Thank you to Umpa and G.G.

Sarah and I had a lovely week at the beach. Thank you to Sarah's Grandparents, John and Anita Fusano for graciously allowing us the use of their beautiful house on Mandalay Bay. We played a lot of card games, ate seafood, and took long walks beside the harbor and along the growling surf. On Sarah's birthday, her Grandparents took all of us out to eat at a nice seafood place on the Ventura pier. It was a beautiful setting, the food was outstanding, and the company was delightful. After lunch I took an inflatable dinghy and decided I would explore the harbor. Mandalay Bay is a venice-like melange of land and sea. Watery avenues are criss-crossed by bridges, and lined with expensive looking homes, boats, and slips. I paddled around for a long time before I came to a spot where I drifted under a low bridge. I rested for a while in the shade under the bridge. Mussels clung to the bridge's supports for several feet above the water line before they terminated just below a slimy line, which I assumed was as high as the water gets at high tide. It felt good to be out of the sun for a little while, so I sat there for several minutes while the traffic coursing up and down channel islands boulevard hummed above my head. I enjoyed reading the graffiti which lovers and gang-bangers had left on the sides of the bridge at low tide. After continuing beyond the bridge I entered a part of the harbor which was lined with shipyards, restaurants, yacht clubs, and a seemingly endless forest of anchored boats. After paddling around fopr a very long time I realized that I was lost. I didn't know how to make my way back through the maze I had navigated earlier and I also didn't know how to make my way to the harbors main channel. After a long time I found my way back home, but the adventure left me sunburned and sore.

It was a good week, and it was good to get away, but now it is time to go back to work. Adam and Eve didn't do us any favors. My sister-in-law, Christine, will agree with that tomorrow when she goes back in to the doctor to be induced a second time. Maybe tomorrow will be the day that the world welcomes Obadiah. I pray that is so. May it be a a short and uneventful delivery.