A Slower Pace

As I promised in a previous post regarding the Oklahoma City National Memorial, here are a few thoughts during my visit.

The day was very cold — about 25F degrees. This was to be a quick side trip on our journey to Kentucky. I already felt that I was not giving enough time this memorial deserved but that is sometimes the way life is. I still wanted to take advantage of this opportunity.

(To give you background, I am the type that like to take these types of things in in entirety. I will ready every little placard, every little sign, every brochure so I can learn as much as I can about what is around me. My wife — and the kids — are opposite and want to see it and then, ok, we’re done. Remember Chevy Chase in Vacation where they make this long journey to the Grand Canyon, take a quick look, and then say, “Ok, that’s it. Let’s go.” — or something like that. That is definitely not me.)

The memorial takes up about 2 city blocks where the Murrah building used to stand as well as the street in front of it and the parking lot that was across the street. You can approach the memorial from almost any direction. We came from the north east which gave us a good view of what we came to learn was Survivor Tree. This tree was in a parking lot across the street and survived the blast. It has become a symbol of resilience and hope. It is surrounded by a terrace that overlooks the site. It has a quote etched into the stone that says “The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated. Our deeply rooted faith sustains us.”. The tree is a symbol of that.

During our visit, one of the local nearby churches was piercing the regular city noise with “O, Come All Ye Faithful” from its church bells. It made for a poignant moment.

From east to west is a reflecting pond that sits where the street used to sit. Very peaceful and serene. The reflections of the scenery around it disappear into the black below. The east “gate” represents the 9:02 time before evil bombed the building. The west “gate” represents the 9:03 time when all the lives were changed forever.

Just south of the reflecting pond, where the Murrah building used to sit, is the lawn with chairs representing each of the 169 victims killed. Each has a name on it and is situated on a level where that person last was in the building. Smaller chairs represent the children that were taken — very sad. While it was daytime during our visit, you couldn’t really see the light in each chair. But I am sure during the night, it is an awesome scene.

There are quite a few more things in and around the site that demand description but I didn’t have the time to see them. There is also an indoor museum that would take a normal person about 2 hours to go through. Inside they honor all the victims — killed and injured. It is my intent to make a special day trip to the memorial, probably by myself, so I can take it all in. I have been to many memorials — Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson Mem, Vietnam Mem, WWII Mem among others — but this one was one of the best at describing what happened, how it affected the city and people and how they were honoring those moving forward releasing the bitterness and embracing hope for the future. Lots of symbolism and representation made for a very powerful display. The folks in New York City would benefit by getting a hold of those on the committee that birthed this memorial so they could pay proper tribute to those we lost on 9/11.

If you ever get through OK City, stop by. You will not regret it. Allow for several hours, but, as in my case, if you cannot, stop by for just a little while. Every minute spent there is worth it.

God bless all of those affected that day — April 19, 1995.

…..Dan at aslowerpace

I have had my first two days on the job. Lots to learn and I have been trying to just soak it all in. It is a small copy of our personal lives — observing, asking questions, figuring it all out and adjusting.

Monday was very cold. Even the Kentuckians were complaining about it. I figure if I can survive this, I can survive anything the weather throws at me. The heater in my truck went out though so I will need to make that a priority to fix. It’s not bad going into work because the truck is in the garage at night, but going home in a truck that has been sitting in a parking lot all day in 20F degrees ain’t fun. I have my sweater, my jacket, my gloves and my beanie cap on. I have to make sure I don’t breathe too hard so I don’t steam up the windshield. Pretty funny, huh?

Tuesday, I was much happier to see that it was a balmy 45F degrees. Maybe I am already acclimating to the weather with statements like that. It actually got up to 53F and wasn’t bad with a jacket on outside. I must be crazy.

We made a few trips down to the airport to pick up our first guests – my sis-in-law and my folks. We are so blessed with the house and that it has lots of room for people to come stay and visit. They came in when it was dark so I am excited for them to wake up and see the property. Which leads me to another thing — the sun doesn’t come up here until about 7:30 or 8am. It will be nice in the summer, though, when it stays light later.

Have I mentioned how painful dialup is if you had broadband before? Definitely one of those things you don’t think you need if you’ve never had it but once you have had it, you can’t go back. That kinda shows you how far out we are in the country. It actually isn’t too far — only 34 minutes to the airport. But far enough out to definitely be country. For those of you, my friends, who have broadband, please enjoy it for me.

