Don't be alarmed, faithful blog readers (both of you). The silence following the previous entry about the malfunctioning HVAC did not denote some kind of office tragedy. We actually spent a long weekend down at the beach in Gulf Shores, AL with the Redd family. Fun was had by all.

Providentially, and contrary to the foreboding forecasts, we didn't get any rain until today (when we left). The cloudy sky actually provided some relief from the sun, and I am returning a slightly darker shade from my usual pale. The water was a tad sea-weedy, but it still felt great. I started and finished A Time to Kill, a perfect page-flipper for reading out on the beach. I simply couldn't bring myself to lug the Institutes out to the beach. That would have been ... well, wrong. I also continued reading through Kipling's Kim, which I had never read before, but Allison (correctly) thought I would like. I'm closing in on the end, and I just realized that my edition of the book has a glossary of Hindi/Arab/other cultural terms and places. Oh well. It's probably better that I figured (most of) them out on my own.

On both the drive down and back, we listened to a series of N.T. Wright lectures from Jesus and the Victory of God (which will resume a place on my reading list in the near future). (Thanks to Al for the tip-off about Regent Radio - I just hope they get some more Wright on the schedule soon! Although, the other featured speakers are quite impressive.) The series was fantastic, and as usual with Wright, it prompted many questions about how Jesus fits into his cultural milieu (versus how we traditionally read the Gospels). Plus, he's quite clever.

We were also able to leave the beach with half of a delicious chocolate/pecan/Jack Daniels pie that my sister made. My parents actually made us take it. I think it was a little too chocolatey for them. Mmm. Chocolate.

Speaking of chocolate ... I think I hear the kitchen calling.