the silent storm inside my arms.

the silent storm inside my arms

The lightning struck where thunder failed to give warning:
a harsh blow in springtime afternoons.
We are all left
with smoking trees
and towers
and TV antennas.

Where tall cliffs once stood straight and strong,
the rocks now rest in a crumbling pile.

The clouds stooped low and blinded out the sun,
so I embraced the tempest as it mutely raged.

Steaming geysers release hot streams over rolling hills;
cold rain falls on even the most beautiful of roses.
The distant quake erupts without a sound,
a shudder detectable only when you hold your breath
and feel the shifting in the gentle breeze.

The breaking heart is still the beating heart.
We’ll pray on these tears for years,
and I’ll hold tight
to the silent storm inside my arms.


Alyssa Reeves Jones
Fall 2008, Kansas State University
ENGL463–Intro. to Poetry Writing 

first half of may.

How is May flying by so quickly? Here is what's been going on this month.

First, Nate is finishing up his semester. Like probably this week he will turn in his last assignments. Then he only has two semesters left! Well, we have to confirm that with an advisor but that is what it looks like. So if we're correct on what classes he still needs, he will be able to take the summer off from schoolwork! That makes for a happy student and a happy wife.

Rev. Robert Warner (father-in-law to my 2nd cousin, 3x removed)

I'm still quasi-obsessed with working on our family tree. Genealogy is just so fascinating to me, and between ancestry.com and the general Internet, there's a gold mine of information on relatives who lived a hundred years ago. One relative (whose daughter married into the Reeves family) is Rev. Robert Warner (1864-1937). We have a lot of pastors in the tree, on the Reeves side and Jones/Link side.

Anyway, I was Googling him and found that there was a book about him published in the 1930s. It's actually his testimony, recorded by his wife and two daughters. There are a couple of copies in two libraries in Washington state, and then I found one available at abebooks.com for $8. So I bought it, and it immediately said it was no longer available at abebooks, so I must have bought their only copy. It's a first edition. The cover is purple velvet (some sun fading) and the title is gold stamped letters. It's only 40 pages long, and it is written in first person (from Robert Warner) about his ministry in the Methodist Episcopal Church in the Northwest—Washington and Idaho and such. He preached on circuits, traveling around to various cities for revivals.

Miles is growing up.

Surprisingly no photos of Otis in this post, but I assure you he is still as cute as usual. Instead, Miles! Miles is getting all grown up! Here's a photo of him shortly after I adopted him in January 2010, and then just recently. He has such a different personality than Otis, so he comes across as a grumpy old man sometimes. But he's not against sitting on my lap or purring when I brush him. He's always sweet to me. :)

Indoor cat getting some outside time

It's been kind of hot here. I mean "hot" relatively. It's been in the mid-80s which is hot enough to heat up the car in the parking lot and make me sweat. Nate and I took Miles and Otis into the backyard for some outside time. Miles enjoyed it, and he managed to get seeds/pollen all over his head. Poor Nate came inside with watering eyes and sneezing, and his legs were covered in chigger bites.

Miles curled up on Hannah's bed

This week our summer lodger, Hannah, moved in. Hannah's from Texas and is working at the Y this summer. Her boyfriend, Josh, is in the college community group we lead at Immanuel and it's fun having them around. (Josh goes to Belmont.) They are 19 and 20, which makes Nate and I feel really old! :)

Bacon-Wrapped Green Beans

I've been trying to keep up with cooking. Last night I made meatloaf and bacon-wrapped green beans. Turkey bacon. Then I mixed up soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic salt, and a little butter and glazed the beans before baking them. Yum!

I finished reading Jim Gaffigan's book, Dad Is Fat, which is hilarious. We also got the audiobook for free with a free trial at audible.com. I read the book on Kindle. It's a fast read. It's about his family who lives in a two-bedroom apartment in New York. Five kids. He says that thanks to his [very fertile] wife, they have an open-door policy—which basically means that at any time in the night, any of their children is welcome to come into their room and pee in their bed. haha This book is probably funnier for parents but we were cracking up too.

