This afternoon I was up in my office working when I heard Stephanie scream “Gawain! Come down here!” It was a combination of a scream and a wail. It terrified me. Fearing the worst, I leaped up from my desk, ready to confront whatever it was that had just taken place in our living room. I bounded down the stairs and saw Stephanie on her knees pointing at the TV. She was in shock. Tears were streaming down her face, and her hand was clasped over her mouth. “That’s her!! That’s her!! The woman I saw!!” Awestruck, I knelt down beside her and held her as we watched.

She had been watching the 5:30 news, which she doesn’t normally do. The camera was showing a Haitian man who had been looking for his wife Jeanette for six days. Local rescuers were digging with their hands and shovels at a mountain of concrete and steel that had once been a bank. The man knew his wife had been inside, so every time the rescuers thought they heard something he ran over to see if they had found her. He had stood vigil and prayed for six days, hoping for her to be found.

The poorly equipped rescuers heard a voice calling from beneath the concrete. The man once again ran over. It was Jeanette and she was alive! Everybody began chopping away at the huge concrete slabs as best they could, but with a small hacksaw and a few shovels it didn’t look possible to make any meaningful progress. The woman asked for some water and said that her fingers were broken. She said she couldn’t see because there was dust in her eyes. Through a small hole she yelled to her husband that whether she lived or died that she loved him.

Then a team of firefighters from Los Angeles appeared with heavy equipment, lights and fiber optic cameras to peer into the tiny dark hole.

When the woman’s face appeared on the tiny camera’s monitor Stephanie instantly recognized the woman as the one she had seen in her vision six day earlier. Her face was gray not because she was old as Stephanie first thought, but from the concrete dust covering her face and hair.

Before long the crew from California and the local workers brought Jeanette out into the daylight. She was singing with her rescuers and praising God! Reunited with her husband at last, she’s going to be fine. She drove away in a car, her hand bandaged, her face washed, with a big smile on her face.

God hears your prayers and He does answer prayers. So if you ever feel like you should be praying for somebody, just be obedient and pray. Sometimes God will do something that completely blows your mind. Big Time.

God loves Jeanette and her husband from Haiti. And he loves you. If you need to call out to him from whatever dark hole you happen to be in at the moment, know that He hears you and He cares about you more than you can know. He may even be at this very moment using people you’ve never met to do something life-changing for you. And for them.

I think I’d have to say that autumn has always been my favorite time of year. Here in Tennessee it arrives more gently than in my home state of Connecticut, but the foliage can be just as nice. This year we’ve had a bunch of rain, (OK, a little too much rain) but that’s sure to make things pretty in the coming days.

Today I went to the shopping mall in Green Hills. This leaf was in the middle of the street in front of the building as I was leaving. The golden, late afternoon light and the bright color against the gray pavement were striking. I started to walk past, then did a double-take and had to turn around to take a picture with my phone. I wish I’d had my DSLR instead.

Copyright © 2009 Gawain Reifsnyder

Ever heard the old adage “I’d rather be lucky than good?” Sign me up. I must be luckier than that little green leprechaun on the front of my cereal box. While fishing for bass at an undisclosed location (Don’t ask. I won’t tell you.) I felt a massive jolt on the line. I didn’t know what I’d hit, but I could plainly see and feel that he was big. Real big. I had the sense to keep tension on the hook. I tried to stay calm and just let him take it out about six times until he tired out a bit. He’d kind of swim lazily around, pulling the line out into the middle of the lake and then thrash a couple of times, making a tremendous splash each time. Then he just sort of zoned out for a bit and let me reel him in part way. This dance went on for several minutes before I got him close enough to the bank to scoop him up in the net, which was almost too small to contain him.

Then I finally got a good look and realized what I had. He was of course a monster Ctenopharyngodon idella. This fish, otherwise known as a grass carp, was originally native to Asia and was introduced into the USA in 1963 for aquatic weed control. I knew there were some of these in the lake, but I was under the impression they weren’t interested in typical lures.

This one didn’t get the memo, apparently. As soon as I got him into the net I relaxed the tension on the line, and the little lure just popped out of his lip. He had just barely bitten down on it and if I had relaxed the tension for even a second while he was fighting I never would have gotten him to the bank.

Fortunately a young friend came by to help and was kind enough to take this picture of me with my prize. This fish was without question bigger than every other fish I’ve caught in my life. Combined. So as I let him slip back beneath the glassy surface I stood there with shaking hands and pounding heart and waved goodbye. It seemed only fitting to give him a name. So I did.

Holy Carp.

Today is “1234567890 Day.” The day when the clocks on all computers running Unix, or Unix-like operating systems like Mac OS X or Linux will simultaneously display these 10 digits in sequence. For us, the moment came at 5:31:30 CST. Being a geek, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to do something geeky. So of course, I got busy and wrote a shell script! I created a PHP script (run from the command line in OS X’s Terminal) that would do some cool things when the big moment occurred. First, it updated a couple of Twitter accounts. First, my main ZippySeven account (which also updates my Facebook status.) I also have a second Twitter account I use for security system alerts, so I used that to message my mobile phone at the precise moment the clock ticked over to the magic number. Finally, I ran another script that began playing an iTunes playlist, starting with Pink Floyd’s Time and then onto Rush’s Time Stand Still and a few others. Since the alarm sounds in Time don’t start until 20 seconds in, I was careful to begin the song at 1234567870 so they’d be right on the money. All for one brief second of nerdvana. Sweet!

What’s next? More celebrating of course! Actually we’re going to a Valentine’s day party, but two excuses to have a party in one day is good enough for me.

Happy 1234567890 Day everybody. :-)

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19:52 Braved the snowy roads and headed to O’Charleys. It’s cool, I’m from Connecticut after all. ✱ #

21:57 The snow wasn’t sticking too well so Sarah and I made a snow mountain instead of a snowman. ☃ #

22:09 @mindyspradlin Wow. Great pictures! You guys look great and the kids are adorable. #

18:55 Headed downstairs to see what’s cookin’ #

01:06 Saying “I’m interested in politics” these days is like saying “I’m interested in watching a 200 car pileup on the freeway.”  #

11:31 twitpic.com/rfmf – Melba making me feel comfortable. #

12:09 @mdoolittle Embrace it. Head for the mountains and go skiing! “When in Rome” and all that.. ✲ #

14:29 twitpic.com/rgzb – It’s getting pretty gloomy looking out there, tweeps. I’m thankful for a cozy office and my little foot heater. #

13:43 @mindyspradlin Dave’s the man! Can’t wait to see the pics. #

15:44 Hunger is driving me out of the office. Look out below! #

17:08 I just located one of my old guitar teachers from 1976 and sent him a note! Hoping to hear back from him soon. #

19:52 Headed for the gym. Must. Stay. Focused.  #

14:45 From a bad start, the day has been steadily improving. Getting ready to visit some friends in a little while. #

16:57 twitpic.com/r1nb – The sugar charged kids are making up stories for the grownups. Cake privileges are about to be revoked. ☺ #