My Birthday Present:

In a cement dorm, there lived a Reimers. Not a first-born, cocky, self-confident Reimers, full of lists of goals and objectives for his life, nor yet a last-born, lackadaisical, let life hit ‘em Reimers with no direction, gumption, or gale; it was a Nathan Reimers, and that means whimsical.

He has a perfectly round head with a button nose growing stubbornly out of the center of his face. On his head he grows very little hair, and even when this hair persists in growing against his will, he promptly cuts it all off with a razor or any other sharp object just short of a scimitar. He has a well-tuned bass that he likes to sing in when he walks about or sits down. Due to his Reimersness, you are apt to find him always humming a tune, particularly the oratorios of Handel.

This Reimers is a very far-from-home Reimers, and his name, as I mentioned earlier, is Nathan. The Reimers have lived in Lynden, Washington for time out of mind, but this particular Reimers up and joined the Air Force and left Lynden behind. Behind, in a manner of speaking only, for he always carried large particles of home with him wherever he went.

Given his Reimers upbringing, Nathan has a great propensity to read things aloud to whomever happens to be about. This condition (commonly known as Accidental Reading, not to be confused with the much graver Occidental Reading which has to do with reading Asiatic languages aloud) has never been successfully treated (beyond the traditional approach which is to just sit down and listen until the person goes hoarse. This might take awhile given the Reimers’ vocal training.)

Reimers share a inevitable quest for learning. Therefore, Nathan might not know what he wants to do in the long run as far as how to make money; but he has pockets full of lists of things he wants to learn: Russian, Bagpipes, French, and probably even Irish dance.

He has an aversion to mushrooms and frowns on the day that they grace his platter. His enculturated preference lies in the pickled category. Rumor has it that Nathan considers dill pickles a meal all by themselves.

He’s quick to lend a hand. Whipping out his Gerber with the speed of a medieval swashbuckler, he will break whatever it is that has been bothering you to have fixed. Sheepishly, he’ll smile at the raw brute of his young strength symbolized in the broken pieces scattered about his Gerber, and privately wonder if maybe something is needed in some situations besides untempered, masculine force. He pushes the question to the back burner to stir up later.

And if ever you need clarification on characters and lineage of Middle Earth, Nathan, the walking resource of Middle Earth, will readily assist you. As a matter of fact, he lives in a dwarrowdelf. A dwarrowdelf? What’s that? Well, a dwarrowdelf is the name in the Common Speech for the mansions of Khazad-dûm. Actually, Dwarrowdelf is an Anglicism for Phurunargian. And that’s where the real Nathan Reimers lives.

So that begs the question. Does that mean Nathan is really a dwarf? Well, perhaps an overgrown, skinny dwarf. That is possible given the terrain and his near ancestor’s habit of living above ground. He certainly has less hair than your typical Middle Earthen dwarf, but it is possible that Nathan Reimers is the Modern Earth dwarf. If you’ve seen him whip out his Gerber, you will cock your head and weigh the probability as you envision an axe in its place. He is rather heavy-booted like his ancestors who traipsed so clodd-footedly through Mirkwood many years ago. If you’ve seen his appetite as he devours a warm meal, the evidence will tip the scale even further. And if you hear him tell stories and sing songs, you’ll pause to consider that maybe the dwarf blood might have finally overcome its animosity toward the elves (or perhaps the hobbits) and intermarried in this Reimer line. For there is something altogether uncanny about these two traits coming together so unclashingly in Nathan Reimers. How could such a man come from the dwarrowdelves of Khazad-dûm? This is uncertain, but some things cannot be proven scientifically. Some things live on the dawn of our understanding. Yet even there, though they escape our finite perception, they are, nonetheless, real.

Oct. 26, 2005

T

It really must be pretty sad, but lately I've experienced a bit of sleep deprivation. That's not really the sad part, though. You see, when you combine it with caffiene,-he, he-that's when things get really interesting. I think the guys at work are getting an opportunity to see the real me. The one that's hidden inside me. The one that-out of the blue-sings out loud some song like Johnny Cash or somebody, the one that jumps around all crazy-like, as if I should be locked up in a padded cell. He, he. Talk about ten feet tall and bullet proof...superman...

