Say What?

I was off from work last week. Typically when I have to go back to the salt-mine after a vacation it's always just a little depressing but not so this time. I got so much accomplished during my time away that coming back to work will give me a chance to catch my breath or at least that's what I tell myself anyway. I had planned to go for an all-day ride on Friday but Thursday night I decided that my bike would have to remain on ice while I tended to more pressing matters that weren't going to magically get done on their own. After Antonio finished the retaining wall he built for our porch I decided it was time to finally get my hands dirty with our porch project . I'm so glad I made that decision and have all of that work behind me. I'll have to make a similar effort and more once the deck is completed but at least I've taken a big bite out of what's been waiting for me. I'll hit the roads hard for a couple of hours tomorrow before work and I won...

I got a text from Rachel last week: "You might find this exciting. Remember nate melhoff? He's walking from mn to San Francisco." She then gave me a link to Nate's blog that he'll be updating along the way: Seeing It Slowly. (Edit: the link is now gone.) I've often dreamt of doing a cross-country trip by bike but never on foot although there's certainly something about that which appeals to me as well. Nate's father is also an air traffic controller in Farmington where I work but I don't really know him. It's a big facility. I believe Rachel and Nate dated once in high school. I intend to walk the country along with him through his writings and invite you to do the same if you feel so inclined. It's quite a journey he's committed to taking on and I would guess that any words of encouragement you might have for him along the way would be welcome. Tammy was having internet connectivity issues last week while working from home caus...

I got a Father's Day card in the mail a couple days ago addressed to Mr. Kevin Gilmore from none other than my stepdaughter. We like to keep things formal between us, often referring to one another with the 'step' (as in stepfather or stepdaughter) title. We're weird, we know that. I can also tell you that there isn't a stepdad on the planet who loves his stepdaughter more than I love mine! Actually, the only time I refer to her as my stepdaughter is when we're joking around. For me, the 'step' part seems to cast a negative connotation on our relationship. I don't like that. If anybody asks, she's my daughter and once you get me started talking about her it can be difficult to get me to stop. One quick 'Rachel' story. Early on in our relationship before Tammy and I were married, Tammy was putting Rachel to bed and saying her prayers with her. I had a place in their list of people to pray for and when they got to me on this night, Rach...

I had most of last week off from work but because of some rainy weather and a sciatic nerve flare-up, I was mostly kept sidelined. I suppose forced downtime is okay but I get restless when I have to sit still for too long. Mom's initial treatment for her detached and torn retina was unsuccessful so she had to go back and have another procedure done where they insert a gas bubble into the eye which works to keep the damaged retina in place while it heals. She was mostly awake for the 45-minute procedure. It's called  Pneumatic Retinopexy . I find it so incredible the things that people are able to do. She still has very limited vision in her damaged eye but hopefully that will improve over the next few weeks and months. I think she said it could take six months before she'll achieve her optimum vision. Tammy's mom is in town for another few days. We were able to bring her to see my mom and let them visit for a couple hours last Friday night. It's the first time...

We live in such an amazing world. Whenever I'm struggling with doubts about God or divine creation, all it takes for me to put those doubts aside are observances of life that surrounds us. Precious life, especially newborn life with such a variety of it and especially this time of year. I had an appointment last Friday morning. On the way home I happened upon a family of geese walking through a parking lot with the little goslings book-ended between their parents. It was sweet to watch although my heart went out to them because they were hardly in anything close to ideal surroundings for raising a family. An hour later I was back in my truck on Burnsville Parkway having just gotten off the freeway when I noticed a mother duck and her ducklings stymied by the curb . I put my flashers on and got out to do what I could for them. The mother hopped the curb at the sight of me with the little ones peeping wildly as they tried to follow but couldn't. I scooped them all up in one h...

Jennifer Knapp, Fallen I emailed Bill Bohline (lead pastor at Hosanna) this past week, not all that hopeful that we'd reopen the dialog we'd begun last October  but more so just to let him know that what concerned me then still concerns me now. Hi Bill, Is the time-out over? Am I allowed to speak again? A lot has happened since you stood before us on that Sunday in October and encouraged us to vote for the amendment to deny same-sex marriage...the amendment put forth by the guy who himself was divorced, making somewhat of a mockery of the entire proposal for those of us paying even the slightest attention. My wife and I lead a small-group at Hosanna even though I've left the church after our last exchange. Tammy still regularly volunteers on Tuesday nights painting the nails of little children whose parents visit the clothes closet. I would often be there to put 'Jesus' tattoos on little arms but that no longer happens for me. My wife and I were talking to...

I don't typically use my blog to discuss political stuff all that much anymore but I do want to make mention of some things for the archives so when I look back I can see where we were and where I was in my thinking. Talk about overplaying a hand. Same-sex marriage in Minnesota was (until very recently) illegal but that wasn't good enough for Republicans in our state. Nearly two years ago a Republican-dominated statehouse voted to place a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage on the 2012 ballot. Not only did that effort fail but an unintended consequence of the constitutional amendment was that it also caused a huge amount of support for its defeat which ultimately led to a new proposal to allow for same-sex marriage; a proposal which became law this past week. It's likely that same-sex marriage was an eventuality here but because of the over-reach of Republicans in our legislature it clearly came about much faster than it otherwise would have. Our politics...