Tag: hiking

Three Steps to Summer

James HoganLeave a comment

A late afternoon has crept upon me and I find myself somehow surprised that it already has ticked near on 5pm. It is a simply gorgeous spring day here even if a bit warmer than I would desire. The sun still shines overhead and the breeze ruffles my shirt and reminds me that summer is not yet here. I almost let this afternoon slip away, drowsing away the weariness at home. Yet…upon looking outside and seeing the day blazing brilliant blue, how could I stay indoors? And so on go the shoes, with book and laptop tossed in backpack and away I went. It’s been a while since I’ve done the afternoon EQ walk. And though it isn’t quite EQ anymore – not sure I will ever be used to calling it Caffvino – it is lovely to sit here on the porch once more and enjoy the steady hum of the conversations round about. The music layers on and then also the traffic sounds are omnipresent as one may guess. I do find myself amused at the music playlist choices. While at one time it was punk and rock and emo angst, now…well, sounds more like hipster-folk-core or some such. Sounds like music one might listen to as they drive the mountain roads, camping gear slung on top. Definitely not the music of EQ of old.

Now what shall my fingers dance on to talk about? I suppose I might further share the loveliness of the day and chronicle my morning. I woke up later than typical but it was still early enough to enjoy a walk before the sun had fully risen above the horizon. A quick cup of coffee was brewed into my little to-go cup and onward I walked – MKT trail as is proper of a morning. Oh how beautiful sang the day! It was just cool enough that I relished the warm sips of coffee I would take from time to time and yet just warm enough to make me think of springtime. And speaking of springtime…as I walked down the trail, I caught a whiff of loveliness and stopped of a sudden. Could it be? And yes it was. The first scent of jasmine of spring. Always a delight and it will never not be one of my favourite moments of the year. I looked to my right and saw the very first delicate blooms of jasmine on the hedge that ran along the trail. How could my heart not sing? Ah how I love the jasmine flower and the memories that come with! With renewed joy I walked further down the trail down to the bridge, the spot from which many times I have stopped and thought and mused and prayed and this day I let my eyes dance as they gazed upon the bayou stretching towards downtown and the far-off buildings that seemed as dwarfs under the eastern sky. The sun now said hello in full and shimmered in a friendly manner and reminded me that a lovely day was at hand. I walked back and let my eyes rest upon the construction work that some may call a blight yet I find a treasure. The old buildings with the faded “COMPANY REFINERY” upon the side are now being renewed once more, the faded bricks glorified as the new windows are fitted and the surrounding ground turned over in preparation for what is to come – unknown to me yet I hope perhaps for something more than a retail park or office spaces. We shall see. Yet it gives me joy to see buildings not torn down and tossed asunder but renewed and made to rise again in splendour. I walked past the construction site and soon enough found myself almost home. I stopped to stretch and laughed to myself at how good my legs felt in the process. Does this mean my legs are not quite as young as they used to be that I find such pleasure in the perfect feeling of completion that comes after a proper stretch? Perhaps, perhaps. I have been accused of not looking as young as I used to, after all. Later on in the day, I would receive a comment from someone who had not seen me in a while remarking upon my salt and pepper hair. Well, I will not deny that my years have crept up upon me. And I will in that acknowledgement look up to heaven and say a prayer and praise my God for all that He has granted me. This has been a good day. It has been a day that I have been reminded that even as I turn towards sunset there is a far country that calls my name.

Dear Vienna

James HoganLeave a comment

Hello friends!!  It’s been a bit too long since I’ve written a proper update…my apologies!  And I can’t even promise that this will be a decent one, seeing as it’s Tuesday morning and I’m sleepy(albeit in possession of peppermint mocha) and eventually need to get started catching up on work.  But…we shall see.  Anyways!  Main purpose of this post is to chronicle this past weekend’s epic adventures…in Colorado!  But even better than getting to visit and explore a new state was hanging out with Robbie!  I hadn’t seen him since his wedding(yay Natasha!) late last year.  And obviously, it being his wedding and all, we didn’t have a ton of time to hang out then either!  But this weekend was a wonderful time to actually be with Robbie and also do some pretty awesome things.  But right – I should stop rambling and actually describe the vacation a bit.  Flew out Saturday morning and landed in Denver…whereupon since I had a few hours to kill before Robbie arrived, I took the train into the city centre and…as one does, I found a sweet book store(Tattered Cover).  Because I was a bit exhausted(from long week previous and just waking up early to pack and go to airport…), I decided I needed a triple-shot of espresso…naturally.  Drank that and read some of my Wendell Berry book in the book store for an hour or so(speaking of, I really do need to eventually log the last four books I’ve read.  Next time).  Still had some time before Robbie was set to arrive so I walked around Denver a bit in the scorching heat(96 degrees seriously!?!).  Finally – he texted me that he had landed so I walked back to train station to meet him.  While waiting, watched a bit of the Russia/Croatia quarterfinal…which is where Robbie found me when he arrived!  We greeted each other quickly then decided we needed to find a proper place to watch the game(it had just gone into extra time!).  We found a pub nearby, got lunch and then watched the rest of the game(surrounded by many fans of Croatia, evidenced by the yelling!).  Croatia did end up victorious on penalties.  So the last four of the World Cup is France, Belgium, England & Croatia.  Europa invicta!  I’m very torn on who to root for…France for Julie’s sake or England for Robbie’s?  I really don’t know what I shall do if they meet in finals.  Of course with my luck…will probably end up being Belgium v Croatia.  Anyways right…watching the World Cup in pub with Robbie…doesn’t get much better than that!!  We reminisced about the last time we watched a World Cup game together…in a bar in Boston four years ago!!  Guess we shall have to make plans for 2022 as well then…to continue this glorious tradition.

