What I Did On My Summer Vacation

So, what did I do in August, you may have asked yourselves? Besides running & blogging like a crazy person, selling oil change cards when in Mpls, and traveling w/Tommy? Well, here are your answers.

• MOB MONDAYS - Monday nights, I & 3 other ladies watched all the Godfather movies. None of us had before. Why not?

• CHURCH-PLANTING BOOK - Worked on my church planting book. Made great strides with chapter 1. (draft finished in Sept.)

• COFFEEHOUSE - Hung out at the Red Rooster Coffeehouse a fair bit, computing, watching films they made, making art with people, talking w/folks.

• OPEN MIC - Every other Wednesday, there was an open mic. I performed poetry, laughed heartily.

• BOOK CLUB - On Wednesday nights. The Immortal Cells of Henrietta Lacks.

• READING - Other books read: The First Wives Club, Father Fiction by Donald Miller, and The Gates of Zion by Bodie Thoene.

• DRIVING - Drove a bit w/Tommy along, a bit without. That's a yawn for most o' ya, but new for me.

• SPIDER SOLITAIRE - LOTS of it. Won a sad 4% of games. Can't believe how hard it is.

• DATES - w/Tommy: Mexican food, picnic in a grove of trees, Rise of the Planet of the Apes movie, diner breakfast, or the like. * l*o*v*e * :)

• CAMPFIRES - Spent a number of evenings sitting around the fire in the back yard with lots of people.

• TV - Watched full season of Switched at Birth. Learned lots about deaf culture. Cool show!

• COUNTY FAIR - We ate fair food...

• ...saw a fainting goat...

• ...sheep in jumpsuits...

• HUMANE SOCIETY - with Tommy, Zion and her grandma, Arlene. Super cute kitties.

• THRIFT STORES - There's about 7 on the main road alone! Dollar stores. Used book stores.

• TEMP JOB PURGATORY - Waited for the phone to ring w/a temp job. Never did. They didn't return my calls. No other temp agencies in town. Bleh.

That was August! I'm back to the real world now. Working, looking for work, etc. Wearing purple hair extensions & silver glitter eyeliner. You know me. ;) Thanks for joining the adventure online w/us! Here's to many more!! - Your carefree correspondent, Christy.

Run #35: 35 min. - LAST RUN

Christy Merry

has hereby completed 20 hours of running

in the summer of 2011.

Done. I am done! I thought today it would be fitting for me to do something special for the last run. I ended up settling for running through sprinklers. 3 in a park, and a bonus one on the way home. As I approached the third one, I saw a dragonfly, and another, and another. The sky was full of them, like they were celebrating the last day of my summer runs.

It was a fitting end. :) Thanks for your support!

* pic from The Compleat Wetlander

Run #34: 34 min.

Aberdeen. Aug. 27. I took today off too. A little research before this run revealed I only had 69 min. left on my goal. SO close! Nevertheless, it was hot. I wanted a short run, but had to add on some minutes to my shorter route so I wandered off and ended up at a rummage sale. There was nothing really great at this sale, except...a large framed copy of 'the SALESMAN SHIP' for free. I brought Tommy back later and we picked it up as a gift for our boss. I think he will love it. :) He's the 'motivational type'.

That's the excitement of that run! That, and that now I only have 35 min. left to go! Yay yay!! OhIamsogladthisisalmostdone. Strangely...the vegetarianism has not given me much of a withdrawal. I don't even think about it most of the time. Perhaps it might be worth continuing on for a little while when I get back? Or at least just lessening the meat intake? Thoughts to ponder.

Run # 33: 46 min.

Still Aberdeen. Aug. 26 (I took a day off on the 25th :) ). Hot, hot. 80s. I took my phone camera on this run. I spent a lot of time when I got out to my sunflower path, taking pics, and texting a friend I was praying for. The sun was high in the sky and I apparently kept heating up. I may not have had enough water before departing either. In any case, instead of an hour run (which I had planned due to my closeness to my goal!), I started feeling nauseous about halfway home and ended up stopping to rest in shadow behind a dugout in a park and calling Tommy to rescue me.

After one brush w/heat exhaustion this summer, I knew it wasn't wise to gamble on another. He came asap, armed with water for me and instructions: cool shower, fan, rest, etc. Heat exhaustion is nothing to mess with.

This little titch of it was worth it, tho'...for the beauty. :)

Run #32: 26 min.

Aberdeen. Hot. Aug. 24. Sorry it took me so long to post about it. I ran out of good pix I could 'borrow' from online so I wanted to take my own of this garden I love that I see on my runs.

Believe me, it's better than the things I found googling "mosquito bite on the back of my knee".

Magnificently Imperfect

"Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow,

an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim." (Proverbs 26:2)

So, this is a little off topic, admittedly, but it reminded me of a few things. I like people to be happy with me. I don't get 'talked to' (you know what I mean) all that often, but when I do, I tend to take things personally. Once, when I was a kid, playing tetherball at recess with Tony Janick, with my back to the school door, I was so into the game that I did not hear the recess bell. On completing the game, I/we turned to realize the schoolyard was empty, which meant we were IN TROUBLE. Even though I hadn't done anything wrong on purpose, I pretty much shook with the knowledge of my guilt, my unworthiness, and when the teacher talked to us about it, it was hard not to cry.

