Weekend Update

It's been a fine summer weekend--good food, good friends, (pretty) good weather, and some unique experiences.
Friday night wasn't unique. Evelyn and I mowed grass; she did more than half before I got here after 5:45. I finished the yard and then edged and blew grass off the sidewalks. After a quick shower (it's hot these days, and so humid), we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Raja India, for supper, before stopping at the grocery to pick up a couple of things on our way back home. We relaxed with Cold Justice and the evening news before heading to bed.
Saturday I was up early. The morning was pleasant, although humid, and I sat on the deck and read this week's chapter from The Story with my first cup of coffee. The rest of the morning was breakfast, our walk through the Park (I walk two miles; Evelyn walks three), Saturday Wall Street Journal, and a couple of hours of this-and-that in the yard. It's satisfying to have the time to tend to little details: chopping some branches off bushes and trees, watering and feeding the plants in pots, killing weeds, checking the gutters, doing a little grass trimming.
After lunch we went to Dave and Mary Lautzenheiser's for Dave's 60th birthday party. Mary had prepared a wonderful spread of food, and we really enjoyed visiting with friends from church as well as Dave and Mary. It rained some on our way to their house, but it cleared up in plenty of time for us to tour the beautiful flower beds he's planted all around his house. Dave, the master gardener, is an inspiration.
I came home and did some work for Christian Standard for a little while and then went to the grocery store. Evelyn and I had eaten so much at Lautzenheisers that we didn't really need supper. So Evelyn popped a huge bowl of popcorn that we enjoyed while we watched an old movie that I had picked up at Redbox while I was at the grocery store. The Sum of All Fears, starring Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman, had a plot with a few lapses in logic, but it was well-acted and engaging. I'm glad we saw it.
Sunday we were up early and on our walk before we got ready for church. (Believe it or not, we weren't the only ones out walking at 6:45 in the morning!)

Today was the first Sunday in the New Testament portion of The Story, and the church had planned "Christmas in June" to mark our study of the birth of Jesus. It was a creative service, full of blessings, especially the excellent sermon by Brad Wilson. The biggest takeaway for me: Think of all the incidents of obedience that made the Christmas story happen: Mary and Joseph, of course, in a succession of good decisions; but also the shepherds and the Magi.
We met Terry and Shirley Wuske at first service and adjourned to the Frisch's in Liberty Township where we left the Wuskes' car and embarked on Ponderama, an annual tour of homes that have installed inspiring water features created by one firm here in greater Cincinnati. We went to three homes, and the first two were truly magnificent.
The home on Crest Road in Colerain Township sits adjacent to two home lots the homeowners purchased and turned into a park of flower beds and water features plus a gazebo. I've really never seen anything quite like it in a private home.
The pictures below were taken in only one section of their landscaped back and side yards, and they only begin to convey what this place was like.

Evelyn really liked these bushes with the
feathery leaves (at the 2nd home we
visited), but the homeowner didn't know
their name.

Then we drove back to Liberty Township and visited two homes off of Kyles Station Road. The first is down a long, private lane in a secluded setting that is truly remarkable.
We decided the best way to end our "tour" was with a stop at The Cone. We sat and visited before taking the Wuskes back to their car before 2:00.
I did some emailing and other work for Christian Standard when we got home. We ran out for supper to El Rancho Grande (love those Val-Pak coupons) and stopped into Krogers to return the Redbox movie and pick up a couple items still needed after yesterday's grocery run.

Summer Shower

One thing we enjoyed about the house where we used to live was the front porch stretching across the front of it. Sometimes we  ate a light supper or drank a cup of coffee there, and we'd often adjourn from the dinner table to sit there with company on a summer evening. Jennifer spent hours there reading. And all of us loved to sit under its roof and experience the coming of a summer storm--the smell of the rain, the gusty breeze, and finally the summer shower.
Our tiny little porch now has no room to sit. And you'd most often need to stay pressed against the front door to avoid the rain in a storm. But once in awhile, even though Evelyn usually laughs at me, I'll stand or sit in the garage with the door open and watch the coming of a storm.

