Officially Volunteers

Last Monday we started "work" -- late! A good start, huh? At 8:15 Monday morning I found out it was NOT a holiday. Seems we were reading last year's manual. So we had 15 minutes to get dressed, cleaned up for the day, and drive over there. We weren't too awfully late. And it really didn't matter. We were also late on Tuesday because I wanted to see the inauguration. We got there just before lunch.

So, what are we doing, you wonder? Well, Joyce is working with stamps. The center has been given old stamp collections -- maybe grandpa passed on and the family doesn't know what to do with all those albums of stamps so they donate them to Wycliffe. Wycliffe sells them and puts the money in an emergency fund (maybe a missionary needs to be evacuated because of tribal warfare in his region, or something like that). To get the most value from the stamps, they are sold individually on the internet. So, Joyce is carefully removing each stamp so it can be cataloged, posted, and (hopefully) sold. She even got involved in a crafty-type project on Thursday. Sounds like Joyce, huh?

I am keyboarding. That means I set at a computer "all" day typing some portion of the Bible into a special program. Except the scripture portion is in a foreign language. The language I am working on is Mixe. It is a dialect used in a small area of the southern part of Mexico. There are over 150 native (Indian) dialects in Mexico. The Bible has been translated into most of them -- or is in the process of translation.

There are about 8 or 10 keyboarders doing what I am doing, but not all at the same time and some are working on other languages. We are doing this because these languages were translated in pre-computer days. Once they are on computer and on line they can be viewed and read at any time. They can also be printed "on demand." That means one copy or two copies or ten copies can be printed so a local pastor can have a few for his church. Ordinary printing would require hundreds of copies and be very expensive. So after we keyboard a chapter there is a way to compare it to a scanned copy to pick up our errors (and there are lots of errors, believe me). This helps us find the errors but the master is the hard copy we are typing from. It is a photocopy of the actual Bible which has been is use. Thursday I finished Matthew which was kind of a milestone for me. However, I have to add that I only keyboarded the last 3 1/2 chapters. Someone else did the others.

It is very interesting typing in a language that I can't read. In English I see the word "the" and automatically type in "t h e." But in Mixe it is a lot different. I'm not all that great at keyboarding anyway so I have to work at hitting the right keys, one key at a time. They might have a word like "jxuquxxtj." There are also extra marks that make up some letters. For instance they have an i with a - through it. So to get that, I type in -i . Sometimes that i has two dots over it so I have to do the -i then add : followed by a " . It's all very interesting and the time really goes by fast. And we really don't work all that much. Chapel is from 8:00 to 8:30 and is optional. Work begins at 8:30 or 8:45. There is a break at 10:00 which lasts 20 to 30 minutes. Lunch is from 12:00 to 12:45 or so with another break at 2:30. The work day ends at 4:00. And we only work Monday thru Thursday. Add all that up and it is a 23-24 hour work week.

A friend asked what Joyce and I do on weekends. Well, we have only had two weekends since we got here. Last weekend we settled in, did some grocery shopping, and visited with Jim and Joyce. This weekend we did some chores around the ranch (i.e. the RV), made a run to town, stopped at Wal-Mart, and went to a movie -- we saw "Defiance." Today we went to the Oro Valley Church of the Nazarene. It is large and they had a good time of worship. This evening we attended a hymn sing at the center but more importantly a man shared about the beginnings of this center.

When I blog next week I'll tell about Wycliffe Bible Translators, SIL, and how this center got started. Hope you have a good work week.

Tucson At Last

Finally we are here. After 36 days and 2,100 miles we arrived at my cousin's house in Tucson last Wednesday about 2:00. Actually it is only 1,200 miles if you drive directly here but we didn't do "directly." And we drove around quite a bit at many of our stops. My cousin's house is really north of Tucson. If you have a good Arizona map, find Highway 77 going north out of Tucson. If you find Oro Valley we are a little northeast; if you find Catalina we are just a little east.
But first some pictures.

Jana has a picture of Lilly like this only she is looking left. She wanted one of Josiah to put with it for a gift for Korak. This is what we came up with using my little camera and some photo software. And of course the other picture is the family at Christmas.

On the way here we stopped at Lake Havasu City to touch London Bridge. This is the one which Robert McCullough purchased in London, dismantled, and moved to Arizona to be a landmark in the city he was building on the shores of the Colorado River. This is the same man who developed the McCullough chain saw so he had a little money to throw around.

