Hare-raising Adventures
20th Publication,
March 25 – May 23
The list is growing! There are now approximately 45 subscribers to Hare-raising
Adventures, and the numbers slowly but steadily increase. This,
while pleasing, is also somewhat scary. I try to avoid thinking of all
the different people and views as I type, for fear that I would be
forced to be bland and objective in all my writing. In any event, I
apologize for my unannounced month’s sabbatical, and hope you didn’t
mind too much.
My uncle John and his family decided to come down on Good Friday, and
stay until Easter Sunday night. The next morning Mom and I went, in
conjunction with my Veterinary Science club, to see a farrier shoe a
horse. It was rather interesting, and I learned a number of things I
hadn’t known before (such as the fact that horseshoes have to be
replaced every six weeks or so, since the hoof, which is really a
gigantic toenail, continues to grow). A ‘surprise’ birthday party
was concocted for Uncle David, and we all went to a nice restaurant and
made jokes, had a good time, and watched the cook drop Uncle John’s
fish (they cooked the main dishes at the table).
Easter Sunday was especially nice in that the church sanctuary
renovations were complete enough to allow us to move back that day. No
longer were there minor outbreaks of fist-fighting and brawling as
people fought for the coveted black (and cushioned) folding chairs. No
longer did people arrive a half-hour early to ensure adjacent seating
for the whole family. No longer did the piano sound muffled from the
front, and the art of lip-reading the elders’ singing be common
practice in the back. No longer did the drop ceiling of the basement
give you the warm and safe feeling of claustrophobia. No longer did
waif-like souls wander the single aisle in search of a Bible or
hymnal... I had better stop before I get too choked up in my emotional
nostalgia and melancholy.
Anyway, the move back up to the sanctuary was quite pleasing. The
drop ceiling was removed, more windows opened in the walls, existing
windows were made larger, better lighting was installed, nice pews and
carpeting were put in, and the walls and ceiling were painted white and
beige. A central air-conditioning system was put in, so now we don’t
have to choose between deafness or heat exhaustion. It was, and still
is, a quite impressive change. Since then most of the chancel furniture
has been installed, and finishing touches have largely been completed.
All that needs to be done now is spend the rest of our lives in
indentured servitude to pay off the debts.
Uncle John and his family went home Sunday night, according to plans,
despite campaigns on my part for their extended and indefinite stay.
Since I do this every time they visit, I think it didn’t affect
matters much. The next morning Mom started a week-long intensive class
in Macbeth. This was in affiliation with MAFIA, which ended the
week before. There were only five students, of which I was one. We were
to read an act each day, and take a test and discuss it the next. Mom
used tests for a previous Macbeth class she had taught, which
must have been quite easy, in my opinion, since I managed to get at
least a hundred on all of them. I enjoyed the class despite, or perhaps
because, the tests were relatively easy.
The next week Steve and I had our evaluations of the school year by
Dr. Richman. He was forced to pass us for this year, and since then my
inspiration to work has been somewhat less than full. I consider it a
worthwhile trade-off, however, since the pressure is off as well, so now
I can truly work at the pace I desire.
The home school International Fair was the following Tuesday, and my
friend Paul and one of his friends were doing a display on Great
Britain, with an emphasis on Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. We went, and
I heckled, and thought of asking such questions as "explain the
governmental system of Great Britain" and "What is the
GNP?" I decided against it, however, and they passed my hurdles as
well as I expected. We then formed a small gang (with the inclusion of
Sharon Barshinger, who was also there), and roamed the church grounds
looking for trouble. Sadly, trouble had hidden itself too well, and we
had to settle for a soccer game. The teams were chosen by lining
hopefuls up by height, and choosing every other one. Paul, Brandon (his
friend), and I exercised our great wit and deception, and by various
means managed to be in alternate order, and hence on the same team. All
in all, it was a pleasant event, though I think I exercised more than
any time since last summer’s French Creek week.
The president of RUF (the student organization Dad formed), Seamus
(pronounced, much to my surprise originally, but much less so in recent
times, "Shame us.") was cast as Macduff in the Lehigh
production of Macbeth. Dad and I couldn’t resist a chance to kill
three birds with one stone — I could see Macbeth performed, Dad could
support Seamus, and we both could make fun of him later. The play was
good (as far as I can gauge the quality of plays), but with some
oddities, such as some people wearing suits, instead of whatever garb
they wore back then.
Meanwhile, Mom decided she’d had enough of us, and hopped on a
flight to England to visit her brother, Uncle Peter, who is there for a
year on sabbatical from Duke University. While she was there, she
decided to see some sights, and apparently had a blast, while the rest
of us struggled along as best we could. Nana helped out quite a bit, and
even cooked most of the meals for us, which I think assisted in
mitigating her fear of cooking, which had become somewhat large, since
for seventeen years she hasn’t had to, for YWAM served food.
Mrs. Fletcher, a friend of ours, heard of Mom’s flight, and decided
after a week to follow in her footsteps, so she packed her bags, and
took the earliest flight out. In looking back on matters, the
unexplained visit a week or so before Mom skipped town in which Mrs.