But, on two distinct occasions in particular (again, I don't get rebuked too too often), I remember being really free from that. First, at a temp job I had, which was only for a few months, a month or so in I was captured by the distinct inner knowledge that one of my bosses was writing A LIST of my shortcomings and would soon call me to her office and talk to me. I was a good worker, though not perfect. And the thought of being rebuked for my imperfections was a little bit of a blow. However, tho' I have no idea how I knew that in advance of its occurrence, when the moment came I was prepared. I faced her, listened to her 10 grievances about how I sometimes forgot to put a sticker on a chart, or some other little things, and I was free. Light as a bird. It was her issue, her need to control things, that she was dealing with. It wasn't me. It wasn't about me.

Another time some fellow I had been dating (though not committed to/ie not a 'boyfriend') made some unfounded accusations about my intention to flirt with other fellows and manipulate him based on some comments I had made. In that situation, I stood my ground easily, and just countered with saying I did not think he realized how cruel and unjust what he was saying was. I believed he was better than that. Communication was discontinued. A long time later, I did receive an apology.

I run into too many folks that get verbally abused, or unjustly accused. I'm not the only one who has. All I want to say is, don't receive it! Don't stay in the situation if it keeps repeating. And remember who you are, not who you aren't. If the words are untrue, they won't stick, they won't land where they are trying to. You are free from that stuff! You're human, you make mistakes, you're magnificently imperfect. But that doesn't make you bad.

Whew! I have to go run. I was just reading Proverbs 26 (because today is the 26th) before I left, and thought, I have stuff to say about that! Now it is MUCH hotter outside...but I will persevere. The summer is almost over!! Yay! (because of the running goal, not because I dislike the season, like...*ahem*...some boy I know ;P)

Fundraising 1 Penny At A Time :)

After procrastinating sending the support letters for 2/3 of the summer, I finally wrote them. They are sort of the color of this pig. I was laying on the lawn with Zion (7) the next day addressing envelopes as we sunned together. She asked what I was doing. I explained that I was fundraising for one or some of the trips that Tommy is doing in the next 6 months or so that I might go on, or some other trip, and sending the letters out to people. This got her started on the subject of money. "I have some money! I have a piggy bank - can you guess how much money I have in it?" She talked about it for a while, and then said, brightly, "do you want to see my piggy bank? I can show you how much money I have in it!" I said "sure" and she disappeared into the house for a longish time. When she came back, she pulled it open and dumped what looked like a dollar and 75 cents or so, mostly in pennies. We then ate our snacks and chatted. She said, "I need help to put this back in" so we put the coins back in the piggy together. At one point she stops and hands me 7 pennies. Then she gave me 5 more. "These are for you. You can have those." "....and this!" she said, handing me a nickel. She was totally serious.

It reminded me a little of when I was a kid and found a letter from World Concern in the garbage. It said that they needed money to care for the lepers (I don't remember where). Upon learning there were actual lepers still in the world, I took it upon myself to organize help for them. I and 5 or so other kids (I'm guessing, this is 25+ yrs ago) went door to door offering to do odd jobs to raise money for the lepers. We raised about $14.16 if I remember right. I was just going to send it in, but my mom made me write a letter and tell them how we raised it. They called back a month or two later and asked me a bunch of questions and put an article with my picture in their newsletter about how "kids can give too!". It's funny. I don't think about kids as 'supporters of ministries' usually. I mean, I'm sending my letters to folks who happen to have kids, but mainly to their parents. It's an interesting thought.

Updates on my goals since the details given in my first post on May 31st:

1 - Still unsure which trip(s) I'll be joining on...obviously, I'm already on the first of them here in S. Dakota (story of how this came to be here). Helping orphans in Honduras? Lepers in India? Assisting a ministry in Wales? We'll see.

2 - Still hoping to raise $2,000. However, I'm not going to run more or less than the 20 hours I set out to, and weirdly pro-rate the hours run. I'm just going to complete the goal of running 20 hours, and I'm seeking 100 persons to pledge $1 per hour (total of $20 buckaroos). More or less works too, everything helps (!), I just thought that would work out neatly math-wise. (On that note, if someone could give $19.83 to offset Zion's $0.17....? KIDDING! ;P)

Thank you for all your love and notes etc. Literally, both prayer-wise and financially, I can't do this without you. Hugs to y'all! ~ Christy

PS - I'm sending out 'actual' letters so if you want one and are not sure I have your address, send it to me at hey@christymerry.com. But if you prefer just to read the blog & give, you can send a tax deductible gift via a check made out to Church in Uptown (with my name in the memo portion) to:

Christy Merry

c/o Church in Uptown

PO Box 19572

Minneapolis, MN 55419

* photo from brandmerchandise.com

Run #30 & #31: 27 min. and 25 min.

Aberdeen. Today was really hot. Good thoughts. Quick quiet morning runs.

* photo by Christian Schmidt

Run #29: 1 hr 5 min.

Aberdeen. 78 degrees.

The benefit of running when you get up (with a little reading before: Father Fiction by Donald Miller and Proverbs) and cranking your ipod volume, is that you can get a fair distance without even realizing you are running. Your mind is hazy and full. It's nice.

Run #27 & 28: 27 min. & 30 min.

Aberdeen. Yesterday, it was about to rain. A few drops graced my shoulders, but I made it home in time. Today, I thought I could attempt another hour run in the evening after I got back from spending the afternoon w/Angie & Zion (& a few of Zion's friends) at the water park, as it seemed cooler than some of these other days. However, this run was preceded by a hastily eaten pbj. Not recommended. For the record, this results in abdominal discomfort and profuse sweating, I mean, "glowing". I glowed rather a lot.

Otherwise all was fine. I remarked to myself about the large # of pickup trucks in the vicinity (they & SUVs/minivans outnumber smaller cars 2 to 1 out here it seems, did my usual situps & had brief but thought-provoking chats w/God. I've started to read a chapter of Proverbs before running (there's 31 so I just read the one that corresponds w/the day of the month - my pastor Joel did that for about 3 years once), so that is good food for thought.

