The Noblest Invention

A friend at work gave me a book entitled The Noblest Invention. This illustrated history of the bicycle is very well done.

The forward by Lance Armstrong reminded me of the first bike (red, white and blue banana seat) my parents bought for me.

It reminded me of the freedom that a Free Spirit ten speed from Sears gave me to ride anywhere in Elkhart County to bail hay all day and return that night. It reminded me of friends that I used to ride with when I was a boy.

It reminded me of my habit to repack bearings regularly so I could ride every Sunday without too much resistance or crank noise.

It reminded me that I was on my bike when I knew that Jackie was God's gift to me long before she accepted that dreaded fact.

It reminded me of the first high end road bike, Schwinn Le Tour, that I purchased used from a guy that needed $50 and didn't need the bike that his parents bought for him for closer to $500. Later when I took that bike to Purdue, it was too high end and all I had left was a cut cable lock hanging on a bike rack at married student housing. I remember staring at the empty rack, wishing that I hadn't sold my Free Spirit for $25 a few years back.

It reminded me of my first vehicle that required insurance and a license, which happened to be a Honda CM400. A simple iteration that allowed me to go to farther places faster.

It reminded me of my second motorcycle, a Night Hawk that I rode two hours every weekend from Purdue to wherever Jackie was in whatever whether was between us. After we were married, I rode it to work and remember a day when Jackie had to wear a snowmobile suit behind me when her car wouldn't start one winter day in Lafayette.

It reminded me of a tall skinny friend on a big orange rode bike that rode everyday when I first moved to Lexington and how I struggled to keep up with him one day while we traveled 134 miles to Bloomington. I foolishly dropped out of the pack two hours into the ride, and had to skip pitstops to catch up or else I would not have made it. After catching them, I never left the pack again.

It reminded me of a friend that invited me to mountain bike for the first time in Albequeque and how cactus thorns release air pressure that makes carrying a bike easier than riding it.

It reminded me of the cost of freedom and independence and how dangerous that can be if not handled responsibly.

I will never be known as a bike racer, let alone the greatest cyclist to ever walk the earth like Lance, but I do agree that a bike has got to be near the top of the invention list. However, like all things created, obsessions can be destructive and erase all the freedom that was originally experienced.

I'm glad that the friends that I rode with last Saturday understand how a bike can be used for real freedom.

Easter Sunday

 
 

Flamingos, Fish and Fruit bats

Becca and I spent the morning at Tampa Lowry Park Zoo taking pictures and eating ice cream.

Most of the pictures taken did not include Becca, but it just so happens that these do.

The zoo has been called the best children's zoo in the nation and it definitely had a lot of children. The groups of kids and teachers tended to hang out in the covered areas and the petting zoos so we didn't run into too many crowds until we went to get some ice cream at noon.

I got my ice cream in a cone because I am very environmentally conscious about the decisions that I make while I am reading Hot, Flat, and Crowded all week.

Becca may love animals, but she ate her ice cream from a Styrofoam cup with a plastic spoon so she may as well have been killing endangered species with her bare hands instead of warming them to a slow death one plastic spoon at a time.

Angered by her choices to destroy the earth, a giant fruit bat swept her away and hung her upside down in his exhibit.

Becca promised to eat her ice cream from a cone from now on, so the fruit bat let her go.

Who built our vacation spot

Entrepreneurs and engineers worked together to build an accessible island in this comfortable corner of the Gulf of Mexico that is called Clearwater Beach.

The only concrete section of the first wooden bridge is all that stands today after being torn down in the 1924. Our boat tour guide tells us that a barge served as the gateway to decide whether foot travel across the barge or boat travel while the barge temporarily moved away from the bridge. Today a few birds roost there.

That bridge was obsoleted by the "Million Dollar Bridge" that had mechanical equipment that would lift the bridge to allow boats to pass. When Jackie's family traveled to Clearwater in 1983, they traveled across the $1M bridge. After being torn down in 2002, the remainder of that bridge is being used as a fisherman's pier.


The fixed span bridge that we crossed to reach our vacation spot obseleted the $1M bridge and was budgeted at $30M but ended up costing $90M and using a whole lot of concrete to provide automobile traffic flow and boat passing to occur 100% of the time with more lanes of traffic, but still jammed at both ends with idling cars.

There were two other fixed span bridges and another that had yet to be torn down.

Throughout the tour, there were many landmarks that were remnants of the work of the Army Corp of Engineers as the made the intracoastal waterway in the shallow waters of the Gulf in the 1940's.

The result is a nice place to rest, enjoy sunshine and eat good seafood.

Kyle is a mermaid

In order to make Kyle feel welcome on our family vacation, we decided to bury him in sand, burn the top of his forehead and sculpt him into the shape of Ariel the mermaid.

