Individual Liberty — Individual Responsibility

For those we lost, We will not forget 09/11/2001

“Our God given unalienable rights are given to us all as individuals. They tell us what me may do for ourselves, and they are the embodiment of liberty. The so-called rights that government gives to some of us are parcelled out to select groups as classes. They tell us what one class of people may require another to do for them, and they are the very essence of slavery.”
— Perri Nelson, February 9, 2010

A bheil Gàidhlig agaibh?

Views from Western Washington

Published Sat, Jul 11 2009 10:31 AM

If there’s one thing I love about living in Western Washington, it’s the spectacular scenery. Every Monday night, my wife and I drive out to Enumclaw on our way to dance practice. On the way we pass by Krain Corner, a location with a fabulous view of farmland, rolling hills, and Mt. Rainier. On more than one occasion I’ve driven through the area and wished I had brought my camera with me.

Today, I was taking Lucas to Black Diamond Miner’s Days, a local event where he and other members of the Merle E. Luther chapter of the Order of DeMolay were working. Since it’s a nice, relatively cloudless day I decided I’d take the camera with me and head on down the road a bit after I dropped him off. Here are some of the pictures I took.

I also took some pictures from the Green River bridge. This bridge had been closed for repairs for nearly nine months, causing us to have to take a long detour on our trips to dance practice. Since it was once again open, I decided to take a few pictures while I was there.

The Green River also happens to flow through Flaming Geyser State Park. The flaming geyser itself isn’t really a natural geyser, despite the name. It’s actually a test hole bored by Eugene Lawson on October 4, 1911, prospecting for coal in the area. At about 900 feet down, the drill encountered a layer containing methane gas. This gas has been slowly seeping up ever since. In 1922 Mr. Lawson, the discoverer of the gas layer noticed it was bubbling up from the ground and lit it. For many years it burned continuously, with the flame reaching heights of eight to ten feet. Today the flame is much smaller, only about eight to ten inches high. The flame is fed by a natural layer of methane gas that is about 89% methane.