Blog Archives - The Land of the Weird

The Land of the Weird

The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

7/17/2016

Today's readings all deal with the importance of hospitality. They talk about the importance of being open and welcoming. Yet they also go beyond just being welcoming to our fellow human beings. They also talk about how we should pray.

Abraham's prayer is unspoken, but he prays it through his service. He doesn't just welcome the visitors that come to his camp; he gives them the best that he can offer. In return, he is rewarded with the promise of a son, a treasure beyond any means that he had to provide.

People looking at today's Gospel can easily dismiss Martha as being too involved in worldly affairs as she complains to Jesus about the lack of help that her sister is giving her, but (as our newly ordained priest pointed out) her conversation with Jesus also shows us about the nature of prayer. First, she is open and honest with Jesus. She speaks with Him frankly about her concern and does not hold back. Secondly, she clearly believes that He has the power to help her. And last, it shows that Jesus does not always answer the way that we might want or expect.

I've read a lot of posts these last few years about the futility of prayer. I beg to disagree with all of them. Prayer connects us to our world through God. If done correctly (openly, with belief, and the resolve to act), prayer grants us treasures that are beyond our own means to provide. We may not get the answer that we want, but God will provide the answer that we need.

Undertale [spoilers]

7/16/2016

I just finished the true pacifist ending of the video game Undertale. Alex loves the game and heavily encouraged me to play it. While its story is deceptively complex and amazing well thought-out, it was a little too goofy (and yet tragically serious) for my taste. That said, the game rewards you for trying to find a peaceful (if goofy) resolution to every encounter and is almost psychologically abusive if you make violent choices. I would applaud this more if it didn't seem to require that you do a violent playthrough (called a genocide run) in order to get the story. Thankfully, Alex suffered the genocide run abuse for me and was able to explain the details that I missed.

I would recommend this game to fans of old-school RPGs as it uses many of those concepts and gives them interesting twists. That said, it's not for the faint of heart. Some of the encounters are tremendously difficult, especially when trying to avoid violent actions. Still, I'm glad I played it. The music, alone, was worth my time.

Blue Shells

7/15/2016

More than any other item in the Mario Kart games, blue shells feel the most unfair. No matter how well you're racing, how perfectly you take every corner, these homing missiles lock on to you and take you out. Only in the most recent game has there been any defence (the boom box), and it's the luck of the draw if you get one at a point that it'll be useful.

As unfair as blue shells are, they serve as a metaphor for some of the more extraordinary events that cripple us in life. No matter how healthy we are or cautiously we live, these events can blindside us and send us reeling. The lesson to be learned is that yelling and cursing (as good as it can feel) don't get us back in the game. Instead, it's our resolve that puts us back on the road and into the race.

May I remember this in my life. Instead of screaming at these unexpected events, I need to brush myself off and make the best with what I have.

I'll still plan on yelling when I get hit by one of those blue shells though ...

Boxes

7/14/2016

With Mera's (my Prius) side of the garage and Trevor's "LEGO room" lined with boxes, it has been my goal to empty or clear at least one box (hopefully more) every day. The difficult part is finding places to put some of the items we brought back with us. In many cases, that simply means better organization on our part. In others, well, let's just say that we could use a few more shelves.

That said, we've already made some good progress, at least on the organizational side of things. We are getting a better sense of where things work (and where they don't) in our new home. My primary goal is to make certain that we don't have unopened boxes still lying about the place by the time school comes around. That might be a lofty goal (especially considering the boxes that were left unopened for years after our last move), but sometimes it takes grander goals to get me moving in the right direction.

Still Dragging

7/13/2016

I just don't feel like I've been able to get my feet back under me since I returned home this past Sunday.

This is partly because I'm still tired. For one reason or another, I just haven't caught up on sleep yet. For various reasons, I've been getting up earlier than I'd like, going to bed later than I should, and waking up in between. I've been sleeping better now that I'm in my bed (as opposed to the lack of quality sleep I was getting in hotels), but I think that I'm just trying to make up too much of a sleep deficit which started with losing an entire night of sleep due to my plane trip.

It's also partially because I haven't stepped back into a routine. For example, today had me taking a larger than normal load to the dump, doing some shopping, reattaching the covers for the water line to the fridge, assembling shelves, making the beds in the cabin, grilling sausages, and taking the puppies to the vet. I have yet to get back into an exercise schedule and probably won't until next week with how everything has gone so far.

