nature – Salty Strings Music Ministry

The Salt Shaker ~ September 2025

September 30, 2025October 11, 2025 Salty Strings Music Ministry

Praises – Hey, it’s good to be back home again! (John Denver); renewing friendships; family visits; web page for songs online; John’s eye is healing; monthly and one-time gifts to our ministries; mower tire finally fixed, yard looked great when we got back.

Prayers – Continued eye healing; endocrinologist referral (found pituitary growth in John’s MRI); discipline to continue healthy diets and weight loss; truck repairs; new tires, decision on quotes and scheduling; web site visits, people finding our music.

“Furthermore, everyone to whom God has given riches and wealth, he has also allowed him to enjoy them, take his reward, and rejoice in his labor. This is a gift of God, for he does not often consider the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.” Ecclesiastes 5:19-20 CSB

Hello to our followers, family, and friends:

Illinois was beautiful in September. It was 52 degrees on the 1^st with a high of 79, about perfect for Connie! Some rain, perhaps three days, which was much needed even though harvesting had begun by the end of the month. Typically it is very windy, but only a few days this visit. Connie had to drive home in some heavy rain after dark and will definitely avoid that if possible; her eyes are not as good as they used to be.

John’s eye slowly improved this month. The prayers of many have certainly been appreciated and answered. He made his first city drive on the 5^th (about 45 minutes with a couple of stops) before some motion sickness started. He was able to drive two longer stretches on the 13^th when we visited his sister in Macomb, IL with no motion sickness and again on the 19^th when we went to Peru, IL. One of our evening walks mid-month he didn’t use his glasses and could see a reasonable distance clearly. Both of us have been more mindful of when and what we eat, and we treated ourselves to a congratulatory Steak N Shake happy hour half-price milkshake on the 12^th. Our combined weight loss at that time was 15 lbs.!

We have some on-going water problems that started on the 7^th – Connie heard a consistent drip sound that John found coming from the shower area, running through the pipe hole, and ending on the water heater shelf and floor of our storage area. The water was turned off and we were thankful that we caught it early. Most of the month was spent back and forth with the pressurized ‘city’ water connection or the pump using our fresh water tank. Settings seemed to work for a while, but our final diagnosis was the back flush valve was bad. Once that was disconnected, we were able to hookup to ‘city’ water again. In the meantime, our pump was getting very hot so we only used it for short periods, and that will have to be checked into after we get home. Camp showers are not fun and hauling drinking water gets old very fast – not complaining, we’re just not used to real camping!

Although frustrating, it was a good month for Connie. The decision was made in August to hire a professional to complete our music E-Commerce web page. A Christian gentleman replied to our inquiry and she started working with him on 9/2. After 16 days the task was done! WordPress had been our platform for several years but their host price for our needs was very expensive so we changed hosting services. Then came her part, selecting samples from the songs; getting uniform information for author, year, type, etc. (metadata); selecting photos; and adding these ‘products’ to the web site. Trial orders, downloads, decisions, decisions, decisions! September 22 this page became LIVE finally after two years of thinking about it. Sixteen songs from our CD’s along with Conductivity are available online for a donation. (www.SaltyStrings.com).

John did most of the volunteering this month – 16 days, starting 9/2 and finishing 9/25 working on outside painting. Two cement block dorms and their doors (Goodness and Kindness cabins), two boat dock piers, and one zip line landing pad. The dorms included pulling the wood chip mulch away from the bottom blocks, prepping the walls, trim and roller all four sides, and replacing the wood chips. The dock and landing surfaces received two coats, and all the edges were painted as well. Needless to say, he was very tired and stiff several evenings. He didn’t have any problems going up and down the ladder, no dizziness, but did have some heat stroke symptoms once or twice. He was a bit lonely so Connie did help one morning, finishing a short end of the Goodness dorm.

