Home

After a sparkling drive home through splendid landscapes filled with vibrant, Spring colors, we arrived home at 9:00 pm last night.

The trip was timed to place us in the little hamlet of Runnemede New Jersey at suppertime Tuesday because we know of an exceptional diner, called Phily, in this town.

 She sits like a cruise ship docked at Tinytown.

This is the main entrance at left.

 This is the right side.

A decorative antique.

Phily's not only has great food but the servings are good enough for two meals. However we did not opt for a doggy bag since we were traveling.

Here's a sampling of the above-mentioned Spring colors ...

 In Runnemede, NJ.

 A little magenta to cheer the soul.

Tread not on the royals.

A walk in the woods.

And with that our Florida adventure has come to a close.

A Send Off

Supper last night was provided by an elder in the local congregation. He and his wife had invited us and, as it turned out, quite a few others from the congregation also. His name is Emmanuel, Manny for short, he is originally from Nigeria, and went to Paris where he was trained as a Cordon Bleu Chef. So, needless to say, this dinner was quite a treat.

 The Main Course.

Dessert.

After calling the crowd together for the pre-meal prayer, Manny announced this occasion marked the end of the Sheppard's 3-month visit to their congregation, and that they were all happy to have had us visiting with them. The group responded with a round of applause.

Manny's dog, Portia, had put on

her best dress for the occasion.

I asked Manny about an old brown-and-white portrait photo I saw on his wall. He told me it was his father, who was the first of many in his family to embrace the truth thanks to the ministry of Bible Brown. If you read the Yearbooks, you've heard of him.

Conversation covered a wide spectrum of topics including a little about experiences in race relations. It was all very interesting and, although as Christians we know no barriers to our brotherhood based on nationality, language, or race, it is still a high privilege actually to experience it, particularly as Carol and I did last night as the only two white persons present being welcomed so heartily as part of the family with many expressing the desire that we return here again.

Toward the evening's end I asked for a group photo. As they all assembled, I took a video of them followed by a final photo. I post the results here ...

And for those of you reading this on a device that, for whatever reason, refuses to load and play the video, here is the group shot ...

I won't list all the names here but in the center is my young

friend Qis. Left of him is Elise, the pioneer sister who has

been mentioned here before. The brother directly behind

her is Manny.

We had a thoroughly enjoyable time with everybody. The whole experience has been stimulating and enriching. 

And now it's time to load our luggage into our Toyota so we will be prepared to steer it homeward early tomorrow morning.

The Days Dwindle Down

Our plan was to remain in Florida until the Memorial and that was yesterday. Attendance was robust. The congregation has 107 publishers and 248 attended. The man I've started a Bible study with was present, accompanied by his teenage daughter. The event was held in the auditorium of a center for the elderly.

 Here we are with a dear sister, Philomene.

An excellent pioneer sister: Elise.

Elise was accompanied by two young people she studies with, a young lady and her brother. They also regularly attend meetings. When Carol asked Elise for the above photo the young man was eager to be a part of it. Regarding Bible truth and JWs, he wants to be part of everything. He is eager to become a spiritual "brother."

Today we had a few errands to run and got caught in a thunderstorm. Florida clouds dispense rain with the greatest generosity and insistence.

It was rain, but it was warm rain.

Later, after we got back, we caught a tornado warning on the TV. There was strong possibility of one forming along the road we just traveled, not far away. There were also flood warnings. But that was two hours ago. Things have simmered down.

 It's all a matter of attitude.

 As long as you're prepared to keep dry.

Really?

Back to the Barber

The old pate gradually grew hair-intensive and I looked like a bad caricature of a 1964 Beatle. Today, a visit to the barbershop was mandatory if I wanted to see the people I was talking to next time I went in the ministry.

While Carol occupied herself in a bookstore next door, I entered a one-of-a-kind barbershop to discover 2 barbers trimming customers with five men, and one woman with a little boy, waiting in black upholstered chairs. "Do you have an appointment, sir?" asked the closest barber.

"No. Do I need one?" I said.

"No you don't but you'll have to wait a few minutes," he said. I glanced again at the seated crowd and imagined Carol would be able to read three books and a magazine article before she'd see me again. But I was in for a surprise. The barber who spoke to me finished with the man in his chair and all the other men got up to accompany him out. The woman with the boy approached me and, patting me on the arm, said, "It's usually better to have an appointment here. Then you don't have to wait very much." I mentioned I was used to a little wait. She patted me on the shoulder and said, "Sometimes the wait here can be quite long."

I said, "It looks like I won't have much waiting today. All these fellows are leaving."

She held my arm and said, "Yes, and I'm leaving too. See you at the meeting Tuesday night." And, as she left with her boy, the realization seeped in that this was a Witness from the local congregation I had never spoken to and had failed to recognize.

The barbershop warrants being called one-of-a-kind due to a number of features I have not observed elsewhere.

 Each barber chair has its own video screen to

entertain the customer.

A heavily bearded young man wearing a baseball cap appeared on the scene to begin his shift and invited me to a chair. Turned away from the video screen I faced this decorative specimen of Americana.

Either it's decorative or my barber parked it there.

As I sat in my chair another barber arrived, boosting the squad to four, and he eagerly showed his forearm to my barber. He had recently had it tattooed with a large design difficult to discern through the massive bruise. My barber responded with, "I'll never understand this kind of thing. It's definitely not for me. It makes me shudder to look at that." I felt gratified to have such an eloquent spokesman. The comments did absolutely nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the tattooee who skipped off to display his wounds to the other barbers.