Fletcher and Mom closeted themselves for an afternoon with clandestine
plans may have been an ill portent which we foolishly neglected to
investigate.
After two weeks Mom came back, and once she had appeased us with
various gifts, we forgave her. I was given a hat, to replace the one
that disappeared under mysterious circumstances a month or so before. I’m
almost inclined to put some sort of tracking device on this hat, since
my headgear has a history of inexplicably vanishing.
Digital Typography, my class at the community college, is finally
over, and I have my grade back. The final projects and test were
completed, and I was supposed to spend fifteen minutes or so with the
professor so we could discuss my last two projects and my grade. To add
a little interest, however, the professors and the college
administration had a falling out over the number of days a professor had
to be at the college in relation to the number of days he was teaching,
or something along those lines. Anyway, the end result was that the
teachers would strike if a meeting with the administration didn’t go
through on the night of my last day. This may have meant that my class
would have been moot – that point wasn’t really addressed fully. So
that added a little excitement to my life, but thankfully things went
well, and no striking happened. I had been hoping for a B+ grade, and
expecting a B or B-, but both my hopes and expectations were
disappointed. The professor, in various ways that I don’t fully want
to know, curved the class, and so I got an A, with which I am quite
pleased. To be accommodating, the professor said he could still give me
a B if I wanted, but I decided against it.
Peter’s school had a Junior/Senior Banquet, and Peter was forced
into going because he was the Senior class president – or so he
claimed. Sadly, my information network, though employing all its means
and calling in old favors, could only get one report on the event, and
that was that it was "good." I fear that we are destined never
to know the real happenings of the banquet.
Dad decided to take Stephen and me to see Spiderman
that same night, perhaps a consolation or something. I would have been
happy to enjoy myself at home, while Pete blew a large amount of money
on one evening’s event and tried to act respectable (though I would
have enjoyed even more to be there to see him try to act respectable).
An invitation to see an acclaimed movie for free is hard to turn down,
though, even should I want to. As I expected, there were the usual
parcel of unexplained and/or illogical events (one of the most glaring
being a breaking of the law of gravity), but I did my best to ignore
them.
I’ve taken a recent interest in personality and
temperaments, and re-read a book on the topic (Please Understand Me).
I’ve been trying to convince most of my friends to take a test and see
what their personality is, and how accurately they think they match the
description of their personality. If any of your are interested in
taking a test, you can go here:
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi_win/JTypes2.asp . To
read the description of the types, go here: http://www.typelogic.com .
If you do take the test, I would be interested in seeing your results. I
turned out to be an INTP, and the description almost perfectly fits me.
Interestingly enough, the main character in Spiderman, Peter Parker,
seemed to both Dad and me to be another INTP (though later on in the
movie, he seemed more of an INTJ, which Dad is).
One Saturday I was feeling bored, and was
contemplating the possibility of Paul’s mom letting him come over. I
decided the odds were too great against it, but later I was talking to
him, and we thought it would be neat if we could arrange a sleep-over.
The parents were consulted, and it was agreed upon, but some logistical
hurdles had to be leaped, and the end result was it went through, albeit
later than hoped. The next morning I went to their church (Cedar Crest
Bible Fellowship), and it was interesting to notice all the differences
between his and mine.
Each month one person in the Veterinary Science club
brings in his (or in all cases but mine, her) pet or pets, and says
something about them. This month it was my turn, and so I took Sage and
Nutmeg and mentioned a bunch of things about them (I used my nice
all-purpose comment, which is a hypothesis that the phrase, "to be
a guinea pig" originated in the fact that guinea pigs, since they
are more susceptible to human diseases than most animals, are more
frequently used as lab animals). The primary event for the evening was a
veterinarian who specialized in acupuncture. She even got consent from
the owner to do a demonstration on a dog that was undergoing therapy. It
was interesting to see, though I would have wished that the conversation
had leaned more in the direction of the ‘why,’ instead of the more
personal and feeling aspects of it (‘does it hurt,’ etc.)
The fourteenth of May was Poppa’s birthday, and to
celebrate we went to a Sound & Lights presentation of Daniel. A bus
trip had been organized for Nana and Poppa’s Tuesday morning Bible
study participants, and Mom, Stephen, Uncle David, and I hitched a ride.
A sumptuous buffet feast was consumed at a restaurant along the way (It
was included in the ticket price), and after a two-hour bus trip, we
arrived at the establishment. Since the tickets had been ordered a year
before, we had pretty good seating. This presentation was different from
a regular play (or movie, for that matter), in that the stage was quite
large. A large translucent projection-type screen could be and was
frequently lowered over most of the stage, and on which segments of film
could be shot (like a theater). In addition to all this, there were two
wings that were often employed for almost three-dimensional effect in
conjunction with the main stage, or as minor scenes (while props on the
stage were being removed, rearranged, etc.). In all, it was quite
impressive. I, of course, had a number of complaints against it (as I do
with all things ‘based on’ other things), but over all it was worth
seeing.
