Oregon waves

The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. Psalm 29:3

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Water Lace

The white foam on the top of these Oregon waves looks to me like the lace doily that Grandma would have laid over the back of the big stuffed chair.

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Blue and Green

Water is blue, right? True, except when it's green. Or when it's a frothy white. But actually, water has no color at all. The colors are all reflections and refractions and absorptions and impurities and highlights and shadows. 75% of our earth is covered with water; it's what makes our little blue ball of a planet unique--so far as we know.

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Why the ocean's near the shore 2

There is not a moment when the ocean is not wearing down these rocks. Water's work on rock is slow, but its persistent pounding second after second, day after day, century after century, gradually transforms rock into sand. Perhaps the ocean's near the shore so that we can observe the power of persistence.

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Why the ocean's near the shore

This cross reminds me of Scarecrow's longing for a brain in the Wizard of Oz: "Oh, I could tell you why the ocean's near the shore. I could think of things I never thunk before. And then I'd sit, and think some more."

Land is interesting. Ocean is interesting. But all humans are instinctively drawn toward the spot where land meets water. It is the intersection of these two realities that attracts and mesmerizes us. Most brains can figure out "why the ocean's near the shore," but can you put into words the reason why we all love to be there?

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Crater Lake

From its formation over 7,000 years ago until 1888, there were no fish in Crater Lake. Without inlets or outlets, the lake was cut off from naturally acquiring a fish population. But from 1888 to 1941, the lake was stocked the with 1.8 million rainbow trout, brown trout, cutthroat trout, steelhead trout, coho salmon, and kokanee salmon. Only rainbow trout and kokanee salmon survive to this day.

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Dead Tree2, Crater Lake

At its widest point, Crater Lake is 6 miles across. At its deepest point, it's 1,932 feet deep. The lake's surface is 6,176 feet above sea level.


Just a bunch of facts, but for me they help explain the awesomeness I feel when I stand at the crater's rim and look down at this magnificent lake.

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Wizard Island

Wizard Island is a cinder cone which rises 760 feet above Crater Lake and is surrounded by black volcanic lava blocks. A small crater, 300 feet across and 90 feet deep, rests on the summit. The crater is filled by snow during the winter months, but remains dry during the summer.

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Snow Water

There are no water inlets or outlets in Crater Lake. Generous amounts of snow--an average of 533 inches per year--keep the lake supplied with water. This photo, taken in late July, shows a bit of the previous winter's snow where the lake meets the crater wall.

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Caldera

Crater Lake lies inside a caldera, or volcanic basin, created when the 12,000 foot high Mount Mazama collapsed 7,700 years ago following a large eruption. The cliffs surrounding the lake are up to 2,000 feet high.

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Dead Tree, Crater Lake

Crater Lake is the 7th deepest lake in the world, and the deepest in the U.S. For photographers, the challenge is to capture the vastness and blueness of this old volcano which long ago blew its top.

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Fast-Growing Plant

Every day during the month of July at Queen of Angels Monastery, we watched the growth of this marvelous green plant. Every week a new shoot appeared. Every day that shoot grew several inches, beginning as a pale green spike and then gradually unfolding into a new leaf.

When plants grow, it gives us hope that we can grow, too.

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Water Spurt

There's a little fountain on the other side of the flowers, spurting up happy globs of bright water into the blue sky at the Oregon Garden.

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Crooked Evergreens

If these evergreens were straight, I would not have noticed them; there would have been no reason to take a photograph. It's their imperfections that make them interesting.

Imperfect people, take heart!

Location: Oregon Garden; Silverton, Oregon

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Yellow Ever"green"

Had this tree been green like its neighbors, I never would have noticed it. Its difference is what makes it important.

Likewise, it's your differences from all other people in the world that make you important--and necessary--and beautiful.

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Oregon Garden Fountain

If you're ever near Silverton, Oregon, and if you love gardens, flowers, plants and landscaping, don't miss the Oregon Garden.

Just a few miles away is Silver Falls State Park. At Silver Falls, the waterfalls, streams and forests are unaltered by people; only paths have been added to provide for human access.

