Confusion Hill

Yesterday I traveled to Confusion Hill for work. It was nice to see that Southern Humboldt has finally begun awaking from it's winter slumber. The roadside was alive with blossoms from pepperwoods, cherries and plum trees that grow all over our county. The morning fog hung low over the evergreen hills. Later, when the fog lifted, the sunlight illuminated the new growth at the tips of the fir trees which made them seem to glow. I love southern Humboldt County. It's difficult to capture the color contrast of the oily brown leaves and red bark of the manzanitas against evergreen hills. I tried my best to get the magnificance of beauty, and the massavness of the new bridge at Confusion Hill, all with my Chinon CM-7 35mm camera that I found in my desk when I was hired at SHN. That's right... Remember 35mm film?? Developing?? I hope that this camera is good for me. The price was right and features include.. Automated nothing! No autofocus, no aperture adjusting. It won't even advance the film, gotta pull the crank. But it is teaching me alot, at $5 a roll for film. Anyway... This is what I get payed to do.

A comforting sight

Eel River bridge at Cooks Valley on the old highway, just into Mendocino

What will be the south bridge, south tower, where we were working yesterday. Does this not look like some sort of George Lucas thing? Building the Death Star on Tatuine/Battle for Endor?

Guys working harder than me, finishing concrete.

South bridge, south tower looking to the north tower inside of the bridge span.

Looking at the tower on a landing 50 feet up from the river bottom. A concete pump to the left and crane booming up materials to the crew. It is a 10 minute walk up the scaffolding to the deck. The horizontal spans are hollow, picture above is taken from inside.

South tower looking south to the south abutment. Crew working drilling into the bedrock for the footings.

Looking to the north tower from just below the south tower span. The towers are built, then the bridge is built, one section at a time, to connect the towers together. The horizontal spans from each tower will reach out then meet in the middle.

Upriver from the bridge.

Another view of the north tower and slide in the background. Can you see laborers working on the rebar cages?
The slide that caused it all. The road cuts right through the middle of the slide.



This is the north bridge. Completed for the most part.
North tower and the river.

Live cameras of the construction project can be viewed at http://www.caltrans.oxblue.com/confusionhill/

Monosyllabic Praise!!

The recording project that we've been working on is once again in full swing. I got the concept ideas for the artwork done by Don and it has come out awesome. I must say that my friends are very talented! Gretchen put t0gether the song list and musicians were given lots of room to do what they did best when we finally went for it. I'm very glad that we did it as a worship service with only one take. One chance to get it right. Gretchen gave me the opportunity to pick the order of songs, which to me is the best part of picking a set list. I love picking set lists.

In the movie High Fidelity, there is a scene where John Cusack is down and out because of a girl, and his friends finding him re-arranging his album collection not by genre, or musician, but autobiographically. Not to try to sound artsy, but when I pick a set list for a sunday morning service, or whatever, I always end up with the autobiographical list. With this list, although I didn't pick the songs, I got to pick the order, and I thought "man I nailed it!". Can't really go wrong with that song selection. Like any well developed novel I had a great introduction, good character development, detailed rising action, then the point where the novel reached it's climax in the story, and then resolved.

It was about three seconds into the first song where I was reminded that the Holy Spirit does not often follow our road map. We get on the bus with Him. There is a point in the set that is so spontaneous, and free that I could not have planned or anticipated it at all. After singing songs of praise to our Lord and Savior. Extolling to Him that "You alone are Father, You alone are good, You alone are Savior, You alone are God!", and recieving the blessing that is the outpouring of His grace there comes a point where all there is left to do is raise both hands high, look to the Lord and yell "Yeah!!!" No more words, just pure unhindered adoration. That moment, that word, sums the whole event up. Sums up my walk with the Lord. Sometimes I don't need words to let Him know how thankfull I am.

Is this a promotion for the cd? You bet it is! I can't wait to finish, and give 100 copies to my friends, have them burn them and give them to others. I want this to be a tool for the Lord. To let Him minister to others about His grace, mercy, and comfort.

Final thoughts.... My friend Gretchen, who was the brain child and the pipes for the worship service, is in the mission field right now. Giving the breath that the Lord has placed in her lungs to witness to the lost, and enabling others to go out and preach the good news. I have never experienced the team she is working with firsthand, but have heard the amazing stories of how the Lord is using them to win back those in captivity. Check out Carpenter's Tools International. See what Gretchen and all those crazy people who choose to congregate in Minnesota during the winter are doing to reclaim this planet as God's. http://www.carpenterstools.org/

What to say about friends? I got a call from a good friend last night, didn't talk about much or for a long time. He just wanted to know how we were doing, how was Jack. Got me thinking. My first initial thoughts when the baby was that sick were all over the place. At first my mind kept realing over the baby that king David had with the wife of the good friend that he sent off to war. The Lord told David that his baby was going to die, and the baby did die. I believe that it died because of the sin in David's life. The other side of the coin is the testing of Abraham. His son, God's promise to him, was going to die as well, at the hand of Abraham, but spared by the Lord. So here I am "What, Lord, are you trying to show me? Is this baby going to die for sin in my life? Is this a test of my faith?" For somebody who is a bit of a recluse, the Lord showed me the importance of my friends in my life, among other things that have to do with faith in Him. We recieved calls, emails, visits, prayer, and donations from friends immediately. When I get stressed, I have a tendency to fortify and prepare for the battle. Pull up the armorments and close the gates. When we were in the ER there was a small army outside offering up prayer for Jack. It was hard for me to go outside, something inside does not want to have to face people in the middle of turmoil. But through the turmoil I was able to lean on so many great people. I really do value the friendships that I have. I don't see people nearly enough, need to get out of my den way more often. These are the people who care about me and my family. It is a blessing to ge to go to a friend's house and fellowship. Play guitar while Max spills juice on their carpet. It is not good to be alone, It is not good to try to fight alone.

"Forrest, you lean against me, and I'll lean against you. Then, we won't have to sleep with our heads in the mud" Benjamin Beauford Blue, but people call him Bubba

When clouds veil sun
And disaster comes
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
When waters rise
And hope takes flight
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul

Ever faithful
Ever true
You I know
You never let go
You never let go
You never let go
You never let go

When clouds brought rain
And disaster came
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
When waters rose
And hope had flown
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul

Oh, my soul
Overflows
Oh, what love, oh, what love
Oh, my soul
Fills with hope
Perfect love that never lets go

Oh, what love, oh, what love
Oh, what love, oh, what love
In joy and pain
In sun and rain
You're the same
Oh, You never let go

Six Million Dollar Man

"Without God, nothing; God and enough" was a creed that my friend Jassen had on the wall of his bedroom all through high school. The last two weeks have made that fact so real to me.

February 5th 2008, Rach took Jack in for a checkup at the doctor for a cold that he just couldn't kick. The pediatrician said that, yes, he was very sick, but he needed to fight it. Keep an eye on him, and make sure he's peeing and eating. That afternoon he went from bad to worse. He was having fits of not breathing, and turned cold and blue. We dropped Max with the grandparents, and took Jack to the ER. Ten hours later Rachel and Jack were at the UCSF Intensive Care Nursery, and my brother and I were driving to San Francisco.

At this time it was not completely certain what was wrong, Jack's pediatrician was saying that the problem was more than likeley Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). This was later confirmed at UCSF. RSV is a virus similar to a cold, but much more intense. Kids Max's age usually are big enough and have enough immumity to handle the sickness; but Jack, at 3 1/2 weeks old, was just too small. During the drive to SF with my brother, the Lord kept instilling in my heart that with God, Jack will have enough. "My God will supply all my needs according to His riches, and His glory" Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will keep your paths straight." All of the sunday school memory verses, verses that I lean on, verses that I've never placed in long term memory, but now can recite word-for-word, and that crazy zealous creed that Jassen had on his wall kept spinning around in my brain. I left Humboldt thinking that I did not have the strength to make it through what was going to happen, and arrived in SF with the realization that God has the strength to do all things for the good of those who love Him. Including little 9 pound babies.

Thank you to everyone who called us, left messages, gave generously, drove down, and prayed for baby Jack. The Lord truly worked a miracle through the hands of the physicians, nurses, and supporting medical staff, but it was the unanimous prayer of faith in a just and soverign Lord that brought baby Jack home healthy and happy.

At the ER in Redwood Memorial

Intubated with the Oscellatinig Ventalator

All Jack's breathing gear, and a happy 1 month birthday sign from his sweetie

Max came down on the weekend and went to the zoo to see pengiuns!

This was the first time that Rachel held Jack in a week. It took three nurses to pull this off, but they all felt that it was worth the effort.

Jack's first girlfriend, Colleen was with Jack for 5 of the nights that he was at UCSF

Bedside buddies

Wake up, it's time to go home!!

Having trouble getting the pics facing the right way. some day I'll fix it.

Goodbye to an Old Friend

This year for Christmas I recieved a rather unexpected gift from my sister. I've been playing the same guitar for around 10 years, and realized around three years ago that it was time to invest in a quality instrument. The guitar the I was so proud to have hand selected when I was 18 years old is now a little tired, and has lost alot of it's tone. When I was looking for a guitar, it was like it found me. An Ovation Celebrity. Yep, me and my plastic guitar. It had a very bright rich sound, and was so easy to play. I put my fishman pickups in this guitar and was ready to go! Looking back, I realize that I learned to worship with this old toad. It is the only guitar that I own that has only been used to lead worship, which is kinda cool in it's own right. I've logged like a million hours playing this thing. My Ovation has kinda become a symbol for my walk as a worship leader. It's not the nicest instrument, and has many times played in the company of Martins, Taylors, Gibsons, and the like. But, never the less the offering given is still the same. My Ovation reminds me of worship services at the church in Weott. A small sanctuary, built in the style of a log cabin, a fire burning in the hearth of the grey sandstone fireplace, surrounded by the redwoods and turning colors of the maples. Just voices and this guitar lifting up the Name of the Lord. Weott church is the place where I first realized the importance of waiting on the Lord. Years as a worship leader, then all of a sudden I got it. Am I way too attached to a material object? probably... Or maybe this guitar is my pile of rocks. When Jacob wrestled with the Lord, he heaped up a mound of rocks in that spot the very next morning. Every time he would pass by, the sight of stone upon stone, and the pain in his hip would instill in him that he is truly blessed by the Lord. Or I'm too sentamental.

Back to Christmas. Very unexpectidly, my sister gave me as a gift one of her guitars. Not just a guitar that was taking up space. She has four guitars in her aresonal, and each one is very significent to her. This guitar was given to my sis by our mom when she graduated high school. It was an interesting time in her life. Alot was going on internally and externally for her that she dosen't discuss readilly with people. When she got this guitar, it became a pile of rocks in her life. Now she has passed it to me. My sister is a very accomplished worship leader, very skilled at playing guitar, and furthermore my sister! The significance of the gift from her is insane! It is not the $1,500 Martin, or Taylor, but very simple; well made from choice wood. What was important to me when I was 18 was the brilliance and brightness I found in my Ovation. Now I have found myself drawn to the dark tones of the mahogany, and resonance from the big open box.

It's hard putting away the Ovation in the hall closet, but very much an honor to be playing the new Blueridge that I recieved. Thanks, Manda, for lending me your pile of rocks!