While most of us just moved the sand from the area immediately adjacent to Kyle with our bare hands and a frisbee, Adam decided to import some heavier sand that was a little closer to the ocean.

When looking at the picture, Kyle said "That's Tight". I pointed out that it was just cohesion and momentum that gave the appearance of tight. These boys really need to study harder in physics class.

Welcome to Morrow

With the economy looking like it has no tomorrow, Jackie and I decided to take the family on a "free" vacation before our travel award points expired or the company that honors them went bankrupt as that seems to be vogue.

Jackie booked a pit stop for us at a Hampton Inn along I-75 in Morrow, GA because of its location about midway to our destination of Clearwater Beach.

Kyle Polley, Adam and I were having breakfast when Kyle noticed the double meaning of the sign that we all missed the night before, "Welcome to Morrow".

We discussed the fact that Tomorrow never gets here, but we also discussed that as new creations, we also house tomorrow, yesterday and today within our jars of clay.

The value of quality to a craftsman

I'm still reading "The Craftsman" by Richard Sennett.

I read this morning that a focus on people within a company can drive the craftsman away. If you want to attract and retain craftsman, a company should instead focus on quality of the product.

Sennett describes Deming as complex and cautionary. The complexity is that to arouse the aspiration for quality and make good on it, the organization itself has to be well crafted in form. It needs open immediate communication, but it needs to wait to bring its products to market until they are really good. Deming knew these aspects of organization seldom appear on management charts of who reports to whom. Deming was not, however, a simple salesman, a booster of quality; he recognized that quality-driven work, focused on achieving good concrete results, does not necessarily unify or sustain organizations.

Lacrosse Scrimmage in Knoxville, TN

We traveled to Knoxville this weekend for Adam's Lacrosse team to get three scrimmages on Saturday.

The picture to the left shows Coach Andy Tarter giving Adam (#6 Black) some tips before play was ready to start against CHS. Adam looked more comfortable today than he did last fall, but as a freshman, he still has a lot to learn about the game.

They were supposed to have a fourth scrimmage and a full game on Sunday, but the weather did not cooperate.

Adam stayed with friends at a teammate's vacation house, so Jackie and I enjoyed the weekend hanging out with some of the Lacrosse parents.

This picture was taken while Adam (#6 White) had the ball or shortly after losing it. He avoided a body check by getting a little lower than the opponent. Throughout the day, Adam consistantly was able to stay low, but needs to work on keeping his feet underneath him while attacking.

My basketball coaches always told me I was out of control, I suspect that I looked a little like Adam "falling forward" with the ball.

Tates Creek finished the day with a respectable 1-2 record considering the age of the players.

Valentines Dinner hosted by the Youth Group

The Tatesbrook youth group served twenty some tables in the basement of the church for Valentines day.

Jackie and I went out to eat on February 7th, because we knew we would be in the kitchen on February 14th.

Kelley Thomas, Matt Hind, Kim Foster, Josh Covington and Erin Markert all did a great job serving with the youth that night.

Kelley and Gadis must have worked all day getting tables and decorations into the basement. They did a great job preparing. It wasn't until we started tearing down all the decorations that I realized just how much work it was to move in the furniture and decorate it.

After they served the guests and the guests had left the building, the youth sat down for a spaghetti dinner of their own.

Becca's perspective of Buster

Becca had a chance today to use her new camera to take pictures of one of her favorite subjects. She slipped on the ice and sort of fell into this perspective. She was quick enough to snap the shutter, so she thinks she may be a photographer some day.

Ice Storm

We have been buried in ice the last few days and are thankful that our power is delivered underground instead of from poles like other parts of the state.

There are very few original trees from when we first moved into the house and one of them is this Magnolia that is sagging under the weight of the ice. I sure hope it pulls itself up when the ice thaws. We have shot many three point shots through its branches over the years, so it will be hard to imagine the front yard without the Magnolia hanging over the driveway.

Becca and I went out this afternoon to take some pictures of the sun reflecting off and through the ice.

I also wanted to record some of the damage that occured around the house as our gutters were pulled slightly away from the house under the weight of the ice and constant rain snuck behind the flashing against the brick in the back of the house under the main roof.

Taking photos of minor damage seems trivial as the state experiences the second largest power outage in history.

If you can see past all of the damage, the vision is rather glorious.

The kids have also taken advantage of the comfortable 32 degree weather, lack of friction on the ground, and no school for the entire week.

Lots of sledding and sleepovers.

As I passed the elementary school on the way home from work, I noticed many families that decided to have some fun instead of cleaning up trees. Most of the tree cleanup can wait, but you can't sled next week.

The last picture is of the Tulip tree in our back yard. Seeing how this is the Kentucky state tree, one would hope that it would survive Kentucky weather. It lost some branches, but it is fairing better than our Cherry, Lilac, Dogwood and Magnolia.