Last Tuesday we bid Quartzsite a fond farewell and moved east to Glendale (near Phoenix). In fact we drove past the stadium where the Arizona Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles today for the AFC Championship (this is football stuff for the uninitiated). Quartzsite was fun; I wouldn't be opposed to going there again.

In Glendale we stayed in the yard of an old friend. Wes attended the Eugene FM church I grew up in. He owned a construction company and gave me job each summer while I was attending college. In fact, he was one of the men who were responsible for the Eugene church paying my tuition for the first two years I was in college. Over the years we kind of lost track of each other but last year we connected and had dinner together. So he invited us to stop at his house. He said he had a big yard, lots of space. Well... he does have a big yard but not much driveway space for a 12 foot high, 8 foot wide, 45 foot long (including the pickup) RV. We were just going to stay in the street in front of his house but found out that was illegal. So we cut some tree branches out of the way and backed into his driveway. I had to disconnect the pickup so there would be room for his wife to get her car in and out. Her name is Carol and she fixed a great dinner. Then we played a card game named Twiddler (I think that is right), kind of like the game of scrabble. It was fun and very relaxing. They have a home-based business in packaged soup mixes and sent us off with a nice selection.

Today we worshiped at Casas Church where Jim and Joyce attend (my cousin and his wife). My uncle Ken also attends there mostly because he is dependant on Jim for transportation. Today Joyce and I picked him up for church because Jim was in Mesa putting his wife on a plane for Bellingham. They have a son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids there. The son is a hospital chaplain but also in the National Guard. He has been deployed for the second time to Iraq so Joyce is going up to help with the kids for a month. Jim will join them later for a couple weeks.

This week we begin our duties at Wycliffe. I'll give more details when I know exactly what we will be doing. And when we begin! All the verbal messages were that we would begin with an orientation on Monday. Except their volunteer manual says Monday is a holiday -- Martin Luther King Day. So we are not sure what to do. But we'll figure it out.

Hope you can get your week figured out just as easily. (My friend Sue's blog reminds me brag about the weather. It has been in the mid 40s at night and in the mid to high 70s during the day. Beautiful warm sun. However it IS supposed to rain about midweek. Love ya, my freezing friends!)

Quartzsite, Arizona

I mentioned Oatman and the donkeys in my last blog. My system finally let me upload one (1 only) picture. Here is my favorite spouse and her new friend on the streets of Oatman. After enjoying two days in Needles we moved down to Lake Havasu City and London Bridge. We toured the city, got meds at Wal-Mart, walked on and under the famous London Bridge, and camped on the bank of the Colorado River. That took two days and then we headed for Quartzsite. This is a unique town in the southwest corner of Arizona. In the summer months it is not much of anything except HOT. In the winter it becomes a mecca for thousands of RVers. Most camp in the dessert around the town; some -- like us -- use the facilities of a commercial RV park. We have hookups, a laundromat, showers, and a hot tub -- all of which we have used. The town is also known for the hundreds (maybe thousands) of flea market stalls. Everything imaginable is available. Someone said, "if it isn't for sale here, you don't need it." We have prowled most of the sales and spent our share of money.

One day we drove out to a tiny town called Bouse and then on into the mountains to see an old copper mining town -- now abandoned. Today after church (church was a simple service here in the park) we drove out to Palm Canyon. Then hiked up into a canyon to see a few palm trees growing in a small ravine. Kind of a weird thing to do but the scenery was great.

Sorry I can't upload more pictures. I'll keep trying. This week we head for Tucson. Take care of yourself.