There's still a lot of unpacking that we have to do, but I've been trying to whittle away at that too. Meanwhile, I also need to get into some pattern for getting these two online classes done.

... ugh, I'm making myself tired again.

Puppies

7/12/2016

On my return from Michigan, I discovered that our new puppies had nearly doubled in size. They have learned a greater control over their ears, allowing them to perk and lay back in adorable ways. They have also become much more adventurous (although the ocean still gave River quite a scare today, and neither of them liked riding in the van at first).

I will be quite grateful when we finally get them house trained. We are making progress, but it's slow going. Until we finally get them there, they are quite limited in where they can be in the house (generally, just the kitchen/dining room area).

Thankfully, they've been great around people. They are extremely friendly and love playing with and being petted by children in particular. It's hilarious to watch them play with Rowen as he rolls around on the floor as the puppies use him as a mobile jungle gym.

I'm glad that we found these puppies. I look forward to the years ahead as they are part of our family.

Travel Lag

7/11/2016

I'm still recovering from the cross-continent travel that I have done these past couple of weeks. I did very well staying awake and alert all through the six days of driving, but I'm certainly paying some kind of toll today. I just don't have much in the way of energy. It's as though my body has said, "I kept going through the trip, so now it's time to take a break."

I think my body is right.

Home [post-dated for July 10]

7/11/2016

We are safely home. The truck is unpacked. I am tired. Goodnight.

OH! Canada! (Beaver Creek) [post-dated for July 9]

7/11/2016

We are only a short distance from the border. Most of tomorrow's drive will be in Alaska as we make our way home. We stayed in an interesting hotel yesterday that I would recommend, but I should have taken my pillow in with me. As was, I didn't sleep well.

The drive had some great scenery that I remembered from last year. We also saw another young bear today. The only rough part was the road on the last half of today's drive. Pavement on permafrost equals wavy roads.

Our Internet tonight is both spotty and limited, so I plan to turn in early again.

One day more ...

Oh! Canada! (Watson Lake, Yukon) [post dated for July 8]

7/11/2016

Our day started rainy and full of fog making the first part of our journey go slower than I had originally thought. Thankfully, since today's journey was shorter than the previous two days, I slept in a bit longer and was better rested for it. We also started with a nice complementary breakfast which fueled me pretty well through the first half of the day too.

British Columbia is beautiful. While Alex and I couldn't see much of it for the first half, the second half made up for the initial lack. I saw a black bear and her two cubs. Later, we saw another young bear, a herd of bison (and several stragglers), and even a young moose.

We even managed to get to Watson Lake before 8 pm, which is when all (or most) of the restaurants are closed.

Despite sleeping in and the shorter drive, I'm still quite tired.

Two more days.

Oh ... still Canada (Fort Saint John) [post-dated for July 7]

7/11/2016

Today was a really long and flat drive which means that we started early and got in late. We passed through several rain storms of varying degrees of intensity. Edmonton, with its construction and seeming need for traffic lights every few feet, was the definitive low point of the trip. British Columbia, however, stole the show for scenery.

I am also learning that a 26 foot truck doesn't fit in many parking lots. This revelation has led to some creative parking as well as complete avoidance of some establishments that simply aren't practical to get to.

Three days to go.

Oh, Canada (Regina, SK) [post-dated for July 6]

7/11/2016

We left early this morning for what I thought was going to be our longest drive of the week only to find out this evening that tomorrow takes that honor. The drive itself was largely uneventful ... just long. We passed through a couple of storms and thankfully got to the hotel just after the downpour. We have another very early morning tomorrow and the Internet is a little spotty, so I'm going to keep this short.

I will say that Alex having the podcast "Hello from the Magic Tavern" to listen to certainly makes the trip go by faster. The podcast is NOT family friendly, but crudely enjoyable.

Four more days.

In Minnesota [post-dated for July 5]

7/11/2016

We are one day closer to Alaska. We arrived in Kasota ahead of the storm and are now comfortably visiting with family at the lake cottage (although we are unfortunately without power). Tomorrow we go international.

Packed

7/4/2016

We had plenty of space in the U Haul. Hopefully everything is secured enough so that we don't have too much settling during the next six days.

We were done soon enough that I was able to spend some time just hanging out with family today. I certainly prefer that to that late night rush that I had considered as a possibility.

Tomorrow we begin our journey back to Alaska. May awakeness be my friend.