Hurricane Faux Pas

I had a slightly embarrassing moment this morning at work which revealed my naïveté of life in Central Florida.

During our morning prayer time, we were talking about all the people that were traveling to Orlando for two different sets of meetings this week, and someone mentioned that a lot of the travel was dependent on Ernesto. Now, keep in mind that I'm new to the organization and don't know all of the key people yet. However, I really felt like I should know who Ernesto was, as he was obviously somebody important if his arrival in Orlando could hold up so many other colleagues.

And then after about two minutes of listening to this conversation, I blurt out, "Oh, he's a hurricane!" Needless to say, my co-workers got a good laugh out of it.

On a related note, I'm kind of excited to experience my first hurricane. It's very much a cultural thing down here--kind of like blizzards in northern Michigan. To keep tabs on Ernesto, click here.

Another One Bites the Dust

I think most of the regular readers of my blog are aware of this, but many have been asking for "photo confirmation." Yes, the rumors are true: Chris Winkler is engaged. As I told some friends and family in an e-mail, when I worked in San Francisco, my good friend Wynter and I had a running joke. Whenever one of us would receive an e-mail from a friend letting us know that they were engaged, we would turn to one another with the line, "Another one bites the dust." We would know exactly what that meant.

I "bit the dust" officially last week, when I proposed to my now-fiancee Christie Bradford (she said yes). And now, the long-awaited moment where people actually get to see what she looks like. :-) This picture was taken this week, outside of the house where we will live after December 16 (Christie lives there now).

My apologies for any fainting episodes and shock that this news may have given you. I have heard numerous times, "You're the last person I expected to hear this from!" In reality, I didn't expect to hear it, either, but it all came from God. I hope to post more about our story in coming weeks.

Rachel Lake

Rachel Lake from above
Originally uploaded by Chris Winkler.

So I promised a picture from my hike in Seattle, and here it is. You're looking at Rachel Lake, an alpine lake fed by snow melt, some of which you can still see. That's right...I actually hiked through snow in late July!

It was a fabulous 12 mile jaunt (eight miles to the lake/campground and then another 4 on this side trip up higher), a definite highlight of my trip last month to Seattle. Though I wasn't able to go backpacking with my friends, I was able to hike in to their campsite, spend some time with them, and then hike back out myself.

My whole Seattle trip was great, as I was able to spend a lot of time talking with God...and he talked back! Great conversation. I highly recommend engaging with him sometime. :-)