Happy Halloween

Here's a snapshot before they set out for the tricks and treats. Keller had a great time and so did the boys. I stayed home and played the old man handing out candy on Halloween. Shadow is so happy it's his special day. It's not every day that he gets to wear his black cat costume!

We were heading up into the mountains for the Upstate Forever annual meeting and nature hike; but, Miles is looking and feeling a little puny. Tricia and I have a date tomorrow night at the Peace Center to see the Avett Brothers. It's my birthday present and just what I wanted. I see a trip to Mellow Mushroom in there too! We have a sitter coming over around 5pm; so, it should be a fun night for us.

Then, on Sunday morning (thank you God for Daylight Savings Time rolling back the clock), I am getting up early and driving to Sumter. I am going to speak at Home Branch Baptist, where my Mom and Pete go to church, about the Africa trip. Home Branch provided a great deal of support for my last trip and it will be great to speak to them about what we did there. Then on Sunday night, the Alice Drive team is going to offer a recreation experience of the Africa trip at Alice Drive. It will be a full day speaking and sharing about the Africa trip and the vision for what is happening and needs to happen there. So, it's probably a good thing we canceled our trip to the Upstate Forever meeting and hike. I am still working on the presentation for Home Branch. So, please say a prayer for me and the rest of the team. While you are praying, remember to lift the church in Botswana. Here's a link: http://oldnaledifellowship.org

Gotta give out some more candy!

See ya! Go Tigers! Beat Boston College!

Baseball is done for 2008

A fun, but kinda crazy, World Series ended last night with the Phillies picking up the suspended game and putting an end to the 2008 season. Nice to Jamie Moyer still getting it done. Tricia and I enjoyed watching him pitch with the Mariner's back in the 90's. It really blew hitters' minds to see Randy Johnson's 100mph fastball one day and Jamie's 75mph change up the next day. It was a deadly back-to-back combo.

Here's an old baseball memory of mine from the early 1980's. I recently found this newspaper article and scanned it for internet archiving. A sad, frustrating appendix to this story...someone stole this baseball from me. I always had a good idea who did it; but, we never could get him to admit or find evidence. Oh well, it was an adventure and at least there is this article as some proof. Would have been a very cool conversation piece these days... See ya!

Slow Rain

Just enjoying the slow, cold rainy day here in the Upstate. It's only 50F and rain...hmmm, reminds me of one of my favorite places, the Pacific Northwest. This is when I feel like I am in the right skin, no humidity, no sweating and suffering. It will always call to me. Always. I can't help it or fight it.

Last night I had the great experience of working The Mocha Club booth at the Matt Wertz show at The Handlebar in Greenville. I got 10 new members to sign up. They got Matt's latest CD for signing up. It's only $7/month but that is SO much more to the poor in Africa. I was on the guest list and that's always nice to get to hear free LIVE music and introduce others to a great way to help Africa. I was on the guestlist for another big show in Clemson with Lady Antebellum at the Littlejohn Coliseum; but, we have the Halloween Hoopla tomorrow here in Greer and I had to cancel.

The Halloween Hoopla is an awesome free festival that our church, Freedom Fellowship, does every year for our community. It's a great time to serve the community and let kids be kids and enjoy the Fall. I missed it last year as I was returning home from my trip to Europe. Tricia and the boys reported that it was a great time and the boys are really pumped about going again.

We were scheduled to take our family picture down by Lake Robinson in the park tomorrow but I think that's been pushed to Sunday because of the weather. We need to wash Keller too since he's going to be in the picture. Shadow said he would take a rain check.

Tonight, the boys are going to hang out at Hurricane Martial Arts, while we enjoy a Parent's Night out. They are going to have fun while we do a little shopping and I'm sure there is a coffee shop and a small,cozy table in Tricia's plans too. It's nice to have that break and attempt to not talk about the kids for a while and act like husband and wife.

I just made Dylan's day...he was acting really bummed about missing a brand new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network. Little did he know, but I ordered a DVR for the living room this week. He helped me program to record the whole series and now he's "cool" with going to Hurricane and watching the show in the morning. I guess the cost just got justified by Mr. Dylan. I am also recording the World Series and watching when I have time. This is why I sacrificed the $100 for the DVR. I have investigated and read about it for the last few months on Direct TV's website. Ok, I'm geek out on my new black box; but, that's nothing new for me!

Well, enjoy your weekend and the cool temps! See ya!

Updated Johnson Family Web

Hey, I updated the family web site, including a new Guestbook. Be sure to stop by and check out the new front page. I have some work to do with the picture galleries but think it works fine for now.

http://johnsonfamilyweb.net/

See ya!

Went to Church last night

I had some tickets to see the Blind Boys of Alabama with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band last night at the swank Foundation Performing Arts Center on the campus of Isothermal Community College up in Spindale, NC. WNCW put me on the guest list when I was working the phones on Saturday (another great perk for answering the phones on the fund drive). It was an incredible show that sounded great and really moved me. It was Gospel at it's finest and the hertitage and feeling of New Orleans permeated throughout the 2 sets. My friend from Freedom, Steven Somers, went and we both agreed it was a fantastic show that featured rich and deep vocals with excellent musicial chops all around. Check out some pictures here: Blind Boys at Isothermal

Of course, I recorded the sets and the recording turned out fantastic. I have been uploading to friends and fans all day on the internet and listening while I work. It's one of the reasons I moved here, to be able to go and enjoy music on a week night or weekend without having to drive dangerously long hours after the show to get home. I was in the bed by 11:30pm with a song in my head and smile on my face!

