A couple of comments

1)  It's been a long time since I've posted anything. I've actually shot a few more fish and have some pictures I'd like to post as some point. I went on a dive in Oct '08 off the Oregon coast that easily rivaled anything I saw in Belize. I was diving a kelp forest with enormous schools of sea bass, amazing visibility. Two harbor seals passed nearby... stopping to wonder what I was.  I went on another dive earlier this week.... we ended up diving the jetty at Newport in somewhat poor conditions for about 1 hr. I walked away with a single black rock. My dive buddy got two. On the whole it was a good day though because it was the day our lives were preserved by a busted zipper, a flat wheel-barrow tire, and a broken buckle. The take home lesson: Never resent providential interruptions... especially when they don't fit your schedule. 

2)  I am really thankful that God is continually growing us. Looking back at things I've written, it is fun to see what life-themes have carried on and matured and which have wained. It's exciting to see that I'm a different person than I was. 

3)  Just as birth is a process that appears cyclical and endless, so the world seems to move on in peace and war, richness and famine. But just as labor almost imperceptively crescendos to birth a new baby, God is birthing something through creation. The cycle of conflict and resolution is slowing growing. At some point, the cycle breaks and everything changes... and what seems impossible in one moment changes everything forever in the next. 

Greenling

I've always wondered why a beautiful brown-red spotted fish would be called a "greenling" as it happens my dive buddy shot one... and the inspiration for the name became clear once we started cleaning the catch!

Newport Dive

Here's my stringer of fish. Today I shot 5 perch and a black rock fish... and there was another that somehow wiggled off the shaft before I could grab it.

As we got into the water, a grey whale was playing in the harbor. It kept breeching... came almost all the way out of the water several times. It worked its way across in front of us (boaters stopping to watch), and then headed back out to sea.

The water is very warm (with a heavy wetsuit) and visibility varied a lot as the tide changed. Overall visibility was probably averaging 8 to 10 ft. The water was clear enough that it was still light at the bottom of the channel (~ 30 ft).

We got in the water after low tide. With a 7 ft exchange, it was quite a fight to not get washed back into the harbor. (Remember that for future dive planning!) Once the tide began to stabilize near high tide. Conditions improved a lot and I could relax enough to get some deeper dives in.

This dive was the most fun of the free-diving I've done so far.

A First Christmas

He is 1 month and ~5 days old. He was born right here at home, and we are very happy to have him. He is a boy through and through... even at 1 month. He doesn't cry unless he's got something to cry about... but he's not quiet. He spends his time grunting and snorting and escaping from his swaddle. He will be the "Cub" for a while. His sister is now the "Little Lion".
She has earned the title with her ferocious growls. She and I practice growling together regularly :-)... it's very cute. The Cub is still figuring out what this place is all about... so far his favorites include mommy's milk and sleeping. He doesn't see any value in baths or diaper changes thankyou... none at all. 

The Little Lion and new Cub

The Little Lion is learning to love the new cub. Though she's still not completely sure what he's good for... she knows he's got to be good for something.
We're all glad you're here baby!

Everything is a Toy

The Cub knows no limit when it comes to finding toys. She really likes playing with the Lioness' stethescope and when given the opportunity it happy to try checking her own blood pressure with a leg cuff.

Why are there stethescopes and blood pressure cuffs in my living room? It might be more normal at my house... but today the reason is because the Lioness had a meeting with our midwife. Betty will be helping us with the birth of our next baby... at home.

We've explained to the Cub that soon she'll have her own baby to take care of and play with... but I don't think she's put it all together yet... or will until she hears her little brother cry for the first time. Even then it might take a little bit before she realizes that he's a permanent addition to the pride. I don't think it will take her too long to realize that being a big sister has some perks. 

The Expedition Members

Me, Pete, Josh, and Brennan. A somewhat ordinary out-in-the-woods-photo taken in a not very ordinary place.

This is about 11 miles or so from the ocean in the coast range. A truly beautiful area that reveals mystery, begs questions, and offers few answers.

It was a very good trip. 

Descent

Here's a photo of Peter and I. I'm descending into the cave... it's about a 25 foot drop and the last 10 feet you're suspended on the rope before you reach the bottom of the first room. From there it's possible to climb... though it's much easier to have a rope to hold onto since it's still very steep.
In the end Peter was the extreme explorer... he slipped down into a muddy looking round hole (that I avoided because I was a having wimpy thoughts of death and despair) and located quite a lot more explorable space. In the end, we were left with a feeling that the cave isn't that stable... a lot of what we explored this time wasn't accessible a couple years ago on our first trip. That seems awfully fast for a cave to be changing.