* photo of garden gnome is from gardengnomesetc.com

Run #26: 23 min.

Aberdeen. 85 degrees. Bit o' wind. I think the run was longer than 23 min. but had a mixup w/the timer and prefer to under-than-over estimate.

Tommy went running today too (separately). He has awesome new sport shorts that are shiny red (w/a black stripe). That was kind of a non sequitur. He's more of a lone runner, but someday I think he'll run w/me. ;)

* photo is from www.mychloeflower.com (I did my sit-ups beside a grove of trees today) p.s. this woman's work is really cool! so glad I came across the site!

Run #25: 1 hour

Aberdeen. Yesterday. Temp unknown. Hot, and a bit windy.

"I am so sore, dude."

This cracked Tommy up, the way I said it, but it is true! Super sore. But since there were 15 days left to run and 15 more 28 min. runs left, I had begun to have a secret fear of 'bad weather' or a 'turned ankle' or something kaboshing the completion of this. So I've got to step it up a little if ya know what I mean.

But, not today. Mega sore. Maybe I'll go squeak out a 26 minuter. And then one of these days there will be a tornado and I shall say, "No! I do not have to run in you, tornado!" because I thought ahead. ;)

* got photo from 123RF (royalty free stock photos)

Run #24: 30 min.

Aberdeen. Went to the Y and ran with Angie again. Ran. Swam (6 long laps). Steam room. Sauna. Pretty awesome.

Recommended. :)

Run #23: 29 min.

Minneapolis. I can't remember anything about this run to save my life. 8:30 am-ish. Out and back in time to leave for SD...ummm...

Yeah. In other news, I saw my friend Taylor at the coffeehouse this morning and she's "in" for my Spirit & Flesh group for fall (see last post if you don't know what I'm talking about. She just started running herself, after thinking about how we are to care for the body of Christ (aka 'the church at large'). She said, "So I thought, if I don't take care of my own body, how can I take care of the body of Christ?" It seems like good timing, eh? That was kinda cool.

* photo taken from blog.tinyprints.com

Runs #21 & #22: 27 min. & 37 min.

Minneapolis.

I missed a day. What happened? Well, I worked (=5 hours walking) and Tommy's band (FC) played the Pizza Luce block party (=5,000 people, lots of walking also...a little additional when a friend could not find her car and we wandered for an extra 1/2 hr/hr or so...) I'm a little bit concerned. I have NEVER in my memory, run every day like I am now, except PERHAPS in senior high track/x-country. Any missed days now, up the ante for all the other days left. And upon my arrival in SD (I have pepperoni pizza to eat on the way), I will be a vegetarian for 2 weeks as previously mentioned. Can I do this?? We will soon find out.

Friday's run was 27 min. Thought about how I'll keep tabs on my working out after the blog is no more, since I'll be working 2 jobs (temping and the oil change sales thing) this fall, and I won't attempt to blog about every one then. Decided on perhaps starting a leetle group o' gals, calling it Spirit & Flesh or something... which would be more than an accountability group... we'd talk about the theology & philosophy of being embodied spirits and such, and the interchange that exists there. A lot of Christians picked up a kind of Platonic dichotomy on the way I think (spirit = good; body = bad) which was a cultural view, not implicit in the scriptures... and some of us are tempted to become 'so heavenly minded that we aren't any earthly good'. What does it mean to really live with an awareness that our bodies are God's temple? Anyway, I need to sleep here, but that was my latest little 'light bulb'/idea. :)

Today's run (yes it's after midnight but this post refers to Sunday) was one of those ohmygoodness I have to do this errand AND I have to run so I'm doing 'em together things. I ran my work paperwork over to my boss' place so that it would be included for this week, and then hitched a bus home. Less walking than most of my runs because I did NOT want to be late to the wedding (of Tommy's friends). It was the ultimate in multi-tasking. Had two phone calls whilst running, and my ipod playing, and a fist-full of paperwork and a small recorder in an envelope. A little much.

Well, we drive on out back to SD in about 8 hrs. now so I'd best get some sleep!

* photo from www.raw-food-health.net

Run #20: 27 min.

Minneapolis. 76 degrees. Full moon.

The moon was sweating too

I mean, sweating like a woman -

Uncle John says we 'glow'.

We glowed together.

When I got to the park, I walked.

I did situps. I prayed lackluster prayers

which nevertheless, I meant. I want to

glow like Moses, and I don't think that

was just sweat.

Bats were abundant

wheeling and turning on pins of sound

flying by faith and not by sight. There's

a man in Aberdeen who is blind, but

goes about with a video camera. He

makes movies. I don't understand.

I suppose I do understand wanting to

operate in a sense I don't possess.

Common sense, perhaps?

Enough of this poem. I just wanted

to make it possible somehow for all of you

to smell the flower-thick air with me

to hear the million crickets

and to see how the street lamp light

led me home.

* photo from www.sodahead.com

Runs #18 & #19: 42 min. & 24 min.

Aberdeen. Not much to say. Both days were hot but windy. Yesterday I found a great stretch of the longer run I did for Run #17, which is good for walking/praying out loud...which seems to be the best way for me. That way I can 'have it out' w/God or sing or whatnot without prying eyes/ears about. It's good. It was a 'breakthrough' day...one of those days when you feel like you said what you needed to say and you got at least a bit of some answers. I came back from yesterday's run (& walk/prayer) with a decision to be a vegetarian for my last 2 weeks here. Most of the house is vegetarian and it just seems more 'community' to throw in w/them and learn while I'm here, rather than doing what I'm used to. It's good to get outside your comfort zone once in a while. Anyway, that's what's up! Tomorrow we head on back to MN for the weekend, for the Pizza Luce Block Party (Farewell Continental is playing) and a wedding. So you might get some 'lake' commentary. :)

* photo of Banducci purple heather borrowed from www.cchutchison.com

Run #17: 47 min.

