Crater Lake - The End

I didn't wake up for sunrise on Saturday. Or, more accurately, I woke early enough for the sunrise, but decided I didn't want to leave the warmth of my sleeping bag. During the night, a strong breeze had blown over the park, making it an especially chilly morning and moving some of the forest fire smoke out of the caldera, which made it easier to capture crisp photos of the water and mountainsides.

Along the Rim Drive, the rock faces hide a slough of small cascades, one of which is marked. It is called Vidae Falls. The pool at the bottom is a mosquito pit, but the falls are still worth stopping for.

On my last drive around the rim before taking off, I stopped at the Rim Village and enjoyed a hearty (and overpriced) breakfast at Crater Lake Lodge. I spent a few more minutes enjoying the rocking chairs on the patio and got this shot showing snow and flowers together, a common sight throughout the park.

My last stop before leaving Crater Lake behind was at Watchman Overlook, where I got a less smoky shot of Llao Rock...

...and this one, of the mountains to which I will someday return. This will not be my last view of Crater Lake.

Crater Lake - Day 2

My plan all along had been to hike up to the top of Mt. Scott, the highest peak around Crater Lake, and down the Cleetwood Cove Trail, to put my feet in the lake during the same day. After hiking up the Watchman Peak Trail, I realized that the altitude and my incredibly low level of fitness required a change of plans. So, instead of doing both, I only hiked down to the water. There is a warning sign just before one heads down the Cleetwood Cove Trail to let everyone know that you should not hike down if you're not in shape because the hike back up is like climbing to the 75th floor of a building. Despite that, I began the trek down. It was definitely worth the trip. The water was beautifully clear. In fact, it's the clearest lake in the world; you can see up to 143 feet down. All the pine pollen made it a little less attractive, but nothing's perfect.

I wasn't brave enough to immerse my entire body in the 50-ish degree water, but it felt good on my hot, trail-weary feet.

They offer boat tours and I was going to try to take one but, unfortunately, one of the boats was broken, so they cancelled all of the tours. So I didn't get to stop off at Wizard Island. I did get some pretty good pictures of it later on in the day, though.

After spending about an hour by the lake getting sunburned on only one side of my face and huffing and puffing back up the trail in less time than I expected it to take, I headed to the Rim Village, where I had a lovely lunch at the Crater Lake Lodge. If you ever decide to visit this place, just be aware that everything you buy will probably cost about 50% more than you think it's worth. Of course, people on vacation are usually willing to spend a lot more money.

Worn out from my climb and full of yummy fish and chips, I spent a little while sitting outside in a rocking chair. Feeling rather accomplished, I jumped into conversation with a group of folks up from California who'd made a side trip to Crater Lake from Ashland, where there is a famous Shakespeare festival. They were contemplating the trek down to the bottom of the lake, but decided not to do it when I told them it took at least an hour and a half. They were nice folks. It's fun to chat with people on vacation. They are usually so much more friendly and willing to talk to strangers.

Since the point of my weekend in Crater Lake was relaxation, I found a place along the side of the road and took a nap in my car. Then I took a hike through a lovely little meadow full of wildflowers, through which this little butterfly and its friends followed me.

Since I'd missed pictures of the sunset on my first day, I spent the last few hours of my second day, I stationed myself at Watchman Overlook to observe the smoke-enhanced scene, then headed back to camp for another good night's sleep. The big question of the night was whether I would wake up early enough the next day for sunrise...

Crater Lake - Day 1

I've decided to make this a three part series instead of writing one long post about my trip to Crater Lake, which was incredible, by the way.

I woke at 4:40 a.m. on Thursday, July 24. My intention was to wake at 5:30 and leave by 6, but I was so excited that I was out the door by 5:15. The drive took almost four hours and provided its fair share of beauty as the roads wound up the sides of the Cascade range. Before I'd even gotten a glimpse of the lake, I had already pulled the car over at least four times to marvel at the sight of the mountains.

Here is a picture of my first view of the rim, just minutes before the lake spread itself out before me.

Before doing anything else, I drove immediately to Lost Creek Campground, where I set up my tent and stored my food in the animal proof locker. I couldn't help but ponder what a bear frustrated by the smell of food and the inability to get at it might do, but there was much to do and see, so that thought soon left my mind.

Once I'd established my place, I took a drive around the rim of the lake. Despite the haze created by all the forest fires, every view I had of the lake was simply stunning. I won't bore you with all of my pictures, but this one shows the brilliant blue of the water.

Eating lunch at the Rim Village Cafe, I had my first ever celebrity sighting. Who would have thought I'd see a celebrity at a National Park? Anyway, I got a sly picture of Jin from Lost as he was snapping photos of his family. Daniel, I wanted to call and tell you, but there was no cell phone reception. It's him. Don't doubt me. I almost ran into him when we were both trying to get spoons from the dispenser.

I spent most of the afternoon relaxing at my campsite. Around 4 p.m., I drove out to Watchman Overlook and hiked to the top of Watchman Peak, where I intended to stay until sunset. When I checked the day before I left, the trail was still closed, but the trail crew managed to dig through the 8 foot bank that remained on one side of the peak so that my plan to hike to the top would not be foiled. After about 3 hours and 100 pages in my novel, I was getting too cold and headed back down the trail.

It wasn't until I arrived at the car that I realized I'd either lost my keys or locked them inside. Fortunately for me, a lovely crew of folks from Illinois had a wire hanger and the skill to break into a car. It took a while, but at least I didn't have to get someone to take me to the ranger station. It doesn't seem like AAA would come out to the national parks. Unfortunately for me, my plan to take killer pictures of the sunset were bumped to the next night.

Driving back to the campsite was a harrowing experience. Windy roads, along the sides of cliffs, in the deep dark of night, are not fun driving for a weenie like me. I made it back safely, though, and settled in for a restful sleep before another full day.

To be continued...

It's Been Ten Days...

I guess that makes it about time for another post.

The most exciting things that have happened in the past ten days were my trip to Crater Lake and my second preaching engagement of the summer.

I'll be posting some pictures of Crater Lake in the next couple days. First, they need to be edited and uploaded to flickr, but that should happen tomorrow morning. My trip down to the lake was amazing. It made me even more sure that I want to move to the West Coast in the very near future, more specifically, the Pacific Northwest. We'll see how that dream develops in the coming year.

For now, I'm going to delay the report on Crater Lake and give you a little sumthin' sumthin' on the preaching. I'm glad I decided to preach a second time, though with all the talk about summer church work moving at a slower pace, I can't even imagine what the year must be like. Everything seems to come so quickly. There's always something else to do. It's like school: never a moment when you're actually done with everything.

Like the last time, I got a lot of positive feedback. At least three separate people told me I have a gift for preaching and most everyone just assumes I'm planning to become a full-time pastor. I'm not bragging. In fact, I would love it if someone would tell me that I'm terrible at preaching, that I don't have any gifts for pastoral ministry, that ordination should not even be a consideration for me. Instead, I'm beginning to get feeling that Presbyterian membership and ordination might be a path I'm supposed to go down.

It's not that I dread the thought of doing full-time church work, it's just something I've never really considered. There are millions of reasons I can think of that I'm not qualified for ministry, but I suppose no one is ever really qualified. Should I take these people seriously who make unsolicited comments about my future path in the church? or should I ignore all of their wisdom, including that of my supervisor, several retired ministers, and many long-time church members?

Backyard Beauties

Study Prevention Bibles

I have to be honest, I love bibles. They are the only Christian consumer products that suck me in. Give me study notes and concordances, outlines and charts, mini-articles and extra-wide margins, and color maps (I love those color maps), and I'm a happy girl. I'm not sure why it is, but I love to hold a real bible, especially one with a leather cover and lots of pages.

More often than I would like to admit, I am tempted to buy a new one because of its pretty cover or extensive study notes. At such times, I have to remind myself that one Bible is enough for any person (and I already own at least five or six), that any version I might like to read is available online for free, and that the study notes are usually a disappointment.

Yesterday, as I was wandering around the internet, I stumbled upon the soon-to-be-released NLT Study Bible. Despite my scholarly pretensions, I actually like the New Living Translation and a blogger I read and enjoy, Scot McKnight, was a contributor, so I was interested in what this new Bible might be like. Fortunately for me, the Tyndale House website had a free preview of Genesis. Unfortunately for me, it was a complete disaster.

As I read, I became ever more convinced that this so-called study bible should be relabeled a study prevention bible. It's not just this particular study bible I'm down on; I think that most of them are bunk. The study notes don't present interesting research or thought-provoking questions. Instead, they spoon feed readers whatever theological agenda the editors happen to approve. Naturally, I don't expect study notes to be free of perspective, but it would be nice if they could, at least, inspire further reflection and, dare I hope, study, rather than handing out authoritative sounding interpretations.

Here is a paragraph from the introductory materials of Genesis:

Most scholars, however, do not accept that Moses wrote Genesis. The prevailing critical view, called the Documentary Hypothesis, is that Genesis was compiled from various sources by different groups of people. In such approaches, there is seldom a word about divine revelation or inspiration. For those who understand the Bible as God’s inspired word, such theories often seem unnecessarily complicated and conjectural. Genesis can be understood much more straightforwardly as the product of Moses’ genius under God’s inspiration with later editorial adjustments.

Later in his article, the author goes on to explain myth, giving an over-simplified and disturbingly narrow definition, and again dismisses all scholars that would even consider classifying part or all of Genesis as myth. Brief study notes are going to be over-generalized as a matter of course, but the author doesn't even attempt to treat scholars who have spent years developing alternate theories of authorship with respect. The opinion of "most scholars" is dismissed simply because it's too complicated. Not to mention the fact that people who agree with such theories are summarily lumped together as those who don't believe in divine revelation or inspiration. This paragraph might as well say "Don't listen to scholars; none of them believe the Bible, anyway." The anti-intellectual bent of the article makes me wonder why the authors and editors of this bible are even involved in the task of compiling what they call a study bible.

I don't think one needs a Ph.D. to interpret Scripture, but I do think any person who intends to interpret Scripture should be willing to consider the opinions of scholars who have spent the better part of their lives studying the text and context of the bible. We need to beware of accepting any explanation merely because it is the one that takes the least amount of thought. The Bible doesn't need to be defended against thought. A book labeled a "study bible" should inspire learning and inquiry. I've sat through too many bible studies where study helps were treated as gospel truth. The scholars who write these things should be held to a higher intellectual standard.

It's definitely good for my wallet that the NLT Study Bible was so infuriatingly unbalanced, but maybe not so good for the church.

It's July 11!

As I get older, I find that sometimes it's difficult to keep track of the date. Days slip by so quietly that I don't notice an entire week has gone by until I look up at the calendar and promptly fall out of my chair. How is it that an hour can seem like an eternity, but then you check and another week has disappeared, never to be seen again? Existential crisis much? Blah.

Emily was here yesterday. We went to the coast. Not knowing Salem very well, it's difficult for me to think of anything else to do. Our first stop was at some tourist shops. It was chilly and since our trip was rather spontaneous, neither of us had warm clothing, so Emily bought a fleece and I bought a hoodie. Big surprise: new hoodie! The best part is that this one screams "TOURIST!!!" and I plan on wearing it everywhere around Salem, even if the temperature is over 100 degrees. It's a personal mission.

After walking down the beach for a while, we headed to Kyllo's Grill for lunch, where we were seated by a window overlooking the ocean and ate a delightful meal. I had Dungeness crab alfredo. It was delicious! Emily laughed at how much I was enjoying my food, but after the disgusting meal I had at Maxwell's only two weeks prior, Kyllo's was wonderful. For only three more dollars than my meal at Maxwell's, I got food that actually tasted great and didn't make my stomach all wonky.

When we got back to Salem, we went to the mall to see "Get Smart." There were only about twenty people in the entire gigantic theater, so we got prime seats to enjoy the film and our smuggled in candy. The movie wasn't a constant laugh riot, but it was definitely entertaining. If you like the awkward humor of Steve Carrell, I would definitely recommend a matinee. Don't pay $10 for an evening show.

Other than my visit with Emily, the rest of the week was busy with church stuff. I've been planning events for kids and this past Wednesday we all learned more about patience and kindness by baking brownies. The kids seemed to enjoy themselves and I was glad when it was over. It's not that I don't enjoy them, but I get more worked up than I should be sometimes. Fortunately, I had some great helpers who cleaned up after us so that I could keep my head in the game instead of worrying about the messy trail we were leaving behind.

I also had a brief encounter with a concerned mother who was worried that I might be teaching her children it's okay to be gay. I was able to assure her that whatever my personal opinions, I wasn't going to be doing any sex education with kids whose parents I barely know and who barely know me. It wasn't a conversation I expected to have this summer, but I'm glad she came to me rather than pulling her kids out of the program and not telling me why. Perhaps I was naive to think that I wouldn't have to deal with sexuality issues this summer considering how much they are being talked about in the Presbyterian Church USA these days.

Now I should get to writing my children's sermon about the different kinds of soil. Did I ever tell you I hate children's sermons? Well, it's true.

The Kingdom Is Like...

In another few weeks, I'll be preaching for the second time this summer. The first time went over well, so they're giving me another shot. I haven't decided on my passage quite yet, but I think I'll work with the New Testament this time around. So, what does that have to do with the title of my post?

Well, I was reading through the lectionary texts for July 27 and was struck by the Gospel reading, Matthew 13:31-33 and 44-52. These verses contain four parables that describe what the kingdom of heaven is like.

It's like a mustard seed...
and yeast...
and a pearl...
and a net...

I couldn't help but laugh about the variety and the seeming contradictions contained in these descriptions. Obviously, the kingdom of God cannot be described in one way or in comparison to one object, but I can just imagine the disciples looking confused and scratching their heads at Jesus' words.

Despite the humor I see in this passage, I don't think I'm going to preach on Matthew because the Romans text for that week is just too tempting. Maybe I should jump out of the lectionary box, though. There probably wouldn't be that many people who'd notice.

Are there any passages that strike you as funny, laugh-out-loud funny?

To See Your Face

I just discovered the wonders of Skype. It's so much better than the phone! So much of what I hate about the phone is the inability to see gestures and facial expressions. Even though the webcam is a little grainy, I can still see the other person's face while we're talking.

My first conversation was with my lovely roommate Rebecca and her beautiful baby girl. Jenna didn't talk so much as lay there, but if we had just been on the phone, I wouldn't have seen her at all.

If anyone else has Skype and would like to have a chat, let me know and we'll get it together...unless I don't want to talk to you at all. ;)

Taken near the first house I stayed in here in Oregon. Lovely colors.
I will soon move into my final resting place in Salem. I'll be house-sitting. I'll be glad to have a place to myself.

A Weekend in Review

Since my last post was full of whining about my preaching engagement, I'll get that part of the update out of the way immediately. It went well. To be perfectly honest, I was more nervous about the benediction (something I've never done) than about the preaching (which I've done four times). The service felt so short. It felt a lot like a musical performance or a fancy meal: lots of time to prepare and then it's all over in a moment. Most people gave me positive feedback. Apparently, my clear, slow speech makes me an excellent preacher for the hard of hearing. There weren't a lot of comments about the content, but I'm sure I'll get more of that when I meet with my supervisor tomorrow.

My weekend was pretty full even without the preaching assignment. DJ, a friend from college who's now studying in Spokane, came out for a visit and one of his friends from Corvallis got a ride to Salem to join us. They both arrived on Friday evening. Getting everyone together was sort of a comedy of errors involving lots of people unfamiliar with Salem. It only took us about an hour of calling back and forth and driving hither and yon to gather everyone in the same place. I cooked for the first time in months and had a great time doing it.

Since neither DJ nor Keun Ha had been to the Pacific Coast before, we drove west to see the ocean. We went toward Lincoln City and turned north once we reached the coast and headed up Route 101. Our journey took us to various places, but the one stop where we spent the most time was at Cape Lookout, where we hiked the Cape Trail. It was an easy to moderate hike, which zig-zagged across a peninsula for two and a half miles. The weather was nice and cool and the sun was shining. My feet were killing me because the Chacos I recently acquired either weren't adjusted properly or simply are not made for hiking, but it was still a fun time. Having lunch high above the ocean, looking back at the Oregon Coast, enjoying the cool breeze coming off the water was spectacular.

After our hike, DJ wanted to stick his feet in the ocean, so we continued north. Along the way, we stopped at Tillamook Cheese Factory and got some ice cream. Even further north, we stopped at Rockaway Beach, where DJ and I stuck our feet in the water. On our way back to the car, we stopped at the shower to rinse our feet. There was one button that operated the shower and another that operated a lower faucet to clean feet. Without thinking, I pressed the wrong button and gave myself an unexpected shower. A little surprised and disoriented, I tried to press the correct button and gave myself another shower. Third time was the charm. Fortunately, there were plenty of people around to enjoy the show.

Before we returned to Salem for the night, we went to dinner in Lincoln City. We were hoping for some delectable seafood, but ended up getting overpriced, sort of bland seafood instead. If you're ever in Lincoln City, I do not recommend Maxwell's. It's not bad, but it's definitely not good either.

Yesterday, I preached, but I already told you about that, so we won't go there again. After the service was over and I'd met with a few people for some extra feedback, DJ, Keun Ha and I went to Pita Pit, my favorite lunch place in Salem, to eat. There was a festival by the river, so the place was packed, unusual for a Sunday. After finishing lunch, DJ and I went to see Wall-E. The movie was super-cute. It's definitely worth the price of a matinee and the big screen adds to the viewing experience. It would actually make a really terrific date movie.

After the busy weekend, I was glad to get back to the place I've been staying and just veg on the couch. I might do some more of that this evening. Sitting in the back yard reading a book sounds like just the thing to do.

Btw, Daniel, several people here have recently schooled me on the proper nomenclature for the land abutting the Pacific Ocean. They assure me it is "the coast" or "the beach" and never "the shore." I demur to your greater experience of the West Coast. The people talking to me about it before must have been mimicking my own incorrect usage. ;)

I Chose This

This Sunday will be my first time ever preaching a sermon outside of an academic environment. I've been in Oregon for about a month, have met more children than adults, and yet will be trying to bring a message from God to this congregation I barely know.

All of that is not so daunting, until I remember that I chose the Old Testament passage for the week. What's the problem with that? you ask this woman who claims to love the OT? Well, the problem is that the passage I'll be preaching on is Genesis 22:1-14, known as the sacrifice of Isaac to some and the binding of Isaac to others.

We all know the Sunday school answers for this passage about how God knew beforehand that Isaac would not be killed, that provision was made in advance. Unfortunately, such easy statements just don't cut it for me anymore.

If it were you asked to sacrifice your son how much solace would you find, after three days of torment, in the fact that God provided a ram at the last moment?

If it were you bound, laid on a pile of wood, prepared for sacrifice, would you ever be able to trust your father again?

What do I say to this congregation expecting a word when I don't even know what I think of the words I'm interpreting? Is it possible to challenge, encourage and assure without confusing and killing faith?

Weekend

It was a rather uneventful weekend, but after a week herding nearly fifty children, it was a welcome lack of events. I had some plans, but I decided that the rest of the summer would have more than enough plans to suit my taste, so maybe it would be a good idea to rest up. Of course, I was also making an effort to conserve gasoline, since it's so expensive and I am a poor grad student who would like to take a major trip down to Crater Lake National Park later.

In other news, over the past few days, I've developed a pain in my shoulder. Hopefully, it's just a muscle thing that will get better in the next few days because I don't want to have to use my entirely-too-expensive insurance policy out-of-network. Does anyone have any experience going out-of-network with the PTS student policy? How'd it work out for you?

Enrobed

In the few months immediately after graduating from Houghton, I had several "odd" jobs, including sample lady at Sam's Club (where I was the youngest by nearly 40 years) and pretzel sorter at a chocolate factory (I'm not exaggerating folks...).  Even working at M&T as a customer service rep seemed like one long odd job because I disliked it so intensely.

This pastor thing is different.  It's odd, but not because I haven't got enough gray hair to qualify or because I have a college degree or because it's so terrible customers make me cry at least once a week.

It's odd because there's a level of authority that goes with the job/calling/vocation/whatever that I'm not comfortable owning.

It's odd because people expect me to know things about life and God, things I'm not sure I'll ever be able to speak about with any confidence.

It's odd because most people seem to be under the impression that we (the staff) sit around in our offices all week and then do the real work on Sunday.

It's odd because a premium is placed on everything remaining the same from day-to-day, week-to-week, year-to-year.  Of course, this particular oddity isn't the exclusive territory of the religious.  Most of us don't want things to change.  Routine is easy, comfortable, reassuring... addictive.

This Sunday, I'll be standing in front of the congregation offering the prayers of the people and giving the children's sermon.  The novelty of my presence will be interesting to some, but it won't even matter to others.  What will matter is that I'm standing in the right place, following the right format, and wearing the right clothes.

No judgment, my life is full of routine and lacking in spontaneity.  I'm just wondering what it would take for all of us to break this addiction or if it's even necessary to do so.  Is religion the one area of life in which we should be the most conservative, the most routine?  Or is it odd that we try to keep it as similar as possible from generation to generation?

Anonymous Calls

So, someone at a church in Minnesota called me twice this morning before 8:30 a.m. They didn't leave a message or anything, I had to look it up on Switchboard.com. Weird...

PAWs

The current project at church is a musical in four days.

A musical about Joseph.

In four days.

No, I'm not kidding. We started yesterday and will finish up with a performance on Thursday. We have kids entering kindergarten and a couple going into their senior year of high school. There are some (boys) who were tricked into participating and others who are all-star performers. It's quite a crew, let me tell you.

The show's not going to be perfect, by any means, but I think it will be good. Even the kids who didn't really want to be here at first are finding it difficult to resist the catchy tunes (that all sound almost like another song you know, like Celebrate Good Times or The Flintstones Theme Song) and the peppy dance routines.

There is an incredible lack of boys, so we have girls cast in the roles of Joseph and Jacob and most of the 12 brothers.

We'll see how it comes together, but I'm beginning to think that the process is the most important part. The performance will go by in a flash, but the kids will keep cracking the same jokes and talking about the time they spent participating in this at least for a while. And many of them will come back next year, ready to start all over again.

Friday Fun

I spent a good part of yesterday in Portland, specifically at Powell's City of Books. Kat, the associate pastor's daughter, who just graduated from high school, came along with me. It was a fun trip, though I wish I'd taken the time to explore Portland a bit more. There are more weekends and there shall be more trips.

The cost of gas is a little depressing, though. Not that I have an intense need to travel all over the countryside, but I'm here and I'd like to do so without completely breaking the bank. My internship pay is generous, so I have no complaints there; I'm just wondering how people who commute an hour each way for a job that doesn't pay all that well are dealing with shelling out $4.20/gallon at the pump. It's unfortunate that such prices seem to be the only real motivation many people have to hope for the development of new fuel sources. A hit in the wallet always seems to work.

Despite the cost of fuel, I've decided to make a trip down to Crater Lake National Park in late July. If I bring all of my own food and camp at the cheapest place, I should be able to do a three day/two night trip for under $200, most of the expense being gas for the four hour trip there and back and driving while there. Hopefully, I'll be able to rack up enough hours at church to take that Thursday off. If anyone is interested in joining me, let me know. Most of you would have to pay for a plane ticket, too, but that's a small price to pay to enjoy a weekend in nature with me. ;)

From the Left Coast

Here are a couple pictures from my long past trip to Cape Meares Lighthouse.
The first is the lighthouse itself (duh...) and the second is of a rock about a mile and a half off the coast called "the old man." What appears to be stubbly hair on top of his head is actually a large flock of common murres.

Enjoy!

What Are You Taking?!!

Every year since I was in eighth grade, the end of school brought the excitement of signing up for new classes. In college and grad school, that excitement doubled, as we had all new classes at the beginning of each semester. Inevitably, for the last few weeks before final exams, if cafeteria conversation wasn't about papers or exams, it was about which classes everyone would be taking in the coming semester or school year.

Because of some of the recent curriculum changes at PTS, my classmates and I didn't really get a change to have that kind of conversation. After all, what's the point of getting your hopes up about a class only to find out later you have a scheduling conflict? Anyway, we didn't begin registration until today...over a month after finals were finished. So, we didn't get to discuss the merits of various classes and compare schedules.

To stave off the sadness that engenders in my little heart, I am going to tell all of you what classes I'm taking.

First, I'm signed up for Christian Ethics and Modern Times with John Bowlin. In this course, we'll be dealing with exciting and difficult questions like: How shall we love our neighbors, show hospitality to strangers, bear the burdens of sinners and enemies, and speak truth to power in these modern times? Are the ideals of neighbor love and prophetic justice compatible with the norms of liberal democracy, with individual freedoms and equal rights, or not? I've heard great things about Bowlin.

Next, there's Religion and Time with Fenn. This course focuses on the contribution of Judaism and Christianity to the experience of time in Western societies, with special reference to the Sabbath, the fate of the soul, purgatory, millennium, and apocalypse. I can't even imagine what we're going to discuss, but it sounded like the most interesting course to fulfill a requirement.

Third, I'm taking Healing Relationships with Norbert Wetzel. NORBERT!!! This class focuses on family and couples therapy, a field which I'm considering as a career, so an appropriate class. Unfortunately, Dykstra isn't teaching anything first semester, but I do plan to take one of his offerings in the spring.

Finally, I might sneak into Historical Hebrew Grammar with Dr. Seow. I'm the only person enrolled at the moment and I don't know if I'll be able to do it with my three other classes plus field ed plus TAing Hebrew...so, we'll see.

Anyway, all you students out there, whether high school, college or grad school, what are you taking next semester?