Valentine's Day

For someone who really isn't excited about a commercialized holiday that has become pretty meaningless in America, I feel like we have quite a history with this day in my family.
Exhibits A-F:

First of all, 90 years ago today, my Grandpa Ehli was born. It must have been cold that day in South Dakota, and they didn't have running water until the last children were born. My, my, am I grateful we have so many options for birthing babies these days!
*Correction* Grandpa was born in North Dakota. They didn't move to South Dakota until he was 2. And they didn't have running water until after all 9 of the children were born!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

A little less than 90 years ago, my Grandma Berwold was born in Yellowstone National Park. Her mom and dad had immigrated from Norway just a few years before her birth. I imagine Great Grandma Velsvick in particular missing having family around, both for the help in childbirth, and for the celebration. There was an aunt there with them who more likely than not helped birth baby Grandma.
Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Pulled this one from the archives!

Moving decades and decades closer to today, 7 years ago today, Joel was in Scotland, I was in Seattle. He sent me this card (through my roommate Alissa), along with my wedding ring, and bunches of daffodils.

I chose both.

Two years ago today, we found out we were pregnant!

One year ago today we had this little precious dressed all in red and lace.

And that brings us to today. I dressed Marie up like a valentine, as you can see. Pigtails came later, sorry you missed out on that.  We are in the midst of sickness. Marie got sick 2 weeks ago and still has green stuff coming out of her nose. I got sick a week ago and still have a raging cough.  We do not have high expectations out of today.

Marie is delightful and confounding, precious and even more precious when I get a break from her once in a while. We love her so. I have a feeling there are many people out there willing to be her valentine this year!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The dissertation

If you have already heard about this on Facebook or by e-mail, I apologize. I promise this is the last time I will bring it up, ever.

I am writing this post to inform the rest of you that my dissertation, Metaphors of Travel in the Language of Hymns, has been accepted, and I am at long last qualified to receive a PhD in English Language from the University of Glasgow.

If you'd like to read my dissertation, it is available to download as a free pdf file from the University library:
http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2381/

Thanks, everyone, for your support and friendship!

Burns Night

Haggis stuffed chicken, wrapped in bacon, with 'neeps and tatties. It strangely felt more like true comfort food to me than anything has in quite a while.
We obliged our guests to participate in a read through of the classic Burns poems with Americanized shortbread (who doesn't need a shortbread chicken?!) and of course some good British tea.

P.S. Ginger is a fan of haggis.

One reason I miss living in Glasgow's West End

I took a 2.5 mile walk today. In Glasgow, 2.5 miles encompassed my universe - the University, our house, several main roads, where we bought our food... In (moderately urban) Shoreline, 2.5 miles covers part of our neighborhood.


Glasgow

Shoreline (same scale). Central Seattle isn't even in the picture!
(Images from Google Maps)

This cold country: walking

The Kelvin River and a defunct railway (can you spot the icicle?)

Sunset in the arboretum - Kelvin walkway

Man in the trees

content with my snowangel

snowy branches

This cold country

This is an accurate representation of the past few weeks here. As expected, even though there is less than an inch of actual snow (in Glasgow), everyone here is FREAKING OUT. Apparently there have only been 2 or 3 winters colder than this since they started keeping records in the early 1900's. So.. the council isn't exactly brilliant at keeping the roads and pavements/sidewalks safe. I, however, am thoroughly enjoying it, and MUCH prefer this to the incessant rain that is typical of this time of year. I've been walking to and from work, and a lot within work as usual, and yes, it is lovely to walk in the ice and snow. Give me ice and snow any day over pouring down rain.

I do have sympathy for the older folks though. Relying on buses and walking anywhere would be a bit more scary with aged bones and slower reaction times.

Looks like this will stay with us maybe even until we depart this cold country. We really will be moving to warmer climes! (Everyone here has been asking me if I'm glad to move to warm weather.. I think when most Scots think 'US' they think 'California' or 'Florida' and don't realise some parts of the US are similar in climate to here) (The other question I get asked is, 'do you have a job waiting for you there?' Anyone know how I can set it up so I have a job waiting for me? Please? Can one actually do that?!?)

Thanks to Jeanne for the photo!

Merry Christmas!

We hope you all have had a peaceful season, enjoying the winter moments in whatever place you are.

This is our last Christmas in Glasgow. We return to the states at the end of January, when our lives will face a tumultuous change. We look forward to meeting up with all of you who are stateside in the new year. It has been a season of changes for us - anticipated and unanticipated - and we look forward to the encouragement we'll receive by being close to family and old friends again. We are sometimes a bit terrified of the prospect of starting life over, but we know God has us in His hands, the best place one can be.

