RIDING THE THRILLER

This is the year of 50 for both Elizabeth and me as well as for our principal and his wife, Milton and Janice. We formed a "50 Club," and celebrated each birthday as it came. April was busy because three of us were born in that month. In July we celebrated Janice's birthday with dinner at California Dreaming and a ride on the THRILLER.

THRILLER Charleston is a 43 passenger power catamaran that takes you on an off-shore adventure as we make our way to the Morris Island Lighthouse. It's not your grandmother's tour boat!

Erosion has caused the Morris Island Lighthouse to be completely surrounded by water.

The sun was setting as we returned to the marina on the Ashley River.

ANGEL OAK

"Angel Oak is a live oak. Live oaks are native to the Low Country and are not very tall but have a wide spread canopy. Angel Oak stands on part of Abraham Waight's 1717 land grant. Mr. Waight owned several plantations. The City of Charleston now owns Angel Oak."

"Towering over 65 feet high, the Angel Oak has shaded John's Island, South Carolina, for over 1400 years, and would have sprouted 1000 years before Columbus' arrival in the New World. Recorded history traces the ownership of the live oak and surrounding land, back to the year 1717 when Abraham Waight received it as part of a small land grant. The tree stayed in the Waight family for four generations, and was part of a Marriage Settlement to Justus Angel and Martha Waight Tucker Angel. In modern times, the Angel Oak has become the focal point of a public park. Today the live oak has a diameter of spread reaching 160 feet, a circumference of nearly 25 feet, and covers 17,100 square feet of ground."

"The Angel Oak is thought to be one of the oldest living things east of the Mississippi River. Live oaks generally grow out and not up, but the Angel Oak has had plenty of time to do both, standing 65 ft high and with a canopy providing 17,000 square feet of shade. Its limbs, the size of tree trunks themselves, are so large and heavy that some of them rest on the ground (some even drop underground for a few feet and then come back up), a feature common to only the very oldest live oaks. It has survived countless hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and human interference, so there's a good chance it will still be there waiting for you."

This information is edited from the website: www.angeloaktree.org

DOES YOUR CHEWING GUM LOSE ITS FLAVOR ON THE PHONE POLE OVER NIGHT?

I don't know what sort of reaction you might have when you look at this photo. This is one of three telephone poles at the intersection near the U.S. Customs House and the east end of the old Market in downtown Charleston. If you'd like to read more about these "works of art" here are two links to recent articles in our local newspaper:

http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jun/01/a_matter_personal_taste42984/

http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jun/10/good_morning_lowcountry43965/

A BIT OF CHARLESTON WHIMSY

'TWAS THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS

To those of you who have spent the past month checking my blog hoping to find something witty and wonderful: I'm sorry; I've disappointed you on all counts. I haven't felt much "inspiration" for writing any entries.


Since Thanksgiving we have had a flurry of activities (about the only flurries we have here) between school and church. On December 1st, our youth group entered a float in the Hanahan Christmas Parade. Hanahan is one of the local communities. The teens prepare goodies bags that include tracts to hand out to the spectators. Abby is the angel on the left (like father, like daughter).




After Thanksgiving break, basketball season began in earnest, and Abby agreed to try cheerleading. The coach asked her if she would consider cheering. Three other girls besides Abby make up the squad, and it's not too high pressure. Here's Abby in her uniform getting a little encouragement from Elizabeth. The squad is leading a cheer at a pep rally.

Elizabeth's high school choir had the opportunity to sing at Chik-fil-A one evening prior to the school Christmas concert. Chik-fil-A sponsored a Fernadale Baptist School night, and the restaurant donated a certain percentage of all sales that evening to our school.





The school Christmas concert involved almost all students in grades 1-12. We had a good attendance by family and friends, and a clear gospel message was presented in song and speech. Abby played a guitar duet to accompany the 3rd-4th graders as they sang "Silent Night." Elizabeth and Abby played a 2-piano duet for the offertory. They also played for church.


The last performance event was the church cantata, "Herald the News." Elizabeth was the acccompaniast. We presented the cantata in the evening service (12/16) and afterwards had a wonderful time of food, folks, and fellowship.

Speaking of food, the past four weeks hasn't been all work and no play. We had our faculty/staff Christmas party on Dec. 1. We ate, played games, sang, and enjoyed great fellowship. A highlight of the party was decorating our principal, Milton Ashley.




The following Saturday evening, we had our adult Sunday School class party at the McCalls' house. Again we enjoyed excellent fellowship. The monthly teen Snac-attack was held at the Betancourts' house. The teens had a white elephant gift exchange which was quite hilarious.


Our school semester ends before Christmas which means that the high school spent the last three days of school taking exams. We had two exams each day (Wed.-Fri.), and the students left at noon each of those days. Students who had maintained an A average for the semester were exempt from the exams, so several of our students were able to begin Christmas break early. Teachers return for a work day on Jan. 4, and the students return on Jan. 7.

Our plans for the vacation involve resting and relaxing. Marti is arriving Christmas morning and spending a week with us. We will do some local sightseeing with her.

We want to wish you a wonderful, Christ-filled Christmas.

OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE PALMS

This year's Thanksgiving celebration was different from the Thanksgivings we've had the past four years in Korea. The most notable difference was that we didn't pay $50 for a turkey. In fact, since we went to my sister's house, we didn't pay anything for a turkey. However,now that I think about it, maybe the turkey cost us more since we drove to Florida to eat it. Oh, well, it was worth it!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with my dad, my sister Loreen, brother-in-law Ron, and nephew Matthew. Ron was the chef and cooked both a delicious breakfast and a table-breaking dinner. We had ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, yams(my favorite!), green beans, rolls, dressing, salad, and gravy. (I might have missed a couple of items.) In the evening, we enjoyed the pumpkin pie that Loreen had baked.

Throughout the day (when we weren't officially eating), we played games, read the newspaper, watched a little football, worked on a jigsaw puzzle, and basically relaxed. Matthew is a pianist and enjoyed playing some duets with Aunt Elizabeth. After dark, some of us rode to Lake Eustis to stroll among the Christmas lights in the park. We needed some sort of exercise after the day's consumption.

We left my sister's on Friday afternoon. On our way back to South Carolina, we stopped in Jacksonville, to visit with Matthew and Monique Smith. They worked with us the past two years in Seoul. It was good to see them again. We also met seveal of their family members.

We arrived home just before 11:00 p.m. We unloaded the car, went into the apartment, and went to bed.

WELCOME, NOVEMBER!

Today we had our annual church picnic. I must confess that it's quite nice to live in a clime where one can have a picnic in November. The day was beautiful with blue skies, bright sunshine, and a high temperature around 70 degrees.

Wannamaker Park is only 3 miles from our apartment. The park has paved trails/bike paths as well as nature paths (i. e. watch out for the tree roots, spider webs, and mud.) Our church reserved a pavilion which was next to a volleyball court, an open field, and a horseshoe pit.

After gathering in the pavilion around noon, we sang a hymn, and then Pastor Wheeler shared a devotion and gave thanks for the food. While most people started serving themselves with the main dishes, I stationed myself at the dessert end of the tables. I do this for the theological reason that the exact moment of the rapture is uncertain; perhaps I should start a "Dessert First" cult. (or maybe not!) From a more practical perspective, I was able to recommend particular desserts to those who were uncertain about their choices. I always like to help!

The church rented a jump castle especially for the children (although I did notice some bigger "kids" in there at times. Several pairs of men played a horseshoes tournament. There were several games of volleyball also. Some of us played bocce ball. Elizabeth tried walking on stilts.

The day was a nice time of fellowship and relaxation.