Lord, have mercy! 47 min. is a long time to run. Aberdeen. 82 degrees. Good breeze.

Found a new route that spilled out at a field with hay bales and barns, and followed it along out of curiosity. Can't believe I went so long on such a hot day! But the wind really made a difference. It's preparing to storm 'round here I think, but the pre-storm weather was perfect.

Think that Tommy & I will have to picnic out at said field one o' these days. ;)

* photo borrowed from Greg Morton Photography

Run #16: 27 min.

Today's picture is actually taken by me! My blatant plagiarism thus far is uncharacteristic, but you can't be your own photographer all the time...

Today: Aberdeen. 8:15 a.m. 70+ degrees? Shorter run than usual because, it's Sunday, church is at 9:45 a.m., and, well Sundays should be days of rest. Since not running today would mean a 52 min. run on another day to make it up, I thought it more restful just to get in a 'short run' today so I won't have to stress about hour-long runs!

From there, we (Tommy, Rosa & I) went to The Journey, a fun laid back little church where our roomie Jeremy plays guitar. Afterward we went by the grocery store and then came home. I think Tommy may have gone back to bed then. I decided to go sunning in the yard, and after a while Zion joined me. We played with the hose and the swingset and my camera and read books and such for a few hours. You can see her cuteness in the pic above. The book I was reading (I'd picked up at church this morning) was coincidentally called The Gates of Zion. (Even better, the one I bought last night at the Red Rooster for a quarter was called Journey Continued) Later we gave each other fake tattoos. In the evening, Rosa and Angie got inspired to do a huge vegetarian Thanksgiving meal in the back yard, and it was splendid. We went around and said what we were thankful for.

Not a bad Sunday sun-day. :) It wasn't hard to be thankful.

Run #15: 35 min.

Aberdeen. 5:15 pm. On the treadmill at the Y. With Angie & Roseanne. A number of events transpired earlier which pushed our departure until later in the day, so we had limited time before they closed. Still got in 35 min. tho'. And watched the gym tv with horribly written transcripts, detailing the joys of WalkFit inserts and the horror of the latest military casualties. All the same, despite our country now being a worse credit risk than say, the Isle of Man, it was a good run. :)



Have you ever had that crazy effect where everything seems to be moving in slo-mo when you get off the treadmill? Weird. And kind of awesome.

Guess what? According to my special little spreadsheet, I no longer need to run 29/30 min. day everyday. Now I can accomplish my goal w/just 27 min/day...

I now depart to get ready for a dinner date with my special Mr. Tommy Rehbein. Have yourselves a great night! :)

Run #14: 30 min.

8:15 a.m. Aberdeen. In the 70s. Ran w/Angie Cleberg this lovely morning. It was the first run I did not walk at all during! She chattered away and told me the ins-and-outs of the town, who was a creeper, what dogs scare you, her favorite house, the county fair, how the town was built on a railroad, and most importantly, where the overpass for the railroad is! (Tommy and I waited 20 min. last night for the Slowest Train in the Universe to pass by, and I couldn't figure out why no one else was lining up behind us.) I was so caught up in listening that we were done running before I knew it! Yay. Tomorrow we're going to run on the treadmills at the Y I think. Maybe that will be nice. It was actually really hot this morning even though we got out early. At some point I should probably ramp up and run for an hour one day or 45 min two days in a row so I can take a day off...I'm getting a little achey.

Run #13: 30 min.

Aberdeen, SD. 79 degrees. I need to get up earlier, and get running earlier to catch the cooler weather. I fell asleep last night in the middle of a deep spiritual discussion, so deeply asleep that Tommy had to carry me to my room. Not sure how long I was asleep, or if I snored, or spoke in my sleep (I've given a speech on the 'importance of the red square' before). It wouldn't have been the most embarrassing thing I'd done that day if I had. In the evening, there was an art/protest sort of thing where they projected this video they'd made of people swimming in clean water, onto the 'Mog' or mud-bog to show how disgusting that idea is. We drove over there in a big red pickup truck with a bunch of the 'clients'/folks Tommy is here to work with.

After we'd been out there for a while the mosquitoes became REALLY aggressive and were eating me alive. Tommy and Dan were leaning against a red pickup truck that I assumed was ours. When I could not take the bug-biting anymore I climbed into the front seat and closed the door. A girl turned and laughing said, "Oh no! don't drive it away!" which I thought was silly and we both laughed. About 20-30 min. later, Tommy knocked on the truck and said we needed to take off, so I waited for everyone to pile in, but instead they were all walking ACROSS THE STREET to where OUR RED PICKUP was parked! !!!!!!! Thankfully, all the 20-30 folks who were at the event sort of knew each other in one way or another, so the vehicle - which was probably that girl's - was at least in 'our group' sorta. But.......eeeeyag. How embarrassing.

Angie's going to run with me tomorrow! Yay! :)

Run #12: 31 min.

