When I first set out to write this speech, I was just planning on telling you, my classmates, what an honor and pleasure I consider it to have gone to school with all of you – some of you, for a very long time – and that I wish you all lives of great significance and many blessings, and that I am sorry if I have every hurt any of you in any way.  All this is true; I do wish you all the best; but the more I thought about it, the more I figured that I ought to share something inspirational.

                So, I decided to share with you the words of someone who has been an inspiration to me.  Jonathan Edwards was a theologian from New England, way back in the colonial era.  I wrote a research paper on him in the eleventh grade, and I actually thought he was interesting, so I read some more of his stuff.  (I guess that’s one way to tell if you’re a nerd.)  Anyway, among the many other things Edwards wrote, he set down a long list of resolutions for himself, reminders on how to conduct his life.  They’ve inspired me, so I’d like to share a few with you.

5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.

6.  Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.

                I don’t think those require any explanation.  I really like the way he expresses the saying, “Live life to the fullest.”

                Here’s one I’d like to focus on:

13.  Resolved, to be endeavoring to find our fit objects of charity and liberality.

                All of us will be going different directions, to different places, after we graduate.  We’ll all have unique opportunities.  It’s my encouragement to myself and to you all to use your unique place in life to make a positive impact in a way that no one else may be able to do.

                And finally:

17.  Resolved, that I will live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.

                This one is my favorite.  We won’t be on this earth forever.  One day, we’ll probably be looking back on our lives and wishing we had done a lot of things differently.  Still, it is my hope that we will all be able to say – as we’re hobbling over to talk to one another at our fifty-something-th class reunion and as we close our eyes on this world for the last time, that we have lived meaningful, satisfying lives in the best way that we could possibly have lived them.  I pray that that will be your hope as well.  Thank you, class of 2007.

Currently Reading Death of a Salesman (Penguin Plays) By Arthur Miller see related

Just to be able to say that I still blog every now and then, I will relate a brief anecdote:

As my high school graduation draws ever nearer, I have been catching myself having some of those "my, how the years have flown" moments.  I suppose nostalgia is the proper word to use.  A rather sad nostalgic moment happened to me yesterday when I went jogging.  I don't jog very often at all, but yesterday, the warmer weather and the nice breeze drew me outside.  Lady, my 13(or 14?)-year-old cocker spaniel decided to follow me.  My dog, old, fat, and ornery as she is, is nonetheless very devoted to her owners.  She followed me across the highway and down the tree-lined road toward the cemetery, part of my usual jogging route. 

As usual, my own rate of breathing quickened as I continued jogging, looking straight ahead,  but to my surprise, I heard Lady's breath come in much louder, labored gasps.  It was very both sad and heartwarming to see my little, old dog running after me, as fast as her poor shape and debilitating arthritis would allow her to run.  I continued jogging around town, but I periodically stopped or slowed to a walk, not necessarily because I was too tired, but because I was waiting for my devoted dog to catch up with me.  We eventually made it home together, and upon our arrival, we both headed straight for the water dish, or, in my case, the water faucet.

I got a sad, nostalgic feeling when I saw Lady running after me,  not simply because she was slow, but because seeing her following me brought back memories of times gone by.  I remember getting her when she was just a puppy.  I was just in preschool.  I grew up with her always being at my house, year after year.  Now, as I am in the home stretch of my high school career, Lady too appears to be on her last legs.  I am not usually this sentimental, but thinking of Lady just now has reminded me that I am drawing very near to the end of an era, at least in my life.  I feel that I am ready for the next phase of my life, college, but at the same time, I can't help but think back on this phase of my life (and on its impending end) without feeling a sort of sorrow over seeing it go.

Currently Reading Crime and Punishment (Bantam Classics) By Fyodor Dostoevsky, Constance Garnett see related

Dang.  I haven't written anything here in a long time.  I don't even feel like I have much to write about now, but I feel that I don't need to get out of the habit of blogging....although it might be a little late for that.  My new years resolution is to get more serious about my spiritual growth.  By no one's fault but my own, I sort of feel like I've stagnated spiritually.  I don't feel like I've matured enough over this past year.  I'm not the person I should be.  I pray that God will give me grace to help me grow more like him this year, becoming more and more conformed to his image.

