I Read the Tao Te Ching in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Sorry for the delay; craziness has imposed itself on my carefully laid plans and my sense of calm. I was going to use Saturday morning for blog updating/general Internet usin', but I happened not to be present (apparently) when the other counselors, including my sister (the head and most veteran counselor) decided that I should be the one to take two campers to the hospital. So that left me with literally about 15 minutes of legitimate free time. My (excellent) boss Andy noticed that this made me frustrated, which is pretty legit considering that my version of frustration mostly expresses itself in talking somewhat less than usual, and decided I needed some free time. More on that later.

After I got back from Tahlequah Urgent Care (3 hours...sigh), I almost immediately had to go teach my elective and then head down to the pool to be a lifeguard. As soon as I got to the pool, I jumped in, because seriously. Minor stress reduction efforts were necessary. As soon as I got out of the pool, I noticed that my swim trunks were a little weightier than usual. This excess weight was caused, naturally, by my newly non-functioning cell phone. Cell phones are not creatures of the water. That cell phone was my only timepiece and alarm clock.

That was Saturday; on Sunday we left for Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, which is apparently a water park in Arlington, TX. That's a 6 hour (or so) drive from Tahlequah. So we rented two charter buses--one for the girls and one for the guys, thankfully--and stayed Sunday night at the SA corps in Arlington, then spent most of Monday at the park. I, being a stubborn person and having accumulated perhaps a half hour of sleep on the floor of a particularly muggy church gymnasium, went on none of the rides and spent my time translating Ovid in the shade of the area we'd reserved in the park. Somehow, that felt (and feels) like an accomplishment. I realize that I like to do things entirely for the purpose of making people scratch their heads when I get in a mood. Next year, if there is a next year, I plan to go on every ride. Eat that.

One thing led to another, and now it's Wednesday. (Eat that, too.) I had told Andy that it seemed silly to take a day off in the middle of the last week of camp, but the conversation that followed essentially went, "Nonsense. When?" "Er...Wednesday?" "Done. Go." So I decided to go to Tulsa and see what that city's all about. Reminds me a bit of Grand Rapids, right down to the university campus downtown. Of course, there's the heat. Anyway, I homed right in on 71st Street, which contains quite a nice mall entirely lacking in bookstores. The inescapable Barnes and Noble, it turned out, was across the street. A short jaunt delivered me to the cool refuge of a Barnes and Noble cafe with a newly purchased copy of the Penguin Classics translation of the Tao Te Ching, whose 5000 characters of text I consumed in a single sitting.

And now I'm in the Starbucks somewhat down the road. (The B&N Cafe--also, of course, a Starbucks--had free wi-fi but no outlets. Charming.) Thinking about where I'm going to get dinner and what movie I'm going to see. "By yourself?!" some people asked, but I'm good company, so I don't mind. Also thinking about whether or not I should rent a hotel room and do some quality sleeping. That seems expensive for something I can do for free in another three days or so, but it's been a while. I think I'll probably just go back to camp tonight and see if I can bum a bed in the nurse's station.

Exhaustion is the theme of the last few days, and points like that always show me who I really am. Exhaustion should drive me to God...not to get peace or fulfillment for myself, but to lean entirely on His strength to continue serving the kingdom. Instead, exhaustion just activates my selfishness, and I try to escape from serving as much as possible. Prayer is definitely needed on that front!

Please keep on updating me on how things are going back in A2, GR, wherever. Nashville. You know. I can't really do phone calls, as it happens, but I can check my email every few days are so. AND my time here is almost over, so I'll have even greater Internet access soon.

Agape!