The Hole In The Wall

Today started just like every other, I had no inkling of the adventures in store for me when I rolled out of bed this morning - after only an hour of the alarm playing ...

Breakfast was as normal, people commented on how high the creek was running, I went to a lecture about the skin, then I worked on a spreadsheet, life as normal. About 12pm it started to rain real rain, proverbial Noah's Ark rain. Big fat drops that pounded the earth into submission over and over again. And the creek rose. It rained for several hours, and the creek rose. The road was cut in several places and a number of people had to make alternative plans for the night due to not being able to get home. (But not me, I'm all snug in my little home.)

However, apart from enjoying the view of the tumultuous river (not a creek anymore), my day went on as normal. I went and did my work out: legs, abs and lower back. I did my cardio on one of the boring repetitive machine thingees. I'd much rather walk outside - but thought that walking in the rain with my umbrella amongst the lightening might just be tempting fate.

About 6:30pm I got home, the rain stopped, and I settled down to check my email - as per usual. Then the world changed.

Josh and Heather pulled up;
'Cat we're going to 'The-Hole-In-The-Wall' want to come?' says they.
'But I thought the road was flooded' says I.
'We can go over the ridge' I am told, and Josh informs me 'It's not too hard, there's this one rock...' and Josh waves his hand about four feet off the floor 'you'll be fine.'
Naively, I impulsively say 'sure' grab my camera and off we go. I have since learned that Josh is the Master of Understatement!

Now The Hole In The Wall is literally that. A hole carved through a tall skinny hill by gold miners a long time ago. When the creek runs high it goes through this hole, I have no idea where it goes when it's running low, apparently not through the hole. Apparently when the creek is low you can crawl through the hole from one side of the hill to the other. I say apparently because I have never been there before. It's just a gentle stroll that somehow I have never gotten around to doing - always ended up going in some other direction. But today of course we can't take the gentle way because of the raging river.

Eight of us set out following no trail that I can see, and as I survey the group the teacher in the back of my head begins to carry out a running commentary...

'Glad I don't have to fill in RAM's forms (Risk Analysis and Management) for this trip... hmmmm, no clearly marked trail, cold weather, probably going to rain again latter, strong wind, one person has to use two sticks to help them walk up the hill, the group has already spread out into two or three separate parties, not what I was taught about safety in the bush when hiking, sunsets only two hours away..." This prompts me to ask out loud "does  anyone have a torch?" whats a torch they ask? "ummm", I search for alternative american word, "a flashlight?" No, no-one has a flashlight, I bet there is no first aid kit either ... I begin to wonder about the wisdom of this expedition ... but, ... I am already committed, so I tell the teacher to 'be quiet', say a prayer and take out my camera and start taking pictures.

I will not describe the whole trip but suffice to say, the walk was not short, it was not gentle, and there was more than one rock, however the four feet estimate may have been approximately accurate. I found myself wondering why on my first trip to the hole in the wall I was clambering up and down the side of a very steep hill like an over balanced mountain goat, when I could have gone a few weeks earlier and walked along a nice    flat road all the way. On the other hand there were lots of willing hands to steady me over the tricky bits, and give the occasional push or pull, the views were glorious and the hole in the wall itself was magnificent. The best bit however was the knowledge that four months ago I could only have looked wistfully after the group as they set out without me because I could not have made it. And, today I did.

Patricia being awesome, she got to the top of the ridge with her to sticks, then out in the middle of nowhere her son calls and she decides she would rather talk to him than clamber down the other side. Jackie and Matt, bring up the rear, and give Patricia a push as needed.

The river, and see what I mean about it being a very steep hill?

The View

more view...

Heather and Josh heading out to investigate something.

I was first told that this was called 'a-stickery-pokery-plant-because-it-looks-stickery-and pokery' but it turns out that it is called a Yukka as in "Yuk-a-stickery-pokery-plant.' I am willing to testify that it is both stickery and pokery and you really really don't want to walk into one.

