Visiting Shut-ins - as Everyone SHOULD

We went to a place called "Johnson's Shut-Ins" near Arcadia, Missouri. Don't get hung up on the name-- this is a state park with a shallow river you can swim in. Absolutely loved the place. It was 95 on the thermometer and the water was clean and cool. Because of the rocks creating little "rapids", there are great places to sit against boulders and just let the water rush by you - SOOO refreshing.But back to the name.
I thought the term "shut-ins" meant someone who is homebound -due to infirmity or illness. Someone who needs phone calls from the prayer chain, meals on wheels, and a real live visitor now and then, to sit and chat. What genius some Missouri geologist had in naming this nifty outdoor playplace. Imagine the next time his mother-in-law called to see if he could get her toilet unclogged: "Oh, Mildred, I can't come over right now - I've got to visit shut-ins!" Or when his neighbor asks if he'd like to come over and watch tapes 4-9 of his recent trip to Indiana: "Hey, Dwight, I really appreciate the invite, but I've committed to spending more time with shut-ins this week". What a brilliant (and truthful) excuse! Reminds me of the time a guy in our town wanted to open a tavern. He named his bar "The Office" and the place was always busy (so I'm told). A friend of ours was home with the kids and wondered why his wife wasn't home from work yet. Called her cell phone: "Hi, honey - where you at?" "Oh, I'm still at "The Office", dear- be home in an hour or two". These unusual names for places has inspired me to give a new name to my bed. Its new name is "the word" (small w, of course). Friend on phone: "Hi, what have you been doing this afternoon?" Me: "Oh, just spending some time in "the word". Friend: "You sure inspire me. etc. etc."

Here's us spending more quality time with the shut-ins:I could go on - but I'd really rather go get in "the word".

Attack of the Killer Golf Cart

Most of you probably think of a golf cart as a harmless, somewhat slow-moving vehicle. I encountered the exception to this rule - a bright red golf cart that I attempted to drive. Pinecrest's gardener was leaving for the day and told Scott and I we could borrow his cart to run errand around camp.

The cart- "Christine" we'll call her, was parked in front of the gardener's home. I sat down and switched the key on and lightly touched the gas pedal. It's still called a "gas" pedal even when the unit is battery-operated - like this one. I was unprepared for the sudden jump to light speed. I didn't know golf carts can rear up with front tires off the ground like that. We covered the first 50 feet in "wheelie" mode. Once the front wheels settled back down to the pavement, I attempted to decelerate by pushing on the brake pedal. No change. Press harder. No change. Use BOTH feet and stand up on the brake. No change. By this time, we began to gather more speed down a slight hill. Unfortunately, at the bottom of the hill is the new pump house, where Scott is inside working.

My next thought - is "Oh no, I'm going to crash into the new pump house - this is awful". But just then I had a revelation: THERE'S a STEERING WHEEL gripped in my hands - this could be useful. At least I could choose my crash site. To the left was a steeper hill sloping down to dense woods - a tree could stop the cart eventually and I would probably be ejected. Might result in a trip to the hospital. To the right the road levels out and I could even try to turn the thing UP hill and slow it down, perhaps even get it stopped. I chose this path.

I steered past the pump house without taking any of the siding off. But my speed was still substantial. That's when I had a 2nd Revelation: THIS THING CAN BE TURNED OFF!" As I reached down to find the key and turn it off - I looked at the "gas" pedal, which was all the way down. Mind you, I had not touched the pedal since that intial tap in the beginning. Perhaps if I got my foot under it and pulled it back up.... Ahh HA! The little devil cart came to halt with the combination "key off - pedal back" move. I considered leaving it right there and walking home, but something my parents taught me echoed in my brain: "always return things where you found them." So with great trepidation, I turned the key on, but instead of engaging the gas pedal with my foot, I used one hand and operated it like a joystick - forward-GO, back-SLOW. The other hand steered, and I ignored the brake pedal altogether. I was able to get the cart back to the gardener's driveway - although it faced "in" instead of "out". I figured that was close enough.

Elephant Rocks State Park

Today we went to Elephant Rocks State Park near Ironton, Missouri. We had a picnic there and hiked the trail to see the giant granite rocks. It was a beautiful day.Can you believe how big this one below is? It's nicknamed "Dumbo".

As a tree gets bigger, it starts to grow "around" the boulder - like it's trying to eat it!