I did that tonight after racing through a few errands in the yard in anticipation of the storm. I got inside just in time to see the wind beating up the plants on my deck and turning all the leaves of the trees straight up so you could see the paler green on their underside.

 I stood in the garage, admiring the gray and white clouds, enjoying the breeze, listening to prolonged, rolling rumbles of thunder from the distance, and waiting for the rain. When the shower finally did come, it really wasn't that fierce. I'm thinking some nearby neighborhoods may have received more of a downpour. But we're supposed to get more overnight or in the morning. It will be enough to water all the plants, saving me from hauling sprinkling cans today (and maybe tomorrow).

Evelyn tried a new recipe: shrimp with pineapple, sweet peppers, and onion. She had the marinated
ingredients arranged on the skewers when I got home from work, and I grilled them quickly for a tasty summertime supper.

Vacation Diary, Part Two

Monday, June 16
We left the 9/11 Memorial and Museum after noon, and we were hungry. We stopped at the first deli we saw and decided to go upstairs, be seated, and order pizza, instead of ordering sandwiches from the counter downstairs. The World Cup was playing on the big screens, and the place was busy. And the service was slow. The pizza was wonderful, but we were there at least an hour. By the time we found our way back to the subway, got back to Grand Central Station, and walked back to the hotel, it was well after 2:00. And then we had to wait for the car to be delivered. Bottom line, we weren't out of the city till after 3:00, later than I wanted to leave.
But we got through the Lincoln Tunnel fast, and the traffic on the Turnpike kept moving. We checked into our Residence Inn in Horsham and got to Jen's after 5:30, in plenty of time for a wonderful evening.
Matt grilled some of the best Italian sausages and barbecue chicken thighs we've ever eaten. And Jen had brought in every salad sold at the Giant supermarket deli. It was a wonderful supper. We took a walk through the neighborhood to use up a few calories. (All 8 of us, four Johnsons plus Evelyn and me and the Cartwrights.) And then we adjourned to Dairy Delite to enjoy a true delight native to the area, water ice. We ate our ice cream, lucky to snag a table when the place was crowded with other delight-seekers. It was a great way to end the day.

Tuesday, June 17
We slept in a little and relaxed in the morning and got to Jen's around 11:30. We went to lunch with Jen and Miles at a quaint little coffee shop/cafe nearby and then drove into the city to the historical district. We didn't have a lot of time; the museums all closed at 5:00. But we were able to see an introductory film, the Liberty Bell, Congress Hall, and Independence Hall. (All the free tickets for the latter were already gone when Jen had called several days earlier, but the ranger let us sneak in with a huge tour group of high school kids, and we were really glad we got to see it.)
We had good tour guides at Congress Hall and Independence Hall, and we enjoyed lolly-gagging through the adjacent Washington Park, under the giant shade trees, beside a sparkling fountain, and surrounded by colorful landscaping.

The senate chamber inside Independence Hall

We walked down to Penn Landing and looked across the Delaware River at Camden, New Jersey. Matt and Miles met us and led us to Sonny's, one of their favorite spots for the famous Philly cheesesteaks. Wow, what a good choice. They were really good--and larger than some of us could finish.

We drove back to Levittown and decided we needed something light and sweet to get the taste of the cheesesteaks out of our mouths. You guessed it--another trip to Dairy Delite. Two days in a row isn't too much for vacation!

Wednesday, June 18
Jen met us at our hotel, because it was on the way to today's destination, Valley Forge. After a delightful lunch of salads and soups (and a couple of cookies) at the Corner Bakery Cafe, we made our way to the national park.
It was a h-h-h-hot day. I think the temp hit 96 degrees that afternoon. But we still enjoyed the visit. We watched the introductory film and looked at all the explanatory displays in the visitors center. Then we took the trolley tour around the giant park. The guide explained how regiments from the various states built log cabins, many of them each sleeping 6-9 men. We were interested to learn there was no battle there and Valley Forge housed more than 20,000 people, including several hundred women and children who would have been destitute if they hadn't accompanied their soldier husbands to the camp.

