Monthly Archives: January 2012

Not quite the same

Susi and I have worked fairly extensively with Habitat for Humanity in in at least a dozen places such as Columbus, Ohio; Bay St. Louis, Mississippi; Tucson, Arizona; Molepolole, Botswana; Tarija, Boliva; Phang Na, Thailand; etc. It is always comforting and encouraging to us that no matter where we go, we find the same formula: Along with other volunteers, work side-by-side with families to build simple, decent houses that they purchase with the help of an affordable mortgage, providing secure shelter and myriad other benefits that come from enabling people to dream and grow.

Nonetheless, some differences are very notable. For instance, try as you might, you simply cannot make this picture with the mountain as a backdrop in Columbus, Ohio! This is one of many photos that show the gorgeous settings in which we get to work. You can find them in these three albums: the 01-19 RCW Habitat Build album, the 01-26 RCW Habitat Build album, or the 02-09 RCW Habitat build album.

Susi and I tend to invite and encourage just about everyone we meet to get involved with Habitat for Humanity. But, right now, we especially wish you could join us to work here in this beautiful place!

Photos are back

Our blog got a bit text-heavy for a while, but we finally regained the ability to post photos once again. We post our pictures in “sets” on our Flickr site, and then list them in the sidebar shown on the right of every blog page under the heading “Photo Albums 2012”. Click an album link to open a post right here in the blog where you can see the photos by clicking on one of the little thumbnails. For a better viewing experience, click on the “View slideshow >” link and you will be transferred to Flickr for a full-featured slideshow. Naturally, you can see a larger version of the individual photos included in these articles by clicking on them.

Those of you in the software world won’t be surprised to know that it was a “dreaded upgrade” of the WordPress blog software that caused a break in the Flickr Photo Album plug-in we use to tie photos from our Flickr site to our blog. As usual, although a bit of rooting around on the Internet found a workaround, there is no word about an upgrade to the plug-in to handle ongoing WordPress upgrades. So far, so good, but always a bit uncertain when working with open source and free software.

Called to GREAT THINGS

Reverend Fife, Pastor Emeritus, Southside Presbyterian Church

Pastor John Fife

Reverend John Fife is Pastor Emeritus of Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Arizona, having retired in 2005 after leading a dynamic, activist community for 35 years. On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 2012, he preached a wonderfully stirring tapestry of memories and challenges that I have transcribed here with his permission. May we all read it, and feel stronger individual resolve to do our part to make the world a better place for every single one of God’s people.

Read on →

We’re Off and Running!

We’re approaching the end of our first week here in Tucson on Sunday – and having a blast! As my Dad stated, “I guess we’re as busy as we want to be” . Opportunities abound at Rincon – which I call a retirement community on steroids – for all kinds of physical exercise groups, art and crafts, games and fun events – not including the work we will be doing with Habitat for Humanity Tucson or exploring the city and surrounding national and state parks. Although we cringe at a boring blog entry of “what we did today” – I’ve done just that to share why we chose to return to Tucson. Caution – read at your own risk… Read on →

“Make new friends, but keep the old…

…One is silver and the other gold.” This old girl scout song does highlight one of the pleasures of this trip for us. Rarely have we been interested in returning to a travel spot we have visited before, but our experiences at our Rincon and HfH Tucson made it easy for us to want to return. Read on →

Blastoff 2012

While loading our RV on New Years Day, we experienced a fine example of Ohio’s motto, “if you don’t like the weather, stick around for the next change”. From glorious blue skies as I drove from the storage lot to our house, to the rain that soaked me 45 minutes later as I re-installed the batteries, to 3 or 4 more similar cycles that had Susi proclaiming, “It’s me. I cause the rain. Every time I carry something out there it pours again!”, to the dusting of snow that fell in the late afternoon, we felt our motivation and excitement building to get on the road. With snow showers threatening, we got underway at 6:30 the next morning to try and stay ahead of the storm. So, while family and friends hunkered down around TV with subs and pizza to enjoy an orgy of six college football games, we ran south full blast until…