Inaugural Voyage For New (To Me) Arima Boat Gets An A-OK

In my last post, I mentioned that I hoped to get the Arima in the water sometime this weekend. Good thing it was still part of the holiday “weekend” today, as we launched her this morning.

My cousin Joel Narva joined me for the inaugural voyage, and we pronounced it a splashing success at day’s end. We even caught fish, albeit not the kind we were after.

In reality, today’s trip was a bit stressful. Whenever you acquire a used boat, there are a multiplicity of things that need checking out. Hull, main engine, kicker, radio, depth/fish finder, batteries, switches, downriggers and bilge pumps all need scrutiny. Most importantly, how does she handle the waters of Puget Sound?

Just fine, thank you. All systems are a-ok.

We even caught fish – dog fish! (Puget Sound small annoying sharks) Pic at right shows one of three that managed to spoil our fun. I couldn’t figure out why they would hit a salmon lure until we saw half of a “shaker” (a salmon too juvenile to keep) on the hook with the shark. The small Chinook hit first, and the shark took advantage of easy prey.

Above left is Joel manning the tiller handle of the kicker as we trolled through fairly calm waters for about four hours. The best news is that the boat passed the test with flying colors. We’ll get the Coho later when they finally get here. We might have been a tad early for the ocean fish.

A Great Time of the Year

The past couple of weeks have been as good as they get for us older folks. And of course the vast majority of it had to do with kids and grandkids.

It began, however, with my finding a highly-desired Arima fishing boat with just about everything on it that I need to fish. Then I got to spend two solid days with my son Gregg, helping drive his new-to-them RV home to Oregon from Colorado.

Then Gregg and Elaine and family came to visit, and to make it even better, our granddaughters were able to stay over for a few days of fun activities after their parents had to return home. And our other son Doug and his wife Jamie came over while all were here, giving us the cherished time with the whole family together.

We finally took the granddaughters home via Amtrak this past Tuesday (note the kid-empty train car above on our return trip), and since then I’ve focused on getting the boat ready to fish. I hope to get it in the water maybe sometime this weekend.

Hope y’all have a great holiday weekend! Why do we NOT work on LABOR DAY? It’s a question for the ages.

Fun With Granddaughters

The past three days have been nothing but fun with our sweet granddaughters who remained here in Washington with us after their parents left last Saturday. We enjoyed having the whole family here, including mom and dad (son Gregg and daughter-in-law Elaine), for much of last week.
















That's Hayley and Talli above left at Seattle's famous waterfront Aquarium on Monday, and at right just above is Aubrey "the Octopus" at another part of the aquatic exhibit.

A little later in the day we took in the Space Needle and enjoyed lots of rides in the Seattle Center amusement park. The girls especially enjoyed a visit from their uncle Doug and aunt Jamie who stopped by the Center for a time in the afternoon.

Unfortunately for us, the fun times came to an end yesterday as Grandma and Grandpa accompanied the girls on an Amtrak train trip home to Oregon, a first for all three of the young uns. It was a great experience for all, although the grandparents were ready for the sack last night after eight hours on the train.

To Amtrak’s credit, they have made travel by train quite acceptable (we had opposing seats with a table between for eating and games), but they certainly are not as customer-friendly as are airlines.

As an example, you can make and pay for Amtrak reservations online, but instead of issuing an actual ticket with a seat assignment, you can only print out a voucher. Then you have to wait in line at the station to convert the voucher to a ticket and then stand in line again to get a seat assignment. Kinda redundant.

Unfortunately, Amtrak is still an ego-centric corporate monolith rather than a customer-friendly company like Southwest Airlines or Jet Blue. Too bad for Amtrak, as they could be attracting a lot of travelers right now, but alas.

Boat Search Ends Suddenly and Surprisingly With Hometown-Made Arima

A funny thing happened in my search for an aluminum fishing boat.

I ended up acquiring a fiberglass, highly sought-after, Seattle-made Arima (used, of course).


It’s a boat that was originally designed primarily for nearby Puget Sound but is just about as light as an aluminum lake boat and will work just fine in local ponds. Arimas come in many different models. Mine is a 16’ Sea Chaser. You can locate it on the Arima link above.

I’m totally pleased with the purchase and am finally satisfied I have the right boat for my needs and interests.











At left above is the interior, looking forward from the stern. There's a small cuddy/storage area in the bow through the center doors. At right is the port side view from aft.

I happened to see it last Wednesday on Craig’s list just two hours after it came online. By the time I called, someone was already looking at the boat. As fate would have it, the engine didn’t start and the interested party spooked.

Turns out the guy who showed the boat (son-in-law of the owner) didn’t know how to work the choke properly. The 60-hp outboard runs just fine.

The boat has a fish-finder and downriggers, but I do need to find a kicker motor for trolling. I’m checking out Craig’s list again as soon as I finish this post.

The beauty of this boat is that it offers safety for the bigger waters of the Sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca (for salmon) but is at the same time perfect for lake fishing (for trout), both of which I like equally well.

So… if you like to wet a line and you’re coming our way, let’s go fishing!

A Rare Occurrence

I experienced one of those great “family” happenings this past week that are far too few in frequency. I got to spend two solid days with my son, Gregg.

He’s a busy pastor, husband and father of three who rarely has a moment for himself. So to get to spend time with him for 48 straight hours was sheer enjoyment.

Some time ago he and his wife Elaine began looking for a self-contained Recreational Vehicle that would provide family fun as well as serve as a “guest house” for when my wife and I and others visit them in Oregon. Long story, but local building regulations prevent them from adding the guest facilities they desired. The RV became the perfect answer.


He located a vehicle online in Denver that met their criteria (pic above), so last Thursday he and I flew to Denver to pick it up and drive it back to his home. That’s what bestowed me with the prized time with my hard-working son.

After test-driving and checking out every nook and cranny of the RV, Gregg completed the purchase and DMV registration right at day’s end. We hit the road in Denver about 6:30 that evening and headed north to pick-up westward-bound I-84 in Wyoming. We tested two of the four beds just after midnight in a Rock Springs, WY Wal-Mart parking lot (with W-M's blessing). But only for less than six hours.

Refreshed in the morning (great mattresses) we headed for Utah and the rest of the trip home. The hours were spent catching up on life’s details we never usually have time to talk about. I enjoyed every minute and am ecstatic that someone of Gregg's caliber is my son.

He’s a “tekkie”, so whenever I was driving, he’d be working on his laptop. He even devised a spread sheet that told us breakeven cost points between RV travel versus journeying by car and staying in a motel.

For instance, if you don’t drive more than 400 miles a day, then for his size family, he might be putting a penny or two in his pocket via the RV. The high cost of gas makes auto voyaging a hair cheaper if you drive longer distances in a day.

The RV’s amenities include beds to comfortably sleep six (eight in a crunch), fridge, stove, oven, microwave, sink, bathroom and shower (interior pic above of kitchen and bedroom peek) plus an eating/game table with bench seats and even a couch – literally all the comforts of home. With the benefit of wheels. It was a great acquisition, and the whole family is excited.

Because we didn’t sleep all that much on the two-day motor jaunt, the time element is now much of a blur to me. But I’ll remember every minute of the enriching discourse with my son.

Does "The Da Vinci Code" Shake Your Faith?

Have you seen the movie The Da Vinci Code? Or read the book?

Though touted as "a mix of murder and myth" by the New York Daily News, the author, Dan Brown, has accelerated the curve.

