Three Cups of Tea

This book will inspire you. If it doesn't, seek help immediately because there is something wrong. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin is a true story of a mountain climbers despair and near loss of life after failing to reach his objective, the peak of K2, the queen of mountain tops.

During his high altitude exhaustion and confusion Mortenson strays off course to be found and nutured back to health by the kindness of strangers in a remote mountain village he had never heard of, Korphe. He was the first foreigner to ever end up here. Having found "something special" in Korphe he promised them that he would return to build a school for their children after seeing that all their classes were held outside in the open and frosty mountain air with a part-time teacher and no books, pencils or paper. This promise took him along an almost unbelievable journey that at times uncertain finally met and far exceeded his goal.

The story confirms that a small amount of money (and huge amount of effort) put in the right hands under the right objective will do more for peace in the world than most of our "well laid" and expensive plans. The best part is the story hasn't ended yet and if we want we can become part of the story going forward. Please, read this book.

By the way, thanks for this Christmas gift Mom.

Sunset in South Park

I looked at the date of my last blog entry and realized that I should be adding more "stuff" if I expect anyone to be interested. 19 days seems like a long time however this is relative, isn't it? If you only had 19 days left to live then it would seem like a very short time.

This is one of the prettiest sunsets I've seen lately. It was taken from the deck of my apartment here in the South Park neighborhood of San Diego. It's pretty of course because there are clouds in the sky giving the sunlight something to deflect and refract those beams of light. It's a wonderful and beautiful contrast in what otherwise may have been an clear blue yet boring sunset. I think this is mother nature telling us we need clouds in our life to see the beauty.

Color

I decided my blog was looking a little boring, a little colorless so I'm adding color. I'm not a photographer but I can take pictures of things that look nice to me. My camera is just a small Canon PowerShot SD550 Digital ELPH that fits nicely in my pocket. I love the size of it and I think it takes pretty nice pictures. This picture of tomatoes and basil was taken at the farmers market in Hillcrest. The tomatoes tasted good and the farmers here are more then happy if you sample their goods.

They're trying to save me ....again

At various times in my life people have tried to help me save my soul for my own good. Well it happened again last week as I was working a three day event on one of the boats where I'm currently a crew member. The truth is I knew it was going to happen. The AGIF or Assemblies of God International Fellowship was here for their annual get together. The AGIF is "an all-inclusive Fellowship with an open door to all ministers and churches who submit to the Lordship of Jesus and agree in principle with 7 pillars upon which AGIF was established." If you want to see the 7 pillars of truth go to their website at http://www.agifellowship.org/



From my viewpoint I was on a boat full of people who are experts on selling Jesus. They don't call it selling of course, it's "sharing the Good News", "Reaching the world", or "making disciples". I knew I was going to be sold the way to Jesus the same way I know someone would try to sell me life insurance if the boat was loaded with life insurance salesman. Salespeople sell. Every one's a prospect so ABS or Always Be Selling.



By 3:00 pm of day two the time had come. James couldn't help himself. "Pete, come over here and have a seat." At this point I'm thinking two thoughts. 1) This is probably the sell job, and 2) How does he know I'm not a believer? Is it the way I posture myself or speak? Maybe it's the way most of us can tell if someone is gay right away. The way they hold their hands, the way they dress. Well it was the sell job. James said "Pete, I just couldn't go through this whole conference without sharing the way of Jesus with you." I said, I know. He offered to pray with me if and when I was ready to accept Jesus into my life. I told him I had a sister who's married to a minister whose been trying to save me for years. He asked what type of church and when I said "Baptist" he nodded with approval saying he refers to himself as a "bapticostal".



James reminded me of his offer later that afternoon and finally once again on the last day at his departure. The last reminder had that not so subtle sense of urgency that all good sales people use because he was leaving and this was our last chance.



James and others never did close the deal with me although I'll admit I found myself tapping my toes when singer Lillie Knauls was belting out a few of her gospel tunes.



One group of four as they were leaving asked if they could pray with me. Agreeing I instantly found myself in a circle of five with a hand on each of my shoulders receiving blessings for me and my whole family. Later, Dr. Paul Olson who runs missions in Mexico and Haiti gave me a 90 page booklet entitled "He Who Laughs Lasts" by Dr. Roy Hicks before he left. Finally Reverend Dan Mariano and his wife Patti gave me a copy of her music CD "Songs of Joy & Hope".