 

Just in case you'd like to visit the cave we were exploring... here's a photo of the entrance. I wouldn't want you to miss it! Lucy (my black lab) spent all of three days running around in the mountains without a leash in sight (except briefly right here). Talk about a happy dog! 

The Trip

I took this low-res photo with my cell-phone camera. We're at the highest point for miles in any direction. This is just before sunset facing the ocean from 13 miles inland. Fog was rolling in the whole coast was buried under it. To my left as I took the photo is an abandoned fire watch tower. ~15 years these towers were still lived in during the summer. Fire watch made for a good summer job for college students who liked to really get away.
On this trip (this is the condensed version), I went camping with three other friends. Peter, Josh, and Brennan. Though we were here to explore some caves and some other interesting things in the area... which we did successfully, there are few moments that I can remember that match the experience I had the first night on the mountain. Laying awake in my sleeping bag, the air was perfectly still, and above me the stars were so close, so bright and so numerous that I felt that I was floating among them. The moon came up late (~2am) and emerged to shine through gathering clouds. We awoke inside a bank of clouds... in a soaking mist which continued the entire next day.
The second photo is Josh at our camp table (the base of the tower is behind him)

New Color

Ok, I've got a few posts to make... they probably won't end up being in chronological order... but some stories are worth telling.
I'll start with the latest. On the first day of October, I finished painting my house. It's been coming along for a while... and went much faster with the help the Laurance offered.

Our house has gone from the original blue with blue trim to stone grey with cream trim... the house looks much better and is much better protected from the weather!
The front door is a purple-black color. I sanded the shiny kick-plate down for a "brushed metal" look that is softer and works better with the door.
Now it't time to catch up on the things I put off while painting!
Next Projects might include: rebuilding the dog house. (adding insulation, storage, and a door and painting it to match the house)

This summer (mostly before I started painting) I also went on a couple of free dives and an amazing camping trip in the mountains with some friends. I'll try to add some photos of those too!

Cub #2

Yes, it's been a while... ironically, the more there is to talk about, the less time there is to talk!

Since my last update, my friend Matt has gotten married to Genna. (The last of my "single" friends is now married) . Now there are babies everywhere! One friend's baby was born this morning (a little girl). There are ~nine more on the way! They are due in July, September, twins in October, our next baby at the end of October, two in November, December, and January. (we can't reliably count them further out than ~9 months) There are other's too!

This next week, I'm going on an exploration / camping trip. I'll be returning to some vertical caves (with more rope than last time). It will be exciting to see if they open into a caves system or not (the odds are against it)

note

I was having trouble connecting to this site in order to update my blog for about a month... and I've been busy before and after that!.. Of course I was busy generating more things to write about and getting more photos to post.

The web problem turned out to be issues with account settings and how they related to the DSL modem. It was a long path to find that solution!

The Gauntlet

My friend is getting married in a couple of weeks. Naturally, a group of his friends had to pull him away for a weekend in order to test his mettle. To insure his fortitude as a man in the face of adversity... Our goal was to ensure the success of his marriage by proving his strength against challenges he might encounter later in married life. We want to know that his wife will be well cared for. (It is a little known fact that a bachelor party is really to benefit the bride... not the groom. {has anyone noticed that the groom... not the bride... has to endure heinous misery and exposure of weakness during one of these events. How could that be confused with fun?})

The bachelor party that I attended this last weekend was no exception. Josh was required to hunt big game (he must be able to feed his family), Defend himself in a time of war (Life, Liberty, Property), Build a functioning shower from a box of junk (sow's ear to a silk purse / cleanliness is next to...), Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of important facts about his bride-to-be, and recognize subtle changes in her appearance without outside assistance. When he failed, he was forced to endure brutal tauntings and push-ups in the freezing ocean surf. (during a pacific storm in almost total darkness)
Finally, he had to face each of his friends in hand to hand combat and defeat them in "The Gauntlet" before he was able to claim the "Red Hot Flaming Love Pepper"... a symbol of his triumphant masculinity (and also helpful in keeping mosquitos away)

Frozen Lemonade

Here's my lemon tree this morning. It was about 30 degrees (F) when I left. My friend who lives nearby kindly spared me from riding my motorcycle to work... Thank You.

