Renewed Relationships

What a great week! Last Monday Peggy and I left home about 3:00 a.m. to deliver a trailer in Nashville. Just 3 miles from the drop we picked up a trailer loaded with video equipment bound for a festival in Muskegon, MI. Monday night we parked near the festival grounds at a hotel with a marina on Lake Michigan. Tuesday morning we met the crew, assembled from around the USA: from Tucson, Flagstaff, Oklahoma City, Dayton and Nashville. We moved the truck to the main stage area and waited for them to unload it. I sat on a bench under a tree overlooking Lake Michigan to fiddle while waiting. It just seemed exotic & cool to talk to these guys who travel around the country to run TV cams, recording & sound equipment for big name bands at large venues - not that I'd ever like to do that. It would be very cool however to drive a truck for Garrison Keilor, or even better – Chicago Symphony! On the other hand, I think our lives are exciting enough as is. After Muskegon, we picked up in Detroit and delivered in Bettendorf, IA at midnight the same day.

Wednesday morning we picked up in Oregon, IL – just 85 miles from Bettendorf and drove to the Canadian border at Houlton, Maine arriving Thursday afternoon. And it was time for a break. We had dinner at the Houlton Truck Stop. Our next pick up was in Boston, 350 miles away. After a few delays we finally got hooked up and chained. (We had a stack of 5 chassis.) We were able to deliver in Chicago on Saturday morning and pick up another trailer in Romeoville bound for Charlotte, NC.

Here's the best part of the week! Once we got the load assignment for Charlotte, with a lot of extra time to drive it before delivery on Monday, I started looking for someone to visit en route. There were two candidates: 1) James & Joan Werning in Asheville – exactly en route; or B) James & Seung Hyun Wanliss near Greenville, SC – a little out of route. I emailed to James Wanliss but didn't expect much from a busy physics professor whom we haven't seen for 12 years. Sunday morning we were positioned just west of Asheville and were figuring out how to get parked with truck & trailer near 'The Body' – James & Joan's church. We didn't phone ahead to them, but would've just gone to their church & hoped to see them there... But then I saw James Wanliss's reply to my email. He is in Korea for 4 weeks, but he invited us to meet Seung Hyun at their church, and gave us detailed directions, so we decided to head for Greenville. (Sorry Wernings.) We were 30 minutes late for the 10:00 service. Fortunately there was a perfect place to park our big rig right in front of the church. As I drove, Peggy was checking things out on Google Earth, so we could see what to expect. There is a 10:00 service, then lunch, then 1:30 service. Most people stay through all of that. Some families come from far away for this church. It is Presbyterian, Free Scottish Reformed, or something like that – anyway, very conservative, evangelical. Most women wore a head covering, usually lace but could be a hat or scarf. There is no instrumental music, drama team, worship team or dancing. The singing is Psalm Singing, acapella. One man sitting in the middle of the church would start each tune by singing the first few notes. It is a powerful, austere sound. These folks sing with gusto, and the vast majority are in tune, so the off key ones (I could hear some) were decisively covered up. The preaching was very good. There was a catechism class between 1st service and lunch. Everything takes place in one large space – lower level of an office building, until the new space is completed mid-July. The people are very friendly. We especially loved seeing Seung Hyun and the two girls. We enjoyed telling the story a few times over: When Peggy and I lived in Seoul, Korea, James Wanliss got in touch with us somehow, to ask if he could stay with us to save money while in Korea to visit his fiance, Seung Hyun. James is white South African from Johannesburg. When we met him he was in grad school in Canada, where he had met Seung Hyun. He stayed with us 2 or 3 times in Seoul. Then they set their wedding date. But at the last minute Seung Hyun's parents would not give their approval, so the couple honored the parents' wishes and canceled the wedding. But James's parents had non-refundable airline tickets from Johannesburg, so they lost a lot of money. The wedding was rescheduled a few months later. This time James's parents could not afford to make the trip, so... James asked us to be his stand-in parents. That was about 1997. We participated in the wedding – a Korean style Christian wedding – some elements of western weddings with white dress and tux, but also some Korean traditions. We sat in special chairs in front of the church along with the bride's parents. The couple bows to both sets of parents, etc... My memory of that day has faded, but it was a little humorous to be so intimately involved in a wedding ceremony and not really knowing the couple all that well... After that day, we lost touch with James & Seung Hyun until now. I tried to locate them once after we had returned to the States, but he was no longer at college in Canada, so I mostly forgot about them and would occasionally wonder what ever became of them. Praise the Lord for renewed relationships! It was a very stimulating Sunday with these church folks. The lunch was pot luck. Every Sunday the church shares a meal and then comes back together for the 2nd service – all in one large basement space. I think this is an 'evening service' that is moved up to 1:30 because of the several people who come from great distances to church. Next time, we look forward to seeing James as well.