Just Bowl Me Over

Have you ever been to a college football bowl game? I've watched them on television all my life. Well, "all" my life is stretching it a little, but since I was a kid -- probably in junior high. Back then the important bowl games were on New Years Day -- the most important one being the Rose Bowl. After all, it is the "Grand Daddy" of the bowl games. But more important, it is "our" bowl game. That means the University of Oregon Ducks play for a chance to go to Pasadena each year. They don't usually make it -- they have only been to the Rose Bowl 4 times. Their first appearance was in 1917 when they defeated Pennsylvania 14-0. Alas, their next 3 trips to Pasadena ended in loses. But one was close. I remember watching at my brother's house on New Years Day 1958. Ohio State was rated the number one team in America. They should have been facing Oregon State but a strange "no repeat" rule meant that Oregon got the bid. Ohio State scored a touchdown in the first period. Oregon followed this with their own touchdown in the second quarter. Oregon had a chance to take the lead in the third period but kicker Jack Morris hooked a 34-yard field goal try to the left. Early in the 4th quarter, Ohio State tried a field goal from the same spot; it was good. They led 10 to 7 but Oregon had another chance... until they fumbled the ball. But it wasn't over. Oregon got the ball again with just a few minutes left on the clock. Quarterback Jack Crabtree had his team moving down the field but with 47 seconds left in the game his fourth down pass fell incomplete. Oregon lost 10-7. It was exciting; it was a let-down. I found little consolation in the fact that Oregon beat Ohio State in yards gained and first down conversions. Perhaps Oregon's domination of the game was expressed in the fact that Jack Crabtree was named Player of the Game, one of only a very few people on a losing team to get that award.

So you can guess what we did on New Years Day. We watched bowl games. But Oregon wasn't in one of those. They played on Tuesday, the 30th in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. I've always wanted to see a bowl game in person. I know Oregon's record in bowl games isn't exactly stellar. They have lost 13 times and won only 9. But one can always hope -- and shout. When I found out Oregon was going to the Holiday Bowl, I got on line and discovered there were tickets available that I could afford (well, sort of). So I bought two and asked Korak to go with me. Actually, I supplied the tickets and he drove. Our seats were high and kind of on the corner of the end zone. Not too bad, really. It was amazing to be there. All the pageantry and glitz. At the beginning, a Native American National Guard Unit unfurled a flag as big as the football field. They had people stationed across the field to hold it up. A 12-year old boy with a tremendous voice sang the National Anthem. When he got to "rocket's red glare" they shot rockets into the air. Then with "bombs bursting in mid air" they set off loud explosions and when he got to "flag yet wave" they jerked on the flag so it had a wavy effect across the field. Then the jets did the flyover. I was duly impressed.

The half time show ended with a great fire works display. And the game ended with... yes! an Oregon win. They defeated Oklahoma State 42 to 31. I went home a happy camper.

Speaking of camping... Friday we left our precious little ones (the bigger ones are precious too, but you know what I mean) and headed east. We camped in Needles, California for two nights. Yesterday we drove up to Oatman on the old Route 66 highway. It is a combination of Tortilla Flats and Tombstone mixed with some burros and rolled out along a narrow stretch of old road. Burros roam the streets looking for a handout and locals open the shops looking for a sale. Find a place to park somewhere and then stroll through the stores selling Route 66 memorabilia, old west things and just plain stuff. It was fun to do. We had stopped at a Route 66 museum the day before in Victorville so didn't need anymore 66 things. We drove a little of the highway. I would like to drive all of it someday.

This morning we attended worship at Calvary Chapel in Needles, went back to the RV for lunch, then packed up a left. We are now in Lake Havasu City. We'll take a look at London Bridge, snoop around town, get some prescriptions filled at Wal-Mart and then move on down to Quartzsite. Take care and have a happy new year.

Merry Christmas

This week has been filled with the usual Christmas things. We did some last minute shopping and then stayed home away from the crowds. A few weeks ago Joyce and I "bought" a goat and a rabbit in Kenya in Josiah's and Lilly's names. These are animals that are given to villagers to raise for breeding, milking, and raising more of the same for (don't tell Lilly) eating (i.e. rabbits). There are quite a few organizations that do this -- some, in some countries, have a wide variety of animals. We went through Free Methodist Missions for ours... er, Josiah's and Lilly's, I mean. Okay, so we did this. Now, how do we communicate to a 3 year old and 6 year old what really happened and what it means? We found a small plush goat and rabbit at some company online so we ordered these for the kids. Then I wrote a story about a boy and girl in Kenya who got a goat and rabbit from "the missionary lady" so they could help their family with income. I printed this into a nice little booklet with pictures, a map of Africa with Kenya highlighted, and a flag of Kenya to color. We gave all of this to the kids on Monday. We read the story and explained what it all meant. Then we had a Kenyan dinner. I'm not sure about the authenticity of the dinner but I got it online from a "Kenyan recipes" website. I picked the easy ones. The main course was mashed potatoes mixed with pureed peas (the result was green potatoes) and kernel corn. Then some meat is cut into thin strips, fried and mixed with a gravy. This is poured over the potatoes for a meal. The dessert was "ice cream" made from mangos and whipping cream, then frozen, and finally topped with a pineapple-brandy concoction. It really wasn't too bad. The kids "helped" make all this -- as much as they could. We had a good discussion about Kenya, that some people there are very poor and probably didn't even have as much to eat as we did. We also bought a can of goat's milk for everyone to try a sip. But, alas, we forgot to bring it out so it still awaits our eager (???) paletes. Maybe we'll try it tonight.

