Marquette University High School: Bro-tucky Oh Ten

From February 14-20, we had boys from Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin come down to the Farm. Going from the all girls group to this testosterone fest was certainly a jarring juxtaposition. The guys were a lot of fun and brought a lot of energy to the week and never stopped having a good time.

The week certainly didn't start out as raucous as it ended. The boys were strangely silent during the tour and orientation. We were actually starting to get concerned that they wouldn't talk the entire time they were at the Farm, which would have made the week very difficult. Turns out this was only a clever ruse to lull us into a false sense of security.

The boys were also stuck on the Farm for a day as well. They were perfectly content to hang around the Farm and do some stuff to help us out. Much like the girls from Assumption had built the box for the sports equipment, the Marquette boys built a set of shelves for the T Shirt store. In the front of our house we have a few tables that hold the Glenmary shwag that the students can buy at the end of the week. With all the different merchandise, it's difficult to fit all of it onto the tables. So the boys went to work measuring and cutting wood for the shelf. In the end they were victims of the shoddy materials they had to work with. The end product was a little lopsided and prone to tipping. However, when Jamie saw it, she rightly pointed out that it was perfect. It was an odd sentiment seeing as how it looked about as vertically level as the Tower of Pisa (and less structurally sound). But she had a point. All it needed to do was hold some clothes and for that, it was perfect. It may not have looked flashy, but it got the job done.

Besides, the end product wasn't really the point. The point was all the work that had gone into the project. In this world of what-have-you-done-for-me-lately, we often lose sight of the journey while focusing on the end destination. There are a lot of upsides to focusing on the end product. It ensures that you produce something of worth. But I think an obsessive focus on demanding perfection out of the end result sometimes trivializes the effort it takes to get there. There is as much value in the process as there is in the product. In fact, when you think about it, the process is necessary for anything to be produced. Sometimes I think we forget that.

If you'll allow me a quick analogy (cue collective groan from my readership), I'd like to use one of my passions to illustrate the point: Sports. Specifically, I'd like to use the NHL playoffs. Those who know me know that I am a huge Pittsburgh Penguins fan. The Stanley Cup Playoffs, despite what Dane Cook and his atrocious THERE IS ONLY ONE OCTOBER ads may have to say, are widely recognized as some of the most grueling and meaningful weeks in all of sports. They produce some truly iconic moments that live on in the hearts and minds of fans everywhere. It was a thrilling ride watching the Pens as they fought their way to a third Stanley Cup during last years playoff run. Watching Mad Max Talbot Shush Philly, Marc Andre Fleury stonewall Ovi, and Malkin unleash his liquor-license-revoking backhand on Cam Ward was witnessing small moments of greatness. They culminated in Sidney Crosby becoming the youngest captain to hoist the Silver Chalice. But focusing only on that image of Crosby with the Cup is to ignore all the small moments that went into its achievement. When I see that picture I see all those moments of brilliance that happened along the way. Those little moments of triumph are reasons why tears well up in the eyes of players as they take their skate with the Cup.

In the same way, accomplishing a task and the feeling of satisfaction one gets from it is a culmination of all the hard work that goes into the task. Truly appreciating the journey is at the crux of lot of the things we do at the Farm. With volunteers working, sometimes the shelves don't come out level or the walls don't get an even coat of paint, but the real value is in the doing. That's why Jamie was so right when she said that the shelf was perfect. It was perfect because it showed the Marquette boys the value of the journey.

There was one other noteworthy event from the week. It happened late one afternoon while I was preparing dinner. A group was returning with Colleen from work site. I saw them pull in and begin to go around the roundabout. I went back to making dinner but became concerned when I didn't hear the cars pull into the parking area. I peeked out the window to see a partially obstructed view of the cars idling over by the bridge with a gaggle of boys milling about. I figured that the Snitch had gotten stuck in the snow so I went out to see what was up. As I got nearer to the scene, my jaw dropped in wonderment and I did a 37436363 take to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. It was not the Snitch that was in trouble, but BRT. And by trouble I mean that the front driver side tire was completely hanging off the concrete bridge leading into The Farm. I guess Colleen had misjudged the bridge with all the snow and BRT veered off the edge. It was being held up by the front axle, which was catching on the concrete. This made simply reversing BRT off of the bridge impossible. Thus we had the surreal scene of hooking up the chain to BRT and pulling it with The Snitch. As the Snitch is less than 4 wheel drive, it was tough going. But with some effort and a little cardboard for traction, we managed to rescue BRT.

