Today... Tomorrow... ?

            

   

Sometimes the best road trips are the ones you don’t plan.  We drive out to Gresham every two weeks to pick up groceries so this time we decided to go a little farther.  After we finished we took a drive thru the Gorge to Cascade Locks along Historic Hwy 30.  The weather was perfect, no wind and about 65 degrees.  I wonder how much I have missed because I have been to busy worrying about the details.  I hope that I always remember that the journey we are on is a one-way ride; no one has a round trip ticket so enjoy the scenery.

Hidden Beauty in an Urban Jungle

When you least expected it you run into something that is really neat right in your own back yard.  We had heard of this place called Macaw Landing but never got around to checking it out.  Well we did this weekend and boy was it worth the effort.  Macaw Landing is located about 10 minutes outside of Portland on Marine Dr.  You have to call and make a reservation by phone or e-mail.  Go to their web page if you want to know more macawlanding.org

Dad's Big Catch

My dad is 83 but he still has enough energy to do what he loves… fish.  He never is as excited as when he is telling you about the last fish he caught.  This is a Spring Chinook he caught the other day off the beach on Sauvie Island.  We didn’t weigh it but it must have been at least as big as Lea.  I remember growing up my dad and I did not get along sometimes, but we could always talk about fishing.  Lea on the other hand was a little freaked out by it; she would not even touch it.  

To Live and Love

What is love?  How many times has this question been asked over time?  I don’t know what love is, but I am learning.  I think that some things are just too big for one to say, I get it, and then feel that they have it down.  I have learned that love means sacrifice, that love means giving of yourself fully to another person.  That you can literally feel the pain that another person is experiencing and that’s OK.  In fact if you could you would take all the pain away and take it upon yourself.

This can only be fully experienced by walking down a painful road along side a loved one.  The realization that you are no longer one person but part of something greater and more beautiful than can be experienced alone.  As strange as this may seem I feel closer to God by walking this painful paths with my wife.  As difficult as it may be, this is part of giving yourself to another.  I pray that God will guard my heart and, with his help carry me through this difficult time.  One can never know how one will react in a situation like this but I know the Lord is with us and will see us through.

This whole business of pain and love is something one needs to understand in order to fully understand what Jesus did on the cross.  I am convinced that God feels our pain and that by having his son die on a cross he took that pain that was meant for us and placed it upon himself.  I am thankful that God made me able to love and feel pain even the pain of others.  What a great and wondrous God we serve that he walks with us during trying times so that we may gain insight into the mysteries of his divine nature.

I am an American

The question of immigration reform is one that has been brewing for a long time.  Today I heard a story on the radio about a 14-year-old girl who died in the desert trying to enter the U.S.  Yes she was trying to enter illegally, but have we grown so callous to simply say she got what she deserved?  Will no one ask the question, why would she risk so much to come here?  I believe the answer lies in the essence of what makes this nation great.  The words of this poem by Emma Lazarus are engraved at the base of the Statue of Liberty…

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land; here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand glows worldwide welcome; her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.  “Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she with silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.  Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

I am an American, my daughter is an American and one day my wife will take an oath and become an American.  When people mock or make careless comments they not only mock those who are desperately trying to make a better life for themselves but they mock me, and millions of others like me.  When you ponder issues of Immigration do not just think of those who may be here illegally but think of those who have come before them.  They may be your doctor or lawyer or even your pastor not just someone who got caught while reaching for a dream.  A dream that seems to be vanishing in a sea of angry sentiments and ill will.  

Wolf Moon

                                                                            

On January 29th it was the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. I took a few photos on January 30th while it was visable through the clouds. Evenia and Lea stayed inside because it was kind of cold.

Bird watching at Sauvie Island

One day at Sauvie Island I was able to witness a truly breathtaking event.  Out in the shallow pond by where I was parked there must have been several thousand Snow Geese and Canada Geese feeding.  I noticed that there was a Bald Eagle approaching in time to get my camera and take these pictures as it scared them into flight.  I wish it was possible to capture the sound that all these geese made as they took to the air.  Imagine that this place is only a few minutes from downtown Portland.