Silent Write

By Al Horn

I wish I could blame being late with this post due to writer's block but that wouldn't be true. I have thought of many subjects to write about and there has been a lot going on. In fact, despite an extended holiday courtesy of my employer, there have been so many others things crammed into my schedule that I have barely had time to check on my e-mail.

Almost two months ago I willingly accepted the job of carpenter for an Advent program our church sponsored. A few days later we received a contract for the old house. The weather and the city of Wentzville tied me up for the next five weeks. On rainy days I was able to write, on good days I hauled materials to the old house to get it in shape for passing an occupancy inspection. I finished in time for the buyers to do a walk-through and then closing. The next day was spent putting up outside Christmas decoration in the cold. That left a week for making props.

No sooner had I bought the biggest part of the materials needed... my back goes out. Of course, I tried to tough it out for a few days. A massage mat we bought a few years ago got extended work. I even spent some time in the hot tub. Nothing short of a trip to my friendly Chiropractor was going help. Three days before the program I went to see Doc Joe. I had immediate relief and would have been fine if I had stayed home and rested for a day or two. Did I mention there were props to be built and lines to be learned for my role?

After getting my back adjusted on Friday morning, I worked the rest of that day and all day Saturday. The Barmaid helped as best she could, considering she had a bad cold and two grandchildren wanting our constant attention. (Murphy's Law, the more work you need to do, and the more attention they feel they need.) I even skipped church services on Sunday morning (it was for a good reason Lord) to finish up. Then everything had to be rushed off to church for setup.

By two o'clock everything was in place. By four o'clock I was cleaned up and into the costume of a Centurion. By five o'clock the program was up and running and I stayed on my feet for almost three hours straight. The pain in my back let up so that I could enjoy the time needed to lead three groups through the journey. (Divine intervention? I'd like to think so.)

By the end of the night we had almost one hundred and fifty people come through. Not bad for our first year. Everyone that participated thought things had went well and were already making plans to make things even better for next year. Almost all of the props can be reused for next year. Maybe I won't have to adlib as much either.

Another trip to Doc Joe on Monday morning got my back to normal and I had planned on resting for a few days. The Barmaid then reminded me of all of the shopping that hadn't been done. Up until now, I have only had to endure physical pain. Now comes all of the emotional anguish. Maybe everything will go smoother next year. Yeah, right!