Aberdeen. Probably 70s again. This was yesterday. At the end of my run I sat down in a park to pray a bit, and this couple was in a fight. The guy was swearing and super-agressive with the woman. I couldn't hear her say anything, but when I was looking the other way I heard sounds that sounded like slaps, but I couldn't see anything when I looked back. I didn't want to be too obvious in looking because he looked scary. There were a bunch of kids there near them listening to him yell at her. Maybe their kids. Anyhow, she looked kind of passive/afraid to react too much, stood very still most of the time, although a few times she was reaching for something he had but wouldn't give to her. I didn't want to leave but since Tommy was a couple blocks away I thought the presence of a Big Tough guy might cause this guy to watch himself. When I got to the house, Tommy was in the shower, but I told Angie what was up and she grabbed her phone and bike and headed over immediately. I ran a bit behind. She rolled her bike right up to them, parked it and then walked around the playground for a while as she was talking w/the police and didn't want him to hear her. The police came and took care of stuff, so we went home. I realized later that the reason the woman hadn't left is because I think the guy had her car keys and wouldn't give them back to her. Mean guy. Anyway, when I talked to a friend of ours on the phone in Bahrain last night about how my 'quiet time w/God' was sort of interrupted, he considers that it wasn't...and that this falls into the category when God says 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice". So by helping out the person whose trouble 'coincidentally' became apparent to me in my time of prayer, it was doing something a lot more important than having some transcendent spiritual experience. He's got a point. Anyway, that Angie is a bold girl, I'll say that for her!

The Path to Aberdeen

Well, I mentioned before that my roommate Kaitlin was buying a house, and that the timing coincided with Tommy's month-long Aberdeen trip closely enough to make it a possibility. Though I did not feel a personal burden to come on the trip, I had said that if it seemed financially viable for me to come, I would make it happen. I would have to 1) not be paying rent in 2 places, and 2) find a temp agency or agencies to work through in Aberdeen.

Initially, we thought I had to move as of the end of Sept. That left the awkward question of where I would store my stuff in August and the likelihood that I would have to move my stuff twice, which I did not want to do. This was because Kaitlin was the caretaker of our building and because I could not take over that job, I could not take over the apt.

Then, before she had gotten around to giving her 2 month notice, we received notification that the caretaker system was being abolished and they were going to outsource the care of the buildings. She had been the caretaker for our property for 3 years. Since this 'coincidental' happening allowed me to stay on and take over the lease, I stopped seeking a new apt. and started to seek a new roommate. I finally settled on Erica Christenson, a friend of Kaitlin's, who also, luck would have it, needed to move in early, in the middle of August. Thus, at Kaitlin's suggestion, Kaitlin is subleasing from me for the month of August, and Erica will be able to move into her room (the larger room) in August. I paid about $50 for the first week before the move-in, and wallah! I was free to go to Aberdeen, where they are not charging us for rent at the community house where we are staying. Tommy was given a small room in the basement with a bed, and I inhabit the 'piano room' on the main floor. The other residents here are Dan and Angie Cleberg, the directors of the Fallout Creative Community and owners of the Red Rooster Coffeehouse, their daughter Zion (7), and Rosanne and Jeremy, who are both volunteers here.

I also applied for a temp agency out here and went to my interview on Aug. 2nd. I have not been sent out on any jobs yet, but I'm sure that will come.

That's my story! Tommy also has a bit of a story about how we made it here, which you can read at his blog, The World and Everything. Feel free to follow along for the ride... :)

Run #11: 45 min.

Aberdeen, SD. 70 degrees, cloudy and a bit windy with some serious humidity.

You may have noticed an extraordinary lack of running activity for the last 3 weeks or so. This reflects, in addition to the weather & heat index being in the 100-110 degree region in Minneapolis, the sad fact that I got sick with a pretty brutal cold & cough. So I have been doing my best to recover and give myself adequate rest. Now, in Aberdeen for the month, I realize that in order to accomplish my summer goal of 20 hours of running (of which I have approx. 14-15 hours left if my math is correct), I have to run 30 min./day or an hour every other day or somesuch. The 45 min. was a compromise between the two.

It's always a bit easier to run in a new city where all your exploring adds to your knowledge of your surroundings. There also seems to be a good likelihood that Tommy, or Angie Cleberg (a director of the Fallout Creative Community w/her hubby Dan), or Rosanne (a volunteer who also lives in the community house) will join me for some of my runs.

My next post will give the update on how exactly I DID end up here in S. Dakota. Promise.

* borrowed photo.

Run #10: 34 min.

It was a struggling run today. 80 degrees or so again, intermittent light wind. Many thoughts. So I decided to go all the way around the lake this time, but spent a good deal of time walking and praying too.

The mansions - it's funny, maybe they look different when you're wearing your sunglasses or something, but they've been catching my eyes more often this week. Not that I'm lusting after living in them...I don't know what I'd do with so much space! (Well, actually, I do, I'd probably just invite everyone to live w/me! ;P)

They made me think of a discussion I had this week w/a guy at The Beat Coffee - he was suggesting that maybe the Bible didn't really have much to say about the afterlife to us and was more concerned about social justice. I think it's likely he was just swinging the pendulum in the neglected direction out of reaction to the imbalances he'd experienced in the churches he'd been in, which I know I'VE certainly done a time or two - it often needs doing before we find a balance... In fact we're probably never perfectly balanced and our pendulums nearly always off center, but I think they swing less wildly perhaps as we grow older and we self-correct ourselves much sooner after we've seen a few more rotations 'round the sun.