I Dare You

While we were staying with Jackie's dad over Christmas, I looked through an old Purina 100 year anniversary book that had some great photography. I saw a reference to a book written by William H Danforth, the founder of Ralston Purina Company.

"I Dare You" was written to inspire the people of his company and the youth of America to pursue excellence and develop themselves in a balanced manner.

He tied these basic truths to the checkboard that helped to establish the long lasting brand on every mill and every bag of feed and on every box of cereal. The four sides of the squares represented fourfold development:

• Think Tall - Mental Development
• Stand Tall - Physical Development
• Smile Tall - Social Development
• Live Tall - Religious Development

After enjoying the entire book, some of my favorite parts were references to other great leaders like this statement by Sir Wilfred Grenfell, "If the hardest thing in the world to resist is temptation, we should present a vision of Christ that tempts men the right way..... it intoxicates with deeds of kindness, justice, chivalry, love".

Later he shared a perspective of the story of the loaves and fishes that struck a chord with me. His focus was on attitude, not the work that was done. The attitude that takes account of the resources possessed rather than the difficulties presented. "Measure your powers, not your problems". When the disciples counted the crowd and complained that a few loaves were not enough, Jesus said "Don't look at the hillside, look at the basket. Don't count the crowd, count the loaves." Resources and powers are given to those who use what resources and powers they have.

• Through the use of our muscles, our muscles group and harden
• Through the use of our mind, mental capacity increases
• Through the use of our spiritual powers, these powers heighten

Favorite Movies we all viewed in 2008

In order to make this list, all five Eby's must have seen this movie during the year it is nominated. There are a few movies that have been nominated by individual Eby's that were disqualified because they were not viewed by all of us.

For example: The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Wanted, Fireproof, Get Smart, Bucket List, Baby Mamma and other popular movies were seen by some but not all Eby's.

Here is the list for 2008:

1. Marley and Me ( First Unanimous Winner )
2. Hancock
   
3. Seven Pounds
4. The Notebook
   
5. Jumper
6. Expelled

Dudley shots - Adam Freshman Football

Dudley is my hero... I have been going to sports events for a very long time and taking pictures with a "better than consumer" grade camera with lots of lost shots because I am into the game and forget that I have a camera.

Like this "helmet to the ball" hit that Adam placed squarely on a Clark County runner while Jackie, Bud and I drank hot chocolate to keep warm. I really like being a spectator

Adam didn't run the ball much this year, but the Tates Creek offensive line really made some big holes for all the backs against Clark County. Craig really knew what to do with a hole that game. Clark County parents thought that Craig was headed for a Division I team.

It was fun to watch them play this year. It is going to continue to be fun watching these freshmen get better with some more strength, speed and discipline.

To the left is a shot of Adam dragging a Henry Clay defender for a couple of extra yards.

Back to Dudley.... Dudley retired from IBM years ago and as a hobby, he goes to Tates Creek High School sporting events and takes professional grade photographs that are better than any I have ever taken. This service that he provides is a great community builder and school builder and team builder.

To the right is Adam with a little open running room against Henry Clay after a screen pass to the right side. Martrell, our quarterback, did a great job of opening up the field looking at multiple receivers with the time he got from the offensive line.

Adam's best game of the year was against Lafayette.

This picture is just after receiving a middle screen pass, but his contributions to the defense were much more significant where he made several stops of one of the best running backs Adam will face as a Commodore.

Adam played with Bubba at LTMS and this was his first chance to go up against him in a game. I think the Lafayette game was the best game for the Tates Creek defensive line.

He said that tackling Bubba by the legs was like tackling a thrashing machine. Several Commodores discovered that you can't tackle Bubba above the waste during the second half when Bubba led them in a comeback attempt that nearly erased Tates Creek's 24-6 lead at halftime.

The last picture is from Woodford County where Tates Creek walked off the field with last minute loss that set them back emotionally. Woodford County didn't have very many players, but their hearts were bigger and they didn't have many weaknesses.

Less sensationalism, lasting substance

A few weekends ago, Jackie and I went on a double date to see Fireproof. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the story, the message and profit margin of the movie. Volunteers put much more passion into their product, and figure out how to do things without spending a whole bunch of money.

At the core of the movie was the word "Love" in the challenge that a parent gave to a child that had no grasp of what love was. "Love" makes us do things for other people at great cost to ourselves.

Leaving the theater, I couldn't have been happier with the people that we attended the movie with. Two people that give, give, give and lose track of what they get of out of any deal.

After a year of sacrificing a lot of time to shore up a company in distress because it chased after the wrong things for a while, it was a pleasant surprise to see someone else that my company has counted on to sacrifice a great deal of time and talent to survive. A short talk with he and his wife revealed it was rare for them to have to opportunity to get away together.

