Alabama tornadoes: sitting with the questions

Nearly a week ago, tornadoes ravaged the South, devastating parts of Birmingham. Nearly 400, 000 people lost power in the state of Alabama alone. Hundreds lost their lives. Hundreds have yet to be found. Many weren't found whole. And families are broken. Towns erased. Lives a mess.

And, by just a few miles, I was not one of them.

It's too soon to try to make sense of it all.

Nothing about this can be tied up in a bow. Nothing about it can be smoothed over with words even--especially not cliches, which tend to spill out of our mouths in times of grief. Even if "things like this bring out the best in people," it's still overwhelming and awful, and I can't get over that right now. Shouldn't get over that right now.

But there will be a time--weeks, maybe. Months. Maybe years--when people will want to piece things together, will be ready to question why God would allow such a thing (and ready to hear the answers), ready to open ourselves to hope again.


But for most people in Alabama right now, it's shock. And grief. And brokenness. And humility. And a feeling of helplessness. And absolutely the promise of hope. But not hope itself. Not yet.

All I know is that I'm increasingly grateful to have been spared, increasingly grieving over others' losses, and increasingly convinced that deep devastation needs time to heal, time before things can make any semblance of sense.

My gardening debut

Perk #1 to planting a vegetable garden: 

(Hopefully) I'll have lots of yummy, fresh food to eat this summer!

Perk # 2 to planting a vegetable garden: 

I got to be outside with my husband all afternoon on a beautiful day!

Perk # 3 to planting a vegetable garden: 

One more thing to cross off my 30 before 30 list!

We started with these...

Best Basic-to-advanced gardening book! Favorite part: LOTS of pictures on every page!

The goods.

Phil's addition during our Lowe's run. Yum!

Here's a before shot of our garden area:

Then we added a stone border, tilled some soil, and put topsoil on top of that: 

And finally, voila! 

Notice the small shrine Phil built around his blackberry bush in the back of the picture. And yes, I realize the bed is slightly crooked. I'm blaming the bend in the grass.

It took a little over three hours from start to finish, not including time at Lowe's, and we planted:

cherry tomatoes

slicing tomatoes

cucumbers

bush beans (the only seeds we planted--hence, what looks like a blank area)

green & red bell peppers

We'll see how well they do. Worst case scenario: the veggies fail and I end up with a nice flower bed on the side of my house. Best case scenario: the veggies thrive and I get to eat them and share with friends! It's a win-win.

This is how we do it

Phil and I went camping last Wednesday night.

I love everything about camping but the sleeping part.

I'll pee in the woods.

I'll build a fire.

I'll chop wood.

I'll cook in a fire.

I'll forego a shower if I must.

But my sleep is precious.

And when I camp, my sleep is either cold or uncomfortable.

Enter my heroic husband, who said his goal for me was to be warm and comfortable all night.

I had my doubts. 

BUT

the following made my camping experience...not bad:

5 layers (tank top, short sleeved shirt, thermal long sleeved shirt, fleece, & jacket)

Smartwool socks

Numerous hand a toe warmers--including several that we threw into our sleeping bags

A zero-degree sleeping bag

A fire that I (proudly) made

An air mattress (thank you very much)

No wind

A very attentive husband

I must say, there's something about unplugging and getting away from the zing of life, something about turning off the phones and not even reading a book, something about slowing down and staring into a fire and talking for hours about things that matter (or not). This yawn of life every once in a while is irreplaceable in our marriage. And that is why I agree to camp--even if I do sacrifice some sleep.

Maggie Valley

Phil and I took off to the mountains for a few days this past week and here's what we saw:

Notice the sign on the church. The other side said: "Dusty Bibles lead to dirty lives"

On our hike. It was about 50 degrees, but we were hiking through snow that hadn't melted, so it was quite the workout. Think taking a walk on sand vs. taking a walk on concrete.

One of my favorite views

Of course, we couldn't help capturing this little wonder on the side of the road. Videos AND tanning? Say it ain't so!

Wonderland

Here's what we've been up to...

What started out as a few big, beautiful flakes...

...turned into 6 inches of snow and some beautiful ice! Phil and I took a long walk this morning and here's some of what we saw:

Unfortunately, all that ice caused some damage, too, including uprooted trees (see below) and huge falling branches, which left much of the mountain without power. 

Wish you were here to go sledding with us! It's the best snow I've seen since the blizzard of '93!

2010 begins: deliverance at 5,000 feet

On January 1, I found myself reading Psalm 56. I got to that familiar verse: "When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose Word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?" (vs. 3-4) and I remember thinking how much I love those words, but how I wasn't really sure why God led me to those verses that day. I had nothing fearful in front of me, nothing in particular that I was needing to trust Him for.

And then I went on a road trip to North Carolina to spend a girls weekend with one of my best friends, Alisa Worley, before her wedding next weekend. I left around 3:00 in the afternoon and because the normal route to Robbinsville, NC was blocked from a rock slide earlier this fall, Phil and I found an alternative route on google maps that didn't take much longer, which I, of course, sent on to all the other girls who were coming. About 2 hours into the trip, I realized that the route I was taking led me directly up a 5,000-foot mountain. This wouldn't really be a problem except that 2 weeks ago that area had nearly 3 feet of snow and ice. I actually knew about the snow, but figured that it had all been plowed by now and that there wouldn't be any problems.

