Benopolis and E.K.

Is 5 liters

Really that bad for 12 people?

Surely no.

Now walk it out Now walk it out!

Din Din

Enjoying quiche... And each other's company more.

Reading

After a full day of breakfast, rope swinging, lunch, and capture the cabin, folks need a lil down time!

Cards

Evening card playing. While we drink wine. And the smell of quiche wafts thru the cabin.

PS--we all got invited back --by Granny-- next year!

Rope Swing Love!

Who doesn't love a little rope swing in the morning?

Gustav

Dear God--

Everyone please pray for the Gulf Coast.

We have all come to know and love...

The outhouse up the hill.

A Tasty Treat

At the Sandwich Creamery.

Can I just say Cold River?

This is Abby jumping!

Amazing.

We interrupt this broadcast...

of Jonny's fun and games at Barvel, to present me: recovering from
surgery in bed, on an ice pack, bored.

And in other, funnier news, check out my dad's video of himself doing rehab!

Post Dinner

A lil relaxing after dinner.

Abby washing dishes...

On the counter.

~~~~~

[Sung:]

"Ohhhhh Ab, I'd be in trouuuuuuuuble if you left me now!"

Barvel Lake

Comments re: Governor Palin

Dear readers, you sent comments about Governor Palin before I even made the request. Below is a sampling of the emails and texts I have received so far about the selection. Names have been left off intentionally.

-----------

It's Palin!!!!! So excited!

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palin as vp!!

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What does thee think about his pic? Wow I was surprised.

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I love the pick!! It's very risky, but for the first time in a long time, I'm excited to be a Republican and I feel like GOP is actually trying to be a relevant forward thinking party. This is awesome. I'm so glad McCain didn't pick a rich guy from a golden family or a nice boring guy from Minnesota. I would have loved Lieberman, but he would have caused too much division in the party. Louisiana needs Jindal. This is fantastic!

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Quite a pick by Mccain , hunh ?

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I think McCain has won me over--I'm excited about this VP choice! 

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Jonny, did you hear that McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate?  What do you think?  I think it's great!  What are you up to?  Love the blog posts, keep them up! 

------------

So excited about Sara Palin!! I will come volunteer for you for the
whole month of October!!!

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Sign me up to work for VP Palin! she's amazing!

Governor Palin

Senator McCain just announced Governor Palin as his running mate and VP candidate. I am excited about the decision, grateful there will be a woman on the ballot on the GOP side, and interested by the fact that no matter who wins, it will be a historic and remarkable election for America.

Thoughts, dear readers?

Tuckered pups

Good ole Camp Hale

Rope Swing

Walking to the Squam Lake Rope Swim.

Lil Accident

So I had a little donk-e-donk in a Dunkin Donuts parking lot in Granny's car. Am proud to say the most significant damage was to the Obama sticker.

Wild Horses

As Abby says, "even wild horses couldn't stop us."

Ben Leaping Through the Air

Into Granny's garden.

Watching the convention

At a neighbor's house across the lake. Watching Senator Obama's speech.

The highlight of the night has been that they have running water! And lights! And power!

Thoughts on the speech, dear readers?

The Deer

The Deer is still here. And so is the window dad broke a few years ago.

Loons!

Granny watching a treasured loon on Barvel Pond.

Sitting on the porch eating lunch

Granny on the Porch

The Cabin Tall and Proud

The Barvel Weekend Begins

Granny and I just arrived at Barvel. It was a long drive and she is tired. I am going to go shopping now for food for the weekend.

Dinner Party!

Granny and I are hosting a dinner party at her house with some old college friends of mine.

Fw: Motorcade

-----Original Message-----
From: "Jonathan F. Block" <jonathan.f.block@gmail.com>

Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:03:34
To: Block Family Blog<go@blogger.com>
Subject: Motorcade

This is what the motorcade looks like, parked. We are parked on the tarmac waiting for the plane to depart. We always wait for it to go "wheels up" before we leave the tarmac, just in case there should be mechanical problems or something that would necessitate the use of the vehicles.

Shout Outs

Happy Birthday Eanum! (As of yesterday)

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Love all three of you so much. Hopefully I will see you soon when work takes me through CoMO for 5 days.

Shout Out to Kak and John

Am in San Fran--i know its a city you love!

Entitlement

Sitting here on a plane on the way to San Francisco, my thoughts turn to entitlement.

Specifically, entitlement as it relates to drinks on board commercial flights. Like most of us, I have become accustomed to being served a drink or two while flying. My beverage of choice is an ice cold virgin mary. The catch is, of course, that I have enjoyed all of this free of charge.