Notice that the tree is covered in blossoms and even has maturing fruit on it. I'm not sure if it has noticed that it is in Oregon yet. I'm hoping that it does ok in the cold... last winter it faired pretty well.

Citrus trees, as I understand, are the only type of tree that can have every stage of fruit on it at one time.

Dinner

Maybe I'm naive, but I was pretty impressed with my dinner other night... impressed enough that I thought it should go down in history. It is important to note that I am not taking credit for this piece of artwork. The Lioness made the whole thing (even the bread). I would recommend a home-made BLTC to anyone.

Our Girl's First Autumn

It's been a while since I've added a photo of our little girl. This seemed like the right time though. I just took this photo less than an hour ago.

The Lioness and I enjoyed getting pumpkins together last year at a local farm. We went to another farm even closer to our house this time... so we could start this family tradition.

One of the nice things about our area is that during fall time we can go to farms (within 6 miles) to get our pumpkins and during christmas, we can go to local tree farms (within 15 miles) to pick out and cut our own christmas tree.

Our little cub thought that the pumpkins were lots of fun... she of course was pretty intent on tasting one before we left. I think she succeeded when we had her posing next a big yellow bumpy pumpkin that was about 2 or 3 times her size. Poor Lucy (our dog) was stuck in the car while we wandered the pumpkin patch. In a perfect world (where rabbits and chickens didn't get to vote on it's perfection), Lucy would have been able to explore the pumpkin patch with us and chase any small animals that she could find.

A wind in my hair week: Part II

... continued.

4) My wife's birthday is just a couple of days before mine. Normally we celebrate them together... but I suspected that wasn't going to work well this year. So I put together a couple of gifts for her and took her out for dinner. (this is becoming an expensive month as you will see) We had a wonderful time and a nice restaurant near our town that I knew she had wanted to visit. She also liked her gift... I bought her a gift certificate for an experience rather than a thing.

As it turns out: 5) my birthday was last Saturday. I turned 30. (suddenly I miss having a reliable 2 in my age). She had opted to give me an experience for my birthday too.

I knew no information about what she had planned... except I know her well enough that I knew there was a plan.
On my birthday, we woke up early (the baby wakes us up) and wandered over to the airport to see a bunch of hot airballoons take off together. And then had breakfast at some friends' house this is on the taxiway at the airport. A little later, my wife, my friend (who mysteriously showed up) drove up the highway and out into country. I noticed we were following the "grape stomping" festival signs... part of me was a little worried... "happy birthday... take off your shoes!" When they were confused about where we were going... everything came clear in a moment. My friend in the back seat suddenly said "I don't think we need the map any more". I looked up to see 4 parachutes sinking behind the trees ahead of us. That's what I was going to do!
It's a place called "Skydive Oregon". Well... I'm sure you all know about skydiving... pretty standard stuff. a) sign 7 pgs front/back of "Neither I nor my cousin's aunt's neighbor's parakeet will sue you when I die." b) sit through a 3 min how-to-not-die presentation. c) Put on the funny looking jump suit and beany helmet. d) Tell my wife that she should remarry if I don't make it, and to forgive herself since it was her idea. e) cram into a plane with 12 really strange people. f) fly to ~2 miles straight up. g) be strapped to some stranger who hopefully doesn't want to die either. h) fall out of a plane 1/2 way through the ride. Strangely, I wasn't afraid. I wasn't scared... but it was windy. We fell for about a minute... the earth got significantly closer during that short time. Then straps around my legs went tight (I'm so glad they were on correctly) and everything went quiet. What a cool experience to be floating slowly in silence so far up in the air. The guy I jumped with (Justin) handed me the control cords (for lack of a formal term) and let me fly for a while... very cool. The only time I felt like I was really falling fast was the last 50 feet or so... yikes! We're falling! However, I performed a picturesque landing on my butt... with good coaching of course. But wait there's more! After the "jump" I was met by a good friend that I don't get to see often enough. My wife had arranged for him to meet us.
How's that for a cool birthday? Well, back to real life...
That evening, I headed over to some friend's house to help work on their pool... it seems the "liner and slipped." Not a good thing. It's a good thing there are friends like me that are willing show up (on his birthday) to help out..... by being surprised by a birthday luau party. My wife had sent out invitations to everyone in the area that I know. She got help from several people, and put together an awesome party! I was completely taken off guard! I wasn't expecting it at all. We partied late into the evening. That was a pretty dang cool birthday!

