Making (and eating) Snow on the Mountain, oh deer oh deer

Sunday, October 3, 2021

We start BICOnline (our Indonesian gathering online) at 6:45pm Saturday (= Indonesian Sunday.) We wake early Sunday morning. While it's still dark, fishermen drift by in their float boat.

When the sun starts to come up, the landscape begins to transform from shadows to colors.

After a leisurely breakfast, we drive a half-hour to be part of the gathering at Coulee City AG. Pastors Allan Fox and Nick Kruger give us a warm welcome, as do the other guests.

Ok, this was new to me. Have you ever made a dish called Snow on the Mountain? No? Neither have I. Jacqui and her sister explain that you start with a heap of rice on your plate. That's the mountain, which is topped with:

• cheese shavings of "soil" 
• a "river" of chicken pieces in broth
• crisp chow mein noodle "trees" 
• chopped pineapple and yellow/red pepper "flowers" 
• green onion, avocado, celery, and olive "shrubs and rocks" 
• a "snowdrift" of coconut flakes at the peak. It's
• flavored with a soy sauce "creek."

Mix it together. Wow, Snow on the Mountain! Who knew?! This is something new for my kitchen. Don't you think it would be a fun meal for movie nights? 

Bill and Jacqui Randolph, former colleagues at NU, host the lunch at their house. We enjoy the feast with their other guests. The guys enjoy their conversation -

and don't mind posing for a picture after lunch. (Below: missing one guest)

Over the meal and a dessert of 2 pies (peach and pear,) we discuss theology and life, the hard things we encounter, and the consequences of our decisions. How can we love others as Jesus loves us? How do we nurture relationships through thick and thin? I learn a lot as usual.

We return past reflections and farmlands nestled at the base of mountain ranges.

When we turn into our friend's driveway, a deer is watching. She flicks away the huge fly buzzing her rump but shows no fear of us. A few deer stroll by on the lake side of the hill throughout the day. 

Driving at dawn or dusk in deer country can be hazardous. That's when the animals bound across the roads from one side of the forest to the other. Hit one of them and your car is a wreck. (It's not particularly healthy for the deer, either.)

We start the day with a walk to the shore. Along the sandy bluff, even things that look mostly dead are hanging on.

We peek through the trees at the beautiful lake before packing up.

The highway is strangely straight across the state - no matter what direction you go when you're in Eastern Washington. And there are few cars.

We meet Jeremy and Rebekah for lunch at Alpine Deli in Spokane. Ok. That was delicious!

Then we drive to see Wilhelmina just across the border in Idaho. She's been a friend for almost 3 decades and recently lost her husband. We have tea and flaky pastry - and chat while W goes online and talks to Clifton, Wilhelmina's son-in-law. It is wonderful to hug her and pray together.

Our next stop is not far away. We forget to take pictures with the Hosacks but Christine's baking experiment - zucchini orange bread - is a 100% success. Over tea, we hear about their adventures and legacy after almost 4 decades of living in SE Asia.

Our final stop before reaching our homestay is supper at Tomato Street with new/old friends. Keelee and I enjoy our online friendship ... but how special to meet in person for the first time ever! (Of course, Mitch and Waldemar are there, too.)

She hands us a beautiful box, which contains her own baking - huge chocolate-pecan cookies. Oh wow!

Tuesday

We save the cookies since we ate all day long yesterday. But we share them for breakfast. In the morning, I get a tour of Rebekah's raised-bed garden. She smiles as she pulls out a French radish that kept growing and growing. She has mad gardening skills: the 3" radish is a monster, the various tomato plants have grown up and over the tall deer fence, and the peppers are still producing.

I have never seen an 8-9' tall tomato hedge until today. Several kinds of squashes are ready for harvest, as are the cantaloupe.

R breaks open a melon for the chickens to enjoy. They ignore their feed and go straight to the tasty fruit.

We pick about a dozen bags of produce (some fuller than others): "We're supposed to get our first frost tomorrow night," R explains. So Martha, R and I glean what we can. Aren't these little peppers lovely in their big paper shopping bag?

Our meals are a delight - it's so good to sit and eat with family.

Wednesday

After a good night's sleep and a healthy breakfast, we take pictures before saying goodbye.

Mel hired W to work at Northwest U in 1985 so we moved to Seattle January 1, 1986.

Our kids grew up between Seattle and my parents' house in British Columbia. My folks would either get the kids or return them. Mel was the reason we moved to the USA though.

We stop for lunch at #MunchenHaus in Leavenworth. It's a bit nippy out, so we are happy to eat at the fire table.

We share two sandwiches between us.

On the way back to the car, this unusual color of hydrangea catches my eye.

The landscape begins to turn green after the brown-beiges of the east. We make a U-turn at Steven's pass to pick up two hitchhikers. They look cold and wet - it's started to rain.

The drive is gorgeous. The trees have begun to change color in the week since we last drove through. The cooler nights bring a transformation to the leaves between the tall pine and fir conifers.

Wherever the mountain slopes have been burned or logged, small maples and shrubs start to fill in the barren ground. They show off their fall reds and oranges. It's an extravagent display of God's recreation and renewal.

We drop Phil and Gretchen off in Bothell after praying a blessing over them, and continue home.

The kids come downstairs to hang out while W and our son T return the rental car. I unpack, do laundry, and am ready to fall into bed early tonight. Thanks to all the friends and family who made this such a special weekend and week already.

Read more:

*The Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city?” Jonah 4:10-11

*I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you. Hebrews 2:12

*The Lord is compassionate and merciful. James 5:11

Moravian Prayer: Lord, though we are the recipients of your “compassion and mercy,” our opinions about others often disregard your view of them. Stir us and teach us to see with your heart of compassion and mercy. Amen.