The first three Sundays in September found us at Lane Christian Church (our former home church) where guest speakers have been providing the messages for almost a year. We were blessed to hear two excellent speakers, one a previously retired pastor from this church (before our time). The other speaker gave two messages from Joshua 1:1-9 (be strong and courageous); from the incoming pastor’s perspective and from the congregation’s perspective – both excellent messages applicable to any church receiving a new pastor. The last Sunday we were with Memorial Christian Church (Carlinville, IL) our 2^nd ‘home church’ where we shared some worship and special music as well as hearing an excellent message from their new pastor. We were blessed to attend Sunday School, evening studies, and renew friendships.

Salty Strings had two wonderful opportunities to share this month. We provided special music for our original church in Lane, IL one Sunday morning (and it fit well with the guest pastor’s message). We also prepared a special song and led the worship one Sunday in Carlinville, IL (our second ‘home’ church) and their new pastor tied his message into the songs. It is wonderful how God works all this out!!

A busy month, but filled with some much-enjoyed relaxation. Connie was able to get her sister’s memorial flowers laid out to dry and de-headed. John picked up a beautiful flamed maple electric guitar, amp, and another acoustic amp from his cousin which he enjoyed playing around with in the RV (with loud volume) when Connie was gone for the day. (Later in the month he got another guitar that needs some repairs!). We enjoyed the Wednesday volunteer day lunches at the camp (including cornbread and dipped cookies), and a few TV movie nights. Connie spent a morning struggling with our new printer and some extra time trying to get the formatting for our web blog photos to look good again. She also researched our back flush RV leak and pieced together photos to trace the plumbing lines (what a tangled web). John purchased new guitar strings for his Taylor guitar and had his patience tested when a new string broke because of his limited eyesight. Connie’s sense of adventure caused us to take a short-cut home from a visit on a dark, moonless night across a ‘dry creek crossing’ – at the top of the very eroded gully our headlights showed it was neither dry or crossable. She was able to back up a quite a way to a farm field access, get turned around on the narrow road, and proceeded home on the safe highways. So much for adventure.

We enjoyed (mostly) our consistent exercise this month. Lots of bike riding (with and without purpose) around the camp. Connie’s knee was a bit stressed with all the trips during Family Camp but she really enjoyed riding up and down the hills. There were mini-rides to get water from the RV leak or take the trash and longer rides just for the exercise. Almost every evening we would take a walk, sometimes down the RV driveway and other times more purposeful trips (around the pool or to see the logs from the 20×28 cabin kit). It is hard to get up after supper and move, but it feels so good after walking around a bit, enjoying the fresh air, and seeing the always changing moon.

Connie enjoyed a day alone galivanting through the countryside. She picked up lunch and visited a church friend (and Max, their new dog). Then back to our home town of Weldon for another visit with a wonderful lady that helped her serve ‘Peace Meal’ for the seniors when we lived there. She proceeded to drive around this little village past our old home, said ‘Hi’ to the neighbor on that corner, and chatted with another town friend before leaving. We’ve been gone for 10 years and it is such a blessing to reconnect.

September fellowship was great, a bit rushed, but great to connect with family and friends. The month started with our last day of Family Camp followed by the local Men’s Fellowship gathering that raises funds for the camp. Mid-month we traveled to visit John’s sister and niece in Macomb, IL where we enjoyed the Farmer’s Market, helped his niece pack up her booth, had lunch with his sister, and conversation at her apartment before heading back to camp. We enjoyed an evening pizza meal with a couple we see each year, had another evening meal at Texas Road House with a church couple, and enjoyed an after-church meal with another church couple – that’s a lot of catching up with great friends we look forward to being with on our annual trip to this area. We had another visit with John’s sister and niece when they drove to meet us at a nearby town for lunch, and were excited to get to see some of John’s cousins this trip, meeting at Olive Garden in Peru, IL with lively conversation. Once we arrived in Litchfield towards the end of the month we had supper with our friends at Steak N Shake, without water, coffee, and soft drinks (boil order). Carlinville church friends, retired translators in Columbia, invited us over for a grilled chicken lunch and we met their new pastor; a great meal, garden produce to take home, and wonderful conversation. We were treated to a Mexican lunch after church the next day. That’s a lot of relationships, encouragement (for us and them), and wonderful stories to treasure!

