People matter most!

Friday, June 5, 2026
K and I cannot believe how quickly time has flown by. We have a few more days together. She puts together a meal for Hope, her grieving friend has just lost her mother. K prepares chicken, salad, carrots, sweet potatoes, couscous, cookies, and more.

Meanwhile I walk Mika. I want to see if I can find a "Pride of Bermuda" shrub in Bandung. This one has constant 10" stems of flowers. It's 5' tall but the homeowner says it will double in size by the end of summer.

Another neighbor's front flower garden is coming along nicely.

We drive south to drop off the food K made and check that she's ok. "Is there any way we can help you?" K asks.

Hope's mom collected Pen Delfin figures, just like I did in my early 20s. It's the first time I've seen PDs in years and I recognize some of them. They'll be decluttering the collection soon. Mine might still be in a box under the stairs. oh oh.

On the windowsill, K's vine from Kari is growing quickly. There are new flowers on the stems, too.

We do a bit of shopping, including some returns. Then we speed home to rest.

We pick up Karen for supper. I spot up to 4 finishes (siding, brick, stone, wood) on the front facade of houses in one suburb.

The restaurant that we've chosen in northwest Austin is closed for maintenance. We head to another Szechuan Chinese restaurant. The food is good. The company is wonderful.

Saturday
I'm awake after sleeping for 3 hours. Since I can't fall asleep, I listen to scripture - 1 and 2 Kings. Wow, how the kings of Jerusalem go their own ways, the same we want to disobey with "do it my way" today.

Every time I read the stories of the kings, I want to say, "Nooooo. Don't do your own thing! Please lead your people in God's ways. You're about to send your country's history in a terrible direction." Those men weren't listening to the warnings of prophets God sent to them, so they're sure not hearing our cautions from the future.

After a walk, Kirsten chalks new hemlines on 7 tops (one of them is mine.) My job is to shorten the t-shirts. The first one takes over an hour as I figure out K's sewing machine. It has limited settings. I'm spoiled by my 30-year-old Bernina. The hem pulls and wrinkles on the first shirt. Once I know what I'm doing, it takes a few hours to zip through the rest. We also shorten a pair of trousers. I'm happy to pack up the machine and put the accessories, scissors, threads, and bobbins, as usual.

Supper is mostly foods we rarely eat in Bandung. It's delicious and snacky enough to feel like a special treat.

On our evening walk, the sun is going down and the wind is kicking up, making temperatures more comfortable. Some of the pickup trucks are so big that they take up the entire driveway. This one is over 5m (16') long.

K tries to comfort two young girls who are wailing on the sidewalk. What's wrong?

"We're being chased by a big bug," they point up. K explains that the dragonfly is not harmful and won't bite them. Their grandma comes out but she's not that sympathetic to their plight. We have a good laugh once we're back at the house.

The water catchment areas of this neighobrhood are beautiful. This one looks like a park.

In the evening light, the Pride of Bermuda shrub glows orange.

Sunday
K's neighbor Kat and I finally find time to walk together. We meet at 7AM to check out a neighboring trail. Bikes whiz past but mostly it's quite empty. It's an easy loop walk, pavement on a gradual uphill for a few miles.

I cook a big breakfast before K and I attend a church service online.

We return clothing and shoes that are "not quite right" in a final shopping trip. We have a relaxing day, eating and doing last-minute chores together. The sign beside her door always makes me smile.

I finally pack. There's not room for one more thing in the suitcase. Southwest charges $45 for the first suitcase. It feels strange to be paying for basic luggage. And if it's overweight? A hefty fine. I'd pay $55 for a second bag. Whhhhat?

Monday-Wednesday
Kirsten drops me off at the airport on Monday morning. I check a carry-on bag at the gate. It's heavy: full of shoes and art supplies. No, I did no art in Texas. Maybe in Montana in the coming weeks?

K's fridge quits shortly after I leave. She orders a new one, complete with installation and hauling away the old one.

I meet W at the airport in Orange County. He's spent the past few days with family and friends near Seattle and Vancouver. We've missed each other, apart for over a month.

We're at a scholars conference hosted by Vanguard University in Santa Monica. The pretty setting is near shopping and cafes. We have no time for such things, but before we leave, take a half hour to walk to see what is nearby.

We never make it into the pool.

During a break on Wednesday, we catch a bus to Aldi, a German-owned chain that carries our favorite chocolate. The double-length bus is linked with a central circle that rotates as the bus turns.

