Lards in Puerto Rico

Hi folks,

Shelley and I along with our small group returned last Friday from an incredible nine-day vacation in Puerto Rico. (Actually, one of the couples in our group — Dave and Terri Churchill — rushed home early to witness their first grandchild being born…they made it by 11 minutes. Welcome Lincoln! And congrats to Dave and Terri!!). We spent 7 days on the island of Vieques and two days in Old San Juan. We spent time relaxing around the pool or on one of Vieque’s incredible beaches (we were “lards” – to use our small group’s Napoleon-Dynamite-influenced lingo). Some of us spent time “boogie boarding” (and one of us — me — could hardly get out of bed the next morning as a consequence). We spend a lot of time talking, laughing, sometimes fighting and of course eating (I put on a good three or four pounds). We also spent time in prayer and engaging in meditation exercises that Terri Churchill (our group spiritual guru of sorts) devised on imaginative prayer. I was my usual quasi-autistic self and spent a lot of time reading (I re-read Jean Danielou’s Gospel Message and Hellenistic Culture as well as Volumes 2 and 3 of Adopf Harnack’s History of Dogma, in case anyone is interested).

Marcia, the group-paparazzi, constantly had her camera going and got some incredible shots of the island and our small group.

One of the highlights of our trip was a late night trip we took to "Bioluminescent Bay". This small bay (one of four in the world) is packed with micro-organisms that light up with a florescent-type light with any motion. We took kayaks into the middle of the bay and swam around, and in the moonless night the micro-organisms lit up all around as we moved, it was indescribable. Every movement left a florescent streak in the water. When you lifted your hand out of the water, it looked like a Christmas tree covered with tiny florescent white lights! The only other time I've witnessed anything in nature so awe-inspiring was the first (and only) time I encountered the Northern Lights in full display. It was magnificent! Another highlight was a night of doing Karaoke at a club. What a blast! Living up to our "world tour" desires NDY (the rock band I drum in) got up for a few numbers and rocked the house. You see, we turned the Karaoke contest into an "air band" contest and hit the ball out of the park with hits like "China Grove," "Lady," and "Get Over It." Our whole group was by far and a way the most rowdy people in the club (quite typical, actually) to the point where contestants started singing specifically to us like we were judges on American Idol or something. What a riot! NDY band member, Steve Lutz, WE MISSED YOU! Shelley and I are so blessed to have life long friends and Kingdom comrades like Marcia and Greg Erickson, Julie and Alex Ross and Terri and Dave Churchill. We can't imagine what life would be like -- or even what vacations would be like -- without these lards. ;-) Blessings, Greg