Our renter took over the mowing and weeds for August and September. We had fixed a flat tire before we left, however it continued to be a problem. It had three strikes (and considerable frustration) before the final fix and the property looked great when we arrived home! Our thanks to those who took care of the repairs while we were away.

Our last week in September was fairly relaxed even though we were on the ‘pack up–hook up–travel–set up’ cycle. Friday 9/26 we had a short uneventful trip from Clinton to Litchfield, IL where we stayed three nights visiting with friends, eating out, and sharing our music. Just after leaving we received a notice that the RV park was under a boil order – no drinking water at camp or in town with our supper meal! We boiled water that evening for drinking and the boil order was lifted early Saturday.

We started home Monday 9/29 with an overnight stop at the RV park next to Lambert’s in Sikeston, MO. Although we had an early stop (forgot to tighten the instrument shelf straps) and another ‘shoulder of the road’ stop before crossing the Mississippi (personal necessities), John drove part way and we were set up with most of the afternoon free. We unhooked and were able to tour the Flea Market, get our end-of-the-quarter free medical supplies, and refuel before returning to the RV for supper in bed (so we didn’t have to unpack our living room). Tuesday morning was leisurely and hooking up to the RV went smoothly after John got the truck backed up at the right angle (Connie couldn’t get it this time). This was our first time seeing green and white cotton fields and realizing the old manual labor picking would have been very hard work. We arrived back to our peaceful surroundings early afternoon, got mostly set up, and took a walk up the road thanking God for safe travels, a beautiful place to live, and a wonderful evening for a walk.

DEVOTION THOUGHTS THIS MONTH:
God’s promises are not always immediately visible, but they are always trustworthy. God calls us to trust him, not our outward circumstances or feelings: those things change, but God is constant.
We do well to remember that God takes care of all our needs. Be content with the blessings God provides and give thanks for the physical and spiritual gifts he gives to us.

“For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” 1 Timothy 6:7-8 NIV

Please keep us in your prayers . . . and THANKS for catching up with our adventures!

John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry

Contact Information:
Mail: John & Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
30A Hwy 367
Burnsville, MS 38833

Phone – John 909-336-8910 or Connie 909-336-8912
Email – SaltyStrings@hotmail.com
Facebook – Salty Strings Music Ministry
Web site – SaltyStrings.com

ONLINE DONATIONS via PayPal through our web site

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS

Now through Thanksgiving – Home in Mississippi
November 29ish-January 9ish – SOWER Volunteer Project, French Camp, MS
January 9ish-March? – SOWER Volunteer Project, DeFuniak Springs, FL

The Salt Shaker ~ May 2025

May 31, 2025September 6, 2025 Salty Strings Music Ministry

Praises – Prescription discount for eyedrops; seeing God everywhere; remodel progress, slow but steady

Prayers – Weight loss, getting back in shape; roofer still needed; RV a/c, awning, leak(s), toilet seal

“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ESV

Hello to our followers, family, and friends:

Devotion Thought: Living by faith is uncomfortable when the answer to many of your questions involves a “just trust me on this” component. God asks His followers to rest in His plan, relinquishing control over seemingly critical parts of their lives, including the big things like jobs and health.

