Ode for a Blind Man

In response to a faithful commenter...

In this life in which we run to or fro.
There are many people we encounter
And many places we go.

A brief, simple meeting becomes a small connection.
But as soon as the moment is gone,
We realize we likely won't see them until resurrection.

Every little conversation is a chance to cause change,
For you never know what your words might mean.
Distress, triumph, or triviality; the topics will range.

I won't forget the day an Aberdeen flight I was taking:
The conversation with a blind man of great vision.
Don't know what has or will become of his yearly ranking.

Somedays I may wonder as I wander.
Especially everytime I board a train.
But at least you and I will always have something to ponder.

Book Review: Servants of Allah

Servants of Allah, African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas
by Sylviane A. Diouf

This book reads like a PhD paper, not that I've read many of those. Diouf builds step by step to a conclusion that there were a significant number of Muslims brought from Africa to the New World and that they had a profound impact on the society around them, even if they were not successful in handing down their faith to the generation that followed them.

She espouses to a view that stories that highlight their influence have been suppressed both deliberately and by self-imposed censorship by the Muslims themselves, in an attempt to gain their freedom or greater responsibilities.

The most interesting facet of the book to me was the chapter in which she focused on the literacy of many well-educated Muslims who became slaves, often after being captured in religous wars and then sold to slavetraders. Some of them were able to rewrite the Koran from memory on whatever scraps of paper they could obtain.

They even used their Arabic literacy to write notes that could not be read by their owners in order to plan at least one uprising and to communicate within a network of Muslims both in the Americas and still back in Africa.

I would not recommend this book to the faint of heart as it is very detailed and academic. It is an enlightening read as she considers the origins of names and words that suggest Muslim influence, and how that carries forward into the continued religious practices of those in the Caribbean.

It does not tie-in any lessons that can be learned for modern times; it is only a look at the past that many of us have probably spent very little time contemplating. It is useful in trying to imagine how one's own faith would hold up if you were enslaved in a country hostile to your religous beliefs and likely cut-off from your family members.

Well... what else did you expect me to do on the plane today?

The blind see...

It was five o’clock and I was standing on a platform at the train station. Actually, I was pacing back and forth between the route map and the timetable. I’d forgotten, or rather never known, that buses and trains don’t run as frequently before the sun comes up.

My bus had run late, causing me to just miss the 5:14 AM train to Feltham, which has a rail-air link with Heathrow Airport. It sounds fancy; all it means is that you can catch a bus to the airport and the price is included in the cost of your train ticket.

To my dismay, I discovered that the next train was not until 5:58 a.m. I was doing repeating the calculation mentally for the tenth time.

“The flight leaves at 7:15. I should be at the airport by 6:30. The bus takes at least 20 minutes. The train will arrive at Feltham at 6:16. If I take a cab from Feltham it might be a couple minutes faster. If I take a cab from here, I’ll have to get more money at the ATM first and I have no idea how long it would take. Especially if there’s traffic.

I decided to remain on platform 5 at Clapham Junction – but that didn’t stop me from doing a pacing routine and scrutinizing the map for any alternative routes.

As it grew closer to 5:30, a much more reasonable time to be on a train platform, another person arrived and sat in a chair in the other end of the platform.

Then, a member of the train staff and a person, who nearly bumped me away from my prime position in front of the map and interrupting my fretting.

The man was apparently blind, and was talking loud enough that in rashness I might have wished to be deaf. “I need to catch the 5:49 to Richmond,” he said decisively, turning to the staff member to release him. “This chap can get me on there.”

The staff member could sense my surprise and hesitated, but, obviously having other things to do, turned and walked away.

I tried to mutter something about not being sure about what time my train left.

“Where to? Feltham? That’s the train after mine.”

So it was solved. Even if it wasn’t, the man had latched onto my arm, so I didn’t have much a choice. Sensing that he’d suckered me in, he released me.

I rubbed my arm and didn’t say much. I repeated the mental calculation.