He has suggested that there is historical evidence that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene who was carrying their child at the time of the crucifixion.

Their descendants supposedly still live in France – all kept secret for two millennia by a male-dominated church.

Now, if this were to be true, the ramifications could shake Christianity to the core. At first glance, these views would appear to be laughable.

However, in a Today Show interview with Matt Lauer, Brown claimed that “all of it (The Da Vinci Code novel) is based on historic fact.” And the difficult thing, for those of us of faith, is that a considerable measure of academics are of similar mind.

Fortunately, for those of us of faith, there are clear thinking intellects on our side as well. One such model is Philip W. Eaton, president of Seattle Pacific University.

His recent guest editorial in the Seattle Times dealt with the topic. In his piece, titled Debunking "The Code," Dr. Eaton effectively probes Brown's assertions of authenticity and invites healthy discussion on this, or any, topic of widespread interest to both Christians and non-Christians.

Click on the title in the previous paragraph to read Dr. Eaton’s commentary. His approach is fresh, incisive and engaging. Well worth the read.

In addition, click "comments" and read longtime-friend (53 years) Bob Rodde's remarks about Carl Olson's book, The Da Vinci Hoax. Click here to reach the Carl Olson web site.

Boat Search Changes Course (Again)

Well, they couldn’t reach the owner of the boat on which I made an offer, and it’s turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

An outstanding nearby outboard engine mechanic whom I’ve gotten to know once advised me, “NEVER buy a newer boat with an old engine”. And of course that’s exactly what I was doing (note previous blog post).

Fortunately for today’s developments, I won’t make that mistake.

When I called today to see if they had reached the owner to find out if he would accept my offer, they were negative. But, they said, in the meantime why don’t you consider a slightly older boat of the same make but with much newer Mercury engines? Suddenly it clicked what my mechanic friend had warned.

“How much more?” I asked (a better overall boat is ALWAYS more). Only a couple grand, they said. Yikes.



Well, to make a long story short, I dickered, wailed and moaned, feigned impending divorce, and just plain begged. Nothing worked especially well, but all together I was able to get the price down to a point we could finally agree on. Picture is above.

This boat is a foot longer than the other one, doesn’t look quite as good but has a much newer monster main engine and a late model kicker motor (for trolling). It’s perfect for Puget Sound as well as for “trouting” in nearby lakes. And it’s light enough that I should be able to launch it totally by myself, if I desire.

Now I have just a few days (before I must finally commit) to convince my wife that this is a wise decision. In truth, she’s a wonderful, understanding help meet, and I’m fortunate to have her.

So many fish… and so little time…

I could be going nutso.

The Sockeye are running rampant in Lake Washington this week. The Coho are flashing on the surface just a mile and a half from our house. Plus, the bigger Kings haven’t even showed yet.

And I DON’T HAVE A FISHING BOAT!

Since I sold the too heavy, too big cuddy inboard in June, I’ve been scanning the internet and the local papers for a fishing boat. Not much so far.

However, just today online I found an aluminum boat down in the Portland area that may have possibilities. It’s a very nice, fairly late model, Smokercraft Fazer. So I made a “low-ball” offer.

Now I’ve got to wait a day or so to see if it will be accepted. A pic of the boat is above. All I can do now is hope. And try not to get more nutso.

So many fish… and so little time…

Seattle SEAFAIR Culminates This Weekend

The month-long Seafair celebration in Seattle culminates this weekend with a U.S. Navy Blue Angels air performance, hydroplane races on Lake Washington and tours of Navy ships in port for the event.

From early July through the first weekend in August the Seattle Community celebrates Seafair with almost daily activities including parades, fireworks, concerts, distance running events, milk-carton boat races, and a zillion of just plain fun things to do.

Boats are everywhere at this time of year, as many of the events are best witnessed from right on the water. And with Puget Sound and an abundance of nearby lakes, the Emerald City certainly has adequate floatation space.

Unfortunately, I sold my boat earlier in the summer. What was I thinking?

At Home in Our New Church Home

Yesterday Kay Lynne and I were received as new members in the First Lutheran Church of Poulsbo. We feel very blessed to now “officially” be a part of this wonderful congregation.

The sermon by senior Pastor Don Jukam serves as an example of one of the key reasons we felt drawn to this body of believers.

We always seem to learn a fresh nuance about the faith, no matter which of the three ministers is preaching.

This is a teaching parish in addition to being a “Word and Sacrament” Church. We are instructed Biblically to grow in the faith, and First Lutheran provides the perfect milieu.

In yesterday’s discourse, Pastor Jukam provided some fresh insight for our Gospel lesson taken from John chapter 6 – even for a long time believer like myself. Did you know, for instance, that there is no Greek word for our English word “miracle”?

Being that the New Testament was originally written in Greek, where, then, did all the references to Jesus’ (and others’) “miracles” come from in our English versions? Most likely from mis-translations.

Pastor Jukam pointed out that the three Greek words that have most commonly been translated into our word “miracles” are the Greek versions of “signs”, “wonders” and “works”. And there is a theological basis for this.

The “signs”, “wonders” and “works” that Jesus did always pointed toward something: namely, that he was the Son of God, and the “greater” things that he did were to be a “sign” that he was indeed the Messiah.

Though there are many who have performed “miracles”, the “signs”, “wonders” and mighty “works” that Jesus did always pointed – and continue to point – to God’s provision of salvation and eternal life for all of us through his son.

Thanks be to God.

We are privileged indeed

How many parents get to be taught by their children? I’m not referring to trivial insights about everyday living, but to whole, fresh perspectives for life and faith.

In recent years, my wife and I have often been blessed in this way.

Yesterday’s blog post by my son Gregg is an example of what I’m talking about. Click here to read it.

I feel you’ll go a long way before you find a better synoptic apologetic of the Christian faith and how it can affect the way one lives. But then, I’m his dad, so maybe I’m biased (freely admitted).

You may also want to check out his second post yesterday which was a tongue-in-cheek “illumination” of the original. The last paragraph in this particular post could be the spine of a book. It deals with the essence of what our faith should encompass.

This time it happened to be Gregg who has enriched our spiritual understanding. Our other son Doug has done likewise, many times in the car on our way to or from a fishing trip, when you have time to just talk things out.

As parents, my wife and I are privileged indeed.

Feeling the Heat

For the past few days it’s been unusually warm here in the Northwest. But nothing like what you friends in California are enduring.

I happened to check northern California weather online today and was astounded to see it was OVER 110 degrees in Fairfield where we used to live, and there were warnings that some locations in the Sacramento valley could top 115. Yikes!!

This is serious Fahrenheit.

I see it’s supposed to cool down a few degrees, at least, in a day or so. Sure hope it does! We topped 90-degrees today, and 225 miles south of us where my son’s family lives, just did tap the century mark.

Is this an example of global warming? Or is it simply a phase in nature’s cycle? You decide. In either case, it’s still hot.

Baseball Tonight

There’s baseball tonight.

For us, it won’t be in Chicago’s Wrigley Field, where I saw my first Major League game, but here in Seattle, where the Mariners will host the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox.

Big Papi (above) is coming to town, though there is some question as to whether or not his sore back will allow him to be in the lineup.

Kay Lynne’s brother Rick and sister-in-law Danielle arrive today from Chicago, and tonight our son Doug and his wife Jamie will join us for the match-up at beautiful Safeco Field.