May was a month of travel including some out-of-state music, sight-seeing, and visiting family! Before our adventures began John worked on repairing the center cross in front of Journey Church by fitting a new green-treated cross beam and torching it to match the other weathered crosses, and he also made some great potatoes for breakfast. Connie did a bit of yard work with some monster ant hills, grass thistles, adding a rose trellis, turning/loosening the clay berm dirt, and planting a bag of wildflower seeds/mulch. Connie started and John finished up reburying the front drain pipe, and we added a section so the back drain pipe ended in the culvert under the driveway. While mowing John got something in his eye, it cleared up a bit the following day, but a visit to the eye doctors the next day found something still there along with a swollen oil gland; all was taken care of plus a week of steroid eye drops ($84 at Walmart but pharmacist found a discount price of $35). Connie had another larger dizzy spell, possibly related to some heat stroke? In general, she has learned to take it easy, not turn her neck in certain positions, get up slowly from bed, and others usually do not notice when little spells happen (including John).

Musically, we were busy the first part of the month joining the Booneville Dulcimer Club for a practice, the Natchez Trace Visitor Center, and one nursing home. As we left home for the nursing home program, we had a small lizard peeking his head up from the driver’s headlight area – he stayed with us at least 20 minutes until we met a semi-truck coming the opposite way at 55 mph! We were involved with Sunday morning music at Journey Church and Cross Point Church before leaving the state, the monthly SALT seniors meeting at Journey Church, and one of the jam sessions in Iuka. Connie rewrote a song, sorted and organized some of our old song files, and started working on making sound samples from our recordings for our web site. Salty Strings received an invite from some Campers On Missions friends to entertain at their South Carolina gathering – that is what started our May adventures.

We ordered slam latches from the RV parts department but when we stopped to get them, they wouldn’t work so we ordered the correct ones ($120 each) online to arrive the 9^th. Turns out on the 9^th they arrived in Chicago (from Wentzville, Missouri), then went to Texas, and were in Memphis on the 12^thso John taped up the hatches and latch areas for travel. Travel preparation started a week early; the trailer hitch was put back in the truck, John avoided the rainy days getting just a few tools and things packed up, our mail was on hold, and mowing arrangements were made with one of our renters.

Our small-town post office is a blessing! Connie called first thing Wednesday morning to find our slam latch order had arrived; we were able to pull off the road on our way by, pick up the package, and be on our way at 8:30 am May 13. Traffic through Atlanta wasn’t bad and we arrived at a SOWER project for our overnight stay around 4 pm EST; a long, overcast day with a few rainy spots. John got us parked, put on the new slam latches, and we had too many TV channels to choose from. Travel day 2 is always harder, even though a much shorter day and no pressure, we arrived at the Western South Carolina Fairground (Aiken, SC), to a warm welcome, got parked and mostly set up, were treated to a Chinese Buffet dinner in town, and went to bed early. John worked two mornings with the other volunteers putting up 1x12x12’ wood boards on the interior of a huge insulated metal building to be used for meeting areas at the fairground.

Friday we tuned and practiced for our concert following a great lasagna meal, and Saturday we relaxed a bit before a potluck meal, followed by us leading a jam session. We had to refresh our rusty memories for setting up our sound system for Friday night! Saturday brought quite a few participants, Connie accompanied a singer and flute with our keyboard, and we had time to share 3 songs. We met a few of these wonderful volunteers a year ago in Florida and it was so good to see them again and play along with a few of their songs. The Campers on Missions gathering ended after church Sunday morning and we started planning for the rest of our travels, did some mending, passed our trailer key to a friend ‘just in case’ something happened while we were away, and enjoyed some evening fellowship. When we returned May 29 to pick up our RV, we had a lazy day to get packed for the trip home, there were no leaks, we enjoyed another Chinese Buffet meal with our friends, and got our ‘tree’ passenger wrapped up for the trip in the shower this time.

It seemed we had plenty of hot days throughout the month, wherever we were. Thunderstorms and heavy rains a few times before our travels, with more severe Mississippi storms after we left. The fairground in South Carolina was in the 80’s by 8-9 am and plenty of humidity! South Carolina continued to have storms while we were away with lots of wind and rain. Early mornings were nice for porch sitting in Virginia, in general not quite as humid but still hot, and only a bit of rain towards the end of our visit.

