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Could it be?

From a webcam on Park Ridge above Hume Lake.
I think it looks like a cell phone tower, or at least part of one.

Rumor has it that we will have Cell phone service from AT&T by the end of the year. That has some very interesting implications for our camp. Visitors will no longer be able to escape from the distractions of their busy southern Californian lives by simply driving into the mountains. Now, they will have to actually power down their electronic leashes and pull that plug out of the side of their head.

For me it means that I might actually have a phone for you to call me on.

Yup, this is were I come from

Went down to Mexico,
I drove my black El Camino
I met up with an old gringo
He showed me round, and said to call him Joe.
I was there about a week or so,
Wound up in the general hospital,
Joe said don't drink the water no more,
How was I supposed to know?

Drove up to San Diego
Saw a sign for Mission Beach
And so, went out deep into the ocean,
Saw a shark and had a stroke.
Back in the ambulance I go,
Had a dream about a girl I used to know,
She said "I got to warn ya bout Mexico and California."

Earthquakes and sharks to start us off,
If Chupacabras ain't enough,
Black widow spiders and killer bees,
Ain't no shade and ain't no trees.
Black bears and heat, polluted air,
There's traffic jams beyond compare.
That's all I got to warn ya bout Mexico and California.

Woke up and said I got to go,
Doc said "Relax, just take it slow."
I tried to argue, but don't you know,
Bout California and Mexico?
Right then, the doctor hit the floor,
The building shook, then shook some more,
I looked down at him and swore,
"I told you so!"

Earthquakes and sharks to start us off,
If Chupacabras ain't enough,
Black widow spiders and killer bees,
Ain't no shade and ain't no trees.
Black bears and heat, polluted air,
There's traffic jams beyond compare.
That's all I got to warn ya bout Mexico and California.

Earthquakes and Sharks, by Brandston, from the album Hello, Control.

Good times.

Our internet access is like dial-up most of the time, if it's working at all. And, we don't always have electricity... or water for that mater. There was no running water, just bottled for all but an hour of the last three days. It's back on now. We have a generator that we run during chapel times... at times it's quite primitive down here.

Mexico update

Just had a fem moments off. The week is going amazing down here in Mexico. I mean, it's Mexico, so there's plenty of communication issues, and cultural differences that make planning, schedules, and problem solving a very interesting challenge. But, all said, God is doing amazing work here. John Alvarado continues to tell me amazing stories of how impacting this camp is in the student's lives, as well as the staff, how there are so many things that we are doing for the first time ever in Mexico and blowing away people's expectations of what camp is, how God works, and were they see themselves in the future of ministry here. It's pretty cool.
I've been running slides for worship, and it's definitely stretching my Spanish skills. Some of the stuff that I learned in High School, and had to relearn in college is coming back to me.

I've slept outside, by choice, on the second floor porch of our dorm building every night so far. It's beautiful! The stars are bright, the sunrise is breathtaking, and the weather is at it's best during the night.

Continue to pray for us, and check out http://humeim.blogspot.com for pictures and updates from everybody else.

Hume International Ministries

Check out our new blog for Hume International Ministries.
Allan just posted a few slide shows. Check it for near daily updates through the next week.

To Mexico

I'm off to Mexico, somewhere outside of Ensenada to help start a new camp. Here's the official blurb from Hume Lake's Website:

We will be partnering with John Alvarado and Reflect Ministries (www.reflectministries.com) to teach Mexican nationals camp ministry Hume Lake style. More than 500 high school students from local churches throughout the Tijuana, Tecate and Ensenada region of Baja California will attend. Mexican Nationals will run the camp as our staff guides them through the philosophy and implementation of their program. Students will lead by example in recreation, free time, and servanthood (i.e. food prep, set up, housekeeping, grounds maintenance, etc.)

We are taking a few American Youth groups down to help out with behind the scenes manual labor of camp.
I'll be helping set up all the stage, opener, and chapel productions, as well as video for the whole week. I'm excited to be doing this, looking forward to exercising my Spanish, and working with a fun staff!

mo Róisín Dubh

She came with that name, but I couldn't have thought of a better one. Róisín Dubh is Gaelic and means Black Rose. According to Wikipedia it is the title of a famous Irish song from the 16th century. (translated to English by Pádraig Pearse [Patrick Pearsey].

Monday was a beautiful day on my boat with David and Rachel. I spent part of the morning fixing a seat/winch support and getting the boat ready to sail. We didn't get into the water until the early afternoon. Just as we were heading out of the channel into the open ocean, the eyelet at the top of my jib sail broke and the jib came fluttering down. Fortunately I had a new outboard motor and we were able to use that to push out of the channel, against the wind. Sailing was slow going south along Point Loma with only the main sail, and we ran across several kelp beds along the way. David and I both took turns diving into the water. We used the motor all the way back in along with the main sail so we could get back in time for dinner with the whole family. The sunset was amazing from my car window as we drove back to Escondido. It looked like Afrika, only with a smaller sun, and less orange.

[Click on a photo while the slide show is playing to take you to the full image on Picasaweb]

Fiesta

It's Mexico in my yard right now.


[a dinner party and social event for the workers from all over the world sent out from my home church who happen to be temporarily back in the country]

Words that I like

Set
equip
swift
trick
tilt
place
shrift
craft
nice
home
carry
lift
short
shine
lovely
tent
lace
simple
trickle
kept
spent
frail
little
small
extravagant
water
dance
smile

(They're fun to say out loud, too)

I should smile more often

You should smile more often.I had to drive by this twice before I really saw it.
When was the last time you made something so simple, beautiful, and powerful all at the same time? Sometimes I wish that I could be a child again.

Baseball

I wasn't very interested in the game, but I was there and I had a new camera. So, I wandered around and took pictures.

Sketches

"I don't want to survive. I want to live!"
~Captain, from Pixar's latest, WALL-e