From a personal perspective I can’t think of a better way to “catch up” with relatives than to do so at a ball game. Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and (your favorite car)….. what could be better on a hot summer night?

Only cloud on the horizon is that Curt Schilling is not starting this evening. But Jamie Moyer is.

Finally – Floors Are In!

Today there is noticeably less stress hanging around our home. The floors are finally in place, and we are enjoying the improved ambiance.

We’re keeping busy putting furnishings back into place so we’ll be in a position to enjoy the weekend with our guests. I’ll add some posts next week, or perhaps sooner, regarding their visit.

Kitchen Chaos Hopefully Ends Tonight

Since Monday, our upstairs floor has been in chaos.

Kitchen chairs are in our bedroom and bathroom, the hutch and dining room table are in the living room, and dust is everywhere. All because the kitchen floor, the dining room floor and the floor in the half bath are getting a hardwood covering in Canadian cherrywood.

The job was scheduled to be completed Monday night, but due to “unforeseen contingencies,” the majority of the work is being completed (hopefully) today. But of course it has resulted in living chaos for several days.

Plus, relatives from Chicago arrive Friday. Which leaves us with one day before they arrive to get it all back together and hopefully looking decent. The schedule seemed just fine when this was originally planned out over a month ago. However, things happen, and you learn to deal with it.

I spose it’s our age that further complicates things. I don’t remember such things bothering us much in our younger days. It appears, however, that “maturity” brings with it some extra baggage with regard to tolerable stress levels.

I’ll return to more active posting when the dust clears. But then it’s on to new kitchen counter tops…

Anticipating Lutheran Church Membership

Following our 11am worship service today, my wife and I attended the “new members instructional class” in preparation for becoming members of First Lutheran Church in Poulsbo.

I am happy to report that we found no surprises in what we learned today, and that likely means we will become members there within a few weeks.

The class was taught by Senior Pastor Don Jukam, a seasoned preacher who knows what following Christ is all about and communicates those tenets very well, often using humor to his advantage.

We learned a bit about church history, about comparative denominations and, of course, about the teachings of Martin Luther. If Luther had one distinctive it was he believed and taught that mankind, or any individual, can do nothing in and of himself or herself to gain salvation. Our spiritual emancipation comes fully and entirely by what God, through Christ, has done for us.

This church is a “Word and Sacrament” Church. The Bible is the final authority for faith and practice, and this church, as do all Lutheran congregations, celebrates just two Sacraments – Baptism and Holy Communion. The remaining practices commonly referred to as Sacraments by the Roman Catholic Church and others (such as marriage, confirmation, etc.) are simply “rites” in the Lutheran tradition.

The backgrounds of class members considering Lutheran Church membership were quite varied. The gamut included the spread between Roman Catholic and Baptist with a smattering of mainline denominations in between.

All of us agreed that we have found a oneness here in this church that encompasses what we seek and need as followers of Christ.

Transformation

Our last volunteer church “work project” in California, before we moved to the Pacific Northwest about two years ago, was to serve on the Building Fund Committee of Covenant Community Church in Vacaville.

During the time we served, the parking lot and church building you see above was a large piece of “golden” grassland.

Quite a transformation has taken place.

The lone building on the property then was a small multi-purpose center that is shown to the right of the roundish tree. Church offices are also in this building.

We responded enthusiastically when asked to serve by the Pastor, John Moser. Kay Lynne was the coordinating administrator on the committee, and I helped with campaign design work and print communications. The experience was extremely rewarding for both of us.

This was the theme/logo our committee came up with for the campaign (it took a bit of trickery to get the original Publisher file to upload to this site):

God blessed our committee efforts, as we were able to garner member faith commitments totaling just about $400,000 back in March of 2004 – and since then the goal has increased to nearly $500,000. As of now, an incredible 75% of the money has already been given to the church.

Based on the member commitments, a construction loan was obtained, and the building you see above was constructed. The congregation has been worshipping in the new edifice for almost a year now, I believe.

The new facility is a multi-purpose worship center which can be set up for worship, banquets, basketball or other recreational activities, as needed. It has a full kitchen and several educational classrooms.

Some day a building that will serve as just a worship sanctuary will be erected on the land, according to the master plan, and from then on this building will function as a multi-purpose/educational facility only.

Kay Lynne and I had not seen the building until our visit down there at the beginning of this month, as we moved away from there a few months before construction began. We wished we could have been there for a worship service, but our schedule did not permit it this time. We look forward to that in the future.

"Ron’s Folly"?

On our recent visit to the Golden State, we spent a day or so in San Jose where my wife was born and raised and where we were married and lived for many years.

Back then San Jose’s City Hall was located on Hedding Street on the north side of the city between downtown and the airport.

Not anymore.

Kay Lynne and I were driving through some old “haunts” while there, and we noticed that the new City Hall was located right downtown on Santa Clara St., just north of San Jose State University - a seemingly perfect location.

As you can tell by the photo above, it’s also very beautiful. In fact, I mentioned to my wife that this would even sit well in a big city like San Francisco.

Well, there’s a reason it’s so nice – albeit a little bit out of character for San Jose. Seems besieged mayor Ron Gonzales, recently indicted, sadly, on a myriad of alleged charges relating to misconduct while in office, had pushed very hard during his two terms to get the buildings erected. According to less than friendly wags, he wanted to make sure that he would be remembered.

Unfortunately the edifice(s) reportedly came in at some $100 million over budget. So wouldn’t you know, those same wags have dubbed the new facility “Ron’s folly”?

Wouldn’t you also know that, finally, when San Jose sort of arrives in the big time, the effort is loaded with controversy? I guess it’s hard to convert the world's largest prune orchard into a viable big city in less than a long time.

Visiting Old (er, Longtime) Friends and Baggars

Above are (L to R) Petersens, Us, Walls & Silkwoods, taken last summer in Canada












At left are Ralph & Gayle Higgins on their deck that overlooks their Bay. The two "humps" in the distance form nearby Mt Diablo. That's Dwight Klassen at right exhibiting a bit of "Baggar humor" by hugging his (missing) wife Lynnette who was otherwise engaged at the time of the photo.

* * *

As I have alluded to in a previous post or two, we were in California for a week from June 29 through July 5. The trip provided a great opportunity to connect with some life-long friends.

We arrived in Sacramento at the tail end (fortunately) of an early summer heat wave. Unfortunately, three-digit temp days are the norm for Sacramento summers.

The good news is that the next morning we headed up the western slopes of the Sierras to visit our friends Ted and Sharon Petersen who live near Grass Valley where it was a “tad” cooler. The bad news is that “tad” is a slight variance in perception only.

Ted is a retired portrait photographer par excel lance who can’t seem to stop working. He’s now thinking about re-opening (on a smaller scale) his “natural environmental” portrait work to “keep him busy” in between the corporate shootings which linger from his working life. Plus, he has to find time to work on his single-digit golf handicap. Living on the second hole of a beautiful course doesn’t hurt.

Sharon has spent the last few years as the volunteer women’s ministries coordinator in their church. She’s just “passed the torch” to someone else, as she needs a respite from the time-intensive position.

A 12-year cancer survivor, Sharon is an incredible living example of what it means to trust God for everything and to work hard at what He’s called you to do. She won’t mind if you include her on your prayer list.

After our Saturday stop at Quaker Meadows we headed for San Jose, our old stomping grounds, and a Sunday brunch with Mike and Gwen Silkwood and Ed and Darlene Wall.

