Overly Cautious

Remember how we had a massive blizzard a few weeks ago?  Well, the National Weather Service issued a warning earlier this week for another storm, albeit a much smaller one (only four to eight inches of accumulation were expected).  After the disaster that we experienced last time, I planned ahead and worked from home yesterday.

When it was all over, there was barely any snow.  It was snowing when I got up in the morning, but not very hard and nothing was sticking.  I decided to play it safe and stay inside, but there apparently was never a risk of getting stuck.  I'm a little embarrassed about my decision, but I guess it's better to err on the side of caution.

Though I do feel a bit betrayed by the NWS...

Blizzard Aftermath

When I went out to my car yesterday morning, it was mostly cleared of snow.  The work that I had done on Sunday was mostly focused on the sides near the doors and the rear that would block me from backing out of my space.  When the plows finally came Monday evening, they took care of the rest.

At least, that's how it appeared.  However, once I was back in front of my car, I saw that the hood of my car had a pile of snow on it that was over three feet tall (that was connected to an even large pile on the adjacent hill) and the wind had blown lots of snow under my car.  I turned on the engine to heat things up in the hopes that would make it easier to get going.  The weather has been pretty warm since the blizzard, so my windows weren't frosted over, which helped.  After a few minutes, I decided to try backing out.  The snow under my car had made a sort of tall hump that prevented me from getting much traction: I would back up and my tires would spin.  I ended up rocking the car back and forth (backing up, braking, following forward, then backing up with the natural momentum of the car) and finally got free.  I still had to clear off a bunch of snow from the hood, but the worst was over.

The roads were all pretty bad.  I live in a suburb of Baltimore and most streets have multiple lanes, but in nearly every case, only one lane was cleared.  At first I was mad that city crews hadn't worked harder, but then I realized that we got 32 inches of snow in a day and a half.  To put that in perspective, Baltimore County received 42 inches of snow in all of 2015.  The resources to deal with this much snow just didn't exist.  The fact that I made it to work at all was kind of amazing.

Dealing with the snow has been a hassle, sure, but I haven't been in danger, so I really have nothing to complain about.

Community Outreach

As predicted, there was a lot of snow.  My guess is that the area outside of my apartment got a little over two feet of snow.  I was safe in my apartment and I never lost power or access to water.  Due to the extreme amount of snow in such a sort period of time, church was cancelled.

Sunday afternoon, I ventured out to take a look at the snow around my car.  It was packed in deep and I didn't have a shovel.  (I found out on Thursday evening that the maintenance crew of my apartment would plow the roads and driving sections of the parking lots, but they would not unbury our cars.  I tried to find a store still selling snow shovels, but they had already been picked over by the time I arrived.)  I went outside ready to use a snow scraper as best as I could, when I saw that the whole building was outside shoveling.  I went back in and grabbed some cookies I had baked the night before -- not with anything in mind for them, I was just bored -- and offered them to my neighbors.  Almost immediately, someone lent me a shovel.

I worked on the snow for about two hours, but eventually gave up with my car still trapped.  The reason?  I have the option to work from home today (of which I'm taking advantage) while many of my neighbors don't.  If I were to completely liberate my car, I'd almost certainly cover someone else's car or at least block their way out.  I decided to walk away and save my back.  Plus, the forecast calls for rain on Tuesday, which may take care of the problem for me.

The best part of this situation was that I had the chance to be a part of a community.  I don't make a point to talk to my neighbors, but it was nice to see that the kindness I showed was quickly reciprocated.

White Out

The forecast for Maryland for the next couple of days is between one and three feet snow.  That's right, feet.  As in, 12-36 inches of snow in about 36 hours.

Yikes.

Thankfully, I'm all stocked up with food, I have a week's worth of water in case my pipes freeze, and my heat is gas powered, so even if I lose power, I should still be warm.  I'll be very surprised if things get that bad, but I'm prepared for the worst.

So much for a mild winter ...

Fresh Air and Sunshine

Last week when I had so much trouble with my allergies, I decided to take a walk outside on my lunch break.  Since I only suffer from indoor allergies, walking outside gives me a chance to clear my sinus of dust and mold.  Walking outside had mixed results and it was clear that I need to continue using my nasal spray, but I decided to continue walking.

I sit at a desk for up to eight hours a day; while I do get up regularly to refill my water bottle or use the restroom, I'm stuck inside for a while.  Then once I leave the office, I go home, exercise and watch some TV before I shower and go to bed.  Other than driving and walking to and from my car, I'm inside all day.  Walking outside for twenty minutes gives me some much needed time outdoors.  The office park where I work is beautifully landscaped, so while I walk I also get to enjoy numerous types of flowers, trees, and shrubs.  Plus, vitamin D (which our bodies produce when we're exposed to sunlight) has been shown to improve mood and fight depression.

When I walk, I keep my pace pretty slow and I don't listen to music or anything else.  I just enjoy the time outside.  I'm sure as the weather turns and we get closer to winter, I'll have to stop taking lunchtime walks, but for now they're a welcome break from being indoors all day.

Movin' in the Rain

Due to a mix-up, my records were delayed in being transferred to my new ward.  That's been frustrating because I haven't been able access the member directory or activities calendar for my new ward.  It also meant that I was still receiving emails from my previous ward, including from the Elder's Quorum.  I mostly ignored them, but I got one last week that caught my attention: my good friend and old home teacher, Dan, would be moving with his family and could use some help loading up the moving truck.  Despite the fact that I knew I had no obligation to help out with this move, I replied back that I'd be there.

The move happened yesterday evening, which gave me time to go home, eat, and change into more suitable clothes.  As I drove, the heavens opened and it rained so hard that my windshield wipers had trouble keeping up.  Just before I arrived at the family's apartment, the rain subsided and eventually stopped.  The ground was wet, but it wasn't raining.

I got there later than I wanted to (my driving slowed due to the rain) and immediately got to work.  I helped move as many big, heavy pieces of furniture as I could, reasoning that that's what they needed help with the most.  We made it through all of the big stuff and were started to finish up with miscellaneous items when it started raining again.  At first we just trudged along, continuing to fill up the truck, but it wasn't long before we had to stop and wait it out.  Most of the workforce was stuck in the truck, not wanting to even sprint for the building as they would probably have been soaked through by the time they made it -- the truck was parked only about fifty yards from the door of the apartment building.  I was stuck inside, but I was able to chat with some of my old ward mates.  After about twenty-five minutes of hard rain, it finally stopped and we were able to finish loading the truck.

As sad as I was to move out of my old ward, knowing that this family was going to be leaving in a few months anyway made it easier: I was close with both Dan and his wife, Allison, so knowing that I'd be losing them soon enough even if I'd stayed made leaving on my own was that much easier.

I contacted my previous bishop and my records should arrive to my current ward sometime this week, but I'm glad that the delay happened so that I could help out some friends one last time.

Sweat it Out

After serving as a feast for the mosquitoes on Friday and Saturday, I went to work on Monday as an itchy, uncomfortable mess.  And since I got bit on both ankles, every time I moved my feet, my shoes rubbed against a bite.  It was so bad that on my lunch break, I went to the store to pick up some anti-itch cream, which only helped a little.

Frustrated, I decided to go for a run after work to sweat out the allergens -- which is actually not possible.  It's a commonly held myth that you can sweat out toxins, like from poison ivy or alcohol, but since the liver processes toxins, sweating more won't squeeze the bad stuff out the body.  So saunas are out, but exercise is different because it increases blood flow, forcing your blood to move through your body, including through you liver, meaning any processing will happen faster.

So I covered my exposed limbs with bug repellent and I ran.  I ran nearly 7 1/2 miles, despite the over 80 degree weather.  For the first couple of miles, I thought I would have to stop because the itching was driving me crazy.  But I kept running and the itching subsided and I eventually made it back home.  After a desperately needed shower, I looked at my bites.  Amazingly, the redness and swelling had gone down on every bite.  By the next day, I was only barely aware of the bites that covered my right leg.

I don't know if my understanding about why going on a run helped my bug bites is right or not, but the results are clear enough that I know what I'm doing the next time I'm dealing with itchy mosquito bites.

The Big Move

I guess I've put it off long enough.  So, how'd the move go?

I stayed up late the night before, packing.  I didn't quite finish, but I was ninety percent done, so I figured I was close enough.  I then slept fitfully, probably due to the stress of moving the next day.