Sunday, I got up and made it to worship practice at 9am and lead worship for the morning service. The band really played well together (a wonderful experience) and it felt like God met us that morning. It is exciting when God shows up... because it's an element that organization or musicianship cannot manipulate. God does what God wills.

I had to leave out of lot of cool things to make this as short as it is!

So now I'm back to work... doing my current job, and my old job. And I've got to be a presenter in front of a legislative commission next week. I like speaking to groups, but this is still something new to me. I'm a little nervous about it. I guess I feel like the stakes could be pretty high not only for me as an individual, but also for my office and my boss. I really want it to come off right... but it's been hard to shake the "you are a loser" feelings today. (there's a lesson for you... really awesome birthdays with lots of people showing that they care does not make you immune to feeling like a loser.)

Other items for the record: (this is not for entertainment purposes.. so don't try to be entertained by this part)
I'm working towards establishing a Thursday evening worship time. (I expect to help it grow over the next couple of months maybe)
The Lioness and I spent last night and all day today at a regional conference for the leadership people in our denomination. (I'm still pretty new to the organizational dimension of christianity) It was a pretty good thing. (I had to leave for a while to attend a meeting at work though)

All right. That seems like a sufficiently extended telling of this recent season! (if you find this part entertaining... That's ok. Though I might not trust your movie recommendations in the future if you consider this part entertainment)

A wind in my hair week: Part I

Ok. Here's how it goes.
1) My coworker gives her two week notice. The first of the two weeks, She (and most of the Building) is gone for a conference in Portland with VIPs from across the country. I spent the week holding down the fort so to speak.
I take 1/2 of that Friday off in order to get ready for a weekend men's retreat with a bunch of guys from my church. (think ~400 guys at a huge camp in a beautiful forest)
2) I and my group of guys show up late-ish on Friday evening. Dinner. Worship. 1st session. The speaker is Phil Downer. He's a great communicator... pretty direct. Six guys sleep in a tent together... it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. We all walked into that situation knowing that about 50% of the inhabitants snore loud enough that we wouldn't be hearing the generators that the old guys use to stay warm in their RVs at night. (If you're one of the old guys and happen to read this... I'm talking about the other old guys... not you)
Over all, it was a pretty good weekend. Lots of quick meetings with guys that I'm trying to plan things with, but never see... and a few good conversations with guys in other churches that I've missed... Like Happy the logger (yes, that's his real name).
I stopped by the prayer tent for the first time. I didn't have a specific agenda... I just wanted to see what God might say. I wandered up to the tent after hearing a friend tell me about a pretty exciting experience there (it is now ~10:45pm)... there's a line. When I finally get to the front, I sit down in a chair in front of three other guys. The middle was asks, "what's your name". After I told them my name they just stopped and waited to see what God might say. When they did speak, they all spoke out things that I'd felt pretty clearly. It was a good time of confirmation.
I really can't do justice to the "retreat" experience here... so I'll just move on.
It was wonderful to get home to my wife (who doesn't snore) and my little girl (who snores a little but at 4 months... everything is cute).
3) I spend Monday and Tuesday trying to learn everything from my coworker about how she had changed things since I had been in that position. On Tuesday, I gave her a hug and said good bye. Now, I'm on my own in the office. I will be for at least another month.

Rest

I speak of rest because it is one that God has been reminding me about recently. Of course, the reason (as is usually the reason for God telling someone something) is that because I don't have enough of it in my life.
There's a guy. His name Graham Cooke. He wrote a really chunky book called "Divine Confrontation"... I couldn't read it the first time I tried. There was too much to absorb.... too much to process. Either way, the Lioness and I went to hear him speak since he happened to be speaking at a conference less than an hour away from our house. He talked about how God told him to rest and that he's been intensely productive since then. (well, he wrote several chunky books I guess)
I've been trying rest a little more during the everyday. hey, I'm not using my legs right now... why are they tense? "relax legs... give it a break". It leaves me wondering how much energy and effort I spend every day, or even every minute on sub-conscious things that don't benefit me at all. I clench my teeth a lot I know.
There's lots happening, I won't try to do it justice. The baby is wonderful and doing wonderful things. The Lioness just got the coffee machine ready to make coffee for me to take to work in the morning... its those sorts of thoughtful things that tell me that she loves me for real. Now I need to go do a million other things before I go to sleep.... like.. wash the car... and build a fence... and play a computer game... no.. no.. not really.