The Lighting of the Christmas Tree

Every Fourth of July, Marilyn (the lady who owns the house that I live in) and her family get together for a tradition. This year, it happened a little early, because the entire family could be there, and no one is going to be around on the fourth.

The tradition goes something like this: After Chirstmas, the tree is taken down. Instead of throwing it away, it is stored in the poll barn till spring, when it is taken out doors to dry to a nice crisp.

Around the Fourth of July, the tree is "planted" in the front yard. Once the sun goes down on the evening of the event, a propane bottle and a road flare are produced, and placed beside each other under the tree. The flare serves a double purpose: first, it lights up the propane bottle. Second, it is the ignition source. You're thinking, igintion source? Yes. The next step is for Matt to take his trusty rifle and take aim at the propane bottle. When he shoots the bottle, the propane needs a source of ignition, and the flare provides such a source. The bottle "explodes" blowing up the tree in the process! If you don't believe me, here it is in pictures:


1. Flare and propane bottle

















2. The propane bottle is shot, and explodes, igniting the tree. The small flame to the left on the ground is the propane bottle.














































4. The tree burns out within about five minutes.






















It's a spectacular show. This was the first year I actually got to see it live! Hope your Independence Day is just as exciting! ;)

Turning the Page Part III

I HAVE A NEW JOB!!!!!

On June 30th, I'll start work at Eastside Music as their newest repair technician. Not much else to say except that it's a fantastic opportunity. I'll make more money, but most importantly, I'll be working in a healthy environment.

God is indeed good. His timing is perfect. His mercy and grace are greater than I can fathom. I don't deserve to be blessed in this way. Praise Him, whose mercy upon me, a sinner, goes far beyond what I can possibly grasp. He chose me and blessed me when I deserved it least, and He continues to do so.

My words have become nonsense now. So I'll just express my joy with a picture that is worth only one word:

Turning the Page, Part II

I gave notice this morning. It wasn't easy, but they seemed to be expecting it. I feel like a weight is off my shoulders. Like I'm free. Even though I still have two more weeks before I'm actually done. My last day will be the 29th; a Thursday. Andrea Barney offered to start a bon fire on Friday and have a party for me. I didn't realize that everyone knew what a source of emotional and spiritual stress I was really in. I appreciated the offer, and I think I will be taking her up on it. Thank you all for praying. The day went pretty smoothly all in all. Now to begin writing chapter two of Nate's Life in Oregon.

Turning the Page

Tomorrow morning (Saturday) I will be giving notice to my bosses that I will be leaving at the end of the month. I currently do not have any job offers, but the environment is now such that I cannot continue to work there and remain a healthy individual. Please pray for me when you read this no matter what time it is. God, who lives outside of time, will hear and answer it no matter what. The next two weeks will be stressfull for sure, as I am not sure how they will react. Please pray specifically that I will have wisdom, and most importantly that I'll keep my mouth closed (Sean, remember the three most helpful words! Please!).

On the bright side, I do have another bench test at a music store I've been in contact with. Please pray for God's will. It would be an exciting job, and the environment is much healthier. I'm also turning in applications with Clackamas ESD to be an instructional assistant to special needs children, and with an employment couseling firm called IDAK to be an administrative assistant.

So I'll be ending yet another chapter in my life. I always seem to go in concrete stages. There's rarely any transition period. I just end one chapter, and move on to the next. School to school. Job to job. State to state. Nothing in between. Well, I always say, the best way to get used to the water is to jump right in!

WEEEEEEE...

Angels' Rest for the Weary

Another early morning hike proved worth the effort for Andrea and me. This time, we tackled Angels' Rest and Wahkeena Falls. This one was far more difficult than Eagle Creek, even though the hiking book describes it as moderate, and Eagle Creek as difficutlt! We had fun though, and saw some great scenery without any crowds. In fact, we may very well have been the first ones up the trail this morning.

The day didn't start out well. It was raining, and raining a lot. However, when we saw the radar picture on the news, we noticed that there was no rain east of Portland. So we headed out, and sure enough, we didn't see a drop for the entire hike! A good day for my first trip to Angels' Rest.

We got home, and crashed out. We were both exausted. Even Kirby was lying down most of the rest of the day. Kirby is a dog that can just go and go, but today, he didn't even have the energy to beg cookies (which Andrea made after we got home and cleaned up). Kirby was also not nearly as dirty as the last trip, so I got a picture of him with his person.

A Special Weekend

Special Olympics went off last weekend without any major hitches. Saturday was a gorgeous day. Here's a picture of the Parade Grounds at Fort Lewis. They were designed so that, looking straight down the lawn, you will see Mt. Rainier in the distance. It is, in my opinion, the best place on earth for an event like this. The Army is fantastic in helping with the set up, opporation, and take down. Without their help, it wouldn't happen, and I think it wouldn't be as much fun as it is.

Quick run down on how big this event is. There were ten fields all with games being played on them at the same time. Each time has at least 5 players. So you're looking at one hundred athletes all playing soccer at the same time! Add to that the other teams that aren't playing, and you're looking at close to a thousand or more athletes alone, not to mention all the support staff and friends and family. The estimates I heard were around 20,000 people all told were there at the base for the weekend! That's big.

So my small job was to asssign referees to officiate the games. The soccer venue is unique, in that we recruit officials who are certified (they make money doing this) to volunteer their time. I'm still amazed every year at the response I get. Saturday, I had twenty referees! That's more than I knew what to do with. Here I am trying to figure out where to put them. It was a dilema I could live with. I didn't get to ref a single game that day. No big deal, tomorrow was still to come.

















And here are some of the referees themselves, taking a break from their hard work.












Sunday, I started out short on refs. But everything worked out well. I could do games (here's a picture of me coming off a game), and the number of games wasn't nearly as great. So, all in all, it was a great weekend! Here are some pictures of the Special Olympics athletes in action. Some of these guys are good (and I'm not just comparing them to Special Olympics, I'm saying some of these guys are good period).































I can't wait until next year when we do this all over again!