Home Sweet Home

The problem with keeping a Blog and being on the go is that you are either on the go or you keep a Blog... I've re-read the last entry posted and cannot believe how much has happened since we got our phones just a few short weeks ago.

First, we did manage to get moved in.  It is nice having an address.  We had no shortage of anxiety while we waited for our perspective landlord to return from his business-vacation in Turkey.  Our furniture had arrived in port 10 days or so before his projected return and we were notified that unless we were able to provide a furniture delivery date sometime before Tuesday the 18th, they were going to have to off-load the container into a long term storage area and then reload it for delivery when we finally settled on a date.  The whole process would have been massively expensive.  On top of this, there are contract changes relative to my job that affect the work going on in Belgium.  The changes somewhat loosen the restrictions on the number of contract employees they could have in permanent resident status.  Thus, there was noise at work that they may want to simply move me directly to Belgium after all we've been through to integrate our lives in the UK. 

To stuff the whole story and a lot of concern into a small paragraph, I placed a phone call to my landlord’s associate asking that he have Mr. Bowe (my landlord) call me as soon as his feet were back on British soil. (This was the Friday before the Tuesday Deadline). He was supposed to arrive sometime late day Saturday.  I called and then we waited.

Being pushed against a deadline, I guess you could say I acted rashly in that I had already left instructions with the movers to deliver the furniture rather than unpack it and had already given them the address of the house before I had even signed a contract.  On top of that, we (Dianne and I) had worked through the base housing office and had scheduled an onsite housing inspection and meter reading for the Monday before the Tuesday delivery.  In short, we were either going to be moving into the house (permissions and contract pending) or doing a lot of serious back pedaling if I wasn't able to get hold of Mr. Bowe.

You can't imagine the relief when he called my cell while I was sitting in church (yes...praying).  I walked out to the car and called him back and he graciously agreed to all that was done and was extraordinary about the whole matter. 

The next few days were a blur; the inspection, contract signing, and subsequent move in were perfect.  The moving crew was in and out in three hours and change.  Even the weather was unusually cooperative.  It had been a murky drizzly cold mess for the weeks previous.  The morning the movers came, the skies had cleared and the sunshine was beautiful.  It was crisp and cold and felt fabulous.  I watched in amazement as two young men hauled thirteen thousand pounds of our junk in and out and up and down two flights of stairs.  They were pleasant and well spoken and I hope very well paid.   

As stated, the move couldn't have gone better and to provide calm at the end of a nervous storm, Mr. Bowe's wife brought us a beautiful bouquet of flowers as a welcome to our new home.  So, we are in but a long way from settled... now we sit in a pile of half organized furniture and a mountain of boxes... that is where I'll end this episode.  It is so good to finally say -- as messy as it may be -- it is so good to be home (or at least, be in a home.  Home is where the heart is, I pray and hope you find the joy and love in yours no matter where it may be.  More to come...

Kicking and Screaming Out of the Dark Ages

One of the toughest parts of adjusting to life in Europe is that as we immediately touched down in the UK, our cell phones became –for all practical purposes—door stops.  You can’t possibly imagine how many times in the last few weeks that I’ve been asked for my phone number and address and the only reply I could muster was a glazed look and a shoulder shrug… OK, do you want a home phone? I guess that would be my room in billeting.  Do you want my credit card address (it would be invalid otherwise)? That’s still in Florida.  Do you want the address of the place I’m supposed to move into?  That hasn’t been finalized.  Do you want my Military mailing address? I have that one! J  I could also give a work address… and on it goes.  Homeless people don’t have these kinds of problems.

And memorizing European phone dialing schemes… forget about it.  I think Europe ended up with everything left after America got through picking through them.  The telephone gods (little “g”) put all of the unused and underappreciated complex dialing formatted numbers in a huge drum and drew their assigned lot.  England lost!  Needless to say, combining that with a lack of permanency and all we had left was Skype and OOVOO to keep us plugged into reality and talking to you!

