Peacenation

Serenity is paramount.

My phone doesn't work. Aside from building a boat dock, a ramp, and a few fires, I have no responsibilities whatsoever. I have no schedule. I don't have to worry about money, people, noise, pollution..... pretty much the only concern I have is for the bugs. I'll survive them though.

Lake Michigan is absolutely gorgeous. The weather is impeccable. The flight in was quick and uneventful (which is usually better than the alternative). I can feel my chest relaxing for the first time in months. I kicked up dirt on the shores of Lake Michigan this morning. It's a little more awe-inspiring than the Ohio.

Honestly, I couldn't be happier right now. I'm going to go play the guitar or read or indulge some other guilty pleasure I never find time for in the "real world". Catch ya on the flip side.

I'll be camping tonight when the moon kisses the midnight sky.

Hi, My Name Is

All sorts of crazy goings on today.... I got my official acceptance letter at Purdue (for the second time), I got a pretty cool compliment at work which I'll have to tell you about later, I made some good money, I found people to cover all my shifts so I can head to West Lafayette tomorrow, Donovan confirmed that he will indeed graduate, and I just helped my new neighbors Jason and Clara(??) set up their network.... They apparently noticed my Computers Plus uniform a few times and knocked on my door tonight to ask for help. No harm, no foul. They're cool folks anyway.

Today rocked.

Now, I should go pack. Please note that the primary purpose of this post was to help me remember their names, but I've already forgotten dude's wife's name. Why am I terrible with names?

The Wind Up

If I had a summer to speak of, this would be it. That's right, I'm less than 3 months away from West Lafayette, IN. Work's going well, I've got some pretty sweet vacation lined up for the next couple of months, and then I've got to redirect all my energy into academia.

Milton wrote a dissertation on his idea of an ideal education. I won't bore you with the gory details, but I was interested and pleased that he included physical exercise, diet, and theological study as integral parts of the broader whole. His school varied little from those of Aristotle, Isocrates, Plato, Galileo Galilei, and the host of poets, philosophers, and kings who were raised under their tutelage. These aren't men who "took themselves too seriously" as a principle. Prima facie, they took the world seriously and made serious endeavors to wield what knowledge it presented them to forge for mankind its future. From the die of their lives we have cast the blazons of intelligence, fortitude, temperance..... These are not emblems to be cast down and forgotten, nor to be worshipped as unattainable idols of men before our time. They are a compass-head for those men and women willing to sacrifice comfort, fortune, and companionship to the glory of God and His creation.

How's that for letting go of myself? Come to think of it, how cowardly is that? And what a tragic shame.