Escape to Nature

Not content with spending a beautiful day indoors watching TV or reading, I went out. Not content with the seminary campus, I went out looking for nature. Not content with the manmade parks, I went out. Out to the edge of the urban sprawl. Out to the Jefferson Memorial Forest. I went to read and admire God's providence and creation. To glory the King of Kings, I went out.
I arrive at the forest after getting lost with directions from MapQuest. I go to the Welcome Center, which is closed, and find no parking. Undeterred I entered the recreation center looking for parking. I found the lake; it is more like a glorified pond. Yet, big enough to be classified as a lake. I quickly find parking and then I'm out exploring the forest. I brought with me my backpack; in it are my notebook, Bible, and a book I hoped to read. I also have my water bottle. I will need it.
I walk down the road looking for a way down to the lake area, where people are bar-be-cueing, fishing, having birthday parties, spending time with family. They like me, wanted to escape to nature. I find my way down and notice benches by the lake, I do not head that way. I am looking for quiet and solitude. There are children playing and laughing on the playground. Loudly. I am not content with being by the lake. I set out on the first trail I find: The Tulip Tree Trail. Forty-five seconds into it, I hear no playground noise. I pass parents with their children, teaching them about nature. I'm looking for a secluded bench where I can sit, read, and reflect. At the end of the 0.2-mile trail, I find a shelter. It is occupied. No good.
I turn around and head back. Back past the parents, I just walked by. Back to the playground. I walk past it to a new trail. This trail will take me along the edge of the forest and the lake. It is beautiful. It is mid-afternoon and the sun is casting shadows of the trees on the lake. People are catching frogs. Little girls telling their dads that they want him to catch two. There is the smell of pine trees intermingled with the smell of fresh water intermingled with the smell of food cooking over a fire. I am happy.
This trail leads to a decision. Do I continue ahead to the Welcome Center behind a family of 6? Do I turn left and head toward the Purple Heart Trail? Or do I turn right and head up the hill to a new place, where there seems to be no one?
I turn right, because the trail seemed to be alone like I was. This new trail leads up away from the lake. Up a hill and into the words. The sounds of happy families fade behind. There is no road sounds. No sounds of civilization at all, except for the occasional airplane. The only noise that could be heard was the noise of God's creation. Leaves rustling. Squirrels scampering around. The quiet, almost inaudible trickling of a brook. Absolute joy.
This trail has taken me to another fork. One up the hill, the other a ridgeline. There is a bee circling the trail ascending the hill, as to say danger. I opt for the ridgeline path. I am not disappointed. The view is breathtaking. Rolling hills covered with leaves, fallen trees, and nothing man made. God's creation as it should be. This trail is circling around the top of the hill. Wait, is that another trail? One that looks abandoned? It is! I must take it.
This forgotten path is not too overgrown with thorn bushes. I press on. To my left is the forest, to my right a house at the bottom of the hill. I begin to believe the path leads there. I stop for a drink of water where the path descends the hill. Three females come up behind me and head down. I wait on them to descend a little.
I put my water in my backpack. I strap around me, tightening it up. I'm ready to go down. However, I notice the path does dead end at the house. I turn around and go back to the other path. Unfortunately, the three females did not notice this on top of the hill like I did. They are at the bottom.
I go back to the previous path. Still in my quest for a place to sit, read, and reflect. The path leads up the hill and comes to a T-intersection with another path. One leads down the hill, most likely back to the lake. The other leads back up the hill for what could be a breathtaking view. I go up.
Up I walk. Reaching the summit and view the lake and the surrounding woods. I say to myself, "This is beautiful." I turn to continue on the path and I notice the airport in the distance. Even in 600+ acre forest, the urban sprawl finds its way in. It bothers me just for a few seconds. I go down the hill and join the path I was just on. Back to the three-way decision intersection.
This time I opt for the Welcome Center. I head that way and look to my left and see a small clump of pines. "I want to sit beneath those," I say to myself. "After the Welcome Center." I head on. This trail is too close to the road. The cars passing by disturb the tranquility. The birds and insect noises are not enough to quiet out the road noises from motorcyclists revving their engines and cars with their stereo's turned up too loud. I get a headache.
I stop for a moment on a bridge that is over a small creek and listen to the sound of the water as it cascades down the hill. A motorcycle interrupts this moment. I turn and press on toward the Welcome Center. I reach it and I am amazed at how much noise there is at this time of day at an out of the way place. I cross the road, in hopes of finding a new trail. I did not, yet I stop and admire the war memorial plague in front of the flagpole. I take a short break on a trail dedicated to Kentucky park workers. I then head back to the woods.
Back across the road. Back to the pines that beckoned me earlier. I make it to the pines. I get off the trail and blaze a new one to the group. I find no real place to sit. The ground is covered in thorn bushes. I have to give up that dream. I head back to the trail. I head to the pavilion at the end of the Tulip Tree Trail in hopes that it is empty. It is.
Beside the pavilion is a path that leads up a hill; I decide not to take it. I leave it for another day. I sit down and do not read. I start writing. I'm there for approximately 20 minutes, when a family disrupts my peace. I thought they would go on another trail. They did not. They seemed to have no regard for my privacy. I finish what I was writing and I head back to my car.
My feet hurt. My legs are a little wobbly. I am hot and sweaty. It has been worth it all. I may not have done what I had set out to do. Yet, what I received was worth much more. There are more paths to explore. More things to do there. I leave them for another day. Today, I am tired and head back to civilization. Next time, I will bring my camera and friends.

A Year Later . . .

It's been a year since I went to Russia and had a life-changing experience there. It was during that trip that I felt a real call to that country. Just a couple of months later, Rebecca felt the same call when she was in Russia. Talk about providence. To commemorate this milestone, I will post some photos from that trip. Enjoy.

Memorial to the unknown soldiers.

Monument listing names of people politically repressed, i.e. died in prisons, camps, or simply disappeared, during the reign of Josef Stalin.

There were literally name upon names. This was just for the area around Ekaterinburg, not for the entire country.

This is a statue of Tsar Nicolas II and his family outside of a church built on the site of where they were brutally murdered.

One of the churches at the monastery dedicated to the Tsar Nicolas II and his family. It is built around the site where they were buried after their murder.

One of the children in the orphanage we went to, it was really cool.

Some more children at the orphanage.

The gang from the baptist college in Florida and myself in the most recognizable Russian Orthodox Church in the world, St. Basil's.

300: A Review

You should know some things before going into this movie. It is based on a graphic novel; there are some fantasy elements in it. While the battle actually happened in history, however the movie is not historically accurate. Why would some of the best warriors in the known world at that time not wear any body armor? They may be the delta force of their time, but they are definitely not stupid enough to go against the biggest army of the time without body armor. There is also no mention of the sea battle that was going on at the same the 300 Spartans were battling it out. The reason for the use of only 300 Spartans was not really because the oracle said the army could not march, but because they were battling it out in a mountain pass. It only takes a small amount of forces to hold off an army of thousands. As said in the movie the Persians, numbers meant nothing. In addition, Xerxes is not stupid enough to send his calvary into a mountain pass; there is not enough room for them to maneuver.
While there are a number of historical inaccuracies within the movie, one cannot write the movie off for that. The battle sequences were well done, showing exactly what battle would have been like in 480 B.C. There is an ebb and flow in battle. There is a lot of violence, with a lot of dismembering of Persians. There is a beheading of a Spartan and several beheadings of Persians. Although, there is a lot of dismemberments in the movie there is not a whole lot of blood. The director, Zack Snyder, had the blood digitally animated so he could control it in each and every shot. This leaves the movie with the artistic look of a graphic novel, which is what Snyder was going for.
Cinematographically this movie looks beautiful. Each frame could be its own painting. It does have a small comic book feel to the visuals, but supposedly each shot is based off each frame of the graphic novel. With a few extra thrown in to help the plot line.
If you are looking for an epic movie that has a lot of heart-pounding action scenes, equally placed with dialogue then this movie is for you. However, if you are looking for a movie that is full of action-scenes, good dialogue, and turns into soft-core porn 15-minutes into it, then what is wrong with you?
The last thing to know before watching this movie is it is rated R not for the violence but because of the sexuality and nudity. The MPAA stated that it contains some sexuality and nudity. I do not call a lesbian, Persian orgy some sexuality and nudity. That is a lot of sexuality and nudity. Ten to fifteen minutes into the movie, King Leonidas goes to visit the Ephors and they consult the oracle. The oracle does her seductive dance topless. Well, not completely topless, she is wearing a cloth that is so sheer she might as well be topless. The very next scene starts with Leonidas talking with his wife that suddenly turns into a sex scene. While I am happy that Hollywood is showing a sex scene between a husband and wife, I did not need to see it shown so graphically. Let us not forget that at the end of the movie a council member rapes the queen. Thankfully, the director has the decency not to show this, he does show the beginning of it. Everyone in the audience knows what happened. I do not think I need to talk about the lesbian orgy scene. All that needs to be said is it is explicit.
What could have potentially been a good movie that I would want to own on DVD is not due to the nudity and the explicit sex scenes. If anyone has not seen this movie, know what you are getting into before watching it. Do not go and see it if you can help it. I do not recommend it at all.