Winter Break

The winter short term at FB ended on Friday, February 3. Unfortunately, I was not quite done with my assignments. More specifically, I still had a long way to go on the final project for Bible Study Methods.
The project consisted of writing a paraphrase of one of several scripture passages on the basis of a mechanical layout, word study, context study, historical and cultural background study, and figurative language analysis. [I had selected John 1:1-14.] By Friday evening I had completed most of the word study. I had originally hoped to finish the whole thing by midnight, but then I found that about eleven students were planning to go to Dairy Queen in Meadville, and I decided to go with them. There would be time over the break to finish the project. : )
So I drove to DQ with Elwynn Martin, and a couple other carloads met us at the restaurant. The others present were Michael Hochstetler, John Goertzen, Darrell Hershberger, Emma Jane Peachey, Lois Hershberger, Lana Martin, Janith Miller, Sherilyn Troyer, and Estalee Martin (if my memory serves me well). We had a great time there and got back after eleven.
Most of the next day (Saturday) was spent conferring with Brandon on the graphic design for the FB Chorale Europe Tour CD (2005).
Then on Sunday most of the remaining students left, after returning from the choir program in Middlefield, OH (with which I was not involved). On Monday very few students were around, including Michael Hochstetler, John Goertzen, and Rosalie Miller. John and Michael were planning to leave that day, but the snow-covered roads deterred them. John and I left FB at 4:30 that morning and attempted to head for Erie. We soon discovered that this would be futile, as the main roads were unplowed. Even if Rt. 27 was passable it would probably be slow going. So with a bit of difficulty we got back to FB and entered through the PCH. John rescheduled his flight for Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. Michael finally left on Tuesday morning.
I worked on the graphic design for parts of Monday and Tuesday, bringing it close to completion. I also put in several more hours on the Bible Study Methods project, but didn't quite get into the paraphrase.
On Wednesday morning I too prepared to leave the area. Due to a new policy, all students must leave FB over breaks unless they must be there. I obtained an extension due to the graphic design project, but by Wednesday, what with all the students gone, I was really feeling out of place. I had planned to leave by 10:30, but then I was asked to play the piano for the beginning of an administrators’ meeting. I selected Chopin’s Nocturne in C# Minor (posthumous) but then discovered, upon practicing, that I didn’t know it very well any more. I played it anyway, but the piano at the meeting location was missing some key covers and has a generally frustrating action. I don’t usually dare to play on it without rehearsing on it first. It’s really a bad instrument for this nocturne anyway. But I made it through the piece, and headed off to finish my packing. I left just after 11:30.
The trip to fellow student Javan’s place near Mifflinburg took about four hours, as expected, and was uneventful. That evening I went with his family (parents and siblings) to their church for the weekly prayer meeting.
On Thursday I helped on a house they’ve been building for the past couple of months, putting up vinyl siding for most of the day. The temperature was below 20 in the morning when we started and gradually warmed up, but by midafternoon we were contending with a serious wind while trying to put up corner pieces high above the ground. We soon quit that and went inside to put up sheetrock.
[Hmm, I started this post back in February. Now it’s September 13! I’ll soon find out what I can remember. :-)]
That evening I worked on my Bible Study Methods final project for a while. JB, meanwhile, was working on the algebra course that he was taking in his spare time. Somehow it was difficult to make much progress on the project. I kept getting stalled on little details. For example, we were supposed to use different words than the original translation where reasonable, but what alternative word or phrase can begin to do justice to light or truth as used in John 1:1-14? I ultimate stuck with the original words in these cases, and a few others, and provided notes in the documentation to explain my choice.
The next day (Friday) Javan, his brother Sheldon, and I went to the Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show at the PA Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. This show claims to be the largest of its kind in North America, and its size is certainly impressive. It fills most of the huge Farm Show Complex, which has 25 acres or more than a million square feet under one roof.
We intended to be there early, but were mistaken about the opening time. It turned out that it we were about 75 minutes early, and there were only about a dozen people ahead of us in the line. Despite the cold air in which we stood, this turned out to be a good thing, because by the time the door opened there were probably a few thousand people in the line. We also were handed discount coupons to take a few dollars off the admission fee, which is fairly high.
We wandered around among the hundreds of booths for a couple of hours and then met up with a group from Faith Mission Home. Somehow I became separated from them and wandered around for a long time without seeing any of them. Finally I found I place where my cell phone worked and called FB to get Javan's cell phone number (I should have thought of that earlier). Incidentally, I think that both of us had considered not bringing our phones into the show with us. I told Javan where I was and he and Sheldon showed up soon; the FMH people had recently departed. We got some lunch and looked at a few more booths before going back to their house.
I think that was the evening of some kind of Parent Appreciation Supper put on by their church youth group in the church basement. I went along and helped to serve one of the couples.
On Saturday Javan elected to remain at home to work on a few necessary things so he would be ready to return to FB. I think that was when we cleaned and washed our vehicles. In the afternoon I worked on my Bible Study Methods project some more, and then most of the family went to David King’s place for supper (Dave is Javan’s grandfather). We had a great time. It snowed fairly heavily that afternoon.
On Sunday after church at the home place was a surprise birthday party for Javan’s dad. A number of other relatives were also present.
Javan and I had to be back to FB early in the morning for the beginning of spring semester, so we left that afternoon after the meal in the midst of the festivities. There was still snow on the ground, but the roads were clear. We had an uneventful ride to FB and were welcomed there by most of the other students. Javan hadn't seen most of the them since December, and some of the VSers were new since he had left. There were a few that I hadn't seen since December, either. After that joyous occasion, I moved directly to working on my project again, and nearly finished it that evening. In the morning, I printed the various components of the document and turned it in with some ambivalence as to its quality. You can read it by clicking the appropriate link on my Writing page.
The previous evening, we had discovered notices at the entrances to our dorms to the effect that we were to report to the chapel for instructions at 7:45 a.m. This we did, and received some idea of what would happen in the rest of the week. The men's mentoring group still hadn't received instructions for the projects to be completed in the very near future: Life Story for Spiritual Formation Practicum II and Life MAP and Plan for SFP IV, as well as several smaller things for each. We received those instructions at a meeting in the student lounge later in the morning. We had the next day to work on these projects. I worked on mine (for SFP IV) late into the night and arose at a very early hour (3 a.m.?) to complete the big project as well as some of the smaller ones that I hadn’t even touched yet. This turned out fairly OK except that my level of consciousness at the subsequent mentoring meeting (on Wednesday morning) left much to be desired. The Life Plan was enjoyable and useful but I didn't put nearly as much on it as I had hoped. I would like to revise it next winter.
Well, such was Winter Break. I suspect there are some relevant pictures on a roll of film somewhere...this reminds me that I need to send several of those to a lab. Perhaps the pictures will be added in the near future.