Randy Wray’s Blog

So much to say about the road trip with the boy.

We had a great time.

It would have been a better time with the girls so it was just a great time.

Eugene has a special place in our hearts which is odd because of all the bad stuff that happened to us there.

The good stuff in Eugene is still there and it was a delight being able to catch up.

We even talked to the current owner of our old house into a tour of the boy’s birth home at 9PM.

Freaky, freaky, freaky, freaky.

They had not changed a thing!

When I say they had not changed a thing I mean they had not changed a thing!

This was our first house that we began to test and experiment with our remodeling muscles. (Little did we know what we was in store for us).

We walked into the entry way and immediately, as I stood on the tile, I remembered the tile entry being our first official tile job.

The kids rooms were exactly as we had left them (except the new owners stuff was in them and not our stuff).

The girls room was still yellow with the Winnie the Pooh border around the room and her baby footprints on the wall behind the door.

The boys room was still blue with the blue chair rail around the room.

The kitchen was the same, the bathroom we completely remodeled was the same, the rest of the house was the same, green carpet in the family room and all.

It was as if it was frozen in time - or preserved like some freakish graceland.

And then the owner said, the curious thing is we are getting ready to sell the house and move to Tennessee I had to resist asking how much.

We enjoyed our visits with our friends.

As I said, it’s why Eugene has a special place in our hearts.

The only problem with such visits is you never have enough time.

The boy and I are on the road.

We’re driving up north so that I can officiate the wedding of my niece and her beau.

At $4 something a gallon it should be an interesting trip.

I know, I know Brady pays like $14 dollars a gallon but that still doesn’t make me happy about paying $4 something a gallon.

Why is it that higher gas prices elsewhere are supposed to make us feel good?

The kind folks down at the county planning office graciously extended our building permit for six more months.

Actually, the guy at the counter just signed on the permit and said it was good for six more months.

I thought you guys were done?  You might ask.

I had to re-insulate the attic.

With some recent cool weather upon us I decided to tackle that task and was surprised at how easy it was to do it yourself.

Know that doesn’t take into consideration how dirty and sweaty and all the job was but pleased to say the job is done.

The best news is I was able to walk around up in the attic without falling through.

Next . . . calling for the final inspection.

As a parent you expect (and prepare for) certain questions.

However, without fail, you will at some point have to field a question you didn’t expect.

I’m not sure exactly why I didn’t expect the question.

It just came as a surprise.

Driving down the road Sunday afternoon (after church) the boy asked: “Dad, why are we in the Church of Christ?”

Maybe a better theologian would have responded with facts and references.

My response was simple:  “Because my parents were and your mom’s parents were.“

The USA national softball team made a stop in Stockton last night on their Bound for Bejing tour.

These elite female athletes are a sight to behold.

They are athletic big, fast, and capable technicians.

The atmosphere was electric.

The stadium was too small, the complete wrong venue for the event, but the hundreds of softball players gathered to watch could care less.

With a game time of 7PM the parking lot opened at 4PM and the gates opened at 4:30PM.

One of our team families arrived at 2PM to become the first in line.

They informed everyone who arrived after them that the entire team would be joining them up in front once they arrived.

Very well done, because it seems they kept saying this to anyone else who got in line so that when the rest of showed up everyone was expecting it and it was no big deal.

Our girls had a blast.

It was fun, as a parent, to see them so excited and enthusiastic.

The 45 minute autograph session was an exercise in survival.

It became a question of endurance and tenacity - how many different lines can you get in to receive an autograph?

I was impressed with the demeanor of the USA national team.

They smiled whenever asked for pictures.

They waved, they interacted with the girls and made it a delightful evening.

Madison was impressed with the number of players that included Bible verses in their profiles.

One of the players even included Ephesians 5:1 when she signed her name on her glove.

Our team was the last to leave the parking lot.

The girls even chased the USA team bus out of the parking lot.

Good stuff, really good stuff.

While I wanted to see David win, I’m okay that David won.

What I’m not okay with (and should be illegal) was a horrendous performance by George Michael.

Greek born or not, what’s he doing on the show in the limelight on that night of all nights?

Was Jacko not available?  Couldn’t find Pee Wee Herman?

I kept expecting to see Hasselhoff or Shatner come on stage and sing.

Shatner would have brought the house down.

The prayer of a second grader today in chapel:

um God be with the sick people, um thank you for our school, thank you for our parents, be with the instinct (extinct) animals, please make more so we can enjoy them.  Amen.

Are we in a recession or not?

Are the gas prices affecting our lives?

Any notable changes you can see?

Highly adaptable, clever and opportunistic, Rocky represents the tried and true pioneer spirit of the American people.

I, for one, am completely amazed that Rocky (our backyard dweller) is still alive.

Now that last statement assumes he is still alive.

The last time I saw him he was still alive.

If Rocky could speak he may very well have said (in your best Monty Python accent) “I’m not dead yet!”

It was around 10PM Saturday and we had just settled down for the night.

The windows were open because of the nice breeze coming off the delta.

I heard the distinct sound of a startled animal (Janice makes the same sound every time Greg says he’s going to the GC) followed by a tremendous bang and an immense shower of sparks.

It looked like the old time photographers flash bulbs but 100 times louder and brighter.

In that same instant our power went out.

I knew our cat was outside frolicking and wondered if the dog had chased her up the utility pole.

I don’t have the words to describe if this would have been a good thing or a bad thing.

The transformer reset itself and our power came back on.

About 30 seconds later the same bang, the same flash, the same shower of light and our power went off again.

Once again the transformer reset itself and our power came back on.

I waited for about five minutes grabbed a flashlight and headed out to investigate the crime scene.

The area of the yard (all the way in the back) borders a creek and is densely covered in trees and shrubs.

The dog had routinely jumped into this horticulture cocktail barking like crazy at what we presumed to be a stray cat, a varmint, or an exiled member of In Sync.

I wasn’t terribly excited about finding the charred remains of whatever tangled with the transformer - I just wanted to find it before the dog found it!

Nothing on our side of the fence but I could hear rustling on the other side of the fence.

I jumped up on the fence, shined my torch and saw Rocky backed up against the fence breathing heavily,

Rocky made no attempt to run away which I attributed to his backside being fried.  It was clear he had made contact with his backside.

I can’t imagine that he was able to crawl down but I also can’t imagine that he would be able to survive a fall from that height.

Add to the mix that there were two bangs, two light shows and we see that either there were two coons up there and one took the brunt of it OR Rocky took two shots of high voltage, fell down to the ground (or climbed down) and was still alive.

Sunday afternoon Reese and I went outside to fully investigate the scene in broad daylight.

Again, I wanted to make sure there was nothing there for the dog to devour.

The dog accompanied us and immediately focused in on the area in which Rocky had been (although on the other side of fence).

She was smelling and tracking like the bloodhound she’s not.

We searched around a bit more and found this lying on the ground.

Which leads me to a new theory.

Rocky’s brother (or friend) looked at him on Saturday night and said “I bet you can’t climb up there and take off that High Voltage sign.”

Words which set into motion a series of catastrophic events.

It will reach into the 100’s for the second day here in Stockton.

When that Delta breeze is absent we feel every degree of that heat.

It’s a good dry heat - none of that humidity - but it’s still hot.

My friend Tim (who lives in Oregon) always seems to drive down when temp down here reaches intolerable levels.

I expect to see him pulling up any minute now!