Dramatic reenactment

Assumption High School: Snow Day Like Today!

From February 7-13, we welcomed the girls from Assumption High School in Louisville, KY. It's weird to think that this was our first group from Kentucky. It was also our first all girls group. I've been getting pretty used to being outnumbered when groups come down here but this was definitely the highest concentration of estrogen I've been around in a while.


Before the week began, Joe warned us that Assumption historically gets pretty crappy weather. Apparently Jack Frost has a heydey whenever these girls come to the Farm. This year was no exception. Early, early, early (I can't stress the early part enough) on Tuesday I was woken up by Colleen. I could tell something was wrong by the tone of her voice. She tells me, "The power is out". It takes a few seconds for this to sink in. Meanwhile I see light flooding into my room under the door...and through the cracks ...and over the top of the unfinished wall. Naturally my first question was, "If the power is out, how is the light on?" Colleen's reply was, "I'm using a flashlight" (again, I can't stress how early in the morning it was). I reluctantly got up and we tried to solve the problem. Turning the breakers on and off quickly revealed that the problem was one that the electric company would have to solve. A quick scan of the Farm Manager manual didn't do anything to help things since it just said to check the breakers. Looking back on it, I'm pretty sure that situation pretty much captured our three essences pretty well. Colleen was immediately jolted out of bed as soon as the power turned off and began to scurry around to fix things, Jamie also noticed that the power had gone out but realizing there wasn't much to do simply rolled back over, I meanwhile was completely oblivious to the whole situation.


In the end, after consulting with an extremely coherent and not-at-all asleep Jamie, we decided we could do nothing more than sit tight and wait for the electric company to take care of the situation. A few hours later we reconvened in the kitchen. By now it was getting late in the morning and we needed to wake up the students. However, the power was still off. Colleen,more out of frustration than anything else said "I really wish the electricity would come back on". And, because Colleen has been wearing Doc Brown's hat on a regular basis, as the final syllable was leaving her lips the house hummed to life.


While our immediate problem of having no electricity was solved, we still had to deal with the weather that caused it. There is a pretty steep and long hill on Lower Kinney Road coming out of the Farm to the right and 59 has to go up and over Vanceburg Hill if you venture to the left. The Farm has one car (BRT the Big Red Truck) that can handle both hills pretty well even in the snow. Unfortunately the Golden Snitch does not have that capability while you would have to be completely insane to even look at Biz Marquis if there's a hint of snow on the ground. The group, as most of the groups that come here do, had only minivans that would not make it up either hill safely. So unfortunately we were stuck.


As it turns out we were actually stuck on the Farm for a whole day and a half. Lewis County got hit with the biggest snow storm in 25 years. All told we probably got hit with 10 inches over those two days. For those reading from northern climes, that figure may not seem too impressive. But remember, places like Chicago, New York, and Boston are used to those kind of numbers (though even the Northeast was hit really hard this winter). Here in Kentucky, the winding roads and hollers make a snowfall like that a major pain. The infrastructure just isn't as smooth when it comes to dealing with snow and so things can come to a halt. Schools shut down because they aren't allowed to run if not all the students can get to class. Because the transportation to some of our sites (Licking Valley and Comprehend) is tied to the school system, when the school transportation is shut down, we lose some of our sites. So even if we do manage to get off the Farm, we don't necessarily have anything to do once we leave.


Knowing that we were going to be hanging tight for a little while, we had to scramble to come up with tasks for the students. The Farm has conditioned us to roll with the punches. Many times, the schedule that we make before the week looks different from the things we do on a day to day basis. Nevertheless, coming up with stuff on the spot when we can't leave the Farm was frustrating. We did end up coming up with tasks for the girls to do. We made Valentine's Day cards for all the people in the Nursing Home. We also added to the already hefty load of T Shirt Bags.


At reflection a few days later, we were asked where we saw God during the week. My answer was that I saw it in the snowstorm. It wasn't something where I saw God's hand in the beauty in the works of nature per se (though the Farm does offer you those kinds of experiences quite often). I saw God more in the timing of the storm. During the first night of reflection, the night before the storm, a lot of the girls mentioned that they were going to use this week to sit back and relax. They were so used to going all the time and being super busy that they all wanted some time to just sit and relax. They all noticed a shortcoming in themselves that didn't allow them to do that as often as they should.


