Elevation

Wednesday 30. July
Today was a very lazy day. After the activities of yesterday we basically just hung around and did nothing, apart from Ea, who had to go to work. I finished Playing for Pizza. It is not the best Grisham I have ever read, I prefer his legal thrillers, but he is such a skilful writer that even when it is “just” a novel, it is still a page turner. It probably would have been even better if I understood American Handball (I think they call it Football, but why I have never understood, to me it seems like they use their hands more than their feet), as the book is about an American Football player who, when no one wants him in the US, turns out for Parma Panthers in Italy. I didn’t really get much of the explanation from the games, but part of the story is also of an American discovering a world outside the US, not at least the Italian cuisine. Grisham’s colourful description of the meals made me hungry for Italian food, not even discouraged by the fact that most of the courses included cheese. I even began to contemplate whether I should begin to eat cheese just to experience this wonderful food. While the book is not up to the level of Street Lawyer or The Firm it is well worth a read.

Allan and I decided we would have a go at repairing “our” car, so we disassembled the remaining part of the indicator arm, biked down to a large shop selling old car parts. They happened to have just what we needed, but not quite to the price we had planned on spending. It was fascinating to watch Allan, as he, after he had said what amount we had available just stood and waited until the guy in the shop gave in and let us have the “new” indicator arm for just that amount. It took us just five minutes to fit it and now the car is as new - at least there is no pain involved in indicating any longer. We considered taking the gear box apart too, but decided that could be pushing our luck too much.

Otherwise not much happened. Another day with sunshine, which takes us to 5 days without rain and temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius. Weather forecast for tomorrow is good, it will be another lazy day.

Thursday 31. July
Lisbeth and I went into town today for a walk through the pedestrian street. We didn’t really need anything, just needed a change from the daily rythm. We used to live not just in the town, but at the end of the pedestrian street for 4 years, so we talked about shops that were still there and those that weren’t. As we had no children with us we allowed ourselves the luxury of a Danish icecream.

Back at the farm we resumed positions in the sun. I started reading The Russia House by John Le Carrée. Most mornings I have woken before the rest of the house and have made my way outside to a quiet corner to read. I am reading through the Gospel of Mark just now. One reason is that when we come home I am going to preach at one of our plants. They are in the middle of a series about Jesus (seems relevant!) and have had titles like Jesus Saves or Jesus Heals. The title given to me is Jesus Provokes. I am free to find what story I will use, but of course have to stick to the theme. Reading and thinking about this I thought there actually is material for a whole book here. Jesus was extremely provoking in his time and as I have thought about it have begun to question whether we at all understand Jesus’ message, if he does not provoke us today? The book would be a chapter for one story, outlining how it would have provoked at Jesus’ time and then relating it to today and how it should provoke us. Sounds like a good idea, wonder if the book already have been written by someone?

Usually Allan always has a project for him and me to do while at the farm. This year it was a small one. The line had fallen out of their flagpole, so we had to lay the flagpole down, re-insert the line and then raise it up again. Should be simple enough, but as mentioned in an earlier post, reality does not always match up to theory.

An 8 meter high flagpole is not that easy to control when it is unbolted, so we made sure children and animals were out of the way before we began. Our wives had taken seat at a safe distance, looking forward to being entertained – and they were not disappointed!

We managed to lay the flagpole down without too much trouble, apart from the fact that 2 large trees were in our way, so we could not get it down flat on the ground, only stuck in the trees with the top of the flagpole 2-3 metres above the ground, far too much to get the line through the top. While I pretended to hold up the pole, which was firmly stuck in the tree, Allan got hold of his ladder, climbed up into the tree, across on the branches and got the line in place. It was entertaining, but no real match for us. Next challenge was to lift the flagpole up again and then for me to hold it in the right position while Allan re-bolted it. While I was trying to hold the flagpole in a vertical position I did think how it would look if would begin to slide to one side and I would not be able to hold it. Should I try and stay under it or just jump to the side, not thinking about my dignity? Once or twice it felt like it would happen, but fortunately Allan managed to bolt it. Mission accomplished.

Well, until our dear wives drew our attention to the line. It was now firmly and correctly going through the top of the flagpole, but it was also firmly stuck in the tree, way above where we could reach it.

We were not going to lover the pole again, so we had to be creative. We got hold of a step ladder, but even standing on that we could not reach the line. Lisbeth constructively suggested we could stand on each other’s shoulders (that is Allan and me), but as we knew we would get no sympathy if we hurt ourselves in the attempt, we chose not to. Then Allan got a good idea, he got hold of a towel and threw it up on the line. The idea was the towel should weigh down the line, unfortunately it just got stuck on the line. I climbed up the stepladder with a mattress, hoping to hit the line, but the mattress was too soft and just folded over me. Running out of options Allan decided to use the stepladder, not to stand on, but to throw at the line. He hit it in two attempts and it pulled the line down. Perfect, if it wasn’t for the towel, it had not come down with the towel, but was now stuck on a branch, beyond our reach.

Always the practical one, I decided to take my shoes and throw them at the towel. I actually hit with both shoes, but probably they weren’t heavy enough, at least the towel didn’t move. Allan let me try with his clogs. This time I threw it too high, I had forgot to adjust to the fact I use a size 43, but Allan only a size 39. Finally Allan climbed up the tree again, across several branches and managed to shake the tree enough for the towel to fall down, without Allan doing the same.

Cheers and applause erupted from the audience (our wives and kids), who thoroughly had enjoyed the entertainment. Next year the plan is to paint the pole, but I suggest we leave it where it is and send one of our kids up and down with the paint. If they get stuck, we will throw shoes after them, that should bring them down.

Weather forecast still good for tomorrow. It might not be as entertaining as today, but it is still going to be a great day.