Thanksgiving with Family

Jessica and I took a trip down to Coos Bay for Thanksgiving and in some free time we decided to do a bit of caching. I found myself explaining exactly what geocaching is a few times and trying to justify why it is a viable hobby. I think I got my father hooked on it when we went to Charleston and found a couple caches. The funny part about our adventure was my mistake in entering the coordinates in the GPS. When we got back home we discovered the reason why the compass was directing us 200 ft. past the end of a floating dock. Oops, I'm learning slowly. Next time we'll show them how geocaching can be when human error isn't involved.

daily ritual

I am a bus rider... in Portland this puts me in a position to witness a cacophony of strange things and perplexing events. Most people are normal and just try to get from one place to another without being harassed. Others are sometimes the ones doing the harassing. Every morning I catch the same bus and see many of the same people; the older lady with her cup of coffee, the group of junior high students going to school, the smelly older gentleman who gets off at the MAX train station, and the security guard who gets on there. They are my community in a very real sense but I know little to nothing about them. I can only assume. This is how a large portion of my day is spent, observing the populus and fabricating the backstory of others lives. Perhaps they do the same to me, perhaps they don't care at all. I feel as though I should be writing a novel about the rediculous lives of fiction that I create. Maybe I will find the time, make the time, and sit down and be inspired.

I've been repeatedly astounded at the spending that goes into a religious institution. My wife and I live across the street from the Apostolic Faith Church in Portland and they own three pieces of property which line both sides of duke street from 52nd Ave. to 56th Ave. Across 52nd Ave there is the Apostolic Faith Headquarters. The church building where services are held is a monument to the kind of over the top structures that religious institiutions believe are necessary in order for numbers to grow. The church is taking over the community and building RV parking at the back of the bible camp. I've lived in this community for over a year and I have never met anyone from that church. I wonder if they even care what their neighbors think about them... Oh well, it doesn't really matter that much to me, I was just considering the churches role in the distribution of wealth and what scripture might have to say about it.