Well what I can say to them all except "thanks for the experience and may peace and tolerance be with you all."

Opposites

We live in a world of opposites. We all experience this take on life now and then. Maybe even daily especially if you're use to watching or listening to politics. You've got the Right and the Left, the Conservatives and the Liberals, the Republicans and the Democrats all saying pretty much the opposite of each other with each group feeling, knowing, that they are right and aggravated with the opposite viewpoint because they are soooo wrong.

How does this happen? Brainwashing by ones parents? Brainwashing by the dominant environment you live in? A gene that makes us believe one thing or the other? I don't know. What I do know is that for me it's easier just to accept this difference and then focus on what we have in common. Every Democrat and Republican loves their sons and daughters and they want the best for them.

Having moved to San Diego 4 and 1/2 years ago has been a living reminder of the physical and social differences between here and New England. For example I'll be putting on SPF 45 sunscreen later today before I go to work outside in the my short sleeve shirt while all my family and friends back east dress in multiple layers of thermal and down clothing protecting themselves from frostbite. It's 66 degrees and sunny in San Diego while back in Bethel, Maine it's 15 degrees and snowing hard. Just to rub it in tomorrow will be 75 degrees. This time of year these differences are really pronounced. I remember recently listening to the local San Diego news anchor complain because she was freezing at 50 degrees. That was the same day I spoke to my mom who lives in Lubec, Maine and was appreciating the day because it had warmed up to 38 degrees. They were both serious.

Here in San Diego people make a big deal about drizzle and rain. I can see why. It's because it never ever seems to rain here. Well it does rain, sort of, sometimes. San Diego only gets a total annual average of 10 inches of rain. Some years they don't receive that much. Here they measure rain in hundredths of an inch. The other night the weather person said it rained .09 hundredths of an inch. That means it would have to rain more then 10 times that amount just to reach an inch of rain. We call that drizzle back in New England and it's pretty much a non event.

But odd things happen in San Diego when it rains. You can bet on multiple car accidents and fender benders. I've heard reports of up to an accident every 2 minutes during some of these times. San Diegans definitively don't know how to drive in rain. Coming down a ramp towards a stop light at 60 miles per hour in the rain will be different. "Hey dude, whys my car not stopping? Oh crap...I hit the car in front of me. Stupid rain." Then other things can happen, like houses collapse into the ground or go sliding down a hill in a mudslide.

So what's the point of my story? Well I think in order to really appreciate a sunny day you need more rainy days. On the other hand when I have so many sunny days here I really appreciate a rainy day as long as I don't have any one driving too closely behind me.

Page One

Hi! My name is Peter Gailitis. I credit this new blog endeavor of mine to the spirit and enthusiam I get when I read the blogs of my daughter Amber and her boyfriend Tommie. They're great because they're thoughtful, insightful, hopeful, creative and funny. Let's see how this blog evolves.



I have to say I have/had some trepidation about putting thoughts and events about me on the web available for public view. I'm social by nature but I really like my privacy. So why would I want to put my thoughts and private experiences "out there?" I'm not 100 percent sure. I think it will be cathartic. I think it will be fun. My large family can check in on me now and then to see if I've gone crazy.



So Androscoggin Bloggin....how did you come up with that name Pete? Well first of all let's face it...it's poetic. The Androscoggin River is a long and windy river that begins it's life at the outlet of Lake Umbagog in Errol, New Hampshire in the Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge and then travelling through the western mountains of Maine meanders generally south and east before joining the Kennebec River at Merrymeeting Bay and finally finding its terminus into the Atlantic Ocean on the coast of Maine near Bath. Don't worry, I don't usually use big words like terminus. For those who like facts, the river is 178 miles long.



My wife Lauren and I love rivers and we especially love the Androscoggin which we've kayaked along a few times around Bethel, Maine. By the way Bethel is our all time favorite New England village. It's our favorite because it's beautiful. Nature smacks you square in the face with her elements. Lush green mountains and open fields in the summertime. Big puffy white clouds hanging in a sky so blue it almost hurts to look at it. Bald eagles and big moose. Good people and good pubs, and of course, the river.



The river is like life and it is life. It has many twists and turns. You can't always see what's up ahead of you...around the next bend...but you keep flowing along. Sometimes you meet a challenge, maybe white water rapids making the journey a little choppy or a dam where all you can do is try to find a way around it. The river goes up and the river goes down. Most of the time the river is just plain beautiful. Welcome to Androscoggin Bloggin.