Yesterday, we leapt out of the dark ages and got cell phone plans.  Yes the numbers are still very un-American but they are ours (to be divulged on a need to know basis).  It makes us members of a community and feels like a real first step toward civilization as most westerners know it.  Not only did we do that but we even made the leap into “Data” and a 3G lifestyle.  Don’t go jumping to conclusions, we haven’t the foggiest how to use any of this yet but it is interesting and the phones are pretty.  After looking at the apps available and the most popular down loads, it is obvious that this technology is still ruled by the “kinder culture” as there are a ton of games and not much of anything else that is useful unless you really want to pay for it (I want a Euro and UK navigation program but have been unwilling to cough up the $50 to pay for it yet).  Anyway, we’ve begun to play with the possibilities and will poll our “Friends” and see what uses they have for theirs that we haven’t thought about.  What uses have you found for your?  Help a couple of Techno-tards out!

Thanks,

P

The Mud, The Blood, and the Pancakes

The Mud, the Blood, and the Pancakes

New Years Day brought with it a new resolve to participate more fully in our church activities not to mention that this particular activity was a 5 mile or so hike through some beautiful rural country side.  So in short, we could not only be more sociable but we can work to improve our health as well.  Two resolutions with one tick of the clock… couldn’t beat that.

The morning was overcast but that can be said about most mornings in the midlands these days.  Mornings that are actually “sunny” are considered so rare that they should be declared Holidays.  Most generally, overcast skies fall to ground and become Fog.  In any case, the weather didn’t look like it was going to be ambitious enough to rain nor did it look like we were in for a Holiday.

We put on our Florida version of cold weather clothing and decided to go anyway.  The first part of the outing was easy.  Eating comes easy enough!  As described in an earlier post, the night before we had stayed out and up till 3:00 am (and yes we did nap the afternoon before).  Being the sensible people that they were, our new years day breakfast didn’t start until 11:00.  (Good thinking!). 

There were plenty of pancakes and OJ and as an added bonus, Brother Larkin Rogers made a special batch of Waffle mix and we managed to wolf that down fairly well too.  They only thing we were missing was the hot chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and fresh bananas… but, we were there to exercise as well.

There were two routes to walk.  The first began at our church building and wound around the English country side until we met up at an ancient Anglican church very similar to the one depicted on the photo on this blog.  Anyway that was the longer route.  Those with children, and ultimately those with more sense, drove to the old church and walked a circuitous route that led them back to pick up their cars at the older church building.

Dianne and I thought… well, we’re dressed for it, how hard can five miles be!  We took the longer walk.  We received an old English education along the way.  First, England isn’t Florida where the highest point anywhere in the state is only a couple of hundred feet.  Second Florida is coral and sand and relatively firm when wet.  Third, people who walk outside in the rain in Florida usually get struck by lightning.  Fourth, Florida is Urban with sidewalks, bike paths, and the like… our setting was definitely rural.  Most of the pavement –where there was pavement-- in the outlying areas looks like it was hastily laid behind farm animals that had escaped from their stalls.  These were not roads to speak of they were meandering paths with mud spatter on them which incidentally people would find the need to drive on occasionally. 

We knew we were in trouble as we started up our first hill… who walks uphill?  Next we left the paved cow path and started through a break in the bramble and through an honest to gosh plowed pasture.  Here are some more facts:  Plows soften dirt; rain mixed with soft dirt becomes muck and mud; mud is very heavy and literally sticks to everything; and yes, it was still all uphill… schluck, schluck, schluck… this walk had very quickly become aerobic and extremely cardio in nature.  We are grandparents and flatlanders and not at all prepared for this.  We also quickly determined that new tennis shoes were not fitting farm ware.  Oh well…

Then we got to the church and the paths led between farmer’s fields and winding rural roads.  The pace slacked as we picked up the batch that drove to the older church with their younger children…

Through the rain, and the muck, and the mist, and the cold, and through our minor suffering and whining, we discovered something else… a beautiful and quiet country side with brambles and hedges for fences and fat and happy sheep in their winter pastures.  We found friendships and a common understanding in our conversations with the others walking in the mire.  We found, antiquities, trees and grasslands and through the shivering sweat, the drizzle, and the gray skies, we found something that we wouldn’t find on TV or within the comforts of our sedentary lives.  We found a desire to live… to see, to be, and to do.  We are still finding each other and throughout this next year we’ll walk again and again as there is a sense of rightness about it…   It was for all practical purposes a VERY good day and the start to what can become a fantastic year.  We hope you enjoy our journey too!  We hope yours challenges you and you find joy therein.