Unexpected Reminders of the Past

Last week, I had unexpected reminders of my past that came in the form of a television series and from a sign beside the road.

D'Angelo

Recently, we finished watching a Thai series on Netflix. Full House was a nice series because it is from the old days of television (2014), back when it was possible for people to fall in love without having sex. The show was based on a Korean TV series and was filmed partly in Thailand and partly in Korea. The lead male character was named Mike. As I was looking through the credits, I noticed that the actor who played Mike was Mike D'Angelo. I thought, "with a name like that, he could be from my home town, Wolcott, CT, where D'Angelo is a common name." There is currently even a D'Angelo on the town council there.

Mike seemed to be Thai, however, so I did some research and found out his real name is Pirat Nitipaisalkul (พิรัชต์ นิธิไพศาลกุล) and that he is from Bangkok. So much for Thai stars from my hometown. Mike has since dropped the "D" and now goes by simply Mike Angelo. He has gone on to make shows in China and Hollywood (he speaks Thai, Chinese and English).

Om Aem (Sushar Manaying) and Mike (Mike D. Angelo) in Full House
Sushar is from the Isaan region of Thailand.

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Waterbury

We were driving along a highway in Kalasin Province and as we crossed a bridge, I noticed the sign for the waterway we were crossing. It was an irrigation canal and the word for irrigation in Thai is Chonlaprathan. The first syllable of the word, Chon, is a fancy way of saying water.

An irrigation canal (khlong chonlaprathan) in Kalasin

As I was reflecting on that word, I was reminded of a province where we lived ten years ago, Chonburi, which uses the same first syllable. The "-buri" of Chonburi is an epithet of place names in Thailand with the same meaning as the English "-bury". So, if I translate Chonburi into English I get Chon+buri = water+bury. Waterbury. The name of the city where I was born.

My hometown was a bedroom community for people that worked primarily in Bristol or Waterbury. Even though we lived about 1/2 mile from Bristol, we were Waterbury people, which was about 6 miles away. My father worked in Waterbury, we went to church there and did most of our shopping there. Interestingly, my aunt and uncle and my cousins lived just around the corner, but they were Bristol people. My uncle worked in Bristol and they went to church there and seemed to have more connections there.

There are a lot of D'Angelos in Waterbury, too.

Funny how many years later I end up living in "Waterbury" (Chonburi), Thailand.

Sunset in Chonburi. A city (-buri) with lots of water (Chon-).

Though it has been many years since I have lived in Connecticut, it was fun to get these two reminders of these significant places of my past.

So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all;

Ecclesiastes 11:8a ESV

There's No Place Like Home

Yesterday, a friend of ours made a post on Facebook which got me reminiscing about and missing New England. It's been eight years since we've been back to that part of the world and it looks like it will be a few more years before we can make it back again. So, let me indulge some nostalgia.

We'll start in Maine. Back in the old days, when I was living in Dover, New Hampshire, I would sometimes bike over to the York, Maine, area—it was closer than some of the New Hampshire beaches. We have been back several times since, the last time was in winter with snow.

York Harbor, Maine, in Winter

This photo of the Nubble Lighthouse was taken in a warmer time of year.

Nubble Lighthouse, York Beach, Maine

Maine has a lot of islands. On one occasion we visited Vinalhaven Island. It was in the fall, about a week before most of the tourist industries would be shut down for the winter. Already, there weren't many choices for eating, etc. But it is a beautiful place. A tidal creek flowed under our hotel room.

Vinalhaven

On to New Hampshire. When I was young, I dreamed of living in New Hampshire when I became an adult. I made several trips to the White Mountains as a teenager to go hiking. I even went to that state for my University.

Hiking in the White Mountains in the mid-1970's
Mount Lafayette from Mount Lincoln

God had other plans for my life, however, and I haven't lived in New Hampshire since 1980. I still like the state, however, and have been there to visit many times in my adult life. The highest peak in New Hampshire and home of some of the most severe weather in the world is Mount Washington. I never actually hiked to the top when I lived in New England—we only made it to the summit on a family trip taking the cog railway. Since I've left the area, I've actually driven to the top three times and hiked it once—and that was also one of the times that I drove there. On that occasion, we had planned on hiking as a couple, but Ingrid had messed her back up bad on our travels to New England. So she stayed at our cabin in Bartlett while I hiked to the top. The weather was so nice, I decided that she should not miss the opportunity to visit. So I phoned our cell phone, which she had (this was in the early days of cell phones) from a pay phone on top of the mountain (it was a toll call to our California number) and asked if she wanted to drive up. Then I quickly hiked back down the mountain, drove to Bartlett and picked up Ingrid, then drove around to the other side of the mountain to the Mount Washington Auto Road. On another occasion, pictured below, we drove to the top, then I hiked over to Mount Adams and back.

Mount Washington from Mount Adams

In my youth, winter was my favorite time of year. I loved being out in the snow. Not so much anymore. Hiking, or snowshoeing or cross-country skiing were fine. Or maybe just donning some ice skates. On one occasion we were in the Wolfeboro area when we found a place with cross-country ski rentals.

