Mt Tabor

It is a sunny early spring day in Portland, OR, my children are both at school, and I can't bring myself to sit down to memorize all the parts of the heart for Anatomy & Physiology. Instead, with a warm cup of Stumptown coffee and my one hundred pound furry friend Roscoe, I took a long walk along the trails of Mt. Tabor. Mt Tabor is a place in Portland I often ignore, driving by it everyday until the commonplace of it makes it invisible. That is, until mornings like today sparkling with sunshine and freshly blooming cherry trees call me outside.

A travel website writes that Mt Tabor is a "prominent volcanic butte rising above Portland’s skyline and bursting with urban greenery. Where else can you hike to the top of a three-million-year-old volcano covered with a Douglas fir and conifer forest? This 200-acre park is crisscrossed with well-maintained hiking trails, and views from the western summit are stellar" (www.trails.com). Mt Tabor is an air vent for Mt. Hood, 'a big zit' as Jason has called it. Not the best place to be should Mt. Hood erupt with the fiery innards of the earth. Although if the major fault upon which Portland lies decides to shift, Mt Tabor is the place to be. The firm volcanic rock is said to be stable even in a major earthquake.

Today, Mt. Tabor was a place of beauty, peace, and stability for me. Watching my dog prance and leap through the woods as the early morning sunlight cast long rays through immense evergreens, I was deeply content. At the summit of Mt. Tabor I looked East to see Mt Hood rising up from the horizon proclaiming itself the epitome of 'mountainness.' To the West a picture perfect view of Portland glimmered as the city reflected the orange glow coming from the East. I thought, as I watched Roscoe do his air acrobatics in pursuit of a squirrel, how this butte-top view holds the essence of all that Jason and I love about living here. In one direction the mountains which bring so much peace, energy, and balance to Jason and in the other direction the city which inspires my imagination, my hunger for new experiences, and the direction and mission of our church.

I think Roscoe and I agree, we will not stay away so long from Mt. Tabor again.

(photos courtesy of www.portlandground.com)