Back in '57 ... ... when TV was about as young as YouTube now ... ... I travelled from Ithaca N Y where I was in University to Saskatchewan to visit my family for Christmas. After graduating from seminary in Saskatchewan in '53, I'd applied to do missionary and refugee resettlement work in Korea, was appointed as the Korean War was winding down and it had stopped by the time of my arrival. After 4 years (usually 5) I returned via Hong Kong, India, Palestine and Europe, where I attended an ecumenical conference near Geneva and had arrived in Toronto just before I needed to head for school in N.Y., so hadn't seen my family for four years. Drove my VW bug out through Chicago, taking a Greek student to visit friends in Minneapolis, with a rug over our knees to keep us warm. As I neared home, just after daylight, a fox was running across a field and I decided to chase him: bad idea, as I got stuck when trying to get to a different roadway through deep snow ... so I had to knock on our neighbour's door at just after daybreak to ask his help to get me out. Our small village church asked me to be guest speaker on the Sunday after Christmas and one of the nieighbours told the TV station in Regina about it, so they called me to ask whether I could appear ... but the line wasn't good, so I wasn't sure which news medium was involved ... ... until they gave me directions to their location, on a major highway on the way out of town. They asked me to come in next week ... but I was to return to N.Y. that evening, so they had me come in that afternoon. The interviewer hadn't been able to talk to me prior to my appearance and I was on after a cooking segment, so she apologized for interviewing me in the kitchen ... but I told her not to worry, that clergy people were used to talking to folks in their kitchens. I asked whether she'd like to hear about various aspects of the refugee situation ... and yes, she would ... then about what life in Korea was like ... and yes, she would ... and about other aspects of the aftermath of war, etc. ... so I pretty well took over the whole interview! That was over 50 years ago ... and I don't recall having been on, since. Not handsome enough, I guess. And now one pretty well has to be young: old, lined faces aren't in high demand, I hear. Hope you're all having a lovely week. One thing nice about retirement: every day is holiday. And if you wake up ... look out the window ... and don't like the blizzard ... you can say, "Oh, well - I didn't plan on going anywhere today, anyway!". ole joyful

CBS Evening News, network, devoted the whole half hour of news to him. I enjoyed watching it. They are dedicating 7pm, 6pm Central, to an hour about him on Sunday. I have set the Tivo for it. That is in place of 60 Minutes.

Someone sent me these in an email so thought I'd share them here. Puns for Intellectuals 1. A vulture boarded a plane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess stopped him and said, "Sorry sir, only one carrion per passenger." 2. NASA recently sent a number of Herefords into orbit for experimental purposes. They called it the herd shot round the world. 3. Two boll weevils grew up in South Carolina. One took off to Hollywood and became a rich star. The other stayed in Carolina and never amounted to much ---- and naturally became known as the lesser of two weevils. 4. Two Eskimos in a kayak were chilly, so they started a fire, which sank the craft, proving the old adage ---- you can't have your kayak and heat it too. 5. A 3-legged dog walks into an old west saloon, sidles up to the bar and announces, "I'm looking for the man who shot my paw." 6. Did you hear about the Buddhist who went to the dentist and refused to take Novocaine? He wanted to transcend dental medication. 7. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel, and met in the lobby where they were discussing their recent victories in chess tournaments. The hotel manager came out of the office after an hour and asked them to disperse. He couldn't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer. 8. A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One goes to an Egyptian family and is named "Ahmal". The other is sent to a Spanish family and is named "Juan". Years later, Juan sends his birth mother a picture of himself. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. He replies, "They're twins for Pete's sake!! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal!!" 9. A group of friars opened a florist shop to help with their belfry payments. Everyone liked to buy flowers from the Men of God, so their business flourished. A rival florist became upset that his business was suffering because people felt compelled to buy from the Friars, so he asked the Friars to cut back hours or close down. The Friars refused, so the florist then hired Hugh McTaggert, the biggest meanest thug in town. He went to the Friars' shop, beat them up, destroyed their flowers, trashed their shop, and said that if they didn't close, he'd be back. Well, totally terrified, the Friars closed up shop and hid in their rooms. This proved that Hugh, and only Hugh, can prevent florist friars. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot his whole life, which created an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him frail, and with his odd diet, he suffered from very bad breath. This made him.... what? (More apologies...) -- A super-calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis. And finally... There was a person who sent 10 puns to some friends in hopes at least one of the puns would make them laugh. Unfortunately, no pun in ten did!

Larry, I have to agree with you about The Far Pavillions. My sister in law kept telling me how wonderful it was and how much I would like it. I'd take it out of the library, look at it and end up taking it back, unread, a few weeks later. She even gave me a paperback copy for my birthday (she was persistant) that sat on my bookshelf for months. Finally, one day I picked it up and started reading it. I couldn't put it down. I read all but the last 3 or 4 chapters in one sitting. I'd have finished it that night except I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.