The REAL Elek Holler

For those of you who did not realize it, the first two posts were Joshua's fun interpretation of what we might say if we actually had a blog. Many thanks to him for encouraging us to get this started. Hopefully we'll be able to keep it going.

Elek Holler, as usual, has been undergoing changes. The reconstruction of the porch is now complete, and we started putting the furniture back in. Many thanks to Jim and Jeremy for all their help. Without you, we would still be nailing and hammering.

Last weekend we went to Pittsburgh to celebrate Joshua's birthday. It was fun to see the church-converted-to-micro-brewery-restaurant where he proposed to Rachel. It was so fun to watch the two of them together, and now they have only seven more days until THEIR BIG DAY!!!! It is getting very exciting!

During the drive the airconditioning compressor was straining the engine, so I stopped at Deacons this week to check it out. (Its under warranty, and will be fixed before going back to Pittsburgh for the wedding.) While there I ran into Dan Callafoot. It is always so nice to see the young people who ate at our table and filled our house. Dan looked good, and said he has turned his life around. I was genuinely happy for him. As I turned to leave, Dan stopped me. He quietly and sincerely thanked me for all we did for him as a teenager - for letting him stay with us, and for talking and for listening. He said now that he is older, and has his life going in a good direction, he realizes how much we cared and how much we gave. He didn't have to say such things, but it really did my heart good to hear it. I'm genuinely happy for him.

Life has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster this past year, and another low was Miss Maggie Wraggletaggle leaving us during this past Independence Day weekend. She spent her last few days comfortably and peacefully resting on the new porch as we worked on staining the woodwork and painting walls. We knew she was not going to recover, and were grateful she did not show any signs of discomfort.

When the end finally came, Dad rubbed Maggie behind her ears and gently closed her eyes. We dug her grave in the woods -- to the right of the pines and at the edge of the tall grasses where Shadow McGillicutti's ashes were scattered. We cried and as Dad laid her in the grave he said, "Go ahead, Maggie girl, its okay now. You are free. Run away."

When you visit Maggie's grave, take a large stone to add to her memorial.

... funny ... even now, I sometimes mistakenly refer to her as Rickie...

More big changes are coming up as I told Bill Ryan and Kevin Bang that I will be leaving Master Consulting. Many years ago I promised Bill I would let him know if I intended to leave - and give him warning before going for another job. Of course they were surprised and wanted to know if there was a way to fix the situation, but there really isn't anything they can do. Its just time for me to move on. And so, Bill honored our long ago agreement, and asked what he could do to assist me in my personal pursuit of a new job.

I don't know exactly when my last day will be. I suspect sometime around early November. It will take a good while for me to train another to do my job, and I will also be searching and interviewing for a new job. I am hoping to join a little larger company (maybe 20-50 employees) or a department with a suburban city. I would like to continue doing much of the same that I have done at MCG.

I've been encouraged by some of the feedback that my skills are highly marketable. If you hear of any jobs that might be a fit, PLEASE let us know.

I'm new to blogging, and I am sure it is not as interesting as the blogs my kids have assembled, but thanks for listening.