We enjoyed catching up on things with these wonderful friends whom we’ve known since the 1960’s. We did so via an unbelievable noon buffet spread at the city-owned Hayes Mansion that has been converted into a five-star restaurant. You leave thinking you've bought a bunch of stock in the place, but you're totally satisfied.

Gwen has recently joined Sharon as a cancer survivor and is presently undergoing post-operative treatments. Her prognosis is good, but she, too, is grateful for prayers and support. We spent a long time talking about the “why’s” and “wherefore’s” of life, of course not really figuring out anything, except to agree that we’re thankful for God’s mercy and grace.

A day later, following a Sunday evening stop in Sunnyvale to visit my cousin Jim Narva and his wife Kay, we dropped in on two of the Baggars and their wives who both happen to live in Discovery Bay on the Sacramento River Delta.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with Ralph and Gayle Higgins and with Dwight and Lynnette Klassen. Whenever the three of us guys get together, our wives have to put up with our friendIy "Baggar banter" into which we revert as if we were still in college. It probably gets old fast for our wives, but we seem to still groove on it.

I can tell you that the Higginses run a wonderful “bed and breakfast,” just not as a business. After trading stories for hours, sleep came easily in their commodious dockside home, and Ralph prepared a mean Cactus omelet the next morning. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it; it was delicious.

Our little dog, Buddy, simply went nuts with joy when we picked him up from the Kennel upon our arrival back home. It’s so nice to be loved.

Today is Leonard Mallen’s Birthday

Leonard Mallen was a boyhood friend from the Finnish Lutheran Church on Wilson Ave. in Chicago. His dad owned two multi-unit apartment houses at 814-816 W. Cuyler St., just a short distance from Wrigley Field (right, close to what it looked like then) .

I wonder if the then deep red-brick building rentals are still there, and I sort of marvel how I can remember that address from 60 years ago when I have difficulty remembering what I had for breakfast.

Leonard was fluently bi-lingual (Finnish and English), as were his parents (immigrants in those days learned our language first and consequently prospered), but Finnish was what was spoken in their home.

I would often try to get him to teach me some Finnish words (I learned a few) but I never became fully conversant.

Leonard always seemed to have discretionary money that our family didn’t. His kind father taught him to share his bounty, and Leonard would often invite me to go to Cubs games with him.

Through Leonard, I got my first exposure to Major League Baseball and the “love to lose” Cubbies.

In those days, we never paid to get in. I would talk to the attendant to distract him, and Leonard would jump the low fence into Wrigley Field just out of sight of the monitor. Then he would engage the guard from the inside, and I would go down and jump the fence.

As youths it didn’t occur to us that what we did was wrong; it was simply a prankish game we could always play and win. After all, Leonard had the money to pay. Those low fences, by the way, were replaced with 10-foot high cyclone ones not long afterward.

We always had (Leonard’s) money with which to enjoy the game. We both always got the same thing – a hot dog, a Pepsi, some peanuts and a malt cup. For sure, the “Wrigley Field experience” was a bedrock in helping to create my life-long love for the game of baseball.

I remember watching then Cubs players like Andy Pafko or Hank Sauer (LF), Frankie Baumholtz (CF & RF), lefty home run hitter Bill Nicholson (RF) Peanuts Lowry (3B), Roy Smalley (SS), Wayne Terwilliger (2B) and Phil Cavaretta (1B). My favorite Cub pitcher was Bob Rush. (Again, how those names come to mind 60 years after the fact must show the impact it had at my young age.)

Well, Happy Birthday, Len. Though you’re long gone, if the Lutheran tradition holds true, you’re now enjoying the game on a gorgeous new field.

Baseball and Music Like Oil and Water? Think Again.

My wife and I attended a symphony concert yesterday at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall. And believe it or not, in the process we learned things about baseball that we never knew.

The event happened to be one of the relatively few stops for the traveling musical multi-media show called The Baseball Music Project that features music associated with baseball – America’s pastime.

My son Doug and his wife Jamie took us to the Concert as my birthday present for this year. It was perfect for an old baseball crony like me.

Using images from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, the program skillfully blends the visuals with a wonderful variety of music related to the game of baseball (there are hundreds of songs out there).

The Project is the brainchild of Robert Thompson, who travels with the show and guest-conducted the Seattle symphony orchestra for its three performances.

Thompson, a passionate baseball and music aficionado, says, “We love baseball for reasons and purposes we don’t entirely understand ourselves… there’s mystery in the game. We believe that Shoeless Joe Jackson could come walking out of a cornfield in Iowa at any moment.”

Among other interesting lore, we learned that the lyrics for Take Me Out To The Ballgame, the third most widely sung song in America (behind the National Anthem and Happy Birthday) were written on a New York subway car in 1908 by one Jack Norworth, after his train passed a sign that simply said “BASEBALL GAME TODAY at the Polo Grounds” (then the home of the NY Giants).

He scribbled the words while his train car continued it's lurching ride down the tracks (there’s a photo of the original script in the program whose cover is pictured above – that’s Babe Ruth at the piano). Composer Albert Von Tilzer soon added the music that resulted in the now famous sing-along melody.

The late Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray helped to make it a national ballpark tradition by leading Cub fans in singing the song before the home half of every seventh inning. Games were televised nationally on super station WGN-TV, and it caught on at parks around the country.

One of my favorite visuals in the program was the famous Willie Mays back-to-the-infield catch of Vic Wertz’ line drive to deep center field in the 1954 World Series between the Giants and Cleveland. I’m old enough to remember listening to that World Series on radio which the Giants swept, incidentally.

Hall of Famer Dave Winfield narrated the show, and guest vocalists were the talented Misty Castleberry and Forrest Mankowski.

Granddaughters Conquer the Rock Climbing Wall at Quaker Meadows

Being up at 7,200 feet above sea level at Quaker Meadows Camp in the southern Sierras of California was not high enough for our three granddaughters.

They wanted to scale the professionally-constructed rock climbing wall there and go even higher.

Mission accomplished.

Left top is Talli, three weeks from being 12. She can scoot up the wall in about 20 seconds. Hayley, 9, middle right, can zoom up in about the same time. Aubrey, three days from being 4, above, can make it about half way up the wall.

Click on each picture to see it full size. I had to "doctor" these photos, as the low light, black wall and distance from the camera all created problems.

All three girls are very athletic. Talli and Hayley both also attempted the climb using their hands only (without placing their feet on a protruding rock, just against the wall).

They could get past the half-way point, but it takes more upper body strength than is available in their young bodies to make it all the way. I believe their Uncle Loren, an experienced mountaineer, made it up all the way once with hands only.

The girls were able to stay at Quaker Meadows for three more days after their maternal grandparents’ Saturday celebration. They spent their time hiking mountain trails, swimming in the pool, taking part in water adventures in the small lake and sleeping in a mountain cabin.

To say the least, the kids of all ages thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Home Again

It’s nice to be home again… after a jam-packed week in California. I love California; I lived in the Golden State for almost 35 years.

But I love the Evergreen State even more.

Today it was forecast to be 90-degrees in Sacramento where we flew out of this morning. However it was a cool 65-degrees with a protective cloud cover when we landed in Seattle just before noon. And no smog.

Last Thursday it was a hazy 105 when we arrived in Sacramento. I had to find a small spot of leather on the rental car steering wheel in order to even touch it. I would have blistered had I grabbed the hard plastic circle.