Normally, I’m the first to talk with a stranger – but I’m not very chatty before breakfast.

He didn’t like the silence. “Are you still there?” accusing me of betrayal. Sadly I realized, it had probably happened before.

I tried to imagine being in his situation – wondered if he’d memorized the train schedule just from people telling him the times or it was available printed in Braille; wondered if I could handle having to rely on total strangers just to get on the train everyday.

Unprompted, but now certain that I was a captive audience, he began a rather unusual discourse of his life.

“1997 was the best year of my life,” he said proudly.

Curiosity got me and I gave in: what happened in 1997?

“That was the year I met and married my wife,” he gloated. I noticed a very well-polished wedding band on his finger and would have commented on it, but I didn’t get the chance.

“1986 was the second best year of my life.”

You wouldn’t have asked why too, wouldn’t you? I mean it’s not everyday that people go around ranking the years of their life. Not to mention doing so randomly on a train platform. But he had clearly thought this out. This was not a random ranking with a possible reordering to come if he thought about it a little longer. At 22 years old, I already with have trouble with the assignment – I can’t imagine sorting through what were certainly 45 or 50 years for him.

“That was the year Dad made the dresser that sits in my bedroom,” he said matter-of-factly. As if this was an irrefutable truth in today’s murky society of relativism and shades of grey.

To be honest, I can’t remember for sure if he said dresser – I was just trying not to laugh. I’m not sure what I’d expected, but it was such a surprise to go from a defining life event in first place, to a gift that was certainly meaningful but was nearly two decades past.

I didn’t know whether to applaud him for valuing the small sacrifices that others make on our behalf, or to question if that was truly meaningful enough to warrant a number two ranking for the entire year of 1986.

A blaring intercom disturbed the birds perched in out-of-sight crannies somewhere in the station, and the screeching of metal on metal soon overpowered them, further antagonising the ears.

He shuffled his feet forward, closer to the yellow line. He was reaching for the unseen door in front of him, even before the train had stopped. Probably some trains stopped and left so quickly that he never had the chance to board.

He pulled himself up onto the train on my platform, using my arm again with such force that I wondered whether he really needed me more for the strength than for my eyesight.

“Have a good day mate,” I called out, and the unusual morning meeting was complete.

I opened a book and tried to read for a few minutes until my own train arrived.

Thanks to self check-in, I was able to obtain my boarding pass and then sprint down the corridors and ended up not even being the last person to walk onto the aircraft. It was 7:00 – they allegedly close the doors 20 minutes before departing.

The rain delayed our take-off by 20 minutes.

All I could think about was how to go about ranking the years of my life. Meaningful gifts versus significant events. Life-changing decisions versus serene moments. One-offs or reoccurring pleasantries.

No matter the system, I consider myself overwhelmingly blessed, especially if the best is yet to come.

Why is it that it sometimes takes a blind person to remind us to open our eyes to the loved ones in our lives that we tend to overlook, a deaf individual to remind us of the joyful melodies of encouraging words, or someone with a handicap to help us appreciate the mobility that we take for granted?

Let the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame walk. After all, some of them already do a better job of that than those of us with perfectly functional eyes, ears, and legs.

Mamma Mia!!

We certainly celebrate whenever family comes to visit - with Jennifer we opted for the theatre. Mamma mia,it was an incredible experience. We camped out for two weeks to get a special box stage right just for the four of us (J had a friend with her). J/k - but they were fun seats to have. All four of us left laughing and dancing all the way home. J & her friend did a great job playing, singing, and performing a skit; we're sure they were a big hit in Spain as well, which is where they'd just completed a mission trip.

Bree served as tour guide on Monday and they saw a number of things, including some movie being filmed. We also spotted Jude Law's (ex)-fiance on our way to the theatre, and were in Leicester Square to see all of the hoopla surrounding the premier of that new movie The 4 or something like that with the people who have these crazy superpowers.

They didn't get much homecooked food, but we think they enjoyed two of our favorite - Chinatown and Wagamama.

That's been the fun around here - now we're back to work with a vengeance after having way to much fun in our week off.

Oui went to Paris

Nous allons a Paris et il est tres magnifique.

Since we missed out on the 4th of July, we just headed over to Paris for Bastille Day and watched fireworks that were centered around the Eiffel Tower. It really was a spectacular show and I have a couple of photos and video clips to prove it.

Of course we went to the Louvre, and we also went on a Fat Tire Bike tour, in which all of our curiousities about Paris were satisfied. The highlight was the guide's impressions of the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and the armless beauty, which involved tucking and untucking his head and arms in and out of his shirt.

We ate mighty fine - yummy. And we got to smash a plate when we went to a Greek restaurant - I guess Greek children get to have more fun growing up. But who has to do all the sweeping?

That's a quick run down - I'll let our guests filled in any stories worth telling. Don't let them exaggerate too much, but it is true that we went on the one marathon walk, and it was three hours long, and everyone completed it with a smile on their (his or her for you English fanatics) face.

Off with your heads...

Yesterday's big adventure was the Tower of London.

We also saw the travelling art exhibit Earth from the Sky (www.earthfromthesky.com) which provoked quite an interesting discussion.

We also went down to Covent Garden and watched a man on a 8 foot tall unicycle juggle three full-size basketballs... simply amazing.

Then we enjoyed the most wonderful spaghetti ever made, from our very own kitchen, complete with fruit and marshmallow creme dip, perhaps the first authentic batch ever made on this side of the Atlantic.

MIL held her breath all the way under the English Channel and we're about to head to the Latin Quarter to grab dinner.

Props to fellow blogger Bethany '03 (www.bethanylovesparis.com) for letting us stay in her place!!! If you recall, she passed basic training with us, enduring the three-hour march from Waterloo to Wandsworth.

Au revoir!

All the way to London for a Bath

This won't be much of a post, but thought you might like an interim update: We took our guests to Stonehenge, Bath, Bristol, and close enough to see Wales.

Friday, Bree took them out to Windsor and then we ate at Wagamama - yummy noodles.

We let the insurance lady do all of the driving - we thought that she'd probably figure out a cheap way to get out of any accident; and, well, I'm too young to rent a car without paying a huge surcharge.

She handled the wrong side of the road brilliantly, and gradually her confidence increased in going through roundabouts - maybe too much sometimes!

Stonehenge is really big - and is an amazing view when you come up to it from the road and see it sitting down in the valley. In Bath, we dined in the Pump Room of the ancient Roman baths. At night, it's really spectacular as it's lit by torches. We did the audio tours at both places, so we're prepared to answer all of your questions about ancient history.

The next day would bring tremendous opportunities - I was the only male who experienced the Jane Austen museum; possibly the first in the hundred years since she wrote some books that some people apparently like a lot.

Then we drove through Bristol and to the beach, where we could see across to Wales. We might not have taken the most direct route, but considering that we only had an overview map from a magazine, I'd say it wasn't too bad.

Today we drove down to Wimbledon to return the car - again we found the place without much of a map to speak of, but probably not in the most direct way. We'll have to pick up an A to Zed next time we have a vehicle. It was a Toyota Corrolla 7-seater for the record. Pretty nice little, economical, environmentally-friendly, mode of transportation.

Then we windowshopped at Harrod's, dined at our favorite Turkish restaurant, and took a nap at Regent's Park.

It's been a great weekend - tomorrow we'll see a little bit more of London, but also start gearing up for our big trip to Paris on Wednesday.

The double-high airbed has been working great and I'll miss having extra help washing the dishes at night when our company is gone!!

July 7, 2005 - London, England

We've had our French toast and I should be headed into work shortly - we had an excellent dinner of Mexican lasagna and spinach shell last night. Below is some more on our day yesterday:

This generation already has far too many of the moments that you will never forget where you were and what you were doing. July 7, 2005 and the dozens that the city of London lost to an enemy that still does not have a face or a name are now added to that list.