There's an old adage that you should never ask for patience because then God will send you a situation to test it. This was certainly one of those situations. The girls wanted to sit around and relax huh? Ok, well then let's send a snowstorm their way and make them relax. Apparently my vision of God is more George Burns than Old Testament, but that's besides the point. The girls had trouble getting used to just sitting around. We could see them getting frustrated with being cooped up inside. It was a good reminder to the Farm Managers about how groups view the weeks. For us, each week is another week on the Farm. There's an ebb and flow that we track through the months. Some weeks we have plenty of work and other weeks we have to scramble to work. But stepping back, we can see all the work that gets done here. Groups that pass through, on the other hand, only have their one week here. They've also been looking forward to the week with such anticipation and have been talking it up for so long that anything less than working 24/7 feels like they're getting the short shrift. It comes from a place of legitimately wanting to do as much as they can for Lewis County. But sometimes that eagerness makes volunteers forget that while they've chosen to serve, they can't always choose how they get to serve. And oftentimes it's just what the Farm needs. Tasks like Valentine's Day cards and T Shirt bags often get shoved to the side in a normal week. So getting trapped actually allowed us to get to those oft-ignored jobs. It was a blessing in disguise but it was a disguise that certainly made it difficult to see the blessing. Seeing through the disguise and recognizing the blessing is often a hard lesson to learn and takes a lot of humility and patience.


So the girls struggled with being stuck on the Farm, which I think was a good thing. It's those challenging situations in life that promote growth. This was certainly a challenge for the girls as they tried to temper their enthusiasm for service and channel it toward what they were asked to do. But a funny thing happened; some of them began to really take the message of the Farm to heart and began to be in the moment and savor the opportunity to do service, no matter where they did it. The next day, instead ofworrying about whether they would be able to get off the Farm, the girls began to throw themselves into the tasks at hand. We had some of them build a box for the sports equipment and they were so psyched to work on it. There was a lot of planning, measuring,and cutting done with a lot of enthusiasm. Another group was working on fixing the couches in the volunteer kitchen. With 500 volunteers coming through here each year, those couches serve as the home to many backsides. This is addition to the second home that the short one serves for Jamie. At the end of it, you might as well be sitting on the ground. So this group spent time reinforcing those couches and extending their lifetime for more volunteers to enjoy. The other group spent some time in the staffhouse. We had been noticing that our tile floor was recently sarting to resemble a mosaic that seemed to grow by the day. We had the girls help take up the tile in the front and common rooms.


As the girls embraced focusing on the tasks at hand and really made strides in their awareness of the moment, the weather seemed to reflect their progress. Where the day before they had been clouded by their worries concerning the future, this day they were able to clear that out of their minds and see the value in what they were doing. The weather, having been convinced that the girls were learning, relented and broke, allowing the girls to take their new found appreciation of being present into the wider community. Watching the concordant progress of the girls and the storm was really special and an example to me of the presence of God in the week.


I would be remiss if, at this point, I didn't mention the actions of the 3 chaperones that came with AHS. We always have daily meetings with the leaders/ chaperones of the groups. These are partly to inform them of what's happening that particular day. More importantly, they are a forum for the leadres to voice any concerns they have with the week as it's running. When we met on that second morning, the leaders expressed that they were worried about the progression of the storm. They, too, had noticed some of the girls having trouble with being stuck and were bringing it to our attention. They wanted to know about how long we could be expect to be stuck on the Farm and listened as we explained the situation with the plows and the the hills. They brainstormed with us to come up with activities for the girls to do while they were here. It was fantastic. I say that with 100% sincerity. It was a perfect example of being proactive leaders. Too many times when we hear someone say that they welcome feedback and want to hear concerns we read into it and assume they are saying that only as a formality. They just want us to rubber stamp what they do, we think. Instead of offering constructive criticism, we stay silent, sompiling a mental checklist of all the shortcomings, which we reveal after the fact. Here, it's akin to having a smooth week only to find out, come evaluation time, that there were a lot of problems. It was so gratifying to hear these leaders bring their concerns to the forefront in a thoughtful, helpful manner. It didn't come across as an attack on the program or the 3 of us. Instead, we could see that they were legitimately concerned first for their students. The meeting made what could have been a stressful situation seem less like an obstacle and more like an opportunity.

