out of kindness, I suppose

Happy vernal equinox.

Tom Stoudt, a friend of ours and one of the Firehouse 6, called Wednesday night. He was about an hour and a half away from being deployed to Afghanistan. He just wanted to let us know he was heading out and where he would be. I admit I was a bit verklempt when I hung up with him. He'll be in the east for about six months and is scheduled to be stateside again this Thanksgiving.

Tom, If you're passing through Denver during that time, please know there will be a seat for you at our dinner table.

It's important to use our days well, without any fear. I wasn't given a spirit of fear. Not rising to the challenge is my only worry. When we get a chance to use our powers for Good, it's bad form to stay home instead. If we've gotta leave the snug picket fences behind in order to offer some inspiration abroad, then damn the pickets, and bring me my boots.

If you'd like to see where I'll be this week end, click here (once you're in google maps, click on Tree of Life on the left hand side and then click the satellite view on the upper, right-hand side of the map.) I've pin-pointed the location of the compound I'll be visiting, as well as the border crossing.

A tip for those who may not know: Here, you can zoom in and see pictures of the compound and if you click on the blue place-marks, You can see a bit more information about each point. You can also view this in Google Earth for a more interactive experience.

I've got all my supplies, including all of Beethoven's symphonies, ready to go. This time tomorrow, I'll be in El Paso. My troupe, eleven of us, will pick up two more artists at the airport and then we'll stock up on food and water for the weekend. Our crossing point into Old Mexico is through New Mexico at the Santa Teresa crossing station. Folks of ill-repute stay away from this crossing, they say, because it's to pretty. 

We'll be met there by John Walker who is the director of Tree of Life Orphanage. John will escort us to the orphanage compound and we should be settled in around 3 pm. I suppose we'll spend Saturday afternoon and evening meeting the kids, eating, and preparing for the next day. Sunday morning, after church, we'll begin makin' art with the kids, and that will last the rest of the day and all day Monday. Monday night we'll pack up all the artwork, load up the van, and fall dead into bed. We'll leave the orphanage at 6:30 am, Tuesday, with all intentions of breathing Denver air again around 7:30 pm.  

The art will be mounted and framed and will be auctioned off at the Tree of Life Art Auction on May, 3rd. All money raised will be sent back to support the kids, in the desert down in Mexico.

Alright, amigos, I'll speak to you soon.

Have a good weekend, and Godspeed, Tom Stoudt,

Dave