Anyway, THAT was not the point I meant to make here (and at the time I think I only said that part of the hope of eternity in scripture is that everything is seen and known and justice will eventually be given perfectly)... but it made me look at these wonderful houses and think of what Jesus said to his disciples in the book of John when he was foretelling his departure and they were kind of freaking out -

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

I think it's interesting that the King James Version (KJV) translated it as 'My father's house has many mansions'...and the New International Version (NIV) says 'rooms'. I can't see it mattering too much one way or another. If someone who knows everything about you and loves you enough to die for you creates - not a mix tape/cd but a guest room or guest house for you to be near them, then I can't see that it could fail to be exactly what you need and desire. And if we have any inkling of who he is, THAT is the real focus - more important than Bono or the president or whatever person of importance you would love to be near, as any creativity or intelligence they have all reside in him and come from him! Could you imagine Jesus singing in the evening while you are falling asleep next door? In Revelation 1:15, his voice is "like the voice of many waters". It's a good image to me (although perhaps it's terrifying in person). I'm a water girl. I pray best beside water. Part of this may be being Minnesotan.

Well, I'm totally rambling today when I'm supposed to just be talking about my run. The run was very intermittent and hard and I was thankful for my ipod and Hoi Polloi, Ingrid Michaelson, The Ivys, and Over the Rhine today (H-O). Oh I hope the summer cools off a bit!

* photo lifted from luxist.com

* not my favorite mansion - my favorite had it's work done by 'Cousins Brick & Stone' which I cannot find a website for! - and looks like a large Hansel & Gretel sort of cottage

Run #9: 31 min.

Today. 80+ degrees. Supposedly a light wind but nary a ripple on the lake, until just at the end. Seemed like a wasteland compared to the weekend. Very few folks out & about. Clouds overhead. Felt like running through hot jello.

Saw a short stone path next to the water I'd never seen before. And there was a girl sleeping under a weeping willow; she looked cozy. Tommy calls those 'emo trees'. :)

Bees in the flowers. Summer.

*Photo from connectingwithnature.org

Run #8: 40 min.

July 3. 77+ degrees w/a light wind. It was a BEAUTIFUL run. I don't know if it was just the way of the sun hitting everything, but the mansions around the lake were so much more lovely than usual. The streets were full of runners and bikers and walkers and the water full of couples canoeing and folks kayaking. It was all in motion. When I stopped to do my situps (40 this time), I saw a little ladybug on a stickler. A white middle-to-upper class man ran inexplicably barefoot around the lake on the hot pavement. The city breathed in...and out.

* Art by Robin Street-Morris

Update on Ministry Trip Ideas: Stop 1 - South Dakota?

Ok, so this isn't anything final...but, while traveling, my roommate Kaitlin emailed me and told me she had put down an offer on a house and gave me the update on what that might mean for me housing-wise in the near future. This happened a time or two until one of the offers was accepted. Now, if the inspection goes well, I'll be needing to move most likely at the end of August. She doesn't mind if I move earlier. So this changes my view toward Tommy's August trip to Aberdeen, South Dakota. To refresh your memory, he has plans to spend a month working with the mentally disabled there on a creative project of some sort, to assist the ministry and coffeehouse, and in return they will be mentoring him in fundraising (which will be a bigger part of what he may need to do going forward w/his music consultancy work w/church plants etc.), and giving him a stipend for the month as one of their interns recently left, opening up some room in the budget. (This is a new development; he was initially just volunteering to do it for free because it is on his heart.) His biggest struggle with this is being away from me for so long, so early in our relationship.

I've wondered if the change in housing situation may make it possible to join Tommy on this first plan. I have seen Dan Cleberg (who runs the Red Rooster coffeehouse and the Fallout Creative Community out there with his wife Angie) speak before at an Urban Ministries Training Week with Source Ministries - and I STILL tell people one of the stories he told* at that, even 10 years later. So it wouldn't be too terrible to spend some time out there with such great folks. :) I'm willing to go if I'm not paying rent anywhere here, and if I can make money there for a month, perhaps by temping. Storage would not cost too much, altho' I don't want to move my stuff twice. Perhaps I can strike a deal either with my present or future roomies to accept $ for storage for 1 month?

Tommy's checked, and per the Clebergs, I could stay in the 'piano room' of the community house for the month if I wished, and there is reportedly a temp agency in Aberdeen. Once we find out for sure the details on that, I will contact them to see what I can do in advance to find placement for the month, if anything.

Oh! I've forgotten to mention - we've both gone through orientation this past week with eXtreme Loyalty Marketing, and have flexible sales jobs we are going to try out this summer, selling those great cards with free/discounted oil changes and other services door to door. (At least my sis and aunt say they're great!) We might love it or hate it, but it will be some non-office-job time outside together (working opposite sides of the street) in the sun, with potential to make some really good money. I'll probably look into temping also, just because it sounds like I'll need to stay in office work for awhile to qualify for a loan to get a house sometime - Kaitlin says they want you to have been in the same 'field' for many years; unfortunately that is never how I've lived and I get fearfully bored if I don't change things up. And of course I want to find a temp agency w/some medical insurance because the temporary kind I am on can only be used for 1 year. We'll see how it goes. My agency was so great with their benefits in NYC; I don't know if there are any comparable agencies here.

Re: the house dream - it's not necessarily the normal 'American Dream' thing, it's more that my family here doesn't have any 'guest room' available for me and wherever I (or I and Tommy) may be led to move futurely, it's nice to have a bed to sleep in when you come home for the holidays (not a futon or air mattress)...and a place to leave your books and such. Could be rented out when I am away... that's the thought anyway.

Ok enough rambling! I'll put the Dan Cleberg story in a note below just because it's unfair to allude to it and not share.

* The context of this story was (I think) in a discussion about prayer walks, and specifically how it's always good to go through your community and pray for God to fill the empty lots or buildings with good things. Dan had prayed for a particular space in the neighborhood.

At the same time, he had this guy who would come into the coffeehouse on a regular basis who wasn't very keen on God but LOVED the band Kiss. So whenever Dan would be out at a garage sale or something and see a Kiss album, he would pick it up and give it to this guy for his collection, just as a way to show him love.

