Back at it

It's been a wild couple of weeks for Anna and I, and we made things absolutely crazy this past weekend. Since our little CRX doesn't hold more than two people and lacks a back seat, we drove over 1800 miles to Avon, CO to switch cars with the family (sidenote: I hope not to offend Brian, Rachel, Gayle and Ryan by laying this tantalizing fact out there, since we were a few hours away from Denver. Believe you me: if we could have gone the extra couple hours and enjoyed a brief stay, we would've. But I digress ...). The trip was like a marathon, spiritual journey and plunge into the twilight zone. Nothing like driving through the Joshua trees of the Mojave, the glittering neon lights of Vegas and through the cascading snow of the Rockies all in one day.

To make the trip, we drove from 5:30 am on Saturday morning 'till 11:30 pm that night, slept till 9 am and hit the road after breakfast at Denny's. All said and done, we made it back to Pasadena after $114 in gas, two stops at Arby's, a double-double from In n' Out and many miles of daydreaming and singing along to cd's (just bought David Gray's "Life in Slow Motion"; very soothing and rhythmic, excellent for the decending hours of dusk).

What was really hard was the amount of dark hours we experienced since we drove away from the sun the first day and couldn't catch up to it the second. There's nothing like seeing the sun set at 4 pm California time and knowing there's six mores hours to drive.

Arizona seemed like a dream that Nicolas Cage had in "Raising Arizona", and parts of Utah looked like the end of "Terminator 2". But perhaps the most surreal stretch of the drive came on I-70 east as the highway snaked its way through a valley with water flowing west beside the highway and snow softly falling. Meanwhile, a train heading east was barrelling along beside the highway - moving silently around and through mountains while its yellow-white light shone forth onto canyon walls. By the way, did I mention a big ol' buck tried to cross in front of our car at one point. It thought better when I flashed my brights and honked the horn while hurtling towards it at 70 mph. That was the closest we came to danger; thanks be to God for keeping us safe and sound.

Also a big thanks to Drew for being a great bro and sacrificing more than a few days to make the other side of the trip. His was actually longer - over 2,000 miles (But then again, he also got to ski in Avon). It was great to catch up with him, and we all three enjoyed the briefest of minutes we had over breakfast. We got some great pics in the snow - one of them is at the top.

Anyhow back to my original point: things have been crazy lately. And the haste around the holidays has left Anna and I saddened. For the first time, we both feel Christmas is coming too fast. Perhaps more disturbing, it's been hard for us to reflect upon and enjoy this season. Connecting with family, reflecting on the year gone by and the year ahead, giving gifts from our heart and meditating upon the gift of Jesus Christ have alluded us by and large.

While going through these delirious days, I've also realized that a great many Christmas stories/movies are centered upon this theme: life begins to move irreconciably out of control which causes great consternation or sadness. But just when things seem lost, life is restored and new opportunities are granted. Such are the tales of Ebenezer Scrooge and his depleted existence or Clark Griswald's doomed Christmas hopes. So perhaps this more to be said about this Christmas season.

We have continued to get some wonderful cards, emails and gifts from friends and family, which has been a blessing. Even if our communication and support has been sparse, we are both thankful others have been more gracious. It is hard being far apart from people we love - always, Christmas just accentuates the reality.

Anna has been battling a wicked cough the last few days, and she acted wisely by taking work off today. It's amazing how emotional, pyschological and spiritual diress manifest themselves in physical ways. Anna noticed last week that our little boy to be wasn't nearly as active, either - a fact we attribute to stress. But no worries; we've restocked our pantry and gotten some Echinacea tea to stir up some good health. Plus, seventy degrees and sunny can't hurt the cause, which is what it was today in Pasadena.

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Only a few more days to go before Christmas Eve. Peace to all.

Wes