Split Week

Last week was a 'split week.' Peggy went out on the truck with a Chinese friend, Kathy Sitt, and her 2 kids, Gordon (14) & Rachel (11?). They left our house on Sun. June 13 and returned on Fri. the 18th. I stayed home. It sounds like the Sitts had a good time. They had the American Big Rig Cultural Experinece - riding high above the 4-wheelers, fueling in the truck islands, backing away from a 10 ft. bridge that trucks cannot fit under, eating mostly out of the cooler & small frig in our truck, rolling-rolling-rolling night and day for a week. Peggy did not stop much. She had a very good week of driving. I kept the dog at home. Paddy and I had a nice week. We spent the day at the antique mall on Monday. I entered figures on the computer and revised the vendor list with our manager. It is very unusual for me or Peggy to be at the antique mall on a Monday. Most of the time we're out driving. But that Monday was a divine appointment for me. I was at the front desk all day, working with Sandie. Usually I do my work back in my corner. In the afternoon Sandie answered the phone and turned to me to say someone was trying to call from jail – would we accept a call from Cavitt. That is Peggy's maiden name. I took the phone. Peggy's younger brother seemed relieved to get hold of me. He asked me to bail him out of jail in Murphysboro. So I finished up my work and went to bail him out. He'd been in for 5 days. He was charged with assault. He'd had a yelling fight with his 17-yr-old daughter the previous Wed. He had been drinking. She has been very hard on him for the past couple years, giving him a lot of friction, so at times it comes to a head. As she was going to her car to drive away, James yelled at her not to leave, and he hit her car with a shovel as she was driving away. She must've called the police – someone did. A little later, police came into his apt, cuffed him and took him away. He does have some history of getting into trouble with the law from time to time. So I bailed him out, and he told me the whole story on the way home. There's so much more to the story, but bottom line is Jimmy and Nicole need our prayers and support. Lord help us to help him! I went from Jimmy's place to the Monday Night Prayer Meeting at Calvary Campus Church. Our church is very much a praying church, and God answers prayer – Phil. 4:6-7; John 15:7. Tuesday I spent the morning at home, stopped by the antique mall around noon and went to a doctor apt. at 2:00. After that I went to Jimmy's place, and he paid me back the bail money. Wednesday I left home early, had breakfast with David Winkleman and helped him with violin issues at his house for awhile, and then Paddy and I drove to Springfield, IL to visit Kregg and his trusty sidekick Buster the Shih tsu. I arrived an hour before Kregg got home from work, so I fiddled on his front porch for awhile. We went to his parents' house for supper. I hadn't seen them since playing for their 50th wedding anniversary about 3 years ago. After I quit playing in Illinois Symphony, I had less excuse to visit Kregg. We met at U of I about 1988 or -89. Since that time, whenever I played in IL Sym, I always stayed at his house or his parents' house at the beginning. Kregg visited us in Korea in summer of 1995 and he took a road trip with us to Disney World in about 1997, when we were home from Korea and traveled with a young Korean couple and Peggy's daughter and her infant son Zachory in an old borrowed conversion van. I have a lot of histoy with Kregg. Last Thursday he took off work, and we drove 98 miles to Hannibal, MO to bask in the atmosphere of Mark Twain's hometown. This year is the 100 year anniversary of Twain's death. We walked the downtown area, went into an antique shop, walked to the riverboat landing on the Mississippi River, walked up 244 stairs to the light house, ate at a restaurant overlooking the river one mile south of Hannibal, ate ice cream downtown, and sat in front of a cafe for their wifi before leaving town. We did not go on the tour; I was in a saving mode. But I'd like to take Peggy there another time for the antiques, the fantastic clock shop, and to take the tour at that time. Paddy was along on this day-trip, but not Buster. He is fine at home all day, but Paddy goes berserk if she is left at home for any length of time. She's going to have to get over that. We went back to Kregg's house, had pizza and played Scrabble. It is always a pleasure to spend time with our erudite friend Kregg, author of “The Marshall Miracle,” and master of all kinds of classic rock and sports trivia. I left when Kregg went to work on Friday - he's a librarian at the IL Supreme Court Library. Back home I waited for the ladies (and kids) to come in off the truck. God has put some remarkable friends into our lives!