Most Brits here were indeed thrilled at the Olympic announcement yesterday, and the millions of expats that work alongside of them did our best to support them in their excitement.

Arriving at work this morning, there were no immediate warnings that this would be a day of any particular significance – until the first colleague arrived late, claiming long delays in travel. She had switched from the Underground to the buses in order to arrive. In a city dependant on public transportation, this was not particularly unusual, but somebody out of curiosity checked on the web to determine the cause.

From that point on, the realization of the magnitude of the history we were living through began to emerge. Sirens became constant background noise and would echo in our heads for the rest of the day.

We were powerless to do anything beyond what many around the world were now doing, overloading website feeds and telephone networks. Another colleague had not arrived, and we attempted to track her down. (She later phoned in to say that she was okay, but would not be coming in due to the delays.)

As my wife and I are both on Vodafone, which was prioritizing all emergency phone calls, I was unable to reach her either. Normally she would have already been at work, but we had visitors arrive today and she’d met them at the airport. The switchboards at both of our companies were overloaded, but finally she reached me. Like many throughout the city, hearing the voice of a loved one was my utmost desire.

Our company was by this time in a gallery looking at paintings, doing what they had come to London to do. Fortunately, they had a designated time and meeting place – but we had to wait until 1:00 to be assured of their safety.

In the meantime, I went to a train station where a friend from university was arriving from Paris. We had intended to share a lunch out underneath the London Eye on the South Bank. However, the London Eye, for the first time since I moved here, was at a standstill. I found her as quickly as I could and then we got out of the station. She was almost completely obliviously to what was going on, despite having attempted to board the Underground at Waterloo Station just as it was being shutdown.

She joined my co-workers and I in the cafeteria, as we took a break from the Internet telecasts and constant refreshing of news websites. We discussed our disbelief that anyone could have carried out such a horrible act.

By this time, the US was beginning to wake-up, so I made a couple of phone calls. Amazingly, I’d already started to get concerned emails checking on my safety. The world of instant news, for better or worse, has changed the way a disaster unfolds. Our relationships span the globe, and a tragedy can no longer occur without the entire world empathizing.

In the afternoon, we began to obtain guidance from our employers on what our next course of action should be. The level of their planning for disasters certainly alleviates the pressure that many people would otherwise face, and did much to keep people calm. I prepared the things that I would need in order to be able to work from home the next day if necessary, and then I met up with my wife and our company and we started walking. To be honest, we had no idea exactly how long the walk was. There were hordes of people outside, walking across bridges, attempting to hail cabs, or driving away from city center as quickly as the traffic would allow.

But, we observed that London was not in a state of panic or chaos. People were just doing what needed to be done at the moment. As we had all been advised by the police, we’d stayed put until the situation had stabilized, and then began the arduous task of getting home.

In the midst of the storm around us, we walked along the Thames, with the water still flowing, and crossed into Battersea Park. A few individuals were taking down the tents that had been set up to host a charity 5-K run that was to have occurred that evening. We could still hear sirens wailing, but suddenly we were in a place of calm, knowing that the police officers, medics, and others were struggling to move all of the injured into places of safety and evacuate dozens who were stranded in tunnels underground.

Three hours later, we finally reached the comfort of our flat. We watched in disbelief and disgust and more details continued to be revealed.

But, when the sounds of the sirens finally begins to fade, there are a few parts of the day that will continue to resonate with this horrific memory. People remained calm and civil throughout the ordeal – to my knowledge there was no looting or other displays of disorder. The citizens of London, as anxious as they were to get home, waited their turn for the trains and buses as they became available. For as a city, even one that is generally as impersonal as London, we are all aware that it takes a collective effort to keep fear and chaos at bay. We unfortunately live in an era in which we must be alert at all times – in the aftermath of previous disasters, our institutions have and must continue to make preparations for worst-case scenarios, and the plans seemed to work in this real-life test.

