Christmas Train made out of graham crackers and some of my favorite candies.
I haven't posted a 3-D picture for a while. Here is a 3-D picture of the Christmas Train.Church got cancelled for today due to snowy/icy weather.
The weather has been quite unusual lately. Usually the weather is fairly moderate and uneventful (meaning not much other than rain and occasional moments of sunshine) on the north Oregon coast.
However, last year at this time we nearly blew away and this year the migrating birds are pulling out their maps trying to figure why they still haven't left Alaska. Its been a week of icy, snowy, below-zero weather with more in the forecast for Christmas week as well. Maybe we will have a white Christmas this year!
Even though its quite unusual weather for this area, we are still very blessed. Its enough to make the season a exciting, but mild enough that everyone is pretty safe and able to stay relatively warm. I know there are other places that are much worse...in fact just east over the coastal range, there are several problems with snow and ice. Go even further east and you will find sub-freezing temperatures, snow, and no electricity. We pray that everyone will endure the storms well.
Snow on the Beach (with shipwrecked Peter Iredale in the background)! I had to see the snow on the beach for myself because in my experience, its all but unheard of in this area.
Santa Baby!
'Shrinky-dink' ornament. A five inch drawing on plastic (# 6 plastic) with colored Sharpies, shrunk to about two inches by baking on a paper-sack lined cookie sheet for ten minutes or so at 250-300 degrees.I really enjoy trying to capture Christmas lights and glowing ornaments on digital 'film'--even though it never comes close to how magical it is live.
If you've been to the Caretaker's Cabin lately, you already saw this dragon and the jaw-dropping alligator (below) from the Oregon Zoo Lights.
The Oregon Zoo Lights were spectacular. In the field in front of the stage they created a whole animal world of lights.
This year we made snowflake ornaments using beads and pipe cleaners. I like how the lights reflect and refract through the clear beads
Each year this house is very-well decorated for the Christmas Holiday--every year it seems to become more and more spectacular. They even play Christmas Carols through loud speakers. (Click to see a bigger picture.)I hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving like I had. It was nice to take time to think about things I am grateful for such as family, church, friends, and many temporal/spiritual blessings in my life.
I tried to think about the things I usually take for granted and about how significant those blessings really are. All too often I complain about what I don't have and don't respect what I do have.
I've learned that gratitude helps you refocus on what is really important in your life, fills your heart with respect and love for those who blessed your lives (including Heavenly Father, the primary giver of those blessings,) and gives you the desire to help bless others in whatever ways you can. Gratitude also helps immunize you from behavioral blindness caused by selfishness and greed.
I hope I can always be grateful for all of God's blessings in my life large and small.
Happy Thanksgiving...the perfect kick-off into the Christmas Season.
Sometimes I'm not in a blogging mood. Especially on extra tired days. Because I tend analyze everything I write to make sure its really what I want to say and how I want to say it.
But at the same time, I don't want to let my few, periodic viewers down by not having anything new to look at.
Maybe that's why I like pictures so much. They take less word-smith energy and are often more interesting than anything I could write.
A rare Moss Grove picture. 
Blue Moon
Baby's first taste of cereal in all of her whole eternal life.
Apple-Turkeys to kick-off Thanksgiving week. 
Courtesy of our youngest son, this is one of my favorite Apple-Turkeys this year. I call him 'Sputnik'. Can you find his head? I'm not usually one to complain vocally, and I try to keep my posts positive; but today, I just need to vent a 'tiny cucumber bit' (to borrow a phrase from my 3rd grader.)
Our boys usually walk to school. However, since the rains drenched us this week, resurrecting Moss-lake in the front yard and bringing to life Moss-bog in the back yard, we've been driving the boys to school for the last few days. And that is mainly because we know water and boys instantly pull together faster than even the strongest magnets--and its just as difficult to separate them once they come in contact.
So for this week we open the back door, the kids buzz around and in and out of the van, until they finally get the hint as I turn on the engine. Then we drive around the block to the school parking lot to drop them off.
As we near the entrance, I'm instantly reminded why I hate driving the kids to school. There is a line of cars stretching out from the mouth of the school parking lot going in both directions. "The parking lot must be full," you think, but then notice at least a half-dozen empty parking spaces. The hold-up isn't lack of parking.
