The Best Saturday Ever!

Today was probably the best Saturday in recent memory. To begin, it is mid october, slightly crisp air and the sun is out to keep me warm. The morning started at 6 and was filled with breakfast and house cleaning, not ideal but a good start. That was followed by a Financial Peace University meeting. It went better than I could have expected.

Now for the good part. Remember the sun is out. At about 11am I went out to my hammock and fell asleep. Yep, perfect rest, in the sun, nice and warm. I woke up and just stayed there till about 1pm. That's when I went in and joined Amber, Cari and Sharon for lunch. I had Boston Baked Beans with smoked salmon and buttered toast. Oh yeah, with hot apple cider. That was great. Next I went back to my hammock, read Outside magazine for another hour or so. My nieghbor Jay promised tell me when he was ready to prep his salmon for the smoker, it was time. I spent about an hour or so watching him fillet and salt his salmon, with occasional tips being passed on to me. We talked polotics, followed by more polotics the whole time! After that I went in and talked to Cari and Amber while they carved pumkins. Then I saw smoke comming from Jay's firepit.

I went and hung out there, Dan, the other neighbor showed up. We talked for a bit and it was decided that beer was needed. Dan supplied a round of mirror pond ale, mmmm! It was close to dinner time, we all agreed that a nieborhood dinner was in order.

We went off to prep the food. That night we an outdoor feast lit up by a lantern and candle light.

The menu:
Coho salmon, cooked over the fire
little potatoes and little onions, cooked over the fire, from the farmers market
Organinc, grass fed, oregon cowboy raised beef meat loaf
homemade goat cheese on homemade bread
Salad with croutons
freshly roasted pumkin seeds, salted
homemade rasberry and blackberry wine
pear crisp, vanilla ice cream

Long conversation and lots of laughter. A perfect day. A connection with nieghbors, a feeling of community.

Yes! My Radiator finally blew!

Yep, I'm psyched, sorta. Couldn't have happened at a better time. I ran errands this morning and my last one was a trip to Home Depot where I purchased fence materials to build a run for Mosey our new dog. Upon my return to the car I discovered large amounts of antifreeze running out from under the engine as well as a trail that marked my entry into the parking lot. I say finally because it's been about 6 months since I took it out and decided not to replace it. I've been wondering how long it would last. The cool part about this whole deal is that it happened during my off week and that I also got a free tow home. So, my life is good because I have time and cash to fix the problem. My radiator will be delivered by noon tomorrow and the job might take as long as a couple hours, worst case scenario. I don't like to recklessly blame God for cool stuff like this, but maybe he was involved in the timing, and if so. Cool!

Not Dead Yet

This Sunday I went to Church, once in while won't kill me....I hope. In any case, the guy who carries the title Pastor; Daron asked, What does God want his Church to look like? (I should add that he does a heck of a job!) I think this must be one of the best questions for the American Church I have ever heard, and from a pastor too. The obvious answer is, white with a steeple and double doors at the entrance. Duh!

In reality, I don't think it's possible to paint a picture of what the Church ought to look like, it would have to be a video. Everything that Jesus taught was a form of action. Love your neighbor as yourself can only be accomplished through action. Love is active, if it's not, well I guess you've got some fuzzy feelings or something. In any case I believe God wants an active church.

I think a big part, or at least the beginning of what the Church should look like is like a big family. If you find yourself with a bunch of people who love each other, spend time together and live lives that reflect love for God, well you just might be at Church. In my opinion, this can happen anywhere, in the woods, at the grocery store, most often at someones house, even at the top of Mt. Rainier. Speaking of, anyone interested in a Church meeting at the summit of Mt. Rainier, let me know, that would be awesome!

4th of July

Well the 4th and 5th rocked, we blew off a bunch of fireworks, drank local beer and ate local crab that I caught off the dock. On Saturday Dan made an awesome spaghetti dinner, if you know Dan you know that he is not capable of average when it comes to food, so dinner was over the top delicious. We told people to drop by, but since no one came, I get leftovers, yesss! The great finale was the Indianola annual fireworks show on Saturday night, everyone loved it and the night ended with applause and cheering. What a great weekend!

Let the Crabbing Begin

For my Birthday last week, my parents gave me a crab pot. Just what I wanted! The season officially opened at 12:00 am today. I had my pot in the water about 14 min into the morning baited with last weeks uneaten clam catch, it smelled so bad that Amber refused to walk behind me. It worked! Only 1 was legal, but it's my first time. Oh yeah, I woke at 5, couldn't sleep. Got up at 6 and headed strait for the dock.

Stupid Hippies

I went on a bike ride yesterday, it was very nice out. Amber and I were working our way up out of Kingston towards Indianola when a guy drives by with a long proud show of his middle finger. We shrugged it off and talked about why drivers hate bicycle riders so much. Must be my lucky week because today on our way home from a strenuous but fun ride we got a guy yelling, "Get a car stupid hippies!" Or something along those lines. We did about 12 miles today, nice little workout. The hardest partof the ride was, not pulling the guy out of his car and teaching him a lesson about "stupid hippies." Would have been easy to catch him at the stop sign. Yup, restraint got a full workout today.

Leaving Grand Turk

I'll be leaving Grand Turk on Saturday, I'm kinda bummed. It has been a great trip on a lot of levels though. First and foremost, I've had ample time to reconnect with my good friend Loren, I've also enjoyed getting to know his wife Jenny. They are both awesome people. I've also met a key person in regard to how I would like my career to progress. More on that another time. I've built two roofs, both of which Loren and Jenny are happy about. I like the sense that I've accomplished something on this trip, something people will enjoy long after I've gone away. I'll post pictures another day. This trip has been a testament of God's kindness towards me as well, I've brought my request before him and done everything in my power to make it work, with his blessing I've been away from work and home for 2 months with all my expenses covered and my pets taken care of. 

Right now my heart is heavy, I'll truly miss this place. I look forward to seeing my friends again, and I know life at home will be good, but this has been too good to describe with words and so I will leave reluctantly, looking forward to the time when God willing, I will come back.