Irene's Damage Here In Rutland, VT

Here are just two images of the devastation from Tropical Storm Irene here in Rutland. These are roads we use every day. It will be a long time before these ares are passable again. Rutland is almost cut off from the rest of the world...There are more washouts to the north so our only major road is Route 4 to the east.

The power of water is just overwhelming. I can't help but think of Noah's flood and the terror the people back then must have felt.

 Route 7 South, Rutland (headed toward Clarendon) photo by Vito Starinskas

I got these photos from the Burlington Free Press website where there are lots more.

Our hearts go out to the people who have lost property and their homes, and we are especially praying for those who have lost loved ones due to this storm.




Route 4 East in Mendon (headed toward Pico/Killington) photo by Vito Starinskas

Ready Or Not...

When our first baby, Becca, was going to be born, a huge 'nesting' instinct settled upon both Janie & I. We set up the crib and stockpiled diapers and wipes and got a whole 'diaper changing station' set up. We were full of anticipation and wondered if we were missing anything.

Strangely, I felt a similar sensation of nesting (or you might call it 'gathering') as I saw the growing pile of 'stuff' that our 18-year-old son, Daniel, would need for college. Now he's a guy, and had far less to take to college than certain girls I know (cough *Becca* cough) but there was still a nice little pile in the dining room prior to our jetting off to Roberts Wesleyan College on Thursday.

As we rolled across the New York thruway,

Caleb Chapman at Soulfest

A highlight of Soulfest for me was a set from Caleb Chapman (son of Steven Curtis Chapman). He has started a band called 'Caleb' with his brother Will and a couple other guys whose names I don't know, and they are really quite good.

So they were playing their set but

Manifesto by The City Harmonic

We saw these guys three times at Soulfest last week. Love it, love it.