Nature Hikes

Lately our family has been trying to go on at least one nature hike a week, usually on Saturdays.  I have a book that helps identify local flowers and another book that helps us find local hikes.

A couple of weeks ago we went to Pirates Cove.  Yes.  I know it is a nude beach but it is the most beautiful hike I've been on and we figured that winter was the time to go.  (At least the guy in "khaki shorts" was laying on his tummy and Phillip was the only one that saw him.)

 

next hike I will be on the look out for wildflowers to identify.  All I can remember from this hike was : poison oak, marsh grass (on the top of the hill, I only remember it because I was so surprised to see it there) and perennial mustard - which is everywhere this time of year.

Squinting at the Son

Black words on a white field.
Punctuation rain.
Speeding past the dew drops.
Hastening down the lane.

A patch of beauty grows there.
In mud fresh for your toes there.
Join me for a minute
in it.

Look at a field of flowers
for hours

Will you lose time in that glance?

by counting rock and bud
by listening to the creek in flood?

If you've lost a day
   you've lost your soul.

but if after you have come

you lay aside both time and pride
and find that once begun
you could spend a lifetime there
squinting at the Son.


Do you read your Bible? if so, how often do you study it?  I know that I am embarrassed by my own response to the question.  One of my Bible professors wrote something that really challenged me to rethink my fruitless faith and faithless study habits.  Starting today I am planning on reading whole books instead of disconnected chunks.  Here are a list of books with 10 or less chapters to start off with:

O.T.                                      
Ruth
Ezra
Esther
Song of Songs
Lamentations
Joel
Amos
Obediah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephania
Haggai
Malachi

For the N.T.: Start in Galatians and every book (except Hebrews and Revelations) has 10 or less chapters.

Why not alternate O.T. one month, N.T. the next? Read an entire book each day for a month.  Write down your thoughts and interesting questions.  Be amazed.  Be excited.  Answer your own questions. Be challenged.  If you can't manage to do this, ask yourself: Why not?  (p.s. I'm starting with Jude)

VES awards

If you don't know, Phillip was nominated for a VES award for supporting visual effects on "The Road" (didn't see the movie? neither did I!).  He didn't win but it was very fun to go to a  Hollywood award ceremony, especially with this particular group.

When I found out that we were going to this thing I asked Phillip about 100 times what kind of dress I should wear - he said a cocktail dress.  I bought (and returned) 5 dresses and tried on about 30 dresses all the while looking for the perfect cocktail dress.

On Saturday, Phillip and I went out shopping again and he selected what he wanted me to wear and even helped pick out the right acessories (I told him what I wanted and he helped me find it).  It was a lot of fun and I was happy that we wouldn't look like country bumpkins.

On Sunday morning when I woke up Phillip informed me that he took a closer look at his invitation and realized that this was going to be a black tie event that he would need to rent a tux for -- on a Sunday!!  Good thing we were down in L.A. and he could find a tux shop that was open.  I was sick to death of shopping for a dress so I decided my classic LBD would just have to do as I wasn't going to the mall again.

The evening was amazing!  VE people are so down to earth.  They know that they are nerds but they are also dreamers and delight in the beauty they create as well as delighting in the beauty that their industry creates.  James Cameron was getting a Life Time Achievement award that night and hearing him speak was amazing.  He quoted Jules Vern in his acceptance speach: "Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real." ... And that pretty much encapsulates what the VE industry does.

So many stories, so much fun.  Such a great time.  Almost made up for the fact that he didn't win. Almost.  (sorry for the bad pic, we didn't take any at the event and outdoor pics = squinting in the sun)