It's Tuesday of the first week in Southern California. Today marks exactly one week since we arrived. It's a new place, a new challenge, and a new set of opportunities, all of which calls for a new approach.
I haven't known what to blog about these past seven days. They've been an avalanche of events and tasks, and I haven't had the confidence or the energy to sort them out. But amidst the unpacking, the applying for restaurant jobs, and the phone calls to denominational personnel, there have been a couple of beautiful experiences.
There was lunch on Friday with a good friend at a great Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills. It's an oft-patronized spot for our friend, so the owner knows him well and treats his accordingly. He sat us outside and personally took care of us, bringing us free appetizers we didn't order, cracking jokes, and treating us to a dessert that wasn't on the menu but that they were "cooking up just for-a you." It was the proverbial red carpet treatment, and we are very grateful to our friend for it. We couldn't have felt more welcomed to California if the Governor himself had met us at the state line.
Then on Sunday we worshiped at one of three Presbyterian churches in Riverside, the one closest to our apartment. We went to their "contemporary" service, which was only contemporary in that they served coffee, used a projector, and played a guitar; most of the roughly 20 worshipers were over 50. But the three women who sat at our table (the room was arranged into circular tables) greeted us warmly. They were all lifelong friends and lifelong residents of Riverside, except for the short stint when they all went to Park College in Parkville, MO. It's little coincidences like that that make you say, "This place isn't so different. We can handle this."
By the end of our hour with them they had invited us to the church's 4th of July picnic and had drawn us a map to the best deli in town.
This is going to be tough, I have no doubt. But I'm hopeful.
Home » Southern California » Rising To The Surface
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Search
Popular Posts
-
I can't locate the article online, but February's Los Angeles Times Magazine has a wonderful little essay by the playwright John Pa...
-
I'm happier for an Allen victory than I would have been for Lambert, but I've soured a bit on the Idol franchise after this go '...
-
Here's the link to the Steve and Kathy Show , the show for which we did a man-on-the-street interview earlier this week. Seriously, the ...
-
Joshua Radin's new record has served as a sort of soundtrack for NPH's vacation this week. Here's the video for one of the track...
-
Is there a more ad saturated event than an NFL football game? Watching his hometown Broncos this afternoon, NPH has been subjected, he is su...
-
For Gokey, the scream is operative. That can't be good. The judges love him though
-
NPH and a colleague are collaborating on a preaching series for the next seven weeks and a-blogging as we go. Check if out at A-blog-alypto ...
-
In November NPH punched "yes" on his ballot when asked if his city ought to build a massive light rail line. We had been asked thi...
-
A couple of weeks ago NPH featured 39 Second Single , a web-based video serial about a 39 year old single woman in New York. We're now p...
-
I just got an email response to my first query for a freelance story. It came from the Associate Editor of a bi-weekly magazine. The respons...
Blog Archive
-
▼
2007
(150)
-
▼
July
(34)
- The Waiter Chronicles: Coach Seth Godin
- Windell Middlebrooks Update
- The Waiter Chronicles: The Week of Reckoning
- The Waiter Chronicles: Grandpa's Vacation
- The Waiter Chronicles: Protected or Played
- The Waiter Chronicles: Angry Chef
- The Waiter Chronicles: News of Note
- The Waiter Chronicles: Slave To The Schedule
- The Waiter Chronicles: Tips for An Off-Day
- The Waiter Chronicles Survey
- The Waiter Chronicles (part 6)
- The Waiter Chronicles (part 5) redux: Time on Waiters
- The Waiter Chronicles (part 5): Google Search--Waiter
- The Waiter Chronicles (Part 4)
- It's A Good Sign, But . . .
- The Waiter Chronicles (part 3)
- The Waiter Chronicles (part 2)
- The Waiter Chronicles (part 1)
- The LA Times on Riverside's Free WiFi
- Job #1
- Writer's Market 2008
- First Query Response
- Volunteerism
- City-Wide WiFi
- Go Read Kairos Blog
- Customer (non)Service
- Finding Your Alternative News Weekly
- What Did You Do Today?
- On Simplicity
- Fireworks, Inland Empire Style
- The Bottom of A Black, Black Hole
- On Self-Marketing
- Notes on A Job Search
- Rising To The Surface
-
▼
July
(34)
No comments:
Post a Comment