Life Group tonight as we continue focusing on Love and Respect in our marriage. It's been a great series so far and I think Tricia and I are both learning ways to improve our communication to avoid all the crazy cycles that come from poor communication. I may never be able to understand her completely but at least I can learn to communicate with her on a level that brings us closer and fortifies our marriage bond.

Ok, a little more work to finish. If anyone wants a Labradoodle puppy, let me know. My neighbor has 3 and she wants to find homes for 2 of them. They look to be about 2 -3 months. See ya!

Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning

Random thoughts this morning:

> Dylan and I had a corporal punishment moment this Sunday after church after his Mom explained to me how bad his behavior and attitude were during church today. It definitely caught him by surprise and stung more than a little since the belt was involved. He got the message and I think Miles did too.

> I write about that lesson for Dylan because it's never easy to hurt our children and I later in the afternoon told him how much it hurt me. But, I also told him it hurt me more to have him act so ugly in public, especially at church and towards others. He got the message. He made need a reminder, just like the rest of us. God have mercy on us all.

> Miles, Dylan and Tricia were out of school yesterday (Miles and Dylan were off on Friday too) and I did get to spend some time with Dylan yesterday after work. He and I took Keller down to the creek for a romp. On the way down there, I noticed a snake in our path. Dylan didn't see it but I stopped us about 5 feet from the snake. I think it was a Pine snake. Keller did his best to investigate but after we poke it with a stick (to make sure it wasn't a Copperhead) it crawled into the hollow of the tree it was near. Dylan was thankful I saw it. Later we hung out in the backyard and pulled some weeds and played on the zip line. I gave him $2 for helping as we did pull a bunch of those darn mustard weeds off the hill. I'm just thankful we don't have the wild onion problem we did in Sumter. It was great to hang with Dylan and just enjoy the sunshine and cool afternoon temps. It doesn't get much better than that!

> Saturday, after Dylan's end of the year soccer banquet, I went up to Spindale, NC to work WNCW's fall fund drive. It's always a blast to go there and hang out with the DJs and staff at the greatest radio station in the world. I also picked up a pair of tickets to see the Blind Boys of Alabama with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band tonight at the swank theatre there on the college campus (Isothermal Community College). I'm going with a friend from Freedom, as it's a school night for Tricia. We also got the pleasure of hanging out with Jim Lauderdale, who came by to pitch for the drive too. Saturdays are always a fun time as it's bluegrass for 8 hours and you get some very interesting phone calls during that show.

> Although Clemson lost to a very tough Ga Tech team (they own us throughout our history of games with them), I am proud of how the campus and Tiger nation came together for the game and the healing after Tommy Bowden's departure. We have a long way to go but can only move forward now. A win would have been over the top good but that's a difficult thing right now and won't get any easier with the injuries and Boston College and Florida State up next. I just hope we can beat Duke for the Homecoming since we will be there!

Ok, got some work to finish. More later. See ya!

Bobby D's words

Somewhere in line behind the words of Jesus, the words of James, John, and Neil Young, the words of Bob Dylan have made such a difference in how I live and see the world. Lately, politics have turned into a shouting match inside my head. On my walk with Keller today in the rain, I was listening to the recently released alternative version of "Mississippi" from Bob Dylan's Tell Tale Signs set. It could not have been more poignant and striking to me. Keller was clueless of my moment; but, that's why we have good dogs in our life: to remind us that running down a trail in the pouring rain is a true joy of life! See ya!

Mississippi

Every step of the way we walk the line
Your days are numbered, so are mine
Time is pilin' up, we struggle and we scrape
We're all boxed in, nowhere to escape

City's just a jungle, more games to play
Trapped in the heart of it, trying to get away
I was raised in the country, I been workin' in the town
I been in trouble ever since I set my suitcase down

Got nothing for you, I had nothing before
Don't even have anything for myself anymore
Sky full of fire, pain pourin' down
Nothing you can sell me, I'll see you around

All my powers of expression and thoughts so sublime
Could never do you justice in reason or rhyme
Only one thing I did wrong
Stayed in Mississippi a day too long

Well, the devil's in the alley, mule's in the stall
Say anything you wanna, I have heard it all
I was thinkin' about the things that Rosie said
I was dreaming I was sleeping in Rosie's bed

Walking through the leaves, falling from the trees
Feeling like a stranger nobody sees
So many things that we never will undo
I know you're sorry, I'm sorry too

Some people will offer you their hand and some won't
Last night I knew you, tonight I don't
I need somethin' strong to distract my mind
I'm gonna look at you 'til my eyes go blind

Well I got here following the southern star
I crossed that river just to be where you are
Only one thing I did wrong
Stayed in Mississippi a day too long

Well my ship's been split to splinters and it's sinking fast
I'm drownin' in the poison, got no future, got no past
But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free
I've got nothin' but affection for all those who've sailed with me

Everybody movin' if they ain't already there
Everybody got to move somewhere
Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow
Things should start to get interesting right about now

My clothes are wet, tight on my skin
Not as tight as the corner that I painted myself in
I know that fortune is waitin' to be kind
So give me your hand and say you'll be mine

Well, the emptiness is endless, cold as the clay
You can always come back, but you can't come back all the way
Only one thing I did wrong
Stayed in Mississippi a day too long

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