Well neither earthquake or hurricane will stop my sabbatical from beginning. It tried awful hard to curtail some of my plans of saying good-bye for three months, which it did to some degree.
On Tuesday, August 23rd while at Edna Mahan Prison, we were sitting there crocheting when two of the women said that they felt their chairs move. A couple of us commented thinking nothing really startling. About a half hour later, an officer came in and screamed "Emergency Face Count" and all the women jumped up like scared jack rabbits and left the room with a few hugs. I had planned to say some meaningful comments on how much they mean to me, but we were quickly escorted out not knowing why the turmoil. As we left the Max parking lot, we overhead an officer say, "Earthquake." We couldn't believe our ears. But we all know that this was true.
Then of course Sunday brought Hurricane Irene with its wind and rain and no Sunday service. I am definitely going to save my sermon for when I return during the first of December.
Well this first week of my sabbatical has been finishing sewing projects and getting ready for my cruise. My friend and I have made two plans for excursions on land. We are going to Mont St. Michael, which I have always thought was so beautiful. It comes with a lunch with wine and a tour. It is a seven hour tour. Then when we get to Athens, we are going on a tour of the major sites for four hours and then have free time with lunch for the other three hours.
My friend from California and I are celebrating 50 years of friendship. Yikes. For those who do not know, we are going on a 12 day cruise from Amsterdam (two extra days here before we leave on the ship), Brugge, Belgium, Cherbourg, France, Vigo, Spain, Gibraltor, Sicily, Athens, Greece, and finally Istanbul, Turkey (two extra days here as well).
I hope to blog while we are on land as to use the internet on the ship costs 64 cents a minute. It is a little pricey to be sure.
If anything happens, between now and when I leave at 6pm on Sunday, September 4th, I'll write to you.
Happy days to all.
Johnine
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