At Oregon Garden, every square inch is carefully planned and sculpted by human beings. Both places are beautiful. Both qualify as "nature" settings, but only one is "natural."

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Poppy Field 3

In Britain, a minister recently promoted the sale of white poppies, symbolizing peace, instead of the traditional red poppies on Veteran's Day. Veterans disliked his idea, while others supported the white poppy's message that war is neither purposive nor necessary.

This field contains white poppies, red poppies, and pink poppies--along with yellow nasturtiums. The field represents the world, with its wide variety of people, experiences, and opinions. Notice that the field is beautiful, even though not all the flowers are the same color.

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Poppy Field 2

Oregon farms produce more than $12 million in flower and vegetable seeds each year. If you buy seeds for red and pink poppies, they may have come from this field.

In the original photo below, you may notice some yellow nasturtiums. The farmer explained that they spread naturally into the poppy field, and that they are easily separated out at harvest because their seeds are so much bigger than the tiny poppy seeds.

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Poppy Field

These poppies are grown for seed, just part of the wildly diverse agricultural options in Oregon's Willamette Valley. This field is just a couple miles north of Mt. Angel.

We talked to the farmer who owned this field. He said that he can't make any money growing food, but he can make money growing poppy seeds. You do what works!

This beauty doesn't last long, but the colors are spectacular. Other flower fields are yellow, orange, or blue, depending on the type of flower--colors that our Nebraska corn and beans can't duplicate!

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Water Lilies

If the water is too deep, water lilies will not grow; likewise if the water is too shallow.

People, too, need to find "the place just right." Not every setting will allow you to thrive. Place does make a difference; that's how God designed us.

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Lily Pads

I'm more interested in the beads of water than I am in the lily pads. Molecules of water, H2O, have a strong desire to cling to one another. It's called "surface tension," without which there would be no such thing as a raindrops, dewdrops, or these beautiful beads of water on lily pads. Without the attraction of the two hydrogen atoms to their nearby oxygen neighbors in the next molecule, all water would either instantly boil or evaporate.

People, too, need relationships. We need an inner bond to hold our various parts together, and we need cohesive connections with others as well. Relationships make us what we are.

These lily pads, resting quietly in the coolness of the early morning, are at Mt. Angel Abbey, Mt. Angel, Oregon.

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Abbey Sprinklers

I have lots of water crosses, but this is the only one based on an underground sprinkling system. How many gallons of water are poured on American lawns each year in the attempt to make up for nature's deficits?

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Abbey cemetery cross

This stone cross in the morning light marks the grave of one of the monks at Mt. Angel Abbey.

It's a cross of a cross, and perhaps the original photo is better than my alterative vision.

Christians rarely reflect on the symbolism of the crosses which they so casually wear around their necks and hang on the walls of their churches. Crucifixion was the Roman method of execution for all non-Roman citizens--for murderers, thieves, insurrectionists, and traitors. As far as the Romans were concerned, Jesus fell into those last two categories and therefore deserved to die.

It's as if Christians were wearing little electric chairs around their necks, as if every Christian church constructed a huge gallows in their sanctuary, as if Christian bookstores sold little fake lethal injection needles.

The cross is indeed a shocking thing; the Apostle Paul called it a "stumbling-block." Perhaps, when Christians begin reflecting more fully on their most popular symbol, they'll be less inclined to cheer the the various forms of government-sanctioned killing today.

I'm going to vote today. Will I find any candidates who oppose all government-sponsored killing?

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Shadows

"There is no shadow of turning with thee" is one of the affirmations about God in that wonderful hymn "Great Is Thy Faithfulness."

That line is based on the verse from James 1:17 which says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

The photos is of an exterior portion of Mt. Angel Abbey, Oregon, just after sunrise. Shadows from the tree form the cross on the bricks. It's my only cross (so far) formed by shadows.

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Oregon Irrigation

For much of the year in Oregon, clouds are gray and rain falls in abundance. But during the dry summer, crops must be irrigated. I didn't get close enough to this field to see what the crop actually was, but the rows of green produce are certainly enjoying their morning shower.

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