I took this by lieing on my belly and holding the camera out over the edge of the cliff, this is the back side of the hole in the wall where the water is being sucked down into the hole.

Here is the water pouring out the other side, note the big mound of froth!

Anya (the dog) Danielle and Larry (with cell phone) posing on one of those rocks Josh forgot to mention.

Altogether a excellent trip. And, we got back just before dark.

The Flowers Are Still Alive...

There is a lovely couple here who just had there 50th Anniversary. They gave me flowers to say thanks for some things I had done to help them get ready for the celebrations. That was about 2 weeks ago. Here is the proof that I have learned something about plants since I have been here...

These are called Poor Man's Orchids and apparently they bounce right back with a bit of water, so maybe I have finally found a variety of flowers I can't kill. And, according to a website I looked at they flower best when root bound, great joy ensured after that discovery, root bound I can definitely do!!

Snow; Its Absence And The Melting Process, Also Grass.

Snow, I still am enjoying the novelty, it is all gone now, we are supposed to get some tonight - but it is not expected to stay around for very long...  :-(
I am praying for a Blizzard, but everybody else is praying against me so I think it will not happen at this end of the year, maybe when winter comes again. (You can't go to Little House on the Prairie country and not have a blizzard!! Yes I read all those books while growing up - several times!)

First though, before I begin to enthusiastically discuss snow I will show you the results of my attempts to photograph real live snowflakes just like on the Christmas cards. These photos are the result of me standing outside in full view of everybody and taking photo's of my own arms. I think the results are worth the embarrassment! Snowflakes really do look like the ones on cards - if the conditions are just right. For those of you with enquiring minds here is a link to a site that explains the necessary conditions.

 http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/primer/primer.htm

Now this is a composite picture of the view from my front door when I first arrived here, I will make another one showing the absence of snow soon - after tonights deposits have melted.

Watching the melting process has been fascinating, the first and most obvious curious thing I observed was that snow does not melt evenly. You can have an area that is to all appearances equally covered but it melts in patches - with some spots holding out for days while all the snow around it has gone to a watery grave.

And then there is the freeze thaw cycle, which creates art forms out of ice. I missed taking pictures of some of the best because I did not have my camera in my pocket and when I came back they were gone, imagine water frozen in the act of running off a corrugated iron roof ... makes amazing parallel curves reminiscent of upside down ocean waves.

The freeze thaw cycle causes the snow lying on the ground to form three dimensional ice castles of ethereal beauty, I tried to take pics, even got down on my stomach in the snow another potentially embarrassing moment, but I don't think anybody saw - and too bad if they did! I fear my skills were unable to capture the enchantment, but I'm going to make you look at the results anyway!!!!!

Have you ever noticed that if you park your car on the lawn for any length of time all the grass underneath turns yellow and dies? Well I was fully expecting the grass to be dead when the snow melted, but it wasn't! Totally bamboozled me, particularly when it all died a week or so after the snow melted - maybe it is vampire grass, can't survive in sunlight. (Retarded vampire grass cause it took a week to die!)
Note to self: don't walk on the grass in bare feet now that it has regrown!

Seriously I haven't figured out that phenomenon, all proffered explanations will be considered!

What To Do About Sin...

So after promising a list of delights last time, tonight I am posting about something that was not even on the list at all. In my book I am trying to write the conversation God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit must have had at some point about what to do if sin was ever found in the universe and to do so I started writing a mini essay about it - as I do. (Yes I know, Nerd ... and proud of it!)

Please give feedback etc on this as I would like to have my book as accurate as possible.

What To Do About Sin...

The Bible tells us that God does not change, that:

1. God is light
2. God is love
3. God is truth
4. God is life

Now consider this;

1. God is light, therefore darkness cannot exist in His presence - not because He destroys it, simply because darkness cannot be where light is.
2. God is love, therefore hate can not exist in His presence - again this is simply because the opposites are mutually exclusive.
3. God is truth, his word has creative power, when He speaks things are created, therefore it is impossible for Him to lie, for him to say a thing brings it into existence.
4. God is life, for things to be in His presence is to infuse them with life, it is impossible for something to die if he is there. (That's why He had to separate Himself from Jesus when He was on the cross.)