Note the large speakers and set of drums at the end of the room.

I asked about the drums and guitars hanging on a wall. I learned that every Tuesday there is a free Rock concert starting at 8:30 pm, 30 minutes before the barbershop hangs up the clippers. I inquired whether haircuts administered during that half-hour enjoy the same level of quality. He assured me they did. The concert of course continues for a couple of hours.

My haircut was of acceptable quality and the suspicion raised by all the barbers wearing caps was apparently unfounded.

Day of the Lizards

I believe all discerning people understand why shopping centers have, in recent years, begun providing areas furnished with upholstered chairs and sofas. Without question the serious and qualified shoppers in this world are the ladies and, just as they require a parking lot to park their cars, they also need reasonably comfortable chairs and sofas to park their husbands. I don't have hard evidence but I suspect the backless granite ledges encircling the fountains were offering insufficient hospitality to the old male gluteous maximus. Perhaps such seats of stone are their own hard evidence.

It appears Florida is pushing this concept to impressive new levels. We were at a store today that provides a roofed bay, 40 feet by 40 feet, open on one side to the exterior, furnished with about 8 sofas and many matching chairs, and decorated with potted plants.

I spent a little time in this area today, not that I didn't also look around the store. But we all know how a man shops. If he needs new socks he goes straight to the socks department, oblivious to all signs advertising specials on this and that. He knows the color socks he wants, snaps up the front pair on the rack and bee-lines to the check-out counter eager to pay whatever price in exchange for a speedy exit from the store.

While outside I noticed busy lizards and approached to watch them. I was impressed with the spiral curl these fellows can put in their tails, more nicely done than a fiddlehead.

The fellow on top was eating tiny dead leaf

fragments. Perhaps he had his fill of insects

and felt for a little salad.

As interesting as it was to observe the behavior of the lizards, it was even more interesting to observe the behavior of the ladies emerging from their treasure hunt in the store. One woman came strutting out, bags in both hands, talking to herself, congratulating herself on what she found. Carol told me that inside the store it is not uncommon for women to hold up a piece of merchandise and talk to it. I also saw a woman leave the store, get as far as the curb, then dance the rest of the way to her car. 

And what do the men on the sofas do? Most fiddle with a phone, some snooze, and one old fellow with a long beard used his sofa to perform stretch exercises. What passersby must have thought to see a sofa with a right leg jutting up from it I cannot guess.

As Yogi Berra said, "You can observe a lot just by watching."

Heavenly Things

We enjoyed a quiet day by the pool today. A fountain in a nearby pond sprays water into the air and when the breeze comes up it sends a fine mist over us, reclining on our lounge chairs, and sprinkles us with fine cooling droplets. On an 85 degree F. day, this is pure heaven.

(I even took a minute to spot faces in a passing cloud).

Uncle Alvin

Speaking of paradisaical conditions, I am sure you have heard of "the land flowing with milk and honey."  May I recommend you try putting these two items in your morning coffee? We may not be living in a paradise just now, but a morning coffee flowing with milk and honey is a small beautiful taste of it.

While doing a little Bible reading by the pool (on my iPad) I came across a tiny detail in the book of Job that sparked my curiosity. It is the part where God first speaks to Job and says, "Brace yourself, please, like a man; I will question you, and you inform me. Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me if you think you understand. Who set its measurements, in case you know?"

Instead of 'brace yourself like a man' older translations say, "Gird up now thy loins like a man..."

I wondered what exactly this meant. What, specifically, was Job being called on to do? I had a vague idea of course but I wanted a more specific, clearer picture. So I checked other translations on my Bible app (a very interesting app by the way with about 50 translations).

The Modern English Versions reads, "Prepare yourself like a man." The Good News Bible says, "Now stand up straight and answer the questions I ask you." That was pretty clear. Eventually I came to The Message Bible and read this, "Pull yourself together, Job! Up on your feet! Stand tall! I have some questions for you, and I want some straight answers. Where were you when I created the earth? Tell me, since you know so much! Who decided its size? Certainly you'll know that!"

Now that may be more of a paraphrase than a direct translation, but it sure is clear. God was telling Job to steel himself for some blockbuster questions.

I kind of like some of the unusual renderings in this Bible so I downloaded it.

 

 

Tuesday Errands

With minor errands to run we jumped into our car around 1:00 p.m. and almost jumped out again. The sun had turned it into a kiln and I was glad for the chance to start up air-conditioning before the dash oozed onto the floor. Needless to say these are the observations of a northerner to whom a day at 87 degrees Fahrenheit is warm. I wore shorts and flip-flops. For many locals though it is merely another brisk late winter day.

Yes, that's a coat.

As I may have indicated in a previous post, road traffic here is not noticeably different from what we've seen in Mexico. One tends to dial upwards the defensive attitude. I offer an illustrative example from this afternoon's navigation.

This fellow first appeared in the rear view mirror,

directly behind me.

The first scenario to quiver the old gray matter was, What if I stop at a red light and he stops right behind me but too abruptly? This concern was soon superseded by the truck's turn into the left lane where he began gradually to overtake us. I would soon have this pending avalanche tottering along beside us. There was nothing much I could do and thankfully he passed us without the kind of incident that attracts those folks who report the evening news. Stopped at a red light the next concern was, When he steps on the gas again will the conglomeration move forward with him unitedly? Or will it stage a spectacular act of obedience to the law of gravity reaching as far as our car?

I am happy to report we made it home unscratched.