Apr-Jul: I'll be in the South Pacific.
Archive for February 2006
Take 2
It’s just below freezing in Dallas this morning, but things are supposed to thaw between here and Missouri — at least during the daylight hours.
I need to get home today, so I’ll leave here in an hour or two. Please remember me in prayer throughout the day.
categories stateside
posted by david | permalink | comments (1)
Wisdom over enthusiasm
I’m still in Dallas, though I’d planned to be in Missouri by now. More on that in a minute.
Thursday was my last day at The Seed Company office, and temperatures reached an unbelievable 85 degrees here in the Metroplex. I spent the day working on a web-based communications resource system, which I managed to get into decent shape before I left. There was a goodbye party in the afternoon, and as the day wore on and people kept coming to say goodbye, I started feeling queasy. Goodbyes … again.
Yesterday I said goodbye to Parke and finished moving out of the apartment. I divided everything up into what stays at June’s and what goes back to Missouri, where some of it will be stored and some of it will be selected for inclusion in my 45 kilos of luggage. I scrubbed and vacuumed too, and then I loaded the car, dropped the key off at the office, and drove out of the gate for the last time.
By evening, I’d grown concerned about the weather. Chances for sleet and freezing rain were something like 70 percent. Samantha, Lynn, and I had planned to caravan to Ft. Smith and attend the Plymale/Sullivan wedding, after which I would continue on to Springfield. Driving north? Into sleet and snow? I decided there was nothing to do but wait and see what the morning held.
When I got up, the road outside June’s house looked pretty dry, and nothing on the weather showed significant accumulations farther north. So, to the girls’ surprise, I said I was willing to try the trip. That’s the missionary spirit, right? Trust God and go!
The city seemed fine, but as we sped north on 75, I started feeling slick spots on overpasses. Then we started seeing accidents, and we pulled off at McDonald’s to talk things over.
We decided to keep going, but only a mile or two later, we saw ambulances arriving at an accident that looked pretty bad. As we passed it, the pickup in front of me fishtailed dramatically across the overpass.
Shaken, we all agreed to turn back, and we took the very next exit. I called June and my parents and told them to pray. We took it slow, and we saw several other accidents. Road conditions improved as we entered the city, but a couple of accidents had traffic backed way up on the northwest side of Dallas.
We arrived safely back at June’s after some scary moments on Spur 408. The girls headed home after a little while, but I’m staying here till Monday. I’ll try the trip again when things warm up a smidge — got to get back for a dentist appointment on Tuesday. Oh boy!
categories stateside
posted by david | permalink | comments (0)