Thanks to the proactivity of the leaders, the rest of the week went smoothly. The groups had fun at the clothing pantry finding all sorts of wacky outfits. They were also able to wrangle (get it??) up a figurine of a hermaphraditic cow (essentially a bull that for some reason, had udders). On a completely depressing note, they were able to make me feel super old. One of the girls found a small puffy orange vest. As she held it up I quipped, "Looks like Marty Mcfly's mom decided to donate his childhood wardrobe to Lewis County". Nothing. Completely blank stares. I said "C'mon, Back to the Future... Michael J Fox..." Someone said "Oh, the guy from the LFO song?" If you recall, the lyrical geniuses behind Summer Girls (that's right, this blog just linked an LFO song. And you wonder why I never post) tossed in this gem: "Fell deep in love,but now we ain't speaking/Michael J Fox was Alex P Keaton". I'm sure the man suffering with Parkinson's rests easy knowing that his legacy is as a footnote in a terrible pop song. I promptly blacked out. I don't know what the kids are learning in school these days but it's definitely not what they need to be learning. Unreal. Even more depressing was the fact that one of their chaperones, Angela, informed me that we are a mere 5 years away from the year that Marty McFly went into the Future in the second installment (2015). Ugh. Seeing as how my Back to the Future references are reaching critical mass, I better wrap this up.

Despite cosntant reminders of my rapidly dwindling youth, the week was a good one filled with challenges overcome, laughs, and a lot of service done. Oh, and snow. Lots and lots of snow.

St. Xavier: Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

From January 26-29 we had a group of boys come down to the Farm from Xavier High School in Cincinnati. It was the smallest group we have had, with only 6 boys and 2 chaperones so it was a nice change of pace. They were only here for a few days but they got a lot of work done in their short time here.

We got to work with Ricky's crew on the Town Branch site on Wednesday. It was pretty darn cold in the morning and there was a healthy layer of mud everywhere outside. We spent much of the day painting trim and laying down luon for the floor. Myself and two of the guys had to go outside and remove the wood protection from the cement walk out front. It was pretty rough work as the cold had frozen the wood to the concrete in some places and the wood pieces were often nailed together. To make matters worse, the mud was especially bad around the walkway so we all got nice mudpatches on our knees. But the guys never complained and we removed the protective border pretty quickly.

The thing that stuck out to me was the level of patience the construction guys had. Daryl in particular exhibited this. He was cutting the trim that we had painted and because of the way the outlets were arranged had to position himself in the front of the hallway. This meant that any time any of us had to go to the back rooms, we had to literally walk right over him. He never said a word or complained at all.

One of the things that stuck out to me the most from the week was the reflection from the last night. Specifically, it was their use of what is commonly known as The Romero Prayer. I'll put it here:

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the
magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.

Nothing we do is complete,
which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection, no pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything,
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders,
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

It's funny because this was acually the reflection that was used during my site leader training before I came down to the Farm for the first time a year ago with school. I hadn't really given it much thought since then but it was really interesting to come back to it after having been here for a few months.

The sentiment fits exactly into what we do here at the Farm. It applies to the work the volunteers do, the role of Farm managers and the role of the Farm in Lewis County. Many of the volunteers that come down to the Farm are frustrated because they can't often see the effects of their work. Sites like the clothing pantry, the food pantry, and construction aren't particularly conducive to seeing the results firsthand. We often see volunteers struggle to make the connection between what can be tedious tasks (putting food in boxes, folding clothes, painting etc.) and how they can affect people.

At the same time, we often start a lot of projects that don't end up getting finished right away. We have a pretty full schedule every week so we try and fit in projects whenever we can. Because of that, we can't always devote the time it takes to completely finish projects. So it's often start-stop-start with some of the things we do around here. Volunteers sometimes have trouble with that aspect. It's understandable, really. The volunteers come down to the Farm ready and willing to do work. They have a lot of enthusiasm and want to truly serve the people of Lewis County. While the Farm Managers are here week in and week out, the volunteers only have this one opportunity to serve. Naturally they want to get as much as they can done for the people here.

