More pictures taken by another

The airconditioner is in tact.

A "transparent" house on the way to Pass Christian, MS.

South of the tracks is really where you will find the most damage in Mississippi.

That's me taking a picture from the train tracks in the Pass that didn't turn out.

I'm back, for now.

Friday Hurricane Rita was plowing through. Traffic was horrible because evacuees were making their way East. We had to get Jess to the airport and it was so stressful that I convinced Kelly and Lish that they HAD to experience Steak 'n Shake. I ordered all of my favorite things. It was wonderful.

Roger was our "get it" man. Anything we needed, he found.
That's him being official.

I just got back from Mississippi. Here is an email I sent to friends and fam who were praying for the team. Hopefully this will hold you over until I get back from Kentucky and provide some other reflections.

Hey! Just got home at noon today. Our flight out of Mobile was delayed by two hours yesterday, which in turn caused us to miss our connecting flight in Charlotte. So, we were put up on a hotel on the way home. Can't complain, my boss wanted me to recharge and let me stay home for the afternoon. Besides, it totally beat sleeping on the airport floor like we did upon arrival in Alabama because Enterprise would not wait fifteen minutes to give us our vehicles.

The trip was emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausting. Spiritually, it was pumped full of God moments, faith strengtheners, and Divine appointments...Now that I am home I think the spiritual exhaustion is going to set in. Our group connected in a beautiful way. We all know for fact that there is no possible way people here in NH or others scattered about the US will begin to grasp the encounters we experienced. This is what makes my heart sad. Pictures that wouldn't properly portray the misery and devestation of Gulf Coast Mississippi did not develop completely at the store. The photos I took with Judy...John...Dale...Cheryl...Wayne...Don...Lassie...Shadow... did not turn out. My heart broke at the realization this afternoon. I suppose my memory and my words will have to fill those picture frames instead.

So, it is with a heavy heart for the homeless, broken, and bruised that I type this email. There is hope - much hope to speak of in the communities of Gulfort, Biloxi, Long Beach, Pass Christian, and Waveland. These were the places we worked in. These were the towns lining the coast and pounded with a 35 foot storm surge the day of Katrina's arrival. Obliterated from the water and wind, dead bodies floated about Waveland for days. Now, countless faces remain holding on to the only thing they have left - familiarity. Some will never leave the area because their hearts are rooted deeply. Some will have the few finances to begin the rebuilding process. Some will build their neighborhoods one day at a time. Some will find the Lord. Some already have. Pray for these places which were hit the hardest and forgotten immediately.

Perhaps in the near future I can begin recounting at least one or two events. But for now I am tired and I must try to fit back in here...

Love
Lindy

Off I go

I wanted to leave you with something profound and worth coming back to for the next ten days, but work has been unbelievably busy (and an abrupt, but honest hush comes over the crowd) and thus sucking the life out of my creativity and time to do so.

While gone, I may post something on my picture blog from my cell phone. Have a fantastic week!

Features in Lindy's world.

A Rather Unexciting Rendition. Read Anyway.

Miss-iss-ippi
Friday I take off, with 11 others, on US Airways. A flight that will lead us into Mobile, AL. A drive that will shuttle us to Gulfport, MS. Serving alongside Mercy Ships. Housing unknown. Ten days possibly sheltered by only a military tent. Duties to be discovered. Debris 20 feet deep. Humidity and sweat. Supposedly we get to handle chainsaws. Kelly said I will be the photographer. For everyone else's sake, I think this the better option. I'll be back on the 25th.

With this ring
Upon my return to NH, I get to turn around on Thursday night, fly out to KY, to stand up in another wedding. This is a trip I am definitely looking forward to. Beth, is having her three best friends stand beside her. Only the immediate family will be attending. There isn't even a decided wedding time because we are going to wed the couple when they feel like it...sometime on Oct. 1. All I know is that we have to marry them off before our dinner reservations in Cincinnati that night. Hopefully, I will get to see Tim, Sandra, Ezra, and Brian that weekend. (hint...cough...hint)

Fusion
The day has finally arrived. MCC is beginning a program for the youth of the church and community. I am so pumped and will be leading my own small group of jr/sr high schoolers as well as playing the piano (boop boop boop boop) for the little people's worship time.

Technically Directing
Over the next month I will be shadowing our Technical Director at church and then join the team. I get to wear a headset, hold a stop watch, and give cues. This one is going on my resume. Inevitably, I have earned myself a position on Christmas Sunday.

Setup and Design
Most of my spare time is spent designing and resetting the stage for each sermon series. With more experience my ideas are getting bigger, the process is more organized, and the stress a bit greater - but in a good way. The process must take place within an intensive week following Sunday services one day and ready for Sunday services the following week. This set is by far one of my favorites, right up there with my Mother's Day paintings. I'll post a picture soon.

Ciao!
It is time Americans realize that ciao is actually "hello" not "goodbye." It makes me crazy. This Wednesday I begin my Italian class at New Hampshire Community Technical College. Great name, huh?

Happy Halloween
People will pay anything for a souvenier. And thus, the joys of living in a touristy portion of America. This Fall I shall be painting pumpkins for some extra cash. Depending on how much time I put into the efforts, in one month I could make thousands. Knocking away those student loans bit by bit. I will also be painting a couple of murals that were auctioned off this last Spring.

Arrivederci!
And I end with this...in a month if it seems as though I have fallen off the face of the planet, it may be because I have. This hectic semester will either provide ample blogging opportunities or squelch my creativity.

A Wedding Story

I am so torn about weddings. In one respect I get nostalgic and dreamy during the ceremony - it's usually someone I am close to and that makes me happy. However, they are too quiet. They are either too short considering the amount of prep time and money or they are too long because you are sitting their in uncomfortable silence.

