Cats, Weeds, and Bread

It's been a long stretch with no blogging. Although lots has happened, it may not seem that noteworthy to my many avid readers.

I did rescue a cat from a tree the other day. Cats are popular on the internet so that should get me some brownie points. The fire department had even been called, but were taking a long time, so I grabbed my painting ladder and gave it a try. It was easy. That cat was ready to come down!

Mostly we have been settling into our new townhouse. We finally got approved and moved in mid-June. There has been a bit of work to do, like getting screens, washer/dryer, furniture, setting up a trampoline, mowing the grass weeds, and keeping up with the dishes. It is a co-op arrangement so we are expected to do some work for the co-op every month. Michelle is on a committee and I try to help by mowing different common areas. I've also been helping to paint another unit to get it ready for occupancy.

There has been lots of countertop-making happening as well, at work. My family has been doing their own thing at home or traveling to visit family in Alberta. We took a few days off for re-entry retreat in Pennsylvania. That was a good time to connect with other recent world returnees (from different Mennonite mission agencies) who share the same mental space. We also debriefed with HR from MCC. I resonated with the scripture that Jim from EMM shared from Luke 9, where Jesus' disciples return from their ministry assignment and "reported to Jesus what they had done." (v.10) I decided I wanted to tell him what I had done in Zambia--even though of course he already knew. So I spent a short time in prayer. Another day Jim shared again from Luke chapter 9, using the analogy of the bread (this is where he fed the 5000) being Taken, Blessed, Broken, and Given (likely this idea is from Henri Nouwen). Again this seemed important to me, that Jesus had taken, blessed, broken, and given me to Choma for a time. And he does this with each of us, all the time, whenever we choose to follow him.

That is the theme this Sunday at church, according to my pastor's note: focusing on following Jesus. I will be leading worship, so I've been thinking a bit about this tonight as I plan the songs. Many times I choose songs that focus on God's unconditional love and care for us, and this is again the case, but I am trying to be intentional with some prayerful commitment lyrics also.

From Missionary to Redneck in One Big Bite

Transition.

It's been a fairly painless transition from Africa back to Canada. We've been back about three weeks now. First we had to take care of the essentials: jet lag, slideshow video, phone, and car. Then there was work: I started back at my old job on May 9; in some ways it was like I never left! The major thing that changed was the company name: Columbia sold their countertop division to Floform. So, now I work for Floform. Most of the same colleagues are still there, the same workbenches, the same tools...

The next obvious step would be to find a place to live. We're very comfortable at my parents house, and eating better than ever, and free babysitting is a big plus! However, we want to unpack into our own space eventually. The housing market in the lower mainland is pretty crazy, and a lot of people have been selling their houses at a good price but then have nowhere to live, so the rental market is busy too. We've looked at a few places on Craigslist, and the landlords are getting 200 calls, so they can be pretty choosy! We did apply to a townhouse co-op, and are waiting to hear back from them before we continue searching in earnest.

My parents live half an hour away from work/church/school, so I've been commuting in either their car or mine. But it was time to find another way to work. Some friends of ours (former neighbours) lent me their pick-up truck to use, so I don't have to take the bus! It is a great blessing, though the short-term insurance is a bit pricey.

Reflections on change:
I don't miss tucking in a mosquito net every night. I like the cooler weather in Canada (though it is also cooler in Zambia too now). I like how the power is on here 24/7. I like how when looking to buy soy milk, there are now 3 brands of alternative milk to choose from, and each brand has 4 different types. I can't believe that one week's pay in Canada is about 6 months salary in Zambia. I don't miss police checks. I like the smooth roads. I am enjoying worship with a band. I miss cheap auto parts. I don't like commuting so far. I miss my Zambian friends. I miss the slower pace. I miss Oreo, our dog, even though she was kind of annoying. I miss interactive Bible Study at church. Sometimes conversation here seems a bit shallow.

We were told that culture shock coming home, is worse than culture shock going to a new place. So far I haven't found that to be the case, but it may yet sneak up on me. We have a debrief in Akron in two months, so by then we will have processed our transition some more.

Sky Wonders Part 2

Michelle dragged me to the moonbow at Victoria Falls tonight, to take a picture of it. I took four 30-second exposures from different angles, and they turned out pretty good! To actually look at the moonbow, it wasn't too colourful, mostly just a white arc. But the camera captured the colour quite well. Here is my favourite. (I'm sure the others might find themselves on Michelle's Facebook account!)