The Farm, though, is not about completing every task we're given. Sometimes we have to remember that it's not our place to finish the task at hand. Our role here is definitely the worker and not the master builder. One of the charisms of the Farm is that volunteers build on the work of those that come here before them. Sometimes our role is just to lay the foundation down for the people that come after us. It takes a lot of humility to realize this. It's the tendency to want recognition for our hard work and it's difficult to get that recognition if we don't get to finish the job. But putting others before yourself pervades everything we do here and so oftentimes we have to remember that we're planting seeds that will grow in the future.

It's something that even Farm Managers have to remember. While a year may seem significant, it's really hard to try and make real changes in a year's time. The Farm is not set up for systemic change here in lewis County. Glenmary certainly has done its part here in building up infrastructure. People's Self Help was started by a Glenmary brother (and coincidentally is run by a former Farm Manager) and the Primary Care Clinic also came partly from Glenmary's work among other things. But the Farm, as it's constructed right now, does not work in that capacity. We're here to work with and for the people the Lewis County. My buddy Matt said that while he really respects the work we do here, it's not something he could do because the frustrating element of never seeing large scale change. But here at the Farm it's something we embrace. It is that element of liberation that Romero writes about that comes when you realize that you can't do everything. Recognizing that allows us to accomplish the tasks we are given to our fullest without worrying about the grand scheme of things. I look at it not as a shirking of responsibility but as the recognition of our specific role. We do our part as the worker so that the master builder can see it through to the finish.

Off Week(end) in Akron: Small Goal Met

Ever since Archbishop Hoban High School had come to The Farm back in October we had talked about going up to visit Akron. Well, we figured that since January/ February is a slow time down here and we had a free week, there was no better time for us to make the trip. So the three of us loaded up into the Snitch and headed AK Rowdy for the January 20-22.

We had a few adventures before we even got to Akron. Bossman Joe had recently laid down the ultimatum to get rid of one of the Farm cats. In our time together in September, we had exactly doubled the amount of cats on the Farm from 2 to 4. The two newest members of our menagerie were C.C. (the Calico Cat or Christmas Cat depending on the season) and Moses. We had hopes of borrowing against our future Farm Manager Nights Out and hiring Jeff Probst to come in to host a special Cat Survivor (none of us were Finance majors in college) complete with a dead mouse immunity idol but instead we just had Bossman decide. So on our way to Akron we stoppped by the Sierra's Haven adoption center in Portsmouth, OH to drop off...(drumroll please) C.C. Don't feel too bad for her, though. When we got to Sierra's Haven, Jamie said it was essentially Cat Disneyland. So we bid adieu to C.C. and continued our travels.

The rest of our trip was uneventful unless you count our drive through scintillating Circleville, home of the famed pumpkin watertower. Jamie and I played a prolonged game of the celebrity name game (You name a celebrity/ historical figure and the next player must name a person with the same starting letter of their first name as the previous famous person's last name i.e. Teddy Roosevelt--> Richard Nixon--> Nelson Mandela). Between my love of sports and general pop culture and Jamie's love for the 1960s and 70s, it was a recipe for tedium. Finally, after 5 ish hours we made our triumphant entrance into Akron.

So we pulled up into a high school with a beat up Gold 12 passenger van and proceeded to abandon it in the parking lot...not sketchy at all right? We got the VIP tour of Hoban from Micah and Scott. I was really surprised by how large the school was when they told me that it served only 900 students. They also had a lot of really cool new resources like an all Mac Lab for digital imaging classes etc. Apparently, earlier in the decade the school got a bit of a facelift, during which they added an homage to a familiar sight on my alma mater's campus. As a Holy Cross school, Hoban dutifully plastered Blessed Basil Moreau's visage on every space of blank wall they could. I swear his creepy stare was looking at me after every corner I turned. It was a nice, albeit slightly disturbing, reminder of college, where Smitty may or may not have pilfered a 5x7 foot Basil Moreau canvas and proudly displayed it in the dorm room.

Oh hello, Basil...It's been awhile since you've creeped me out with that steely stare of yours

Later that night they took us to see the Winter One Act Plays at the school. It was a pun filled evening complete with Zombies, Amelia Aerhardt, and a bisexual stalking tollbooth attendant.

