Bills blog stop

Pepe's Great Escape!

Today, while we were foraging for a new food supply for our Love Bird, Pepe, we spied some new environmental enhancements for his cage(er, living habitat). An attachable, edible, beak sharpening branch to enhance his hunting and pecking skills and a beautiful red ring the size of a large swing with a bell hanging from it to accompany his visions of swinging in a tree in the jungle! After fighting the strong currents of traffic on the asphalt river to arrive back at camp, I proceeded to “green up” Pepe’s habitat. Well, as soon as I brought one of these strange new objects in through the door, he was having none of this! With wings of steel, he squeezed through as space so small I couldn’t see it without my glasses and off he went into the wild blue(uh, wondrous air spaces) in our house! Sooo… armed with nothing but a couple of soft towels and a non threatening, wooden back scratcher, we set out on a find and capture expedition that should have aired on “Wild Kingdom”! Through sheer strength and maneuvering on our part, we began to wear down the resolve of our adversary! At one point, I had to hit the switch for the overhead fan with the swift dexterity of a gazelle to extricate the fowl winged beast from his perch without flinging him into the wall! After many attempts to cast our nets(ugh, towels) over our ungrateful friend, I guess he just valued his newly found freedom too much, he finally managed to fly into the side of a cliff(wall) and wedged himself between it and a large bookcase! After great thought about our dilemma, we decided to pull one end away from the wall, then I proceeded into the dark recess with my trusty little belt flash light and towel. Much to my chagrin, the little beggar pushed forward behind the next book case! So with great trepidation, I place the towel next to this opening with one hand, and with the other, proceeded to simulate the tremors of a minor quake to the other case! Low and behold, I saw a small red and green streak flash into the towel and voila, I had him! So I transported him to his home and gently extracted him into his own, familiar environment with the new additions and left him to himself to get used to them. I came back a little later hoping to catch him happily swinging on his new swing only to catch him soundly sleeping away, totally oblivious to his new toys! oh well, so much for the great jungle experience!

Sunday, September 2, 2007

So, did I ever mention my trip to New Orleans for relief work with guys from my church,Calvary Chapel of Downey? Well, this is our friend "Afflack"! He showed up at our pond and came into our outdoor kitchen for breakfast every morning! I even saw him inside the church kitchen also, there at the church that allowed us all to camp and park the motor homes and equipment there in their parking lot. We adopted this little guy as our mascot! It was a real blessing that we had an opportunity to help these people in their time of need! We worked in another church building across town that turned their main sanctuary into a huge warehouse where they gathered donations of food, clothing, medicine and other items to hand out and distribute into some of the affected neighborhoods. We also went into Biloxy and New Orleans to pass out food and supplies, to help gut houses and to talk with and pray with the people. We also met the pastor of Calvary Chapel of New Orleans and his wife and many members of their church.The church and their home are close to the French Quarter and both were pretty much devastated by Katrina. We also cut up quite a few trees while we were there. the people were so gracious and greatful! We also bonded with the little church where we stayed. On another interesting note, one of my sons, Matt, was there at the same time I was, except he was at one end of New Orleans on the missionary ship from Friendships, offering relief at the same time as we were at the other end doing the same! We never had a chance to see each other at the time, but we kept in touch by phone. He and all on the ship were destined to ride out Rita on the ship while in port at Port Charles, or Lake Charles. During that storm, the ship came unmoored and drifted across the river to the other side! Must have been quite an experience! Patty and I got to meet another Calvary Chapel minister on our trip recently at Calvary Chapel of Silver City, New Mexico! I'ts a neat church, one that we hope to call our home when we retire.
That's it for now,
Love in Christ,
cdcwilly