Cross-Country Skiing Near Wolfeboro

Moving south to Connecticut. While waterfalls in Connecticut aren't near as large as some of the waterfalls out west, we do have some pretty ones. Northwest Connecticut has some beautiful country roads to explore. Not far from the quaint village of Kent is Kent Falls.

Kent Falls, Connecticut

Probably some of my most fond memories are from my back yard. Russell's Pond, as we called it then, or what is now known as the Russell Preserve, was our playground. Grab your skates, hop on a sled for the trip down the hill to the pond.

Russell's Pond, Wolcott, Connecticut

Ice Skating on Russell's Pond

Next let's head back north to Massachusetts. Massachusetts has some nice areas along the coast. Plum Island is home to a beautiful wildlife refuge.

Sunset at Plum Island, Massachusetts

Further inland are places such as Shelburne Falls, a typical New England small town.

Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts

Just north of western Massachusetts is Vermont. A typical feature in many New England towns is a church on The Green. These churches might have doubled as town meeting places back in the day. The Green was where you might park your horses when you went into town. Often the church buildings are white, but sometimes they are made of stone, or as in Jericho Center, out of brick.

Jericho Center Congregational Church

At this point, I'm not sure I'll ever be a permanent resident of New England again. But God has led me lots a places that I'd never dreamed I would live, so it is not impossible that I might end up there. As beautiful as New England is, there are many other pretty places in this world. But the important thing is to be where God wants me to be, and right now that is in Kalasin, Thailand. And wherever I end up, I am assured that God is present.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
   Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
   if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
   if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
   your right hand will hold me fast.
Psalm 139:7-10 (NIV)

I’ve gotta see a man about a horse…

“Never do anything alone.”

I was recently going through notes on some of the books about missions I have read and I came across that piece of advice.  It has to do with the role of mentoring when it comes to trying to disciple others.  Those who are includers can greatly impact others.

Maybe this is why I was reminded during my waking hours of the night of those who impacted my life by including others in their life.  And so my mind went back a lot of years to a man named George Libby.

George Libby was a volunteer who maintained a good portion of the Tunxis Trail (Part of the Blue Trail system) in Connecticut.  But rather then do this on his own (which my more introverted grandfather did on the Mattatuck Trail), George had a well developed system for including young people on the task.

There were two levels on the crew, Juniors and Seniors.  One began as a Junior.  We earned points based on the number of hours we worked, which was reduced by things we missed or did wrong.  Upon earning enough points, one could qualify for the “Junior Trip”, awarded to the top 4 point earners of the season.  This was an overnight stay in a cabin in new Hampshire and a one day hike up Mount Welch.

Standing on top of Mount Welch

After completing the Junior Trip, one became a Senior.  Seniors worked to qualify for a Senior Trip, which was a overnight hike to one of the AMC huts in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  There was no limit as to the number of these one could go on. Again, it was awarded to the top 4 point earners of the season.

Our "Senior Trip" crew along with Dave Ford and his wife who were leaders-in-training.  (I'm the one with the stars and stripe shirt.)

I was probably about 15 years old when I started.  Our task was to clear a 6 foot wide and six foot tall trail way.  The tasks we did included clearing loose obstacles, swinging a weed cutter and assisting George who wielded the loppers.  Special trips were made for applying paint blazing or pushing the distance measuring wheel.

George even invited me to a meeting of the Appalachian Trail Club one year and later endorsed me for membership in the club (it was a bit of an exclusive club in the early days.)  I kept the membership up for many years—always expecting that I would one day end up living in northern New England.

George Libby died in 1986, but he left  behind a legacy that included more than just a well maintained trail.  It was people like him who helped others focus on doing something positive with their lives as opposed to engaging in self-destructive behaviors (which I did enough of anyway).

I learned from all of this the importance of inclusion, though I admit it is difficult for me as I am more like my grandfather who would rather do the job alone most of the time.  Paul alludes to this inclusive “passing of the baton” in his letter to Timothy.  “You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses,” he writes, “Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.”  2 Timothy 2:2 (NLT)

As we work with leaders of the churches here, there is also a kind of mutual inclusion that goes on.  We invite others to partake in certain activities and they also invite us to be involved in certain things and we learn from each other.

But I am challenged after reading that quote yesterday as to how we can include others more in what we are doing.

But before I finish, I should explain the title of this post.

One day, our crew (normal crew was 7 people) was all in the back of George’s  old International Scout as we made our way down some dirt track out to the paved road.  All of the sudden, he stopped, jumped out of the truck and said, “I’ve got a see a man about a horse,” and then he disappeared into the bush, leaving us young people wondering where on earth this horse was that he was talking about.  Then a couple of minutes later he appears and gets back in the truck and we continue on our way without explanation.  (Though by this time we were pretty sure we learned another way to say “I’ve gotta take a leak.)