Just a few more days until I fly back to Kansas to spend some time in Manhattan with Jenn and then swing through Burlington and then to Wichita to meet up with Nate for a wedding. This trip will be the first time I've rented a car! I'm finally old enough! I'll fly out Tuesday night, and Nate will fly out Friday afternoon. The wedding is Saturday, and we have Monday off for Memorial Day so we'll fly back Monday morning. Can't wait.

despicablimp.

This happened in Nashville today … The Despicablimp!

The Despicablimp over Union Station in Nashville (Photo: AdamDYork)

The Descipablimp over the Tennessee State Capitol (Photo: pgalbreath)

Here's a close-up from @despicablimp

How fun is that? Despicable Me 2 hits theaters July 3.

afternoon at the zoo.

Everything in Nashville is so green. After getting 3.3 inches of rain on Saturday, everything has bloomed and we're enjoying 70s and sunshine. After work yesterday, I was planning on going to the zoo to walk. Fortunately Nate got out of class early, so he went with me! Nate doesn't love the zoo, but he loves me. :)

We were walking toward the petting zoo when we saw two Canadian geese and six babies! I've seen a gaggle of adult geese walking around the zoo before. This group waddled over to the concessions area to eat up dropped popcorn.

We sat down on the benches, and the little goslings got really close! Nate took this photo.

The mama goose kept watch. (Photo by Nate)

The tapirs weren't in their exhibit, so Nate didn't get to see baby Felix. We saw the red pandas and clouded leopards before heading to the nearby rhinoceros hornbill. Usually it stays up in the tree, but as soon as we walked up, it jumped down and came right up to the fence. Then it grabbed some bamboo and was trying to stick it through the fence. Such a strange creature! It hopped on the ground like a kangaroo. And look at those feet!

soft ball, sore muscles.

Me jumping up *and catching* a fly ball in right field!

Yesterday morning, my coworker Katy came by my office and asked if I play softball. I think I laughed. Growing up, softball was the sport I didn't like because I wasn't good at it. Volleyball, basketball, track … all fun. Softball, well, let's reserve that to P.E. and college intramurals.

But Katy's team just needed an extra body; if they were short on players, they'd be forced to take an automatic out every inning. So I agreed and showed up at the fields in Mt. Juliet yesterday evening for a double-header. It was a great day for softball. Mid-70s, partly cloudy. A little windy, but not terrible. I warmed up and headed to my spot in right field.

Fortunately it was church-league slow pitch softball, so it wasn't highly competitive and everyone was there mostly to have fun. I was nervous; it had been at least four years since I put on a glove. I don't have cleats, but I found Nate's in the attic. A bit big, but better than nothing.

One of the reasons I'm not good at softball is because I don't understand where I'm supposed to be and when. If the ball comes to me, I don't know where I should throw it. I like basketball because I have court knowledge. I have no field knowledge. I watched the other outfielders to try to gauge how far I was supposed to stand from the infield.

Fortunately the other team only hit the ball to right field a few times. And a few times it went over my head. But twice, I caught a fly ball! First one standing; the second time I jumped up and caught it over my head. (See photo above, from Katy's husband. Try not to go blind from my whiteness and don't laugh at my form. Nate says I look like a ballerina!) Nothing sounds greater than the "whoosh–thunk" of a ball landing squarely in your glove.

I was at the bottom of the batting order, and only batted twice in two games. (The other team shut us out both games and I think the run rule kept us to three innings each game.) :) My first time up to bat, I didn't even know which bat to use, so I used a red one—the same one as the batter before me because it was already at home plate. One strike watching, then I swung—whiff. The next swing, I got a piece of it. Not enough to get it out of the infield, but I took off. Any success I have at softball is from natural athletic ability. I can't run long distance, but I can sprint. And I beat that ball to first base by a half-second.

Next time up to bat, I picked a black bat. A Louisville Slugger. Mostly because it was one of the longest, and it looked nice. :) First pitch, swing! Contact felt good, solid. I knocked it just left of second base and made it to first, no problem. Unfortunately the next hit was to shortstop, so I was thrown out at second.

It was a fun two hours. Loved being outside, loved playing on a team. Even if we didn't win. I probably won't be a regular, but it was fun to fill in. And today, I'm sore. Every muscle from the waist down; back and shoulders. Hurts in a good way.