On Friday afternoon, the entire Religion Department of PUC boarded a bus headed for the Albion Field Station. The conversation was pleasant, and I enjoyed getting to know other people in the department. Towards the end of the trip, we all shared riddles, which was a very entertaining enterprise. Once at Albion, I was delighted to meet a recently-transferred Theology major, Melissa--she brings the number of freshmen in the department up to four.
I got to give prayer for dinner, which was delicious. Afterwards, we had a very nice little worship. Back at the cabin, I was delighted to meet a wonderful group of women who sort of became my buddies for the weekend. I slept for eleven hours--obviously needing it--and ate breakfast gratefully.
Our church service featured a fascinating talk on being chosen. Then, we had sabbath school, which was a very competitive set of Bible knowledge games, including how to spell words like "Zerubbabel," finding where passages came from, and remembering such technical details as when the day of atonement is. My team was the smallest of the four competing, but we won anyways.
Lunch was spectacular, but I think I enjoyed cleaning up after it even more than I enjoyed eating it. This is going to sound really strange, but I had come to miss the feeling of operating an industrial dish machine--there's something about the steam and the high water pressure that I had actually come to love, oddly enough.
Once the dishes were done, a group of us went out on the river in canoes, enjoying the beautiful day. There are few words to describe the feeling of canoing up the estuary--the peaceful quiet, the scenery, the life. On the way back, a seal followed our canoe, its head popping up right next to us every few minutes. We affectionately called it Oscar.
Vespers focused on service, and dinner focused on really good veggie burgers. These gave us the energy to play really fun group games like Tall as a Tree, Widow, and Watermelon--all of which I can't wait to inflict on a group of friends or Pathfinders.
Then, while others retreated to corners of the room to play board games, a bunch of us had a great time playing Mafia until we were kicked out of the dining room at around 12:30. Wide awake and not wishing to retire, a group of us got together and decided to carry on our games outside. We walked up the road, but some of the girls got creeped out, so we walked back towards the water.
We actually walked out onto the pier over the water, and sat there, intending to play a card game. However, we heard a splash in the water that really scared some of the girls, causing them to scream quite loudly. Thus, our card game turned into a prayer meeting on the water. We shared praises and problems until we got too cold to stay outside with Oscar splashing creepily in the water and invaded the college's van instead, because it was warmer. Around 2:30, we decided it was time to call it quits and we all returned to our cabins to get some sleep.
Breakfast was magnificent, with egg puff and hash browns. We helped clean up the camp, then it was time for the bus once more. On the way back, we stopped at Navarro, a winery that sold the most wonderful grape juice, both white and red. The taste of it was inspiring, and the scenery that surrounded it was even more gorgeous. I bought a bottle or two of it, and am now irritated because I don't have a corkscrew by which to open it and to enjoy it. Go figure.
A few hours after I got back to the college, my parents came with my grandparents, cousin, and aunt and I gave them the grand tour of the dorm where I live and the library where I work. They seemed to enjoy seeing how it all had changed from when each of them attended PUC--there's quite a history here.
They then kidnapped me and took me out to dinner at Pizzeria Travigne in honor of my grandparents' anniversary--46 years of marriage, definitely worth celebrating. I was rather surprised to find a PUC actor working at the restaurant, but that just made the meal more fun.
Wish you all a wonderful week with lots of success. Please pray for the college; tomorrow, there is a meeting in Napa concerning the state of the Angwin Urban Bubble, and classes have been canceled so that the students can attend and stick up for the right of the college to not have the land re-zoned and turned into vineyards. This is a historic point in PUC's history, and it affects a lot of people.
Also, I am sad to report the death of Bozena Kozlowski, an office worker at Pleasant Hill whose children I had the pleasure of working with throughout the summer at Wawona. The community is reeling in shock, as she was a perfectly healthy adult, and this was entirely unexpected. Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers as well.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Pathfinder Camporee 2007
After Greek class on Friday, my friends and I left for St. Helena, where we enjoyed some wonderful beverages and conversation in the only coffee shop in town. Since it was to be some time before Mrs. Abbas, my ride to Camporee, came to pick me up, we wandered the block, fingering fine yarn in one store, taking in the quaint beauty of some of the houses nearby, and trying on the most wonderful-smelling lotions and perfumes in a store that also sold sets of silverware that probably would cost, for a full dinner place setting, more than everything I brought with me to college put together.
Eventually, my friends left (having lovingly assigned me the nickname "Reverend"), and Mrs. Abbas came. On the drive over to Lake Mendocino, the most enthralling sunset enveloped the sky--a fiery painting of orange, red, and deepest purple. We arrived in the middle of a meeting, so I hung back with the Pleasant Hill director, Mr. Brinley, until it was over and I could go out to meet my unit. They had not known I was coming, and they received me with overwhelming enthusiasm, even making room for me to sleep in their already over-crowded tent.
In the morning, we prepared for inspection, as usual. Our unit received a perfect score, as usual. Soon it was time for the marching, and this time, I marched behind Mrs. Brandy, the area coordinator of Area 6. Then, we sat down for the church service, in which it was revealed that my 17-year-old friend Cedric had been serving as temporary director for his club, the Thunderbirds, for the weekend. Shocked, I joined in the applause for his achievement, but my mind was reeling with the implications of this.
I returned to camp to enjoy the usual wonderful sun-dried tomato sauce. One of my girls, Isabelle, taught me how to make a beaded lizard before I led the club through the Sabbath afternoon cultural activity. The cultural demonstrations were, of course, fascinating and delightful, but what impacted me more was when we were crossing from station to station. Unintentionally, found all of Area 6--well over a hundred people--following me; when I took a wrong turn, they took a wrong turn with me. Truth be told, this was a rather frightening experience.