The only thing better than normal puns...Pokemon puns

There were a few kids from the Hoban and St Martha's crew that were involved in the plays so it was good to see their hard work come to life. After the plays, we went to grab some pizza with the chaperones at Luigi's. It was a delicious end to the day. After that, I headed back to Micah's place while Cindi put up Jamie and Colleen for their stay. I made good friends with Micah's three dogs, one of whom (Cowboy Bob) kept me company that night. I feel bad for any future teenagers living in that house because it is next to IMPOSSIBLE to take more than 3 steps without making the house creak like a ship in a typhoon.

Friday began at the crack of dawn, as I was an honorary member of Dudefast (Breakfast with the Dudes) with Micah. Every Friday he and some of the other male teachers at Hoban get together and grab breakfast at a local establishment. It was nice to see such a strong community among the teachers. Conversation strayed from best breakfast foods to classroom techniques to hilarious classroom anaecdotes. It was a nice way to start off the day and I can see why they've made an effort to keep up the tradition. During the course of the meal I learned that real men get gravy on their home fries... also that real men revel in completely destroying their GI tract.

After Dudefast, I met up with Jamie and Colleen at Hoban. We spent the day speaking in the senior religion classes about the work we do at Glenmary and service in general. It was actually pretty funny being at the front of a high school classroom. We could totally see the kids as they struggled to stay awake during 1st and 2nd period, fought off the post-lunch drowsy-hangover, and then checked out for last period. There were questions and people generally interested in what we did so I was glad see that. We spent about 10 or 15 minutes in each class so we had some free time to wander the halls. During this Jamie and Colleen almost got detentions for wearing jeans while I was mistaken for some vagrant creeper. Hilarious. We got to see some of the English projects that Cindi had her class do on books of their choice. We spent lunch with kids from the Hoban and St. Martha's groups, which was good. It was a little strange/ jarring to see the kids in an environment other than The Farm. I had gotten so used to knowing the kids as they were while they were here. It reminded me how special The Farm is that it encourages all these kids to give up things that they're so used to every day. It was fun to see them in their environment. One other thing I had forgotten since High School was how freaking long the days were. We were definitely blowin' through nap time there at the end.

At the end of the long day we went back to Micah's place to indulge ourselves in some hilarious youtube clips. After some dinner at a local Mexican joint we went to the Hoban vs. Walsh boys basketball game. We actually snagged courtside seats, which was great. The gym itself (which was at Walsh) was pretty impressive. It had more of a cathedral-like feel to it and was pretty sweet looking for a high school gym. We got to see some more Hoban and St. Martha's kids that came down to The Farm before and during the game. The game itself was pretty good. It was back and forth with a lot of momentum changes throughout. The Hoban student section was incredibly loud for the whiteout. The two best things about the game were 1) One of the refs looked like a Lionel Richie who had been to the buffet one too many times and 2) The best kid on Walsh looked like a cross between Lil Bow Wow and the dude from You Got Served. If you think I didn't yell at the kid that I wanted his shoes so I could be Like Mike... you clearly don't know me. Unfortunately the game was marred somewhat by the fact that ol' Lionel Richie wanted to be the center of attention instead of the 17 year old kids that were out there playing. Making bad calls is one thing. It happens to the best of refs and I can totally understand it. Going back and forth with student fans and making no effort to hide admiration with individual players is just plain unprofessional. Unfortunate. But it was a lot of fun to go crazy for the evening.

"Why hello there...I am here to call a terrible game...and have magnificent hair while doing it"

After the game we all went over to The Lockview, a bar/ restaurant in downtown Akron... for the delicious grilled cheese of course. Micah's buddies, Nick and Andy (who run the website that I now want to spend my entire stipend on) hung out with us for the night. We had a lot of fun just swapping stories and being oddly struck by how much our waitress loved Delonte West.

The next morning we dragged ourselves over to Golden Corral to experience the most American of experiences... the Buffet Brunch. We met up with a handful of the Hoban kids and it was nice to see them before we left. After we had stuffed ourselves with endless platters of bacon and watered down coffee we bid adieu to the kids and headed back to the Hoban parking lot to pick up the Snitch. We finally pulled out of the Hoban parking lot and began our trip back to The Farm. On the way, we stoppped by Costco and dropped a cool G (you have no idea how much I've always wanted to legitimately say that) on groceries. The rest of the trip was uneventful and we eventually made it back home in one piece.

Our trip to Akron was a smashing success and it was due exclusively to our hosts. So I'd like to extend a huge, HUGE thank you to Micah, Cindi, Scott, all of the Hoban teachers/ kids, and the St. Martha's kids for hosting us this weekend and inviting us into your homes/ schools. We had a blast and hope that you all continue to come to the Farm and enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed your company.

