mercy, mercy

What day is this? Seriously. These days have been running together, as I have worked too much and have felt as though I am running this way and that way. Oh well. A good thing that happened is that we determined in a meeting yesterday at work that Saturday work will no longer be required where I am contracted to work, except for on special occasions, which should only happen once or twice more in the calender year. The bummer part is that I will most likely not be full time in my current environment of work at the end of August. Too bad. I enjoyed it and will miss the steadiness of the work. What can you do, though?

So July has started, and really a third of it has passed already. It is amazing. It has been a strange July here, hot, to be sure, and very smoky. There are some big fires around the area that has added to the usual pollution of the SLC/Utah County valleys. The skies are very thick with various particles and microns in the air. The air levels, as far as health risks, have been pretty high. It is gross. It is thick enough to change the color of the sunlight from the clear to a yellow-ish tint. We await a front or two to come in and move this junk out, but there seems to be no end in sight. 100 degree days for the better part of 10 day forecasts, every time I check. I miss cool weather.

I also shaved my head again. After growing my hair without a trim since January 25, the heat became to much for me to take. It is kind of a bummer, as I was going to see how long I could go, but the temperatures as of late pushed me to the edge. So I am bald again. It is much easier.

The kids have been doing pretty well. During the heat we have been sleeping in the basement, which has had its ups and downs, for sure. It is always nice to sleep in a cooler place (often times 17 degrees cooler than our rooms upstairs), but it really took the kids out of their element. It was much more difficult to put them to bed, as they felt that because their bed was on the floor that they pretty much had free reign to the basement. There were nights that they were falling asleep at the same time we were (10-11 PM)! Needless to say, it kind of made for interesting times when they weren't getting enough sleep. There were moments of crankiness, crabbiness, and all around mayhem, but it worked as far as being cooler. Tonight will be the first night that we try being back up in the upstairs. I slept there last night, as the air mattress that we have been using has not been kind to my sleeping patterns or my back. So I finally got some amount of good rest last night when I slept on our own bed. I used no covers, though, as it was warm.

We bought our own little inflatable pool the other day. The kids have so much fun when they are able to play around in the pool of our friends Rich and Corina, so on these hot days in which there is little relief, we thought it would be nice for them to have one at their disposal. We tried it out pretty quick and the kids love it. They have so much fun jumping in and out and splashing around; it is also quite fun to watch them. It gives them something to do other than hanging out in the basement, too, which has been a refuge lately. I have to say that when we shuffled stuff around down here to accommodate the sleeping, it really cramped the computer room. We put a table in the room which really made me feel claustrophobic . . . part of the reason I didn't write. I didn't feel comfortable being in the room for too long, and it always takes me a little bit to write all this stuff down. So I obviously didn't write much.

Last night we participated in a welcome of two youth groups from outside of our area. The welcome was a barbecue, so we packed the kids up and hit the library on the way to our fun time with others. It was a beautiful evening and another chance to let the kids get out and be outside in a different environment than the usual places we go. It is always fun to watch them interact (or not interact) with others as they overcome their unfamiliarity with our church family. I really think that the members of our church get a kick out of it, too, to see the shy eyes and smiles of Shirley, Andres and Juancho Pancho (a name he often calls himself now). So it was a good time and a good chance to visit with some of the church folks in an environment in which we don't always interact. It was good.

So I don't usually celebrate "Independence Day" in any particular fashion. I am, at best, indifferent on the holiday because of what the drawn out implications are for such a day for the indigenous people of this country. My buddy called me up and declared it "interdependence day", which really sounded much better to me, so my celebratory acts of the day (including charring burgers and lighting fireworks that the kids absolutely loved--thanks Sherri!) were in support of interdependence day: a day in which we recognize our interdependence with each other. "Independence Day" certainly feeds a certain characteristic that is blatantly propagated by many Americans: That we are self-made, autonomous, and the holders and keepers of our destiny (sometimes backed up by Manifest Destiny). While some may scoff at such a notion, I would offer that such an idea is not only truly encouraged but is at the very root of much of our economy, politics, and social structures. And in that it certainly has invaded our theology and our ability to actually be formed by community or even in our consideration of communitarian acts (...that's not my problem). Indeed, "Independence Day" is simply a day off for me, not something in which I participate in such a way as to continue the overarching goal of social Darwinism (of which free-market capitalism is a large part, by the way). Anyhow.

So has anyone here ever heard Gillian Welch's cover of Radiohead's "Black Star"? It is incredible. It is available on iTunes, if anyone is interested. Did I mention that it is incredible? Well, it is.

T-Shirts and Coffee: Still in the works. I have been busier than I have wanted to be lately and have not had the chance to investigate as much as I have wanted to, but I continue on in thinking in such a direction. Who knows, though. Designs are in the works, though, and a phone call needs to be made to discuss economics with the coffee supplier. Any web designers out there? I need a domain.

AND THE FLYERS! They signed a few key players for the upcoming season (October 4). First of all, they landed a smallish, but outstanding player in Daniel Briere. Briere spend last year with Buffalo and was pivotal in their appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals. He is an incredible center who should be paired on the first line with Simon Gagne to form quite an imposing scoring line. Also acquired were a pair of defensemen: Jason Smith and Kimmo Timonen. Smith, who is a career +33, and Timonen (+20 last year) should help to shore up a blue line that was porous and imobile this past year. Joining them will be James van Riemsdyk, who was the second pick in the recent NHL draft. Obviously being picked this high, they are expecting good things from JVR. Also joining the forwards is Scott Hartnell (+16 career) who was the sixth pick in the 2001 draft. While he has not yet lived up to expectations it is far too soon to write him off, and the Flyers are hoping to catch him as he elevates his game. Centers Jeff Carter and Mike Richards now have another year under their belts, which should prove valuable as the team presses on this year for improvement and hopefully moves in the direction of the playoffs. It should be noted that the Flyers also acquired Joffrey Lopul, a seventh pick a couple of years ago. He is a skilled offensive player who needs to improve his defense. Needless to say, I am excited for the new year. I was disappointed that they didn't try very hard to re-acquire Michael Handzus (my favorite player) as he ended up signing with Los Angeles. Could that be any farther from Philly? Go Flyers.

anyhow, enough rambling. I won't even get into my thoughts on the Portland Trailblazers. I still miss the days of mercy, mercy Jerome Kersey, though.

Keep on rockin'.