Partly because of the time that I was away from family, and partly because of the economy, and partly because some other members of my family are as busy as I am with other things, there is no movie that all five of us have seen this year at the theater. For our annual "Best Movie of the Year", we may have some older movies that we all happened to see separately on TV or video.

Three Fall Sports for Adam

Most three sport athletes split the sports into three different seasons, but Adam chose to supplement his main Fall sport of football with two other complimentary sports in terms of skills and skill development, but opposing in terms of time.

Every time that football practice was called off, Adam would go to fall Lacrosse practice. After the football season was over, he got a chance to play in the final fall season scrimmage with six other teams that joined Tates Creek at Kentucky Country Day High School in Louisville.

Adam's third sport for the season was an intramural Ultimate Frisbee team. They lost this afternoon in the tournament after winning the first game last Tuesday night.

If you look closely, you will see that even though the temperatures were near zero, Adam continued to play in bare feet as he always has on Sunday afternoons during the summer.

Ragamuffin Gospel

Several people have told me that I need to read "Ragamuffin Gospel" in the last 10 years or so, but none of those recommendations were as compelling as Robin Potter acting surprised this past summer when she discovered I had not read it.

I purchased the book with intentions of reading it during vacation in July but failed. A rainy afternoon in November was a good defer.

Brennan Manning sounds like a rebel that boasts of his freedom at times, but I think that is just some of his culture coming out. He has seen life on this earth being raised in a Catholic church in New Orleans. I was raised in a conservative church in the Amish territory of Northern Indiana. One might expect a few misunderstandings that can certainly be resolved by He who created both of us.

So far the words that we can agree on and the words that jump out at me and will challenge me are these:

• The institutional church has become a wounder of the healers rather than a healer of the wounded.
• The church is not a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners.

He quotes people from 100 years ago, 500 years ago and 2,000 years ago and consistently points out that it all is meaningless compared to the inerrant Word of God that comes from time in the Bible and stillness listening directly to God.

Austin and Hannah Mattern

From the moment that Adam and drove up on Ross Camp, I knew that it was a perfect day for Austin and Hannah. The old camp was steeped in history and I am sure that it is just as rustic in the winter as it was this glorious fall afternoon full of autumn color.

You could see Cheryl's touch of home with Ball jars of rocks and flowers.

The music at the small chapel and at the reception was provided by a very interesting band that Bill found in Goshen not long ago. Everyone loved the choice: Goldmine Pickers


I also had a brief opportunity to meet Hannah's dad and talk with some of the people that Austin and Hannah hang out with. Austin has always made good choices and it seems that like me, choosing a mate had a lot to do with choosing a family with a Christian heritage of simplicity and hard work.

The location for the wedding was historic as well. It was donated to Purdue University by David Ross in '93 as etched in stone on the side of the dining hall. They probably never imagined it would still be in use in '08. I'm sure it has been rebuilt several times, 115 years is a pretty good return on investment for this camp.

A model T that belonged to Grandpa Jake was the perfect vehicle for this couple to leave a century old Chapel.

Rehearsal Dinner with Jackie

Jackie drove up to Lafayette on Friday morning to help her family cook pork chops, prepare a meal and serve all the people that rehearsed for Austin and Hannah's wedding the next day.

On Thursday night, I was up until 3:00 AM making some final touches on a video for the reception on Saturday. A video was completed a week before the event, but that was not quite up to Jackie's standards. I complained a lot, but the finished product was worth the effort.

After getting up for work at 5:00 AM, I got home early at 4:30 and packed the Jeep so that Becca could get off the bus at 4:45 and get in the car so we could get to Lafayette by 10:00 PM. Considering all the sleepless activity leading up to the drive, we are very fortunate to have made it all the way without stopping.

We arrived at the Best Western to find that we were sharing the hotel with the Michigan football team and I was encouraged to find out that Jackie had worn out her nieces who are much younger than I am.

It was very good to see family working hard together to celebrate the union of two people that represent hard work. Austin is a man of the soil and Hannah tends to animals. Throughout the course of history those trades have been synonymous with hard work.

It was only fitting that we wear ourselves out for them.

Even though Heidi and Bethany were exhausted, they rose early in the morning to help their color challenged Aunt Jackie pick out a new blouse to better match the rest of her outfit.

They worked well together and enjoyed the day.

Three month sprint

For the last three months, I have been completely consumed by multiple projects at work, watching the kids play volleyball and football and working to support their teams. During that span of time, Jackie and I have had to put several relationships on hold.

One of the most difficult for me was the Monday night prayer group. We have also missed out on adjustments to the small group that we attended last summer.

After our nephew gets married this weekend in West Lafayette, we should be back to some of the "normal" levels of participation in the church.

One of the lessons I learned during this unhealthy sacrifice is that neglecting a home is an expensive downward spiral. I have about four weeks of vacation that I will be applying to home repair at the end of the year.