One Way to Cross a River

We crossed several rivers on our survey, and i thought i would post pictures of one way. On a bamboo raft. 

More Survey Pictures

 I thought I would post more pictures from the survey I went on.

this a small restaurant where we ate several of our meals.

the remains of what used to be a nice highway.

this used to be a great highway. but landslides have wrecked parts of it.

in the a village asking questions.

Running

So, My Mom was very interested where I go running, and since she was not likely to go up there I took a few pictures last run.
Part of the trail is old road, and the rest is trail trail. I thought it was pretty up there, and thought i would share the pictures.

some of the pictures are blurry because cameras don't like to focus while on the move. Sorry:)

this is what the sky looks like at sunrise.

You can see our town behind Richard. this is one the way home

Yes Richards hair is always that cool.

one of the only time i was ahead of Richard.

i come home with cut up legs every run from the tall grass.

Filming Again

 I really should be doing school at the moment. but to get myself going i had to do a blog post.I am not sure if that really works but whatever.

Yesterday Kaleb, Richard and I started filming again, we want to get one  more movie out before my bike totally falls apart. which it appears to want to do. the teeth on second gear on the front are gone. and some of the teeth on the back are too. I can still fly downhill though. so thats a good thing.

Of course a ride is never really  right unless something goes wrong, and we all goof off. So to keep things going good I broke my chain and took an hour fixing it. (i should have had it fixed in about 15 minutes, but with threading it through wrong, twisting it, and losing my pin, it sorta took a while). and Richard got a flat. and of course we had to climb a tree that over looked a cliff. (which you cant really see in the picture. it looked much more impressive in reality) and I wiped out twice. but only have bruises to show for it. nothing really cool.

Richard had to climb a tree to pose for us.

and i tried but did not have  any success getting into the tree. 

My broken chain

But it was a good time

checking out the view from up in a tree.

I was informed that my last post was full of errors. and i am sure this one is too. i am sorry but i really dont have time to go re-read everything i wrote. so enjoy the pictures, and forget about the spelling and grammar for a while. :)

How Fast Does Time Travel?

  well, according to blogger I have not posted in almost two months. That is quite a shame due to the amount of things that have happened, and the amount of things I have learned. But that is the way things go I guess, when time finally get super interesting you have not time to write about them.    

Anyway  things went by so fast that I never  really had time to hear myself think, nor to write about it.  In the process of life I kinda missed Christmas and new years, and I think I had a birthday after my last post too. And stopped and started school.  The biggest thing that happened was that i   went on a three day survey with one of the missionary’s here. It was quite a privilege to be able to go, and I learned an incredible amount of things.   I shall  do a long post on that sometime I hope.

I should also mention that I won a small tournament, and that I started a small business stringing rackets.

And second most important (not really) is that I found a band, or orchestra, called Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  And I got their album ‘Night Castle’ for Christmas, and bought their album ‘Beethoven’s Last Night’ it is totally the best modern music out there. At least that I have found.   It is sorta rock with an orchestra, and a classical twist to it. Really neat.

Also my parents went away for their anniversary  and I said up all night playing PS2 with a friend. I got completely sick with cookies and ice cream, and lack of sleep but I enjoyed my self to my full extent.

And sadly there was a huge flood in CDO, the city we go to when we want to shop, had a huge flood and six hundred plus people died. 

 Hopefully i will get to post again soon.

                                                some of the road was really nice

                                                 we saw quite a few land slides.

                                                           beautiful view

Kaleb Climbing Around

Why I Loved Runt the Brave

A short in-class book review on Runt The Brave By Daniel Shwabauer. that I wrote Yesterday.

Runt the Brave by Daniel Shwabauer is a wonderful book full of suspense, courage, mystery, and bravery. I love the way that Mr. S wrote an allegorical book, that did not feel in the least allegorical, Nor in anyway preachy. The story is told as story, nothing more, nothing less. He showed the bravery of a mouse, a most humble of beasts. He told Runt’s story. He did not push themes on you, nor did he preach, it was just a mouse’s story.

 The feel of the book is very in depth, as a reader you really feel like you are part of the story, not only the story of Runt, but a much bigger story, the story of life.  You never doubt as you read that the story may be fiction. You take for granted that it is true. Even if Runt is perhaps fictitious, the story at its heart is real.

