Blanchard Mountain Morning

I reached the top of Oyster Dome at around 8:30 in the morning. I did not see another person all the way up Blanchard Mountain. It is a four mile trip to the top and I was tired. As I stood on this rock taking pictures, I thought about the beauty before me and about the incredible way the Earth creates such wonderment.
Oyster rock was born on the sea floor 163 million years ago and far to the west of where it is now. It was part of a chain of oceanic volcanic islands created when magma oozed from the Earth's mantel. There is a split on the ocean floor and one side move to the east and the other to the west. It works like a conveyor belt in both directions.
Oyster Dome and the rest of the volcanic islands, inched along on this conveyor belt until the whole chain was pulled down into the subduction zone between two plates. Twelve miles down, the mass got stuck. It could not be pulled down and so it was shoved north and east along the subduction zone until it collided with what is now North America. All of this debris was still crammed deep into the mantel but as pressure built it began to be forced up inch by inch over millions of years. The rock above Oyster Dome eventually weathered away and there is no trace of it today. And here I am standing on this amazing rock thousands of feet above sea level. I am just amazed at the world we live in and find geology just interesting as hell. The Pacific Northwest is truly a land of fire and ice. Right on Pacific Northwest! Right on.
I stood there taking pictures and appreciating all there was before me when I started to become increasingly aware that I was very much alone. I thought about the fact that I hadn't brought my bee sting kit, I am allergic to bees and could hear a deep buzzing noise reverberating from a nearby fallen tree. I braced myself for a feeling of panic that I expected within seconds. But then the thought that came to me was a strange one, I thought to myself, "You could get naked right now and no one would see you". That thought distracted me from any concern I was experiencing and I actually thought about getting naked. I didn't. But not because I thought it was a bad thing. I was just too tired to go through the hassle of taking my clothes off. You know, the Chuckanut Ridge does that to people. Teddy Bear Cove, a nudist beach, is down below the Oyster Dome to the south. I was told the day after this hike about some women I know who pulled off the road on Chuckanut Drive to let cars pass. While they were pulled over there, a man emerged from the woods stark naked and simply waved and got into his car and drove away.
I started to look back to the woods and realized that I had emerged from them somewhere else and wasn't exactly sure about where the main trail was from that spot. I decided that I needed to deal with this instead of forcing myself to sit there and worry about it. I left the sunshine and the beautiful view and entered the dark forest. Luckily I quickly found the main trail and started back down the mountain. I was now back to being alert and aware because I was still concerned about getting lost. I did have a final thought about my strange desire to be naked up on Oyster Dome. I remember thinking, " If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it actually make noise? And so, if a fat guy gets naked on top of a mountain and no body sees him, is it still disgusting?"
After descending about a 1000 yards down the trail, I glimpsed something purple through the trees. I thought, "Oh, someone is out here today." A short time later, I came around the bend and there in front of me, astonishingly, was my next door neighbor, Elody, with an Ophthalmologist. We just stared for a moment and then she asked, "Thad, what are you doing up here?" We were both pretty amazed. Here we are on top of a mountain in the wilderness and we run into each other. It is not like running into a neighbor at the store. We chatted for awhile and she told me that this was her favorite place and that she had come to say goodbye to it because she is moving to Michigan in two weeks. We hugged and I took off down the trail. I was thinking as I left her that I was so glad I wasn't standing there naked when we encountered one another. I was telling Marlene about this and she was laughing at the scene of that in her mind. She was asking if I could have imagined how embarrassing that would have been to have been standing there worshiping nature in the nude and then turned around to find Elody standing there horrified and speechless. But I know Elody well and even if she has an MBA and is a CEO, she is also a Hippie at heart. She would have understood.
About two miles down, My feet were killing me and I sat down on a bench that has been put there to mark the halfway point. I was exhausted when I reached it on the way up. Now, I was trying to dig down deep and feeling like I was a tough guy and was glad to be testing my manhood at my age. Then to my amazement two teenage girls jogged past me, going up hill. Not only were they jogging, they were chatting as they jogged with no sign of being short of breath. I felt like a big Wuss! I struggled to get up on my aching feet and took my wounded pride back on the trail. Shortly after that, I was passed by a family with small children who were skipping up the hill! I was thinking my exhaustion must just be in my head. Like the guy who accidentally got locked in a freezer and died of hypothermia. But they found that the freezer wasn't even plugged in and was never colder than 45 degrees.
Anyway, I made it back to my truck and back home. I plan on making the most of the summer as I seek adventures and hope you will indulge me as I blog about them. Please feel free to comment or make suggestions for an adventure. Take care.

We must not fear Utopia!

I am frustrated by the fear mongering and mean spirited dialogue regarding the immigration debate. I recently received a picture from a friend that showed several dozen recently rounded up Illegals all shackled together with border patrol agents escorting them down a trail in the desert. While I stared at the picture I recounted in my mind the headlines screaming from right wing sources about "terrorists" and "criminals" surging across the border intent on doing us harm. But what I saw there in that picture were "huddled masses yearning to be free". I don't doubt that there are a handful of criminals, and possibly a terrorist or two, within this picture somewhere. But by a vast majority, I believe those were fathers with dreams within their minds of a better life for their children. The same dream exactly that was in my great great grandfather's mind when he climbed aboard that ship leaving Ireland with a young wife nine month's pregnant. How can we condemn what a man does in the name of providing for his family? It is exactly what any of us would do under the same circumstances.
However, we have to look at reality and limitations that exist on resources to provide for these people that are heading this way. In the short term we can help them exist. Through a compassionate collaboration of government and faith based efforts we can support those people in the short term. But if the issues remain the same that are driving their flight from Mexico, nothing will change and we risk ruining the standard of living possible in the United States. I suggest we have to look at what can be done to shift the beacon of hope from the U.S. to a place within the Mexican borders. Why would we fear creating the foundation of Mexican utopia? We have no hesitation to throw billions toward military adventurism around the globe. We have military advisers in dozens of countries and we just accept it as necessary. Why don't we invest in creation of a zone in Mexico that generates food, employment, education and cultural Renaissance? I have dreamed lately of a 300 mile wide belt from Hermosillo to Tampico of just such activity. I see new cities connected to old cities by new roads with farms along side of them all the way. New universities teaching engineering and agriculture. Massive manufacturing centers surrounded by urban housing with large village squares where vendors sell food and musicians play. Vibrant school systems that produce well nourished and well educated students for the universities and workers for industry. Everywhere sculpture is evident and people are free to think and create. I have no doubt it is possible.
But I fear, what Americans really desire is to increase suffering in Mexico. In our minds we believe some twisted thought process that assures us that if we can view others hopeless and slowly sinking into despair, it is proof that we are better than they are. Americans want to point across the border at the suffering and be able to tell their children that this is proof of our superior standing in the eyes of God. I know in my heart that God does not acknowledge pathetic imaginary lines drawn by man on the beautiful earth creation. I believe such things are in fact offensive to God. Utopia is within possibility in Mexico if we cared. And utopia is possible for us in the United States too, the world and most of all, it needs to be in our hearts as we envision a future for those citizens of all nations who will come after us.