The next few days will be nice since I have off work and we can enjoy our company during the Christmas holiday. My wife and I are going to spend today doing all those things you have to do in a move: new driver’s license, register the vehicles, open a bank account, etc. Not glamorous but somebody’s gotta do it. Hopefully we’ll get it all done before the big snow we are expecting today.

…..Dan at aslowerpace

Today, in addition to the snow, we also put up the Christmas tree and decorated it as a family. It was very nice to step back look out the window to see the snow falling and then watch the kids hang all of their favorite ornaments. A Hallmark moment indeed and I just sat back to take it all in. This is exactly why we moved here…..not that we couldn’t decorate the Christmas tree as a family in California. But, even with all these boxes and house disarray, we were able to slow down, take a pause and enjoy the time together. It didn’t matter if there were things to do. We are already slowing down and taking advantage of those times. I look forward to each one and many more.

…..Dan at aslowerpace

This is my first opportunity to get online since my last post and my internet connection is…..a…..very…..slow…..dialup…..connection. I was spoiled in California with a fast cable broadband connection. A slower pace really applies to everything out here — even the internet. And for those of you who know me as the tech geek that I am, you must be laughing at my having to deal with dial up. We’ll see how long this lasts.

A lot has happened since my last post. Sit back, grab a cup of coffee and read the update.

One of the hurdles we had to overcome was back in Nashville before we arrived in Louisville. A few years ago my wife had a pinched nerve that affected her arms and hands. It seems the several days of driving along with the same position for miles at a time aggravated it. Just short of our last stop outside of Nashville, she could no longer drive. We pulled over, checked into a local motel and rested. A long night’s sleep and a big breakfast didn’t help much and we only made it one exit. Time for plan “B” (which I had planned for, however, I was expecting a mechanical failure, not a human one). We unhitched the Uhaul from my old Suburban, dropped it onto my wife’s Suburban, crammed the dogs in and left my truck at a popular truck stop hoping the traffic would allow it to blend in for a few days until we could drive the 3 hours back to pick it up.

So there we were — all 8 of us and the Uhaul. Me, the wife, 3 kids, 2 dogs and 1 cat (and a partridge in a pear treeeeeee). We were able to barely make it into the Louisville area to drop off the trailer and dogs at a friend’s farm and then hustle to the property for the final walk through. Every thing was in order and the closing the next day went very smoothly and we were in the midst of the movers orchestrated chaos by noon. Almost the entire 53′ semi-truck trailer was unloaded and all that remained Saturday was the smaller shuttle truck, the unpacking of some boxes and the furniture assembly. I still had the issue of my truck though.

Step in a helping hand. One of the movers had some extra time, needed some holiday spending money and wanted to help us out so he joined me in the 3 hour ride down to Nashville to pick up my Suburban. It was very nice and interesting to hear the perspective of someone who had grown up in this area of the country. I enjoyed the company and what seemed like a 45 minute drive to Nashville really sucked on the way home as we both drove alone in each of the Suburbans the entire 3 hour drive back.

Dave — thanks for helping us out the way you did. I appreciate the favor and the new friendship. THANK YOU!

We also met one of our local neighbors who happens to have a little boy close to my son’s age. They played together as if they were old friends and are already looking forward to exploring the little creek together.

We are also finding our way around: to the nearby Wal-Mart where we have equipped all of us with much needed winter gear, to the local Kroger for all of our home cooked meal supplies, the Uhaul return place and the cheapest fill-er-up station.

This morning, we woke up to it snowing. The kids have seen snow from when we used to go up to the mountains but they have never actually seen it fall from the sky. It was fun to see them get all excited and worked up to play in it, spend the time to get all bundled up, run around and experience the newness of it, then realize how butt cold it was and decide to come back in. The dogs were the same way minus the bundling up part. I’m sure it might get old but right now we are just enjoying it. Acclimating hasn’t been as hard as I expected. Talk to me in a month though. Luckily, we only got 1 inch of snow and most of it is gone already.

On my way out to town this evening at dusk, I saw my first local deer — a handsome male (who survived hunting season) and two skittish does. Very cool!

It is late and I start my first day on the job tomorrow. Off to bed. In the meantime, here are a few interesting facts:

• It takes me 6 minutes round trip to walk and get the mail from our mailbox.
• I paid $1.58 a gallon for my last gas fill up.
• Setting up a household from scratch is expensive (trash cans, toilet paper, wall hooks, plastic silverware compartment, paper towel holder thingy — geez!)

…..Dan at aslowerpace

Now that we have made it, I want to thank all those who had us in their prayers. We appreciate and are humbled that you would think and pray about us and for our safe journey. I can tell you it worked and acknowledge the power of prayer.

Thank you!

…..Dan at aslowerpace

We attained our goal of reaching Louisville, KY safe, on time and as a family. We are very tired but excited. We close on the property and move in tomorrow. We have transitioned from wrapping things up at our old house to travelling across the country to now a new beginning. We did a final walk through of the house and are still pinching ourselves. And the weather forecast for this Sunday is snow. What a nice time to sit together as a family, unpack boxes, hang a few Christmas decorations and watch the first snow from our new house. Although we have been preoccupied with the move this holiday season, it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

…..Dan at aslowerpace

Driving through the country, I started noticing things I don’t or haven’t seen in the population and land of California. For example, while driving in Oklahoma, I noticed what appeared to be a whisp of smoke on the horizon. What it ended up being was a gaggle of geese flying south for the winter…..so many, that from several miles away, it looked like smoke. Pretty damn cool if you ask me.

A few other things of note:

• billions and billions of stars (not drowned out by light pollution)
• occasional wildlife (deer, coyote, hawks)
• wide expanses of open, nothingness

Some man made things I saw that you normally don’t see as well:

• a drive in movie theater
• a caboose
• one pump corner gas station

…..Dan at aslowerpace

“We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever.

May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity.”

Those words stand alone in this post. I will not dilute them with my experience. That will be saved for later. God bless all who were impacted that day.

www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org

…..Dan at aslowerpace

We are now in Elk City, OK. (by the way, the Holiday Inn here is nice and has some great ammenities — pool, hot tub, miniature golf, sauna, shuffleboard, etc and kids stay and eat free). The drive was interesting crossing the continental divide in New Mexico, dropping down from the mountains onto the mesas and then to the flat plains.

While driving across that great expanse, I learned that I could draft behind my wife’s Suburban and simultaneously watch the kids’ movie on the DVD entertainment system. If I tuned my radio to the same frequency as the FM modulator, I could even hear it all. I was getting entertained AND getting better mileage to boot!

Somewhere in Texas we crossed the halfway point. We are now closer to our new home in
Kentucky than our old one in California. Weather has been cooperative but very cold. We will have to acclimate.

I have been tracking mileage on both the Suburbans. Kinda interesting. Hers is a new 2003. Mine an old 1990 towing a fully loaded 4×8 Uhaul trailer. She is getting double the mileage although my trip average isn’t much lower than my normal mileage. I guess when the truck is
that large and inefficient there isn’t that much more you can do to hurt mileage. And gas prices have greatly varied. Highest is, of course, California where I paid $2.49 just before leaving. Of course, just across the border in Arizona it was $1.84. The lowest I have seen is $1.55 in Texas. Another benefit of leaving California.

Tomorrow it is my hope to stop and see the Oklahoma City Memorial (www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org) . It is a good educational opportunity for the kids as well as a time to offer respects and pay tribute. I expect it to be a touching experience.

Thanks again for all who have kept us in your thoughts and prayers. Our trip has been uneventful in a good way.

…..Dan at aslowerpace

We awoke to a beautiful Mojave desert sunrise. And California was finally in our rear view mirror. It was weird to leave California soil as we crossed the Colorado river into Arizona. And then the thought that at that very moment we were homeless. Not in the sense that everyone uses to describe the poor and destitute. But a family without a home. Usually when we have travelled like this for vacation, we had a home base to return to. And, while vacation was fun, it was always great to get back home. That won’t happen this time.

We met a couple with kids and pets in Seligman, Arizona outside the gas mart.They, too, were moving out of California and relocating their family to Flagstaff. An interesting parallel to our move. And they weren’t originally looking to leave CA but had visited Flagstaff and began contemplating it. Seems they hadn’t noticed the difference in life styles until they actually compared and contrasted them. Similar issues: pace of life, cost of living, time with kids, employment opportunities, values. Again, an interesting parallel. It got my wife and I wondering what the immigration/exodus rate is for California. If anyone has links to facts, data or articles, drop me an email.

More asphalt and miles ahead tomorrow. Thoughts come and go as I drive and only a few of them stick enough in my brain to make it to this blog. Too bad I can’t blog real time…..although that’d be scary.

…..Dan at aslowerpace