Our last year in Glasgow has been full of deepened friendships, opportunities to serve in unexpected ways, and lots of wondering about what the future holds. We've been thinking on the many ways Glasgow, Scotland, and Europe have influenced us as individuals and as a married couple, and wondering how this will mesh with our move back to the states. It will be a readjustment to be immersed in the American culture again! Simple things ... taking buses everyday, only buying as many groceries as we can carry a half mile, and of course the constant nearly intravenous drip of good British tea. We'll now begin a new adventure in life, and we're so happy it means we will be able to see many of you often!

Wishing you joy and peace, all those things that sound cliche but are such a meaningful blessing when they are realised.

(Here are a couple of Christmas-y songs we like this year!)

Parsing (kind of like Snakes On A Plane?)

Being the condescending westerner that I am, I was enjoying this seemingly eccentric phrasing on the menu of a local Moroccan restaurant:

The Argan bears plum-sized fruits, which are eaten by goats on the tree.

Ha! Goats in a tree! Crazy Moroccans. Then Michael pointed out to me that there actually were goats up in the tree in the photo next to this paragraph.
It turns out that goats actually do climb Argan trees to get at the fruit. Who knew?


Photo from Wikipedia

Intermission

Taking a short break from our exploits in Hungary, here are some glimpses of our weekend. We took full advantage of the sunny weekend, being fully aware it may be the last bits of Glasgow sun we see as residents here.

Cathkin Braes Country Park - the highest point in Glasgow.

The Braes' shrooms

The promise of my downcast container garden

An evening on the balcony

Back in Glasgow.

We've been back in Glasgow for 6 days now. We're still coming to peace with our return. We had a magnificently beautiful time back in Washington State. We couldn't have asked for more lovely moments with family and friends. True thanks to each of you who made time to see us and made us feel so welcome and.. at home.

Highlights of our trip:

• The SNOW!! Not only did the west coast have record-breaking snowfall the first week we were there, but Eastern Washington had 3 feet! We had a surpassingly enjoyable time shovelling snow, going sledding, shovelling more snow, drinking tea, shovelling more snow... and using the snowblower! I was delighted with every aspect. Growing up on the west side of the state never afforded me experiences with frozen lakes, dangers of snow weight on rooftops, or sharing snowblower stories with neighbours. I love it.
• Driving across Washington. Joel and I repeatedly expressed fascination that we are natives to such an unbelievably beautiful and varied place. Even though we have travelled that journey many time before, coming back to it after a 2 year hiatus brought back resounding affirmations that we love this state, our (metaphorical and hopefully one day literal again) home.
• Seeing all of our grandparents well. We are so thankful that despite ongoing health issues, all of our loved grandparents have been well and we were able to have visits with them. Nothing like time away to make you really appreciate people's character, wisdom, and advice.
• Being with both of our families on Christmas. Joel's parents were so kind as to drive west to spend the holiday with my family. Having the opportunity to spend it with both sides is wonderful, and having families who get along and love each other so much is a blessing beyond what we could ask.
• My parent's crazy new cat, Loki. He's beyond insane. It was quite fun. Joel and him became inseparable friends (inseparable: often joined by the cat's bite and Joel's foot). Here's hoping he calms down a bit over the years! (No more jumping on Grandma's back, kitty.)
• Being able to catch up with true friends. There were some we didn't get to see, and most we'd love to spend more time with, but we soaked up the time we got with each of you. Thank you!

As always, we invite you all to come visit us in Glasgow. Most of you know our couch has been well broken in by those before you! Re-beginning our journey here in Glasgow, we appreciate your thoughts and prayers that we can remain steady and focused on the tasks at hand and finish strong. One year left!

(Pictures to follow. We have left/lost/misplaced all 3 of our USB camera cord thingys.)

Crookston Castle

OK, let's see if I can get a couple more 'travel' and 'local culture' posts in before my parents arrive on Wednesday! Back in May, when it was still summer, Heather and I had a free Saturday. There are still a few castle/ruin-y places around Glasgow we have been meaning to visit, so we decided on Crookston Castle, near Paisley. Rumors of Paisley's quality charity shops/thrift stores may have influenced our decision. The Antonine Wall will have to wait for another day...

I won't say too much about the castle. It was built by the Stewarts in about 1400, but got pretty badly damaged early on in its history. It has a nice tower from which you can see the Campsie Fells, a little of Glasgow, and a lot of housing schemes. The moat is pretty cool, but the grounds around the castle tend to be frequented (especially on sunny days) by large groups of intimidating adolescents. The ones playing football/soccer aren't bad, but the ones with cases of Stella are less hospitable. This may be why the castle caretaker has an Alsatian/German Shepherd.

