Archive for August, 2008

…Alaska’s flag, what it means to you…” That is what I remember of the opening line of the pledge to the Alaskan flag. I lived there from 1973 until I left for college in 1983. My folks left Anchorage in 1991, and my sister in 1995.

As most of you know, our small frontier state is now front and center in the national spotlight (and it’s not because of Senator Ted Stevens this time!). Governor Sarah Palin has been named as John McCain’s running mate for the Republican ticket for president of these United States! Way to go, Mrs. Palin!

Now don’t go asking me questions about her politics or track record. I am embarrassed to say that I haven’t quite kept up w/ Alaskan politics in the last 200 years, except for the occasional sighting of Don Young or Ted Stevens in the news (I saw from a distance Sen Stevens at the Rotunda for former President Gerald Ford’s service. He didn’t look too good…). Now, Alaska is back on the map.

I’m guessing I’ll be seeing more of Mrs. Palin in my local Charlotte newspaper over the next 67 days. Imagine my surprise when I saw the name of Andrew Halcro, who went to my high school for a short time in the early 80′s. I remember his sister more; she was really cute! I was about 5 years too young, though. Oh well, my Amy is happy for that.

Andrew is a force in state politics in Alaska. He has a blog href=”http://andrewhalcro.com/”>http://andrewhalcro.com/ where he keeps up w/ local politics. He’s not very fond of Mrs. Palin, so I’m told.

Guess I’ll have to go and check it out myself. Nice to connect again w/ you, Andrew. Say hello to Damon when you talk to him.

This week was a shocker and a sleeper.

The shocker was my admin, Melissa, has taken another job w/in BGEA at the Billy Graham Library. It’s a promotion for her, and I’m glad that she is able to move up in the organization. The library is getting a great admin, and a great person. We will all miss her work, her personality, and her great cooking (she always brought lots of goodies!)

The sleeper was that I didn’t get much, but I’m not too upset about it. My brother in law Eric Boutieller and his family were visiting, and they love to have a lot of fun…. all the time. I’m not a night owl, and had to still work each day.

One fun thing Eric and I did was attend the Church Basement Roadshow, hosted in Charlotte by my friend Steve Knight. Doug Padgitt (who is really tall!), Tony Jones (who went to seminary!), and Mark Scandrette (who lives in San Francisco!) were entertaining and thought provoking. As I’m not an articulate writer or even an articulate thinker, that’s all I’m writing about it so far. Thanks Doug for letting me shine on the trombone. Mark, I’m probably a traditionalist that wants to be a creative thinker. Tony, I liked your comments best; especially the idea about coming down from 30,000 ft and touching the ground.

Oh, I went shooting w/ my dad and son at Uwharrie National Forest outside of Albemarle. We enjoyed a great 100yd range. I’m glad my dad taught me about firearms at a young age.

that’s all for now. Two weddings this weekend, and I love weddings…