You not only see courage in Runt, but in the mentor character of LaRish, in how LaRish Dies in a last fight against the biggest meanest rat of the country.   Every good guy shows his courage. Even if you only meet them once, like the guards who fall during the rat invasion, you feel like you know them. It is this feeling of intimacy with the characters that helps make it such a great story.

Mr. S Has a wonderful authors voice, that tells the facts as they are, that gets into Runt’s head without feeling  unnatural, it is down to earth, but with a hint of epicness to it.

Mr. S’s grasp of story is shown in this epic battle of good versus evil.  It may be written for children. But the truths that seep through the story are age old. 

If you want to buy the book go Here

copyright Kevin Barkman 2011

Interesting Blog Post

Here is an interesting Post On a blog called 'The Sharpened Pen"   the post is:   A Protest to Poetry
anyway I found it  interesting.

New Dog

Those of you who read my mothers blog know that we got a new puppy. here is a picture of him. he is growing like crazy. and will jump off almost anything. and tries to jump up everything. he is also incredibly strong. and he is only seven weeks old!

on a completely different note,  Falling Up's new album is awesome. it is called "Your Sparkling Death Cometh"  I dont know if you keep up with them. but this album was self produced, and sponsored by fans. Jesse Ribordy is still the song writer- lead singer i think, but dont quote me on that :) . "Your Sparkling Death Come" is still rock, but on the very soft side. here is a link to their web site Falling Up . You can listen to the new album there.

Scared?

           

            Death scares everyone. We hush the children crying; scare them into obedience with the word.  If anyone says it too loud, we stiffen, and try in our politest words to shush him.  We don’t understand it, like electricity, but we use it anyway. We use it to punish people, to take revenge, as a curse, and even to act tough. Like a group of teenagers who dare each other to touch the electric fence, we play, and tempt death. We try Jumping over the Grand Canyon, daring the seas during the storm. We try even to fly. We succeeded at flying, and those in the little boat came back alive, and death scorned to take those who would try a silly stunt like jumping the Grand Canyon.  People say we have won, in part, because we survive. But every day we lose more ground.  We continue doing what we have done every day. But someday death will overtake us.

            We fear death like we fear fire. You can play with it a little, but don’t let it get out of hand, it could hurt someone.  We know some things are not wise, and shy away from them.  We fear death, but not enough.  The fear of death has not changed everyone.

            You may question me here, saying that the fear of death runs the world. I should clarify. Everyone should fear death enough that it changed the way they live. For death is something to fear. It is the unknown, a place to go, and to never return.  Somehow all of us know that how we live affects the way we die.  People all over the world believe in after life.  Buddhists   believe you come back into this world in a different form depending on how you lived.  Some American natives believe that after death there is a huge canyon to cross. And depending on how strong you were on earth, you may or may not cross.  Why have people done this? Because we want hope after death.

            Now days we believe that there is nothing after death. We think that what we see is all there is. This undermines everything that has held people together before. If there is nothing after death there cannot be a God. Or if there is, it really does not matter, because there is no punishment for wrong doings. With no punishment, and no God, we are left with no right and wrong. This is simply because we as humans are the highest law that exists, or at least that matters. If we are the only law, then right and wrong are only what we choose them too be. If I choose that murder is a good thing today, so be it. This very greatly destroys us. There is nothing then, except the government that keeps people from murdering. And if the government and the justice system take on this belief, then there is no hope for humans. But so far in history, there have always been a right and wrong. Even in the most horrid cultures, there have been some things that are just wrong.  And man has felt guilty for his wrong. Why else would we have to come up with ideas about there being no God? Even the fact that we think that there might be a right and a wrong proves that there is. Why would someone randomly come up with the idea? And why would everyone in the world think about it? Even if they think it does not exist, they are thinking about it.

            People are scared of death, but it does not change the way they live. They never take a hint that someday, somewhere they are to be judged. And if they are not going to be judged, then there really is no point in life, and no reason to be scared of death, for what is life without right and wrong, Without meaning, Without death?

Back home again.

sorry all for not posting, i have been rather busy. but for your information. we are heading back home in a few days.
i am super busy packing. so i am off again. but i shall post when we arrive. 

