Geographist

Routines are starting to be beautiful things once again around our house.  Activities are picking up and, other than the two of us who sit at the house during the weekdays, our lives are now quite similar to the way they were in February.  Except for the tropics, that is... Sunday - It was an early morning back at church once again, although since neither Mrs. Geographist or I were taking part in the music this week (and therefore no pre-service rehearsal or sound check) we could at least wait a little later to head out.  Plus our local kolache joint was open by the time we passed by!  The morning was bright, but the trip home gave us a glimpse of what was coming.  Tropical Storm Beta was menacing, and as we headed through downtown Houston we said goodbye to the sun for the last time in a few days.  By the time we grabbed pizza for lunch near our house, the crew was having to run through a solid drizzle falling on the parking lot.  Bible study on Zoom ...

 A quick thank-you to everyone who has been a part of this website since the beginning.  This week I got my 5,000th hit, and while that's not quite Amazon-esque it's still a pretty cool milestone that I certainly appreciate.  If you're new to the blog, I encourage you to check out the original two threads: Our Story With God (a trip through the Bible as a single story, and now a published book that you can find at your favorite retailer), and the history of Boston (a geographic review of the Cradle of American Liberty).  Now on to week 6! Sunday - We got to have our first meeting with the new class we'll be teaching this year at church.  I always enjoy working with kids in the 5th grade because it's an interesting year of growing up for them.  As they morph from little children into preteens it is amazing how deep into conversations they can go.  And they mercifully haven't quite hit the surly years of adolescence!  My office had a drive-thru birt...

Labor Day is such a weird holiday - "Hey, let's celebrate labor by not working!"  Yes, I know the history and know what it's about.  No, I still don't think it's a very good excuse for a day off.  Be that as it may, we still have a three day weekend so we might as well use it for something good.  Let's see how this week turned out. Sunday - I tried something new at church: a face shield.  Several folks use them there, and I like the fact that it lets others see your face.  I told my wife, who let me borrow the thing from among her school supplies, that because I didn't remove the protective film from off the front it gave everything a bit of a haze which made me think I was in an 80s hair band music video (probably not the vibe the pastor was shooting for during his sermon).  Mrs. Geographist is going to take the shield back during school days, however, so I'll have to either go find one of my own or keep using the mask on weekdays.  After church ...

Well everyone, this was a week to attempt a return to a regular schedule.  How did y'all do?  Step one for us was obviously to catch up on what we missed, then decide how far we could take things from there. Sunday - To begin the week, we were finally able to rejoin our church family again for an in-person worship service.  It was beautiful to be inside that building once again, but since I'd been able to play in a string ensemble for a couple of services that were broadcast online it was obvious that what we were missing wasn't the structure.  It was the people!  The total number was quite a bit smaller than usual, as can be expected, so we still have more to look forward to down the road.  My parents, who were formerly members of our church before moving east, were able to join us as well.  We tried visiting a popular restaurant near our house for the first time, but apparently it was too popular and we didn't want to wait an hour and a half for a ta...