Thankful

Faith Builders Virtual Choir: Still With Thee

A classic hymn, beautifully sung in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic

Because of the restrictions levied in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Faith Builders Educational Programs had to cancel their choir tour (among many other things). Our son Andrew is a student there. He had the idea of assembling a virtual choir to sing a song to present to their director as a surprise.

He had plenty of fellow students contribute their voices to the effort. He spent dozens of hours bringing all their audio and video together. The result is beautiful! Thank you, Andrew and crew. 🙂 Read it all

Two-Vehicle Crash East of Hubbard

Thankfully, all three people in them survived.

The car sped past our place, headed for Hubbard, Oregon, about two miles to the west. Despite its apparent high speed, the car didn’t get even a tenth of a mile closer to town than our house sits.

We heard the thump.

crash east of Hubbard

None of the power poles were hit! The skid marks are unrelated. Notice the dips in the road. I wonder if the car’s apparently high speed and relatively light weight caused it to “float” enough when it got into those dips that the driver didn’t retain full control for a scant second or two…

crash site east of Hubbard

The car ended up a good distance beyond the SUV, I was told.

first responders working Whiskey Hill Rd crash

The second ambulance, ready to transport the male driver of the SUV.

Hubbard, Oregon -- crash site

This happened on Whiskey Hill Road five minutes or less before two this afternoon. The speeding car was a Jaguar driven by a very young fellow. The vehicle he somehow managed to hit was a newer SUV of the smaller sort with an older couple (perhaps around the age of the couple that lives in this house) in it.

The couple were trapped in their smoking SUV. Their extraction required Jaws of Life. They were eventually transported away via ambulances.

The young fellow got out of the very ruined car and seemed to be physically fine, but devastated. A report I received from the scene said the only part of the Jag that wasn’t ruined was the area where he was sitting! (I tend to suspect that is overstated at least somewhat.)

I thank God for their survival! And I’m thankful all over again for police and other first responders. God bless and keep them all!

Oh, and my apologies for the inferior quality of the photos. I was quite a ways away and couldn’t hold the camera steady enough on zoom. (I was directing westbound traffic to turn around in the parking lot of Hopewell Mennonite Church.)

Now it’s 9:08 pm and I’ve corrected some of the info above. The young fellow rolled the car several times…but I don’t know if he rolled prior to or as a result of the impact with the SUV which was coming toward him (ie, eastbound). As it sits in the photos, it’s aimed west… So my theorizing above might not be all that off.

The damage to the SUV is of that typically sustained in a head-on collision. Not so with the car. Did the car spin out due to insufficient traction for the speed, weight, and dips…and was broadsided into a roll? I don’t know.

And updated a little more at 9:28. Now I’m done. There are other details I know, but that’s enough for here.

I had to revise this somewhat again at 7:30 am on Thursday, November 2…

Above all, love God!