Barbara Kingsolver
Q: What are you homesick for?
T&L: Short answer: the beach, loved ones and grilled cheese animal style from In-N-Out (the ultimate vegetarian order). Our favorite beach in San Clemente is a spot the locals call "The Hole." To bask with the warm sun on our face would be epic right about now. It was the place to sit and meditate and think about Life. We are still searching for a replacement in Detroit. There is actually a beach on Belle Isle, the island in the middle of the Detroit River, but with a high of 35 today, that's going to have to wait for 6 more months! We definitely miss family and friends. Moving to a new region has been a surprisingly smooth adjustment process (thanks to the hospitality & generous embrace of many folks here who have quickly become kindred spirits), but starting the process of getting to know others all over again (and them us) has also had its times of disorientation. Although we know this is to be expected, it is especially in these times that we miss the ease & comfort of familiar relationships back home we used to take for granted.
Q: What music are you enjoying?
T&L: Tom really just sticks with the Ludovico Einaudi Pandora station--a lot of solace coming from beautiful piano. Lindsay is the music connoisseur in the house. Lindsay has taken to a lot of the music we sing in church, much of it influenced by black spirituals and the Civil Rights Movement. She also has a penchant for playing Jump For My Love by the Pointer Sisters just to get pumped up for the day. Tom tries his best to outdo Hugh Grant's performance in Love Actually. (For those of you who have had the great pleasure of seeing Tom dance, watch this clip & let us know whether you agree with Lindsay that he & Hugh seem to be taking their moves from the same playbook… for those of you who haven't, watch for that video in future posts.)
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Q: What are your guilty pleasures?
T&L: Tom still drinks too much coffee (3 cups per day) and is sampling some of the breweries in the watershed (not too much to offer in the way of Belgian Abbey ales!) and the tortilla factory right across the street from our Rec Center sells 10 tortillas for 80 cents. This means a lot of quesadillas and guacamole!!! And don't worry: Tom will be continuing his Christmas tradition with a plate of buffalo wings--as St. Francis once proclaimed: "Even the walls eat meat on Christmas." Lindsay has been asking for mojitos in her sleep ever since she ordered one at Armando's when we went there to watch the Jayhawks basketball game a few weeks back. Alongside her addiction to strong lattes (which she has now figured out how to make from home with just a pour-over & single-burner stove top), she is still addicted to chocolate, sour patch kids and hot tamales. And in a surprising move this past week from her brother-in-law's playbook, she picked up some sour cream glazed donuts at the grocery store that were a huge hit for both of us!
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Q: Who are some of the more interesting characters you've met in Detroit?
T&L: Our friend Luke will be the feature of a future post--a few years ago, he converted an abandoned property in the neighborhood into a community garden. This year he is determined to see the largest garlic at Eastern Market. Luke isn't one to bring attention to himself, but he has all sorts of ride-sharing stories and other sordid adventures to share for those willing to ask. When we met "Blue" across the street a couple of weeks after we moved in, he was straight up with us: he just got out of prison. He was very friendly and would cheer us on at the end of our runs. Unfortunately, we haven't seen him since the police stormed into his place in a SWAT style drug raid. We think Blue might have been running drugs and prostitution out of his house. There are plenty of other unique souls in this City!
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Q: Are you coming home for Christmas & New Years?
T&L: No. We are praying for our first white Christmas and the weather report seems to be cooperating so far. We don't have any set plans for either holiday, except for a SKYPE with our families. We are coming back to Cali for two weeks in February to work the Festival of Radical Discipleship in Oak View (just northeast of Ventura). We would love for you to join us if it seems like something up your alley. See registration info here!!!
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