Shifting gears, my work load at school might be a bit easier than it was last semester.  In place of physics, I now have U.S. government and will later have economics.  Those are supposed to be easy classes.  Hopefully calculus and English won't get much more demanding than they were last sememster.  Speaking of those classes, I've got some homework I need to be doing.  Please forgive my unfaithfulness to this blog.  I also resolve to write more.  Have a great day.

A[n] [Mis]adventure

 Today I finally got a chance to explore the abandoned house which I had briefly looked around in before.  According to Dr. Gerald Smith, a Sewanee professor, there was supposed to be something interesting in the house, or at least in the attic.  When I asked Dr. Smith what was there, he would only reply with, "Bad memories....memories of a crazy old woman and a ruthless old man.  I can't tell you the whole story now."

When thinking about just what could be at this old house, I will admit that I allowed my imagination to run away with me a bit.  What if the old couple tortured people in the attic?  What if there was a human skeleton, or an old trunk full of occult items, or something?  Considering this and looking to have an interesting excursion into the unknown, I called up my  brave and noble companions Luke and Trevor.

There was a locked (or so I thought) gate at the beginning of the trail to the house, so we had to ride bikes there.  I underestimated how difficult the bike ride would be.  Pedaling up steep hills in the cold isn't much fun.  Anyway, there's the gate and the road.  Kinda spooky, huh?  I thought it looked cool.

We followed the trail back into the woods, trying to remain undetected....except that Luke kept ringing the bell on the bicycle.  Ok, in all honesty, we weren't really very stealthy.  Dogs barked at us.

After riding a most of the way to the house in the woods, we ditched the bikes and continued on foot.  Soon we were there, staring into the house's vacant eyelike windows (like in "Fall of the House of Usher").

We walked in through what would have been the front door, had there been one.  We made our ascent up the staircase that greeted us as we entered the house.  It was the attic we were looking for.  That was the place the...whatever-it-is...might be, according to Dr. Smith.  Here we are ascending the stairs - or getting ready to ascend the stairs, in my case.

We proceeded into the upstairs bedrooms (at least, I assume that's what they were) and began searching for a way into the attic above.  In the second room in which we looked around, Luke seemed to find the attic access in the closet.

Sure enough, there it was.  I went into the closet, looked up, and took a picture.

We had to climb through that to get into the attic.  Aren't you proud of us?

Luke went in first, since he is the lightest of the three of us.  Trevor and I made stirrups with our hands and boosted him up through the aforementioned small hole in the ceiling.  After that, I helped Trevor up.  I went into the attic after they came back down, but while they were up there, they photographed what was in the attic.  Prepare yourself; this is not for the faint hearted.

Just kidding.  Other than this brick chimney and some animal waste, there was virtually nothing in the attic, or in the next one we looked at.  The most interesting mystery is the question of what exactly made those droppings.  I'll spare you a description, but I will say that they appeared not to belong to any animal one would expect to find in an attic.  Can dogs climb?  If not, that attic must lodge a pretty big raccoon.

Disappointed, we crawled back out of the attic.

As we observed, we were definitely not the first uninvited visitors to this house.  Someone evidently had a birthday party out there.

Yeah....so there was really nothing much to see in the house.  Not yet convinced that there was nothing unusual here, I suggested that we walk farther along the little farm road.  The road looked like it is still used fairly frequently, and the nearby barns had hay in them.  The whole property wasn't abandoned, anyway.  As we were walking out along the trail, it began snowing/hailing.  It sort of stung our faces, but it was pretty to look at.  That whole area had a nice sort of serenity about it.  We walked a long way without seeing any occupied buildings.  I love the country.

Much to our surprise, after we walked for quite some time, we came upon the ruins of a large church.

Just kidding again.  That's Tintern Abbey in Wales.  That was another trip altogether.  It would have been cool if there were a large church ruin dating back to the time of Henry VIII on Water Tank Road, but unfortunately, there is not.  At least, if there is, I didn't find it today.

We departed as the hail kept coming down, and after another exhausting ride (because we're all out of shape, not because it was really all that far) we arrived back at my house and warmed up with ramen noodles with creole seasoning.  I prefer mine with a little Tabasco sauce as well.  It warms a person from the inside.

Well, that was my There and Back Again journey.  It was rather uneventful, but it was still fun.

If you ever come across a house like this, I recommend checking it out, but I don't think you should expect to find anything.  Have a great day, guys.