Sunday - Deep Water Bay - Romney's Speach

Church was lonely today without the family, especially after church as I headed up the stairs and passed the second floor where I usually go to pick up the boys. Not this week. Instead I went to get set apart and tell them I will most likely be leaving in January. Brother Collins in his Scottish accent said that wouldn't get me out of the setting apart. He gave me a great blessing and blessed me understanding to get through this time of choices and opportunities with my career. He also blessed me to remember my priorities of my wife and children. It was a great blessing. He then shook my hand and winked and said he hoped we would stay. He said you never know what happens and that he'd be pulling for my company to change their mind. :-)

This afternoon I decided I would take a walk along the ocean over to Deep Water Bay. I have passed that bay and beach many times on my way to and from work, but had never really gone there. It was a cool, overcast day and so I headed out and walked along the "seaside promenade" from Repulse Bay to Deep Water Bay. It was a gorgeous walk and a beautiful day. It was probably a little over a mile or so and I continued past Deep Water Bay to go as far as I could go until I ran into Ocean Park. On my way back I took off my shoes in Deep Water Bay and walked in the waves. The water was still quite warm and refreshing. By the time I made it back it was nearly dinner time so I heated up my Thai Red Curry in the microwave and ate. It was such a contrast to my day yesterday which was spent in the hustle and bustle of the city. Here it was like taking a walk at a resort with families and kids riding bikes and people walking their dogs. I wish we had taken the boys down here before. I'm sad that they missed out on this neat walk.

It is very interesting to see so much attention on the church due to Mitt's campaign. I think it has done a lot of good, but it will also cause a lot of backlash if his candidacy continues to be successful. I have tried hard over the past few months to like Mitt Romney. I find at times he seems great, but at other times I have disagreed with his stances and responses. I was excited to see his speech this week. Upon watching I think it came off very well. I agree with the WSJ article (link below) that the first few minutes seemed a little stiff, but he got into his own and more comfortable. I think it was a well-written speech and it would appear that most of the media embraced it. I thought his story about the founding fathers praying together was a great touch at the end. I must say that he won respect in my eyes after this speech. There have been numerous articles discussing his speech. I have linked a couple interesting ones here. They are what you would expect: a conservative response from the Wall Street Journal and a more liberal response by the Times. But both good.

I am excited to return to the States and get more involved in politics at a local level and to see how the Presidential campaign goes. It looks to be a fun race.

WSJ Article here.
NY Times here.