spelling but other than that....
I have the bad habit of leaving the subject out of sentences, overusing the word that, ellipses (is that the plural of ellipsis?), and contractions. Which is to say I write like I talk - too fast and carelessly.
After reading Laura's post I first felt embarrassed. Then I came over here to work on this post and realized I haven't the focus to do better.
So once again...nobody makes you come here.

Stephen Hawking died. See Luke 16:19-30.

One of the Eugene news sites has a story about a woman from Lakeside, down by Coos Bay, who was arrested for domestic assault. She hit her husband with a can of vegetables and then threw more cans at him.
Some reports say they were cans of lentil soup. Deadly stuff.

Minor League Baseball is implementing a 15-second clock this year. The pitcher, once he has the ball and the batter is at the plate, has 15 seconds to deliver a pitch. This will reduce the duration of a baseball game from 11.5 hours to 10.75 hours.
Players may still step out of the box to adjust their junk and re-attach the strap on their batting glove 14 times per at-bat.

After just shy of a month here....

• The wind howls 23 hours a day.
• I won't run at 2 a.m.
• Long Island has more towns, villages, and hamlets per square mile than anyplace On. The. Earth.
• I have never been anyplace where people drive better. Everyone drives within 5 mph of the speed limit and I haven't seen anyone blow a stop sign the entire time I've been here. They don't tailgate or sleep through green lights. [Note: I'm told that during the summer when the "city-ots" are hear all that changes and the sound of car horns is heard everywhere 24/7.]
• There are more delis per capita than seems possible or necessary. 
• The average age of all structures not in of the group of towns, villages, and hamlets with Hampton in their name is something near 200 years old. 
• The average size of homes within those locales is approximately 25,000 square feet. 
• No matter how tough they sound with their NY accent the people who live on the east end of Long Island are friendly, gracious, and helpful. Except for the older lady who works at Beach Bakery, but I think she moved here from New Jersey and is in the witness protection program.

It's now late afternoon. I need to do the dishes, take a shower, and be ready to go to dinner. I'm going back to Dan & Doreen's where I had duck last week. Tonight's fare: venison. Mmmmm. Then to the small group they attend and Dan teaches. 

Oh the sacrifices we make to serve God and his church.