“Your short sojourn on
Urantia, on this sphere of mortal infancy, is only a single link, the very
first in the long chain that is to stretch across universes and through the
eternal ages. It is not so much what you learn in this first life; it is the
experience of living this life that is important. Even the work of
this world, paramount though it is, is not nearly so important as the way in
which you do this work. There is no material reward for righteous living, but
there is profound satisfaction — consciousness of achievement — and this transcends
any conceivable material reward.” The
Urantia Book (435.6) (39:4.13)
The theme of the quotes in this posting is experience; I
believe I have used most of the nature quotes.
The phrase “it is the experience of living this life that is important” especially
caught my attention. These experiences
are more important than what we learn, even more important than the work we
do. Enjoy!
Fort Vancouver Accountant’s House
After the tour gathered in Portland, Oregon our first stop was the
restored Fort Vancouver National Park in Vancouver, Washington. This fort was founded in the winter of 1824 –
1825 and was where trappers would bring their furs to sell to the Hudson’s Bay
Company, which was under British control.
While touring the fort and taking photographs I was struck by the rough
logs of the stockade walls, which were sharply contrasted with the bright white
walls of the Governor’s house and that of the Accountant. In fact the Accountant was practically the
most important person in the fort, since he kept track of the money, and he
lived very well indeed. When the fort
was in operation there was a sizeable Indian settlement just outside the fort,
in fact stockade walls of the fort was mainly to prevent the Indians from
getting in and absconding with goods, not because of any hostile threat.
Mount St. Helens
Our next stop was at Mount Saint Helens. There was some apprehension about the weather
so we bypassed the earlier overlook stops and drove directly to the Johnston
Ridge Observatory. This visitor’s center
is situated on the ridge where volcanologist David Johnston was camped out
observing the St. Helens volcano when it erupted on May 18, 1980; his final
words were “Vancouver, Vancouver, this is it.”
The center, which was named after him, is five miles from the mountain
but it looks so close you think you can reach out and touch it. The weather cooperated with the cone in full
view; I was even able to get a photograph of the new lava dome that is building
inside the peak and of the steam coming out of it. In a couple of hundred years or so it might
be ready to erupt again. Stay tuned!
I had been there previously on the 2008 SC ETV tour to Oregon
that also included a visit to the same Mount St. Helens visitor’s center. The film shown in the center about the
eruption has been updated and it is even more dramatic than it was before; the
grass has perhaps crept a bit more up the mountain side, but otherwise the area
pretty much looks the same as it did before.
Mommy Nature may act slowly, but the changes, though gradual, are robust
and more certain to last.
Elk in the Valley
Once we had seen the main attraction, Mount St. Helens in all
its glory, we could sample the other overlooks on the way out. At one overlook there was a viewing platform overlooking
the valley where a herd of Elk were grazing.
The above photo was taken with a hand held 420 mm telephoto lens with my
elbows firmly resting on the corner of a chain link fence. A ranger standing at the lookout point said
that herd was about two miles away. We
watched them for some time as they wandered about calmly grazing.
Our next stop was at a wildlife refuge (unfortunately my notes
did not include its name) where we saw several deer, or at least one deer
several times, as well as one sweet young fawn in the woods. Later I was watching a Doe as she grazed at
the edge of the meadow nearby; then she started walking toward me and came
within two or three feet of me. The next
thing I knew she totally ignored me (how dare she?) and marched up to her
favorite bridge when, well see below.
Why are these creatures on MY Bridge?
We can nearly read her mind as she looks at her favorite bridge
but finds the way blocked by a bunch of two legged creatures on the path. Notice the members of our tour group mostly
ignored the deer, being absorbed in their own matters. She was comfortable with humans nearby but
did not care to come any closer to them than necessary and I certainly
understand that. After seeing this she
sadly turned aside, climbed up the hill alongside the creek and over fallen
logs so she could cross to the other side of the creek. I hope what was on the other side was worth
all that.
One interesting note is that four of the five hotels the tour
stayed in were Red Lion Hotels, including the one in Olympia. When tour members went down to dinner at that
hotel there were only two waiters on duty in the hotel restaurant to serve our 52
tour people! Our tour organizer was not
pleased and informed the management in no uncertain terms. The next night there were several
“experienced” waiters (is waiter emeritus a valid term?) in the restaurant; we
were each given a free glass of Red Champagne and a fancy appetizer. Obviously they were attempting to make up for
the previous evening’s shortcomings.
Clark’s Nutcracker at Paradise
Our next stop was the visitor’s center for Mount Rainer, which
is located in Paradise; truly, that is what they call the place. An early explorer took his daughter there to
see the mountain and she exclaimed that it was Paradise. But then she was there in August, what would
she have called it had she been there in February? I can definitely say I have been to Paradise
and there was snow on the ground. I even
walked a bit up the snow-covered slope to get a better picture of the mountain. This Clark’s Nutcracker was hopping all
around the picnic area; at one point it was sitting on a table staring at a
couple siting on the other side of the table who were eating and totally ignored
the bird; apparently it is well fed by tourists leaving tasty goodies behind.
Mount Rainer
Normally both Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainer are covered with
clouds; I was fortunate to get photos of each on this trip. Mount Rainer was mostly covered by clouds
while we were there, but just before we were to leave they drifted away and we
could see the mountaintop clearly. There were lovely Avalanche Lilies growing
near the parking lot and we were able to get good pictures of them.
“…[The] most thrilling and inspiring of all
possible human experiences: the personal quest for truth, the exhilaration of
facing the perils of intellectual discovery, the determination to explore the
realities of personal religious experience, the supreme satisfaction of
experiencing the personal triumph of the actual realization of the victory of
spiritual faith over intellectual doubt as it is honestly won in the supreme
adventure of all human existence — man seeking God, for himself and as himself,
and finding him.” The Urantia Book
(1729.5) (155:5.10)
The personal quest for truth, seeking God and finding him is
the most thrilling of all possible human experiences. This MUST be the quest of each one of us; may
each of us seek to do His will.
Thank you.
All photographs used in blog postings were taken by
the Wandering Urantian, Doug Cable.
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