A familiar site in the world news

As I was reading the news today on BBC, I came across this.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7085022.stm

We used to go sleep in houses on stilts off the shore of this volcano... it would be nice to sit on the beach and watch the beauty.  This is Anak Krakatau (the Child of Krakatau).  The beach is still covered with pumice from when Krakatau itself blew back in the 1800s.

... I went back to my Dec '04 entry and found the pictures... the houses on stilts and that's the Anak Krakatau over the waves.

I know, I know, lately it seems as though I post a couple times a year.  I just don't spend time on the computer except for work, so quarterly updates it is.  BUT the photo shop let me upload photos from film when I got them developed the other week, so  it's time for an update.

4 Consecutive Weekends of Celebrating

June 21-23  --> Houston, TX visiting the Bells

Daniel & Mustafa                                                         Miriam, Faten & Lora

Lora

So many stories... Miraim's Ethiopian friend, ghetto-fabulous motel, chicken and rice under the seat of the minivan, the best Persian kabobs, 12 McDonald's double cheeseburgers, "Lora, your milk is getting cold!", WWF Smackdown, "Sure, you can take meat on the airplane", diving for rings  ...until I get to the stories, the summary is- I was happy!

June 30 -->  Matt & Jamie's wedding!

Congratulations Mr & Mrs Leatherman!

It's really really fun when your friend marries your friend and then a whole bunch of your friends are at the wedding.

July 7 --> Nate & Laura's Wedding

Especially when it happens two weekends in a row.    

You boys crack me up

July 14 --> Eunju & Joe's Wedding

I'm very excited for you Eunju & Joe.  Joe, how do you feel about research trips in Oman & Lebanon?  Your Chinese could really come in handy.

My East Coast parents... love you, love you!

A month overdue... here are some pictures from travels to Culebra.  Needless to say, I was happy.

A little island (4x7 miles) in the Caribbean

Ruth, a friend from college and I, started out in Old San Juan where we rented a cute little orange car

drove to the rainforest

hiked and then drove to the coast.  There we lost the car and took a ferry to this spectacular little island.

I LOVE it!!!

There's the summary.  Maybe I'll get around to the stories.

2007

My head is full and slow and moving in that lumbering, yet somehow pleasing way, that full and slow things do.  It feels like ...looking out the window driving back from a roadtrip, staring at unknown fields and open expanses, in a car full of people with whom one feels known after a vacation that you could almost describe as "hearty" and the heat of the sun and the rhythm of the rows of corn whizzing by lulling your entire being.  That's kind of how my head feels right now.

The sky outside is a mix of silver and lavender and orchid as though the sun is setting somewhere and causing the whole sky to reflect it's colors.  I got up to lean into the back living room window to see what can be seen to the west amidst the skyscape of the city.  Nothing more than the same sky solid with those intriguing hues.

My grandmother, the only one who was still on this earth, and whose last birthday was narrated below, passed away Dec 22.  I was blessed to hear testimony of how her life affected others as people rose to share at her memorial.  In honor of her... Birdia Kristina Lysland Erickson... she was born Feb 15, 1912 to Norwegian immigrant parents who farmed in Ottawa, Illinois.  Her younger brothers Nelfred and Selmer passed before her.  We saw all of their graves, including her parents, Thory and Ingaborg Serena Lysland, while we stood above the fresh earth this past Thursday.  She went to school not knowing a word of English and left school before completing the 8th grade so that she could help on the farm.  She was the mother of 4 sons and a daughter and has left to us all a heritage of faith that astounds me.  When the Erickson side of the family gathers all together, we inevitably have times of worship together, my favorite being sitting around the campfire each Sat night Labor day weekend singing praises and the next morning having a family worship service singing hymns, having communion and sharing of the Lord's faithfulness over the past year.  All started with the faith of my grandma Birdia and grandpa George.  God's faithfulness, it's ... amazing.

Brownies are in the oven and soon my friends will be present and we'll be making dinner together and then catching up after a week apart.

Holly just called from her roadtrip back to Minneapolis from St. Louis.  When she passed the exit to my parents' house, she thought of me and called .  Her voice and the journeys God's taken us on stir up a calling beyond that is within me.  She and I met in Cairo, actually technically JFK airport.  I think of her laugh, of colorful scarves, of great talks on a bus in Syria and stories of her friends as we lay in bed in a hostel in Istanbul.  Since then we've both lived in Asia, and also have had blessed seasons of healing and restoration and now both stand at a place of wondering at what is coming next.  I like having shared history with others and I also like the sense of stability and hope just the sound of one's voice can bring.

Faithfulness.  Faith.  Love.  Brevity.
The lumbering, lulling continue