I get extremely annoyed when I realize the reason no-one can get into the parking lot is because there is a car stopped just inside the parking lot...just sitting there.
After seemingly an eternity, the back door of that car opens. An eternity later a kid jumps out. Another eternity later another kid pops out--and if you are lucky he/she will remember to close the door before bolting across the parking lot to the school. This whole time everyone else has to sit and wait.
When the car finally moves on you get excited to finally reach your goal, but alas the next person in line does the same thing. You would think they would understand just how disruptive that is because they had to wait for their predecessor. So once again everyone is held up by one car while several spaces in the parking lot starve for someone to occupy them.
I get flustered because I have to get to work and the boys need to get to their classes. I now have to adapt to an unnecessary disruption in my flow of expectations. Granted I know that getting frustrated is a choice I make--no one causes me to get frustrated; but it certainly makes it easier to choose to be content when others aren't tempting me to be frustrated.
Finally I get my hopes up of finally getting through this wait so I can get to where I need to be. I get my turn to go through! I find refuge in one of the parking spaces.
But to my dismay I am forced to wait a few eternities (accompanied by lots of prodding)....and finally my kids get out of the car.
Every year about this time Monster House rises from the depths. 
Nothing says, "Where's the fresh Hot Apple-Cinnamon Cider" better than the warm glow a Jack=o=lantern on a crisp, see-your-breath, fall night with leaves crunching under your feet.
You can't have fall without Candy Corn made with sweet honey!Emergency Preparedness has been close to the forefront on my mind over the past few years--mainly a nagging reminder that I still have stuff to do for the eight of us to be self-reliant and prepared in an Emergency.
Sure, we hear about all the natural disasters that are happening everywhere but 'here:' Tsunamis, Earthquakes, extreme winters, hurricanes, wild fires, mudslides, etc. But my family, personally, has had enough experiences locally on the Oregon Coast (tsunami warnings, major wind storms that wiped out power and communications, unemployment) to keep us reminded that things could get worse at our house too.
Emergencies are not limited to major natural disasters either--it could be unemployment, economic struggle, or house fire, or other accident.
Many resources are available to help you move in the direction of self-reliance and preparedness: 72-hour kits, food/water storage, financial advice, etc. Community Organizations (such as the Red Cross) and local/national governmental agencies (FEMA and NOAA for example) are also a good resources for disaster preparedness information.
Some simple governmental resources I utilize frequently is the Tsunami Watcher email list from NOAA that sends me an email whenever there is an earthquake that could cause worry for an Tsunami; and the Earthquake Email Notification from http://www.usgs.gov/ that sends me an email about earthquakes that fit the parameters I selected. You would be amazed at how many emails I get from these two notification sources. Of course NOAA also gives reliable weather details and storm warnings on their site...for hurricanes as well.
One resource I'm looking forward to is an Emergency Preparedness Workshop sponsored by Warrenton S.T.E.P. (Storm, Tsunami, & Emergency Preparedness.) It looks like they are bringing in several local professionals to give presentations on different aspects of emergency preparedness. Plus it sounds like it will be interactive enough where the community will be able to share good ideas with each other. Since the best truth comes from the source, please check out the official information: http://wstep.blogspot.com/
My oldest son developed a love for good quality jazz and orchestra music from an early age...I don't know if that stems from listening to Manhattan Transfer frequently while he was still in the womb, if its hereditary to like good music, or what.
A few days ago he got excited about a FREE! concert his band teacher told him about. Not just any band, but a jazz band--he really likes jazz. Not just any jazz band, but the professional US Army Jazz Ambassadors.
I've always wanted to take my oldest to a live orchestra or other live musical performance, so I got excited to...and my wife, knowing how much I love live music, let me take him even though she wanted to go too!
So last night, with my son practically dragging me out the door with anticipation, we drove to Astoria's Liberty theater. We had to park a few blocks away to find a place to park, even in our small town, and followed several people into the theater.
Most of the audience was a few generations older than myself, which made the experience extra special. Perhaps its the love I have for my late grandparents who were of the same generation. Perhaps its a respect for the history, culture, ethics, and experiences their generation laid as a foundation for future generations . I think its both. Big Band Jazz is the iconic musical representation of their generation.
