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Last Sabbath was one of the clearest days I’ve seen in Colorado - the air was pure and clear, visibility was amazing, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The view was amazing.

Josiah and I were standing at 14,148 feet atop Mt. Democrat in the Colorado Rockies. You could see for hundreds of miles in every direction, and some believe you can see more 14ers from atop this peak than any other summit in Colorado.

The hike to the summit was fairly short, an elevation gain of only 2100 feet over 2 miles, and a well-marked trail all the way to the summit. The snow made it a little more difficult in places. Exposure in some places made for some very cutting winds and icy trails. And although the hike isn’t any too difficult, I don’t like carrying extra baggage around. My gear is pretty light, and aside from a headlamp and pocket knife, I don’t pack anything that I don’t plan on using.

There are four peaks above 14,000 feet in a convenient loop, and we’d planned to climb as many as possible. I’d brought along my GPS to track out elevation gain/loss, moving/stopped time, and total trip length. About 10 minutes into our hike, the cold got to my nearly-worthless Duracell rechargeable batteries and they died, leaving us with my slightly less accurate, but nonetheless realistic and honest, estimates of trip details.

When we cleared the summit, we had 360° views for hundreds of miles. At that altitude, the already blue Colorado sky appears deep and rich. Directly above you it’s so deep it’s almost black. Every peak above 12,000 feet is snow-capped, and the contrast is breathtaking. Although I’ve now summited eleven 14ers, the views never cease to amaze me.

This is a fitting place for a picture - but I don’t have one...

During Fountainview graduation in June, 2007, I did a night-summit of Mt. Askom. At 8376 feet, it’s about 400 feet below the elevation I grew up at in Colorado. However, the views are still breathtaking - especially at sunrise. Thinking we’d summit during the night, and in an attempt to travel light, I’d left my camera in the truck at the trailhead. We arrived at the summit about 5 minutes before sunrise. This was, without a doubt, one of the sweetest and most bitter mountaintop experiences I’ve had. The most amazing sunrise I’d ever seen, and no camera with which to capture it. After that day, I swore I’d never climb another mountain without my camera. And I haven’t.

As we stood atop Mt. Democrat in Colorado, I took off my pack and pulled out my camera. Not just any camera - a full-frame D-SLR with a wide-angle zoom lens. 3.2 lbs. at normal elevation, but at 14,000 feet, it weighs in at an astounding 7 lbs! I’ve lugged this beast to the summit of eleven 14ers. When I pulled the camera out and turned it on, nothing happened - the battery was dead. I might as well have taken a brick up that mountain.

Hmm, I wonder I there’s an object lesson there somewhere.

Here's to Photoshop!

It seems there's no end to what you can do to an image in Photoshop. From simply enhancing the colors, to merging multiple images to create something completely different, Photoshop is an amazing tool, and has saved many a sorry picture for me. :)

The image in this post can be seen on the intro page of my website. You can see the progression of layers from start to finish. Assuming that most of my readers are Photoshop savvy enough to understand the lingo, and not being too lazy to write a step-by-step tutorial, I'll just give an overview of the steps involved in enhancing the image here. If, however, the interest is there, I am willing to do a step-by-step tutorial. In the mean time, you're on your own to figure out the details.

• I opened the original image.
• Added a black fill layer with a lens flare and set the blend mode to screen.
• Duplicated the layer to enhance the colors.
• Added a color balance adjustment layer, adjusting the darks, midtones, cooling the areas around the lens flare to give that nighttime look on the left of the image.
• Added a hugh saturation adjustment layer to increase the hugh and saturation while decreasing the lightness. I set the blend mode to hard light and decreased the fill to 40%. This more than anything else added the 'pop' to the image, giving it it's rich colors.
• Added a curves adjustment layer and using a slight 's' curve, increased the contrast further.
• Added an exposure adjustment layer and used a layer mask to increase the contrast between the sunlight and darkness.
• Combined all the layers in a new layer on top (CMD+SHIFT+OPT+E) and used the burn tool to darken the edges of the image.
• Added another hugh saturation adjustment layer to darken the sky on the left, really giving it that night look.
• Then I added stars... This was done in two layers for different sized stars with varying brightness. To render these stars, I used a combination of a add noise filter and adjusting the threshold. Then I masked out the clouds.

That's it!

Yesterday I upgraded to Snow Leopard, Apple's latest OS X operating system.

Thus far, I've only noticed a few differences:

a) wakeup is noticeably faster.
b) you can now browse stacks.
c) that hideous blue glow added to Exposé!

At first I thought this was a bug, so I started looking for a fix. It seems however, that Apple did this on purpose...

If I never used Exposé, I probably woudln't care, but I use it all the time! I couldn't stand seeing that obnoxious "MS Paint" boarder every time I switched windows. So I fixed it...