So…this entry is already far too long and I’ve gotten barely a few hours into the trip!  I shall have to accelerate and compress.  Following the game, me and Robbie made our way to our hotel.  We checked in and set out bags down, then explored Denver a bit more!  Walked past the capitol building and some park…then discovered the true prize – a sweet used book store!  We perused the offerings there for a while, although I held strong and bought no books.  I do love used book stores though…just standing in the midst of the stacks…the possibilities are endless and hope is supreme, for one never knows what gem may be sitting on the shelves…

We did eventually tear ourselves away from the books and walked back, through a thunderstorm nonetheless!  Dinner was at a delicious ramen place and following…well, we were in a board game mood because Robbie had been talking about this fun game that everyone in his church had been addicted to this past year or so.  We looked up board game stores in Denver and made our way to the nearest one, thinking maybe we’d find this game at the store and he would buy it.  Well…this “board game store” actually ended up being a place where you play board games!  They had a whole wall full of games and then tables strewn throughout so you could play with your friends.  I…didn’t even know they had places like this.  Well, wonder of wonders, they actually had this epic strategy game Robbie had been talking about!  So instead of having to buy it, we were able to sit down and play it right there!  The game is called Scythe – and it’s basically a strategy game set in alt-history early 20th century Europe.  What does that even mean?  Well…you have farms and mines and workers…and you try and complete certain objectives…oh yeah and you also have mechs.  Glorious.  So I played as Russia and Robbie played as the Norse and even though I had no idea what I was doing, when we called the game half-way through(because it was almost midnight and really it was time to go!) I somehow won??  I still have no idea what I was doing…but playing with Robbie was super fun.  Epic strategy gaming – that’s how we holiday.

Got to the hotel super late…but next morning we couldn’t sleep too late as Sunday was our hiking day!!  And really I’m running out of time so I shan’t describe the whole day in detail(thank goodness right??), but we drove out west of Denver to…what I think was technically part of Rocky Mountain National Park – or near enough anyway.  We had been researching various trails and because we hadn’t exactly had an early start, wouldn’t have time for any of the really challenging ones.  But we hiked what is known as “Jim’s Creek Trail” and it was gorgeous.  Again…it’s hard to put to words how it felt to just be hiking through the woods and enjoying the beauty of a vigorous hike up hills and over streams and clambering up muddy slopes and through it all being surrounded by the wondrous beauty of God’s creation.  Pretty much the whole hike was next to the creek and so we were able to hear the water running and tumbling and singing throughout our walk…and eventually when we decided to eat our prosciutto and cheese sandwiches, we did so upon what I dubbed Picnic Rock, a massive rock that was just perfect for a mid-hike lunch.  And so eventually we turned around and hiked back the way we had come…and for some reason, probably due to the clean air and lovely walk, I was more energized than ever as we completed our hike.  As we made our way to the exit, Robbie and I had fun singing some of our favourite songs…think we were singing “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” when we broke from the trees at the end!  Oh how wonderful it is to have have a dear friend like Robbie.

And…really I must go now.  The rest of the trip shall have to go untold…but it involved much more fun adventures, including listening to fun dance music as we drove through the wonderfully mountainous terrain, me introducing Robbie to Torchy’s Tacos…and more walking around Denver and exploring…visiting another bookstore(in which I did succumb to temptation and buy a couple books!) and more of what I have really left out up til now –  the best part of this trip was obviously all the many conversations Robbie and I shared…talking about deep things, talking about our lives, talking about the state of the world(global socioeconomics, Canadian & American politics, etc, etc!), talking about the glories of God and what He has been doing in our lives…and then talking about what all guys end up talking about – girls obviously! – Natasha for him and then any “possibilities” for me…as we do eh?  So truly I am grateful for the glorious weekend that we shared.  It is obviously fun to explore a new city and it is of course beautiful to hike through gorgeous countryside and it is always good and proper to enjoy so much delicious food when you’re on holiday…but the truest and most treasured part of this trip was the many deep talks Robbie and myself had.  Even being able to end a night together reading a Psalm.  What is better than that?  Not much.  So if you’ve read all this(*applauds*), thank you, but most of all I hope you get a sense of my gratitude to my Father God for how He has blessed me so.  I am deeply loved.