Anyhow, time went by and the space Dan had prayed for was purchased by a church. One day he came into work and a whole pile of all the Kiss albums he'd ever given this guy were there, under the register. Next time he saw the guy, the guy said he'd given his life to Christ at this new church and he didn't feel these records were good for his spiritual life, so he brought them back. I don't know one way or the other since I'm not really acquainted w/the band, but anyhow, it was a fun story.

Run #7: 31 min.

July 2. About 75+ degrees. Has been hot as blazes this week so I'm yet another run behind. But there were heat advisories telling people not to even play tennis! "Kids, don't play tennis today!" So I stayed inside, watched movies, dyed my hair bright red & worked on catching up/finishing my travel blog, among other things.

This run, tho' 'twas hot, wasn't so bad. The air smelled of summery flowers. People sunned themselves in the grass around the lake. All good.

Run #6: 40 min.

I should have done 12 runs by now. I've only done 6 due to traveling (& family gatherings 3 out of my first 4 days back). I'm about 2.5 hours behind. If I don't increase my # of runs, the--

Wait - shouldn't 40 hours = 80 1/2 hour runs? I messed up - I meant the equivalent of 40 1/2 hour runs which = 20 hours. Math. Need I mention it was not my most stellar subject?

Therefore, the total minutes should be 1200 min., I've done 205, and to do the remaining 995 in the remaining 28 runs would necessitate each remaining run to be...about 36 min. long. Not so bad. It could be worse. I ran around Lake of the Isles today, ran mostly, walked some. Listened to a few favorite ipod playlists...thank God for music. Well, we can still do this ladeeez & gentlemen! Onward & upward!

* painting by Christine Tierney

Run #5: 30 min.

June 22. Bernalillo, NM (near Albuquerque). About 80 degrees.

Remembered sunglasses & sunscreen. Used brand new $5 sports watch as stopwatch. Once I hit main road, the goal became 'to get to those beautiful mountains' if by hook or crook I could cross that highway. I journeyed in that direction for a significant time (15 min.) running, past llamas and for-sale trailers, until I came to some complicated space, which I deemed better to navigate via walking. Rattlesnakes and all. Cowboy boots are not just for style...and since I was wearing tennis shoes, I thought it best to take my time crossing around the tumbleweed and etc.

Upon reaching the highway I found it impassable by pedestrian traffic, as far as my eye could see in either direction. I maneuvered my way back to the main road and ran back...until I discovered a cart selling gorgeous butterflies (and tarantulas/bats/beetles) from other countries under glass in pretty arrangements. I am against such things theoretically...but that did not stop the bright blue butterfly from Indonesia in the wooden box from tempting me. Thankfully, my memory was short and I did not come back later, thus saved by a thread from supporting a heartless industry. Did you know they FARM butterflies for this? I need to start a Persons Against Farming Butterflies (PAFB) chapter. Anyhow, I ran back after, made it an even 30 minutes total...and did my 30 situps (my typical thing again - I used to do it all the time but stopped doing it this last year; now am back to it since Run #1). I used to also do 10 pushups but my arms don't really allow that now (cubital tunnel syndrome). They are in dire straits of late but when they are better I will pick up my arm weights again. :)

Runs #3 & 4: 33 min. & 35 min.

June 14 & 15. Los Angeles. 70s & slight wind.

Love the weather here, even tho' it is pretty hot. It's not humid so I hope to get more running done here so as not to have as much to do in the Mpls. humidity. I'm about a week behind already since I didn't do much more running in the Seattle/Portland/San Fran segment of travel. In my defense, I was only in Portland for a day, and San Fran was often freezing winds & random enormous hills that could not be planned for since maps don't include that info. If I were giving myself credit for dance exercise (sometimes 1 - 1.5 hours of dancing straight thru at the FC shows) or walking (miles & miles in San Fran), I'd be totally caught up. But that isn't what I committed to, so am sticking to the original goal. Such a masochist.

I'm running on my old running path here, on and off. So many changes. Many of my favorite spots are gone - the Rockotitlan Cafe, a hispanic clothing store or two, etc. A high school is now fully built and operational where they were building it for years when I lived here.

Much thanks for mental focus of these runs goes to Damien Jurado & the other artists I played on my ipod today & yesterday. I'd post the vid of 'Caskets' but it's rather creepy (tho' very artistic). Finally wore sunscreen/sunglasses but the glasses have suffered in travel so they're falling off. Maybe time for some new onezzzzz.

Run #2: 30 min.

Monday June 7. Seattle. 60s or 70s and windy.

Could have used same things as last run, forgot. Well the sunglasses & sunscreen. I have been looking for a stopwatch, but have not found one yet.

I wasn't trying to run for 30 min. I was attempting 23 minutes so that I could round the total to 1 hour, reaching 1/40th of my goal. But, as luck would have it, when I thought I was back, I wasn't, and the maze-y neighborhood kept me searching for a while more. So, now we have two tricks for running more:

1) Lose things you have to go back for!

2) Get lost.

Run #1: 37 min.

Minneapolis. 68 degrees & windy. Pretty perfect.
Could have used: sunglasses, sunscreen, a stopwatch. (I looked pretty nerdy running w/my cell phone open ;) )

Only longer than 30 min. because I left my keys in the grass when I did 30 situps at the midpoint of the run...and realized it 10 min. into my run back, 5 min. from my house! Lake of the Isles was stunningly beautiful, which I noticed while walking back after rescuing my keys. Sun-glittery waves spoke of the summer that is just beginning, and I didn't even get down after being passed by an older man in his 50s or 60s who was running w/his son who was also older than me. Tho' he did say hello in a very Minnesotanly way which took the edge off being left in their dust.

