Quotes for the Day 3/29/2009

Shane: Grant, have you figured out whose suit you're going to borrow to wear at Joel's wedding?

Grant: Nooooo. Let's see. Someone short and fat. Short and fat.

(I doubt that this description is what would leap first into a person's mind if he/she were describing Grant. He is broad-shouldered and hard-muscled, but "short and fat," "short and fat" is a lot faster to say.)

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Me: We used a push broom to sweep the snow off the tarp that covered the greenhouse roof.

Hiromi: We? You got a frog in your pocket?

Me: Hiromi used a push broom to sweep the snow off the tarp.

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Me (to Hilda): When did your dad get home?

Hilda: At about 1:30. Everyone's luggage had stayed behind in Atlanta. They figured that out while they were still in Minneapolis.

Me: I guess there were several good reasons for not having church at regular time this morning.

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Joel: I was going home on Trail West Road when I came to a four-foot wall of snow. It looked like there were tracks right up to it, but nothing had gone through. So I turned around and went back to 14 and drove a mile north and then west and back south and came into town by dirt roads. They had been plowed, and I got home that way.

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Me (last night, talking on the phone to Grant) : When are you coming home?

Grant: We'll probably work through the night yet. This parking lot at Loewen's is terrible. There are ten-foot drifts up against the south side of the building.

He finally got home about 1:30 this afternoon. He was hungry and tired, and his face was snow-burned. Before he got here, Shane recalled how he had hated that particular parking lot when he worked at snow removal in past winters. There are about ten loading docks, and the slope downward to the building in that area traps lots of snow. Bringing the snow up the incline to dispose of it can be nearly impossible if gaining traction becomes an issue, as it often does.

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Joseph (who appeared in our driveway on a tractor after 9:00 last night) : I thought I had to clear the parking lot at church, but when I got there it was all done, so I decided to do a good deed for someone else instead.

He scooped and dumped enough snow so that our vehicles can come and go between their parking spaces and the road. Yaaayyyyy! And God bless Joseph. Earlier in the day he had tried to leave their place and couldn't get through by the usual route, even with a big tractor.

Snowplows are getting stuck on some of the township roads, and the round top shed belonging to Nathanael and Gloria collapsed under the weight of wet snow. He had been in the shed earlier yesterday morning and heard some unfamiliar creaking, popping sounds, so he moved his pickup, camper, smoker, etc. outside. The snow-moving equipment had already been moved out. About 30 minutes after he went back into the house, he heard a bigger noise and the next time he looked, the roof had a V-shape instead of a round top.

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Post from Marcus' Facebook: I am a big boy. My truck is a really big truck. The drift was bigger. I am suffering from an inferiority complex. (I'm quoting Joel from memory.)

He was part of the snow-clearing crew Grant was working with. After his unsuccessful attempt to get going, he called Danny to pull him out with the tractor. Danny got stuck with the tractor. And so it went. Which is why their planned early morning start did not get underway till 10:00. They were all working for Nathanael, who was having his own disasters to deal with. See above.

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Shane (at our dining room table) : After we decided to have breakfast here at 9:00, we found out that LaVernes are planning to have all the Kuepfers at their place for an 11:00 noon meal. So I guess we'll have plenty to eat this morning.

I think Dorcas felt like a veteran at Sunday morning Japanese breakfasts, compared to Hilda, who is game, but still a little cautious. The natto looked daunting, with its naturally stringy texture. Joel recalled that we've never tried very hard to get dubious people to like natto, given the fact that it comes in small quantities, and when everyone wants a share, the individual portions are minuscule. But all in our family are fond of it, despite none of us having liked it very well on the first try. (It's "cultured"--not "moldy" as Hiromi says--a soybean product.)

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Me (to Shane) : Is your recording ready yet? I haven't heard anything for a while.

Shane: It's really close, but not quite done.

Dorcas: The guy that's doing it doesn't seem to be in a big hurry.

Shane: Part of my marketing plan is to have you advertise it on your blog. It's payback time. After the hundreds of people who've told me what they've heard about me on your blog, you owe me.

Me: Well, give me the details when it's ready, and I'll let people know.

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Telephone Message (David's voice) : This is One Call Now with a message for you.

Good Morning. This message is to outline the schedule of the commissioning service for Craig and Rachel. We will begin at 6:30 this evening, and expect the service to be over around 8:00. We will lift the regular Sunday morning offering. Today it will be for the building fund. The carry-in that follows can include finger foods, as well as regular foods. We want to use this opportunity to bless and encourage Craig and Rachel as they embark on this challenging endeavor. God's blessings to each of you today.