Until recently. Last month, US Airways changed their drink policy so that all drinks --even a meager cup of water-- cost $2. All drinks. That means my favored virgin mary.

Naturally, this new policy has caused me to reconsider my habit. I enjoyed virgin marys when they were free, but at $2 a pop, I decided I don't really need them anymore. Or, for that matter, want them. On long flights, I realized, all I really want is a glass of water. I had grown accustomed to my virgin marys. Entitled, even. I was in the air, therefore I would drink a virgin mary. But the new pricing scheme rolled helped me realize that my little mid air treat is really a wasteful and unnecessary indulgence. It is a drink I don't need, held in a plastic (eg, petroleum-based) cup I throw away, cooled by ice I don't enjoy crunching, poured from an aluminum container that surely isn't recycled.

So thanks, US Air, for charging me for a drink I was really only drinking because it was free in the first place. I will be more careful in the future. Just because its in front of me and free doesn't mean I'll take it.

Up and Out

Am headed outta Sacramento now. I am not sure how I am getting out of here--whether I will fly thru San Fran or Phoenix. There's bad weather in each place.

I don't really care how I get out, to be honest. Its bound to be an adventure no matter what happens.

My ultimate destination is Boston, where I will spend 2.5 days with Granny before we head to Barvel, where 9 of my best friends are going to be. Its the crew of folks I always have the New Years party with. Truly some of my best friends in the world. Unfortunately, Nate D and his wife aren't coming, but the rest of the crew is.

Straight Talk Air!!

Game Day!

Me and a TV reporter from San Fran.

Live from the Tarmac of the Sacramento Airport

This airplane looks like a Hammer head Shark.

CA Capital

This is where Arnold works.

In n Out

Who doesn't love In-N-Out? When in CA, gotta hit it. Protein style, grilled onions, extra pickles, well done fries, strawberry shake.

New Orleans Sunset

I am not there now, but I love this pic of the sunset on the tarmac of the Louis Armstrong Airport in New Orleans.

Shout out to Uncle Jonny!

Here are the three PA Block kids in their DC shirts. We're thinking of
thee, Jonny wherever thee is!

(and thanks to Mima for the shirts. :))

The Homeless

Below are four emails (in date order) sent between Kak, Sara and me yesterday regarding homelessness. Thought it was an interesting conversation that I'd share.

_____________________________________
To: Kak and Sara
Date: Thursday, August 21; 9:31 AM
From: JFB
Subject: The Homeless

Kak and Sara,

I went to the bookshop at Union Station today, hoping to find the latest copy of Time or Newsweek to take with me. Upon entering, I saw a man who was obviously homeless: tattered clothes, dirty skin, pulling books off the shelf, scribbling notes, matted hair. I averted my eyes and hoped he would leave soon. "Do they know he is here?" I wondered to myself.

Later as I was walking thru the concourse near the food court, I saw a woman who appeared homeless: ratty hair, mismatched clothes, her sunglasses broken and dangling to the side. Again I wondered: "Do I have to share this space with her? Do they know food is served here?"

And so that brings me to my question to you: how do we treat the homeless? They seem different. They sometimes don't seem sane. They might be... dirty. In practical terms, how do we treat them, and what do we do with these awful feelings that make us simply want to ignore them?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

_____________________________

To: JFB and Sara
Date: Thursday, August 21; 9:36 AM
From: Kak
Subject: The Homeless

Jonny... I was walking in Chicago, meeting John at Starbucks, after running down the Navy Pier.. At the last stoplight, while crossing the street, I saw a homeless man sitting on a bucket, completely hunched over, with flies buzzing around the wounds on his legs.. I thought, "He is one of the 'least of these' that Jesus talks about and I'm going to walk right past him..."

I understand. I don't know what to do but I know i'm not doing enough.

___________________________________

To: Kak and JFB
Date: Thursday, August 21; 9:23 PM
From: Sara
Subject: The Homeless

Well JFB, and hi Kak! (hope all's well with you and John and the boys),

The most transformative experience I had in relation to my attitudes towards homeless people was a feature story I wrote for The Methodist Recorder in London. The assignment was to cover homelessness in London. I arranged to visit the Hinde Street Mission run by "Father" Leao Neto (a methodist minister, but who the homeless clients identified as Father because of his cleric's collar). I was uncomfortable the minute I walked in the door, with the dirt, with the smell, with the averted eyes, and the blank stares.

He greeted everyone as a brother and sister, often touching them. I started to pay attention when an old woman with searing blue eyes grabbed my arm after Neto had gone ahead and said, "Bring him back." Her eyes hardly looked human, but then he came. And took her hands in his, and suddenly there was a woman before me, her face beautifully transformed speaking happily with him. In Neto's office, he told me that when we refuse to acknowledge the homeless person with our eyes, with our words or with our time, we strip them of their fundamental humanity. And this process is wearing - were we subjected to it we might lose our way in society too.

