Is This a Trail?

When I first started thinking about coming up to Canada, I looked up where my residence would be.  And lo and behold!  Google maps showed that my apartment was only separated by the water by a thin strip of land.  So I figured that it would only be a short walk from my door to the water front. 

So today, since the sun was shinning, I decided to go exploring.  I noticed shortly after arriving here that there is a trail by my apartment, so I decided to go down that to see how far I could go. 

At first, it was a pretty easy trail, even if the old, broken "dead end" sign was a bit troublesome.  But I continued on.

The old forest is very pretty to walk through.  The part of British Columbia that I live in is actually a rainforest. 

There are all sorts of interesting looking fungi growing.  And the ground is very wet and spongy. 

As I continued on down the path, I started to suspect that I wasn't actually on a trail but a creek bed.  At times I was actually in water.  It was starting to become clear that this wasn't a good idea.  

 I was walking downhill, in a creek, on very slippery rocks.  My tennis shoes were wet and muddy.  I started to visualize myself slipping and hitting my head.  No on knew where I was or that I was planning on going down this "trail."  No on would even think to look for me until tomorrow afternoon. 

So as I was starting to panic, I continued down the creek bed, hoping that I wouldn't slip and fall.  And soon, I started to hear traffic.  Traffic?  I had pictured just some wild waterfront.  Was I even going in the right direction? 

Turns out that the waterfront that I live by is the yacht club!

 

Toto, I Don't Think We're In Iowa Anymore!

Every month, my internship site puts out a newsletter.  This is the article I wrote for the October issue, but with pictures!

photo courtesy of Wikipedia

In the 1939 movie adaption of the book The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, Dorothy utters a similar phrase to her pet dog, Toto. Dorothy had just emerged from her tornado devastated house to see the wonderful, yet strange, land of Oz. Dorothy, who had spent her entire childhood on a farm in Kansas, found things in Oz to be similar to her home, but always with an unexpected twist. Things look slightly different, which is emphasized in the movie as the scenes in Oz were filmed with color film and the Kansas scenes were filmed in black and white. People also talk slightly different in Oz, as the people are prone to speak in rhymes. And the vegetation is also slightly different. One of my favorite scenes is when Dorothy meets Oz apple trees. As she travels down the yellow brick road to see the wizard in Emerald City, she becomes hungry and sees some apple trees on the side of the road. But instead of being able to just pick the apples, the trees start to talk to her, asking her how she would feel if someone just came up to her and pulled on her hair. Everything is familiar to Dorothy, but also slightly different. 

 

I am feeling slightly like Dorothy in Oz. Canada is similar to the United States, but slightly different. The language is slightly different, but still English (I am glad that British Columbia is part of the English-speaking part of Canada because I do not know French). But phrasing is slightly different here. Instead of asking where the “rest room” is, I try to remember to say “wash room.” Listening to the Canadian accent has been fantastic! The mid-west accent that I speak with is very flat, which is great for public speaking but kind of boring. The Canadian accent, on the other hand, is very musical as it goes up and down. If I'm not paying attention, I already find that I want to adopt this accent and use it myself. 

Picture taken after I retreated inside

The wildlife in <town> is also just slightly different than Iowa. Iowa is also overrun by deer, and we have cougars. But instead of wolves, we have coyotes. Instead of moose we have racoons – which aren't very similar at all. But the most similar wildlife, deer, is also what I find the strangest. In Iowa, deer aren't afraid of people but they do keep their distance. But in <town>, the deer will come right up to you! The other day I was petting a stray cat right outside my suite's door, when suddenly a baby deer and mother deer was right next to me, sniffing at the cat. I was torn between being startled by their sudden appearance and glad that I had my camera on me at the time. 

The landscape and climate is the most dramatic change that I have encountered so far. Iowa is pretty flat, with very few hills and is landlocked. <Town> is on an island, with mountains. In the nice September weather, I have already taken hundreds of pictures of the the river, the bay, and the surrounding mountains. So far, I have greatly enjoyed the weather here. The sun has been out most days, with the occasional fog in the morning. It has rained here and there, but since I spent the summer in Iowa, which was in a drought from June to late August, I have enjoyed the rain. 

But there is one way that I do not feel similar to Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy spends the entire movie trying to get home to Kansas. But I am glad to be here. I know it's only a year, and then I will soon be leaving for Iowa and for school in Ohio (which is really similar to Iowa). But in the meantime, I'm enjoying being here in a place that is both familiar and unfamiliar. 

My supervisor and his wife took me on a beach picnic.  I am roasting a hot dog by the tidal river.

Pictures of Canada

Three weeks ago, I packed my suitcase and my backpack and moved from Iowa to British Columbia.  I had also shipped some boxes, which have finally arrived and I'm all unpacked.  I'm still getting settled in (figuring out where all my parishioners live, and getting use to living so far away from my family and Russ), but I am thrilled to be here and excited for the year to come. 

Instead of a long post with detailed descriptions of what I've done the last few weeks, I thought I would share some pictures I've taken. 

This is my front door

Peaches, a friendly neighborhood cat

A statue in town

Do you see the face?

The Skeena River

This is the bay near town.  The mountains in this picture is the mainland.

This picture may give you an idea of how big those mountains are.

Most of these pictures were taken on the same day.  Because the town is on the coast, we get about eighteen inches of rain a month, so it's usually raining.  On this particular day, my supervisor's wife, an ELCIC deaconess, came into the office to take me on a long car drive up the highway so I could see the river. 

Needless to say, I live in a beautiful part of the world. 

Those Lazy Summer Days

A barn near my parent's home, early summer

I have been spending my summer with my parents in Iowa.  Because this is probably my very last summer vacation, I decided against looking for gainful employment and instead am spending my days preparing for my Canadian internship (applying for a student visa, doing research on the area, buying plane tickets), wedding planning, and crocheting.  Several of my cousins are expecting babies, so I've been creating small stuffed animals, hats, and blankets. 

A mosaic of my summer projects

My parents are renovating the two bathrooms this summer (starting with the guest bathroom that I usually use).  Because my dad has decided to do it all himself, without contractors, I've been little help.  Each step of the process has been well researched by my dad, and then tried several times before he is happy with the result.  So the first bathroom, which was originally going to be nearly completed when I moved home at the end of May, is only half-way done - but it is turning out more beautiful than any of us expected.  

The bathroom in progress

 One of my favorite things about coming home to my parents is the creative energy.  My dad is a stain glass artist who has recently began to experiment with fused glass with my mom.  Earlier this summer I saw a blog post about tinting your own mason jars.  Knowing that my parents could then put these jars into their kiln and melt them into wall hangings, we tried it ourselves.  Because of the mid-west drought/heat wave, we haven't melted them yet (the kiln puts off a lot of heat). 

The jars waiting to go into the oven to dry the food coloring/glue mixture

My absolute FAVORITE thing this summer has been visiting Russ.  He also went to stay with his parents this summer on the east coast.  I went for about a week and had a blast. We got so much wedding planning done!  We registered for wedding gifts, found wedding bands, and I got to be crafty with Russ' mom.  She has offered to make my wedding dress, so one day Russ drove us to the city where they had a whole street of fabric stores.  I really wish I was better at sewing.  Stores and stores of beautiful fabric, buttons, and more!

All the stores were overcrowded with the fabric

A wall of buttons

But eventually, I had to return home to the heat of the mid-west drought.  All our grass is brittle and brown. 


 It finally rained about a quarter of an inch yesterday for the first time since early June and the heatwave seems to have broken.  Iowa crops need about an inch a week to thrive, so we are in desperate need of more rain.  The corn and bean fields have never looked sadder. 


I am looking forward to starting packing next week for my internship.  My internship town has rain all the time, so the rain that I have missed this summer will be made up for me soon.

To my classmates who have already started their internships:  God bless you.  May you find welcoming hearts as you meet new people.  

Internship Decisions and End of Term

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Good news!  I have a new internship site and it's in Canada!  As a native of the United States Midwest, I am excited to be completely out of my element for a year.  I'll be trading in fields of corn and soybeans for mountains and oceans.  And don't worry, I will be taking so many pictures to share with everyone.  While I am going to avoid mentioning what town I'm going to on this blog, I will say that I will be on the coast of British Columbia.