This is one of the better ruins we've been to, slightly nicer than Bothwell Castle, we think. This is mainly because you can climb up so high in the tower.

Once we got back to Paisley, we weren't able to find the amazing charity shops, but I did get a record number of beard comments for one day. None were incredibly original, so I won't bother to post them here.

Names I Have Been Called

Jesus: Is He really a true Irishman?

Since moving to Glasgow, the variety in names I'm called by strangers has increased dramatically. In Seattle, I admit, the 'Jesus' count was pretty high, but, other than one lady on the Ave who asked me if I was a 'true Irishman', Seattleites have been fairly unimaginative.

Contrary to the opinions of many Americans, I actually do not 'fit in perfectly' in Scotland, and my (suave? distinctive? grotesque?) appearance has elicited comments from people on the street with surprising frequency. Among the more imaginative names I can now claim - in addition to a still-rising 'Jesus' count - are 'Hillbilly Willy', 'Scooby Doo', and, oddly, 'Kelsey' (the person who called me 'Kelsey' also asked if my thumb was broken and whether I was Amish). Other helpful comments directed my way have included 'your face is on fire' and 'look at the state of him...'

Yesterday was a two-pointer, with one more 'Jesus' and an entirely new one to my experience: 'Worzel Gummidge'. I was particularly surprised at this last comment, because, personally, I had never seen the resemblance. For those of you who don't know (probably nearly everyone who reads this), Worzel Gummidge was the main character in a British children's TV show from the 1970s. He was played by John Pertwee, who some of you (Dad?) will recognize as the third (and third least annoying) Doctor Who. The Worzel Gummidge character is perhaps even more perplexing than the Doctor: he is a mischievous talking scarecrow with a set of interchangeable heads. My friend James' experience verifies that, despite the (ostensible) good intentions of the show's writers, such disturbing imagery often had a traumatic effect on children.

Presumably, my similarity to Worzel Gummidge is limited to my shaggy hair (time for a trim) and possession of a hat. I'd like to think that my Glaswegian commenter regards me as a potential friend, a welcome addition to West End culture, rather than a macabre pastoral oddity.

P.S. Here are some clips from the show, if you like to scare yourself:

• The introduction
  
• A frightening song after which Worzel Gummidge verbally abuses children. Observe their terrified expressions.
  
• Part of a distressing episode involving a seesaw and free tobbacco

Which is the real Worzel Gummidge?

The new digs

We moved to a new flat 3 weeks ago, but we haven't put up pictures of the new place yet. There are three reasons for this:

But, hey, it's warm, bright, and comfortable, and the view's not bad.

We did it!

Aaron Pettis visited us this week, and we all had a good time together, walking aimlessly for miles and miles and finding parking lots to stand in. During our survey of the Finnieston area of Glasgow, we found something that is sad: an abandoned piano, completely dismantled, in an alley.

The movie that ate my computer.

If anyone wants to see the movie that I spent 60 solid hours making for my church, you can download it here now!

[5/18/07 - fixed video URL]

Not this kind...

Here are some photos of the demolition of Partick Central Station. This kind of destruction is not my hobby. Those apartments in the background look like better candidates...

Photos by Ewan Crawford. Used by permission.

Lunch

I fried some sliced porridge today for lunch. It's nice!

RIP Partick Central Station (1896-2007)

"Workmen yesterday sealed off the former Partick Central Station booking office in Glasgow in preparation for knocking down the building, which is thought to date from 1896 and has been praised by Historic Scotland and the Glasgow Building Preservation Trust."
(link to the Glasgow Herald article, and another in the Evening Times.)

Partick Central Station was built in 1896, in the middle of a bridge, but was more recently used as an auction.

They're going to use the site for a park or a Tesco.

We wanted to try to turn the building into a coffee house...

How To Break Into Our House

Thanks for Brad!

Thanksgiving night.



Richard: I want a ferret...
Graham: You could be like... The Beastmaster!
Joel: Yeah... What were the names of his ferrets? They were really dumb names...
Krista: Tawnya?
Joel: Tawnya and Brad!

Thus you may see that Brad is the optimal animal name. Not a bad name in itself, it becomes the best name for animals. Imagine:

Brad the Iguana
Brad the Hermit Crab
Brad the Snail
Brad the Pot-Bellied Pig
Brad the Pit Viper (BradLEY! Get your venomous fangs out of him!)
Brad the Box Turtle