The summer has officially ended for me. I am in Cedarville, Ohio creating a home of my new apartment. Classes begin in less than a week, and there is still much to do over the next few days, but I am mentally ready.
The readiness that I feel for this new semester would not have been possible if it wasn't for some quality time at home in the great Northwest. Flying over the Cascades has never been more beautiful and refreshing then after 10 weeks of traveling the globe. Because of my usual bad luck with flight delays, I didn't get home until over 40 hours after landing in the US. However, that dazzling descent into PDX energized me--so much so that 8 hours later I was in the Columbia River Gorge hiking near a waterfall with my old pal Jordi Bright. What was about to happen next was not the welcoming home that I was looking for...
We forged a trail around the edge of the waterfall to reach its summit so that we could continue up the river. However, just as were about to reach the top of this treacherous trail, I was welcomed by an angry nest of bees/wasps/hornets (or some kind of stinging creature). After being stung about 5 times, it was time for me to turn around. Yet as I quickly turned, I slipped. The hill we climbed was steep, and as I fell, I knew that there was a very good chance that I was going to be in really bad shape or even worse...but, praise the Lord, I was saved by a tree half way down before I reached the most dangerous part of the decent. To say that was a tree would not be exactly correct. It was a cluster of five little trees ascending from the ground like fingers of a hand, waiting to catch me before I made impact at the base of the waterfall. Never have I been so grateful to be alive. Jordi had to endure an even worse attack of bees as he carefully climbed down after me. Above is a picture of my back with evidence of rolling into a tree.
The rest of my time at home was not so severe but also full of adventure. Jordi and I did actually get a good hike in the following weekend climbing up the creek that feeds into Bridal Veil Falls. I enjoyed making music with my other old pal and Cedarville roommate, Andrew Moses and his band. (Playing the saxophone was one of the greatest things that I missed while on IBI, and it was the first thing that I did when I got back home). I even enjoyed quality time uniting with my family. I praise the Lord for the blessings of the beauty and amazing people that surround the place that I call home.
The readiness that I feel for this new semester would not have been possible if it wasn't for some quality time at home in the great Northwest. Flying over the Cascades has never been more beautiful and refreshing then after 10 weeks of traveling the globe. Because of my usual bad luck with flight delays, I didn't get home until over 40 hours after landing in the US. However, that dazzling descent into PDX energized me--so much so that 8 hours later I was in the Columbia River Gorge hiking near a waterfall with my old pal Jordi Bright. What was about to happen next was not the welcoming home that I was looking for...
We forged a trail around the edge of the waterfall to reach its summit so that we could continue up the river. However, just as were about to reach the top of this treacherous trail, I was welcomed by an angry nest of bees/wasps/hornets (or some kind of stinging creature). After being stung about 5 times, it was time for me to turn around. Yet as I quickly turned, I slipped. The hill we climbed was steep, and as I fell, I knew that there was a very good chance that I was going to be in really bad shape or even worse...but, praise the Lord, I was saved by a tree half way down before I reached the most dangerous part of the decent. To say that was a tree would not be exactly correct. It was a cluster of five little trees ascending from the ground like fingers of a hand, waiting to catch me before I made impact at the base of the waterfall. Never have I been so grateful to be alive. Jordi had to endure an even worse attack of bees as he carefully climbed down after me. Above is a picture of my back with evidence of rolling into a tree.The rest of my time at home was not so severe but also full of adventure. Jordi and I did actually get a good hike in the following weekend climbing up the creek that feeds into Bridal Veil Falls. I enjoyed making music with my other old pal and Cedarville roommate, Andrew Moses and his band. (Playing the saxophone was one of the greatest things that I missed while on IBI, and it was the first thing that I did when I got back home). I even enjoyed quality time uniting with my family. I praise the Lord for the blessings of the beauty and amazing people that surround the place that I call home.
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