This house was Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge. The beautiful grounds surrounding it
(pictures below) were the loveliest part of the park.

We drove to Newtown where we met Matt for dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant there. Byron declared it was the "office party," meaning he treated for dinner. It was a very fine treat. We returned to Matt and Jen's place for more visiting and laughs before returning to our hotel to pack for the trip home.

Thursday, June 19
We were up early and had plenty of time to linger over the hotel's breakfast before leaving for the Philly airport. We dropped off Katie and Byron a little after 10 and began the trip over the Turnpike and across the Interstates back home to Liberty Township, Ohio. We were home a little after 8:30 p.m., plenty of time to sort through the mail, pull our few clean clothes out of the suitcases, and watch Monday's episode of Major Crimes before heading to bed, tired but happy.

Vacation Diary, Part One

We drove from our home to Harrisburg, PA last Thursday afternoon and evening (June 12), and then on to New York City Friday morning for a week of vacation in the Big Apple and the Philadelphia area, accompanied by lifelong friends Katie and Byron Cartwright and led by the ever-faithful and patient Siri. As I posted to Facebook: 

1536 miles. 2 lifelong friends. 2 wonderful kids & their 2 remarkable spouses. Miles of sights & sounds in 2 big cities. What a vacation!

Here's a rundown:

Friday, June 13

Katie and Byron had invited us to stay with them at the newly refurbished Wyndham timeshare in the heart of Manhattan, on 45th between 2nd and 3rd Avenue. We got there about 20 minutes after they did, unloaded the luggage, found the place to park the car, and ate lunch from the sumptuous food bar at the deli on the corner. I used my trusty Streetwise Manhattan to guide us for a walk to see some of the sites: St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Plaza, Radio City Music Hall. It was muggy, and we were ready to rest. Thankfully, the room (apartment!) was ready for us after 2:00, and we could settle in, cool off, and wait for Jennifer who trained in from PA. She arrived a little after 3:00, and we left for Long Island by 3:30.

This is one of three groups Geoff led during the program.

The catalyst for our trip was Geoff's annual Jazz Night at Herricks, where all of his jazz bands perform for parents and friends while students serve up ice cream sundaes and other snacks. The traffic for the drive out of the city was terrible, and we didn't get to his school till after 5:00. He picked up Lisa at the train station and brought her and two huge pizzas for our supper before the program started at 7:00.

It was so good! And, as usual, we were impressed with the quality of Geoff's groups, the rapport he has with his students, and the command he had of the whole situation. He had decided at 4:30 to have it in the gym instead of outside, on the school's courtyard, because of threatening weather. The sky opened amid lightning flashes and rumbling thunder, just as the program began. Good decision, Geoff!

We drove back to Geoff and Lisa's neighborhood after the concert and enjoyed dessert on their beautiful terrace before taking the subway back to Manhattan by 10:00. (We parked the car in front of Geoff's apartment building Friday and Saturday nights, thus avoiding about $100 in parking charges.)

Saturday, June 14

We took the subway back to Long Island City and met the three Taylors at Geoff and Lisa's favorite breakfast spot, Cafe Henri. We enjoyed the wonderful Benedicts and omelets and other delights before stopping by Geoff and Lisa's apartment to pick up Frankie and take a walk through the parks lining the East River not far away. It was a marvelous day; the storm the night before had ushered in a cold front. The Manhattan vistas were striking, as always, and we enjoyed walking and chatting. We adjourned back to Geoff and Lisa's terrace for ice tea and cookies before taking the subway back to the city and our main event of the day.

Thanks to Lisa and Geoff and their tripod and excellent camera for this shot and the one above.

We had tickets for the 2:00 matinee of Newsies, which provided us an afternoon of energy and enjoyment. The production numbers, with their acrobatic dancing, were virtually spellbinding, and we had wonderful seats in the mezzanine to give us a perfect view of the show. It was wonderful.

