hoos in cambridge

Monday, January 19, 2009

Trip Photos

To see all the photos from our US trip, follow the link under the East Coast Tour sidebar. Or click here. Enjoy!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

What defines humanity other than the persistent and undeniable sensation that where we are is not where we belong? For most of us, this sensation is little other than a nuisance that creeps in the dog door of the back entrance to our minds. For Jackie and me, though, flying back to England is as physical a manifestation of this restlessness of our souls as may be found. Not only do we wrestle daily with deeper spiritual longings, but also the distinct and occasionally putrid cognizance that we are not physically where we would call home.

My intent was not that this opening paragraph should descend into cynical diatribe. Far from it. In fact, quite the contrary. God has often blessed his people with physical images of spiritual realities; see the lives of Hosea and Ezekiel, for example. So, rather than being empty and pointless complaint, we have instead embraced this image as our new focus for our remaining time in the UK. We returned to the US more than moderately concerned and curious about what we would find waiting for us. Growing up (or coming of age) in Northern Virginia taught us both that places change; often rapidly. Jackie had not seen her parents in about a year and a half (and they had moved to West Palm Beach!). We had adjusted to an entirely different method, mode, manner, and pace of life. As Frodo says, how do you pick up the pieces of a past life when (to paraphrase) you are not living that life anymore?

Much as in the Shire, life continues as it ever does in the US. Driving on the right still feels right. Open spaces (even by East Coast standards) are preferable to the Elgarian landscapes in England. We have come to appreciate what we have in the US in a way that we could not have if we had stayed here. Freedom is a bigger thing than the narrow cubbyhole into which it has been shoved by our politicians. We have also come to realize that regardless of our parentage or upbringing, the South is where we belong.

Today we returned to the Old Country but, much as we were when we arrived in the US, we are not the same. Unlike when we left the first time, we know what we are looking forward to, and we know what we are leaving behind. We aren't looking with trepidation at a beginning, we are looking anxiously toward the end. We weren't sure of what our call would be, now we have a church home. Through it all, God has been faithful. It has taken 2000 miles to show us what really matters. May we have the grace to travel many more.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Mile 1500 (approx.): There and... Do We Really Have to go Back Again?

On the beach. In December. We heart Florida.
After splitting Christmas in Northern Virginia, it was time to begin the adventurous part of our trip: the drive to South Florida. 1000 miles, one day. We learned three things from this trip:

1. 1000 miles is about as much as anyone can sensibly drive in a day. We definitely could have kept driving, but at some point we probably would have looked like those light up guys from Tron.

2. The BMW 3-series is (or, perhaps, was) one of the most well-built cars in the world. We are continually amazed how a 1997 328i with 138,000 miles on it can drive 1000 miles in a day, averaging 75 mph (roughly) and the squidgy bits on the inside are what fail first. That car could have easily turned right around and headed straight on back. If we weren't sold on getting one ourselves when we moved back to the US, we are sold now.

3. The states of South Carolina and Georgia are under construction. Google maps estimated 15 hours to make the trip. When we hit South Carolina we were averaging about 80 mph and were likely going to make West Palm by about 6pm, as opposed to the 7-8pm arrival we originally expected. Unfortunately, these two great states had other plans for us. We were held to 25-35 mph for a solid hour and a half in both states which effectively erased any time savings we hoped to make. Once we cleared Orlando, though, we were able to travel at ludicrous speed once again and still got in around 7:15, as originally planned.

The weather in Florida has been nothing short of spectacular our entire time down here. 75-80 degrees, partly cloudy (mostly sunny) every day. Sun's up at 7:30am, sun sets just before 6pm. Florida is the anti-England, and we're happy to be here. So far we've only made it to the beach once, but our other activities have been exciting. We've had some excellent fish and deli food and yesterday we went out to the Seminole indian reservation and went on an airboat ride through the Everglades. Nothing greater than that. We're nearly halfway through our time in the tropics, at this point, so there's still more relaxation to come.

Delicious Caribbean-style fish at Little Moir's Food Shack

Playing around at the Sea Turtle Marinelife Center

Airboat ride through the Everglades. Warning- dere be gatahs in dat watah.