From: Kevin E. Kemp [kevyemerson@hotmail.com]Sent: Monday, April 02, 2001 9:56 AM
Subject: melonhead
hey guys...
its been a little while since ive given you all an update on my adventures, so here we go...
ill first tell you of my last journey and then go to the past ones (since the most recent is fresh in my mind).
this past weekend sean (a good friend from school) and i went to southern france to visit my cousins (mel and ed...melonhead as they like to call themselves...cousins from wisconsin) in southern france. if you want to look up where they live...their town is about forty-five minutes south of grenoble...the olympics were there a while back. anyway...they are a fairly young couple...we celebrated ed's twenty forth birthday on saturday. they live in a nice little house on the grounds of a small christian camp up in the mountains. rivers, trees, and snow capped mountains surround their apartment...a perfect setting for this adventerous couple (they are probably the most avid outdoorsmen i know). after staying up way too late on friday night, we woke up equally as late on saturday. we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous day and go rock-climbing...something i have done a couple of times in the past and absolutely love it. it was not the kind of rock climbing where you have a belayer, instead you hook yourself to a permanent cable that ascends all the way up the face, and either try to climb solely on the rock, or, if you are a beginner, utilize the perfectly placed u-shaped handles provided during the difficult sections...a perfect place to climb for people of all skills. after about two hours or so of climbing, sean decided to pull out his
camera and take a picture of me. he successfully did so, and then asked that i do the same for him. he handed me the camera and then i took a good shot of him. i went to pass the camera back to him, and as soon as he pulled to retrieve it, the camera slid out of his hand and out of mine, resulting in about an eighty-five foot fall down the cliff. parts of the camera were coming off with each strike of the sharp rocks...we thought there was no way the camera would be alive when we got it back. ed, who had been carrying an extra rope, repelled down the face, finding the camera and a crucial part that had fallen off. to end this drawn out story, i will simply conclude saying that the camera actually works, all that was lost is the battery, and seans $350 camer is still alive...incredible.we got to the top of the peak to discover an amazingly beautiful view (ed and mel had a digital camera, so i will send you all a few pictures as soon as they email them to me). the sun was shining (something that i have greatly been missing due to the excessive amount of rain that we receive in busingen) and the sharp mountains enveloped us in a beautiful setting...i wish you all could have experienced it with us.
we left sunday after another late night and late morning...what a great weekend.
the weekend before, i was able to experience not the french alps, but the swiss alps. rather than wearing a harness and carribeaners (i dont know if i spelled that right), i strapped on boots and bindings. i brought my snowboard to switzerland to experience the alps in the most personal way...to play in the snow. a professor (he is from america...named dean flemming), three friends and i woke up early that saturday morning to breath in the fresh mountain air. it was a great time...good snow...good weather...and good friends. i love snowboarding, but i love it even more in switzerland. i dont have much more to say about that other than saying that i had an awesome time (and for those of you who know about my bad knee, it held up fine).God is good...He has been at work in me and i love being able to feel His presence. school has been tough at times...ive had a lot of work to do that i really havent felt like going...but He has given me the grace to get through it. He is really teaching me a lot about Himself...this is a great time to develop my beliefs of Him...to study theology and formulate my own. i am so excited about His work...continue to pray for my develop of thought and for strength throughout my schooling. i love being in an atmosphere committed to Him. well...i love you all and hope to hear from you soon.
thanks for being awesome friends and family...you guys are the greatest and i miss every one of you...
God bless...
kevin
