Sunday Wrapup 10/23/2011

Yesterday Matthew and Andrea got married. We sat directly in front of the vocalists and got the full benefit of the catch-your-breath loveliness of the music. We also participated gladly in the worship time led by Lyle, interspersed as it was with Scripture, comments and congregational singing. We had more trouble following the sermon--mostly the fault of something in the acoustics or sound system, or both, in the building.

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In a rant to Hiromi, I reinforced and articulated my belief that do-it-yourself Mennonites who undertake church building construction would do well to engage the services of professional architects or sound and lighting specialists--or have someone in the church group committed to doing the necessary research to get this right.

Hiromi pointed out that yesterday when the volume got turned up, we began to hear the whine of feedback--caused by speakers being located too close to the microphone. Hiromi has experience with running our church's sound system, so he was sympathetic to the person running the sound system yesterday. I just wanted someone to fix things so I could hear the sermon.

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In the learning center at school, everyone who works there as part of a small group outside of school hours knows that it would be a benefit if only one end of the long room could be lit when a group is meeting around a table at either end--with the rest of the room empty. But it's not possible because the two switches that light the room turn on all the lights on either the long west or the east side of the room. The only choices are lighting the whole room brightly, lighting the whole room dimly, or leaving it dark. Lighting brightly only the small area in use is not an option. I think professional architects would have thought of this in the design and/or construction phase.

Shane, who frequently helps sing at weddings, knows exactly which buildings have good singing acoustics and which ones don't. Good acoustics aren't as important as singing from a worshipful heart, but construction materials and methods might just as well serve good "sound" purposes as frustrate them. I suspect the cost difference is minimal.

Don't get me started on the merits of planning for abundant natural lighting in schoolrooms . . .

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I'd like to plant a big splash of red tulips on one side of the school entrance and a river of blue grape hyacinths on the other side before we mulch the beds for the winter. The church trustees are deliberating about the wisdom of this. I have a feeling we'll have a school spring without them.

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We ended the first quarter at school on Thursday. Nearly everyone ended on privilege. I think everyone should have been able to do so. Grrrrrr. (Can you tell my patience had worn thin?) When I see some people working very hard to get their work done on time, and see others who have as much or more ability not make the effort it takes . . . well, that's when I wonder if exercising patience is the right approach.

Later: I realized today that I should not have lumped everyone who missed being on privilege into one group. It's failing to complete assignments that are already a month overdue that nearly push me over the edge--not failing to pass a test at the last minute.

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Last week the comp students wrote a short essay on some memorable personal experience. Some of them were stellar essays, and I wish they could be made available to a wider audience.

Come to think of it--some years ago, when Andrew was our principal, we talked about establishing a website where such things could be posted. I don't think it ever went anywhere, but maybe it's time to look at that idea again.

Does anyone have a good idea on how this should be done? Perhaps a blog devoted to this purpose? Should a teacher do the posting or should students be allowed to post on their own initiative?

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We had a hard frost last Wednesday night. The leaves on all the tomato plants are black and limp, but the stems are still healthy green, as are any tomatoes still left hanging there. We had gathered tubs of big green tomatoes, but left all the smaller ones there. I think we'll wait to see if any of them keep growing--or ripening at least--on the vine. Tomorrow the temperature is to be in the upper 80s--warm enough to perform some ripening action.

This October 19 freeze was quite close to the average first frost date, but it was hard this year to see it come because the past few weeks was the first time all summer that many of us were seeing an abundance of green beans and tomatoes. Most of the tomatoes did not have time to ripen between the temperature moderation in late August that allowed fruit set, and the end of the growing season, but green beans were bearing with gusto.

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J. Sam and Brenda are grandparents. Their son Mark and his wife Esther have a baby boy, Ian Samuel. Sam and Brenda were in our church this morning, after having come for Matt and Andrea's wedding, and Sam announced the baby's arrival in church--bowing slightly in a delightful mock acceptance of adulation when he announced the middle name--his namesake--and the baby's long-gone great great grandfather's namesake.

This baby was due a week and a half after Shane and Dorcas'. Dorcas isn't quite sure the timing is fair here.

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Hiromi went to market yesterday for the first time in quite a while. He reported that the "honey man" was back. We learned from the Hutch News why he had been missing for a while--because he was being treated for a malignancy on his one nostril. As part of the reconstructive surgery necessary, he had skin from his forehead removed and reattached alongside his nose so that it could be used to build "new" nose parts where the old ones had to be removed. He is comfortable in his own skin--to the point that he was happy to have pictures of the intermediate steps taken for the front page of the newspaper. Good for him. I wish him a full and speedy recovery.

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LaVon B. is in the hospital again, as was Sue Nisly the last I heard. I don't know details of their current condition, but both of them have had a cancer diagnosis. I'm praying for them.

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Sabrina Miller has passed the one-month mark when infection from her recent shunt repair surgery was most likely. She is making developmental progress, and is able to stand alone briefly. For a child with minimal feeling in her lower extremities (because of spina bifida) this is quite an accomplishment. She is about 15 months old.

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Last week Wes brought several stems of huge deep purplish red velvety cockscomb to school--cut the evening before the freeze. He had grown them himself--the only flowers he grows, he said, except for Calla Lilies, which he likes too.

I have a big bouquet of Amazon cockscomb on my dining room table, a tall spiky variety I grow for bouquets. All the "brain" kinds I planted this year died before they produced flowers.

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We're planning on starting our winter Bible school on Tuesday of next week. I realized today when this was announced that we might have a conflict with the planned parent-teacher conferences we always have after the end of the first quarter. I'm glad I'm not responsible for the scheduling.