Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Books I've Read: The Screwtape Letters.....

You know, I've found that to learn the wiles of evil, we needn't study evil - but when we are acquainted with the things of God, evil will be easily recognized. 

HOWEVER, there is a book that is a wonderful piece on the plans of the adversary and that is "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis.

http://www.amazon.com/Screwtape-Letters-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652934

Sophomoric in some aspects - I know the devil to be far FAR more cunning than this - it is still undoubtedly some of the corruptions and mentality of that evil one in trying to trap and trick us while appearing good and trying to persuade us that he is good and it is The Enemy (God) who is the evil one.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Road Trip: Oregon, Kelly Point! Yaquina Bay! Portland Temple! Timberline Lodge!

 I went to timberline the other night - got a couple photos but with the cell phone nothing fantastic.....anyways - had to have a hot chocolate - it was great - and snapped some other photos.  Took some pictures of the Portland Oregon LDS temple, and then went metal detecting at the mouth of the Willamette where it meets the Columbia and found a Marshmallow roasting stick....that my kids lost.....anyways, all these were taken with my cell phone - you can click on them and enlarge them - but - here you go - free pictures.  And enjoy the hot cocoa pictures....I like them best.....I spent a good ten minutes posing it for you, my fine readers.....it really is worth the $5.00 you spend on it.....

One of many angles of the Hot Chocolate at Timberline

entrance to timberline











 

World's Best Hot Chocolate: @ Timberline Lodge























Where two rivers meet - Columbia (r) & Willamette (l)


discovered: AN ANCHOR!

empress hairdo

captain goofball and his sidekick empress hairdo with shovels

Willamette at the Columbia - Sunset


100 miles inland or so on the Columbia






Not sure where this came from but it's in Pirate town in Newport

From a casino in Vegas....now in Newport....

Still in Newport.....still not in Vegas anymore....

Monday, October 25, 2010

Road Trip! Oregon! Newport! Glass Blowing!

I don't know how well these came out - but if you didn't know, glass-blowing is a pretty popular art here on the Oregon coast.  There are glass blowing shops all up and down the coast with quite a few exotic wares being sold here and there - many of them making exotic glass floats.   Anyways, I managed to get some pictures of a glass-blower doing his work at a shop on the far side of Yaquina bay.  Depending on Google's settings, previously you used to be able to get a higher resolution picture of these and click them and open them in a separate window - but I don't know if you can do that now anymore.  Anyways, these pictures are in reverse - from finished product at top to the near start at the bottom.











Anyways - you can see the glass glowing pink-hot from the kiln/forge/furnace - whatever it's called.  I've learned to do a lot of things in life - including blacksmithing and stained glass windows - but blowing glass isn't something I ever learned how to do.

Below are some pictures of the storm I wrote about in the earlier blog entry.  The camera is trained/programmed to let in more light on dark days.  And it was a DARK day - so this is about ten shades lighter than it was.  Not bad for a cell phone camera.  The winds here were about 40mph or so.   Here the waves were coming up into the river and headed up to the sidewalk under the bridge on the far side.  Normally the surf is like 500 feet to the left.

If you didn't know, something unique to Oregon Architecture is the concept of arches.  Most of the bridges going up and down our coastline and even inland have deliberately integrated the arches as part of our regional architecture.  It was strange in my travels overseas in the military how many people knew Oregon just from our scenery - and how much I could see the architecture styles when I came home - I still notice it today.  There's a quasi federalist-empire-classic style of architecture here in Oregon that's pretty unique - most notably on our bridges usually.  Speaking of bridges, Portland Oregon, in addition to being the City of Roses is the City of Bridges as well.  Sometime I might have to do a photo essay of all of them, beginning south in Oregon City there's the pioneer bridge that was originally built in the 1800's (Yes, new for you Europeans but old over here) then up to Sellwood, Ross Island, Freemont, Marqham, Steele, Broadway, Burnside, Morrison, Hawthorne, Saint John's, Abernathy, Glenn Jackson and Interstate Bridges and you can see at least one other one from any  one of them.

Here's a nice shot of where the sidewalk ends - or "Land's End" headed off into the Pacific - pacific.....meaning peaceful.....mmmmm no.   It doesn't look too bad in the pictures but this is after it was settling down anyways - I've seen worse - been out at sea on a Navy Fastboat in 20 foot waves or whatever picking someone up out at sea with sea spouts coming down on us - yadda yadda - it's all true - uphill both ways in the snow.....blah blah.
 


 Here's Yaquina bay - my friend Mike - when he gets his Seaplane license we're going to go get a seaplane and I want to fly under the Yaquina Bay Bridge and land in the harbor on the other side and tie up and go to dinner.  Just....something I want to do. 


Anyways, this is a picture of "trouble" camping - having way too much fun - and already filling her dad with horror as to what kind of guys shes going to attract with that pretty face some day and she's only four....hopefully someday she brings me a good son in law - not some douchebag who's ears I have to box for being a deadbeat husband.  I don't have any pictures of Matthew this trip - him and I were too busy sparring with me showing him how to knock a knife out of someone's hands with your feet and how to keep your eyes on your opponent through your roundhouse kicks.  OH!  At one point though - we're all camped out and "roughing it" and Rachel suddenly says ".....I wanna go to the mall.....can we go to the mall?"    Yeahhh....I hope not too high maintenance.