Afterwards we walked back to Grand Central Station and caught the subway to meet Geoff and Lisa and Jennifer in an East Village neighborhood where the New York Taylors wanted to introduce us to a Korean restaurant Lisa knew. I ate the whole meal with my chopsticks! 

For dessert, we walked to a bakery and restaurant not far away, Vaniero's. The hardest part of the experience was choosing ONE dessert from the PAGES of options. The best part was the uproarious laughter accompanying Byron's stories from our college days long ago. I think the people around us wondered how we got liquor into a bake shop!

On the way back to the subway, we stopped at the famous Strand Bookstore and spent almost an hour wandering the three stories of new and used books and other delights.

Sunday, June 15

We took the subway to the beautiful Salvation Army auditorium that is the meeting place for the Redeemer Presbyterian Church Downtown Congregation. We met Geoff and Lisa there. (Actually, we met Geoff on the street, walking toward the church, and Lisa followed by subway. He had driven Jen to Forefront Brooklyn, where she was the morning speaker. It was a tough decision to choose one congregation over the other for Sunday morning, but we figured this would be the only chance for Byron and Katie to experience the unique worship that is characteristic of Redeemer.) 

After church, we took the subway with Lisa to Central Park, and Geoff drove Katie and Evelyn there. He and Lisa had packed a picnic lunch for us to enjoy, and we really did enjoy it! The pasta salad and accompaniments was wonderful. The conversation was even better. And, as always, there was laughter, lots of laughter. We were inspired to a different pose, below, to help preserve memories of the day (thanks, again, to G&L's tripod, camera, and creativity).

We walked (and walked!) through Central Park and then traveled back to G&L's apartment, where we rested and cooled off a bit before the evening's adventure: a trip on the East River Ferry from Long Island City to the Fulton Ferry Landing, followed by exploration of the Brooklyn Bridge Park and a wonderful dinner of Luke's lobster rolls. Yum! The weather all day had been glorious--warm and breezy and dry, with a clear blue sky and puffy clouds. It was the perfect evening for the ferry ride and visit to the park. Lisa & Geoff recorded the ferry ride and the lobster roll dinner with these pictures:

Frankie accompanied us on the trip, and we enjoyed exploring the gardens surrounding a riverfront restaurant.

The sun was setting as we took the ferry back toward Long Island City, and I took lots of pictures, trying to capture the perfect view of the day.

The first picture, below, shows the Fulton Ferry Landing, from the ferry itself.

The second is the Manhattan skyline at sunset from the ferry as we returned to Long Island City.

Back at Geoff and Lisa's place, we went to the rooftop of their building and enjoyed the remarkable view available to them there.

We were tired after a long day, but when we got back to our timeshare, we couldn't ignore Katie's desire to see and experience Times Square one more time. Should we go then, at 10 p.m., or wait till Monday morning? We finally decided just to go for one more walk and experience the city at nighttime. We were so glad we did! 

The walk to Times Square from our place wasn't long, and you must experience Times Square at night to really experience it! 

We soaked up the bright-as-day aura of it all, surrounded by skyscraper flashing neon, jostling crowds, and the feeling that you really have come to the center of the earth. We traded iPhones with some tourists of Kentucky and took each others' pictures, looked through a souvenir shop, bought water from a streetside vendor, and were back "home" in about an hour. It was a great way to end the day!

Monday, June 16

We went to the 9/11 Memorial Museum Monday morning before driving to Horsham, Pennsylvania that afternoon. The museum is a sobering chronicle of all that happened on September 11, 2001. Everyone who visits New York should see it. Perhaps most compelling are the recorded stories from survivors, accompanied by projected diagrams showing where they were in the World Trade Center or the Pentagon when the planes struck. We spent at least two hours there; we could have stayed longer, but by that time all of us felt like we were on overload.

We walked outside to pause at the two large reflecting pools, marking the footprint of each of the original World Trade Center towers, surrounded by granite (?) plaques, each bearing the names of some of the 9/11 victims. And we came upon the marker bearing the name of Todd Beamer!

