while you be makin it rain, i be makin it snow

It's been a little while since I've written so lots to tell:
- I finished Greek last Friday. It felt good to be done and felt good not having stressed a lot over it all summer.
- Miriam's parents have been in town since last Friday which has been great. My parents came down for Saturday afternoon and Sunday which was also really good. The pics are from our hike on Monday. We hiked Bearfort Ridge in northern Jersey which I'd been to once before and has to be my favorite place in NJ. You can see the NYC skyline a few times during the hike (which none of the guidebooks mention which we think is a way to keep people from flocking to the trail like crazy). We also saw a black bear during the hike which is cool in a scary/exciting way especially since it was a cub and the mama bear was no where to be seen so we freaked a bit thinking we were in between the two (never a good idea). A little retreat down the trail and some noise making scared the bear off and we finished the rest of the hike with our nerves a little on edge. We also saw a 3 foot long snake, some salamanders, and crossed the NY/NJ border on the AT. Quite an interesting hike to see a bear and the NYC skyline, perfect example of the craziness of NJ.
- Had to run home yesterday for a meeting with my classis (the group that ordains me). They tested me on some things and I passed, one step closer to being ordained!
- While driving through Schenectady yesterday I saw someone with a bumper sticker that read "Say NO to FOIS GRAS: Ban force feeding." It also had a picture of a goose or duck being force feed. For some reason this bumper sticker really pissed me off, not about the force feeding of geese/ducks but about the fact that this was this particular person's "cause" of choice. I couldn't help but think, really, this is what you are angry and protesting about? Some delicacy that less than a tenth of a percent of the world's population could probably afford to eat, let alone have any interest in? What about something that affected a few more people, perhaps people going hungry right in Schenectady or the War in Iraq? But no, you chose to be pissed off about Fois Gras. I know I shouldn't judge lest I be judged but this really pissed me off for some reason.