A very decent beginning to a summer of getting back into shape!

This Is A Stupid Idea

Hi all.

Do you ever get inspired to do something you think is crazy?

I am about to encourage you to pledge $ to support me doing something I don't particularly enjoy in order to do good in the world on a trip or trips that I have not yet planned nor know anything about. Let me explain...

Summer starts tomorrow and I wake up today at 5 am-ish (unheard of for lo these 6+ months of unemployment) with lots of thoughts. I journal them out. I think about my running habits. I think about my relationship with my boyfriend Tommy. I come to the following conclusions:

a) I have gotten really lazy. My runs are more of run/walks. I can't even remember the last time I ran more than 10 min. continuously. That might even be an overstatement. (oh wait! I did 30 min. in January on a treadmill simply because I would not be outdone by my then 18 yr old cousin Jaclyn) For some years I was so hardcore I would layer up and run through the winter...this winter after moving back to MN I chickened out and stayed indoors basically all of it. I did workout dance videos inside at times. At times I just let it all slide. Now that it is warm I am tempted to make the heat my excuse.

b) I don't yet feel called to any of the trips that Tommy is so excited about. It's not that I don't want to make the world a better place. I just don't know specifically in which way I should be doing so. His plans for this upcoming year include some or all of the above:

1) A month in Aberdeen, South Dakota helping the folks at the Fallout Creative Community in conjunction with the Red Rooster Coffee House make a movie by and starring folks with mental disabilities who are a part of their community. They do this yearly I think? - and it has made a huge difference in these folks lives, allowing them to scale back their medications and become higher functioning people as a whole. I guess when they make these movies, the whole town comes out to watch it. It sounds totally out of the box, and wonderful.

2) A trip to an orphanage in Honduras with his mentor who owns/runs it.

3) A trip to garbage dumps in India with Joy Revolution who are awesome musicians who happen to also spend time hugging lepers, playing with kids, and providing food and other necessary items to persons who live in dumps in some of the poorest places on earth. That trip is $1500 due Aug. 1 & $1450 due Sept. 1.

4) A trip to Wales to do music ministry there with friends who are asking him to come.

Now, he would like me to join with him in some or all of the above. I am not against that specifically, but neither do I feel a direct pull to any of the above as yet. And I've kind of always been the kind of person that needs that. I don't follow a guy somewhere because he's going, but I will go if I feel God is putting it on my heart. I have no desire to waste my or anyone else's money, so if I go somewhere, I want to know it's somewhere I ought to be.

Because of this kind of mindset, and because I have waited many years to be dating someone who was also a traveler-type who felt led where I felt led to go and visa versa, it has been pretty meaningful and crazy that the road trips I am in the middle of taking (May to the Eastern US, June to the Western US) 'coincidentally' lined up so well with his band's tour dates - same parts of the US, same time line. My trip to visit old friends and his tour with Farewell Continental were planned out well before we started dating, and we like to think that it's not a coincidence after all. By the end of his tour I will have attended not one but 8 different shows in 8 different cities. You can see my blog Leaving Brixton if you'd like to know more about the trips from my point of view and there's one post about a midnight meeting we had at a truck stop in Boston, WI you should read if you really want to be blown away by the insanity of it all.

Tommy is starting to fundraise toward his own travels, and I - this morning - had this crazy idea that I could do one of those things I used to do as a kid, when I'd raise money for some good cause or other, by having people pledge $ per mile walked or run or per book read or whatever, on the off chance I am led to join him for one or more of the above opportunities (or perhaps for something else I - or we - have not envisioned yet). Only I don't have one of those things that counts miles, so I was thinking perhaps I could receive pledges per hour of running. Not to say that I will run an hour all at once, but I will have a summer goal of running of say, 20 hours (that would be the equivalent of 1/2 an hour 3x/week) which I might go over or under. And if someone pledged, say, $1 an hour, and I only ran 18 hours and 30 minutes, they'd owe me $18.50, or if I ran 25 hours and 15 minutes, they'd owe me $25.25 - it'd be pro-rated that way. The number in my head to raise is $2000. I don't know why, but it's what's sticking in my mind as what to aim for. So, I guess, to make it easy, if 100 people pledged $1/hour and I ran consistently all summer, I could make the $2000.

The reasons this is a stupid idea are:

#1 - I obviously do not like running that much anymore or I would be doing it! and,

#2 - people like to give $ for good causes, but how many people are willing to lay down $ for a good cause that has not yet been identified? "ladies and gents, please lay your $ down for Christy to go love and serve the mentally disabled in South Dakota, or the orphans in Honduras, or the people who are lepers and/or live in dumps in India, or some other as-yet-undefined people group, or the...Welsh?"

I guess this is why they call it faith. At some point in the Bible, Abraham "went out, not knowing where he was going", responding to the voice of God he recognized, even though it didn't make sense. So I am going to raise this money for a future ministry trip or trips that I don't know about yet, and you, dear reader, are going to have to pledge your money (if you do) based on faith that I will use said money wisely for a purpose that brings good in the world, based on your knowledge of me up 'til now.

You may send your pledges to me at hey@christymerry.com with any contact info I need to let you know the final amount on August 31st. How about you include an email address and a phone #? Also, I will need to look into this, but I'm sure that once the 'where and what' of this trip is figured out, these gifts will be tax deductible.

Thank you for reading this far! & yes, I will be posting about the runs & progress of everything. Just short 'diary entries' on the runs I think.