We greet people we know and meet others whose books and articles we've read. The publisher includes W's new book in the scholar's goodie bag.

It's a delight to meet Dr. Alaine Buchanan, a dear friend who serves on the conference committee.

Dr. Lisa became a historian after taking a Church History class from W. She's best friends with Kelly, who started in my PhD cohort over a decade ago. We send Kelly a photo and hello.

Dr. Frank Macchia is a retiring professor and well-known author. I've edited some of his work but it's the first time I've met him in person.

W and I eat breakfast in the hotel before heading out each morning. It's typically American food.

Lunch on Wednesday is a Tex-Mex bowl: rice, beans, chicken, and ground beef, topped with lettuce, hot salsa, and shredded cheese. Not bad! Hispanics and Caucasians each make up close to 35% of the population. The rest are immigrants from everywhere so we feel right at home. We hear many languages spoken around us.

I leave the sessions with renewed energy for research and writing.

Alaine closes the conference with participatory prayer.

We haven't rented a car so we catch rides to the conference in the mornings and back to the hotel at night with Geroge, Esther (a Puerto Rican American nurse-scholar), Jonathan, Deseree, and others. Thanks, everyone! We appreciate the lift.

Thursday
I'm up early. Might as well have a bath before W wakes up. The water is so chlorinated that I'm breathing bleach fumes for 1.5 hours.

Prices in Southern California are a shock. A burger and fries are "specially" priced @Rp.300.000 or more with mandatory tipping, sales tax, and government hospitality fees.

Getting ready to return to Seattle, the airport bookstores are full of people reading, browsing, and hanging out.

Read more:
* The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:9-10

* Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! Psalm 27:14

* I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. Psalm 145:1-3

* Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 40:1-5

* Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” John 11:21-22

Moravian Prayer: Lord, thank you for sending us your son. Jesus is always here to hear our prayers and to help us to be people after your own heart, loving you and generous to others. We await the return of Jesus to bring us to God, face to face. Amen.

A house "warming" week

Monday, June 1, 2026
The morning is already hot: 80oF/27oC. K and I haven't taken photos together this trip so we snap one in front of the sunflower field.

Cars are parked across the sidewalks, as usual. We go around.

Little acorns are growing overhead.

Kirsten and I have a fulfilling in-house work day. We both enjoy decorating and redesigning our homes. A UPS driver drops a huge box with her new mattress on the porch. She knows how to twist and turn that cardboard monster before we wrestle it onto the bed. First, we pull the old one off and prop it against the wall.

We swap the bulky risers of the outdoor sofa for smaller ones that arrived earlier today. The two of us lift the corners of the sofa, kick out the tall old risers. We hold up the sofa just long enough to replace the risers. We're both sweating in the +90oF and wipe our faces as we go inside.

Several packages also arrive with new pillow covers.

We match what goes together, trying out various combinations.

Moving the pillows to other sofas changes the look completely. The sofas are purple-red, brown, and beige.

We take pictures so that we can compare the combos with less bias.

Mid-afternoon, we have a bowl of ice cream, along with Indian-spiced potato chips = weirdly satisfying.

Tuesday
The sun comes out as we're walking. The temperature quickly soars into the 90s. We stay inside most of the day. K changes the lock at her house with a new model sent by the company for her review.

I read and write book reviews, between watching some episodes of renovations with K.

Wednesday
K's neighbor Kat and I start down a mud trail in the neighborhood forest. It's overgrown. The path disappears and reappears; the direction isn't very clear. By the time we reach a stream, our shoes have clogged up with wet clay from the rainfall overnight. We retreat to the neighborhood street, looking for the bike path that bisects a main street nearby.

We map out a route for tomorrow, which will be an early one! and on a nicely-paved road through the forest = wide enough for 2 cars to pass in Bandung and 2 bicycles to pass in Austin ... if there are no pedestrians in sight.

Kirsten makes a gift bag for a friend who is moving away. We join a few women for supper. The Supper Club meets biweekly at an eatery. They're forming friendships as they explore food options - which are abundant in Austin.

Tonight we're at HEB for barbecue. The meat is tender; the sides are "just right." The portions are enormous. One slab, cut into pieces, would satisfy a family in Bandung. (Below, one serving of smoked turkey and beef.)

Afterwards, the women line up for a photo, making us all laugh at their antics and obvious friendship.

K and I do a quick grocery run around the store, checking off items on K's shopping list.

Thursday

Kat and I have to skip the early morning walk. The rain starts pelting down as our alarms go off. We text each other "Saturday?" and agree to meet then to explore the neighborhood trails. When it starts to dry out, puppy-dog Mika and I do a few warm-up laps. The clouds splatter us with light rain twice before the sun pops out.

On our mother-daughter to-do list for this visit? "Bake chocolate chip cookies." Kirsten remembers these from her childhood. To save money when the kids were little, I put in half the specified amount of chocolate chips and pecans/walnuts. Today we stir in 3/4 of the additions. There are plenty of chocolate and nuts in each bite.

We'd share some cookies with you if you were here. Check out the recipe if you want to bake your own.

When they've cooled, I freeze three quart-sized bags of cookies, putting the rest in a bowl. So yummy = a taste of nostalgia.

Read more:
* In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise. Psalm 56:10

* Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned, the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives.  But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”

When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:9-14

* And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a Father’s only son, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Moravian Prayer: Dear Lord, we ask you to show us your way as we start a new month. Thank you for your son who always knew how to show love and compassion to those around him. May we approach this month to be of good service to those around us. Amen.

Floral walks

Thursday, May 28, 2026 Timothy's birthday
We call to say hello and happy birthday. Brussels sprouts, eggs, and salsa? A good breakfast.

New wildflowers have taken the place of last week's blooms.

The cactus continues to amaze.

The wild roses are almost done.

There's a variety of beauties around the neighborhood.

All shapes.

The passion vine is putting on a show.

Pollon has popped up on the sunflowers.

W has put a panel on the door that our dog Gypsy is scratching during thunderstorms. G has a fierce fear of thunder and lightning.

Friday

I'm surprised when K reminds me that tomorrow is Saturday. The week has flown by. We agree that mother-daughter time is a special blessing. We laugh when the same phrases or words leave our mouths in unison. We send a video "hello" to my mom.

We've got Mika trained to the crate overnight. He joins K and me on a nice neighborhood walk. Good boy. We're waiting for someone to rehome him since K cannot walk him very far. He's gained energy and strength with my more vigorous walks.

Wildflowers along the path have begun to go to seed. I fill my pockets. Will they grow in Seattle? Our granddaughter loves gardening, like her great-grandma did (my mom).

We relax with good food, conversation, and watching Eureka episodes. It's new to me and amusing.

Saturday - Isaac's birthday
We call meet some of K's friends at a Mexican restaurant. The food is cheap for the USA ($10/dish) and the menu is authentic. The dessert cabinet is full.

Our night walk is uneventful, with neighbors parked across the sidewalks as usual.

Yesterday I counted 17 cars with dents or crashes. Today, with other cars parked and others missing along the streets, there are 17 again. That's a lot of car accidents, in a neighborhood of about 100? cars.

There's a new crop of wildflowers blooming. Some have silvery leaves.

Lots of purples are out.

A guy parks a truck labeled "Dog Poop Pick Up Service" and walk into a yard holding a shovel and dustpan. 

He goes into the backyard where a big pickup truck is parked. 5 minutes later, the worker comes out of the yard and hops into his truck and drives away. (What, the resident can't pick up his/her dog's own poop?) There are many specialty jobs here, some of them surprising.

Sunday
We walk in the morning, enjoying breezy overcast weather. I can't decide if this house is blue or green (looks greener to me and bluer to K.)

It heats up as soon as the sun comes out. The last week of showers and sunshine has boosted vines and plants. K notes that a tree in her yard has grown 2' (70cm) since last autumn.

The afternoon services at K's church have moved from Saturday to Sunday. She's on the prayer team so we get to pray for people after the service.

On the early evening walk, it's HOT out. Perspiring, I pause near an American pickup truck. (The line shows the height of the front. of the truck!) It may offer a great view for the driver, but as K remarks, "If you're driving behind one of these, you have no idea what's going on up ahead." That may be the reason for so many car crashes.

We chat over a TJ Pizza and enjoy a relaxing evening. A chocolate peanut butter cup and some yogurt finish off a sweet day.

Read more:
* I know that my redeemer lives. Job 19:25 NIV

* The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.

Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. The Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned. Psalm 34:17-22

* But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. 1 Corinthians 15:20

Moravian Prayers: Living God, you are our redeemer, and in you, we find hope. Just as Christ was raised, we trust in your promise of new life. Strengthen our faith, that we may live with joy, knowing death is not the end. Amen.