Guatemala Finale

For those of you tracking Taylor's mission trip to Guatemala, her group arrived back in the Twin Cities on Sunday the 24th. She left a 16 year old, wide-eyed girl just a tad apprehensive about leaving the country for the first time. She returned a 17 year old young woman, filled with self-confidence and ready to conquer the rest of the world. I offer this as fair warning and yes, to brag a little. She is terrific and thankfully home safe. Here she is with a few of her new friends:

Stay tuned for next year's adventure - I am pulling for Budapest - who knows.

New Taylor Update From Guatemala

Some of the east coast branch of our family has been checking in on my daughter, Taylor, and her mission trip to Guatemala. She is part of a service team that has been involved in building construction, repair and now plumbing. Here is a picture of her team after moving 400 cement blocks down the mountain so the locals could set the block on a house for a widow with 5 children. They look proud, not to mention DIRTY!

Today's blog posting from Guatemala:

"Hola Madre, Padre y mis amigos!Yo soy Taylor! How lucky are you guys two messages in one day! Today me and Jeff left the group and drove to put in the water systems! Little did we know it was an hour and a half drive and we were going to be in the back of a pick up! Thank you lord for Dramamine!! We had a ton of fun and at points we were above the clouds it was so beautiful! I took probably more than 20 pictures of the clouds and mountains it was so fun! We were only an hour and a half from Mexico but we didn’t go even though we’re telling everyone we did! I am having so much fun and really taking advantage of this once in a life time opportunity! My home stay is ok I hate the food I almost threw up like 3 times at breakfast but I tried everything! We had steamed milk, with grits in it and some brown stuff plus cereal all in one bowl! Then we had plantains and it was awful to the point where I had to put a dinner roll in my mouth to choke it down! Other than the food I guess it’s ok but I can’t understand my people! I love you all and I’m not sick yay! I hope I can make it through the whole trip without being sick but who knows I’m just glad for making it okay thus far. I love and miss you all so so so much!"

This is such cool stuff - I just had to share. Peace!

SW Metro Twin Cities Market Update

From time to time, I like to report on market conditions in my backyard, which is the SW Metro Transit service area, encompassing Eden Prairie, Chanhassen and Chaska.

Reviewing data through May 2007, we see that closed sales in this area are down about 20% from the same period a year ago. Further, inventory of re-sale homes on the market is up from 2006. The increased inventory is fueled by lagging sales, i.e. - although the rate of new listings coming on the market has slowed, sales have slowed even more. The average market time from listing to contract acceptance in this area has been 141 days thusfar for the year. That number will rise steadily if inventories continue to build.

This is clearly a Buyer's market, so . . . . where are the Buyers? Faced with rising interest rates, shouldn't Buyers be scooping up bargains?

Sellers must be patient and consider market changes on a real-time basis to enhance chances of a timely sale.

If you have any questions about our market, please contact me. I can also provide similar perspectives on other Twin Cities metro municipalities. Thanks for being there!

Guatemala Story - New Update

My daughter, Taylor Ann, is doing fine in Guatemala on her mission trip. She posted living proof earlier today:

Yep - that's my Taylor. Here is some evidence she is actually learning some handy life skills:

Okay, so her big work partner has a big shovel and Taylor has a tiny trowel - big deal. She did help transport 200 or so bricks to the orphanage construction site, too. Just workin' on her biceps!

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from Taylor's new posting:

"I’m doing great. I haven’t gotten sick yet and I am trying all of the food, well, except for the beans!"

"We work so hard on the service team I have a ton of scratches and bruises! Today we’re going to work on the house for the widow and her five kids! I’m really excited to participate in the building of that house!"

" [We] found a pig by the church! It is one of the people's in the town. I asked the little boy if I could have it, but he said it was his mom's! He told us it didn’t have a name so we named is Spencer! I’m in love with it. I want to bring him home he's really little - maybe a foot long!"

"Yesterday we shaved our legs in the rain we got drenched but it was a blast!"

Well - all for now. As you can see, Taylor has a way of finding her own path wherever she is, whoever she is with and whatever she is doing - one big bundle of fun. I am very proud of her for sharing her special gifts with the world.

Government at Work

Sometimes our tax dollars work harder than others. Here is a great example of government with a sense of humor.

I learned long ago from a former employee that it takes fewer facial muscles to smile than to frown - wrinkle prevention is just a smile away! Have a happy moment!

Parental Pride Coming Through

Hello, all! I just have to post this. I am very proud of all my children and will occasionally share something special. Had I started blogging 30 years ago, I would no doubt have thousands of such things to share about all my "gifts".

This one is about Taylor. She has a tradition of going on a mission trip each year right after school is out. 2 years ago she helped rebuild a hiking trail at a camp in Colorado. Last year she worked in a homeless shelter in Washington, D.C. This year, after 4 years of Spanish, she decided to head south. She left Sunday the 10th headed for Guatemala where she is helping build an orphanage. Here she is giving a testimony of her faith at a special church service after their arrival (Taylor is in the middle):

Her entry in their blog today went like this:

"Hey Mom, Dad and friends, it's Taylor. Wow - we have already done so much with these people! The kids here are so loving the whole drive up this mountain the kids would chase after our bus and wave to us with such joy for they know how much we Americans can do for their city! The kids cling to you and just are so excited to be with you! Last night we had a 3 hour church service we presented the mime and we did a puppet show for the kids! We also got to see how they worship God - it was amazing! I also had the chance to be the first one to share my testimony. I read it in English, Josh translated it into Spanish and then their pastor translated it into Ceche! It was amazing. I love listening to people speak Spanish! Now we’re off to do some service work I’m excited to see what we will be doing in this community to help better them! I miss being home and I miss all of my friends, but I love you all and I’m doing well! With much love, Taylor"

If you want to follow along with her trip, her group blog is here:

http://www.operationcentralamerica.blogspot.com/

All for now - I just needed to share. Thanks for reading!

Man Is Not In Charge Of The Rainforests

Odd headline. Perhaps. More odd is the notion that man is the sole enemy of the tropical rain forests, or rather that the actions of man are the sole enemy of the rain forests. Ann McIlroy of the Toronto Globe & Mail recently wrote an article about some British research underway that included this clip:

"Early humans didn't start out walking on all fours like gorillas and then slowly straighten up, a team of British researchers says. Instead, our ancestors became two-footed while nimbly traversing tree branches in search of fruit. When ancient rain forests began to thin out, they jumped down from the trees and started walking on the ground."

Although the article, and indeed the research, is not about the rain forests, I found the reference to the thinning rain forests noteworthy as it describes a period of history that pre-dates man. Face it, folks, Mother Nature is rarely influenced by man and whatever her plan, she will execute it her own way and on her schedule, including her occasional thinning of the rain forests. Let's just deal with it - humans like to believe they have great influence on the plan, but are not always to blame for everything bad that happens. If, however, you want to believe that they are, do not blame it on being left or right of the political center - those you choose to blame are more likley not involved and it has never occurred to them to care.

And . . . . while you are contemplating this provocation, I will be kicking back observing the magic of Mother Nature - yes, it is magic to me as a human, regardless of whether I perceive it as good or bad. Peace.