People like traditional weddings, but what does it mean? Is the couple even aware of what's going on around them - no. How much of the wedding is planned for the family, the mother of the bride, or Aunt Irene from Guam? And how much of the wedding reflects the spirit of the couple, their flare, their personality? Very little.

And why do bridesmaids have to all look alike? In a way, it's appealing to the eye that everyone matches, but if you really think about it - it's downright silly - like dressy robots locking knees and attempting to look interested when in reality, thanks to the overpriced shoes required for their uniformed attire, they are more concerned about the bleeding callouses that are currently developing on their heels. And the men? The men aren't even pretending to care. Their eyes carelessly scan the audience. Their bodies swaying to the heat rising in their collars, hands clenched before them.

Oh, and you can't forget the awkward reception line following the ceremony. Everyone is thinking it, but not one soul mutters..."Do I hug the best man or do I shake his hand? Do I have to say anything at all? Who is this guy, anyway? It's not his wedding, so why on God's green earth do I have to pretend like congratulating him? I mean seriously, I watched him through part of the wedding and he didn't even realize he was in front of 300 people when he scratched his butt. So certainly he wasn't listening to the exchange of vows or ..." And crap, suddenly you're standing in front of him he sticks out his hand, you lean forward, there is an awkward moment of "what do we do?" so he puts his other arm up and leans in for a hug while simultaneously you drop one arm and reach to shake his hand again an awkward moment of "what do we do?" ending in a slight pat on the back a stumbled "Uh, congratulations..." and you move on to the next person. And that person, perhaps the mother of the bride, deserves a warm hug and congratulatory praise, but in your mind you are dwelling on the best man prior, still uncomfortable and thus resulting in another haphazard hug and Lord-willing, the end of the line.

Then there is dancing at the reception. In theory, it is a fabulous idea. And in theory, everyone wants you to have a dance at the reception. But heaven's no - NO ALCOHOL! I'm sorry, but after standing up in nine weddings, if there is going to be good dancing, there has to be alcohol. Or maybe, since we don't really want the atmosphere associated with beer and bourbon, we should just give everyone a shot of espresso at the door. Regardless, people have to be out of sorts if you expect them to get off their seats and on the dance floor. Maybe it's just a midwestern thing, but what is with people standing and staring at one another in a large circle, as if to play duck-duck-goose, all the while jirrating to the YMCA. I don't want 20 some people watching me dance.

If you are like me and prefer sitting during such a scene, you can find one person in the crowd that most everyone else mimics. He starts out with a simple right step, left step combo. Soon everyone is stepping to his beat. Then he raises an arm and twists his head. Soon everyone is raising an arm and twisting their head. Over and again he changes his move and they follow suit. Try watching sometime, it's actually quite funny.

So technically, it is people like myself that keep me off the dance floor. Now give me a good sugar boost, some real party music, a crowded floor of people who don't even notice me there, and then I will dance. But only then.

**Props to Kirk and Amanda for actually having a good dance party at their reception.

Just a made for TV movie?

At the beginning of this summer FX released a tv movie entitled Oil Storm. Here is one viewer's synopsis of the film. I wonder what he thinks of it now.

7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful:-America over the barrel, 6 June 2005Author: wardcullum from Nashville, TN

"Oil Storm" is the latest made-for-TV movie to use what is rapidly becoming a tiresome technique: a faux-documentary retrospective that details the events that led up to a disaster.

The story opens in the near future, Labor Day weekend of this year, and describes a chain reaction that leads to global economic turmoil. Drawing from a collection of worst-case scenarios, the film portrays an America in chaos after the oil supply chain is disrupted. Political efforts to alleviate the problems caused by the oil shortfall predictably fail, and the result is a crisis that makes Americans (at least the ones portrayed in the film) question their reliance on oil.

While some may portray the film as anti-Bush, it feels more anti-oil, anti-conspicuous consumption. Political actions in the movie are framed within the context of the current behavior of many of the major global political players - US, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia - and generally might not be too far off the mark.

The contingency planning and consideration of viable alternatives is simplistic, but thankfully, the writers at least avoid the "Mexico closes the border" cliché. In short, the film is about as interesting as watching a tanker spill cleanup.
_____

Click here to read more about this FX movie.

A Day Late and 25 Dollars Short

This is a picture of my single-day, overdue inspection sticker. I really don't know how many states enforce an annual vehicle inspection, but Illinois is not one of them. Moving to New Hampshire has introduced many fabulous qualities and many annoying ones. I think it fair to say that the mandatory car inspection is one of the obnoxious attributes.

For those, like myself prior to relocation, who do not understand this concept, I shall do my best to provide an explanation. For some odd reason, the State of NH would prefer not having a load of jalopy rides breaking down on the side of their highways and roadways. They like low accident percentages that would be due to faulty brakes or the random, flinging windshield wiper. Whatever that is about. What it really means is that you will never be able to drive your car into the ground. They actually make you pay for a new bumper because in these parts, duct tape is not an acceptable feature. It now costs $50 for them to probe my car year after year.

Upon the purchase of my car, the above sticker was already in place. I thought that was a pretty snazzy deal until I realized that the sticker should match my birth date. So, in six months, I will most likely be repeating the process. Another $50.

Should I get pulled over before Friday (when I am scheduled to take Curtis in) I could be charged $250 and towed on the spot. Boy, am I excited.

In better news, I bought an iTrip from Target yesterday. What a beautiful thing it is. I can use it on any FM stereo. No longer do I have to listen to the crappy Top 40 stations at work, but I can instead enlighten those sitting about me with real, good music. If you have an iPod and you don't have the iTrip yet, I highly recommend splurging the 25 bucks.