It was a tough month for exercise with all the different schedules. Connie determined to walk every other day while at the fairground and at our sons in Virginia, starting with 20 minutes then 30 minutes. The fairgrounds were part field roads and part houses with a large white barking dog tied outside, a cat standing guard inside a fenced yard with a “beware of dogs” sign, and lots of plants including cactus, rabbit’s foot clover, wisteria with pods, and the pine cone graveyard. Walking was harder in Virginia with all the hills. We did some swimming earlier in the month and will have to do a lot more to lose the 5# we each gained during our travels.

We had one date night in May and were able to attend both our churches before leaving, what a blessing to have friends and congregations praying for us. In other news: John researched a ‘free replacement window’ ad that led to a meeting with a huge price tag that we declined. Connie tried one more time to print our mailed April newsletters in color, the printer is officially dead now, black and white photos are pretty ugly. After some heavy rain we found a bedroom ceiling light was full of water (over Connie’s side of the bed) so we are keeping watch and trying to find this leak. And, like everyone, there is always something else to fret about. Our dining room awning went out and didn’t want to come back in (it did later in the day but we haven’t tried it since).

May 20 found us back on the road headed to Fredericksburg, Virginia to be with family. It was a great travel day, almost all on the interstate, 480 miles, 9.5 hours, with stops to add DEF and change drivers. Along the way was a large thick group of blooming mimosa trees, a Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church, and the muddy brown Pee Dee River which we joked about. Our almost 5-year-old granddaughter was with her mom at a birthday party so we had a bit of time with our 6-month-old granddaughter (first time in person) and son. They have a wonderful place for us to stay! There were lots of movies, teething baby rocking, puzzles with older granddaughter and grandpa, morning quiet reading or rocking time on the front porch, blowing bubbles, Sunday morning church, a very interesting bug on the porch, and walks through the now full subdivision. We had a great Memorial Day breakfast brought in by our daughter-in-law’s family, along with some great fellowship and catching up since our last visit a year ago.

The first morning in Virginia was cold and rainy, and Connie forgot to pack a jacket, her toothpaste, and hair brush! So, a trip to Goodwill and Walmart was in order. They live in a newer subdivision and it was time for the second coat of asphalt on the long, uphill driveway; the last four days of our trip we hiked up and down their front lawn to our vehicles. We took their family out to Chick-fil-a for a belated anniversary lunch after stopping at the library (picked up lots of books for the older granddaughter, and a couple of free Christian books for us). They took us along for a double birthday party with Mexican tacos, all the sides, Horta (Connie loves this pink milky drink), and a live band. There were some pretty special meals for us as well – waffles, lots of bacon, brisket, grilled shrimp and salmon, Brussel sprouts, Korean BBQ with fried rice, and of course ice cream. They made sure we had some things to do as well. Connie’s task was to cut some glass for a broken double-sided picture frame; the first glass was too thick for the frame so there was a last-minute trip to Walmart purchasing two very cheap frames and cutting them to fit, it worked great. John had several things including a trip to Lowe’s for ideas for wood for a wall frame in our son’s guitar room, helping put together yard maintenance items, and the must do trip to the coffee shop.

Our next adventure was a mini-vacation staying with our church friend’s sister and husband near the coast in Newport, North Carolina. We had a leisurely travel day about half each interstate and highways. It was quite a surprise to find beautiful black dirt, gold fields (wheat or barley?), tobacco fields, 2’ high corn fields, a cabbage field, and a row of large pine trees with about 4’ deep pine needle mulch at the base. After some rain we arrived around 5, unloaded our things, and they treated us to a wonderful seafood dinner at a restaurant along the ‘sound.’ Our prayers were answered for dry weather the next day for sight-seeing. We were driven on a tour of Morehead City, Beaufort (the Maritime Museum was closed, but a boat building shop was open and we toured a few shops, saw some beautiful flowers, received a free piece of fudge, and some great boats), Harker’s Island (some Canada geese with two goslings, the ferry to Cape Lookout lighthouse and Shackleford Banks where there are some wild horses was closed), and a local thrift shop where we purchased a book, frying pan, and wardrobe bag (they work great for our pillows) all for less than $5. We attended a potluck and study at their church (Acts 16:20-25, shackles are not what we thought) meeting some more of God’s wonderful family! We gained a back seat passenger for our trip home; they dug up a 5’ popcorn tree, bare roots wrapped up, for us to get back to our friends in MS. After getting rained on at the fairground (SC) we black bagged and tied it to keep in as much moisture as possible until planted, now it’s up to God.

