Photos: Our Great Mattress Capper

Some of you might know that since I arrived here in France my nights have been spent upon a couch. I’m sure there will still be nights where I am sleeping upon the couch for various reasons, but I am proud and very excited to announce that I now have a mattress. It was quite the tale of a time, so here is the story with some pictures. Children welcome, it’s destined to become a classic. It is a nine page story, so make sure you read each one! Continue reading

Photo: #10,000 + Chickens!

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At first this photo might seem a weird choice, until I tell you that it is the 10,000th photo taken with my digital SLR since i got it about 18 months ago. Thats not to shabby in terms of average photos a month. About half of them are online currently at my Flickr website (click on the photo).

About the Photo… We had a dinner with a lot of curried chicken and we had left overs in the kitchen (which we put on our sandwiches the next day for lunch), so Jolynn and I set them up like they were eating and each took our turn getting a picture taken with them! A lot of fun.

Pont St. Pierre et Dome de la Grave à Toulouse
Taken Wednesday night on my way back from a friends house. I got a new tripod over here in France and need to still work on how to use it well. Might need to invest into a remote shutter for it… I hope they are cheap here.

Rioting getting Rougher

“Hundreds of cars were set on fire in different towns on Sunday night, and police had to use tear gas to disperse a club-wielding mob in Toulouse.” – BBC news

Again, I want to assure those reading that the rioting is still well away from our part of Toulouse (across the river, and several miles). It’s continuing to escilate. Last night I was out in the city and I’ve never seen it so empty. Meeting up with some friends and getting to talk, one French friend explained that the basic premise of this is normal. Things in France tend to be ignored until they explode, then there are way more issues at hand than what started it. The catalyst in this case is no longer the issue at all. The death of those two kids was just the last straw to an oppressed community.

So far the rioters have only gone after property and emergency workers. They have entered into the center of Paris for the last two nights. There are a lot of police around patroling the center of toulouse here, just about every other corner. Paddywagons of officers in riot gear driving around along with fire trucks. They are just out waiting for what is going to happen.

Pray for the wounds to be fully exposed, for strength in the dealing with the issues coming to the surface, and for safety for the AGAPE teams in France (there is one in Paris as well).

I will continue to post here every morning so that you know I am safe, or if we have to leave.

Rioting in France

Articles: BBC News(1, 2), Star Tribune (1, 2), Fox News, Weekly Standard, New York Times, and I’m sure you can find others…

This entry is to serve two purposes. First to let you know that I am safe, second to give background on the feeling here in southern france. Toulouse was hit by the rioting Friday night, and I believe it has happened every night since then. Continue reading