injury healing

It has been a very rough past two weeks. On May 24th as we were preparing to leave our house on the semi, in the process of loading our tractor, I fell backward off the upper step of the cab square on my back. My glasses went flying. I bumped my head a little. It was carelessness. I thought I was on the lower step. When I stepped backward to the ground, it was not there, so I fell... The wind was knocked out of me. I laid there for a long time, but finally got up and walked into the basement. Everything seemed okay, so I didn't seem to need a doctor. But I was sore, and there was one bad spot in my upper back on the right side. If that muscle got activated, it was excruciating. So I'd avoid it and move very carefully. Peggy had to do all the outside work that I would normally do. I didn't want to step down out of the cab if I could avoid it. Driving was okay the next day, but other than that I just laid on the bunk. Tuesday night I had a violent reaction to the chicken I ate. It was the first food I'd eaten since Sunday because I usually fast on Mondays & Tuesdays. I assumed I got food poisoning from the chicken, but Peggy ate most of that piece of chicken and had no reaction. The effect was that I totally lost my appetite. Almost all food was nauseating to me – the sight or smell of it. I threw up twice Tuesday night. Then I was really knocked out with a sore back and nausea for the next two days. If I did try to give Peggy a break from driving, I had no endurance and could not sit there more than a couple hours. Friday I went to a clinic in Urbana, IL. The doctor probed and asked questions and was satisfied that I would be fine. He said I had bruised, cracked or broken a rib, and there is no way to treat it and I'd be fine sooner or later, depending on how bad the damage to the rib. So I felt reassured. And the back pain was getting much better by then, and I was starting to be able to stomach a little food. Then we got home for the weekend. Peggy was doing most of the work for both of us; all I could do was sleep and maybe drive a little. Peggy remains focused on getting work done. She keeps a very positive attitude and forges ahead. She was a little merciless to me. Once I'd show a little sign of life, she'd try to put me to work. I was expecting sympathy, but no... I think she was trying to keep me from atrophy – do all that you CAN do... But especially at first, the slightest movement might send me through the roof with pain, so I ignored Peggy's request to reach above my head for her chips, or reach down to the floor or into the cooler or find the paper towels. Last Sunday, 6 days after injury, it was Memorial Weekend. We had picked up 3 grandkids in Urbana to bring home. I didn't mind. I just didn't get involved much. We had about 15 people at the house after church. I still was eating very selectively and had little endurance, so I'd visit a little and then go find a bed to lie down for awhile. Gradually since the accident, we began to realize that the “food poisoning” symptoms of nausea and zero appetite, must've actually been due to the accident, not bad chicken, because it went on far too long. Now I'm practically back to normal, except the rib is not done healing yet – though it's very much improved. It's amazing how the body heals itself. That blow affected my entire body and profoundly interrupted my focus, appetite, digestion, bowels... I had some of the best talks with God last week! Memorial Day morning, I still felt terrible and weak, so mentioned the possibility to Peggy that I should not go out on the truck with her that week. We were under a load already, bound for Lake Havasu City, AZ – on the CA border. And there was a lot of work to do before she could leave - getting the vendor checks ready for the antique mall, which is my job usually but Peggy had to do it this time. Finally by the end of Monday, I agreed that I needed to help drive the 1700 miles to AZ to get it in by Wednesday, so I did go out with Peggy on the truck. In fact I drove all through the night Monday while Peggy got some much needed sleep. We got to Lake Havasu City very early Wed morning! And now almost 2 weeks after the accident, I'm 87% healed and feeling good. Some think I may've had a concussion. I'm still going to get checked by my regular doctor next week when we get home. On the lighter side, en route to AZ, we stopped on Tuesday evening at Sky City, Home of the Big Rig – 50 miles west of Albuquerque. It's a casino that caters to truckers more than anyplace I've ever seen. CDL holders get 25% off at the restaurant, and there is a special Winners' Circle desk where drivers get $10 loaded onto a card to gamble with. This promotional money can only be used at certain slot machines. We had been at Sky City a few weeks earlier, gotten our $10 on our cards, but didn't use it at the time. So this time we got another $10, plus $15 because it was Tuesday – senior citizens day. We each had $35 to gamble. I grew up naïve about gambling – inexperienced. However, Peggy grew up in the gambling sub-culture. Her whole family would do this together – aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmother, all together to the horse track or casino. So I'd rather turn my card over to Peggy and let her do whatever she wants with all of it, and I'll just watch. She put my card in a machine and pretty quickly won $31.60. When all the money on the card was used, we quit. Wow - $31.60. Great! Then she took her card to a penny machine. Each press of the button cost $0.75. She went from $35. all the way to single digits, pressing that button over & over with no reward. But finally before she was all done, the numbers began to line up a few times. She won about $61. on that card. Cool! We walked away with over $90, ate at the restaurant for $10, including tip, and put $80 into our fuel tanks. But the real prize is still coming on June 13. We're counting on being the winners of a gorgeous 2009 Kenworth tractor, which is sitting outside the casino. We saw it this time and last time and began weeks ago to set our hopes on it. (jest – or half-jest) The drawing is June 13. Sky City gives away a semi tractor every six months. Generally, being in casinos is creepy to me. All the jangling & noise drives me up the wall – it never stops. It is not exciting. At least at Sky City I like all the round Indian people who work there. They seem nice & sweet, and they're all large men & women with round faces and smooth skin. I was very glad to get out of there with extra cash to drive through the night. I am writing from home. We went from Phoenix to Ft. Wayne and picked up a trailer on Friday near Terre Haute, IN bound for Jacksonville, FL. We are home now because it was not far out of route to stop here for a day, and this trailer cannot be delivered till Monday morning.