I guess we’re not used to the heat anymore.

On the other hand, in spite of the desert-like conditions, we enjoyed our trip immensely. We got to visit with five couples with whom we've been friends for over 40 years. More blog posts upcoming on that.

And we really enjoyed a full day last Saturday at Quaker Meadows Camp and Retreat Center, some 7,200 feet up in the high Sierras above Porterville. We were there with a large group of Friends (note the capital “F”) celebrating the 50th wedding anniversary of Kennard and Margene Haworth (pictured above), parents of our daughter-in-law Elaine (Gregg’s wife).

The trip odometer on the rental car turned 1,000 miles as we drove into the airport this morning. We really covered a lot of territory, but that’s par for the course when traveling in the expansive State of California.

Methinks we’ll sleep well tonight.

Keep Your Bobber Straight Up (And You Might Catch Fish Like This)

My son Doug caught this Steelhead this morning. Without a guide, on his own gear, and from a river bank.

This gorgeous, anadromous rainbow trout was 29-inches long and weighed over 10 pounds.

Only a miniscule percentage of fishermen enjoy such bragging rights with the wily steelhead. The vast majority of fishermen never even catch one steelhead over their entire life.

According to fish and game department catch results, it is estimated that an average (steelhead) fisher will drown bait for somewhere between 30 and 50 hours for every fish caught. And they’ll usually need the assistance of a guide to reach those numbers (like mine last winter).

Accomplished fishermen, of course, do much better. Doug was on the river all of two hours this morning, in an area new to him, when he blew away the stats.

His wife is out of town for a couple days, so he decided late last night to give the Skykomish River a try. The part of the river he fished is about 40 miles from downtown Seattle.

A good fisherman does his homework. He knew of the river’s fine reputation for summer steelhead and did his research on the best spot to fish.

In recent years the method of choice to try to hook one of these beauties has been to drift a (sometimes) colorful feathered jig under a float or bobber. But it has to be the right jig, the right kind of bobber, the right weight line and leader and the right pole (at least seven feet long with a sensitive tip).

At dinner tonight, while we savored some filets from his deliciously prepared catch, he explained the technique.

The bobber is streamlined (so it will cast easily) and has opposing knitting needle-type points jutting out from the center float. You cast the rig upstream and “mend” (remove slack from) your line so one of the bobber “points” is straight up (which of course means the opposing point is straight down).

This is the only rig posture at which the fish will strike, as it means the jig (bait) is directly under the bobber and both are moving at exactly the same speed as the river current. Any other presentation angle spoils the action and fails to deliver.

When his bobber disappeared on his umpteenth cast, Doug’s instinctive reflexes caused him to pull back and set the hook. He felt resistance.

The fight was on, and 20 minutes later, after deftly extricating the line (and fish) from some underwater foliage while at the same time fighting the fish, he eased the chrome-sided hen onto the shore.

Let me tell you, episodes like this are a fisherman’s dream. And if you’ve never tasted the delicate flavor of a fresh, properly marinated and barbecued steelhead, you haven’t experienced one of the great culinary delights of life. You can’t buy steelhead at the store, so it’s a rare occurrence when you can enjoy it for dinner.

To even have a shot at it, though, you’ve got to keep your bobber straight up.

The Story of the Baggars

B. O. Plenty, the unshaven, tobacco-spitting, earthy but colorful character in Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy comic strip, often proclaimed, “I was the eighth of seven brothers”. (Spend a while thinking about that.)

With apologies to B.O. – and Chester Gould – I can say that “I’m the second of six Baggars”. Not beggars. Not baggers. But Baggars.

We’re not exactly sure how the name came to be, other than the older sister of one of us had a lot to do with it. We do know when it first surfaced, and that was in the late 1950’s and very early 1960’s when all of us were students at San Jose State University (then only a college).

We were also, at that time, all participants in a campus group called “Tri-C”, which was sponsored by the then mega-church, First Baptist of San Jose. The “club” had about 150 student members, and much of our growth in group dynamics occurred there

The six of us lived together as roommates, four at a time, in different sets, during the several years we were all in San Jose. At first we started calling each other “Baggar” (anything except one’s real name). Then our circle of friends began referring to the six of us as “The Baggars”, and it stuck.

The “official” Baggars are Dwight Klassen, Ralph Higgins, Bob Rodde, Jerry Horton, Joe Medal and myself. I knew Bob first (in high school), and then I met Dwight at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. Of course we all ended up at SJSU. Each man is uniquely gifted (personal exemption) and all are productive contributors to their respective communities.

I could write a book – and perhaps I should – about the shenanigans we pulled off as students. But the most interesting and meaningful thing that happened is that those experiences bonded us together for life. We are all still friends, and with the exception of Jerry who lives in Texas (check the web site of his life's passion), we see each other somewhat regularly.

Right now I find myself wanting to relate stories from the lore of the Baggars of which there are legion, but I will refrain for now. Maybe such would provide fodder for future posts for this blog (on a slow news day), similar to my “spiritual re-draft” series (well, not really, as we were much less spiritual then).

The photo at the top was taken almost two years ago when half of the six Baggars happened to be together at a party at Ralph's house in the Bay Area. From left are Dwight, myself and Ralph. The three of us, along with Bob, still maintain quite close contact.

If any of the guys ever sends me a pic of the six of us from way back then (Dwight’s the only one organized enough to lay a hand on it if it still exists), I’ll publish it here on the blog.

A New Car Experience – For Cheap

Our car (compact SUV, actually) will soon be almost six model years old. Of course it may not be six full calendar years old, depending on what month it was actually made, but, unfortunately, it was beginning to show it’s age.

Our gravel (think dusty), rather inclined private road takes its toll on the exterior finish and on brakes – to say nothing about small dents and scratches from “moving” objects in parking lots, toll booths and the garage.

Something had to be done, but what? A new vehicle is out of the question.

Fortunately, there is an auto dealer nearby that specializes in car restoration and offers its expertise in same to the public and other dealers via an auto “detailing” service. And I mean detailing.

For a fee, they will scour and polish every square inch of your chariot, inside and out. The degree to which they scrub and rub is the degree to which you pay.

Because our set of wheels was rather “needy”, we chose the very thorough “Platinum” service. The car was in the shop almost two full days.

But WOW. Check the photo above of our “new” SUV.

The wallet was dented for a bit more than two C-notes, but the vehicle gained at least $1,000 in value!

I fully realize that a car is a depreciating asset, but I manipulated my logic to think that I actually put money in my pocket by spending some. And I maybe did, if I were to have sold it today versus what someone would have paid three days ago. But we’re keeping it. Perhaps for another five years, now.

In fact, I’m thinking about trying to restore some shine to the exterior of our 14-year-old black Explorer which continues to oxidize in our garage, though it's doing so more slowly now that it’s been inside.

Must Be the Home Cookin’?

After being overwhelmed here in the northwest this past weekend by the fragrance of pine trees, moist ocean air and Mariners’ pitching, the San Francisco Giants went home and finally won a game tonight.

And what a gem it was.

Highly touted second-year Giant pitching phenom Matt Cain (above) pitched no-hit ball for 8-2/3 innings against the LA Angels before giving up a single. Thanks to Comcast’s “Extra Innings” PPV, I was able to watch the outstanding performance right in my own home.

