This is where we are right now…

…this is for June, and all the Summers it brings
for the chiming of bells from a steeple rings
old songs of wedlock over top hat and lace
‘fore sweet June passes a torch to July’s scarlet face…

The “official” first day of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere is June 21st, but I think June 1st to be a better date…  especially in Texas.

In June, it seems, the weather makes a palpable transition from a mild warmth to being downright sultry; and the academic term for most schools ends in the last week of May, which gives June a certain Summer-colored sheen.
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Things have progressed gradually in our relocation from the East Coast to the Deep South, though the time has passed at a breakneck pace…
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Our children have acclimated nicely, adjusting to their new school and community with minimal hindrance. Candace and I were, initially, quite concerned.

Gaelynn finished a hurly-burly semester with great aplomb, falling just a couple grade-points short of the “Honor Roll” for the 3rd Grade and acing her state-sanctioned standardized test. Israel has created something of a “buzz” amongst the 1st grade teachers due to his advanced reading level, and is already devouring Multiplication. Sophia, of course, is easily contented by her varied simple pleasures and baby Liam is just happy to be here.

The children have embraced their new hometown… having planted their feet into this soil they have bloomed before my eyes during this sweet Spring-tide season.
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Our house has seen no shortage of progress since that rainy March day when we hastily heaved all of our possessions out from the crate we loaded in Annapolis.

Candace has labored to smooth the rough edges and garnish the plain corners. Though it was already a rather charming abode, my beloved has loosed her distinctive “vibe” and fashioned a home within these four walls.

There is still, as always, plenty that remains yet to be done but we are certainly not ashamed to host friends or neighbors in our house…  and have done as much already.
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“How’s ‘work’ going?” a friend asks me after church. “Work,” I sigh, “is work.” So it is…  work is work. I do not care to elaborate, but work is a perfectly adequate means to an end. However…  there appears a certain opportunity on the horizon.

My beloved and I have discussed (amongst ourselves as well as with others) the possibility of starting our own business, a traditional Coffeehouse that will function as a “lo-fi” Bakery as well as a Gallery. Eventually we would also expand into a Music/Poetry venue, but that is all the cart before the horse.

For now…  I am content to go about my current position, working at a “Rehab” in the field of Chemical Dependency but, if things continue on their current trajectory, I may soon be in the business of purveying one of the few legal addictive chemicals to an all-too eager clientele.

I shall write on this later, and probably go into a bit more of the specifics.
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One of the first concerns that came to mind upon realizing that I would be living in Overton was the question of finding a church home for myself and those in my care…  but, by His mercies, we have found a place to serve and worship with GOD’s people in our community.

Granted, this church is not without its drawbacks and shortcomings…  this church and I have a history that is not without conflict, as well as a degree of controversy. However, I believe the LORD has arranged circumstance in such a way as to indicate that this is where I and my family are to worship Him.

This too is a subject I should reflect upon in greater detail…  perhaps in the weeks and months to come. For now, I wish to simply express how blessed I feel to share fellowship with those I have come to know since having returned. I am humbled to see GOD moving in our midst and eager for that which is to come.
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Overton, as a town, has seen better days. In having spoken with old friends and familiars that have remained here in the last ten years, many of whom have relocated into some of the neighboring small-towns as well as the larger cities, I think the time is right for some revival. If not religious, then certainly cultural…  if the two can truly be considered separate entities.

My beloved and I have decided to start small, by first forging bonds within our immediate neighborhood. Simple unbidden things like baking bread or mowing lawns go a long way towards breaking the ice. For a town as small as Overton, the people have grown strangely insular since we have been gone.

I don’t know…  maybe it is we who have changed.
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So this is where we are right now…  only a few shot months removed from the snowbound Mid-Atlantic Winter, thrust headlong into the sweaty-toothed madness of an East Texas Summer…  with plans within plans.
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There will be Sport…  for the young of age as well as of heart. I have pledged my “pound of flesh” to a nascent church athletics league that is the brainchild of a dear Brother of mine. Our first basketball game of a ten-week season is this coming Saturday, culminating with a championship tournament. After a brief caesura, will be Softball ’til Autumn…  and then Flag-Football. So on and so forth.

We have decided to enroll the elder children to study Martial Arts at a respected school in a nearby city, and are considering our children’s athletic futures with some of the various leagues offered in our area. The children are eager, but my beloved and I wish to proceed with caution. Sport can bring many things forth in the life of a child, only some of them are truly beneficial. I know this all too well.

O, but there is much more to come…  swimming in the local pool and lazing in the yard, hosting friends in late evenings of fellowship and marathon battles of pursuits trivial, picnics in the park and long drives out into the country.

A camping trip to Oklahoma is in the works, upon the impassioned invitation of some old friends in the area. I am also in the process of orchestrating a concert/rally featuring local Christian musicians…  headlined by the infamous Nichols Brothers with whom I have recently reestablished contact.
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This is where we are right now…  upon the threshold of the turning of the Seasons.

Southern nights and long warm days.