The morning arrived and I realized that I hadn't planned for picking up the U-Haul, so I made a few calls and found someone who could give me a ride so I wouldn't have to leave my car at the rental place.  Picking up the truck was a little weird: there were no signs that this place rented out trucks other than half-a-dozen trucks parked out front, the building looked like it was abandoned, and I signed a hand-written contract.  If that wasn't strange enough, I made it half-way to my apartment when I got a call asking me to come back since they had rented me the wrong truck.

When I finally got back home, I made it just as the first mover, my friend Mark Simcik, arrived.  We started moving some things, but with my left arm still out of commission from my seizure, we mostly just planned things out.  Soon enough, the missionary Elders arrived and moved the four major pieces of furniture for us, before they had to leave.  Luckily, that's right when another family from the ward came to help with the rest.  Ian showed up towards the end, but he brought pizza, so he was heartily welcomed.

When it came time to drive to my new place, the father of the other family asked if we would need any help unloading.  We accepted his help and drove to the new place.  After some traffic issues, we made it and started unpacking.  The unloading went much faster and right at the end, the first two Elders from before showed up to lend a hand one more time -- apparently, they were in the area to help out with a baptism, so I'm certain they got tons of extra blessings for all of the work they put in that day.

One problem that I discovered when we first got to my new place was that the power was off.  I had planned ahead and had contacted the electric company, asking them to start the service in my new place.  They assured me it was all taken care of, but such was not the case.  And, because it was the weekend, my power stayed off until I could call and talk to someone on Monday, which is when it was actually activated.  I asked Ian if he would mind me staying at his place over the weekend, which he was happy to accommodate.  I packed a bag, threw it in Ian's truck, and we went to deliver the moving truck.

The first place that we went to (address provided by Google) was just a gas station with a drop box for the key.  With only my hand-written contract, I decided to try for something a little more official.  There was an actual U-Haul center not far away, so we set off again.  When we got there, they had no record of me renting the truck.  They had the truck on file, but not my rental agreement.  I showed them the contract (actually, a carbon-copy of the contract), which they didn't know how to process.  After a few calls to managers were made, they figured it out and gave me an official, laser-printed receipt saying that I had paid my balance and that I owed nothing.  Happy with the result, we drove back to my old place for me to pick up my car (and to drop the other Brother off).

My weekend at the Larsen's was enjoyable, as expected.

On Monday, I got to have a long commute again, since I was driving from even farther away than I was used to when living at my old place.  I called the electric company as soon as their office was opened and I was promised that the power would be turned on as soon as a technician could get there.  I went by my apartment on my lunch break to see if the power was indeed on, which it was.  I set the A/C to something reasonable so that everything would be nice and comfortable when I got home from work.  That was a good plan, since it was particularly hot and humid that day.  Unfortunately, maintenance had done a lousy job of preparing my apartment, because when I got home, it was hotter inside than out.  The thermostat said it was 92 °F and what little air was blowing out of the vents felt only slightly cooler than my skin temperature.  I called emergency maintenance to come take a look and when the technician arrived, he discovered that my apartment was equipped with a "manual override" on the heater, which had been left on.  So the A/C was on, but so was the heater.  He also found that the air filter was filthy and in desperate need of replacing.  With these issues taken care of, the place finally started cooling down and was a comfortable 75 °F when I went to bed that night.

So, I'm all moved in.  It wasn't as easy as I was hoping for, but it was still mostly straight forward.  Now I just need to learn the area I'm living in now and I should be all set.  With my sense of direction, that should only take a year or two.

Rain, Rain, You Can Stay

After my knee problems on Monday, you'd think I'd hold off on running again this week, right?  No, sir or madam, I did not.  My knee made an audible "pop" sound Wednesday evening and nearly all of the pain I'd been feeling disappeared.  And since Thursday's weather looked so nice, I decided to go for another run, this time wearing the knee brace.

Just as I was starting my run, I noticed that the sky looked a little darker than I had first noticed.  I remembered that I had seen that there was a chance of showers that evening, but only 50%.  So I ran.  My knee felt fine and once again, it felt great being outside pounding pavement.  When I was a little past the halfway mark, it starting lightly sprinkling.  My fastest option home was just to finish, so I picked up the pace a little.  The rainfall increased to the point that by the time I made it home, the front of my shirt was damp all the way through, though I wasn't actually dripping.  I also wasn't in danger of hypothermia since the rain didn't really get heavy until right at the end.

I had barely stepped inside when I got a text message.  My friend, Lori, asked if I could come by to administer a priesthood blessing to her husband who was having an asthma attack.  I immediately turned around to head out the door, but first, I told Samuel to put on his shoes and come with me.  Even though Samuel hadn't been invited, I thought that bringing him would be appropriate and it would give him a chance to participate in a blessing for the first time (he only recently received the Melchizedek Priesthood).

We arrived, me in my wet running clothes, and were warmly welcomed.  After a quick explanation from Mark on what was ailing him, we administered the blessing, with Samuel anointing and me sealing.  Mark was clearly grateful and gave us each a big bear hug.  Not wanting to get in the way of his recovery, we soon left to go home, with Samuel talking excitedly about how he got to be involved.

These stories are connected in more than just their sequence.  My original plan had been to run two loops again, like last time, which would have taken me over an hour.  I did have my cell phone on me, but with my earbuds in and my legs constantly moving, the chances that I would have either heard or felt my phone (I have it set to both chime and vibrate) are low.  If the rain hadn't come, I probably would have lost the opportunity to exercise my priesthood and help a dear friend.  I was annoyed at the rain when it first started, but now I'm grateful it came.

Too Cold to Write

I know this is a cop-out, but the high lately has barely been in the double-digits.  I'll try to post something tomorrow, but I'm not promising anything.

Barbecue

Breaking from tradition, I did not spend the last holiday with the Larsens.  Instead, they spent it with me.

Usually, I head south and hang out with Ian and his family in or near their home.  But since I had already volunteered to help cook at a barbecue that my ward was hosting, I invited them to come north and join me.  Ian accepted and brought the kids, though Amanda had another obligation.

I arrived at the park where the event was held a few minutes before the Larsens.  I was helping to set things up a little, but mostly I was milling about.  When the kids got out of the car, they shouted their customary greet to me: "Uncle Jordan!" but I didn't hear them, I think because they were too far away.  When they got within earshot, they were distracted by the siren call of the playground equipment and forgot about me.  Ian came up to announce their arrival and I walked over for a proper "hello" with the kids.

I introduced Ian to about a dozen people, all members of my ward.  Everyone was very friendly, some simply saying "hi" and others actually starting conversations with him.  The one comment that we got more than any other?  We don't look like brothers.  This is nothing new for us, but was funny to have so many people tell us the same thing in such a short time period.

The barbecue was fun, but it was wet.  Everyone was sweating profusely, not because it was so hot, but because the humidity was close to 100%.  Henry complained to his dad a few times that he didn't like sweating so much.  And while we Larsens had wet hair and faces, we were handling it better than some people.  I saw a few people with their shirts soaked so thoroughly that I thought that someone had poured water on them.  Even the dessert that I brought suffered: I brought a couple of S'more pies, but since they're custard-based, they melt pretty thoroughly.  Despite that, by the time the event ended, only one slice (well, pile by that point) had not been eaten.

After a couple of hours in the heat, Ian gathered up the kids to head home. Clara and Henry were still having fun, playing with some of the primary-aged children that were there, but they were also happy to leave.  After our good-byes, I took my turn cooking hamburgers, but that turned out to be "watch the grills while we take a break."  So, I hung out close to the two charcoal grills and talked with some friends.  Later on when the clean-up started, I helped out with that and even stayed behind to watch some of the equipment since it couldn't be taken in one trip.

All told, it was a hot and humid experience, but one that was fun.

New Route

Now that Summer weather is upon us, running outside is getting harder.  Even when I take extra care to be hydrated, it's still a lot harder to run in near 90 degree heat than when it was cooler.  And since I get a form of heat rash when I get too hot, sweating out in the heat can be extremely uncomfortable.  However, I know that even in the heat, running helps me clear my head and prevents episodes like I had on Saturday, so what do I do?

For Monday's run, I decided to take a different route, skipping one of my favorite parts: Murder Hill.  That's what I affectionately call the steepest hill on my normal route at about the halfway point.  Seriously, this thing is ridiculously step, like a 50 degree angle (is that steep? I really don't know).  It's certainly steeper than the hill I grew up on and had to regularly walk up after being dropped off by the bus after school.  So I skipped Murder Hill and you know what?  I missed it.  It takes grit to keep running up a crazy-steep hill and I didn't have that extra challenge.  Weird as it may seem, having that huge obstacle makes the rest of the run easier, even though there are still more hills to climb.

(I feel like there's a metaphor here about big obstacle make smaller obstacles more bearable.)

While I am mostly happy that I maintained my habit of going on my run, I am a bit disappointed that I didn't take my normal route.  When I go for my next run, I'll be sure the take my old route and run up Murder Hill.

Shorties 6

Real Understanding
As a technical writer, I'm not expected to be an expert in the subject that I'm writing on but an expert writer and researcher.  I seek out the information I need and use it in such a way that the reader thinks I'm an expert.  I still have to have a basic understanding of the subject but that usually develops as I do the research. Yesterday at work, I finally started to "get" what I'm writing about, which is good since it's an instructional guide.  Up to this point, I've just been copying information from another document.  It's still early for me on this project but I'm really pleased that I've started to internalize the material.

Stress Reducer
When I wrote about my trials in getting a Maryland driver's license, my dad left a comment asking me what I can do to prevent something like that happening again.  I thought about his question a lot and realized that I was neglecting one of the four things that I need to do regularly to manage my anxiety.  I've been eating healthy, studying my scriptures daily, and (mostly) getting plenty of sleep, but I haven't been exercising like I should.  A lot of that is due to the bad weather we've had which would throw my entire routine off.  So, to better combat Mother Nature, I've decided to join a gym.  I've done a lot of research and found a decent gym for $10 a month, which is super reasonable even for me and my lean budget.  I even pass it coming home from work.  Since I haven't gotten paid yet, I probably won't start until next week, but I'm excited to be able to hit the gym again.

Roommate's Milestone
After Church on Sunday, Samuel went to visit a member of the ward who is unable to attend church and blessed the sacrament for the first time.  I didn't go, but Samuel came back beaming.  He told me how excited he was to have finally blessed the sacramental water and that he is eager to do it again.  (In case I haven't mentioned it, Samuel is a convert and is still very new to the gospel).

Vegetarian No More
Monday was the last day of my cleanse, which means I'm eating meat on a regular basis again.  I've certainly dropped the weight that I gained while unemployed and, I suspect, a little bit extra that I didn't need to lose.  I guess that means that I'll have to pack on the pounds by pumping iron.

"Now run!"
While I was visiting the Larsen's to celebrate my birthday, Henry and Clara showed me a new game that they've discovered.  It's the classic activity where a kid grabs an adult's leg and is dragged along while the adult walks.  However, walking got old and they started asking that I run.  Not that I would actually run, I did try to move a bit faster for them, though with little success.  As with countless uncles before me, I tired before they did.  Still, they were both super excited that we got to play together, which never gets old.

Thrown for a Loop

With the snow that hit us (once again) on Monday, my boss called me and recommended that I delay starting my new job until the following day.  So I started on Tuesday, but I it felt like Monday, so I forgot to update the ol' blog in time for Wednesday.  I'm starting to get back in the swing of things, but it does mean that I'm a day late.  My apologies.

Since I've only had a day and a half at my new job (half of the first day was spent signing more paper work), I don't really have a lot to report.  Everybody is really nice, the office has no dress code beyond "wear clothes," and I have a laptop that I have to take home every day.  Additionally, there is one thing that I still don't completely understand: six hour work days.  That's an over-simplification, but the idea is that since we all make a salary and are not eligible for over-time, as long as we meet our deadlines (which sometimes means staying late) and are in the office during "peak" hours (9 to 4), we aren't required to be there for eight hours.  And since I'm just working on familiarizing myself with my role at this point (meaning that I have no deadlines), I've been sent home both days that I've worked at 4 o'clock.  I understand the reasoning, kind of, but it still seems super strange.

Sorry that this post is both late and super short, but there's really not much to write about at this point.  Most of yesterday was spent taking notes on new vocabulary that I need to learn, otherwise known as the kind of thing that isn't worth sharing.  Tomorrow's post should be a bit better since I'll be telling you about my other new job.

Whiteout

I mentioned in my last post that the east coast has gotten a lot of snow in a short amount of time, so much, in fact, that it prevented me from going to work last Thursday.  However, Snomagedon would only keep me away from the one day.  Mostly.

When I went out to my car on Friday, I was expecting to have to do some work to uncover my car before I could leave.  What I wasn't expecting, was having to first clear a path to my car before I could even begin the work of removing the snow from the car itself.  The maintenance team of my apartment complex had done a good job of clearing the sidewalk, but they were still busy plowing the streets of the parking lot.  Fortunately, they had left out a snow shovel near my building's entrance.  I hadn't shoveled snow since my mission, but I figured I would be out of there in ten minutes.

Nearly thirty minutes later, I was on my way to work - a bit late, but my supervisor was very understanding.  The problem was that the snow was over a foot deep and even though I was only working to clear a small area, it was still slow going.  (I was also slowed down when one of my neighbors approached me and asked about the shovel in slightly broken English.  I only mention his poor language skills because I thought he was telling me that the shovel was his, then I thought he asked me where I was going, then I thought he was trying to arrange a carpool, but he was just asking if he could use the shovel after me.  I couldn't help but laugh at myself for completely misunderstanding his request.)  When I was on my way, my back let me know that it was not pleased.

Please do not take this post as complaining, simply informing you about a new and unusual experience I had.  All things considered, I really had it easy to only uncover the area directly blocking my vehicle.  If I was a homeowner, I would be responsible for the whole property and a sore back would be the least of my worries.

Strange Coincidence

While I was working at my temp job the other day, I received a call.  I was busy, so I let it go to voicemail.  Later, at lunch, I listened to the message and found out that it was a recruiter looking for a technical writer to fill a job vacancy.  In the message, he said that he emailed me with a description about the job, so I decided that I would wait to read the job description before I contacted him back.

Then he called me again.  Since it's unusual for a recruiter to call twice in one day, I picked up.  He was really excited and was really pushing for me to submit my resume for the position.  I was hesitant because the job is in Reston, Virginia, which according to Google maps is about an hour from my apartment, but I know that with traffic it would likely be at least 75 minutes.  I told him that I would think about it and give him a response by the end of the week, but he asked if I could email him by the end of the day.  Wow, I thought, this guy really wants me to go after this job.  I promised an answer by the end of the day.

When I got home and looked at the email, it did look like it was a pretty good fit for me.  Not perfect, but jobs that are perfect fits are rarer creatures than unicorns, so pretty good is actually kind of awesome.  Even with it looking that attractive, I was hesitant because of the commute.

Then I realized that it wasn't a job offer that I would be turning down, just the chance at an interview.  Maybe I won't get an interview, or I'll be able to interview, but won't be offered the job.  If I declined to have my resume sumbitted, I would basically turning down nothing.  So I applied, sending him a copy of my resume (even though I knew he had one) and provided the basic information that he requested in the email.  I was honestly surprised when he didn't call me the next day, but yesterday was Sno-pocalypse in the Eastern time zone, so maybe he was snowed in like the rest of us.

And the coincidence that I alluded to in this post's title?  The job would be for Unisys, the company that my dad worked at for over twenty years as a technical writer.  Pretty wild, right?

Running Update

I was starting to be better about running regularly again when it suddenly got ridiculously cold throughout most of the US.  With a week off due to the cold (I can only put on so many layers before running becomes difficult), I was afraid that I would slide back into my rut.  Which I did almost immediately by missing my run on Tuesday, the first day that wasn't freeze-the-blood-in-your-veins cold.  I really ran with much better consistency when I was employed.

So, to improve my exercise routine, I became employed.  It's nothing exciting, just a temp job for a few days working on inventory for a company that I had never heard of (that's actually the parent company of several brands I'm familiar with) that's dealing with flood damage after a pipe burst during the Great Chill of 2014.  However, in a surprising turn, my first day on the job (Wednesday) I did push-ups again and yesterday I went for a run.  Apparently, I need structure in my life to be healthy and productive.  I'm not shocked that having some structure again has improved things, just at how quickly the change happened.  I didn't even have to go to work - just get ready in preparation for it - to see immediate results in my well-being.

