Not Me, Virginia

Dearest Rachel – I hardly need to remind you about events like Crazy Hair Night at Sparks; it was one of those ‘theme’ nights that you always used to make a point of participating in… As for myself, I didn’t throw myself into these theme nights with your level of abandon. Part of this wasContinue reading “Not Me, Virginia”

No Particular Point to the Moment

Dearest Rachel – If I’m to be honest with you – as well as myself – about this series of letters to you, that they’re as much a record of life happening in the days after your absence as anything else, I should be telling you about the events of the past evening. For someContinue reading “No Particular Point to the Moment”

Time for (Mis)Adventure

Dearest Rachel – In a way, it feels weird to spend a day completely away from working at Just One, especially considering how much work there is to do.  The poor, as Jesus said, will always be with us, and they will always have needs we can fill for them, hopefully in an attempt toContinue reading “Time for (Mis)Adventure”

Misunderstanding the Assignment

Dearest Rachel – I’ve mentioned before that I’ve never actually had a chance to do karaoke, and it would seem that last night, that showed. I’ve always envisioned it pretty much like how the Japanese do it; a small handful of people getting together in a room no bigger than a hotel room, to competeContinue reading “Misunderstanding the Assignment”

Put Through Paces

Dearest Rachel – Not that it’s germane to anything else going on, but I feel the need to send you greetings on this, the fifty-fourth month since your departure. It’s been four and a half years at this point, and more often than not, the twenty-third of the month still gets my attention in aContinue reading “Put Through Paces”

Indolence Day

Dearest Rachel – So here’s the setup; with our bellies full of Mississippi pot roast, so we wouldn’t be tempted by the blandishments of the various vendor stalls throughout the midway (although that wasn’t the purpose behind such a meal; it was Thursday evening, after all, and Daniel and I have that standing invitation soContinue reading “Indolence Day”

You’d Think I’d Get Whiplash

Dearest Rachel – After waking up yesterday around five or so (Eastern time, mind you), and driving what turned out to be some seven hours, thanks to several bouts of construction and one point where a car we passed in the corner of the merge was completely burned out, down to the wheel rims (thankfully,Continue reading “You’d Think I’d Get Whiplash”

What Happens Next

Dearest Rachel – After that long wait to get myself on a tender, several of the crew came up from the gangway deck to let us know that tender #15 had space for just ten more people. I was among the ones who volunteered, and literally was the last person on.  It was either thatContinue reading “What Happens Next”

No Ragarts

Dearest Rachel – I’m giving myself just a little more than two hours from check-out at the hotel until my pick up for the cruise port. As I’m scheduled to show up for check-in at two, that gives me 45 minutes to ride those six miles, which may be absurdly too much time to getContinue reading “No Ragarts”

For the Last Time

Dearest Rachel – There’s a saying that has made its way around the internet. It doesn’t appear to be a quote, per se; probably because it hasn’t ever been structured in a particularly pithy manner so as to make it properly quotable. But that doesn’t make the sentiment any less poignant. It states that, thereContinue reading “For the Last Time”

Singing Promises I Can’t Make

Dearest Rachel – Another day, another song pops up in my algorithm that gets under my skin. This time, it was a group that you and I had heard of, at least (albeit not until we were long since together, so it was never a part of our mix tape collection), but a song fromContinue reading “Singing Promises I Can’t Make”

Scheduled Start-ups

Dearest Rachel – I woke up this morning, feeling a little dismayed. Not because it was too late to get up and out of the house right when the gym was opening. Sure, I could always stand to do that, especially since I’m two pounds heavier this morning than yesterday, despite having had little moreContinue reading “Scheduled Start-ups”

Tired

Let’s face it! From the waist down, everything is kaput! “I’m Tired,” Lili von Schtupp (Madeline Kahn), from Blazing Saddles (1974) Dearest Rachel – You might recall, back before we all but officially turned Saturday mornings into “our” time, I would wake up early in the morning, drive to the office, and put in aContinue reading “Tired”

Shouldn’t It Be The Weekend By Now?

Dearest Rachel – You know, apart from putting sufficient time in at the ‘office’ (and it’s not as if I haven’t done any ‘work’ there these last few days), it rather feels like it’s been a suitably full and eventful week already. I’ve gotten in all the exercise I ever do these days in theContinue reading “Shouldn’t It Be The Weekend By Now?”

Trying Not to Break the String

Dearest Rachel – I think it was somewhere between eight and nine o’clock that Lars called me last night, in part to wish me a happy new year, and also to decide what day this week to go walking together (for the record, we’re going tomorrow, as today is apparently threatening rain). At some pointContinue reading “Trying Not to Break the String”

from Rachel: My Favorite Things

Please fill in the blank with the appropriate response. Favorite colors: “purple, then yellow, then green” Favorite type of music: “40’s” Favorite travel destinations: “Middle Bass Island, Ohio; foreign lands – Japan, Italy, Greece” Favorite foods: “BLTs, sweet & sour, crab in alfredo sauce” Favorite desserts: “chocolate anything, cheesecake” Favorite influential people: “C. S. Lewis,Continue reading “from Rachel: My Favorite Things”

Closing Night

Dearest Rachel – And so, the curtain goes up on the curtain going down. Last full day aboard ship. After taking care of some bills and an email (which may become important later on, we’ll all have to tune in and find out), I decided to add upstairs, and see if I had better luckContinue reading “Closing Night”

Adventures on the Odyssey

Dearest Rachel – The darkness eventually begins to clear as morning breaks, and the sun comes out in full power before I’m finished with my meal. Granted, I take my time with it, but I’m willing to claim that half my time is consumed with finding an open – and sanitized – table to sitContinue reading “Adventures on the Odyssey”