7/6/08

“There is no weather in my bed!”

This is what Morgan loudly exclaimed, frustrated that I was requiring him to wear a fleece all the time during our first, chilly days in Canada, EVEN in his bed.   This Sheri and I quickly declared our Quote Of The Day, and wrote it on our white board, which we do to all our Quotes Of The Day.   But Morgan was embarrassed that his angry and somewhat surreal outburst had become a source of amusement, and he erased it.   We don't want to cause him any more embarrassment, so we left it off the board.   Now I'm telling untold millions of people about it.   But I can trust you, right?

Today (July 5) it has been a little warmer, and we made our first journey out onto the lake.   We are on our annual trip to eastern central southern north little-to-the-right, now-back-to-the-left Ontario.   Nearly all Americans ask “is that near Toronto?”   Well, no, not really.   It's 4 hours east of Toronto, and two hours west of Ottawa.   An hour + north of Kingston, which is northwest of Watertown, NY.   Confused yet?    Some of you will remember reading other blogs of mine about our vacation destination called Crotch Lake.   No, that's not some weird joke.   It's really called Crotch Lake.   I won't go into a long tangent about the name.   I already did that!   Bottom line is that it's a beautiful, 7-mile long, lake surrounded by unspoiled acres of wooded land in the middle of eastern, central Ontario.   This is a long-standing tradition for Sheri's family.   It was practically in our wedding vows!   So we go for an extended time.   While here we soak up nature, and I get away from pressures of life enough that I can get some good creative work done.   That could be in the form of new songs written, old songs orchestrated, or who knows what.   Getting close to God's creation gets my right brain fired up.   This year, in addition to that, I will be completing Susquehannock High School's marching band show.   That's a way to get my right brain fired up, and to try to get the mush on the left side to wake up and remember to transpose the French horn part properly.   Well, actually my computer does that for me.   Relax, left brain.   You're off duty again.

I will say one thing, they have a lot more stars here than at home.   Maybe there's a volume discount for them here in Canada.

7/7/08

RV chic.   Tumblehome Lodge is divided into 3 sections for the lodging.   One is the lodge.   It's a big building with several units per floor on two floors, sort of like a small hotel.   Then there are the cabins and duplexes.   They are free standing buildings, like a two-family house, or a cabin, as the case may be.   Thirdly is the campground.   We are a small village of sorts.   RVs line a short road up a hill and into the woods.   So, whenever camper people get together, you see different ways of decorating the campsites.   This is true at any campground.   Some people get here and begin gardening so that their site is beautiful and natural.   Some have man-made ornaments, like a plastic pool with electric fountain, or little glass orbs that light up with changing LED lights.   We really keep it simple in the Sandstrom family.   We have a little bit of Astroturf under our awning, and a picnic table.   That's it.   If we hate gardening at home, why do it on vacation?   And the plastic flamingo, hanging lights that are shaped like fish, redneck deco thing, that's really not us, either.   And yet, there's that peer pressure.   “Cliff and Arlene's site looks so pretty.   We could do that…”   However, a prized possession is our sign.   Many campers have a sign that hangs out front.   It usually has the family's name, and often where they are from.   It might be painted, or burned into a plank of wood.   Ours says “The Sandstroms” but we had Kim, our sister-in-law paint it like the opening of the Simpsons.   It looks so fantastic!   She did a brilliant job.   It looks very realistic, just like the TV show.   I love it!

Speaking of the Simpsons, you can now Simpsonize yourself.   Google for it.   There is a site that lets you choose your own physical characteristics so you can see what you would look like if you lived with the Simpsons on the show.   Here's how I look Simpsonized.   Of course, people who know me well might already picture me like this.

It's at this point that I must clarify.   I am no longer a Simpsons addict.   I enjoyed the show greatly in my younger days.   And I did see the movie, which was hilarious.   But as my own worldview has diverged from the ever more shocking worldview of the TV show I have been forced to part ways.   It was a sad decision, but I guess it's a sign of growth.   Besides, being tied to a cartoon…that's a little sad, isn't it?

Sheri and Carter saw a bear tonight.   A real, live bear.  

“There's a bar!

Whar?

Over thar!”

They were walking down the path to the bathhouse, and as they came to the top of a little hill, there is was at the bottom.   I would guess it was only about fifty feet away.   It was a small, Black Bear, and it showed no interest in Sheri and Carter, but walking up to a bear is a cause for excitement in us humans!   I'm glad we are still a family of four!   God kept my little flock safe.   And the camp owners made sure there would be no need to fear this particular bear anymore.   Let's leave it at that.

The other thing we did today was spend some time in a town called Perth.   I have to tell you, I love Perth.   It is absolutely beautiful.   There's a park there called Stewart Park that is just gorgeous.   Way too many good restaurants for a town so small, but I am not complaining!   Lots of limestone buildings and streets lined with beautiful hanging planters with bright flowers.   Even wireless internet!   It's like a nice, little dose of civilization here in the wild.   And Perth even has a three-day FREE music festival!   What more could a Derek wish for?   If you do take my advice and book a stay at Tumblehome Lodge sometime, because you know you want to vacation at a place called Crotch, you need to plan to take a trip into Perth.   It's great.

And one more thing before I close for today.   I can relate to my students better now.   I am getting back to the rigors of learning a new instrument.   A couple years ago I bought a guitar with the goal of learning to play it well enough to lead worship with it.   Well, as you might guess it has sat for these two years.   But, no longer.   I am getting down to learning to play the guitar.   I have this time, and I want to do something musically productive.   Gaining proficiency on a new instrument should count for that.   So far it ain't pretty.   But I'll keep you posted.   I can accompany Morgan as he plays “Twinkle Twinkle” and “Lightly Row” on violin.   Not a bad place to start, playing duets with my boy!

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