Back in the saddle
OK, I'm making an earnest attempt to blog again, though I have to admit I've been avoiding the computer because it feels too much like work. After telecommuting twice a week for nine months, I will probably have this gut-level feeling for a while.

Anyhoo... our 3,000 mile adventure on the road with pup and babe went surprisingly well. The big SUV we rented did make for a much more comfortable trip. (I still think the SUV acronym stands for "Satan's usual vehicle," a prime example of American conspicuous consumption. But that's another rant entirely.)

The biggest downside to our arrangement was meals, which on the road were primarily drive-though fast food eaten in the truck. I'm really regretting we didn't send Nicky to obedince school. Buy the right harness, take my glasses away and I think we could have pulled off a pretty convincing seeing-eye impression. But alas, our fur boy is too spazzy for such a role that would have made him acceptable in restaurants everywhere. And since we didn't want baked dog, the whole family was banished to eating in the vehicle.

Claire took a few steps back in her eating on the trip too. We're trying to wean her off pureed food from jars, but it's honestly the most convenient way to feed a kid on the road. Most fast food fare isn't appropriate for the under 1 set. Pre-toddlers generally aren't good at warning you they're going to need to eat soon. Suddenly, she shifts from happily playing to cranky and crying--"Feed me NOW!" And she's so messy feeding herself, it's just cleaner and faster to spoon out the Gerber purees.

I learned a lot about hospitality on the trip. Not that I could really articulate it well now without some concentrated reflection. That's on my mental "agenda" in the coming weeks, however, since I've been trying to pull together a second article for Meshereth magazine on the topic. I wrote the first one somewhat under the gun and see a lot of places I could have clarified or expanded a bit.

We really did get to see the famed "Southern hospitality" in practice. One of Joel's BH friends had arranged for us to stay with a former parishoner in Birmingham, Ala. This fellow then realized he'd be out of town and said his mother, who lives next door, would be happy to put us up.

Well, we didn't have her phone number, and because Joel had worked out so many details via e-mail with the son, we just showed up. As I'd vaguely feared, she didn't know who we were. But she welcomed us in anyway, happy to have company on a quiet weekend when most of the family (who all live nearby) were away. Once we explained our connection to various BH folk, she was simply delighted, asking after various people we'd met at the conference. (We now think she had simply forgotten discussing our visit with her son, rather than that he'd never told her.)

She had several bedrooms ready and available, bathroom set up with fresh towels even. She's accustomed to a steady stream of kids and grandkids visiting. It really made me think about what it means to be willing at all times to show hospitality...and showing kindness to strangers. Especially when we went out to dinner and she wouldn't let us pay.

More trip stories to come...