‘Skeeters, Snakes and Gators

“Oh my!” thought I, that was an alligator that just went running across my path and into the water. “Oh well, at least it ran away from me and not toward me.” And this is how my days are now filled. After a 2-month run at the Assisted Living Home, which I thoroughly enjoyed and loved, I quit and moved back to Anastasia Mosquito Control for work. It’s another 6-month job but I thought it best. Why give up a full-time job for a temporary one? Good question. It wasn’t money, though I sure make a lot more chasing down ravaging mosquitoes. It was all about the schedule. Prior to taking the job, my supervisor and I agreed I would not work on Sundays so Jackie and I could have church and family time. Jackie works Monday - Friday and I worked 6 out of 7 days and as it turned out I was getting a week day off, when Jackie worked, and Sundays on and double shifts on Saturdays. I reminded my supervisor of our agreement a number of times but he just ignored my pleas for no work on Sunday. I finally gave up and left. Reminds me of something that happened in 1983: The weak give up and stay and the strong give up and leave. Think about it.

Bob topless! Scary....

So here I am again, fighting the never-ending fight to rid our county of mosquitoes. Last year I worked in the lab but this year they have put me in a truck full of poison and sent me off into the wilderness to fight on the front lines. It’s so much fun! My days are spent driving around in the hood and in another part of the county known as Big Oak Swamp. In the hood I only have to be aware of where I am in relation to those who might want to do something unkind to me. In the swamp, it’s so thick with vegetation there are areas I can’t even see more than 20 feet ahead or around me with water anywhere from muddy to a couple of feet deep. I have snake boots so I feel like I’m the crocodile hunter (he died, right?) when I’m wading around in the water looking for mosquito larvae (their little cute babies--we called them “wigglers” when were kids). So far I haven’t run across any living snakes but I found about a 6-foot skin of a water moccasin. The alligator? That was kind of strange because I was at a condo complex where there are thick woods all around. I was walking around in the standing water and out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash run across my path. Yep, it was the alligator and he was only about 10 feet from me when our paths crossed but he/she/it was only about 4 feet long and more afraid of me evidently than I was of him. I at least have a 6-foot stick with a cup at the end I use for taking water samples I could swing at him. The stick is a 1/2 inch dowel. Yea, that would last about one swing.

That's not our church but you at least can see what Orthodoxy looks like on the outside.

It's a Sunday afternoon as I type this and it's been a very nice day. We went to church and as usual were blessed by God's presence and the fellowship afterwards over some snacks. How incredible that God would come down to earth and become like us through Jesus so that we could one day become like Him and live in heaven. Our Orthodox conversion continues to grow in depth and beauty week after week. If you know as much about Orthodoxy as I did a couple of years ago, I encourage you to visit one with an open mind. What joy to find home away from home.

As July has come I couldn't help but remember that I will add another year to my count—and what has amazed me is that it will be the 60th year of my life. Jackie was continuing to put stuff away out of the myriad of bins and boxes we have laying around (we moved the first of June) and showed me a box of photos I had taken when I was in Hawaii and CA between 1969 and 1971. Oh my gosh! How my life has changed. The first 20 years were spent in a daze, trying to figure out who I was or something like that. Once I found that out I wasn't too impressed. How many people do you have to hurt before you realize you need help? So the first 20 or so years were spent “doing my own thing” and these last 40 years have been about doing the will of God. Can't say I have been stellar at doing that but I continue and I won't give up. No one else has the words of life—only Jesus. He did say “if you seek (and keep on seeking) and knock (and keep on knocking)” you'll one day end up where you belong. Don't look back and don't stop in your tracks thinking it's good enough where you are. It's only good enough when you hear the words, “Well done good and faithful servant....” “He that endures to the end will be saved.”

So that's the first 60 years. Wonder what the next 60 will be like?

Bob, Jackie and Leah on her birthday and Father's Day. Nathan was busy and couldn't make it over.