My unit prepared dinner, which we enjoyed by the light of the fire--fire, which I have come to miss since living in the dorm. At the evening meeting, Miss Sonoma County (who is, oddly enough, a veteran of the LIT program and a student at PUC) spoke, which was interesting, and Pastor Eddie Heinrich gave a call. About a hundred Pathfinders responded. This deeply inspired me, and brought tears to my eyes. Afterwards, I sought out Cedric at the teen party, where he was wrangling his group of Thunderbirds on the beach. I told him that I wished to help his club, just as a volunteer on loan from Pleasant Hill--he should not have to shoulder something like that alone. He seemed grateful, and was even kind enough to arrange a ride back to PUC for me.
The next morning, I helped my unit break camp, and we attended the awards ceremony. We made a killing on Bike-a-Thon and our club got its 1st prize trophy for points. As usual, there was a spectacular rescue demonstration from the Coast Guard as well. I then said goodbye to my Pleasant Hill unit, and went on to the camp of the Thunderbirds, where I helped them finish loading. I enjoyed meeting many of them for the first time, and it was interesting to watch the dynamics of a smaller club.
We stopped to eat our sack lunches at the Hopland Solar Living Center, an optimistically futuristic project dedicated to conservation. There was a beautiful man-made lake by which we ate and into which two or three of the kids wound up falling. The rest of the way back was pleasant, and when we reached their community hall, I was fascinated by the space--it obviously serves many functions.
Well, since I got back to PUC, it's been very busy. Some of you will be glad to know that we got our car back, picked clean of valuables and windows shattered dangerously. Fortunately, insurance will pay for the damage to the car itself. Thank you for all your kind responses to the "Justin Day" posting; it really warmed my heart. Also, I'd like to thank the Brinleys for giving me food out of the goodness of their hearts--the cafeteria here at PUC is very expensive, and we only have nine dollars a day allotted to us. Thanks to the filming of a certain show called "We're PUC-Ites!" (check it out at puccast.com) I haven't had much time to eat there, though. I was kind of drafted into acting in the show, but I think I'm starting to enjoy it.
Anyway, I hope you all have been having a wonderful, low-stress, well-rested week and wish you the very best.
Eventually, my friends left (having lovingly assigned me the nickname "Reverend"), and Mrs. Abbas came. On the drive over to Lake Mendocino, the most enthralling sunset enveloped the sky--a fiery painting of orange, red, and deepest purple. We arrived in the middle of a meeting, so I hung back with the Pleasant Hill director, Mr. Brinley, until it was over and I could go out to meet my unit. They had not known I was coming, and they received me with overwhelming enthusiasm, even making room for me to sleep in their already over-crowded tent.
In the morning, we prepared for inspection, as usual. Our unit received a perfect score, as usual. Soon it was time for the marching, and this time, I marched behind Mrs. Brandy, the area coordinator of Area 6. Then, we sat down for the church service, in which it was revealed that my 17-year-old friend Cedric had been serving as temporary director for his club, the Thunderbirds, for the weekend. Shocked, I joined in the applause for his achievement, but my mind was reeling with the implications of this.
I returned to camp to enjoy the usual wonderful sun-dried tomato sauce. One of my girls, Isabelle, taught me how to make a beaded lizard before I led the club through the Sabbath afternoon cultural activity. The cultural demonstrations were, of course, fascinating and delightful, but what impacted me more was when we were crossing from station to station. Unintentionally, found all of Area 6--well over a hundred people--following me; when I took a wrong turn, they took a wrong turn with me. Truth be told, this was a rather frightening experience.
My unit prepared dinner, which we enjoyed by the light of the fire--fire, which I have come to miss since living in the dorm. At the evening meeting, Miss Sonoma County (who is, oddly enough, a veteran of the LIT program and a student at PUC) spoke, which was interesting, and Pastor Eddie Heinrich gave a call. About a hundred Pathfinders responded. This deeply inspired me, and brought tears to my eyes. Afterwards, I sought out Cedric at the teen party, where he was wrangling his group of Thunderbirds on the beach. I told him that I wished to help his club, just as a volunteer on loan from Pleasant Hill--he should not have to shoulder something like that alone. He seemed grateful, and was even kind enough to arrange a ride back to PUC for me.
The next morning, I helped my unit break camp, and we attended the awards ceremony. We made a killing on Bike-a-Thon and our club got its 1st prize trophy for points. As usual, there was a spectacular rescue demonstration from the Coast Guard as well. I then said goodbye to my Pleasant Hill unit, and went on to the camp of the Thunderbirds, where I helped them finish loading. I enjoyed meeting many of them for the first time, and it was interesting to watch the dynamics of a smaller club.
We stopped to eat our sack lunches at the Hopland Solar Living Center, an optimistically futuristic project dedicated to conservation. There was a beautiful man-made lake by which we ate and into which two or three of the kids wound up falling. The rest of the way back was pleasant, and when we reached their community hall, I was fascinated by the space--it obviously serves many functions.
Well, since I got back to PUC, it's been very busy. Some of you will be glad to know that we got our car back, picked clean of valuables and windows shattered dangerously. Fortunately, insurance will pay for the damage to the car itself. Thank you for all your kind responses to the "Justin Day" posting; it really warmed my heart. Also, I'd like to thank the Brinleys for giving me food out of the goodness of their hearts--the cafeteria here at PUC is very expensive, and we only have nine dollars a day allotted to us. Thanks to the filming of a certain show called "We're PUC-Ites!" (check it out at puccast.com) I haven't had much time to eat there, though. I was kind of drafted into acting in the show, but I think I'm starting to enjoy it.
Anyway, I hope you all have been having a wonderful, low-stress, well-rested week and wish you the very best.
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