Before internship can begin, I still have classes to finish up here and then I will be spending the summer with my parents and their puppy.  As with all the end of each semester, I have been busy studying for exams and writing copious amount of papers.

Studying in the library for the New Testament II exam

My desk in the midst of writing final papers

Library books for two papers

 My last final paper was turned in today, so I just have to attend two more classes next week and graduation next weekend.  Now that finals are over, I can start packing and then head home for the summer.

Around this time of year, I tend to get so focused on finishing classes and packing that I usually forget to say good-bye to people.  I forget in the midst of everything that I wouldn't be seeing everyone in next day. 

Every year our community at school is different.  For the M.Div students, we have juniors (first year students), middlers (second year students), interns (who are off-campus), and seniors.  This was my middler year.  Because of the year of internship that is served off-campus, M.Div students are never on-campus with another class of M.Divs for more than a year.  This year's juniors will be on internship when I return from my internship and this year's interns (who I got to know last year when they were middlers) will have graduated.  This creates a very fluid community.

But as this community says good-bye this week, a new community will form next year.  I will not be on campus next year, but I still want to be in community, so if you have a blog, please put the URL in the comments below so I may journey with you too. 

"Bless now, O God, the journey that all your people make,

the path through noise and silence, the way of give and take.

The trail is found in desert and winds the mountain round,

then leads beside still waters, the road where faith is found."

-Bless Now, O God, the Journey

by Sylvia Dunstan, ELW 326

Little Lady doll pattern

Head

ch 2
R1: 6 sc in the second chain from the hook
R2: inc in each stitch around
R3: *inc, 1 sc* around
R4: *inc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R5: sc around
R6: sc around
R7: *inc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R8: *inc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R9: sc around
R10: sc around
R11: *dec, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R12: *dec, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R13: *dec, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R14: *dec, 1 sc* around

This would be a good time to sew on the face and stuff with poly-fil.

Body

R15: sc around (I changed colors at this point)
R16: *inc, 1 sc* around
R17: *inc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R18: *inc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R19-26: sc around
R27: *dec, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R28: *dec, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R29: *inc,  1 sc, 1 sc* around
R30: *inc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R 31: *inc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R32: *inc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R33: sc around
R34: *inc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R35: sc around
R36: *inc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R37: sc around
R38: *inc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R39-45: sc around

tie off, leaving a long tail

Arms (make 2)

ch 11
R1 (work in the back loop): sc across, ch 1
R2 (work in the front loop): sc across, ch 1
R3 (work in the back loop): sc across, ch 1
R4 (work in the front loop): sc across
tie off, leaving a long tail to sew the top and bottom together, creating a long cylinder.  After it's sew together, use the remanding tail to attach the arm to the body of the doll.

Base

ch 2
R1: 6 sc in the second chain from the hook
R2: inc around
R3: *inc, 1 sc* around
R4: *inc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R5: *inc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R6: *inc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around
R7: *inc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc* around

Stuff the body and then sew the base onto the bottom of the doll.  Attach the hair and style.  And that's it!  If you have any questions, please leave a comment! 

Creation and New Creation: Outside Wednesday Eucharist

Processional Cross

My seminary is very good about integrating all of the different years and different degree programs together to create a tight-knit community.  One way that the school accomplishes this is by having "I-Groups."  Each I-Group meets every Wednesday after chapel, which is a Eucharist service.  And because this is a seminary, each I-Group is in charge of one week of worship for the seminary community.

We are in the second week of Easter and my fiance, Russ (who is also in seminary) and his I-Group is in charge of worship.  Earlier this year, he saw an old picture of the community hosting an outside Eucharist in the dormitory courtyard so he asked his adviser, "can we do this?"    So after countless hours of preparation and planning, our school had an outside Eucharist and it was beautiful.

The courtyard

The table in front of the breeze-way and the bell tower

The elements (with a butterfly!) and offering plates

The Eucharist table

Today was also the creek clean up (after the worship service), so the sermon focused on God's creation and caring for that creation.  I believe that this message was reinforced by the fact that we were outside, where we could hear the birds singing and feel the sun on our faces.

For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies,

for the love which from our birth over and around us lies:

Christ, our God, to thee we raise this our sacrifice of praise.

-For the Beauty of the Earth

ELW 879