A Christmas Story

            Bethlehem was very crowded. Why had Caesar required the people to return to their ancestral homes to be counted? Eleazar would have rather stayed home to do it. To take such a journey in early spring was especially challenging.

            He had been fortunate in his travels. He had gotten the very last stall in the caravansary. Through the door-less opening in the stall, he was able to look out on the noisy, smelly courtyard where the animals were kept, watched over by their owners as they roomed in the stalls around the perimeter of the courtyard.

             As he settled his belongings in his stall, Eleazar saw one more family enter the courtyward. All the stalls were full. Where did they expect to stay?

            The woman was great with child. It was clear at the very sight of her that she would deliver the child any day now. But that did not take Eleazar’s attention to her as much as something else about her. As he looked on her, there was a spirit about her. There was something special about her, though he did not understand quite what it was.

The man with her led the donkey she sat atop into the middle of the courtyard. He helped her gently down from the donkey. Eleazar watched him look around in sadness at the fully occupied caravansary. He expected the man to help his wife back onto the donkey and lead them both back out. Instead, he placed their belongings down next to their donkey and helped his wife set up camp.

Where they really going to stay there? How truly desperate they must be, to be willing to stay in such a dirty place, surrounded by all manner of animals.

Eleazar saw the husband again as he went to be counted. The lines were long, and each head of house spent much time waiting in them to report the members of his family. The man he had seen earlier in the courtyard was in the line next to him.

“Excuse me?” Eleazar said to him.

The man turned his head. “Yes?”

“Are you the one with the wife who is great with child, staying in the courtyard?”

“I am Joseph bar Jacob,” he said. “All of the stalls were full.”

“I am Eleazar bar Isaac. Forgive me for questioning, Joseph bar Jacob. But a courtyard? With all the animals?”

“I will stay where I must to protect my family. There are so many wolves out this time of year, hunting the newborn lambs.”

“About your family,” Eleazar said. “When I saw you in the caravansary, I couldn’t help but notice that there was something special about your wife. There was a special kind of feeling around here.”

“Mary is indeed a very special woman,” Joseph said. “But even more special is the child she is carrying.”

“Special how? Your firstborn?”

“It’s more than that,” he said, rubbing his forehead. “I’m not sure I could properly explain it. I’m not sure if I understand it myself.”

Mary went into labor that night. All of the women in the caravansary did what they could to help with the deliver. Unable to sleep, Eleazar watched and waited with Joseph for the birth of the child. A child’s birth should not have been anything unusual, just another birth. But this one…this one he was strangely drawn to.

The child was born that night. It was a son. How fortunate for the parents for their firstborn to be a son! Finding no other place clean place to lay the child, they placed him in the manger where they fed the animals. The animals came over to the feeding trough as one might expect, but they did not attempt to eat. Instead, they stood before the child, seeming to be bowed before it as if in reverence. Who was this child?

As everyone gathered to congratulate the new parents, even though they were strangers, a group of shepherds arrived in the caravansary well into the night. Surely they did not expect to stay here as well? But they did not look around at the stalls, did not try to find a place to stay. Their eyes went straight to the manger that held the child. They went over to him, and fell down before him, as if in awe.

They then told all that would listen what had happened earlier that night. They had been out in the fields that night around Bethlehem, watching over their flocks. An angel appeared to them. They were afraid. But then the angel told them that a Savior was born that night in Bethlehem, and that they would find him in a manger, just as the child was now. And then there were many more angels, singing praises unto God, and declaring peace.

Eleazar listened in awe. A Savior? Could this be the promised Messiah? A child? Born in the courtyard of a caravansary with a manger for his bed?

The shepherds departed, and could be heard telling everyone about what they had seen and heard, of the angels and of the child.

Later, Eleazar went over to congratulate the new parents and see this child. As he went over to Joseph and Mary, he was going to say something to them. But he looked down on the child, he was captivated. There was such a feeling of peace and calm that came upon him as the child’s eyes met his.  Eleazar fell down on his knees before the child.

“Tell me of him,” he said to the parents. “You said he was a special child. Is what the shepherds said true? Is he the promised Messiah?”

Mary told me what she had seen and heard. That an angel had come to her in the night, much as one had come to the shepherd. He had told her that she would bear a son and that his name was to be Jesus. And she said that he would be called the Son of God.

Eleazar turned to Joseph in surprise. “But you are the father, are you not?”

Joseph shook his head. “Mary is a virgin. She has never known a man.”

Eleazar looked at the child. “But there is a child right there. We all saw him born from Mary.”

“The power of God came upon her. That power conceived the child,” Joseph said. “An angel visited me as well. The angel told me that the child will save us all from our sins.”

“Then truly he is the Messiah!” Eleazar said, bowing down to worship the child they called Jesus.

The next morning, Eleazar was still there in Bethlehem, having not returned home yet. He had asked to hear the stories of the angels from Mary and Joseph again. After they had repeated their stories, he had wanted to hear it yet again, but he did not want to burden them.

He hadn’t wanted to come to Bethlehem, but now he did not want to leave. He didn’t want to leave the child. Bethlehem was still just as crowded, perhaps even more so than the previous day. But that did not matter to him now. He was grateful he had come.