About 4,000 feet up, I saw the ice. And I treaded lightly and slowly. I had no cell phone reception, no one riding with me, and no 4-wheel-drive. Pretty soon, there was a car in front of me that was spinning its wheels in the ice. I spoke briefly with the driver who said that he was trying to turn around, but was stuck. Since there was nothing I could do for him and I was afraid of stopping my car on the ice lest I go the way his car had, I zigzagged out of that icy patch and began what would be an entire hour of ice and snow patches up and down a 5,000 foot mountain at 20 miles an hour or less, trying not to spin out.

After I passed the car spinning its wheels, I began to shake uncontrollably. It was one of the few moments in my life where I really had no idea what to do. If I tried to turn around, I thought I'd get stuck. If I pulled over, my semi-warm tires would melt into the ice enough and I would be stuck until someone came to tow me out...whenever that might be. If I were to slide, I could go off the mountain (no weren't guard rails). So, I did the only thing I could: I kept driving. And praying.

And then I remembered what I had read earlier that morning: "When I am afraid I will trust in you." I just started praying that sentence over and over again, literally begging God for protection and my life. I later looked up that chapter again and here's how it ends: "For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life" (vs. 13).

Another girl later told me that she saw a sign saying "2-wheel drive cars not advised past this point." I had missed it entirely. As you may have guessed, however, I made it over the mountain (as did the other girls), but it was by far the most terrifying hour of my life, and I still feel a little shaken up by what felt like a near-death, or at least near-disastrous, experience.

As awful and nightmarish as it was, though, I'm grateful to begin 2010 having to trust in God so desperately. Every once in a while, it's good to remember how small I am, and how every moment I must throw myself on the mercy of the only One who is capable of saving me.

Cloudland Canyon

Last Saturday, despite temperatures in the 40's and a fairly constant drizzle, Phil and I followed through on our plans to go hiking at Cloudland Canyon. We wanted to go while the leaves were still in the middle of their magical transformation and here are a few glimpses:




We've decided to try to hike in the mountains every autumn possible. It's too gorgeous to pass up!

Freeze tag

When reading exorbitant amounts of literature and research on any given morning, the opportunities for distraction are abundant, and they increase exponentially when sitting outside in a squirrel-friendly area. So, as I was researching Emily Dickinson's deconstruction of Calvinism (yes, it's as confusing as it sounds), I heard a little squeaky rumble on a nearby tree. Looking up, I saw two playful squirrels chasing each other all around the tree. Suddenly, one of them completely froze near the bottom of the tree with its head toward the ground. I thought that it was just trying to convince the other squirrel that he had mysteriously "disappeared" and that he would move in a few seconds, but as I sat there, I began to wonder if he had actually become stuck in that position. As minutes (yes, plural) passed, I realized that I must document this brilliant display of showmanship, so I went inside, found my camera, and took this picture:
Unfortunately, the experiment of how long he would stay there was foiled by my movement toward him in trying to take the picture. We've all known it, but now it's proven: squirrels are smarter than we think.

Camping, a broken boot, and one perfect spring night

I love everything about camping except the actual sleeping part. My husband, on the other hand, just loves everything about camping. So, since we had some free time this week and the weather was irresistibly beautiful, I agreed to join him in a camping excursion to Oak Mtn. We began our adventure with a late afternoon hike (see below)

As we were on our hike, my trusty L.L. Bean boots that I've had for years finally gave out:

So I had to jimmy rig it for the rest of our time out there:

Then we set up camp, complete with a cot and a blow up mattress inside the tent (did I mention we like our sleep?) and then made one heck of a fire over which we cooked hot dogs for dinner. We enjoyed a night unplugged and away, looking at stars, and having deep conversation--perfect right before a lot of change in our lives with the match coming up tomorrow.

After a so-so night of sleep, we woke early with the birds and walked a short ways to this:

Could there be a better way to start the morning? or a better time in our lives to remember that the God who intricately and perfectly created and orchestrates creation will also take care of us (Matthew 6:25-34)?

Despite my reservations about camping, I'd give the experience an A-, on account of the sub-par sleep I experienced. Other than that, I highly recommend a night in nature every now and again. There's something almost healing about it.

A Diamond in the Ruff: Ruffner Mountain

This year for Valentine's day, Phil and I went hiking at Ruffner Mountain, one of the most overlooked natural wonders of Birmingham. I have lived here for nearly a decade and had never been to this over 1000-acre urban nature center--shame on me! In fact, next to Central Park, Birmingham has the largest urban park in the country because Ruffner falls within city limits. And it's only about 10 minutes from downtown--much closer for most than any other outdoor adventure.

There are several easy-to-moderate hiking trails, including a five mile hike and short hike up to a lookout where we absorbed a beautiful view of the city as well as a peek into our city's mining history with the quarries. It's the perfect place to take a lunch and spend an afternoon outside, and we'll definitely be returning! The best part? It's free!