My students led chapel this past Friday morning. We had practiced for a few minutes Monday thru Thursday, and did a walk through Thursday morning. They are quick learners and did very well. We used Psalm 51:10 and the idea of God being steadfast -- dependable, trustworthy, and unmoveable. We were the first class of the year, and I think we set a good example. We had one curve ball; one of my girls caught the chicken pox

from her 3rd grade sister in GB's classroom! The billbergia pyramidalis are in bloom. They don't last long, but are spectacular. We have six influorenscences this year. The close up shows the complexity of the flowerets -- some deep purple at the tips and a gold stamen. The bromeliads are stoloniferous, which means that they will sort of "climb" the laurel oak...up to a point. The net result will be a dense border of plants around the tree trunk. This is from one plant we took with us from Ft. Myers, so this has done well in four years! We had 4.5 inches of rain this past week. Fay left a great amount of water and when the afternoon thunderstorms got going this past week, there were tremendous amounts of moisture for the storms to feed on. We had a couple of real cloud bursts -- spectacular, roaring downpours. We got our rain yesterday courtesy of Gustav. Even though we were 450 miles away, Gustav was pulling moisture bands from the Atlantic across Florida all day, to the tune of 1.6 inches of rain! The effect on our community is that the St. Johns River continues to be in flood stage; over 400 homes are under water. Our retention pond behind our house has water in it as high as it was after the three hurricanes in 2004! There were three pairs of mallards feeding in it this morning, and from the sound of things the frogs are really enjoying the water also. Tropical Storm Hanna is behaving in a confused manner out in the Atlantic east of the Bahamas. It seems like it will stay at tropical storm or minimal hurricane status. We should know by Friday what is what with Hanna. It looks like another rainy week; we're over 10 inches above our yearly average (45.03 inches of precip to date). The last two years were below average -- that's how averages are made!

Quiet End to a Rowdy Week

Well, we made it. We had another .6 inch of rain last night, but our total since Sunday night was about 7.5 inches of rain. Certainly nowhere near the 26+ inches of rain that Melbourne had dumped on them. The problem now is flooding, especially along the St. Johns River. As the water pushes downstream other communities will struggle with the water also. This afternoon we have some thundershowers -- yup, bands of rain streaming from the south, compliments of Fay. At least we had sun and blue sky this morning. I was able to clean up the tree leaves and small branches that the wind had trimmed and left on our driveway...2 garbage bags worth. No large branches, which was fine by me. The plants, bromeliads, and orchids were fine and our two bamboo each have a new shoot. We did get enough water to end a three year dry spell in the retention pond behind our house. Our homeowners' association has 9 retention ponds, and they all have water. Maybe we'll see some wood ducks again! We only missed one school day - Tuesday - even though the Orange County schools were also off on Friday. Squally weather combined with no electricity in some of the public schools put them down for the count. We each had a couple of kids out, but ended the week well. Kids had good attitudes, worked hard, and got the year off to a good start. My kids even cheered a couple of times Friday afternoon when the sun peeked out briefly! Gayle and I both have colds, so we're grateful for the quiet Saturday afternoon we're enjoying. I guess the kids were too willing to share with us...As you can see from the picture of the deck, my plan has come to fulfillment -- we have a green barrier blocking off busy Michigan Street from our view. Our two fishtail palms have really grown this year, and the Rangoon Creeper is simply ridiculous with its growth. The third picture shows the back of the house where an hibiscus used to be on the corner and the cut down bougainvillea. Lots of room for the pink grapefruit to grow. The small shrub in the foreground is a datura, also known as an Angel Trumpet. It's scientific name is Brugmansia, and is in the Nightshade family. It has spectacular trumpet shaped flowers about 9 inches long. This particular variety has a creamy throat with a pink bell. Kay Mason, a neighbor down the street who shares my love of plants, gave me this plant which she had grown from a seed that her full grown Angel Trumpet had tossed on the ground.