We left mid-morning May 29 for our last travel day without the fifth-wheel. (We hit 22 mpg average once!) We took the long way heading east to catch the bridge to the Emerald Isle for glimpses of the water and beaches, the highway was 35-45 mph and it didn’t look that long on the map, then followed back highways to Interstate 20. There were fields being prepped for planting, a few tobacco fields, and a peacock wandering about in someone’s yard. John took over driving with a rainy start on the interstate near Florence, SC, then hit three windy drenching downpours along with rush-hour traffic around Columbia, SC. We arrived, the rain quit for us to unload at 5:45pm, slightly frazzled to enjoy being back in our RV. We had excellent accommodations while away, but there’s still no place like home.

May 31 we were back on the road headed to Mississippi. We split the drive, going 244 miles to our overnight about 10 miles into Alabama (Heflin). There were several slowdowns going through Atlanta, the roads seemed especially bumpy, we gained an hour getting back to CST, and it seemed we stopped every hour for fuel or bathroom breaks! John chose this spot because they had a restaurant on site, thinking breakfast; wrong, it was called Damn Yankees, had an interesting owner (also manager of RV park), a bar, but some good pizza (to go) for our supper. The next morning, Sunday, we met our neighbor overnight travelers, found they were Christian and we had prayer before leaving and encouraging each other. Another 234 miles and we were home, June 1^st. All total May 13-June 1: 7 travel days, 2174 miles, 4 locations, and we’ll see how many days to get back to normal life!

Devotion Thought: Most American adults believe that culture plays a role in establishing moral norms. However, a majority also agrees that “the Bible provides us with absolute moral truths which are the same for all people in all situations, without exception.” Absolute truth has its source in the Lord. No human can think up or discover a new truth. As you study and assimilate His Word into your life, you can count on the Holy Spirit to guide you in the truth.

Did you know: Mother’s Day was held in Boston in 1872 at the suggestion of Julia Ward Howe, writer of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” But it was Anna Jarvis, daughter of a Methodist minister who made it a national event. During the Civil War, Anna’s mother organized Mother’s Day Work Clubs to care for wounded soldiers. She raised money for medicine, inspected bottled milk, improved sanitation, and hired women to care for families where mothers suffered from tuberculosis. In her mother’s honor, Anna persuaded her church to set aside the second Sunday in May, which was the anniversary of her mother’s death, as a day to appreciate all mothers. Anna organized a letter-writing campaign to establish a national Mother’s Day. President Woodrow Wilson then proclaimed the first national Mother’s Day as a “public expression of love and reverence for the mothers of our country.”

“And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.” Deuteronomy 6:24-25 ESV

Until next month – thanks for traveling with us!

John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry

Contact Information:
Mail: John & Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
30A Hwy 367, Burnsville, MS 38833

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS
** June-July – Mississippi, remodel work, music
** August 1-21 – SOWER Project, Union Grove, WI; friends and family
** August ?-September – Clinton, Illinois area, family, volunteer work, friends, music
** September – Hopeful visits Litchfield, Carlinville, Macomb, IL and Kirksville, MO

The Salt Shaker ~ January 2025

January 31, 2025September 6, 2025 Salty Strings Music Ministry

Praises – Illinois friends doing much better, safety and protection during travels and getting stuck, John’s hearing aids arrived and working much better

