Frontyard Sumo Wrestling

My camera is broken, and well, maybe a bit of my creative energy is broken too as of late.  Which is why we adults need to have children around.  Consider the latest scenario at the Little house.

 I'm sitting on the front porch in my rocker like an old lady and watching my children kick the soccer ball in the front yard.  I step inside to pour a glass of red wine.  By the time I return to my front porch perch I find two naked girls stripped down to their underwear, slamming into each other with their stomachs, and then rolling around in the grass.

 "What, my dear ones, are you doing for all the neighbors to see?."
"Moooommmm...don't you know?  We're sumo wrestling.  Like they do in Japan. Watch. (insert yelling here with a Japanese accent)  I'M A SUMO WRESTLER."  body slam. body slam.


Why, of course, how could I not have known?  Suddenly all of life takes on a greater perspective.

Try Kombucha

Ever tried Kombucha?  Despite the appearance that I have been collecting bottles from an apothecary, I can claim no other addiction than to my new favorite treat- locally brewed KOMBUCHA made by Portland's Townshend Tea company and distributed by our neighborhood Whole Foods.  What is it you ask?  Served bottled or on tap, Kombucha is a sparkling fermented tea which tastes not really like tea nor like sparkling water but rather like something completely new.  Some claim that it has health benefits such as a boosted immune system and the like, but the reason I come clamoring to the Whole Foods tea counter is for an experience of bubbly delightfulness that is entirely unique.

Townshend Tea is the first company in Oregon to receive a small business loan from Whole Foods to expand its operation and supply a local unique product (read more about their story in the Oregonian).  To my Portland readers, if you have not yet tried Kombucha, swing by Townshend's on Alberta or the Hollywood Whole Foods for a delightful afternoon sparkly treat.  The White Rose is my favorite.  And to those of you outside of Oregon or Washington, you'll just have to take my word for it (as it is only distributed in Oregon and Washington...for now, anyway).  Yum, yum, and more yum.  

A Baby Biologist Walks by the Sea

I have been taking Biology for almost a year now.  After a lifetime of Liberal Arts pursuits- History, Art History, English, Theology- my mind is being challenged to wrap itself around the very fundamentals of basic Biology.  Beginning with one of the most basic units of the study of life, the cell, I began my studies last summer with Cell Biology (a prerequisite for the three term sequence of Anatomy & Physiology).  It has been challenging and humbling for this History major to focus my mind less on the big/'macro' ideas and more on the particulars/'micro' of the created world.

Years ago Jason and I watched a documentary about an artist named Andy Goldsworthy.  Called "Rivers and Tides" (click on the link above for more information), the film is a beautiful documentary about images created in and in response to nature's own dramatic show.  Goldsworthy's work bubbled to the surface of my mind as I walked the coastline of a small part of Oregon's magnificent coast last weekend.  I stand in awe of the Creator as I begin to notice, with my small kindergarten Biology background, repeating images in nature.  Perhaps our bodies are more connected to the grand design than we think.  Our very breath, named "Tidal Volume" by anatomists, ebbs and flows in and out in rhythmic patterns as the tide pulls in and out against the coast.  Our inner ear, also called the concha, is named after the conch shell which bears almost the exact same shape.  The vibrations moving through a conch shell and creating a sound that reminds us of the roaring sea is not unlike the air moving through our inner ears only to be interpreted as music, laughter, speech, whispers by our Vestibulocochlear nerve.  Attached to this conch shell are three semicircular canals which are responsible for our dynamic equilibrium- i.e. knowing where we are in space.  These perfectly designed "shells" of our body allow us to control our body while flipping in a cartwheel or standing on our heads.

An electron microscope reveals the pseudostratified ciliated cells lining our trachea.  Their wavelike motions carry debris and bacteria away from our lungs, cleansing and warming the air that enters our lungs- our very life breath.  Their image is not unlike the seaweed clinging to the Oregon rocks which flow in wavelike motions with the tide.  The images just begin to multiply, the treelike webs on the back of a sand dollar or a leaf which bears striking similarity to the branches of blood vessels, nerves, or bronchioles that fill our bodies and become the means of transport for oxygen, nutrients, and feeling.

Who are we?  Who are we, these salty creatures whose bodies are so adept at hormonally balancing our saltiness?  We are Creatures made in the image of the Creator.  How is our Creator reflected in His creation?  I am not a philosopher, nor a scientist, nor a theologian, but I do have eyes.  I see our world and I wonder how I can have better eyes, better understanding of the rhythm and pattern of creation, and perhaps greater wisdom in knowing the one who created and one day will redeem all things.

Nana's Here!

Nana (a.k.a Mom/Susan) is with us for a precious few days.  Thanks to the kindness and generosity of others we enjoyed a few days at the Oregon Coast.  With some surprise sunshine and even warmth we collected endless seashells, stared at the ocean, played cards, and enjoyed some very special time away with my mom.

One of the highlights of our time was a two mile hike along the cliffs of the coast in Oswald Chambers State Park.  We began the walk wrapped in coats and hats as we trekked through a light mist.  By the end of our walk through forests ladened with damp ferns and dripping evergreens the sun was shining and our many layers had been stripped.  

...some moments of grandeur

...and some moments of peace

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!  My Mom sent these photos to me today.  They are of a visit with Granmama from the spring of 2006.  Eleanor was barely one year old and Rynn was just three.  How quickly time passes and how quickly it brings us change.  But Christ has conquered death, and today we celebrate His resurrection and remember those who have gone to be with Him. 

Christ the Lord is Risen today!  A-----lelulia!  

  

...and dear Oma and Opa