For he had met the child that would be his Savior.

Silent Night: Origins of a Familiar Christmas Carol

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth 

   Immortal words, and a familiar song if you celebrate Christmas. This is one of my favorite Christmas carols, not only for the beautiful melody or message it carries, but also for the story of how this - the world's most popular Christmas song - came to exist.

It was a snow-covered Christmas Eve in the small Austrian village of Obendorf in 1818. Tragedy has struck for the local priest, Joseph Mohr. Midnight Mass was only hours away, and the Chapel's organ was broken. Mohr, and the village teacher, Franz Xavier Gruber, who also served as the organist, struggled regarding what to do. How would the people of the village sing at the service that night without an organ to accompany them?

An idea came to Mohr. Two years earlier, he had written he titled Stille Nacht - "Silent Night". He took the poem and gave it to Gruber to compose a simple melody for, one that could be accompanied by a guitar. Gruber wrote the melody and that night at Midnight Mass, it was sung by a small choir before the people of the village.

I sang this song in both English and the original German as part of a middle school choir for a Christmas concert when I was in the sixth grade. While I doubt I could correctly pronounce or even recall the German lyrics to this carol, my love for this song has remained. A few years later, I learned of the origins of this beloved song and have loved the tale ever since.

This Christmas season, I hope that you, like me, will join the Heavenly Hosts singing 'Alleluia' to our Savior's birth.

My Descent into Insanity

The last will and testament of the rational mind of Dan Bell. What proceeds is the chronicle of my descent into insanity, down from whatever small modicum of sanity I had to begin with.

Tuesday

8:30 p.m. - Lindsey just left with her cousins. She’ll be gone the next couple days visiting family. I’ll miss her.

9:18 p.m. - Lacking anyone else to talk to, I told Mousetrap (our cat) about my latest contribution to the game. When I was done, she simply got up and walked away. Seems Mousetrap doesn’t want to hear about it anymore than Lindsey does.

10:32 p.m. - Bored, I told Mousetrap about the advantages and shortcomings of Capitalism. In response, she licked her butt. This proves, once and for all, that Mousetrap is indeed a Communist.

12:00 a.m. - For a change of pace, Mousetrap and I traded sleeping spots for tonight. She sprawled out over the bed, and I curled up in a tiny little ball on the pink chair. I woke up purring and licking my butt.

Wednesday

1:23 p.m. - Getting desperate for a job, I asked if Mousetrap would be willing to hire me. We even had an interview. She sat one side of the desk in her pink chair, and I sat opposite her, saying everything I could to try to convince her to give me a job. Eventually, she jumped over the desk, climbed into my lap and started purring. Presuming that meant I was hired, I asked her how much the job would pay. She responded by leading me over to her food dish. I’m not sure if that meant she would be paying me to replenish her catfood, or simply that she intended to pay me in catfood.

8-9 p.m. - After dinner, Mousetrap and I gave each other manicures. This was deeply disturbing to me, Mousetrap, and the majority of a small town in rural Arkansas, after I hacked their only television station and broadcast it to them via webcam.

Thursday

Sometime in the morning - I really have to ask myself: Why? Why do I sit here, tapping away at this thing with the buttons and the keys and the windows? WHY?!

A few minutes later - WHY DON’T YOU EVER TELL ME THE THINGS I REALLY NEED TO KNOW, COMPUTER?! WHY?!?!

(What’s this time thing again?) - We must kill the zombie rabbits! Hitler doesn’t want them building space stations!

Asparagus. Trousers. Lightbulbs. Habenshrodengooshdunen.

My New Favorite Hike

Fairy Falls. Photo Credit: Ned Fenimore

The latest hike I took became my instant favorite: Fairy Falls Hike. With Wakheena Falls at its trailhead, the beginning is very popular. The parking lot was actually full and we had to park up the road a bit and walk back. The first quarter-mile up to a bridge near the top of Wakheena is fairly crowded, however once you get past the bridge it is much less so.

After the bridge comes 11 switchbacks up the side of the mountain. Having read that these cover 600 vertical feet in just half a mile, we thought it was going to be pretty steep, but after the first couple it was fairly easy. Every once in a while on the way up the trees part, giving some amazing views of the river and gorge below.

At the very top of all these switchbacks, a little side trail leads to Lemmon's Viewpoint. It gives a spectacular view of the Gorge, and is a must-see on this trail.

Back on the main trail, it now turns and heads into Wakheena Canyon. This place is absolutely amazing. It's a fairly narrow canyon that doesn't have room for much besides the river and the trail. Every step of the trail is uphill, and its a fairly steep climb, but it is well worth it. The river beside the trail, which is occasionally crossed by the trail on footbridges, creates natural air conditioning for the trail. The river is a neverending series of cascades down the canyon, and it makes the canyon seem like one enormous, multi-step waterfall.

Periodically, little tributaries to the main river tumble down the canyon walls, crossing the path, and then continuing their way down the canyon to join the river. The canyon, the river, the path, and the little streams flowing over the path combine to create an absolutely beautiful area that I look forward to going to again and again.

And then the whole beautiful experience was climaxed by the top of our hike at Fairy Falls, shown in the photo above. There's a really nice bench there next to it, where Lindsey and I sat resting, eating a snack, and just absorbing the breathtaking view around us.

The trail crossed the river and continued further up the canyon, looping around Larch Mountain, and including several more waterfalls, including Multnomah itself, but we chose to stop there, and head back down.

On our way back down, Lindsey and I kept saying how this was our new favorite hike and how we'd be coming back often.

Waterfalls

Rodney Falls - Photo Credit: Julie Wyatt

Almost a year ago now, my then-girlfriend Lindsey told me that she was considering transferring from the school she was attending in Chicago, to a school in Portland, Oregon. She had said 'I can't ask you to come with me' but said I'd really like it there. At the time, I had no desire at all to go. But in the almost-five months that I've now lived here, I have come to absolutely love it here. And there's one thing here that fascinates and amazes me more than anything else: the waterfalls.

There are literally hundreds, and quite possibly even thousands of waterfalls at the nearby Columbia River Gorge. From the majestic and powerful Multnomah Falls, 620 feet tall with over a thousand gallons of water crashing down it every second, to the tiniest little streamlet trickling down a hill at the side of a hiking trail, waterfalls to me are one of the wonders of nature.

These things truly are breathtaking to me. Watching the water pour down a rock face, over the sides of a cliff, tumbling over boulders, or through a narrow gap between two sides of a canyon, I stand in awe, watching the water cascade in so many different shapes and forms, then see it splash down at the bottom. Then as I contemplate the sight of what I'm seeing, it strikes me how much water it takes. It's taking thousands of gallons of water to create every moment of this fantastic sight, and unimaginable quantities of it to maintain it permanently. I stand awestruck every time I visit one.

Of the larger waterfalls (the ones that have names, that is), I've probably been to about 15 or 20 so far. My "to-do list" of waterfalls includes a good dozen more that I haven't had a chance to see yet, not only around the Gorge but a few around Mount Hood as well. I take one of these trips when I have the time and the weather is cooperating. I get the opportunity about once a month or so. Seeing them often involves hikes that are a few miles round-trip, and are largely uphill to get to the waterfall, and the effort leaves me tired and sore by the time I get back, but its always worth it.

My most recent trip was to Beacon Rock State Park on the Washington side of the Gorge. At the end of this all-uphill hike is Rodney Falls, which is in the photo at the top of this blog entry. The view in the photo is from a bridge on the trail that passes over the waterfall. If you look closer at the photo, you'll notice near the top of the waterfall that there's a railing there. This is a look-out point for one feature of Rodney Falls that is so spectacular and incredible that it has its own - Pool of the Winds:

Pool of the Winds - Photo Credit: Steve Hart

Created a channel in the rocks at the top of Rodney Falls, the spray of water creates a rainbow of you're looking at it from the proper angle, as shows a bit in the photo. The cascading water in such a small space creates an air current that blows wind and spray out at you that makes it feel like an air conditioner is blowing in your face. Though I've only been here once so far, this is now one of my favorite places to go to in the Gorge.

So are so many beautiful places that I have trouble deciding where I want to go next. I can't wait for my next chance. Want to join me?

Shifts in Priorities

Part of my job in the IT department includes patrolling back and forth in a computer lab, straightening the place and making sure people are following the rules (no food, drinks, talking on phones, loud conversation, or watching porn). I spend up to half an hour at a time doing this, so I sometimes occupy myself with surveying the room, noting what people are doing.

Usually, this is to note just how many people are using Facebook. During our busiest hours (11am-1pm), Facebook and/or Youtube account for the activities of the majority of our users. Walking around and seeing an entire row of computers occupied by people on Facebook amuses me. Homework would account for some of the users' activities, but Facebook was the more dominant. Admittedly, though, while I'm doing this, my laptop is sitting at our Front Desk, often with my Facebook account open as well.

However, today it was a little different. My school is presently two weeks away from Finals. As a result, when I looked around most of what I saw was Word, Powerpoint and Blackboard. For the first time in the semester, our users are focused on homework. There are a few Facebook accounts open, but most people were focused on homework. This was reflected in my own activities: yesterday, open on my laptop was on a paper due soon (though I was too busy during the shift to work on it).

Whether these busy students were the previously slacking students with changed priorities, or different students altogether, I don't know. Far too many users come into our computer lab to keep track of who's there. Regardless of that, the shift in the use of the computer lab is a clear reflection of close Finals are.

Frictionless Vacuums!

(Click comic for full image: http://xkcd.com/669)

The above comic is AWESOME! It also got me thinking today about frictionless vacuums.

You see, in any physics course, the instructor will use many examples to help you learn the concepts and how to solve problems. Unless the problem is specifically about, or involves, the effects of work or air drag, the problem will have two characteristics that you simply won't find in the real world: that every surface will have no friction associated with it, and that air drag is no taken into account. So the problem is frictionless, and takes place in a vacuum. This makes the problem much simpler to do. It also makes it a frictionless vacuum.

So yes, it sounds crazy, but many physics problems are done in frictionless vacuums.