Tumbleweeds

On Saturday the Central McLean football team (co-op of Underwood and Turtle Lake) had its first play-off game. It was a windy and cool day and we had some problems hanging on to the ball early on but rallied from a 7-0 defict to win 36-7. The game was in Turtle Lake which is about 15 miles east of Underwood. Both on the way there and back we had to dodge tumbleweeds being blown across the road. Much of the land between Underwood and Turtle Lake is owned by the coal mine and therefore is not cultivated like most of the surrounding land which is used for farming. Our next game is this Saturday. Go Cougars!

On Friday we made our semi-weekly trip down to Bismarck. I like to joke with my wife about enjoying date night with her in the "big city". Which is all the more ironic since we both have only lived in metropolitan cities before coming to small town North Dakota. But I think because of this we've grown an appreciate for, rather than taking for granted, things like Target, Starbucks, movie theatres and fast food. When the nearest McDonalds is 50 miles away you begin to value it more than if it's just around the corner.

While in Bismarck we saw the movie "The Express". It's about Ernie Davis who was the first African-American Heisman Trophy winner. He also died of leukemia at 23, after being drafted by the Cleveland Browns but before ever playing a down in the pros. One of the scenes I really appreciated in the movie was the grandfather leading a devotional time in the Bible with all the kids and grandkids around the table after dinner. One of the skocking aspects of the movie that my wife and I noticed was the severe racial hatred that Davis and other African-American players faced. Some people long to return to the so-called "Christian" times of the 1950s but I'd encourage anyone who is tempted to think this way to consider the widespread racial hatred that existed. Sometimes it seems that we can identify the sins of our own times but have a revisionist history when it comes to the past.

By God's Grace, Jeff