Not only was the room filled with a generation I respect tremendously, it was also filled with veterans from all branches of the military representing service during World War II to the present. I was surprised and extra touched by how many veterans there were from World War II. I have a lot of respect for soldiers' and veterans' willingness to sacrifice themselves to protect the rest of us and our freedoms. Those who join the military surely realize the risks--and knowing the risks have decided for themselves from the beginning that they would willingly sacrifice their own lives to protect us, our Country, and our freedoms. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. " John 15:13.
I don't know if my son realized the significance of being in the presence of such great people, but I'm sure it left an impression on him that he will never forget--and that will make more sense to him as he gets older. Especially with the respect the band gave the veterans. From everyone singing Happy Birthday to the WWII veteran turning 89 to the active duty Coast Guard presenting the colors to the band's Armed Forces Salute where they played the song for each branch of the military as audience members all around us stood up when their song played. As they stood, the Director respectfully saluted them. All of the veterans deserved the attention and respect they recieved at that concert.
Musically it was a great show. I've heard high school jazz bands and recordings of more professional Jazz Bands, but nothing beats the live experience. I love the professionalism, the stretching the limits of their talents in their solos, feeling the power of the dynamics characteristic of Big Band Jazz , being stimulated by the syncopation and creative rhythms, and soaking in the energy the music and musicians generated. I think it was inspiring for my son as well to feel the power that only live music can provide. I hope it motivates him to continue to enjoy developing his musical skills...to have a standard to work toward.
The other thing that made it special was having the one-on-one time with my son--enjoying an experience that was special and exciting to him. It's a memory we will share together for the rest of our eternal lives. We may not remember the details of what transpired, but we will remember how it made us feel and the things we learned from the whole engulfing experience.
It was a great experience spending time with my son, my most respected generation, the protectors of my liberty, and the US Army's Jazz Band that brought us all together.
A few recent Photography Experiments:
I didn't appreciate trying to scrape this off the windshield, but its delicate textures made taking a picture irresistable. 
Through the hiring process, great care is made to select the best person possible for the job. The right person on the job makes operations run smoothly and efficiently with positive outcomes. The wrong person on the job disrupts progress, requires excess productivity maintenance; and often getting rid of the wrong person is very difficult.
Hiring the best person possible is important for any job and certainly true for the President of the United States of America. The person we hire to lead the Government's Executive Branch, represents the people of the United States for four years. Here are some steps to help choose the best person possible for the job:
1. Know The Job. How can we hire correctly for a position we know little about. Even if I am familiar with a position, I like to review the job requirements--especially from official sources:
The President is the Head of the Executive Branch and generally viewed as the head of the U.S. Government. While he does have significant power, his power is limited by the Constitution. Specifically, the Constitution assigns the following powers to the President:
Vice President: President of the Senate and becomes President if the President is unable to serve.
2. Identify Values. In addition to reviewing the skills and experience required for the job, it is important to identify the values and characteristics you want in the person you hire for the position. Sometimes a person may have a resume full of experience and skills, but has values inconsistent with your philosophies, or character conflicting with the image you strive to uphold, or characteristics that don't quite fit the position. Examples of Values: honesty, hard-working, cooperative, consistent, humble, bold, good listener, decisive, self-initiative, teachable, good judgement, self-discipline, creative, persistent, respectful, wise, non-confrontational, follows-through, aggressive, willing to uphold change, compassionate, etc.....5. Make Your Decision. After reviewing and analyzing the information you gathered throughout the hiring process, you are ready to make your decision. You then extend your offer to the candidate. Please research well and submit your ballot on time because, although the hiring panel consists of many individuals, your voice is an important part of the decision-making process.
6. Support the New Hire. When the new person is hired and starts the job, its important to respect the decision of the panel and to support the new employee in their role and give them the opportunity to magnify their position. Give them the opportunity to be successful. That doesn't mean they can get away with whatever they want...they are still accountable to their employer. Sometimes they need coaching and correction and sometimes disciplinary action may be necessary.
