Never ending quest

The quest I am writing about is attempting to catch up the blog with where life is at present. Some of me wants to not chronicle the past few weeks, but then i can't just not be a historian and skip vital pieces of our puzzle. So alas i once again delve into our recent past, this time moving to December 12 and 13th, these were dates that had been circled quite some time ago on our diaries. This is all due to the pantomime that Rebecca and I were going to be acting in. For those of you who don't know (most Americans) a panto is a comedy/slapstick in a way, usually a well known story like Cinderella or Peter Pan redone with some of the same story lines and characters but much literary freedom used as well. Ann Davis, a very talented dramatist and writer in our church has headed up a team that puts together a panto for the community every other year, this was the 4th one the TOPS group has done. She wrote the script in a two stint around September or something, and then pulls together all the numerous rehearsals, copies, amazing costuming and set design in a quite short period of time.

We were approached if we wanted to join in the buffoonery soon after arriving in Overton, and like all rookies we were eager to be involved with everything. So we agreed, and she wrote us into the story of Alas in Wonderland as American servants who were there to help with the Wonderland Winter Show. Of course there is much confusion between our English and their English, this leads to two scenes of mismatched statements, some roars by the audience as they lost themselves in laughter, and some puzzled looks on ours, the Dames and the Duchess's face. This production did not seem like a little slapped together village play, it was much more than that, in fact it included some 20+ people working together to pull it off, with 3 performances over the two days with 70+ people attending each show. Talk about a group of people coming together to do something for the community! It was a great way to get to know Pam, Richard, Ann, Pete, Mike, Fiona etc... better as we worked together weekly and talked backstage as well. There is such excitement and energy that springs forth as we work together, and this was another example of community coming back together. The TOPS group has headed up other ways to bless the community around us, this is fab being the hands and feet of Christ here on earth.

You will see some interesting pics of the pantomime, Rebecca and I are wearing maybe the least interesting costumes of black tops and black trousers, with black shoes. some of the others were much more festive (the Dame) explanatory of the their character (the cards, king and queen) or just plain silly (mad hatter, and hare). If you know the story of Alice in Wonderland you might understand some of the characters, but don't worry it didn't follow that story very closely. For those of you who saw it you can attest to that. We're very eager to be involved with other productions, I think that there may be something coming up in the spring, not sure but if it is happening I'll bet we'll back on stage!
e

The Garden Video

The rest of our time

We didn't venture too far in the waning days of Karisa's visit, in fact the furthest we drove to was Oxford on the Saturday. We always enjoy heading back up to Oxford, although I don't miss the gnarled traffic in that compact city. We hung out with Stef at the Fishes, it was great to catch up with her, find out about her travels to England, and hear what God was up to in her life. KBC is a wonderful place to be yourself, and to learn more of who you are. After dropping her off at home, we drove back into the city centre to be-bop around and visit some old haunts. Actually we struggled to find a parking spot, and after getting routed the wrong way into an already full parking lot, i declared something to the effect of "how does one drive in this city" to be honest it was probably much more dramatical (word?) than that but that's what I can muster up at this point. Anyway we eventually made our way to the Eastgate parking lot, which was also full up, except for the front row, bottom level handicapped spots that the attendant instructed us to use, so we did and off we were to the dodge the innumerable crowds of Cornmarket St and so-on. One old haunt we visited was the Noodle Bar, when in Oxford do check it out reasonable cost and enough quantity. Then the next haunt was the covered market, again a great spot to wander into if you're in the city, we looked at a bunch of places, but ultimately bought next to nothing. After strolling around we made it back to the car-park payment machines, where for the third time in the last month we paid for our parking within 5 minutes of when the cost would go to the next hour, it is the small things in life that sometimes grasp your attention. We ended at Dave and Velma's house for coffee and watched an episode of Corner Gas which is a great Canadian show about not too much, but certainly kept mine and Dave's attention. They are wonderful hosts, we do enjoy hanging out at their place, and our time with them Rachel and Karisa was really nice. I did forget to mention that McDonald's in Botley served up a rockin mint McFlurry that Karisa and I each enjoyed one. just thought you might like to know, happy Christmas all, and to all a good day
e

A Home and Garden Tour

While Karisa was here we made a couple of videos of the house and garden for you to enjoy! RR

A bit more of our time

The pics are me putting up a bauble, Tiffany our friend with Karisa and Rebecca in a frosty air, the Christmas tree in Overton (hopefully they don't break the bank with the electric bill) and the carolers on the 27th of November. Enjoy reading now!