We walked to a deli for lunch, under the shadow of the imposing Freedom Tower, glad we had taken time for this experience.

Busy Times, Fun Times, Inspiring Times

Here it is Tuesday, and I'm just now finding time to write a brief rundown of the weekend. This has been a busy week since then.
Jim and Diane and I have been busy with several new and out-of-the-ordinary tasks associated with the creation and introduction of the new Christian Standard app that we hope will be live on the Apple Newsstand in another week or two. It's very exciting, and once we get it established (learn how to use the interface and establish the print/digital integration), the month-by-month work on it will not be nearly as consuming as this journey up the learning curve.
But I really think it will create a digital version of the magazine that many will find attractive. We plan to push it at the NACC; I'm hoping for a slew of downloads during NACC.
Last night I met with Dales Reeves and a bunch of other members of the Christ's Church at Mason writers group he's formed. The church is planning an all-church study of Thom Rainer's book I Am a Church Member, and members of our group are writing devotions for all six weeks of the study. Dale runs a good meeting, we have a fun group, and I enjoyed the time with them.
Now about the weekend:
Friday night Evelyn and I mowed grass, and I did several lawn tasks. Then we ate pizza and salads from LaRosa's on the deck, enjoying a beautiful, sunny but cool evening.
Saturday I read the chapter in The Story for Sunday morning, paid bills, enjoyed breakfast, got the car washed, and went to the grocery. About 1:30 Bill and Verna Weber arrived from Indy, and before 2:00 we drove to Bill and Joni Baker's house for a pleasant meeting and picnic-style meal they had prepared.
The occasion was to hear a progress report, consider next steps, and pray for Victoria and Joshua Baah-Binney, Ghanaians studying here in preparation for ministry when they return home to Africa. We learned a lot, laughed a lot, ate a lot (!), and praised the Lord a lot for the Baah-Binney's commitment and his provision for all their needs. There will surely be more needs to come, though, and we will probably be involved in some way to help meet them.

 We left Bakers after 5:30 and drove to Riverbend to enjoy a concert by Cincinnati Pops. We sat on the
lawn (we'd brought our sling chairs) and visited in the hot sunshine till the program began at 8:00. (We were there when the gates opened at 6:30.)  After the sun set, I was actually chilly. But it was a fine program of orchestral spectaculars, finished off by the 1812 Overture and cannons, and then a wonderful fireworks display before we went home.
Webers spent the night, and we lingered over breakfast the next morning (Evelyn's raisin bread, granola, and fresh fruit). All of us left before 10:00; they for LifeSpring and we for CCM. We enjoyed visiting with friends in the lobby and snuck into the 10:30 service for inspiring singing and a wonderful sermon from Trevor, centering on the return of the Jews to Jerusalem and their failure to finish rebuilding the temple as God had commanded (Haggai and Ezra were the main texts).
Trevor painted the word "SURRENDER" in bold letters on a white flag on the floor as he began his sermon, but we didn't see what he'd written till he drove home his final point at the end: "The secret to a life with meaning is surrender. . . . The day I found freedom is the day I raised the white flag."
We grabbed lunch at Noodles and Company and then came home to tend to desk-type tasks, in between talking with Katie and Byron and later Geoff about our upcoming visit all together to New York. We're looking forward to a wonderful time together.

A Welcome Party!

"This is good news, and you need good news."
So said a former Standard Publishing employee when I told him Kelly Carr was coming full time as editor of The Lookout.
I couldn't agree more. That it is good news, I mean. Kelly has been working as interim editor since last fall and doing a fine job. I wanted us to hire her as full-time editor from the get-go, but we needed to iron out her working arrangements in a way that both she and the company could feel good about.
Kelly will do an excellent job with The Lookout, and I couldn't be happier that she's with us.
We had a little "Welcome Kelly" party this morning, with plenty of bagels and a plant for Kelly's office. It's nice to have a party because someone good is coming (instead of leaving).

Kelly Carr (center) was welcomed by Lynn Pratt and Margie Redford at her party this morning.