Have you ever tasted SOBE's energy drink "Adrenaline Rush"? It's pretty good in my opinion: much better than Red Bull; definitely better than Mt. Dew. The energy it supplies isn't so much of a sugar rush, you know? Plus, it's got herbs and such in it. But I don't drink it very often, 'cause coffee(with cream & sugar) is MUCH less expensive. But sometimes I buy it right after lunch to stave off the tendecy of my body and mind to fade into siesta mode. It's kinda strange: I don't seem to have much trouble feeling sleepy at around one o'clock in the afternoon, but just try getting me to go to bed at night, like right now. I have more important things to do.

My 26th was the best birthday I've had in a while. Actually, last Sunday was better than the day of. You see, on Wednesday, I had to get a flu shot. The first flu shot I've ever had in my life. But the day wasn't all that bad: we had a BBQ for lunch at the shop, and I brought a pie from the commisary for all the guys, and our team won our first play-off flag football game. Fun stuff.
But Sunday WAS better. I had lunch at the Belschner's like I usually do, but this time they had some interestingly familiar food on the table. Yes, indeed. They had gone behind my back and sought out from my sister, Rebekah, the recipe for my family's "chicken-broccoli-and-rice" casserole! And to top it all off, they got the recipe for strawberry shortcake, too! Not the kind using angel food cake or pound cake, but the best kind of all: big ol' bisquits smothered with fresh strawberries and home-whipped-cream! And Breyers vanilla ice cream! I just had to admit(not exactly reluctantly, mind you) that it was the best meal I had had since coming to Germany. Now, thinking about it, I think it was the best meal I'd had away from home. The cook definitely did those recipes justice.

After the feast, the Belschners and the other guests actually had birthday presents for me! Like I was turning 6, not TWENTY six. Shocking, what! Anyway, along with the gifts came a composition which you might say sound a bit Tolkienesque. Well, the article is a wild attempt to describe-of all people-me! But fear not, that article is forthcoming.

To sum it up, it almost felt like I was back home. Ahhhh, yes. God is so marvelous. He humbles me every day.

But what's it like to be twenty-six years old, you might ask. Ummmm.... Dunno. Almost the same as when I was 25 and 364 days old. Except a little different. Duh.

It really would have been nice, but I seem to have been providentially prevented from attending a Creation-slash-Intelligent Design conference/seminar in Prague, Czeck Republic. There were transportation issues, although that was probably the easiest remedied. Also, I wasn't able to get a couple days of leave squared away soon enough. Actually, what we were hoping to do was get there in the afternoon on Thursday, rest up and do some sightseeing before the conference starts on Friday.

So, I guess I'll just have to settle for some constructive activity this weekend. Like washing clothes, or walking the dog, or buying a digital camera, or something like that. Hmm.....

Dogs are so great. I really mean it. But then, of course, ya know there was that time when...

Yeah. I'm learning that I wish I had learned to take care of animals a long time ago. It teaches responsibility, patience, resourcefulness,(awfully big words, I know) and a few other valuable character qualities.

For real, I'm house/dog-sitting for a family from my church here in Germany while they are on leave in the states. Their "nice big house" comes with: a yard to take care of, dishes to clean, a Springer Spaniel, and a bath tub. Ya know, normal every day life kind of stuff. Oh, and a case of schwarzbier (black beer). Doesn't taste too bad, really. I aughta put it in a mug, though. Tomorrow I plan on raking the leaves before I take Isaak for a walk. Isaak's the dog's name. I haven't exactly been given the task of doing yard work, but I might as well try to keep my friends in the good graces of their neighbors. Around here they tend to form opinions based on what your yard looks like. Worse than in Lynden. Oh, well.

