Monday, April 27, 2009

Adventures with Grace

On the way to school this morning, I brought my camera along. In February, there were some beautiful picture opportunities that I missed because I lacked a camera. I took this picture even though there weren't many good photo opportunities... yet!Almost to El Dorado, and this is what I saw! I had underestimated the storm's impact on this route. I took a picture to document my predicament for my History teacher, whose class started in 25 minutes.
I tried to take another road. After driving 20 mph in sticky mud that splattered my storm-cleaned car, I realized that I would A. get stuck B. break down C. come across more water, D. take way too long to get to class, E. get lost, or F. all of the above. So I turned around.
Here's a bridge I crossed.

Finally I got going again... still in the wrong direction.
After the third "High water" sign (ironically enough there wasn't one for the original road I took) I decided to take my chances and travel on it anyway.
And it worked! The water had gone down, and I made it to class after an hour and a half on the road! Because I left early, I was only 35 minutes late to my 55 minute class.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

A Few Things About my Life Now


The Neighbors
happen to be my relatives. As I was arriving home a little bit ago, I looked over to watch Benjamen, Lydia, and Phillip riding their bikes in the front lawn. As soon as I looked, however, Phillip tipped over on his bike and landed on the lawn, while Lydia rode over both him and his bike. This made me do a double take, this time noticing Uncle Shawn. He was watering a tree with a hose in one hand, and failed to notice the accident because he was smiling and waving to me with his other hand. By this time I had forgotten to slow down for my driveway, and nearly went into the ditch.

The Traffic in El Dorado is horrible. It's normal to stop at every stoplight. It's normal to get cut off by someone driving 10 under the limit. It's normal to get cut off by someone who will make an immediate turn. It's normal to get simply cut off. It's normal to drive slow in the left lane, leaving the right lane fairly empty. It's also normal to get stuck behind two cars in each lane driving next to each other at the same speed. A few times this semester, I have gone through residential neighborhoods, looking for a better way to get straight to my classes, thinking "There's got to be a way, I just don't know about it yet!" I finally was told by my friend Jenny the whereabouts of this road. Now I can leave ten minutes later to get to school! After Bible study on Wednesday, Tim stayed with Aaron, and in the morning, we cruised through town on our way to class, forming a Caleb Humig Motorcycle sandwich the whole way.

Walmart
is a relaxing place for me. Aaron always says shopping there is what people do for fun in El Dorado. When I first started staying out here, I found it comforting to go there. With a new, unfamiliar schedule, it was nice to take some time to wander through a very familiar store. After hours of sitting in class, it was nice to use my legs (which weren't tired) and to not use my mind (which was). Because it's the only store in El Dorado where you can get anything at a decent price, I have become even more familiar with it. After buying material for two sewing projects and a gift of beading supplies as a gift, I'm embarrassed that I go there that much. I will admit that I know there are two ladies who run the craft section; one at night, and one in the day. The one I see most often is Peggy, and she is very helpful. At least I can hold on to some dignity with the fact that she doesn't know who I am yet.