Within a matter of hours, many companies had followed through with check-in plans to ensure the safety of their employees. The majority of individuals were on the phones within minutes to assure loved ones of their safety. Emergency plans were rapidly put into place. People set out to ensure that the needs of those around them were met.

For even when the ugliest face of humanity is displayed to the world, we must continue to shine forth the brightest virtues of which we are capable. Today, London will bravely return to work – it, like Madrid, New York, and others before, will refuse to live in the bondage of terror and fear.

Long walk home, but we are OK!

Thanks for everyone who's been emailing to check on us - no worries, as the explosions were to the north and we live and work in the south.

MOL and AJ arrived safely, as well as friend Bethany - all of them will be spending their time a bit differently than they'd planned.

We left work early today - and began a three hour trek home. We avoided all forms of transport besides our own two legs. Except for the length, it's quite a pleasant walk overlooking the Thames. The musical accompanient could have also been done without: there was rarely a 60-second stretch without multiple sirens blaring.

We're going to eat dinner, but I wanted to give you a brief update!

God bless - M&B & guests

A RUN-down of the week

In just a few minutes, Bree & the money she raised for the heart foundation and leukemia research will attempt a 5K Run. I ate a chocolate bar just now to support the cause. Maybe she'll be spotted by a scout and asked to train for the 2012 Olympics - which are going to be in LONDON!!!! That was big excitement today - coworkers stopped work and pulled up the announcement broadcast on the Internet. Of course I remained fully attentive to my responsibilities (but I could still hear).

Tuesday was a clean-up night: we are trying to get the house clean for the upcoming MIL inspection - but no matter how much laundry you do and dishes you wash, it seems that there is always more to be done.

Monday was the big ASDA trip - trying to stock up for the next couple weeks.

Sunday after church, we journeyed down to meet a coworker and go to Camden Markets - what an experience. I've never seen so much junk with a price tag in my life. It was all worth it for the really cheap Chinese food stand.

Saturday included a workout, a grocery store run, and most exciting of all:

WIMBLEDON!!! We sat on the hill and watched the big screen as Venus Williams came back to beat Lindsay Davenport. After watching some no-names doubles players, we stumbled upon fifth row seats watching John McEnroe play doubles! He still argued the ref per style, but the match was fun to watch as the players would makes jokes and comments. For instance, shouting mine and then shouting yours even if it clearly was not.

The nightcap was watching a couple hours of the Live-8 concert - which was a HUGE deal over here. Even people who are usually quite normal became quite frantic. On top of that, they are firm believers and advocates for the Make Poverty History campaign. A majority of people actually seem relatively informed on the issue, even if they have differences of opinion on how to achieve the end result. Certainly, they seem to have the topic more on the forefront of their minds than most of us back home. Somehow here it doesn't seem like "people way over in Africa" but people not too far away and not too different than ourselves who are starving everyday.

While they may be much more open-minded on that issue, many people around us are extremely closed-minded when it comes to evaluating Bush or his policies. They tend to have a even more rudimentary anti-diposition than the pro-disposition of a typical Texan. They "know" that his policies hurt the environment and push the world into war - and refuse to have a discussion on the topic. And while they think that government must intervene to stop the anti-competitive practices of mega-corporations they simultaneously revolt against what they think is a "growing nanny-state."

This is not intended to be a catch-all analysis, nor a stereotype of all of the people in London- only observations of what we've seen.

Friday night we gave a last-minute effort to get a dress and tux in time to go to a company ball - you can ask Bree for the story and the outcome.
That night we dined at a wonderful Turkish restaurant, yummy! And of course we followed it up with a double helping of Season 1 of 24.

Anyway - now all of you who visit this site more frequently than we do may renew your comment-frenzy.

Check back for MIL stories to come - she arrives in the morning. And we're very excited of course.