Life - Do Not Destroy.

The other day at work I came across a file that had been marked "life - do not destroy." Since I work at an insurance agency, this was obviously a life insurance folder (which we don't have very many of) that was needed for future use. But it struck me as profound. It's a good policy to live by actually. Life - do not destroy - in all its various forms. I can think of so many applications... from murder, to abortion, to meanness...

There is an inherent dignity to human life for believers in God (by virtue of the fact that He created us and did so in His image), which I'm not sure atheists can find so easily. For example, there's a man at Princeton University named Peter Singer, who has carried out the abortion argument to its logical (though horrifying) conclusion. Of course, at present the case for abortion largely rests on some assertion that the baby (or "fetus") is somehow not really human until a certain vague and undefined point of pregnancy (though doctors are able to sustain life at earlier and earlier stages). Anyway, Mr. Singer defines human-ness as being linked to the ability to conceptualize a future time, thus giving him leeway to "abort" children up to two years of age - yes, two years. He even suggests these little non-humans could be used as a source for harvesting organs. It sounds insane, but at least he is honest about the logical implications and conclusions of the whole abortion/ fetus/ not human argument. However, that line of thought is dangerous because it embarks on a slippery slope, a sliding scale of morality. But how does anyone know right from wrong anyway? Right? (That would be wrong - see http://www.whataboutjesus.com/ for some help with that.)

"Life - do not destroy." Life is precious. We need to nurture it, or at the very least, give it a fighting chance. Maybe we should do more to save and enhance the lives of those who would like to live on this planet, as opposed to making lives harder in a vain attempt to affect what amounts to an insignificant impact on the global climate. End abortion; fight malaria, cancer, AIDS, and a long list of others; free the market to find better solutions; feed the world. Instead of: ranting about choice (which often should have been considered earlier); socializing everything into inefficiency; burning our food for fuel while people are starving. Just some ideas...

"Life - do not destroy." I can imagine Martin Luther would expound on that (as he was so inclined to do)... Love one another. Build each other up. Don't just withhold destruction, but promote the wellbeing, wholeness, liberty, and happiness of others. Be your brother's keeper. Bear one another's burdens. Love one another.

A Storm, a Garage, and Five Gallons of Paint

So we've been painting our new house, and I needed to go to Lowe's to get more paint today after work. I swing by Grandma and Grandpa's house, pick up Anna and Will after an hour delay over this and that, and scoot on over to Lowe's. I get my five gallons of paint, look at tile and ceiling fans again, and head to the check-out. During this time, we hear some thunder which scares Anna so that she doesn't want to leave. To my relief, we exit the store and see that the storm has passed. "See the storm clouds way over there?" I say reassuringly. And they did.

It just so happened, however, that the storm clouds were heading to our new house... like us, with our five gallons of paint. On our drive to the new house Anna gets more upset at the sight of rain and clouds. It's only rain; we're fine, I say. The thunder argues against me.

We arrive at the house under a benign drizzle. I park in the driveway. I open my door and the clouds release their burden... perfect timing! So I quickly hop out, run around the van, grab Anna who is crying hysterically, carry her to the front door, and deposit her inside the house. One down, one to go. At this point it occurs to me that it is a shorter distance from the van to the garage than from the van to the front door. Ah, how clever I am! So I run to the van, hop in the driver's seat, push the garage door opener button, hop out, grab Will, and run with him into the garage. Yes, garage... two-car garage for those of you keeping track of such things. Well, I tell myself, it seems I'll have to wait for the rain to let up before I can bring in my paint cans.

I spend the next hour or so holding and comforting my two terrified children every time the thunder rumbles or lightning flashes. I even try my mom's story she used to tell me of how the thunder is just God "upstairs" bowling with the angels (of course, Anna and Will don't know what bowling is). No, nothing helps except for me to be right there with them. After the first 30 minutes or so, sitting in the empty, work-in-progress, un-air conditioned house, it occurs to me that we have a garage, and I suddenly have a revelation of how one might use a garage, like in a storm for instance. A person, such as myself, if so desired, might dare to drive their van into the garage, thus being able to exit the vehicle calmly, without unnecessary drenching of one's clothes and children. What a concept!

Anna catches on to the the idea right away, and the intrigue and novelty of it all make her forget her fears. So I scheme and eventually manage to set Will down long enough to dash out to the van and carefully drive into the garage, so I can then carry the paint cans into the house. Victory! Of course, by this time the sun is peaking through and chasing the rain and thunder away. Will tells me he's not scared anymore, we distribute the paint cans to their proper rooms, and head for home.