These things define God, and the universe He created. Anything in this universe that does not agree with these principles should cease to exist, but our world continues to exist, and we break ALL those principles. Why do we continue?? The answer is that God shields us from his Glory, (according to Hebrews we are behind a veil,) so that we do not instantly 'vaporise.'

Now before Satan tempted Adam and Eve he was the covering angel in heaven and at some point he sinned in his heart and decided to exult himself above God. Then he acted on what was in his heart.

At this point Satan should have ceased to exist, because he now embodied principles that were opposed to who God was. But he did not disappear because God must have immediately shielded him behind the veil.

At this point God has several options:

1.    Remove the veil and allow Satan to recieve the result of His sin, i.e. to vaporise/cease to exist.
Short Term Advantage: Satan is gone, sin is gone, everything is clean and the problem is dealt with quickly.
Long Term Disadvantage: the other angels will not understand why Satan 'was killed' to them it will appear that God abitarily decided to do away with Satan because he had a few bad thoughts. Eventually others will begin to wonder about God's goodness and more angels will sin and then die until the only angels left are those who serve God out of fear and not love.

2.   Wipe out the whole universe and start again.
Short Term Advantage: Gets rid of sin and Satan and all those other angels who would eventually either die or serve God from fear. Replaces them with new innocent angels who know nothing of sin and serve from love.
Long Term Disadvantage: At some point one of these future angels may/will discover sin too and then the cycle has to repeat.
Another Problem: this solution is totally against God's character, i.e. it is anti-love, and anti-life etc.

3.    Allow Satan to continue in his course until everybody can see the what his plans will truely result in.
Short Term Disadvantage: many angels will side with Satan and be lost because his ideas seem reasonable and he is a master deceiver and God does not appear to be doing anything about it.
Long Term Disadvantage: it will take a long time, it will be messy, there will be much hurt and suffering before it is all over.
Long Term Advantage: When it is over, everybody will know what God is really like - exceedingly good. And what Satan and sin is really like - exceedingly evil. there will be no chance of sin ever coming back into the universe ever again. And, those angels and people who survive will serve God from love and base there actions willingly and knowingly around His character.

4.   Talk to Satan and get Him to repent willingly, then the sin consequences have to be received (Jesus would still have had to die but only for Satan not the whole world) and no-one else would be hurt.
Short Term Advantage: It's quick, tidy and only Jesus gets hurt.
Disadvantages: none that I can think of.

I believe God tried option 4 first but that Satan did not agree, so then He went with option 3, because anything else would be either short-sighted or against His character.

So in working out option 3 God agrees to give Satan a small corner of the universe to try out his ideas - if he can get the inhabitants to agree.

Unfortunately for us, Adam and Eve were tricked into agreeing. Mayhem ensued!! A sin debt grew, Jesus came and received the consequences of that sin debt for everyone in all times. At some point God is coming to reclaim this world, and He will be removing the veil to do so, exposing His full glory to the inhabitants of this world, All of whom will be resurrected. Those who have accepted Jesus will continue in love, life, truth and light for eternity. Those who did not will vaporise, they will not be able to exist in God's presence because they represent the opposite of God.

Note: this is what Hell is, consider, God is described in the Bible as a 'consuming fire'. It is not that God says "Ha, you evil people I am going to get you" rather He comes back to reclaim His territory and His people who believe and serve Him and unfortunately the other people have not accepted the conditions that would make them able to survive in His presence. And it's not like He hasn't tried to warn them ... He hasn't stopped trying to warn them from the moment this world fell into Satan's hands.

I believe the story of David weeping over the death of Absalom in the Bible is also describing how God will feel about those people who perish when He returns.

I can back this up with Bible texts, but I was trying to do a summary run though, to get my ideas in order. Any thoughts, corrections or questions will be welcomed!