A Ho-Hmmm? Start to School

We have had seven in-service days preparing for the new school year. Last Friday afternoon we enjoyed meeting parents and students in an informal "Meet the Teacher" event. Most of the students came, as well as former students popping in to see the refreshed rooms and greet us again. I had a number of former students trying to cadge M&M's - had to shoo them out after a while! GB and I were ready for the students, and enjoyed a calm, quiet first day with what seem to be really nice kids. GB got a Chinese dwarf hamster -- really cute! Her 3rd graders voted on a name for him. Bob got two votes, but Furry won out. Wonder how long the calm and quiet of the kids will last...And here we are at home today on what should be our second day of school, thanks to Tropical Storm Fay. Fay turned out to be fey, changing from a menacing mass of of weather related trouble to a mild lump of breezes and rain sodden clouds. We should have some wind, 40 MPH or so, from about 3 to 9 PM and will get several inches of rain, but we have endured worse in New Mexico and Iowa. And it's nothing like four years ago with Charley. The news media and emergency preparedness personnel were decrying the casual attitude of many Floridians toward the impending storm. I think it's that many of us know what we have to do to prepare for a real storm and are waiting to see just how bad and where -- all of the hype notwithstanding -- the storm will be and the track it will finally take. There is also the mixed message that the media gives, with reporters reporting live from Ft. Myers Beach as their L.L. Bean all weather rain gear flaps in the wind and rain, telling us how bad it is and how we should be inside with the windows boarded up. If Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel shows up, it can't be good...I really got a kick out of Al Roker in Naples four years ago, reporting from a balcony about Hurricane Charley. He had a man holding on to his knees to keep him upright, but he fell over anyway and it took several crew members to drag him in. We all knew it was an awful storm; why the histronics? So tomorrow we'll (probably) go back to school and pick up where we left off. In once sense it's almost like two years ago when we had a Friday half-day with the kids and then began with a full week on Monday. The good thing is we can always use the rain!

Busy B's

We've had a full four weeks. We left Orlando early on July 12 and traveled north -- spent a week with Emily. We camped in Coles County, IL (Abe Lincoln area) at Fox Ridge State Park, fixed a few things at Em's condo, and enjoyed worshiping with her. The second week we spent in West Michigan, visiting friends and relatives. We were able to spend a significant amount of time with Mom and Art, for which we were grateful. We enjoyed an amazing providence one evening -- we were going to take Mom and Art out for supper, but Art had a handful of coupons to the Grand Villa, so we went there. As we walked up the sidewalk to the restaurant, we saw Uncle Harry, cousin Peggy, and her husband Joe sitting inside. We got a booth next to them, started to get caught up with things, and by the time we had our menus, another group of Bosschers was walking into the place! Uncle Art, Aunt Helen, and Uncle Howard and Aunt Doris - all unplanned. So we pulled four tables together and enjoyed the company! By the time we left Michigan, we were emotionally drained. We had not anticipated that visiting for five days would be so difficult. We were able to visit most all of our uncles and aunts, who are getting on in years. Each time we see them, it's a gift from God, and we are grateful for the moments shared. Our third travel week we spent a couple of hours at Gettysburg again and then some great times with Katie, Alec, and the grandkids. Very restorative! This week was spent finishing a few things around the house and some time at school before the meetings and busyness of the beginning of the new school year. I pulled out the overgrown hibiscus behind the bathroom and replaced it with a pink grapefruit tree. while we were gone, the bougainvillea next to the hibiscus fell over and I had to radically trim it. So the back of the house is very different now. The bougainvillea will grow back within a year, but it is strange to see so much of the house right now. I finished the tile project also. We've had two in-service days at school to end our week. New teachers and a new administrative structure -- leaner, which is good for the school's budget. Good meetings, well run which makes for a positive beginning to the year. Mixed in with the continuing prep next week are several meetings for both of us with parents who want to be proactive for the children. So we meet, listen, and encourage. Next Friday afternoon we have a 3 hour Meet-the-Teacher time when students and parents can come to the room, drop off their supplies, and check things out. Here are a few pictures of the past month...