Humanity and dignity were what Neto returned to the old woman. I've realized since that what I feel I owe to the homeless, though I don't get it right often, is to recognize the divine spark of their Creator, to recognize their kinship to me. I fail a lot. David Mauldin actually does a much better job, he has a gift for interacting with homeless people, I think because he never forgets their shared humanity.

Well that wasn't as brief as I had hoped, my apologies. But that's what I think.

Sara

__________________________________________

To: Kak and Sara
Date: Friday, August 22; 6:28 am
From: JFB
Subject: The Homeless

Sara,

Thank you for weighing in. I really appreciate your compassionate heart. I was struck by your reminder that we ought "to recognize the divine spark of their Creator" in all people. I find it remarkable because it is true, and remarkable because it is similar to Quaker theology, where the guiding principle is to recognize the Divine light in all people.

This evening in Sacramento, I was asked for money by a homeless lady with a hearing impairment. Her gentle lisp and use of sign language caught my ear and eye, so I stopped longer than I normally would have. I happened to have a quarter in my pocket, so I gave it to her and walked on. The sound of my leather bottomed, wood soled loafers hitting the cobblestones haunted me. Who was I, clad in Tommy Hilfiger and J Crew, to walk past her, offering only a quarter?

I would have a hot meal later that night, I knew, and sleep in a bed far too large for one slim body. How could I walk past someone who looked hungry? I returned to her and offered a bit more cash and learned her name. Lee. I gave her mine, and we shook. That seemed better than hastily dropping a lonesome coin into her hand and walking on. We looked eachother in the eye, wished eachother well and parted ways.

I felt better. But I realize the moment was still profoundly selfish. I felt better because I offered her a few dollars and learned her name. But I still drove away in my rental car headed to a four star hotel for the night. I still had a hot dinner and glass of wine for dinner. Lee would be sleeping on the street somewhere or in a loud and crowded shelter if she was lucky. For her dinner the only affordable restaurant I saw within walking distance was Subway.

And so I grapple with what to do still, and how to react--how to live, really--knowing that Lee is somewhere not far from here and I am called not to ignore her suffering.

Christmas in August?

I just figured out how to post from my iPhone (thanks, Jonny!) so I'll try to get pics of our lives up a few times a week. (I'll still be blogging on xanga, but it's annoying to post pics there, so I usually don't.)

Anyway, we have some friends in STL who are thinking about coming out to visit us right after Christmas. So I started think about travel plans and was wondering if anyone has any remote idea what holiday plans will be for this year. My vote would be for a get-together over a Nov/Dec week/weekend that is not technically a holiday weekend, just for cheaper airfare. Thoughts? I think I'll send this out on an email as well, just in case some don't read this blog. :)

PS: No, it is not 6:12 am. It's actually 9:20 and my kids are currently screaming at each other. I'd better go. :)

Ball game

Dan and I took the older two kids to our local AAA Yankees game last
night. It was so much fun and we had front row seats right behind
first base!

Old Town Sacramento

Sculpture

Out by the baggage claim at the Sacramento airport, there are two sculptures of real luggage carts piled high with real luggage. They are a clever and unique way to mask pillars supporting the tall ceiling.

Here's a pic--not sure how well it will come out...

Phoenix

In Phoenix, en route Sacramento.

Just had lunch with a friend named Brittany, who was my press site in St Louis and New Orleans. She is a good apple--recent college grad--and it was nice to see her. I was feeling a little blue after leaving DC and so it was a really nice surprise to have lunch.

We both just happened to figure out we were in Phoenix and she had just left the airport and picked up a car, so she swung by the airport again and we went to Chipotle and then she redeposited me at the airport.

BWI

Its Jonathan, and I am on a plane headed from DC to Sacramento. I just spent several wonderful days in Washington--my first time back in the city in almost a month. It was good to be with my community there.

I stayed with Sara (on her couch, FYI) from Sunday night (late) to this morning. Traveling is great and interesting and stimulating, but there's nothing like being with the people you care about, eating food prepared by hands you know, purchased from the Farmer's Market down the street.

In other news, I am going to try to blog from the road a bit--at least one post per city from here on out, with photos too. My new BlackBerry takes pictures and Blogspot makes it a cinch to post blogs right from my bberry, which is what I am doing now.

Attached are pictures from my two most recent trips. The first one shows me at a VERY early morning run to FedEx in Manhattan (note the trademark yellow cabs behind) and the other shows the view of the Miami skyline from my window at the Hilton Miami Airport a few days ago.