The process reminded me a bit of hacking Windows Vista to run on my first "Vista-ready" machine - one of the reasons I switched to Mac. While this won't cause me to switch back to PC, it is a bit annoying. Overall, Apple releases really good products, they pay attention to the details, and they get it right the first time. With the number of complaints out there, I don't doubt that one of their first major updates will resolve this. Just wish I didn't have to in the mean time.

If you're annoyed by the Glowing MS Paint in Exposé, it's super easy to fix:

a) Go to, MacintoshHD > System > Library > CoreServices > Dock
b) Right-click and "Show Package Contents"
c) Locate and delete "expose-window-selection-big.png" and "expose-window-selection-small.png" (replacing will give you an error, so you have to delete)
d) Copy these .png files to the same location.
e) Open the Terminal and type, "killall Dock" (Case sensitive).

The result:

“How did you guys sleep last night?”

“Fine, how about you?”

“We’re not sleeping in there again tonight,” the girls complained.  “In there,” referred to a small cabin.

The cabin was nestled in a valley called the Strein River Valley.  Located in the lower-half of British Columbia, and surrounded by majestic mountains and fields of wildflowers, this cabin provided an ideal location for hikers to stay.  During the day, we would explore the many beautiful little trails that wound through the woods and up the mountainsides.  At night, we had all the comforts of home - from a cook stove and table, to a roof and beds.

Being courteous, we (the guys) offered to let the girls sleep in the cabin, while we all slept in tents by the river about 40 feet away.  After the first night, however, it was obvious that our gesture hadn’t been appreciated.  So we switched places - the guys would sleep in the cabin, and the girls got the tents.

I suppose I should at least explain why the girls refused to spend another night in the cabin.  The cabin was not vacant.  Someone named Phyllis lived there - or perhaps I should say, something.  Phyllis is a rat.  And Phyllis has lived comfortably in this little cabin for a number of years.  The proof of this is seen in her name carved on the wall by previous campers, it's chronicled in log books left behind by other adventurers, and brought to mind by the big steel bins which is the only safe place for food.

This cabin was quite the find for Phyllis.  Campers are often careless, leaving food out where she could steal it.  They'd build a fire in the wood stove, making the cabin cozy warm.  And in case she was discovered, there were dozens of little holes and crevices offering her shelter that she could dodge in and out of.

Being nocturnal, Phyllis had made her presence known shortly after the girls had gone to bed the previous night.  Someone had felt something brush their leg, and turning their light on found themselves face-to-face with Phyllis - who they claimed was huge!  Since this wasn’t the only time they had this experience, it made for quite a long first night for the girls.

Now, this isn’t just another rodent story - and what sets this story apart from all the others is Evan.  Evan was one of the four guys on this trip.

We were an adventurous group - all in our early twenties and thirties.  Evan was about 22, and had an interest in Joni, one of the girls now refusing to sleep in the cabin.  A computer nerd through and through, one would not initially expect to find Evan at home in the great outdoors.  But there was a side of Evan that would come to life when not in front of his Mac, and this side was fond of the outdoors.

After a full day of hiking and a hearty meal, we were more than ready to crawl into our warm sleeping bags.  Though it was early summer, the valley in which we were staying would get quite chilly at night - cold enough that we could see our breath.  The tents didn’t offer much protection from the cold, so we weren’t disappointed to be in the warm cabin that night. Before laying out our bags, we discussed who should sleep where.  There was a small loft space about 7 feet above the floor on one side of the cabin with room for two people to sleep.  Below, the table would double as a bed where there was room for two more.

One of the guys decided to sleep in the shelter just outside the main cabin.  That left three of us inside.  Not wanting to be bothered in the middle of the night by a rodent, I choose to sleep in the loft.  Evan and Jesse both choose to sleep on the table.

Just before turning off the lights, Evan grabbed a large, cast-iron skillet.

“What’s that for?”  Jesse asked a bit hesitantly.

“In case Phyllis shows up.”  Evan responded.

“Is there room up there in the loft?”  Jesse asked.

“Yep,” I responded.

Not wanting to get hit in the middle of the night by Evan’s cast-iron skillet as he was swinging it at Phyllis, Jesse decided to move up into the loft.  Upon seeing Jesse moving to the loft, Evan began to get anxious about being the only one left down below where Phyllis roamed.

“Don’t worry, Evan,” we assured him, “if you kill Phyllis with the skillet, you’ll be the girl’s hero.”

This seemed to reassure Evan, so we turned out the lights and went to sleep...  Well, almost.

A couple of moments after the lights went out, we heard Evan:

“Uh, guys...  There’s something big, and it’s staring in my face...”