Bishop Hendricken: Garrrr!

From November 14-20 we had a group of all guys from Bishop Hendriken High School in Warwick, Rhode Island. We had heard from a former Farm Manager that this group was pretty wacky but since different groups from the same school can be different we were interested to see how it went. Turns out our information was reliable and these kids were decidedly wacky. It was a super fun week that had a bunch of laughs.

The week started off with a night hike up to Armstrong cemetery to do some stargazing. It was a great night site because it was so close that it afforded us a lot of flexibility. Thinking back on it, it epitomized what the Farm is about. It's not often that we take the time to just sit back and look at stars. First off, most of us live in areas where the lights from the city make it almost impossible to see the stars. Second, we lead such busy lives that they rarely afford us the opportunity to sit back and actually look at the stars. So this simple activity was a great way to introduce the kids to the simplicity of the Farm. The kids showed their goofiness right away by spending much of the time figuring out a way to make a Hannah Montana constellation.

Something that really struck me about this group was the sincerity they brought to service. It's one thing to say you're going to serve, it's another to really go out of your way to make that effort to really serve everyone you can. These guys did that surprisingly well. They were always looking for jobs to do and were never satisfied when they finished whatever task they were initially given. This was evident right on the first work day. I was with two groups that day in Tollesboro at both the food and clothing pantry. The clothing group spent the day sorting clothes, as usual, while the food side put out much of the food for box making and also made some of the Thanksgiving boxes. Toward the end of the day, I ran over to the clothing side to tell them to start tidying up after which I raced back to the food side. I was shocked when shortly after I left them, the boys showed up on the food side, looking to help in any way they could. They could have just finished their job at the clothing pantry and could have easily (and justifiably) rested up until the others were finished. But they weren't satisfied just finishing their own job. They wanted to serve in any way they could and went the extra mile.

This week was also a week for finishing tasks. On that first day, the actually kids finished sorting the entire back pile of bags. It was really a culmination of a lot of hard work from previous groups. It felt really great to see that completed because it was a pet project of the Farm Managers. We never thought we would see the day when that huge pile was ever fully sorted. In addition, I got to work on the last day at the Thomas Colvin construction site at Fuller Branch. It was interesting to work on the last day at a site. It's not often that we get to see the tail end of a job. It was nice knowing that the very next day a family was going to move into the home we were working on.

There was a feeling of familiarity running through the week. For Jamie and Colleen, hearing the New England accents and slang was like having a little bit of home brought to them. It was similar to when the Notre Dame kids came in a few weeks ago and I felt so good hearing and talking about familiar sights. The two of them were so enthused by hanging out with people that knew the same places they did and I can see why. For me, the familiarity was rooted in a reason other than geography. Bishop Hendriken is an all boys school. While I never attended an all boys school, I did live in an all boys dorm for the last 4 years. Watching and listening to all the ridiculousness of the week really reminded me of living in Alumni Hall. There was such a sense of community and fun that permeated the week that reminded me of the camaraderie of living with

all guys. There's a sense of goofiness and energy when you get a bunch of guys together in one place. These guys definitely showed that very well. There were plenty of games of knockout and frisbee. We played G-H-O-S-T on almost all car rides and it was rare that anyone ever escape getting crap for something they did. Nicknames abounded and the sayings of the day were always interesting. It was also the first time I've ever seen pirate duels on the Farm. I came out of the staffhouse one day to find that the boys had grabbed any and all available sticks and had staged a pirate duel on the picnic tables. This was of course on Steve the Pirate Tuesday (There was a guy named Steve in the group). It was really nice being able to experience that sort of community again.

The group also brought a really cool element to reflection. The group always did their own reflection after we ended each night. On the last night, the chaperones included the Farm Managers in their reflection. They used a prayer structure known as an Emmaus Walk. It's based around the disciples meeting and, at first, not recognizing Jesus on the road to Emmaus. It was a really great way to look back on the progression of the week for the kids. They were able to see how they were changed by the week in a way that focused on their personal discovery of Jesus. It was a surprisingly in depth reflection for a group of high schoolers but they were more than up to the task. Their answers showed that they had really put a concerted effort into thinking about how Jesus had been present that week. It was an excellent end to a great week.

McNicholas High School: The Week I Became a Ninja

This past week a group came down to the Farm from McNicholas High School in Cincinnati. I was excited to have more people down here (not that Colleen and Jamie aren't great but it's great to see new faces) but also a little nervous since it was my first group. I shouldn't have worried so much, this group was fantastic. All the kids were so willing to help the people of Lewis County and really threw themselves wholeheartedly into service. There was a really good mix of people including a part time dragon slayer. Jeff and Sarah, the chaperones, had been here many times before and they really understood the charisms of the Farm and what it stands for. As a new Farm Manager it was nice to have them there.

The group worked hard over the week. It was Pantry Week here so a few of the small groups were at Lend a Helping Hand Pantry in Tollesboro. On Monday they packed 240 food boxes for the families that come through the pantry. I was super impressed by their hard work and lack of complaining even though the Pantry was about 16748249 degrees. I didn't realize what a feat it was since I don't have the perspective of having done this a lot but Jamie went all bug eyed when she heard we had packed all the boxes. I was also excited to finally meet George and Sue, who run the Pantry. George was happy to hear I was the new Farm Manager since, as he put it, "Them girls can't boss us around on more". The groups also helped to clean up the clothing store, which looked like a disaster area when we arrived.

Groups also did construction work with People's Self Help in town. They helped put up the walls of a house and then cut up some firewood for the Farm. There was also the requisite visit to Wildwoman with some Hillbilly Kisses given out. The kids were traumatized by an attempted cow mating accompanied by hilariously innappropriate side comments by Dub-Dub.

There was also a group that helped to mow the Mansfields' lawn downtown. Rick and Sherri were in danger of being fined by the city for their lawn and they wouldn't have been able to afford it so the help by the kids was much needed. I thought it was interesting how a Ministry of Service site sort of morphed into a Ministry of Presence. After running to the Clothing Pantry to put together a box for them, we came back and talked to Sherri. She has diabetes and has limited mobility and I think it was nice for her to have visitors to talk to. She spoke of her fear of going blind and . It broke my heart to see this woman who literally has nothing (we had to bring them toilet paper so they didn't have to continue using newspaper) apologize for not having soda for us to drink and insist that we take back a basket of chestnuts. It's true compassion and generosity to offer something to someone when you don't have anything for yourself.

I was really impressed by the variety of the reflections offered by the groups each night. They were really creative and used multiple locations on the Farm. Star gazing, journals, and the Creek were all featured prominently. The Glow Worms even obliged, giving us some impromptu lighting (see left). They brought a lot too the table including a benediction from John Norman, the McNic faculty member who first brought students to the Farm some 20 years ago. I love music so oftentimes the music selection makes the reflection for me. They used some songs that I thought were really fortuitous in addition to being enjoyable. My favorites were I Must Belong Somewhere by Bright Eyes and Soul by Dan Bern. Looks like Jaime, Colleen, and I will have to step our game up in the future. Thanks to Jeff for giving us those 2 CDs of reflection songs at the end.

There was also time for some fun on the Farm. We had some delicious meals cooked by the students. The Monkey Bread was a big hit, as always, and the O' Henry bars didn't last long either.

Mmm...Monkey Bread. What part is the brain?

Grill Master Sam and I grilled out on Friday and there were burgers and dogs for everyone. The kids also took advantage of the creek. They even attempted the rope swing, though with the creek level so high it was really just a glorified plunge straight into the water. Mud Alley ended up being closed on Friday and some of students were a little disappointed. Luckily, they were able to cut quite a rug at Beechy Creek Dance Hall. Connor's dancing kept everyone entertained and props and snaps are due to Luke for filling in as a drummer with John and Trina. Much to the delight and endless amusement of the Farm Managers, the ladies of the Sewing Week trip even joined in the ridiculousness.

The McNic kids can also be proud that they left a lasting legacy on the Farm (at least while we're Farm Managers) beyond their service. They taught us the completely amazing game of Ninja. Everyone circles up and assumes a ninja pose with their hands in knife-like form. The point is to strike another person's hands, at which point they're out. Each person gets a turn in which they can reposition themselves or strike. It's a simple concept that combines the awesome elements of ninjas...and slapping people. This will definitely become a Glenmary Farm staple.

I'm hoping to teach Mao how to do this so we can hold staffhouse ninja parties