Click on the photo for a bigger version. Note the constellation Orion in the background! I didn't even notice it until I downloaded the picture! The dark rushing water in the foreground is the mighty Zambezi river right before it goes over the edge. The rainbow is made from the mist of the falls refracting the light of the full moon.

In other news we also visited the Falls this morning to get soaked, and saw "sunbows" as usual. Michelle took the kids out to play and eat while I took our friend Rachel (who is visiting us) to the Boiling Pot, then the Zimbabwe border in the middle of the bridge. Then we decided to run eight kilometres in the noon day sun, without water (we bought some at kilometre six), to join our families at Olga's Italian Eatery. It was a good run, but now I am a bit sore. After lunch we drove back halfway to the falls to visit the Crocodile Park, where we saw many lethargic beasts and also a few deadly snakes. Then a quick visit to one of the nicer hotels to see their zebras, impala, and giraffes. Then to our Lodge to get some R&R before the moonbow adventure at 8pm...so a nice long busy happy vacation day!

Sky Wonders

I was driving back from a colleagues house--I think it was Easter Sunday--and chanced to look at the western sky. There was some sort of Cloud Experience happening! (Or maybe one of the Pentecostal churches in town was really rocking it up!) Kate and I had recently been learning about clouds, so I was able to name some of the ones in this picture: cirrus and cumulus anyway, but what about that blue streak!?

Then a day or two later, when the power was off at night, I again chanced to go outside and look up. The milky way was bright, and pretty much the only two constellations I can find, the Southern Cross and Orion, were out. I took some 30-second exposures and the Southern Cross turned out pretty good (though nothing like what my brother-in-law and father-in-law can do).

Isn't Creation marvelous when we stop to look?

Daring Adventures Coming to an End

About 2.5 years ago I posted a blog entitled The Daring Adventures of the Potts in Zambia. Well, soon our adventure will be coming to an end (and I suppose a new one will begin). We are coming home a few months earlier than we had planned, at the end of April. Here are a few recent pictures:

Making dinner with charcoal when the power goes off

Malachi meets a Zebra

View from our room during our recent stay in Siavonga (Lake Kariba)

River side of Lake Kariba Dam. This has been the subject of many conversations in the past eight months, since load shedding began. The water has been lower than usual (it looked 10-15 metres) after being over-used during last season's low rains. Zambia and Zimbabwe share this great hydroelectric resource. That's Kate in the pink shirt, walking on top.

Please pray for us if you remember during this last month in Zambia. We have many goodbyes to say, and much packing to do. And thank God for us, too! We have had a wonderful experience here.

Weekend Magic

On Sunday I noticed a new friend nibbling on our palm tree. I thought only our dog liked to eat that palm tree, but I was sorely mistaken! Grasshopper? Locust? I don't know. But he was quite big so I snapped his photo.

Then later, after our water had been off all day (along with our electricity), we received...

Liquid chocolate from our taps! Mmm!

(Showering in chocolate takes some getting used to.)

Hardwood Classroom Rainbows

Chodort ran out of 1 inch rosewood last month; our supplier was nowhere to be found, so our manager found a supplier in Livingstone and now we have plenty, although it is too wet to use. (Hardwood must be dried for several months before it can be used properly for furniture.) In the meantime we have many large rosewood orders that we can't complete, so we've been trying to be creative: bonding together small offcuts to make door panels, or asking our customers to reconsider mukwa, teak, or pine. I called a certain customer who was asking when their storage shelves would be ready, and we agreed to make it in pine, painted white. I prefer working with pine myself, since it is soft, and can be bought in sheets to speed up the process considerably. I took on this job at home and enjoyed it, except for the painting part. Here is one of the two units:

Chodort Training Centre also held the official new classroom opening last month; I was the designated photographer. Here is one of my favourite pictures--a gift was given to the guest of honour, the Provincial Minister, and what often happens is that as soon as the gift is given, his assistant carries it to the vehicle. The gift was a small rosewood coffee table from the carpentry shop. In the background you can see our Principal, Board Chairman, and Vice Principal.

January was quite a miserable month as far as rain is concerned; our area received 20% of normal rains (and in my opinion that is a generous estimate). There is a real concern about starvation this year for the many subsistence farmers in southern Zambia. It was very hot and humid. But February has seen great rains so far, with a crashing thunderstorm the other day, and a beautiful rainbow after, if you can see it: