Remember His Covenant Forever

"Remember His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations"--1 Chronicles 16:15

On Wednesday evening, following the rehearsal, we hosted a feast at the Berkompas home, thanks largely to the talents and assistance of Mr. and Mrs. Koch, as well as several wonderful young ladies, and of course my Mom and both Grandmothers. The party was beautifully decorated with torches and flowers, creating an atmosphere of joy and community that was hard to leave.



After dinner, Jonathan stood up and gave thanks to everyone for their participation and support, but mostly for Dad and Mom's dilligence and perserverance in getting him to this point, their guidance as he sought after a wife, and God's covenant faithfulness in bringing he and Chelsea together. It was a celebration of God's providence and kindness in their lives.


Dad and Christopher both commended him for his growth in the faith, his strong Christian character, and charged him with his new God-given duties as a married man.



The couple collected some cash playing a game where Dad would ask them entertaining questions about eachother and compare their answers, or present one of them with an item that the other one uses and see if they could correctly identify it.



Jonathan learned all about eyelash curlers, toe-spacers and lip gloss, while Chelsea puzzled over which bullet belonged in which gun, and how to pump up a bike tire and toss clay pigeons!




It was a blast for everyone, and is sure to become a family tradition.

Once it got dark enough, Dad presented an amazing set of slideshows that he and Mom had labored over for weeks, matching hundreds of great photos with some beautiful songs. (Dad has posted several on his blog which you can view here: http://berkompasclan.blogspot.com/) It was a blessing to relive how they have grown over the years, and tears flowed freely on more than one occasion (from other people you understand... :). Everyone left refreshed, inspired, anticipating the weekend.



“Thus says the LORD, ‘Yet again there will be heard in this place...the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, “Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, for the LORD is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting”--Jeremiah 33:10-11

As Iron Sharpeneth Iron

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."--Proverbs 27:17

Now that my brother Jonathan has entered married life, he has in some ways left the world of his peers, and will need to seek out the council, advice, and companionship of older men. Last Monday we gathered at his home to enjoy a time of fellowship and encouragement in preparation for his wedding.


He heard valuable advice about managing finances, overcoming difficulties in marriage, enhancing communication, guarding and protecting his family, being the spiritual and physical head of his home, and living together for God. Christopher presented Jonathan with a beautiful leather-bound family edition of the 1599 Geneva Bible (the same one that the Pilgrims first brought to the shores of America). The evening ended with a visit to his landlord's collection of restored (and partially restored) military vehicles from the Veitnam era, and a really fun game of Chinese numbers.


It was a wonderfull sendoff for Jonathan as he prepared to establish his own household of faith.

Run For the Hills!

Last week our dream became a reality. After about 3 weeks of planning, purchasing, preparing and perspiring, our hiking boot-shod feet hit the trails in Washington's renowned Olympic National Park. But first, a brief preface.

Our family is fortunate to have Mt. St. Helens virtually in our backyard--well, about 20 miles actually--and we've even climbed it once, but after seeing the craggy peaks of the Olympic Mountain range jutting through the distant clouds from Seattle, there was something irresistable about them, we really wanted to go there. What better way to experience them than backpacking? Mom encouraged us to plan a trip with Daniel and Stephen Bittner for Christopher's homecoming. None of us had done any serious overnight hiking before, so we were rather amateur as we mapped out our first route. "Let's see, we'll probably be carrying about 30-40 lbs on our backs, and since we can easily hike at least 10 miles a day and can handle an elevation change of several thousand feet we'll do a 33 mile loop, leaving plenty of time to climb a 5,000 ft. mountain and fish at an alpine lake..." "Uh, guys...that's actually about a 50 mile loop, and it took about a week for some people with 50 lb. packs to travel--time for plan B." With Christopher's help we decided on a wiser route that would take us about 21 miles through the rainforest, up ridges around 4,000 feet high, through alpine meadows and down to the Quinalt river in the valley. Good choice.

Since none of us had very much gear, the initial investment was pretty large. It took about 5 trips to Sportsman's Warehouse, a trip to [G.I.] Joe's, a stop by Walmart, and several visits to Fred Meyer and Albertson's to get stocked up. Now that I have my license (woohooo!) Mom can send me to pick up Daniel and Michael from work, so on one occasion I stopped to get them some slurpys (how in the world do you spell that :? ) and then tactfully asked if anybody needed anything at Sportman's Warehouse. "Well, I kind of need some socks..." "Yes!, Daniel needs socks! Perfect, I'm happy to stop." :) I'm pleased to say that I hardly bought anything there that I didn't use.

On Sunday evening, July 22, Christopher, Daniel, Michael and I arrived at the Bittner's house in Olympia, our agreed upon rendevous point. The funny thing is, the Bittners weren't home--they were camping down in Oregon--and their ETA was about 12:30 p.m. We had been told to eat the steak in the fridge, so our master chef Christopher created a smashing dinner of dijon mustard steak, and barbecue sauce steak on the grill, while I concocted an impromptu side-dish of steamed broccoli and impressionistic sweet-and-crazy barbecue sauce :)



I can't cook worth beans, and actually I get kind of lost in the kitchen...


but when it comes to sauces, oh boy. A note on the fridge told us to go ahead and take the boy's beds, but we were sure that they would need them more than we did so all four of us opted to sleep on the floor in our sleeping bags. That was mistake #1. I decided to try using my sleeping bag's stuff sack filled with 2 inflated gallon Ziplok bags as a pillow. It seemed serviceable at first, so Christopher followed suit. That was mistake #2. Then someone started cracking stupid jokes, and we laughed until we started gasping for air. It was getting really late, but the heat wouldn't let any of us drift off. Finally Christopher started breathing heavily, like REALLY heavily! I felt obligated to give him a gentle shove, so now we're all back to square one--awake and hotter then ever. Daniel announced that if he ever made it home alive he would sell his sleeping bag to a bakery! At about 12:30 p.m. Daniel Bittner stumbled into the room and, finding us awake, told us to take the beds after all. Daniel and Christopher promptly siezed them, so I just ditched my sleeping bag and counted sheep.

We were up bright and early the next morning at about 5:45 (I have no idea how that happened) and were treated to a wonderful breakfast by Jacqueline and Priscilla. With our final packing finished, we loaded into our two vehicles and headed out west.

Stay tuned for my next post.

4th of July Photos

Now that I have the time I thought I'd share a few of the shots I got on the 4th. Our family decided to stay home and fire off some mortars, fountains and other stuff, a good opportunity for me to try out my new Bogen 3021 tripod (well, I bought it used, but it's still new :), a must when shooting in the dark. Photographing fireworks is harder than it sounds...but it sure is fun. You can get some really artistic images without even trying! Most of these are unedited.



















If you want to know how I got any of these just comment and I'll explain!

Thursday

Sorry this post is so late, I finally ran out of excuses so here's the last installment of my series on Adam's visit.

We awoke bright and early--well actually it wasn’t very bright, it was 4:40 a.m.--on Thursday to head out to the Yakima area in eastern WA, and I have to say that was my favorite experience of the week. Obviously we had to drive a ways to get past the Cascades, so we took 205 into OR and then headed out east on I-84 through the Gorge. It was fascinating how quickly the terrain changed from damp pine forests covering rocky cliffs to dry, rolling hills. We crossed back into WA, went through Goldendale and headed up through Yakima.




Along the way I observed my first Western Meadowlarks singing from fenceposts and powerlines along the highway.


Western Meadowlark
Once we reached the town of Naches, we found the road that led us to Wenas Lake and the Wenas Valley campground, where the annual WA Audubon campout was held a few days earlier. Too bad we missed it. Anyway, we were treated to views of Black-billed Magpie, more Meadowlarks, a comical Ruffed Grouse that ran across the road in front of us, my first Western and Eastern Kingbirds, Mountain and Western bluebirds, Nashville, MacGillavray’s and Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warblers, a cooperative Yellow Warbler and more.


Yellow Warbler


Ruffed Grouse

Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warbler
We had heard that the campground hosted Pygmy Nuthatches, Mountain Chickadees and White-headed Woodpeckers but we hiked quite a ways up into the wooded hills and couldn’t find any, so we returned to the creek which seemed to be much more lively. The time of day and the heat probably had a lot to do with it.


We left the campground and finally got back on a decent paved road, but just as I breathed a sigh of relief we saw a blaring yellow sign that said “Pavement Ends!” This road was definitely an improvement over the last gravel road, even after it said “End of County Road” (which the last time meant “Prepare to be jolted into oblivion”)


As always we drove slow with the windows rolled down, and got some good views of Vesper and Brewer’s Sparrows, Cassin’s Finch, Tree Swallows, and Mountain and Western Bluebirds.


Mountain Bluebird
As we passed a ranch, I noticed an odd looking bird perched atop the entrance arch and then saw that it was a CA quail, a lifer for Adam. We pulled over to photograph him, but soon I noticed that just below him was hung a cow skull with a Western Kingbird calmly perched on it.


California Quail & Western Kingbird
It was sweet to get both species in one photo, and I think it makes great material for a future painting. Finally we exited the gravel road onto a highway near Ellensburg, and decided it was too late to tour the Yakima River Canyon or Mt. Rainier if we wanted to make it home at a reasonable hour. It’s too bad, since I was looking forward to some mountain birding, but it was hard to be disappointed after a day in the Wenas Basin. Adam decided he would want to stop at Multnomah Falls to break up the drive, eat dinner and just see the falls. I’ve been there quite a few times, but this time was special because the evening light was just beautiful as it hit the cliff face around the falls, and I saw my first American Dipper feeding below the falls and nesting in the moss right by them. We got home around 9:20, tired but immensely satisfied.

Wednesday

Once again, we awoke to beautiful weather. Since I had to be at choir at 3:00, Adam and I did some local birding at Ridgefield NWR and Vancouver lake. We first went to the Carty unit at Ridgefield, and upon our arrival we were greeted by a pair of Lazuli Buntings right by the parking lot (this one is the male).


Lazuli Bunting
A steeply arched bridge crossed the railroad tracks, and we walked the gravel roads to the Cathlopotle plankhouse (a replica of the native American structures found in the area), where the "Oaks to Wetlands" trail actually started.


Bewick's Wren
We had just begun meandering through the beautiful dense oak canopy when we found a female Western Tanager foraging on the trail in front of us. She seemed to prefer the shade, but I got my best photo when she paused in some patchy light for a second.


Western Tanager
Exiting the oak forest, we found ourselves on the edge of the marsh where Song Sparrows and Common Yellowthroats were abundant. Photography was difficult in the harsh midday light. The highlight of our walk was when Adam located our first Townsend's Warbler at the very top of a tall oak--I pretty much had to lay on my back to get a glimpse. Pleased with our success there, we did a quick run through the auto-route on the River S unit, watching and photographing the typical Cinnamon Teal, Barn Swallows and Great Blue Herons along the road and at the observation blind.



Cinnamon Teal


Great Blue Heron
After a quick lunch, we headed over to Vancouver lake, where we found my first Bullock's Orioles (absolutely stunning birds, I wish I had been able to get pictures) in a grove of birch trees. Here's a neat shot of a Spotted Towhee I took at the same place.


Spotted Towhee
Then it was time for choir and from there back home to prepare for our big trip on Thursday.

All photos © Benjamin Berkompas 2007, taken at Ridgfield National Wildlife Refuge