Peace and love, forever and always.

Lord of the Sabbath

James HoganLeave a comment

One of my favorite passages recently…witness the grace and compassion and fierce anger of our Lord Jesus – marvel at His love and almighty power!

He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. He said to the main with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?”

But they kept silent. After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.” – Mark 3:1-5

Don’t have too many comments to add…just wanted to say how much I love reading about Jesus. I hope y’all feel the same!!

And now I guess I can write a few more words – chilling at Books and Beans(literally, instead of going from out in the cold to the warmth of this coffeeshop, I came from out of the heat to the coolness and shade here. Yay summer!!). I’m enjoying the remnants of my mocha(yeah, it’s definitely not hot anymore) and trying to persuaded myself to budge from my chair here. I shall soon enough, because it is a marvelously hot and sunny day outside and I need to soak it in. But for now, I want to finish writing this and then maybe write a couple letters while I have my lunch.

Anyways – I’ve had quite a busy week both at work and with people, so suppose I’ll share a few highlights! Working backwards…last night was most lovely and awesome – went over to Chris and Jo’s for a most fun evening involving delicious lasagna and salad and some yummy Tokaji as well! Besides just hanging out and eating and talking, we also watched “Princess Mononoke”, a delightful Miyazaki film. Oh gosh, how I’m going to miss these guys.

Thursday night – me and John and Rosemary went to cinema to see “Now You See Me”, a fun magic/heist/action movie. Morgan Freeman and Jesse Eisenberg and other fine actors made for a good movie, and of course being with cool people didn’t hurt. Wednesday night was bible study! Still studying Elisha, and as always, Dominic spoke with power and our prayer/chat time was oh so encouraging!!

Tuesday night! Hm, trying to remember what I did this night…did I just stay at home and have a quiet night? I think I must have, hah, seeing as I can’t recall what else I did. Monday night though, me and Mike and Chris and Phil went and saw “Pacific Rim”, which was ridiculous and gorgeous and crazy and really really fun. It was basically a movie about the end of the world and giant alien sea-monsters and mechs and really really amazing battles. Coolest scene – a mech riding a sea-alien into outer space and then pulling out a sword and slicing it in two. I think that sums up the movie. Anyway, we loved it. SO MUCH FUN.

And working backwards a bit more, while I don’t think I can do it justice at all(and this entry is already far too long), last weekend I was not here in Aberdeen, but with Joel and Graham, rafting the River Tay and enjoying the countryside in full summer bloom. We spent most of a day building our raft(felt a bit like Huck Finn!! Our raft – so much better) and then sailed a bit down the river…had a few adventures(like swamping our raft and almost losing all our stuff to the bottom of the river) and eventually we finally set up camp along the riverbank. Took us a few hours to properly set up and get the fire going. Finally, we were watching the sunset over the river and enjoying the first few bites of roast lamb…when we got an angry estate-keeper who kicked us off “his” land. Sad day! It was pretty late, but thankfully the cavalry(in the form of John, Duncan and Russell) arrived pretty much at the same time. After we delivered the sad news, we broke down camp and headed off to Graham’s house in their cars. Not quite the camping we had planned, but hey. An epic weekend was had.

Now, it’s really time to get going! Don’t know how much of my planned letters I’ll get written, but I’m really hungry for lunch. I’m in a soup mood – carrot and coriander today, methinks. Peace my friends!!

James HoganLeave a comment

I just had one of the most glorious camping weekends ever and now I am about to pass out from an overdose of sun and hiking and awesomeness and I desperately need a hot shower and a delicious dinner and a nap but I fear if I lie down I will not wake up until the morning and I still need to clean out my pack and so I suppose I will glory in some hot water and then put on a movie to keep me awake while I unpack and make dinner and oh I am so tired but it is the kind of tired where your bones are so stiff and your head is in a daze of weariness but it is all worth it and this is the worst run-on sentence of all time. I should probably not post this and reveal my exhaustion, but why not? Alex and Will and I gloried in the beauty of the LORD at Enchanted Rock and though we’re now back in Houston, those memories are with me still. Seeing the stars blaze bright against the black velvet of the night sky while lying atop the peak…well, I can’t describe it. Sorry, you’ll just have to experience it yourself! God is good, y’all!!