Life in the Air Force is going OK. I'm learning my job, which is a good thing. But more exciting, I get to volunteer for fun stuff, like what I just got back from last week. You know that Combat Readyness Course/mobility school I was going to attend a while ago? Well, I finished that class and recently got the opportunity to be part of OPFOR(opposing force) for this most recent class, which included several people from my shop. Fun stuff all through. We help train the students through enacting a wide variety of senarios. We played the part of protestors, terrorist victims, terrorists, drunks, starving farmers, and all to train the students how to react and deal with whatever they might encounter wherever they might be deployed. I had a great time, as did everyone else. We all learned a ton.

But I'm glad to be back "home". I never like missing a church service, especially one where the Word is faithfully preached, and where the people are so much like family to me. God has been so gracious to me. Praise the Lord. I'm listening to Handel's Messiah at the moment. I do believe that it will never cease to be, at least in my mind, the most marvelous piece of music ever written by a mortal man on this earth.

Well, until next time.

Greutzi, Quark, and a beard

I went on a church retreat to Beatenberg, Switzerland this past June. Beatenberg is in the German-speaking region of the country, directly above Interlochen, which is a pretty big vacation spot. I say German-speaking, but similar to Bavaria, Germany, the language is somewhat different. One example, "Greutzi", is a greeting, in place of "hallo".

The food was great, although there are those who would disagree regarding the tunafish pizza. As some of you may know, quark is a german thing. Especially on bread and jam in the morning for breakfast. Which is how I ate it, mostly. Y'all should try it. Appel Farms makes it. Haggen sells it. My Grandma makes some great homemade bread.

Anyway, it was indeed a blessed time to spend with my church family. The morning and evening messages on Job were given by Dr. Derek Thomas from Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. The man himself is originally from Wales, while his wife is from Dublin, Ireland.

Of course there were alot of things to do during the day. In fact, there was too much to do and not enough time. We went hiking; some white-water rafted; one went paragliding; we went to see Trummelbach Falls; I grew a beard... One evening, there was a local, small-town, open air type of concert involving a brass band, a drum group(?), alphorns, and of course, yodelling. I got the opportunity to try the alphorn, and yes, I did get pictures of alot of stuff.

The ride home was somewhat of an adventure. Except an extremely tedious one. There were STAUs. For those of you who don't know, a stau is the european form of a traffic jam. They can stretch for upwards of 5-10 kilometers. Fun stuff. Sometimes it takes up to half the day to clear.

Even so, everything happened way too fast...except for my beard. Although it was an 8-9 day beard, it really wasn't that impressive.

I'll try to post some pictures soon.

Oh, and thanks for the addition, Mark. I like it.

Post from "other place" #4

Friday, July 29, 2005
Well, starting on Monday, for two weeks, I will be semi-unavailable for contact. You see, I'll be attending a Combat Readiness Course(CRC), which is basically a field exercise meant to train us how to deploy, show us what it's like, and what to do in situations. Should be pretty fun...after you get past the first bout of nerves, that is. It's something I have to go through before I am deployed to various places. Like, say, Iraq. Or maybe Afghanistan. Might write about it afterward. Your prayers would be very much appreciated. Huaah!

Oh, I almost forgot. Another prayer request: I'm having oral surgery in a few weeks. In order to put a crown on one of my teeth, they have to "trim" a little bit of bone on either side of the tooth. Should be fun. I decided against the sedative pills and I.V. anesthetic, opting for just the local shots. But I'll probably get a day or two off of work, which will be nice. As always. And don't worry. You're not the only one paying for it. The President and I are chipping in, as well.

Somewhat off the subject: Congress is beginning to get rid of the death tax! Here's Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in his July 25, 2005 "Washington Update":
(edited)
"According to a study cited by Congress's Joint Economic Committee in 2002, eliminating the death tax outright would, within seven years, create 240,000 jobs and increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by more than $33 billion."

Pretty cool, huh?

Please let me know if I need to edit this post to avoid plagiarism.

(edited) How're the changes, Mark?