Greetings:
   No I have not fallen off the face of the earth (again) but I may have come close.  But my teaching schedule has lightened up, one church task force has finished work (but the synod one still remains) and I am back from vacation.  So I anticipate that I can get back on track with my GA Junkie life now.

Vacation was good.  About a year ago REI (Recreational Equipment Company) ran a series of radio ads with mock quiz questions about whether you are an outdoors person.  One of the questions that has stuck with me is “Do you measure happiness with an altimeter?”  (A blogger named Obi has many of the questions from multiple ads in one of his blogs (scroll almost half way down the page until you see REI) but I do know that he is missing at least one about the Ten Essentials (outdoors, not of the Reformed Faith))  After camping for the better part of a week a bit north of Yosemite at 10,000 feet I am reminded that I probably can measure happiness that way, at least in part.  So after camping, and running some whitewater, and spending time with my family, I am ready to get back into the swing of things.

One interesting note that I may pursue is some reading I did on John Muir while I was away.  There was some interesting stuff on how his Scottish Presbyterian upbringing influenced his later spirituality and environmentalism.

A second note:  My son has been approached about being a YAD to the next GA of the PC(USA).  Stay tuned, more on that if he agrees to be nominated.