A Whole Street of Houses, Stirred With A Spoon

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“ And by this time they were come up to the great iron gates in front of the house; and Tom stared through them at the rhododendrons and azaleas, which were all in flower; and then at the house itself, and wondered how many chimneys there were in it, and how long ago it was built, and what was the man’s name that built it, and whether he got much money for his job? These last were very difficult questions to answer. For Harthover had been built at ninety different times, and in nineteen different styles, and looked as if somebody had built a whole street of houses of every imaginable shape, and then stirred them together with a spoon.” —The Water-Babies, by Charles Kingsley. Ch.1 (1863)

gettin' ready

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as I have been preparing for my bible study on Rev. 2:8-11, God has given me this to think about:

* my oldest daughter was splashed in the eye with a corrosive chemical last week (she's fine now). She saw the same doctor my youngest son did when he got stuck in the eye with an arrow two years ago.

* two days ago my oldest son got his eye smashed with a ball and his eye was bleeding. He saw the same doctor.

* the people we have been buying our house and land from decided that we have until the end of July to close the deal move out (they are ditching our 6 year agreement). I will be in Africa at the end of July, which follows June, my most busy time of the year with 86 students coming for two weeks of intensive courses.

* my 60 year-old dad got a broken collarbone and a totaled Harley in a motorcycle accident while riding California to Washington D.C. for a Memorial Day celebration. Apparently this truck the convoy was following on the highway slammed on his brakes and dad hit the back of the truck--and the bikes following him dominoed into the pile. This was his last year as a team-leader. Fortunately, the accident happened while in his home state and he is going home.

* my sister is moving to San Diego from Denver (she is getting to the east coast the long way).

* I put ten dollars of gas in my van, which is supposed to last to the end of the month. At $1.86 per gallon you don't get too far down the road . . .

* I gotta hot water leak under my kitchen sink I can't get stopped.

* I am almost finished reading John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath."

* Today's my birthday.

* * * * * * * *

Le's turn in our song-books to sing that front-porch ballad we all remember so well . . .
"Gloom, dispair, agony on me.
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery.
If it wern't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.
Gloom, dispair and agony on me."

(there is actually some levity in the fore-mentioned ballad, but you may have to be over 30 to get it . . .)

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