That's not so simple in the Presidential Elections. We may disagree with the President, we may disagree with the results of the 'hiring panel'. However, we respect the process and the structure of the government which was established by inspired men. We can support the President of the United States and encourage him/her to represent us well. If the President requires coaching or correction or discipline, the governmental structure provides for those checks and balances through Congress and the Judicial System. We, too, as a people, can offer guidance to the President by hiring good Senators and Representatives and communicating our concerns to them and encouraging them to support the good things and challenge the questionable things the President does. Through our voice to our governmental representatives in congress we can promote coaching and correction and sometimes discipline of our newly hired President.
Ultimately, we are blessed to live in this country with the government we have. Although it's easy to find faults with decisions people and groups make, we are blessed with the freedom to express differences with the government. And we do have a voice in how our government behaves. The challenge to us is to do our part, respectfully, to voice our desires in the appropriate manner--realizing that we as individuals and governmental officials are not perfect, but together as a body of citizens, we are strong and can watch out for each other and confront challenges together.
I don't consider myself politically savvy in anyway, but I think its important to make good decisions when it comes to hiring the person who will lead the country over the next four years.
I enjoy watching the Presidential debates in an attempt to learn the truth about the candidates' character, positions on issues, and potential as President of the United States. The problem with debates is that you have to do a lot of mental sorting to try to figure what information is true, mostly true, exaggerated, or simply not true.
But not to worry, sorting through the debates feels like home--thanks to my children. Granted Presidential debates are conducted by professionals, but the base techniques are the same. After all adults are just little kids in bigger bodies and social networks:
1. Explain what your opponent did first. This is a classic technique often used to procrastinate your own answer. With a brother (K) crying in the distant background, we ask our obvious suspect (T), "What did you do to your brother?" T's Answer: "K wouldn't share his Lego's." We remind him of the question, "I didn't ask what he did, I asked what you did." "But K wasn't sharing."
2. "I didn't do that!" or "I didn't say that!" This technique is the hardest to not reciprocate. T runs to us in a panic: "J's going to kill me!" J: "No I'm not! I said I was mad at you!" T: "But you tried to kill me!" J: "I did not,...Idiot!" T: "I'm not an idiot, ...Stupid! Infinity and one, no tag backs."
3. Name Calling (aka: 'mud slinging'). Politicians are careful enough not to do primitive name calling directly, but they do use subtle phrases such as, "naive," "he doesn't understand," or "he's clearly ____," or "..we all know the sequel is worse than the first movie," "big boys," etc. Political ads do this freely--I guess because its not the candidate saying it directly.
4. Almost True. This is one of the harder techniques to discern because we don't always have all the source information available. That's where research sites such as http://www.factcheck.org/ or http://www.snopes.com/ becomes a valuable resource. Mom (knowing the answer): "Are you dressed and ready to go? C (hopping up and down, half paying attention): "Yes." Mom: "Are those the same clothes you wore yesterday?" C: "No, I changed my pants." Mom: "Will you please go change your shirt?"
5. The Truth. This is what I look for and believe it or not politicians sometimes use this technique. I wish politicians spent less time talking about what their opponent does/doesn't do because it takes away from telling what they themselves are going to do. How can you make a good judgement based on things 'enemies' say about each other. Give me the truth from the horses mouth, please. Back to the example in #1: "I didn't ask what he did, I asked what you did."
Thanks to the practice my kids give me, its a little bit easier to sort through these Presidential Debates.
Today, I wanted to take you down a path to see an update of the 'Wildlife of Moss-Grove.' This is a path we use to document the different personalities of the crazy wildlife that hangs around here. Since pretty much all of you who read this blog also read that blog anyway, I apologize for the repeat.
1. This spring we had a fresh new addition to Moss-Grove. Here are some recent pictures.
2. This is a video of some interesting interaction with one of the more lively 'critters' in Moss-Grove.
A black Dragonfly in a sea of green
Another Dragonfly disguised among ripening Blackberries.
A pair of Cattails contrasting against the sky reflected off of the Lewis and Clark River
A single clear cattail stands out from the Lewis and Clark River's chameleon backdrop.
A pelican grazes the surface of River-Ocean waves as it glides within inches of the water. Pelicans usually fly close to the water (literally inches,) single-file in small groups trailing each other up and down over incoming waves.
Sunset Silhouette @ Peter Iredale
At church today, one of the lessons was a discussion about safe use of communication technology such as Internet, cell phones, and all its uses--especially how it influences our youth.