Prayers – Renters still needed, continued health and strength for February volunteer work, contractor cancelled due to health problems (prayers for him and us to finish the work), Mississippi friends continued healing and physical therapy,

“Lord, there is no one like you. You are great, and your name is great and powerful. Jeremiah 10:6 New Century Version NCV

Hello to our friends, followers, and family:

Before leaving for our volunteer work in Florida there were some chilly mornings! On January 6 we lost power for about an hour in the morning with a temperature of 24 (feels like 18). There was snow on the truck and ice on our steps, and it remained cloudy and didn’t get above freezing all day. We turned up the heater in the addition for an evening swim, came back for a shower finding the gray tank was full and it was still too cold to try to open the valve. We decided Tuesday evening (7^th) that we would leave on Thursday before the snow and ice came, a really good decision because Friday morning brought 6” of snow to our Mississippi home.

We were able to get a few fixes done, photos and instructions for the contractor laid out, and water shut off instructions to our renter/manager (just in case) before leaving. There were the goodbyes to our church families, prayers for our travels and our volunteer work, and a ‘men only’ farewell breakfast. We had a couple of shopping trips to pick up John’s new glasses, fill propane tanks, pay property taxes, put our mail on hold, and pay-off our short-term construction loan (good to be debt-free again). Of course, we had to say goodbye to our swimming (temperature turned down) and hot tub (drained).

On Thursday we were up, packed up, and ready to go at 9am . . . then the electric tonneau cover over the truck wouldn’t open! Eventually a friend came over and helped John get it partially disassembled and fastened for travel. Then surprise! The hitch lock bar wouldn’t go in, finally on the road at 11:30!! We stopped overnight north of Dothan, AL after dark, missed our spot, circled around and squeezed past a power pole into a pull-through site. We hooked up the electric, got somewhat leveled, and stayed warm with only our electric heaters. Travel day 2 brought a few sprinkles before we got the jacks to go in (too much slope error) with no rain the rest of the trip. We arrived around 3:15 (EST) and got stuck in the sand driveway between two trees! Not fun, but the camp had a backhoe and operator along with several spotters to get us pulled back, straightened up, then pulled forward until we reached solid ground. We treated ourselves to a great Italian supper, and Connie was able to wear sandals!

Salty Strings was busy this month. There was music for SALT, the dulcimer group practice, and dulcimers at the Natchez Trace visitor center before our travels. John was able to practice inside and outside once we arrived in Florida, and we found lots of other musicians at the camp as well. We had a potluck jam one evening with great food and 9 musicians sharing their talents. Country, folk, 60’s, hymn sing, a new mandolin player, a few original compositions, and most enjoyable, a flute and tuba playing along with many songs. So much talent and encouragement to each other.

Our volunteer work was with 4 other SOWER couples, 4 RVIC couples, and a COM couple who had our materials ready and coordinated the daily work. We met the camp director on our first tour and found there was lots of work to be done. He is a visionary and shared camp history as well as future visions. The camp hosts a community lunch the third Sunday of the month, to which we were invited, free of charge. It was great seeing many church people head to camp for their Sunday lunch, and how they appreciate and support this ministry. There were a few days we lacked direction, mostly weather related, and we were glad we didn’t have to coordinate all the volunteers.

Connie helped arrange siding and bead boards for painting, caulked nail holes, moved and stacked painted boards, walked around the camp picking up branches, prepped and painted the front of the office, painting in the men’s bathroom including cleaning the screens and trim, cleaning the staff dining area, and ended with a few hours in the kitchen. The ladies were invited to join a weekly Bible study “12 Extraordinary Women” which was uplifting and wonderful to be a part of. Connie also had our keyboard and played a song or two for most of our morning devotions.