The 21-year-old Cain got the final out in the 8th inning after giving up the hit and after tossing 120-some pitches. In the top of the 9th, manager Felipe Alou sent out Armando Benitez to mop up, which he quickly did.

But it was a memorable night for the young right hander. The final score was 2-1, as the kid lost his shutout in the first inning due to a walk, a stolen base and a fielders’ choice. His no-hit effort lasted for almost seven more pleasure-filled innings.

Why do I follow the Giants so closely? I lived in the Bay Area for almost 30 years and I’ve watched them play at Seals Stadium, Candlestick Park and PacBell/SBC/AT&T Park. But I was a Giants fan even before Bobby Thompson’s famous 1951 playoff-game home run in the Polo Grounds against the Dodgers’ Ralph Branca.

Believe it or not, I heard the broadcast of that game live on a portable radio which we snuck into our grade school classroom in Chicago. I was also a Cub fan then.

Of course now that I live in the Pacific Northwest, I’m enjoying being a new Mariners fan. The M’s are improving day by day, and hopefully they’ll yet salvage this season and get into the playoffs.

The only time I root for someone else is when they play the Giants. I guess I left my baseball heart at AT&T park.

Bay Area N.L. Baseball Comes to Puget Sound

The guy on the left connected today. The guy above did not. But all the talk here in the Seattle area is about the guy above.

Baseball wags around Puget Sound were lathering at the mouth today, contemplating where Barry Bonds might play next year. For years I have thought that Bonds and the Giants were inseparable.

But I’m not at all sure now, after watching the Giants play today at Safeco Field (thanks to the graciousness of my cousin Joel Narva who shared one of his multiple-game package seats). This was the first opportunity for me this year to watch my beloved Bay Area team in person.

The Orange and Black today looked like the old men they are. I had a hard time finding a starter who wasn’t pushing 40 or over it.

Oh, Barry does what he has to do to get the job done. He even started in left field last night (and homered) instead of being the DH, which he usually is in American League parks.

But what really shows, in a day game after a night game, is how old the Giants actually are. They played today like exhausted old warriors – and lost, 8 - 1, partly due to Richie Sexson’s (the guy on the left, above) long center field home run.

So if Barry is going to play another year – which he’ll likely have to do if he’s going to catch Hank Aaron for the all-time HR record – it’s becoming apparent to me that he just may have to do so as a DH in the American League.

I, too, will join the wags and say that I'd love to watch the home run chase here in Seattle next year.

Creating an Impression

Ever since we moved to the Pacific northwest two years ago we’ve been charmed and elated by the natural beauty.

I took the photo above two nights ago at sunset and happened to catch one of our resident bald eagles eyeing a last minute shoreline snack before retiring for the night.

Just about every day, it seems, nature in one form or another touches our lives with a visual impression worth savoring.

And of course these are the experiences that make living here a continuing delight.

Seattle's Qwest Field – Not Just for Football

The photo above is how Qwest Field looked yesterday as close to 1,400 Seattle Pacific University graduates received their Baccalaureate, Masters and Doctorate degrees.

My nephew Mike Narva (second cousin, to be accurate) was among them, at right, about to receive his B.A. in Psychology from SPU’s president, Dr. Phil Eaton.

Mike’s brother Andrew had received his B.A. in Spanish studies over the Memorial Day weekend from the University of Redlands in California.

Both young men finished their undergraduate work at about the same time due to the fact that Mike had transferred in to SPU, and he had to take additional work because not everything transferred fully for his major. He wisely took an extra half year to complete his studies and technically was finished at the end of last winter’s term.

The commencement speaker was, in my humble opinion, one of the strongest and most interesting I’ve ever heard. Her discourse jarred my relatively complacent value system.

Giving basically a poignant challenge to both grads and attendees, Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner made a very strong case for Christians to live out their faith and personally get involved in helping those who cannot help themselves, especially victimized children, regardless of skin color.

When God looked down on the needs of humankind, she said, he did not send a check. He sent his Son. She urged us to act accordingly, even if it means adhering to principles that are alien and in conflict with the political order, the social order, and our cultural beliefs.

She is president and co-founder of the Skinner Leadership Institute and is the widow of the late Rev. Tom Skinner, former chaplain to the Washington Redskins and the New York Yankees.

We thoroughly enjoyed having our extended family in our area of the country for such a special occasion, and we had a chance last evening to all be together at a fine Seattle restaurant gathering.

Now Mike and Andrew will focus on their respective vocations that lie ahead. Both are very gifted in their chosen areas of interest. We’ll be watching with great anticipation and also a bit of healthy family pride as they continue their walk down life’s pathway.

Our Family Enjoys SPU Ivy Cutting Ceremony

My cousin Jim Narva and his wife, Kay, are in the northwest this weekend attending the graduation of their elder son Mike from Seattle Pacific University.

Two weeks ago, Andrew, their younger son (by a year or so), received his Baccalaureate degree from the University of Redlands in southern California.

That’s two birds out of the nest within a two-week period. Quite an accomplishment for all.

That’s Jim and Kay, above left, with Mike (in cap and gown with his ivy cutting) and Andrew on the right.

Tomorrow my wife and I will attend Mike’s receiving of his Baccalaureate degree at Qwest Field in Seattle where the NFC champion Seahawks play their home games each Fall. Following the event we’ll celebrate both young men’s accomplishments at a dinner at a restaurant on Lake Union. We look forward to it very much.

But today was the famed “Ivy Cutting Ceremony” at SPU. At an on-campus, outdoor gathering of graduates, faculty, parents and guests, the senior class is honored in a ceremony at which each graduate cuts a piece of ivy from the campus vines which have been placed around them.

The ritual signifies the student’s “cutting himself or herself loose” from one aspect of life and being released to take on another exciting chapter. The event is a long-standing tradition at SPU, and many graduates comment in later years that they remember the ivy cutting as much or more as the actual commencement exercises.

In any case, today’s was another memorable ceremony for this year’s SPU grads including Mike. And what was especially nice is that many of us in the extended family were able to experience it with him.

A Splash of Color To Complement The Green

After the long, wet Spring here in the northwest, everything that grows is doing just that – rather quickly and almost overbearingly now that better weather is slowly entrenching itself.

In fact, up until a day ago, you could have called several areas “overgrown”, at least on our little speck of land. Consequently, this morning we are feeling the “sore muscle” aftermath of a long afternoon yesterday working in the yard.

Weeds were whacked, bushes were pruned, lawns were cut, trash was hauled and the driveway, every walkway, and the porches were blown clean of nature’s droppings. Today, you can notice the improvements.

One of the most obvious improvements is the accenting color splash in the back yard from the clusters of fresh flowers my wife planted (one such grouping is shown above). She has a real knack for placing them perfectly to provide an ideal complement of tints and hues to relieve the omnipresent natural green tones.

Now, of course, we’ll probably have to get a bench or some chairs for the backyard so we can sit and admire her environmental handiwork. The beauty around us is a constant and comforting reinforcement for why we live here.

We’ll have to put off “sitting” for a bit, however; Kay Lynne is today coping with her soreness by measuring for the kitchen improvements.

Dispelling Ambivalence

Lately, I’ve been trying to conjure up enthusiasm. Maybe it’s the time of the year.

It would seem, however, that with summer approaching, this would be an upbeat time – what with living here in the mostly moist northwest. Isn’t the imminent season when we finally get some extended periods of sunshine? (Not necessarily :-).