Jesse turned on his headlamp and looked over the edge of the loft to see a rat, almost twelve inches long sitting at the foot of Evan’s bed.

“Just before you turned that light on, that thing was about four inches from my face!” evan exclaimed.

“Well, if it comes back, use your skillet,” Jesse said as he turned off the light.

Just as we were drifting off to sleep, there was an obnoxiously loud crash - it was the sound of Evan’s cast-iron frying pan colliding with the wood pile directly below the loft.  Jesse leaned over the edge and turned on his headlamp.

“Did you get it,” we asked.

“I don’t think so,” Evan responded.

Phyllis was nowhere to be seen.

He crawled out of his sleeping bag, picked up his skillet, and after making his way back to the table, crawled into his sleeping bag.  Jesse turned off his light again.

About two minutes later, we heard it again - WHAM!

Again, Jesse turned on his light.  Again, there was no Phyllis.  Again, Evan crawled out of bed to recover the skillet.  Again, Jesse turned off his light, and I drifted off to sleep.

Apparently I sleep like a log, because that was the last I heard that night.  The rest of the night I slept peacefully.  The next morning I awoke to find a very tired Evan, his nearly destroyed cast-iron skillet, and no Phyllis.

Turns out that Jesse hardly slept either.  He said that about every 10 minutes or so there was a loud crash as Evan’s cast-iron skillet missed Phyllis and crashed into some other object in the cabin.

After passing about half the night chucking a skillet at a very nimble rat, Evan realized Phyllis was faster than he was.

We stayed there for about a week.  I think that night was the only one that Evan chucked his skillet at Phyllis - the next night he slept out in the shelter with Greg.

Perhaps one of these days, I’ll return to the cabin with this story, and leave it there for other campers to read - and to explain why one of the cast-iron skillets is mangled.  If I decide to spend the night, I’ll sleep in the loft.

Enoch and God went for a walk one evening. This wasn't the first time they'd gone for a walk - in fact, they walked together often. This particular evening, though, Enoch and God walked so far from Enoch's home, that when it was time to go back, God said, "Come to my home, it's closer."

This is the only account of such an event in the Bible. But the reality is that this is the only way anyone ever enters God's home - by walking with Him so far from their own, that they're closer to heaven than earth. Obviously this is metaphysical, not physical. It wasn't Enoch's physical position that changed, rather it was his spiritual.

At some point in his walk with God, Enoch crossed that invisible line that marked the 1/2-way point between heaven and earth. His worldly home was a thing of the past. He could leave it without hesitation and without grief. Yet this was not a literal home - not a home in the sense of four walls and a roof. There is much truth in the saying, "Home is where the heart is." Giving a man four walls and a roof doesn't mean he's at home, even if he calls it home. For example, you could give an Eskimo a jungle hut, and though he may call that building home, he would be no more at home than the shivering native in his igloo. They way a man thinks and lives more accurately reflects where his home is than does an address.

In the case of Enoch, every aspect of his being, from the readily visible words and deeds to the secret thoughts and intents of his heart more closely resembled those of heavenly residents than those of earthly inhabitants. His talk was more like the angels than his coworkers. His time was spent as faithfully as those who served in the presence of God. His thoughts turned to God as frequently as those who dwelt daily in the Divine Presence.

Do you walk with God? Not all walk with God, but there are some who do. And then, not all those who walk with God reach that invisible line. Some grow weary and suggest a return to the comfort of their home - they long for rest and slumber in their bed. For others it's simply too strange and frightening to wander far from the home they know so well, with which they're so familiar, and which offers such comfort and security. Still others may drag their feet so slowly along the way that the fading daylight altogether disappears, leaving them in total darkness, completely lost.

Enoch walked with God, and God said, "Come to my home, it's closer."

How far from home are you?

Before the rumors get circulating, I want to make an announcement. I'll do it by way of a story though. :)

I hadn't been able to sleep for like two nights (not really) but I couldn't get free of the thought that she'd traveled all the way from New York to Lynden, WA and it was only a little longer before I could meet her.

Finally, Friday came and I headed off for the great country to the South. I had to run several errands before I'd get to meet her, and with each errand finished, the anticipation grew.

"Almost time now."

I headed to the mini storage to pick up the three packages. I got there and started searching through things.

"Not mine... not mine... not mine either..."

It was too early to get nervous, but I was wondering where the packages went. Finally I spotted them over in one corner. I grabbed them and headed back to my truck.

I didn't have a knife on me because they frown on those at the border, so I used my keys to open the packages. First package... second... and now the third - and there she was - my new lens!

And unlike many of my friends in relationships with foreigners, I didn't have any trouble bringing her across the border - she made it just in time for Evan's wedding. I'm sure we'll get along splendidly. Every day that we're together is better than the day before. Here's a couple pictures: