Bandwagons, Animals, and Insights.

So it's been good to be home. And I don't say that casually, but yet at the same point I cannot remember the last time when it was bad to be home. In either case, things turned out to be better than I expected. So that's the advice, lower your expectations and then you'll be surprised...Just joking.

Fall is definitely here - showing its face more than it dares to in Cincinnati. It reminds me of a couple years ago, driving home on the highway, windows down, music up, little gray-green-brown leaves dancing across the road, trees in full color, and woodsmoke in the air. -And I just realized that I can't keep talking about autumn. Ech!

In other news, what a hype about politics! Ha.

I'm home with my sister and her friends for the weekend. Tomorrow is Rochelle's birthday and I'm home to help her celebrate. We went to a hayride last night. Complete with food, swing in the hay loft, corn maze, large fire, animals, and friends. (Notice how I join animals and friends at the end, and make the assumption that you would know that there would obviously be an actual real-live hayride.) Oh, what fun to sneak around in the corn, donning a t-shirt over my head and tying it behind to reveal nothing of my identity but my eyes to the people I would scare. And I did. Scare them, that is. Running to and fro, jumping, yelling and growling at innocent victims. Fortunately, my allergies to hay, straw, and dust didn't affect me as much as I dreadfully anticipated. Maybe it was because I sat on the first bandwagon on the hayride, thereby leaving behind the majority of the "fun" youth on the second wagon as they threw hay at each other, and turned each other into scarecrows. Yea, maybe that had something to do with it.

We also went down under the barn and petted the Democratic presidential candidates (two donkeys), well pet is a nice word, I more reached through the fence and patted the one donkey on its butt and watched as dust flew in the air. However, the calf redeemed the experience. I named him Buddy. I saw him and decided to pet him, so I just climbed over the small fence and went over to him. The little girls yelling scared him, but I eventually was able to coax him into letting me pet him, and he started sucking and chewing on my hand. It was a neat experience for me. Although I was questioned as to wanting to spend lots of time with the calf, I related to the questioners that I have always seen calves in the field and on farms and have never got a chance to pet them, or just even get close to one. Therefore I endeared the time I spent with buddy. Also, I got a chance to hold a black velvetine rabbit, so soft! However, equally enjoyable and more humorous was hearing Dani scream as the baby pig she was holding squealed up a storm. She was quite traumified as to its squeals and seeing that it did not like her terror, it promptly decided to relieve the situational stress by crapping over Dani. This brought me much laughter.

On the downside, I have been minimally sick with it getting increasingly worse over the past few days. Symptoms of sore throat and nasal congestion, and a little bit of laryngitis. Another reason to be home: Mom gave me a tea of hot water, vinegar and honey. I preffer adding extra honey, and it really is quite a throat reliever. My sickness has gotten so bad that last night there was so much mucus in my throat and esophogaus that after gargling with salt water and gagging I simply stuck my finger in the back of my throat and expelled it. However, I must say that it has been a pleasure hearing how low my voice has dropped - ridiculously low I tell you.

In all of this I'm trying to be estatic in Christ as Mer said in class. I was reading today and was struck by something. This is how we love God: by obeying his commands. (I John 5:3) I was thinking, what's the most obvious command about loving God? It came to me, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind." This is the most important thing in our life that we can do.

And that my friends is a good post.

-Sam