Christmas eve we went to one of Korak's brother's apartments over in Covina. All his immediate family were there except for one brother who lives in Portland. All the cousins enjoy playing with each other. There were probably 30 people in the house. He had a simple meal ready for us and then the family opened gifts. They had exchanged names so everyone had a gift and no felt like they needed to buy everyone a gift (a very expensive proposition). It was fun but it was 1:00 before we got back home and to bed. These old eyelids don't do night shifts like they used to!

Our Christmas morning was a slow, laid back time with the kids enjoying a big pile of Santa's favors. Sure didn't look like we're in a recession to me. Between two sets of grandparents, their own parents, a neighbor lady, and friends at church they did pretty well. That evening we all went to see "The Tale of Despereaux" -- an animated movie about an unmouse-like mouse.

Remember those pumpkins with the kid's names carved in them (pictures back around the end of October)? Well, we carted them down to LA so the kids could see them up close and personal. After we cracked them open, Josiah and I dug out the seeds for roasting. The roasting didn't go very well. The seeds were big and old... and I roasted them too long. They had a good taste but the chewing residue was kind of woody. We did salvage some of the pumpkin itself and I made two pies out of it. They really tasted good but were kind of ugly -- too thin and not cooked evenly.

Sunday we did church at Marina Christian Fellowship, then went out to eat at Islands. It is an Hawaiian flavor type restaurant -- mostly hamburgers, chicken burgers, and salads. Very good food and lots of fun. In the evening Jana, the kids, and I drove over to Pasadena to attend the FM church there. It is being re-created under the leadership of the Marina church. There were not very many people present but we had a good Bible study.

And now I sit in a dentist's office waiting for Jana. She was having a tooth problem so they are seeing what needs to be done. Trust you had a very good Christmas and will enjoy a happy new year.

Happy Birthday to Me

What a great week this has been. Last Tuesday we traveled from the "real strange" RV Park in San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles -- and got to see Josiah and Lilly. Our plan was to store the RV at the Marina Church where Jana and Korak attend and live in their back room. But the area where we would store the RV is rented out to the school district so we couldn't get in there until Saturday morning. So we camped at Dockweiler RV Park near Playa Del Rey -- about 6 miles from the kid's house -- until Saturday. So this what we did. The RV is now at the church and we are Korak and Jana's.

But we had what I call a "typical" welcome to LA Tuesday night at Dockweiler's. We watched a program on TV, turned it off at 11:00 and went to bed. I had just drifted off to sleep when Joyce woke me up, "Gene, there are police out here." I looked out the window and decided to get dressed. Right outside our RV was a fire truck, an ambulance, and enough police to hold a convention. I went outside and they wouldn't tell anything but wanted to know if I had heard any noises. Answer: just the lady next to us slamming the door to her RV a couple times. The police were very interested in a car parked in front of an RV two spots down from ours. I noticed they were working with someone in the ambulance, then drove away. We went back to bed and finally asleep. A couple days later I found out a man committed suicide (or tried to; he was barely alive when the ambulance took him away).

Thursday was my birthday. Ginger and Jana gave me a gift certificate to a day spa. I didn't even know men went to those things. This was in downtown Santa Monica -- what I would consider rather plush. It included a 25-minute massage, and as much time as I wanted in the hot tub, steam room, sauna, relaxation room and shower. I stayed there about 4 hours. They had white robes to wear around, cold wash cloths by the hot tub, lots of towels, bananas and apples to eat, magazines to read, and no one to hurry you along. It was a very good time. While I was in the area I walked down to Borders and bought a map book I wanted, and then had lunch at Barney's Beanery on the 3rd Street Promenade. Great birthday.