Just like some of the most beautiful scenes in the world are only found at the risk of harm or death for those unprepared and careless, technology can connect us with so many wonderful people and life-improving information at the risk of destructive and even life-threatening consequences if not used wisely and cautiously.
We recently watched the Caves episode from the BBC Nature Series: Planet Earth. Incredible footage of things very few people ever see.
Lechuguilla cave scenic © Gavin Newman
The Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico was uncovered just over 20 years ago and has incredible, white sulfuric acid-created gypsum crystal formations untouched for thousands of years. Its so precious that you need special government permission to even enter the caves--it took BBC two years to finally get permission to film the cave.
The picture above was taken in the Chandelier Room, so named for the giant crystal formations hanging from the ceiling. To get to this incredible site, more than a mile inside the mere 101 miles of cave explored so far, the first thing you do is climb down 118 feet almost vertical. Then in the pitch black, silence you climb up and down piles of rock from ceiling collapses and occasionally pass through tight crawl-only passages.
The crew from BBC who filmed the cave, dragged their heavy film equipment through the pitch black cave for 10 days of filming. Can you imagine the food, water, lights, batteries, safety equipment and other things they had to be prepared with? If they weren't well-prepared and careful through their journey we wouldn't have that beautiful witness on the TV screen.
Technology gives us access to sites, sounds and information beyond imagination. Its how the common person can see unimaginable details of galaxies, planets, comets and stars. Its how we can instantly talk with a friend on the other side of the planet. It's how the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring hope, joy, and love to almost every truth-seeker on the Earth.
However, technology can also be a tool destructive to ourselves, others and society if misused. Addictive, family-destroying pornography is a click away even with the most thorough of parent controls and protective software. Text messaging and social network sites such as MySpace are used by the common high school student to socially assault others or to buy and sell drugs. Locally, the use of text messaging alerted a High School principal of the significant problem of students abusing prescription drugs. Technology is even used by predatory people to find and harm innocent victims.
So what do we do to help ourselves and our children wisely and carefully navigate these treacherous caves of technology so we can safely be magnified and uplifted by the good things that can come from the proper use of technology?
1. Create a Safe, Open Environment.
2. Educate yourself and your children. We can't always be there with our children and no technology-based safeguards are 100% effective, so if we can empower our children with the knowledge they need to make their own good decisions they can choose for themselves to avoid dangers.
3. Develop a close relationship with your children. This is probably the most important. Generally speaking, if you are close with your children (especially starting young) you will trust them and they will trust you. Some youth may argue that all of these 'restrictions' prove that you don't trust them or 'its a violation of my privacy' for you to know what they are doing. But if you are able to maintain a good relationship with your children, they can know your intentions are based on your love for them. They can know you are only trying to protect them. And you will know the type of decisions they will make and you can be able to trust that they will be as faithful to you as you are to them. At least that's the type of relationship I hope I can develop with my children.
I'm sure there are other things that can be done to maximize our opportunity to have such wonderful technology tools at our disposal with out falling down paths of physical, emotional, social and spiritual danger. I try to be careful with my blog, but after today's education, there is still a lot more I can do to be extra safe--and certainly a lot more I can do to prepare my children for things they will face as they become older. You probably have some good ideas too...
sources: (click links)
This summer, the eight of us travelled to far-off places to look at animals not native to our little northwest town.
Here is the hummingbird 'stopping' after zooming in at lightning speed. In my vast unlimited lack of knowledge about hummingbirds, my guess is that this is an "Anna's Hummingbird" (Calypte anna)--perhaps an adolescent, if not an adult female.
Here's a close-up of the same picture. I love the deployed landing gear. Hummingbirds' normal flight speed is 25 mph.
It's amazing how they can hover so still. Looking at slow motion video, they tilt their wings in a figure-eight pattern as if they are treading water. Hence the unique angle of the wings in this picture. I'm guessing this hummingbird flaps its wings around 50 wing beats per second.
I like this picture because it shows the fluorescent feathers on its back. I also like how you can see the feather's of the wings...they really are birds! The feather's are actually kind of transparent.
Here you can see its beak getting nectar from the flower.
You can get interesting hummingbird information on the web in addition to the links sited on this page (http://www.hummingbirds.net/.)