There was a church game night planned for one Friday
evening, and so Steve and I dutifully went to participate. After some
talking, we finally got around to playing games. We played ThinkAlike
(which involved word-association) and Guesstures, which is akin to
charades. Sadly, in ThinkAlike my mind was not in tune with my partner’s,
and we were in last. In Guesstures, the two teams were next and neck for
most of the game, and it finally climaxed with my team’s success
hinging on my team getting all four of my charades correct in the time
allotted. One was correct — two was correct — three was correct —
four ran out of time. So, in the end, they other team won by one point
(it was 63 to 64 or something). Afterwards, some of the more nimble
gamesters attempted the limbo using Gabe’s Jo, for which Steve and I
showed an interesting aptitude. Stephen, for his short height, and I for
my ability to bend.
Dad, Seamus, and Leslie (the RUF vice-president) had been scheming up
an RUF ministry team planning retreat, and it was finally nailed down
for last Friday to this Wednesday. The really neat thing, however, was
that it was at Doubling Gap, a camp that we used to go to every year for
as many as three weeks in a row. It had a kid’s obstacle course, a
very cheap snack shop, and a really nice location. It had originally
been a hotel for the rich and famous to socialize and bath in the sulfur
springs nearby, but became gradually less popular. It eventually fell
into the hands of the Church of God, and has been used to host
non-profit and Christian groups ever since. Because of its relatively
primitive facilities and non-profit status, it is quite cheap. Sadly,
for the past five years or so the group hasn’t been large enough to
make a retreat feasible, until now.
Mom, Steve, Ben and I all went out Sunday night to join Dad and the
Lehigh students (Pete decided that he would rather spend time at home
and skulk about the house). We had a great time. The camp did live up to
the expectations borne for four years, despite the claims of cynics
(lead mainly by Mom). In addition to participating in various events
such as the team-building adult obstacle course, wall-climbing, fusball
games, and learning new card games (Bluff and Pig) and playing old ones
(Double Solitaire – an oxymoron, really – and Egyptian Rat Spit), I
sat in on the meetings. I made one or two strategic comments when I felt
it necessary, but otherwise stayed out of the proceedings, which I found
interesting.
Sadly, Steve Zanias, who was the perfect target for my humorous
comments, had to leave early. Whether this had anything to do with me
was not really elaborated upon. So for the latter part of our visit I
had to stick with tormenting Hans, the worship leader. I had a good time
with both of them, and Hans (to his credit) not only agreed to drive me
home, but didn’t throw me out onto the side of the highway at any time
during the trip back. I guess I was too easy on him.
So, overall, I don’t regret any of it, even though I didn’t touch
any of my school books for three days, and when I got back I took a
three and a half hour nap, and felt I might be getting sick. Thankfully,
I don’t think I will.
Speaking of school, it proceeds apace. My newest false-hope is that I
can finish Geography and Science by the first, Latin by mid-June, and
Geometry by the first of July. I’ll let you know in my next letter to
what degree I failed those objectives.
My summer keeps getting more and more potentially cluttered, with one
week of this Worldview academy on the horizon, and a week of French
Creek directly following it (with maybe as many as ten other people
going that I know), and possibly another week of counseling. In addition
to that, there is the Outer Banks trip in late August, a Farm trip
sometime in there, and Mom suggested she and I volunteer at the
Shakespeare festival (to get free tickets to performances). The
librarian has mentioned at each book discussion club meeting that I join
their "Youth Advisory Board," which sounds like just a lot of
work, but I might do it anyway. Finally, I’ve had in it in the back of
my mind to possibly volunteer at a nearby veterinary clinic to see the
inner workings, and get a firmer grasp of what it is like and how much I
would enjoy doing it, and I was at one point offered a job working for
my friend’s Dad, a pharmacist, for a couple hours each week, which I
might look into.
Gabe and I were signed up to co-lead one of the Wednesday night
seminars that is swiftly becoming a summer tradition for our church. It
will be on Typography and Graphic Design, or something along those
lines. I’m not at liberty to say any more than that. If you wish to
come and heckle, feel free. Gabe will meet all hecklers after the
seminar behind the building with his Jo (a four foot long stave).
Around Christmas last year a counselor that had been at my camp at
French Creek for a number of years was talking to me over IM (a program
which allows reasonably easy typing between two or more people, if they
are both signed into it at the same time), and she mentioned one time
that she thought her sister and I would get along reasonably well. Since
all three of us were on IM at the same time, she introduced us, and as
it turned out, we did get alone well. The sister introduced me to some
of her friends, one of whom introduced me to another friend, who
introduced me to another, and so it went almost to the point where I was
feeling like some kind of ball, bouncing from one person to another. The
ironic end-result of this is that I know more people my age that I have
never met than ones I have. I suppose it is one of the wonders of
technology.
In conclusion, I hope you enjoyed this letter, and
remember, if you have any complaints, comments, grammatical correction,
long-winded and irrelevant anecdotes, gushing and euphoric praise, or
anything else you wish to say, don’t be inhibited.
–~Snowshoe Hare~–
–~Christopher Green~–