Most of the work requested by the camp was outside, and the weather did not cooperate! Our first week was chilly, mostly overcast, a few damp drizzly mornings, but usually reached mid 60’s. The second week brought the cold wave, nothing like the north had, but COLD for Florida with a few nights below freezing and a high of 34 one day, others in the low 40’s – not good for outside cleaning or painting and Connie had to wear shoes and knee socks!! Our last week brought more sunshine, still in the 40’s overnight, but usually 60’s by afternoon.

It was a great group of guys that worked in various combinations to get a lot of camp projects completed. John was involved in running water and sewer pipe for a RV site, tearing off and rebuilding the old chapel front porch, cutting siding for the south peak, clearing the bath house for the ladies, painting trim and bead board, putting up insulation and bead board in the old chapel, and turning into marshmallow man in his Tyvek suit for some tight crawl space plumbing! His nail gun was used by many, and it was great to see the addition end of the old chapel being transformed before our eyes.

January was a great month of fellowship; having morning devotions, working alongside others, and several meals together. We got to go out to eat twice before leaving; once with a church couple, and once with fellow volunteers traveling through from Wisconsin. A local restaurant has Music Bingo on Thursday nights. We went the first time they introduced the ‘90’s Rock’ theme – definitely not fun; too loud and didn’t have a clue what they were playing but, the second theme was ‘All Together Now’ which we really enjoyed even though it was getting a bit chilly outside (imagineentertainment.biz). Only 6 winners per night and of the eight in our group, three came back with winner coupons. We had fresh baked cookies, delivered warm to our door one afternoon, what a treat. One of our pot luck meals centered on a wonderfully cooked brisket with great sides, we brought pudding cake with whip cream for the dessert.

There was lots of walking around the camp, up and down ladders, crawling around with plumbing fixes, and the ½ mile loop around the camp for exercise. Connie posted January 1-11 on the Journey Church group chat some self-examination questions, that was great sharing with each other and it kept us connected part of the month. We prepared three devotions and used our folk instruments most of those mornings. John visited the local music store with a thrift store next door, finally finding a good jacket. Connie started on our taxes and a new baby blanket (the 11^th), stand by for the finish dates on these projects. We went to Friendship Bible Church our first Sunday and have continued to go there and joined Bible Study the following weeks. We have great internet here and several TV stations which allowed John to finally catch some football games. After an afternoon of looking at various displays and models, we ordered a new cover for the truck bed with a two-week delivery. We spent part of an afternoon getting the old electric cover off and the new cover came within a week of ordering. January 31 found us cleaning the rail and installing the new cover, easier than expected and we think our gas mileage has improved.

We drove to Gainesville one Friday morning to the La Chua Trailhead where we had an easy walk on board walks and trails through the Alachua Sink (prairie marsh and wetlands). Lots of herons, cormorants, other birds, and mostly big alligators sunning themselves on the opposite shore. It was great to be in the sunshine enjoying the fresh air and huge mossy trees. Another Friday we went thrift store shopping in Keystone Heights, then on to Waldo to a huge flea market where we found some clothes and stained-glass ideas followed by a great lunch at the Classic Café (a lonely date ‘night’). At our camp site we’ve enjoyed the squirrels right outside our window, one enjoying TV with his evening meal, burying acorns (and digging them up a few days later), we hear sandhill cranes, spotted an eagle soaring overhead, and a huge reddish gold hawk (Red-shouldered hawk?) has landed a few times on a nearby water spigot post. We had a visit from a big pileated woodpecker before leaving Mississippi.

Thoughts for the Month:
Irish theologian Frederick Whitfield said, “God’s way of answering His people’s prayers is not by removing the pressure, but by increasing their strength to bear it.”
Pastor and missions director Bruce Howell reminds us: that you are not what you used to be, you are not what you ought to be, and you are not what you hope to be, but who you are is according to your reliance upon the grace of God in your life.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!

John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry

Contact Information:
Mail: John & Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
30A Hwy 367
Burnsville, MS 38833

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS

January 12-March 6, 2025 – SOWER Project, Melrose, Florida
March 7-8 Traveling, Mississippi home base likely for a few months