Today the majority of our family went for a hike up at Silverstar. The view was beautiful. We went with a group from our Church. I had a lot of fun. Here are some pictures.
I recently acquired a new Ipod and a camera. The camera works very well for taking pictures and I am eager to test it on the wonderful glories of God’s Creation. Here is a picture of my new Ipod.
Aside from that, here are a few sundry things. My brother, Johannes, is in Montana right now. He has a summer job in a hotel.
I have been trying my hand at writing some poetry. Most of my poems have something to do with God or the works of creation.
A couple weeks ago, I went on a hike to the Ape’s Caves which is a big lava tube. Parts of it are so low and narrow, that you have to crawl on your knees to get through it. The cave is very dark and it required lanterns and flashlights.
I’ve been trying to read more books lately. I started reading a book called The Cross Triumphant. So far, it is very interesting.
That is mostly my life right now besides the usual housework. Some of our family might be going to the zoo at the end of this week.
This morning some of our family went to the berry farms in order to pick strawberries. Everyone who went helped to pick including my baby sister, Iona. She had her own little bucket into which she put her berries. She actually was able to pick a good amount for her size. Each bucket was five pounds. I picked one and three quarter buckets. Altogether we got 80.75 pounds. I think that’s more than we’ve ever gotten before. Most of the berries weren’t that big due to the fact that we had gone late into the season. The strawberries that we picked are going to many different uses. Some of them will be sliced and frozen, some will be frozen whole, some will become strawberry pies, and some will become jam. Strawberry picking was fun. We picked for a whole hour.
Last evening our family attended an English Country Dance at a friend’s house in honor of some people who had graduated. We did many kinds of dances including the VIrginia Reel, the Patty Cake Polka, Yellow Stockings, and others. The dance was held out on the lawn. The Virginia Reel was the best dance in my opinion. We danced it multiple times. Before the dance started, we had a time of fellowship and conversation. Then we all got in positions for dancing. After the first round of dancing, everyone got a drink. Then the second round started. When the dancing was over, we had dessert and more fellowship. Then a campfire was lit and we sung lots of songs. The songs included hymns, rounds, and echo songs. I had a very enjoyable time.
Last Saturday, Dad took Galena, Lydia, Karl, Greta, Peter, and I on a hike. It was about a one hour drive to get to the destination. The location of the hike was the Apes Caves. If you want to know what the caves are like, they are very dark and rocky. The caves were so dark that everyone had to carry either a lantern or a flashlight. The lanterns and gas lamps were more effective than the flashlights; especially when the flashlights started to go dim. I brought a flashlight that was tied to my clothes. I also brought a water pack. Because the flashlights were not very effective, I stood next to a friend who was carrying a lantern most of the time.
There were many narrow passages and even a tunnel inside the cave. The cave was actually the result of a lava tube that was formed from a volcano. Some of the passages involved crawling because the ceiling was too low to stand up easily except maybe for that of a dwarf. The hike was about three quarter mile each way. Because of the boulders and big rocks, I was prone to bruises and often tripped over rocks and scraped my knees. This hike was actually taken by a group of people in our church. Our family happened to be in the group. Most of us didn’t stay together all of the time.
My sister, Lydia, and some others, took the opportunity to sing in the cave. The sound of the singing made a great echoing noise. One of the songs my sister sang was Amazing Grace. After everyone was out of the cave, each family went back to their car to eat their lunch. We took some group pictures of everyone, talked for a little while, and then most of us took the long ride home.
After we got home, some of us were tired. We told Mom about our adventure and then proceeded to help with the leftover housework. it was an enjoyable day.