In my never ending quest to chronicle our time with lovely Karisa I will delve into the next few days, as unfortunately for the reading public we did not make any more in roads to mainland Europe, but we did go to a movie and out to eat at Pizza Express. After returning late on Wednesday night Rebecca and i were up and it into the Kings School for our Thursday morning teaching sessions. We both have three small reading groups we are responsible for, it's sort of way to scratch the teaching itch. Shocker that Karisa didn't want to join us for that time, getting up early, going in to town to watch us sort of teach, when she could have a lie-in (spelling?) and then enjoy her morning peacefully. Anyway she chose the latter, as would most breathing humans. That night we did take her along to the Alpha meeting, it was our next to last one, this one about What is the Church? That is a compelling question and one that cannot easily be answered, even after reading Ephesians and Colossians you'll still have questions. We did make some head-way that night and all are excited about another group forming after this Alpha is completed.
Friday brought about some even colder temperatures, my it was chilly whilst she was here, not so much now in fact it has been down-right balmy while Indiana is suffering through below 0 temperatures. After a delightful English lunch at Jeff and Rosie's that night we were present at the Overton Carol Singing and Turning the Lights on in the Square Extravaganza. I say extravaganza because with the turnout of people you would have thought that a Formula 1 driver was there or maybe even Santa, or maybe even both. That's right former Formuala 1 driver Jody Schecter who lives in Overton was there to ceremoniously turn on the lights, not that are that many on that poor meager tree, but he pressed the button on the count of three and roar could be heard for about a second, and maybe up to the Co-op on Winchester St. Then just after our 50 person, arctic air daring choir rung up another rendition of Silent Night the horns started hooting on the fire engine as jolly Old St. Nick appeared, it would have been even more cool if Dasher, and Dancer and Vixen etc... had led the way but it was the Overton Fire Squad doing the duties. Realizing we were freezing we all made our way back to 47 to attempt to start a fire which didn't light and then everyone turned in early on that cold frosty night.

On to Flanders

The ride across the English Channel is not exactly difficult, in fact we didn't even show i.d. or a passport in order to get on the ferry. After arriving in Calais we simply drove off the ship onto the highway and off we went, again no proof of who we were or where we were from, getting around in the EU is not that painstaking of a process. Our first stop of the day in France/Belgium was to find a little French village and walk around, get a bite to eat and see what we could find. We drove to Montreuil which is one of many of the same name, this one happened to be a walled town, that felt like stepping back into time or into a storybook, actually most places I’ve been in Europe feel that way. We strolled around, ducked in and out of shops, mostly out cuz everything seems to be closed, maybe since it was Wednesday, dunno really. I saw a small opening in between buildings that I darted into, this led to the outer wall of the city, where we walked along the wall, talked or tried to talk to some French tourists, took some pics and then we found a small café for a meal. We had already determined that we’d like to go to Belgium next, of course it’s not like it was right in the next town, in fact to get our destination we would be driving another couple of hours, but hey why not how often are you trolling around a new continent, so off we went.

The drive through Flanders was very pretty, and we when we crossed into Belgium there was just a small sign no passport stamp or check or anything, it feels like the States really, just going from one country to another. We did the TomTom working properly which proved to be a God send as we approached Brugge or Bruges depending how you want to write it. Brugge as I’ll call it is the “Venice of the North” as the old town was built using many canals. I didn’t realize how famous Brugge was until I read up a bit and found out it was one of very few Belgian/Northern French cities that wasn’t destroyed or partially destroyed by WW’s. The city centre of Brugge is like walking back in time, cobblestone streets, small gabled buildings, some baroque looking buildings, massively tall towers, and of course the canals running here and there. People were running here and there as well since it was Christmas season, unfortunately the Christmas markets were not up and running yet, they were being set up, including the outdoor skating rinks in the square. Brugge has amazing squares as do most European cities, except for here it seemed like we walked through 3 of them in about 10 minutes. Brugge is famous for many things including lace, beer and Belgian chocolate, and there are loads of chocolate shops, but no free samples that I saw.

To say that we did Brugge in about 2 hours is a joke, but we did get a feel for the city, albeit a small feel. Of course it gets dark very early around these parts and in the back of my mind was the ferry, it was going to sail and we needed to be on it. I thought that if we left Brugge at 5:15 it would give us just enough time to get to Calais find the ferry, make one stop if we needed to and then we’d be off. We left at 5:20 found the ferry, showed our ticket and literally drove onto the vessel. To say the least I was bushed, I had driven all over the south of England on Tuesday, and then around Northern France and Belgium on Wednesday, all this for a guy who doesn’t really like to drive. Rebecca took the wheel after we were back in Dover and she drove the couple hours to Overton where we fell into bed.

Calais, France from the ferry


A street in Montreiul


Looking out over the wall in Montreiul


One of the canals of Brugge



A street in city centre of Brugge, Belgium

Life in backwards and forwards

There is a song by David called Life in Slow Motion, I don't feel that's us at the moment, for that matter that is ever has been. We don't live life in slow motion, I think that our pace is designed just for us, but I often find myself looking backwards and forwards, while looking at the present as well. I've had the thought that it would be helpful if we humans had 3 eyes, one to look at our past, one to look at our present and one to look at our future, but we only have two so you can't look at all, all at the same time. Enough waffling as they say here and on with the show of looking back. When last I blogged I left off with our upcoming venture to the south coast and across the English Channel, so that is where we will transport ourselves now.
Early on the Tuesday we arose, packed our small amount of stuff for the overnight stay and we're off to the south coast of England, where the channel waters coolly (I guess that's a word?) brush up against the white cliffs and the rocky beaches. We surfaced in Seaford a quaint little seaside village that is probably quite bustling during the warm time of the summer, but not exactly on a freezing cold November morning, but that is joy of the open space as we had the ocean to ourselves basically. It was beautiful to look out at the horizon and see numerous ships and other sea going vessels all making their way through this historically and economically important shaft of water that separates the UK from the rest of Europe. After being blown around and chilled to the core we snuggled back into the Rover for a wonderful jaunt down the a seaside road that eventually spilled us into the larger towns of Eastbourne and Hastings. Both of these towns were quite ravaged during repeated WW attacks so they are quite old but look relatively modern. Many towns and cities especially in the south are the same situation as the bombing attacks took their tole on the country. Btw we did find an old and I mean old castle, fortification near the coast it was originally built near 1000, so ya that was cool.
We found a diner kind of place for fish n chips in Hastings, this is a town that used to be hot stuff for visitors but I think it's time is past, it seems over touristized (word?) but anyway we did eat there. After that I decided to make a run for a castle that i knew was in the forest area north of town, I was not able to figure out the TomTom (GPS) well so I winged it and followed my insticts. I knew the castle was near Bodiam so I drove north on a small road which eventually led to a very small farm like single lane road. This led to a sign with 2 villages one way, 2 villages another way but no Bodiam. At that point Karisa piped up with the comment that a wooden signpost had broken and where that signpost would have been would have said Bodiam. So we quickly and quite adrenaline rushed zipped down the hill, where and I quote said "I'll bet there will be a castle once we round this corner" of course there it was as we rounded the corner. it was movie like, I'm sure this castle has been the set for many a film in it's long existence. From there we drove on attempting to find our friends Tim and Vanessa's house near Dover. You probably have heard of Dover because of it's white cliffs, it is known also as a seaport city. We actually almost drove into the port by accident, luckily we went around a roundabout and back out of town to where we eventually found Tim's place, he lives only one block from the seaside, not bad digs eh? To be honest I starting to run out of gas and I haven't even gotten to the mainland part of our trip, but do enjoy the pics from this portion of the trip.


Wall of Pevensey Castle




Bodiam Castle at twilight



Our cast of three with the castle in the back


check out that moat, can't get across that

also check out the video we shot whilst at the castle

sitting by the fire, a bit of a catch-up

Well here I am, with a promised blog entry, it's one of those precious nights where you sit in your house, in this case with a fire going to my right, and Christmas decorations all around. I do miss putting up my Christmas village, but now I live in one instead of creating one on the table. There has been so much going on lately, let me give you a whistlestop tour of our last couple of weeks:

Went to Salt and Light prayer days up in Derby back in middle November was great to see friends, and to pray with a vast number of different people. There are many church planting initiatives being planned, and other projects that are starting all across the UK, very exciting times. Our church body is in process embarking on the start up of a youth drop in centre right here in the centre of our village of Overton, this is very exciting, and it is picking up steam during this Christmas season.

After returning from Derby where we stayed with Jazzy, we drove to Heathrow the next day to pick up Karisa. If you are ever flying into London, try to make it terminal 5 it is the best airport I've ever stepped foot in. The upgrade it is over the other terminals in Heathrow is breathtaking as is the terminal itself. Anyway after a short 45 minute drive to the airport we were back home enjoying the cottage and chatting with Karisa. She worked on Rebecca's hair for quite some time while I caught up from the previous days of being gone, and then we got on with Alpha that evening. Alpha has been really good, a great time for it, we have been in the right place for it as well.

The weekend hit soon enough and the three of us went for a walk at Watership Down, a gorgeous valley like area not too far from our house. We jaunted for some 3 hours and then finally made it back to the car, let's just say we were cold, tired and ready to sit down, oh the lovely English weather, actually the weather that day wasn't bad, but quite windy up on top of the hill before desecending down into the valley, of course then you have to traverse back up the hill to get to the car so ya. Hung out at night with friends from the village, a chilled out time, it's good to have friends close by we can walk to their new pad in about 2 minutes or so.

On Sunday our church meeting was one of Thanksgiving, it was a great time, so many people shared. Karisa joined our worship team for the morning, that was like old times with us two belting out the tunes. God is doing a great deal in the life of our body here, and so many were involved with sharing it was encouraging. just back from nursing the fire a bit, have we mentioned that we really enjoy having it, last night we argued over who would jostle the wood around to get the biggest flame, oh the joys of our life here. Anyway the body is moving forward, God is taking us into a new season that is clear from what visiting speakers have been saying and there is momentum.

Monday we were around, but nothing amazing to share out of that day, but then Tuesday and Wednesday hit, but I'll put out a post just for that, but probably later tonight or maybe tomorrow.
e

fallen behind

This blog has fallen behind, actually it is more the bloggers than the blog itself but anyhow. I have another night planned tomorrow to be on my own, with the computer, fire, and Christmas decorations, so I hope to catch up on a bunch of writing. I'd like to say that I was able to keep up with our time whilst Karisa was here, but as you can see no updates during that stretch except for a few pics. We'll add more as we had some wonderful short trips, England is very conducive to short city breaks and seeing vast differences of buildings and sites. So ya that's the plan for tomorrow evening, emails, facebooking and blogging, should be a great evening, hoping that I can get the fire going well. later
earl

Part 1 of our European Adventures

Freezing our tails off on the beach!
The White Cliffs
Earl climbs a mountain?
Looking beautiful by the sea!
A CD cover? What do you think?
All of us on the beach in Seaford, along the very cold English coast!

my night

Life is always interesting, that much we know. For me tonight is a bit different, as we looked back at our diary we realized that tonight is the first night I'm home by myself since we moved to England for a second time. Don't be sorry it's not that we are overworked or out every night, it's more that we are often home together in the evenings or we are with people. I had thought about trying to set something up for tonight, catch a friend, go out for a drink etc... then i thought about the idea of having no plan, nothing I really had to do (I do have to write a short magazine article) I could turn the music up loud, play some music, read a book, surf the net etc... So ya that's the plan tonight to not have one, I'm glad these nights don't come all that often cuz that would get old, but for a once in a while deal, I'll take that.
e

Sideways Down - a local Overton band

Bob

You never quite know they way life is going to go. We have our plans for days and even weeks ahead of time but yet you really never know what life may throw at you. Since moving to the village of Overton we have had the privilege of meeting all kinds of people. One of the first people we met was Tiffany, an American from Virginia who married a British man named Simon. We have very much enjoyed our friendship with this couple. It is great to have an American right here in the village to relate to. Simon and Tiffany have introduced us to numerous people at the pub and one of those amazing people is a man named Bob. You can see Bob in the picture above playing his bass. Simon is the drummer in the group Sideways Down and they performed at the Greyhound pub Saturday night. Now you may wonder where I am going with all of this but you see Bob died suddenly Monday morning. No one expected it, it came as an incredible shock. I really only knew Bob a bit, I think I counted that I had had 3 conversations with him. Yet it's amazing that I am still impacted. In the small interaction I had I knew he was a man who loved people and made those comfortable around him. Many are saddened in the village about his death and it is never an easy thing to cope with. One thing has struck me in a profound way: Ever conversation and interaction we have is important. We don't know the impact it will have on someone and we cannot guarantee what is going to happen next. So my prayer is that God will use me in everything I do for His glory! Rebecca