Wednesday was Josiah's school program -- pictures and a brief description are on the following blog. Friday evening was his and Lilly's Awana program. They attend at a nearby Baptist church. Today we attended worship at Marina Christian Fellowship. In fact, I went to both services (does that make up for not going to church last Sunday?) I went with Korak to the first service then Jana, Joyce and kids came to the second service so I stayed for that also. After, we went to Soup Plantation for lunch. This is my favorite restaurant. All they have are salads and soups (plus some breads). Great place.

A word about the weather. While the rest of country is digging out of snow banks, we are enjoying nice sunny weather. In Ginger's part of Oregon, they are having snow and ice. In the Grants Pass area it also snow -- but not as much. I think we got out of town just in time. But the temperature here is cold -- maybe I better say, cool. In the 50s which is cool for southern California. However, tomorrow it is supposed to rain and then rain again on Christmas. So, enjoy your white Christmas while we enjoy our wet one. Merry Christmas everyone.

Pictures

Here are the pictures I promised. My internet connection is still having trouble with pictures so I'm using Jana's high speed. This is our campground in the trees up in the redwoods the first night out.

I mentioned we went to the Charley Brown/Peanuts/Charles Schultz museum in Santa Rosa. The next two pictures are taken there. The background behind me is made up of a jillion tiny Peanuts comic strips.

I had to put in one picture of Josiah's "Winter Holiday Program" (as they call it). Actually it was pretty good but terribly unorganized. It included the entire school -- pre-kindergarten through 5th grade. Each grade performed two or three songs. There was a mix of Christian Christmas carols, secular Christmas carols, Hanukkah songs, Kwanza songs, and a non-holiday song (for those who don't believe in holidays, I guess). This is a dance song Josiah was in. He is the 2nd white shirt from the left (in case you couldn't tell!!!!!)

...Go

Why is it that there is so much left to do at the last minute? But after 2 days of frantically doing the "Ready, Set" stuff we were able to do the "Go" at 11:15 Wednesday morning. For those who do not know the area or don't have a map, we went southwest out of Grants Pass on hiway 199 into California. Just north of Crescent City we hit hiway 101 and have followed it all the way (except for a little bit in San Francisco). We didn't make it as far as we thought we might the first night. It was getting dark and we were tired so we pulled off when we saw a sign indicating an RV Park. It was in Myers Flat along the south fork of the Eel River. We were the only ones in the park. Very quiet.

The next day we made it to Santa Rosa and stayed in the Sonoma County Fairgrounds RV Park. It is simply a big gravel lot with spaces and hookups. The next morning, we visited the Charles Schultz/Peanuts Museum. It is located there because that is where he lived last, had a studio, an ice skating rink, and a cafe.

All of this was in cool but sunny weather. A giant cold front was moving down from Alaska and slowly overtaking us. (There was a dusting in snow in Grants Pass today. We got out just in time!). As we entered San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge, the clouds were beginning to move in. I decided to "go straight" through town on hiway 1 (for most of the way it is 19th Street) instead of jostling the traffic on the Freeway. It was really very easy. Straight through town, a short drive on I-280 into South San Francisco, exit at Hickey Street, go downhill and right into Treasure Island RV Park. We stayed there two nights.

Saturday we rode BART (a commuter train system) over to the east bay to visit our friends George and Edie. George and I were in the Navy together and later he and Joyce were in the same church when she attended school in San Francisco. We had a great lunch and visit, then rode BART back. It goes under the bay in giant tubes that were constructed and then sunk to be in the right place. I have always wanted to ride the system, so here was my chance. It was about an hour ride each way. My reaction: a very efficient method of transportation, but noisy. The wheels, rails, motors, something make a zillion different high pitched sounds.

This morning we left about 10:00 and headed south on hiway 101. We had to do our own church because there wasn't one around we could walk to. I didn't drop the trailer so we couldn't drive to one. This wasn't my first choice but we have not missed attending church very many times in the last two years. We are now at Avila Hot Springs "Resort" in San Luis Obispo. It is mostly little manufactured home-type cabins; the RV park part of it is about 6 small dirt spaces, hard to get into. In fact, the whole place is hard to get an RV into. We'll probably stay here two nights and soak in the hot mineral waters.

Speaking of hot, it ain't!!! Instead of having temps in the 70s we now have temps in the low 50s. This cold front is supposed to last most of the week -- with no predictions after that. Thus we are welcomed to "sunny" southern California. Oh well, grandkids will warm it up.

Pictures? For some reason (probably my internet connection here) I can't upload pictures. I'll try again when we get to LA so check about Wednesday.