Done With School

School. One of those things that must be done, and is often taken lightly by those who must go through with it. A awesome little kid once said that after twelve years of school you still don't know anything, and at that point you are supposed to figure out what you want to do with your life and go to school for it. i think that covers it pretty well. i have finally finished tenth grade, so i almost get to figure out what to go to school for. ha ha. getting closer anyhow.

 i am super exited to finally get to do all the work my mom has been wanting me to do but i haven't had time for....i mean  this is exiting!



Have a good day.

Blur of Life

I am sitting now in front of my computer in an odd mood. A fairy tale mood I think some would call it, or artful, or perhaps just contemplative. A mood where it feels right to put together some poetry, and yet one where it is impossible to write an single poem because you are too overwhelmed with the emotion, or the lack of them. A mood where the sun shines brighter, and the grass looks a little greener, and sorrow a little more bitter. Gray is an illusion,  and in between does  not exist. A black and white moment, filled with color. Paradox maybe, but wonderful. God seems a little nearer though He never left, and heaven a tiny more real though I never doubted it. Life is a blur of color, with black and white rules.  yes it is one those moods I am in. Though  the description is lacking.
But where is this leading you are most likely wondering. and with good reason. i doubt you like to sit and read meandering blog posts. I am going somewhere, just be patient.
Well yesterday my mood was a  little less lovely. it was one of those grumpy-the-world-is-going-to-end-today kind of moods. I got over it thankfully.
and the day before i was kinda sad.
The day before i was one of those never dieing optimists.
I watch a movie, and it makes me laugh, read a book that makes me cry.  listen to music that makes me tremble.
Life changes, my moods change. I am ever so human. and I believe we are all to a certain extent. It is what makes waves in lifes ocean. this up and down of emotion. 
Emotion does not show truth. for some days I feel that God is closer, and other days not, but it changes nothing. God is always near.
this just  proves how little one should trust emotion. Moods. So then, what things are truly beautiful? wonderful? make us go 'wow'? if it just leads to another emotion is it worthless?
I believe so. because even the unsaved go 'wow' when they see the Rockie Mountains. But those things can also lead to to a great awe of God. that I think it good. but then you ask, is awe of God simply another emotion? I have been asking the same question, and have not come up with an answer. Perhaps we were made to feel the  emotion of awe towards God? I know not. but I do believe that emotions, for their own sake are worth very little.
But maybe, just maybe God gave us emotions to color life, to show what we feel. Or maybe they are just reaction to life and nothing else.
What are emotions, and where do they lead? why did God give them to us? is it all a crazy hoax? or do they give a better understanding of God? Or do they just deceive us? comment, and tell me what you think!
All this talking, and you never did get an answer. but I did ask the questions.  so comment away. I would love to hear!

Well I am off again to continue my search. fare thee well all. do not get too caught up in the emotions of the moment to forget what we are doing on earth!

Where to Go?

So I will admit, I have been less than generous with my writing lately. I post pictures and leave. But don't feel bad, even my journal has been empty for the past couple months. I guess I have been through a lot, and learned a lot, and needed time to process. I still feel like I have not properly processed everything, but I figure it is time to post anyhow.Even very shortly as to what I am thinking.
Though what to say? But that profound things are simple, sometimes forgotten things. Truth is simple yet unfathomable. We cannot understand God, but He is truth, which is simple, yet God, who is everything,  is not so simple. So everything I learn about God, is both simple, and yet I can not understand it.
 In all this thinking, and reading of the Bible. I have learned much, but yet little can be said about it. For what can be said about a God who created the heavens and the earth? but that He is awesome and all powerful?
so much more, he is loving, just, holy, the beginning of wisdom, never ending, and the list goes on. But as a mere human what can I say? but 'holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty' ? and yet it seems that I, and we, are called to say more To what end? The glory of God.  As to what I am to say, that it seems is a life journey. One that is hard, but beautiful.
In this life I am called to follow God to whatever end He has for me. To glorify Him in whatever I do.  That is the bottom line. The rest will flow from that, or so I pray.  It all sounds so simple. and yet it will take my whole life to figure it out.

those are my thoughts in a nutshell.
hope you have a good day.

My Little Bro, True To Form

so i found this picture of kaleb and just had to post it. i laughed so hard. Hope he gave you a laugh too.