New Year blessing

Charles spent the last day of 2011 enjoying unseasonably warm weather and getting some tasks done ahead of tomorrow's worship services.  He also enjoyed his birthday/Christmas present, another year's subscription to Foxsoccer.tv so he can continue watching soccer and rugby!

He's not able to stay up to ring the new year in as tomorrow morning's 5am alarm awaits!

His New Year blessing:

Oh Thou, who art ever the same,
grant us so to pass through
the coming year with faithful hearts,
that we may be able in all things
to please Thy loving eyes.

Amen.

Mozarabic (Christians in what is now Spain), 700 A.D.

Last Thursday of the year in Georgia!

After Belinda headed to work this morning Charles got himself ready for a golf outing at one of Callaway Gardens' golf courses.  He had played the Lake View Course in August 2009 and today got to play the Mountain View Course.  The course is described as the harder of the two and his score, a 99, was about right! The weather couldn't have been nicer and Charles was happy to have been out on the last Thursday of the year.


Tomorrow Charles returns to Texas and Belinda continues to her work at Martin Army Hospital at Fort Benning.  

Our Wednesday, part 2

We had a wonderful visit to "the Little White House" in Warm Springs this afternoon.  It was a bright, sunny day following the rain of the past few days and we really enjoyed taking in the history of the place and the nearby pool built by FDR which used the warm water that give the town its name.

Our Wednesday, part 1

It was a beautiful day in Georgia with beautiful skies on hand after the cloudy days since Christmas.  Charles put the new Georgia license plates on the Toyota so Belinda is official!  After signing the lease on the new apartment (which Belinda will move into in mid-January) we took the short drive to Warm Springs and toured "The Little White House," the home used by FDR. 

After an enjoyable time in Warm Springs, we returned to Columbus and got our pitures taken at the theater where we saw the Muppet Movie on Monday.  On a lark we decided to play some miniture golf!  Lots of fun!!!

A cool day in Columbus

Belinda loves a Cracker Barrel fire!

A sharpshooter from the battle of Antietam display

A Bradley Fighting Vehicle used in the invasion of Iraq

We enjoyed a relaxing day in Georgia today following last night's steady rainfall.  In the morning we took care of some errands including getting the Toyota tagged with Georgia plates, the third state we've had tags from on that car (the otherws were Nebraksa and Texas).

Following lunch at Cracker Barrel, we made a visit to the National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning.  We only got to see a small portion of this fantastic facility which tells the story of "the Queen of Battle."  We will be making several visits, there is simply so much to take in and like the Smithsonian museums, it will reveal something new with each visit.

Christmas Eve in McCamey

There was rare sighting today in McCamey: snow!  Well, perhaps not enough to alert the media over, but enough to make Christmas Eve just a bit more exciting!

Charles was busy with getting ready for this weekend's services.  This afternoon, he offered a service at the McCamey Convalescent Center and then this evening at the First UMC here in McCamey.

Tomorrow will be two more services before leaving for a long-awaited reunion with Belinda in Georgia!

First Day of Winter in McCamey

The calendar shows that today, December 22nd, is the first day of winter but the weather here in McCamey was rather spring-like (temp. in the upper 40s). 

Charles got in a very productive day next door at the church.  First up was a visit at the McCamey Convalescent Center (and picking up three bags of trash along the 1/2 stretch of highway between the church and the MCC).  This afternoon was taken up with putting the finishing touches on the services for this weekend and the newsletters for the parish and also making gift bags for the convalescent center residents.

Hope your Christmas plans are taking shape!

Shortest day of the year

A juvenile male cardinal was paying a visit to the parsonage backyard late this afternoon as Charles was returning from the church next door.  A nice way to bring the shortest day of the year to a close.

A breezy Monday

There was a bit of rain during the night (about 1/2 inch here in McCamey) which made for a clear, crisp morning in west Texas.  Charles went to Iraan for lunch at the senior center and met up with several members from the First UMC who are heading out of town for Christmas.

We are so looking forward to getting to see each other next week!

A grey Monday!

An oddity here in west Texas: heavy grey skies with just a touch of rain!  A great start to the week leading up to Christmas, a real gift for us!

Chilly Saturday in McCamey

Backyard visitor on a chilly December morning

Flowers for Billie McKenzie

The temp may have hovered around the 50F mark all day but it felt much colder as Charles participated in a graveside funeral service in Fort Stockton, about 50 miles from McCamey (the service was for the mother of a FUMC-Iraan member).

To Angelo and back to McCamey

Christmas is in the air and Charles got to see lots of lights tonight.  He went to San Angelo for the District office's open house this afternoon and had a great time meeting folks from all around the area.

After a stop at Belinda's mom's place to pick up some cookies (made by her mom!), it was back to McCamey to enjoy the lights in this west Texas town!

Looking like Christmas in McCamey

Horned Frog with antlers!

Armadillo with antlers!

The McCamey Convalescent Center is decked out in holiday splendor with lots of cheer on display for the residents. 

This evening in McCamey

As Charles was leaving his office next door in McCamey he startled a deer grazing on the acorns by the Live Oak tree in front of the church.  walking quietly around the back of the church, Charles was able to kneel by the corner of the church as the deer passed within fifteen feet of where he was.  As soon as Charles stood up, the deer bolted over the barbed wire fence behind the church/parsonage.

Sunny day

 After the early brush with winter in the Permian Basin which saw several inches of snow in the Odessa/Midland area, we got above freezing today!  It was sunny skies and little wind making a pleasant day for Charles.

He had some errands to run in Odessa this morning and got some pictures of what was left of the snow at the Stonehenge replica on the campus of UT - Permian Basin.

On his way back to McCamey, Charles passed through Crane and spotted some unique Christmas decorations.  'Tis the season!

Yes, it snows in Texas!

It has been very cold (by Texas standards) over the past few days and at the parsonage Charles noted 1" of rain since Saturday night. Yesterday though was an occurance even more rare than rain: SNOW!  In McCamey and Iraan we only had flurries in the morning and nothing stuck. 

In Odessa/Midland however there was actual accumulation.  Today Charles spotted a trailer being taken down S. Burleson Ave. with snow on it.  Such a surprise, he just had to grab the camera off the front seat and snap a couple of photos!