Up to the Mountain

Yesterday, I went up to The Mountain; the mountain that has inspired this blog – 6,684 Feet. Mount Mitchell tops the Black Mountain range in central Western North Carolina. Sitting near the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains, the Black Mountains rise boldly from the North Carolina Piedmont with 14 peaks over 6,000 feet in elevation. And, Mitchell is the tallest at 6,684 feet.

Hands and Feet - Reflections on a Weekend of Service

I will provide for you and I'll stand by your side

You'll need a good companion now for this part of the ride

Yeah, leave behind your sorrows, let this day be the last

Well, tomorrow there'll be sunshine and all this darkness past

- Land of Hope and Dreams, Bruce Spingsteen 

On the last Wednesday of summer, our group pulls out of the parking lot of Galilee United Methodist Church in Sterling, Virginia, towing a trailer full of tools, building supplies and luggage. Our mission is to help rebuild a home that was damaged by Hurricane Sandy in October of 2012. With six able bodies on board, our destination is Bethel United Methodist Church on the southern tip of Staten Island. Bethel will be our bunk house for the next four nights.

Escape from Northern Virginia - Day 3

Just a few quick photos for today. We worked long and hard on days two and three. We finished we what came to do and a bit more. The homeowner expressed thanks for all we did and showed real appreciation for us being here. We are all tired, but feel good that we made a difference for this one family here on Staten Island.

Mike cuts a piece of casing for one of the windows.

On the Corner of Patterson Avenue – Escape from Northern Virginia, Day 2

Day two was a long one. We got started a bit after 9:00 AM but did not stop until sometime after 8:00 PM. Good progress was made. We finished casing out the windows, leveled out the living room sub-floor, installed most of the flooring in the living room, finished the doorway between the kitchen and bedroom, finished hanging the kitchen cabinets, finished the new wall area that we created when we installed the garden window in the kitchen and prepped the garden window to be cased. Plus, Bruce, our skilled carpenter, took a couple of hours to help do some tile work at another house on the island.

Escape from Northern Virgina - Day 1

Wednesday night a small team of folks from Galilee United Methodist church in Sterling Virginia piled into an SUV towing a small trailer and drove north for an early start to the final weekend of the summer. Our Labor Day destination was the New York City burough of Staten Island. Shortly before midnight, we arrived on the Southern tip of Staten Island and settled in at Bethel United Methodist Church for the night.

Counting Change

"A man can know his father, or his son, and there might still be nothing between them but loyalty and love and mutual incomprehension." - from Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

A couple of weeks ago, this 1949 quarter emerged when we converted my loose change into an Amazon gift card at our local Coinstar machine. Besides being old, this quarter is of value because it is 90% silver. Until 1974, many US coins contained some silver. Quarters stopped being made from silver in 1965. The internet tells me this quarter is worth between three and four dollars. For me, for a brief moment, it was worth a lot more.

A Curiosity That Was Once Familiar

My wife, my daughter and I wandered into the Curious Iguana as we explored downtown Frederick, MD this past Saturday afternoon. My response to being in the Curious Iguana, a small independent bookstore, took me off guard. I felt like I imagine a former smoker might feel walking into a smoke filled room, but in a good way. I was reminded of a past addiction and cherished the brief reminder of the happiness it used to bring.