We are looking forward to visits from family and friends this summer. That’s an upper! But the porches need painting, the leaky skylights need attention and my wife wants to “upgrade” the kitchen. And that’s enough to give one pause.

In July we plan to drive to California for an extended family anniversary celebration and also to visit our life-long friends there (at least six different couples). That’s also exiting. But both cars need mechanical and cosmetic attention. And that means throwing more money at depreciating assets.

With summer approaching I should be looking forward to the best fishing of the year. That’s usually enough to really make me upbeat. But I just sold my boat (turned out to be too heavy to easily haul around this area.)

Hopefully, though, I can soon find a relatively inexpensive, used, easily trailerable, aluminum replacement for chasing trout (and maybe for taking a short cruise on the Sound on a calm day). This, of course, is investing in a depreciating asset.

I could go on. But I guess I’m just feeling a little ambivalent about things right now.

Wait a minute. If these are my copious concerns, things can’t be all that bad.

Come to think of it, there’re a whole lot of great, anticipatory events coming up. Could I just be whining about a few necessary vicissitudes of life?

Probably so. By nature, I’m usually a total optimist. I really am. I really am.

Isn’t it great how just putting things into perspective can send ambivalence running? See it fading?

Re-Drafting My Spiritual Formation – Log #10: “Passing the Peace” Is Much More Than A Salutation

In the Lutheran tradition, with which my wife and I are becoming more familiar, we often “pass the peace.” It is a warm greeting in which we simply say to one another, “Peace be with you”.

But I’ve discovered that “passing the peace” is a lot more than just a friendly salutation.

Through the years I have thought of “peace” mostly in the sense of “absence of war”. I grew up with the "Peace-nik” generation. Their primary concern was the elimination of war (no matter what the cost to freedom, unfortunately).

So in my normal idiom, the concept of “peace” mostly connoted a state of tranquility that we should strive for but that would be virtually impossible to attain.

I must also admit that I often wondered how just “declaring” a desire for peace (as the “Peace-niks did) would keep the bully away, but that’s another issue.

In a similar sense, I also wondered how wishing peace to or for someone would do anything to actually bring peace. To me, that usually came off like a non-actualizing but nice sounding greeting – mostly around church people.

But I’m now coming to appreciate something much more encompassing. When Christ himself appeared to his disciples – sometimes suddenly and out of nowhere – his first words often were “peace be with you”. He calmed their anxieties without them even asking.

Of course Christ was the personification of peace, and in fact, he was the “prince of peace”. So it seemed relatively easy to understand his greeting in that context.

But, as I said, there’s more. In John 14, at the last supper, Jesus told his disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give (peace) to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.”

A little later in that fateful evening meal he continued, “I have told you these things so that in me (italics mine) you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

What an empowering declaration!

At the core of our understanding of peace, then, should be the particular and distinctive peace that only Christ can provide.

The peace of Christ is calming. The peace of Christ relieves anxiety. The peace of Christ rises above trouble. And the peace of Christ enables us to overcome the difficulties we may face in our world.

It is no wonder that the rite of benediction with which we are blessed at the close of each worship service (and which, I believe, is rooted in the ancient Aaronic or priestly blessing) includes the words, “the Lord…. be gracious to you…. and give you peace.”

Now, when I have the privilege of “passing the peace” I do so knowing that our Lord himself did it and that it has been practiced by his church ever since the first century. And I do it with the knowledge that its power and blessing is embodied in everything Christ is as the Prince of Peace.

May the peace of Christ be with you.

Piscatorial Fortunes Change Overnight

It’s amazing how different fishing can be from one day to the next.

Early yesterday morning my son Doug and I headed east over the Cascades into the Okanogan country, in the northern sector of central Washington.

Our destination was Conconully Reservoir, adjacent to the little town of Conconully, which in turn is about 10 miles northwest of Omak which is…. Best to just look on a map if you really care. It’s 235 miles and almost 5 driving hours from Seattle.

We heard on the car radio about the incredible Spring runoff going on from the rapidly melting snowpack – especially the Wenatchee River near Leavenworth – but we paid little attention because we were only going to pass through the area on the way.

The Wenatchee River was as predicted – a roiling torrent, like as not seen in many years, but that’s another story.

Rain hit the windshield all the way over Stevens pass, but the weather cleared as we neared Conconully. We “fished” from about 3 pm until dark – with little action and no fish. A skunk!

The resort owner had warned us on arrival. “Fishing’s been slow this week,” she said. The town is in near flood stage from the runoff, and the reservoir is totally full with the discolored water gushing over the spillway of the earthen dam.

The fish were scattered and the water was cloudy, but we gave it a try because we had had very good luck there last summer, as Doug’s 3+ pound rainbow had attested.

But it wasn’t to be this time. What to do now? How could we salvage the trip?

No problem, try Fish Lake which is between Leavenworth and Stevens Pass and where Doug, at least, has never not limited out. Besides, it was on the way home, anyway.

We got up at 5 this morning at the Omak Inn, packed up and began the 2-1/2 hour drive back to Fish Lake. We were on the water well before 9:00.

I don’t think my F6 flatfish even got thoroughly wet before my pole tip throbbed from an attack by a hungry rainbow. And so went the day.

They hit and hit and hit, more than making up for yesterday. We probably caught over 30 fish between us, and Doug brought home a really nice brown trout which he and Jamie broiled for dinner.

If there’s a moral to this story, heed weather reports and don’t fish where they’re not biting. The best part for me, though, was getting to spend most of two days with my otherwise busy son, satisfying, temporarily, our mutual piscatorial addiction.

Mom. Grandma and Wife – She’s the Complete Package

Today is Mother’s Day – the day we set aside to remember and honor the one who gave us life, (with incidental help from Dad, of course).

My mom has been gone for 47 years come next month, and I still think of her frequently – especially on days like this.

In his providence, God gave me another incredible Mom with whom to share life’s journey – my wife, Kay Lynne. In my eyes, she’s a mom who has few, if any, equals. Have you met our two sons?

She’s also a mind-boggling Grandma. All you have to do is ask any of our three granddaughters, like almost four-year-old Aubrey, above left, with her Grandma a few weeks ago at Disneyland.

My wife has given all of herself to her family. It’s the most noble quality, and there is not a higher compliment you can pay a person. She has a seemingly infinite and unconditional love for her family.

She’s the complete package.

Island Lake – Not What It Once Was, But Still Pretty Good

Yesterday I finally got a chance to fish at Island Lake in the Silverdale area while my wife took care of other business in the shopping center.

I had first heard about this lake from my California bud, Ed Wall, who in his younger days lived in 15 different houses in the nearby Port Orchard/Bremerton area. The house thing is another story.

Ed used to go to Island Lake as a teen-ager where at that time (the mid-1950’s) there was an establishment somewhere on the Lake that hosted weekend dances. Seems this popular gal from East (Bremerton) High named Darlene was known to cut a sassy swath on the dance floor there.

Ed didn’t (and doesn’t) know how to dance much, but he’d “hang” there on Saturday nights in his white T-shirt with sleeves rolled up and low-slung Levis, hoping to catch Darlene’s eye.

I guess it must have worked. They’ve been married almost 45 years. (The photo shows Ed and Darlene with their five grandchildren, taken just short of two weeks ago.)



But yesterday, hard as I looked, I saw no dance hall at the lake. In fact, I saw no island either. The sleepy, now darkly-hued but still quite clear body of water is surrounded by hills, homes, cabins, trees and a couple of outlying middle-class real estate developments.