waiting for a shower

I'm not waiting to take a shower, I'm not waiting for a rain shower in this country you usually don't have to wait long:) No I'm waiting on the Triton shower unit that I bought yesterday, but Screw-Fix hasn't delivered yet, supposed I'm getting screwed:( Anyway our shower is a poor man's hose with little water pressure and an amazingly quick temperature variance, which somehow is almost always a drop in temperature. If you do get it run with the force, that of an almost dried up waterfall that limps over the top it then goes and cuts out and your left soapy, shampoo dripping in your eyes, not to mention freezing cold as well. So then you press the button for it run again, it goes through it's annoying little cycle of very cold then a bit more water but luke warm at best, then about 10 seconds later you think you've fooled the little cubed machine, as the water turns pleasantly warm, your mind goes to thinking about the days activities, what you might wear etc... until the low pressure light beams and the water turns cold, and eventually stops, once again leaving you soapy, shampoo etc... I think you get the point. So you can see why we're buying a new shower unit, unfortunately I don' t have the foggiest as to how to install it, my friend Merv is an amazing plumber who leaves for Bournemouth in about an hour, this leaves me with a cushion of a half hour at the most for the shower unit to be delivered. It's not huge, in fact it is a little plastic box type thing that sits on the wall, but evidently it is tricky to hook up, doesn't sound like a treat to me.

so while waiting I'm thinking about waiting, it is almost never a fun time but it is almost always a time that we go through, or need to go through. You know what it's like when you've really wanted something, like for me to watch a college football game, the anticipation of the telecast coming on is excruciating, but usually it is well worth the wait. My mom often says that she enjoys the time before a vacation more than the vacation (I don't know what that says about Rebecca and I) but she really likes the anticipation of the event. I think that we learn while waiting, realizing that we can't have it all, and amazingly the world does not revolve around us, there are others out there who are waiting as well. Sometimes waiting is the best option, sometimes it is the only option, I thought I just heard the delivery truck, my heart raced, I raced to the door to notice that it's not there, I guess I'll go back to waiting, and hopefully take a shower later.

About 3 minutes after finishing my blog Rebecca called and what does she utter into the phone and I quote "I'm waiting, waiting for the bus" See I had to race home from the town centre, so I could do this shower thing and she then had to catch a bus. She waited, # 5, # 8, the South Ham bus, they all came by but not # 86. Anyway we talked about waiting for a while, as she was simply standing there looking anxiously up Sarum Hill for a bus that wasn't coming any time soon. btw it is now outside of my potential shower hook up window, Screw Fix hasn't shown up, I'm still downstairs staring out the front window, Rebecca is on her way to Overton, Merv has probably left for Bournemouth, but just a bit of solace in that it has rained since i wrote that opening sentence.
er

Being an American

I don't think anyone realizes how they live and what is important to them until they move to a new culture. When I am home in Indiana I never think about how I do things or why I do things, it is just the way it is, no reason to question. Living in a village in England brings all of those things to light. I can honestly say without exaggeration that every day I talk with someone about something that is different about my culture and the British culture. The common phrase used is 2 nations separated by a common language, wow is it ever true! It is fascinating in lots of ways and frustrating in others. Tuesday night, November 4th Earl and I traveled to Chineham, a village about 20 minutes away to our good friend Hazel's house for dinner, playing the game Settler's, and staying up late to watch the election. It was a great evening! Watching the election from the BBC's point of view was so interesting. When you see your own country through other's eyes you realize things you never did before! For example when the British announcer tried to use the American slang, "shooting hoops" it was so humorous to hear it in a posh British accent! We stayed up until 4 a.m. watching until Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. It was definitely worth watching no matter who you wanted the winner to be in the end. Hazel stayed up with us the entire time watching and enjoying the experience with us. I must say that blessed me immensely to have someone care along with me about something that is so important to us! I am proud to be an American but also delighted to be living in England, what an incredible experience!