**Personal Disclaimer: I have never had a garage before, though it may seem obvious how one might be used. :)

Thwarted

Ok, I've been sitting here at this computer for 30 minutes now trying to write something half-way intelligent or entertaining, and this is it. Bummer. I have also been putting Will to bed... over and over and over again. I put him in, and he just keeps on coming out. He needs his blankets put on again (which would not be needed if he would stay in bed with them on), or his imaginary boo-boo hurts, or he needs bug bite medicine (he currently has no bug bites), or his eye hurts (which would be cured by going to sleep!). Anna, fortunately, is sleeping through all his commotion (they share a room). So the countless interruptions and endless calling of "Mama" have effectively jumbled all my thoughts and foiled my plans of having some peaceful time to myself this evening to write in my blog. Maybe next time...

What's New

The saga unfolds... the air conditioner is not fixed yet. We need a new coil, which, of course, had to be ordered and won't arrive until Friday. Removing wallpaper has been quite a drawn-out procedure, the worst casualty being the hall bathroom where the drywall is looking more than a little tattered. That bathroom had at least three different layers of wallpaper and multiple layers of paint that did not want to be removed. We will be victorious in the end - after repairing the drywall.

It's hard to imagine we will really live in the new house one day. I guess I was not called to be an interior designer, because I have trouble visualizing the make-over being completed. I am confident the house will look great when everything is done, but it can be tough to really believe it will all get done when it is such a mess right now.

In other news...

• Anna was great in her ballet recital, where she and her friends danced as little flowers - too cute!
• Jon and I enjoyed a fun evening out recently, joining my boss and his family/friends and my coworker for dinner at the new Bull Street Chophouse, which was very good.
• I caught up with my sister Laura on the phone recently, and had a great time chatting, which we hadn't really done before.
• Will has started using the potty!

So, overall, life is good... even if it's a bit messy and unpredictable.

"Like seven inches from the midday sun..."

So June has come upon us - happy hurricane season, y'all! Let me just state the obvious and say that it is hot... obscenely, ridiculously hot (as it is every summer here in the Lowcountry and Coastal Empire... "empire" sounds so regal and grand, doesn't it? That's really the name for the area around Savannah for some reason). And wouldn't you know, the air conditioner (at our new house) which apparently worked during the home inspection, and which subsequently broke when the weather turned hot, and which was supposed to be fixed last week... that air conditioner is still broken for some reason which I am finding increasingly difficult to imagine. Thus, our progress on the new house has slowed. Jon is a real trooper, though, doing as much as he can, while I - as my brother-in-law Sergio observed - am more of a union worker, refusing to work until the situation is remedied. Sorry, but the heat just sucks the life out of me. Which is why every summer Jon and I discuss how nice it would be to live somewhere else, somewhere where you could actually enjoy the summertime by spending time outside (what a novel idea) - like Maine or Pennsylvania.

And when I see first-hand how the heat affects human behavior and tends to slow things down, it causes me to wonder about latitudinal influences on human behavior (as I did previously concerning Norwegians' food habits). For example, the South is known for being slower than the North, perhaps partly out of necessity because it's so darn hot in the South that you have to slow down to survive; whereas in the North the world gets very cold and you have to run around trying to keep warm for part of the year so you get used to a faster pace of life. Also, why so many inventions, discoveries, and developments from Western nations historically, while much of Africa and other hotter climates remain in such basic conditions? European/American nations deal with very cold weather for at least part of the year, and have had to come up with ways to survive and thrive in a harsh environment that rewards moving fast (generating heat). Hotter climates require people to slow down or risk their health, thus perhaps decreasing motivation in general. (Let me make the obvious disclaimer that, of course, many other factors have been at work in history, blah, blah, blah, and surely climate is just one part of the puzzle, but it may definitely have influence). I don't know, but it would be fun to research anyway! Or maybe the heat has befuddled my brain...

New House, New Projects

Last week we closed on our new house, so now the games have begun! We have been busily pulling off layers of wallpaper and paint, and removing two bazillion nails and screws from the walls (I would love to have seen this home when the last people were still living there, as I cannot fathom how someone could have used all those nails and screws at one time!). The garage door has been repaired, but the air conditioner, which was working during the home inspection, has unfortunately stopped making cold air (which would have been quite useful this weekend with temperatures around 90). Hopefully that will be remedied tomorrow! And this week the good people from Lowe's will come measure the hall and bedrooms for new carpet. Once the walls and floors are done, we will be ready to move in and then continue to tackle various projects gradually. Funny how little issues always sneak in, though... like since we're redoing the bathroom floor, might as well replace the old little toilets, and let's widen the narrow bathroom door before we paint... all of which make sense, but add to the timeline nonetheless. It would be nice to be moved in by July 4... we'll see.

I've met two of our new neighbors, which has been encouraging. There are lots of young kids around, which is what Jon and I were looking for, and the two moms I met were very welcoming. I even learned that one little girl across the street was hoping we'd be the ones who bought the house because she had seen Anna and Will (apparently a lot of people looked at the house). So that's exciting to me to be in a more sociable, family-oriented neighborhood. Our current neighborhood is nice, but there are no other kids near us and most people keep to themselves (still it will be sad to leave, as I am terribly sentimental!).

And that's the news from our corner of the world.