Also, since the holidays are behind us, I've finally started getting calls about the applications I've been putting in.  No interviews yet, but at least something is happening (I have been in contact with Prometric and it'll be a few weeks before they get their budget and they know when I can come back; I'd love to go back, but if something else comes up in the meantime, I'll take it).  I need a job so that I can get back to living a normal, healthy life (and get rid of my kummerspeck).  Hopefully I'll be able to report good news very soon.

Mr. Green Christmas

As we know, there are only a handful of holiday songs that have been adopted as classics, and they keep being played every single year.  There are literally hundreds of Christmas songs, but only rarely do new ones get adopted.  We do have some lovely carols like "Silent Night" and "Angels We Have Heard on High," but there are also songs (of varying quality) that celebrate the winter season like "Jingle Bells" and "Winter Wonderland."  Unfortunately, this latter category only describes winter in one way: snowy.  That never applied to me as a kid, so it made it harder for me to relate to the songs.  Then I stumbled across this song from an old stop-motion Rankin/Bass Christmas special that I don't remember seeing, The Year Without Santa Claus.

Like most songs meant to appeal to children, the melody is very simplistic and the lyrics have little variety, but it's the only seasonal song that I know of that offers an alternative to a frosty Christmas.  I particularly like it because both Christmases are shown as being equal, just different.  It can be cold and white or warm and green and still be Christmas.  It's nice to get some recognition that the temperature doesn't make it Christmas, but rather our celebrations.

Cold Run

Last night I went for my usual evening run, but it was very different.

For one, it was already twilight when I started, which meant that it was dark by the time I finished.  This made my run a lot more dangerous than usual, not because of the cars because I'm certain they could see me okay due to the light-colored clothing I was wearing (although I should probably invest in a reflective vest or some other article of clothing to be on the safe side), but rather the danger came from not being able to see properly.  I kept thinking I was going to trip on some unseen thing, which made me nervous and made the run a little less enjoyable.

The other thing that was new was that I was running in the cold.  When I first started running outside in Oklahoma, it was spring, so I didn't have to worry about bundling up.  Then I moved back to So Cal where winters don't exist (which I like just fine), so I didn't have to worry about bundling up.  Now, Maryland doesn't experience the same temperature fluctuations that Oklahoma does, but it still gets all four seasons (a shame, I know).  Anyway, I had to wear a long sleeve shirt and a hat (bandana, but same principle) so that I wouldn't catch cold; I still wore shorts.  The weirdest thing was how little I sweated.  After a run, my shirt is usually soaked through; this time, there were only a couple of patches of wetness.  Running in the crisp, cool air kept my body temperature down so sweating as means of thermoregulation was almost completely unnecessary.

The weather may be changing, but my desire to keep running is not.

Rain or Shine

Yesterday, as I was preparing for my evening run, I noticed storm clouds looming menacingly overhead.  Considering that I had had such success last week at stopping the rain with faith and a prayer, I didn't think too much of it.  I finished stretching and hit the pavement.

Before I was even a quarter of the way into my run, I started to feel a few drops of moisture fall on me.  I ignored it since a few sprinkles wasn't really enough to hinder anything.  Then it started to rain ever so lightly.  I thought to myself that this wasn't right: if I was having faith that the Lord would stop the rain, he should stop it.  Then I got a prompting that explained what was happening: "But if not..."

During the April 2004 General Conference, there was a wonderful talk given by Dennis E. Simmons of the Seventy that has remained one of my favorites ever since (seriously, if you aren't familiar with this talk, go and read it).  The talk references when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were threatened with death if they did not worship the idols of the king. As Daniel 3:17-18 says:

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

These three had faith enough to fear God more than idols and believed that he would save them from suffering death by fire, but even if he did not, their faith was not shaken.

Being reminded of this, I decided that while it would be nice to finish my run in dry weather, if it started raining it would not affect my faith or my testimony.  And rain it did.  I would say that for about half of my run, it was coming down at a nice, solid medium-level of rainfall.  I even heard thunder.  It was not ideal, but my clothes were going to be soaked either way and I didn't feel unsafe at any time during the run.

About thirty minutes after I got home, the rain completely stopped.  It would appear that I needed to learn a lesson.