Or, the Complete Idiots Guide to Eating with Chopsticks
Author Archive for Aaron
Instead of dressing up for Halloween, we decided we would spawn multiple instances of ourselves in the Redwood Forest.
This post is long overdue. I think we have both been overwhelmed by the need to reduce the experiences of the last week or so into words. Here’s my attempt (it may be lengthy).
Last week we spent a few nights with a friend of mine in Moscow, Idaho. For a small town Moscow is pretty happening. And don’t be mistaken, it’s named after the Moscow in Pennsylvania not Russia. We met some really great people and experienced some very dear fellowship. We even broke out guitars and percussion for a bit (in exchange for food).
Then we set out west into the heart of coffee land. I had just commented about how strangely similar eastern Washington was to West Texas when I glanced down to find a temperature needle pointing as high as it could. Before we left on the trip, my dad and I did all sorts of maintenance on my car but we overlooked the water pump. So we had just been crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. But alas, our crossed fingers did not keep the water pump bearing in place. Our car was officially broken down in Washtucna–a town with 300 people and no parts store.
We killed the engine, pulled off the road, and spotted what looked like a garage up ahead. We coasted down the hill and explained our situation to the man outside playing with his dog. He informed us that he was a retired mechanic and located the part for us in the next town (30 miles away). Due to recent surgery he was unable to use his arms, so we were on our own for getting there. We made a sign and stuck out our thumbs at the main highway intersection. After a short 10 minutes and only a few letdowns we were picked up by Washtucna’s mayor of 30 years. We got our part and the owner of the store was kind enough to let his employee Daryn give us a ride back on the clock.
Halfway through disassembling the engine (and after the parts store had closed) we realized that our timing belt was only half as wide as it should have been. Daryn had given us his cell number so we gave him a call and he graciously offered to bring us a new belt. With the guidance of our Bud Light drinking mechanic friend we eventually got the car back together. We fired up the engine and it sounded better than ever. It was dark by that time so Daryn showed us the town and let us crash at his place.
I have to say a few things about Daryn. He was a tremendous blessing to us. I don’t know if I have met someone with such selflessness and servanthood. He told us that up until 10 years ago he was a desperate alcoholic. His brother then led Him to the Lord Jesus. Though he doesn’t drink anymore, he spends his evenings at the town bar giving rides to the people who are throwing away their lives. He told us that, just like in his case, they would not give up drinking until they made the decision for themselves. So he felt it was his duty to help them out until they were able to make that decision.
Basically, everything worked out as perfectly as it could have and we can only praise God for his continual Providence.
So far the pattern has been that any drive we take will end up taking another 25% of what it should normally take. If there’s something that we feel merits a detour, we usually take it. The sun was just now setting and we saw a sign for a lookout so we followed the dirt road for a mile out to a 15-minute walking trail. In order to make the stop a little speedier we turned the walking trail into a jogging trail. But the 9,666 ft. altitude did not look favorably on that decision. Once our heartbeats slowed we were able to enjoy the sun making shadows of pine trees as it hid behind the Rockies. On our hike back down Sammy had me stop to notice the sound: silence. No cars, no bugs, no wind, no nothing.
(We tried to post some pictures from the last few days but it didn’t work for some reason. They’ll come soon though!)
I really don’t have any idea why Nashville is referred to as Nashvegas. Nonetheless, we are here and we are chilling at Centennial Park, home of the full-size replica of the Parthenon. Sammy is probably reading a book or doing something else enjoyable while I sit here and finish up some website work.
As the videos show, we’ve had quite an exciting time so far. To those of you dying to know, the fire was put out and nobody was injured (we even saved a cat from a nearby tree). But really, it has been great seeing all the old faces. Everyone has been such a blessing to us. Tonight we’re going to see Andrew Osenga in concert. He’s one of my favorite songwriters so I’m looking forward to it.
Back to work (soon I’ll be done for a long time!)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/lFzR0TbVFyM]
(We apologize for the poor quality. YouTube made it darker than it already was.)
Hello to whoever finds this page. As you may know, Sammy Lange and I (Aaron Harp) depart for a 5 month ’round-the-world trip here pretty soon. This is where we’re gonna post all the exciting happenings in the form of blog posts, photos, and videos. We’re still working on setting up the site so expect more soon.