I found a fishing dock at the County Park that has been nicely developed there with a playground, rest rooms, and improved shoreline. They stock the lake each spring with a few thousand catchable-sized rainbow trout, including some larger triploids. With a few even better-sized carryovers always around from the previous year, it offers a nice recreational challenge.

Six of us were on the dock for the two hours I had my line in the water. That’s 12 fisherman-hours. Three rainbows were caught. That means, on average, it takes four hours to catch a rainbow there.

Unfortunately, you know how short a time I had to soak bait. You can make your own conclusion as to whether or not I caught fish.

The best part of being there, however, was getting to see a spectacular Washington wild life "happening". The guy next to me hooked a fish, but it shook the snare and disappeared in the murky-bottomed drink before he could get it in. Soon the fish could be seen floating belly-up on the surface about 50 feet out.

In less than 10 seconds from the time we spotted the fish, two giant Bald Eagles swooped down from the treetops about 150 yards away. In no time the birds were skimming along like gliders, a foot or two off the water, heading straight for the gasping fish.

While still moving very fast, the lead bird effortlessly snatched the fish from the water with its sharp talons and aerobatically soared upward and back toward the lair with the fish continuing to struggle in the deadly grip.

A perfect precision-like maneuver by the once-endangered eagle resulted in life likely continuing for the pair’s young. I had witnessed a snapshot of nature’s indiscriminate life cycle.

And all of this occurred just a 20-minute drive from home. Is this a great State, or what?

An Airline Who’s Quick On The Tarmac As Well As In The Air

It’s been quite a while since I had made a one-day business trip to another city. Of course that always means getting up at the crack of dawn and getting to bed very late the same night with a whole lot sandwiched in between.

Yesterday I had to fly to Spokane to take care of some pressing things, so I decided to make the trek in just a day. Southwest Airlines has a senior fare (cheapest fare out there) that you can buy with no advance purchase, so I took advantage of it the day before.

The low, easily available fare had, this time at least, offset the airline’s lousy boarding and seating procedures (I HATE waiting in a line to fight for a seat location someone else likely has already taken).

I arrived, finally, at Seatac about 7:45 a.m. for a 9:00 flight to GEG. Twenty five minutes later I had skated through check-in and security and was waiting for the plane to arrive. Being Southwest, the plane arrived exactly on time. Wow, I thought, this is great.

Until, at 9:05 after we had boarded, the captain announced that we would be going nowhere on this particular aircraft due to a sensor malfunction in the right engine.

Usually, this would send me to “ruinsville”. Reason is, I'm aware that most airlines would take at least two or three hours to get you re-routed and to your destination, and I had a late morning meeting.

But Southwest to the rescue.

After we deplaned, they simply moved us over two gates, and we waited ten minutes for the plane from Sacramento to arrive. Normally, it would turn around and go back to Sacto, but because there were far more passengers waiting to go to Spokane than back south, they did what I think NO other airline could do on the spur of the moment.

They made a decision to put us on the arriving Sacramento plane and then sent us off to Spokane within 20 minutes. They called up mechanics from Oakland to fix the disabled plane, and put the southbound passengers on the next plane going south, hardly missing a beat in the days’ routine.

It was poetry in motion by an airline. And the quickest thinking and acting by airline operations people I’ve ever seen. We arrived in Spokane barely 30 minutes later than originally scheduled – an unbelievable accomplishment.

KUDOS TO SOUTHWEST, as they “saved” my day. I even returned home feeling rested because I accomplished what I had set out to do, even though it was a long day.

Re-Drafting My Spiritual Formation – Log #9: Trying to Grasp Luther’s Double Negative

Worshipping in a mainline Church for the first time in my life and trying to absorb the meaning relating to same are causing me to stretch the conventions of my spiritual thought processes.

Late last week my wife and I had dinner with two of the Pastors on our Church’s staff. They are the Revs Kent and Alison Shane, a unique husband and wife team who job-share one full time position but each with different portfolios. Both hold M.Div. degrees in theology, and both are ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

Our discussion soon headed into the aspects of Luther’s thought with which we were less familiar and about which we had questions.

After sharing our diverse backgrounds we began to discuss the predictable. What were Martin Luther’s views on sin, the depravity of man, grace, redemption, salvation, etc., etc.? Of course to deal with all of this would have taken years more than the couple of hours we had available.

We ended up kind of focusing on God’s grace and mercy and on how undeserving we are of them. In fact, we discussed how humankind is incapable of doing anything that could earn us even a part of salvation.

I happened to mention that I had found John Wesley’s concept of “prevenient grace” quite satisfactory in this regard; that is, in Wesley’s view God provides even the grace needed before we are even capable of asking for it or experiencing it.

Pastor Alison spoke up and said, “Luther goes even farther than that.”

“Luther believed that we can’t not sin,” she interjected. And by that he believed we could do nothing in and of ourselves to earn or gain salvation. According to the church’s tradition, Luther may have even believed that to ask God for salvation was itself an act of works.

Carried further, Luther believed that when it came to behavior, we humans really have no choice at all. According to the book of Romans we have no free will in this regard. Therefore, God alone could, and must, provide salvation, and in this there is total freedom.

On the way home, with what I’d been taught as an evangelical admittedly lingering in my thoughts, there was one looming question: What, then, is the responsibility of the individual, if any, with regard to pardon, salvation, and attaining the Kingdom of God?

O, I know the easy evangelical answer. But now I’m contemplating these notions from a new angle.

Re-Drafting My Spiritual Formation – Log #8: New Discoveries In An Ancient Faith

During my 50-plus years as a Christian, for a myriad of reasons, I had never given much thought to nor thoroughly investigated “mainline” denominational faith practice.

O, what I have missed out on.

I am so reminded each Sunday as my wife and I continue to worship in a “mainline” church, First Lutheran of Poulsbo.

What is apparently happening, little by little, is that I’m beginning to encounter aspects of the faith that either had little or misconstrued meaning before, or were missed altogether.

How could this be true, you might ask? Where have you been for all these years, you might inquire?

Rather than passing judgment on what has been before, I’d instead like to focus on the emerging nuggets of the faith that I’m experiencing.

In this post I’d like to spotlight just one – liturgy. In the past I was led to believe that such consisted mostly of “vain repetitions” and was “lifeless” or lacked "vitality". So I discounted it out of ignorance.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. In the Lutheran tradition, at least, I’m learning that the liturgy leads us through several key elements of worship and faith practice. And because it is rehearsed in one form or another at virtually every worship service it gradually imbeds itself in our innermost being (the transforming and motivating use of the Gospel, as we learned in last Sunday’s sermon).

And I’m now beginning to feel the sustaining effects throughout the week.

I am also confounded as to how I could have been so blind all these years. Unexpectedly, my lifelong quest for a personally meaningful and sustaining faith is now finding location in the elements of faith practice that, in my experience at least, were largely overlooked.

Much of the liturgy is a recitation of scripture – hardly a thing that should not be repeated. Much of it is also a summary of the key creeds and confessions of faith that are the bedrock of Christianity. And much of it is “guided” prayer – making sure that we commune with God not only in the ways we have been instructed but also with a proper attitude.

It all sounds so elementary, but I somehow didn’t connect with it. I regret that. But I’m making up for it as quickly as I can. Thanks be to God.