Hike To The Secret Waterfall And The Not-So-Secret-Waterfall

 A few days ago I had the chance to go to the Columbia River Gorge again, this time with Courtney and her old friend Rebeca, and see some sites I'd never seen before. First was a hidden 80-foot waterfall that required scrambling up the the river to get to. Well worth it!

A view from the trail while it was still a trail

Getting ready to cross the river

A segment of the beautiful river

A little rest as they admire an albino moth

Intrepid explorers!

Another shot from the trail

We had all this to ourselves

Picnic by the falls. We stayed there for about an hour and no one disturbed our peace.

The lush environment of our hidden waterfall

Rebecca, Courtney, and I

This is probably my favorite shot of the day.

Strategizing on the way back

Accomplishment

Fording the river again

Mountain goats

Next was the famous Oneonta Falls, only accessible in the summer because the Oneonta Gorge is so narrow that you have to ford the river to get through and see the 100-foot waterfall. The water was still quite cold, though barely swimmable, and I managed to backstroke into the white of the falls and look up. It was terrifying, like the water was going to pound me to the rocks below until I drowned. I took some shots with Courtney's waterproof camera and bolted out of there.

Oneonta Falls

Looking up into the falls

Courtney is cold.

Courtney is still cold.

Approaching

Backstroking

A Few Photo Shoots

Recently I took a trip to the Portland International Rose Test Garden. Apparently because of Portland's unique and rainy climate, we can grow and breed all sorts of roses here - hence the city's nickname "the city of roses." Even though I am not usually a fan of macro (very close-up) photography and I don't have a macro lens, I think I got some decent shots of the flowers.

Then one day the neighbors set up a ramp for the kids to ride their bikes over, and I practiced some sports photography:

Car commercial

Now that's a score I like to see!

Also I took a trip to the Columbia River Gorge to revisit a couple of waterfalls I couldn't get enough of the first time: Bridal Veil Falls, Munra Falls, and Wahclella Falls. Wahclella is stunning. There are many waterfalls out there that are awesome because it's hard to believe that they're real, but with Wahclella Falls what makes it so amazing is how real it is. It doesn't have majesty or pomp. It's stark reality makes it unbelievably beautiful.

Wahclella Falls

Bridal Veil Falls

Bridal Veil Falls

Munra Falls in the distance

Multnomah Falls. I was noticing how different the textures of the falling water between the upper and lower sections of the falls.

Wahclella Falls reflecting on the water.

One Of Many Effects Of The Health Care Ruling

The above quote from Rand Paul has been circulating around the internet, and for good reason. That statement shows a laughable ignorance with regards to how the United States government works.

But that's not what stands out to me the most. That nifty graphic was posted on Facebook by an organization that had recently posted these two graphics:

Among others, these two graphics hint at questioning the legitimacy of the Supreme Court's rulings, in the first case by asserting that it has been "bought out" by the infamously rich Koch brothers, and in the second that the then-impending ruling on health care would be illegitimate should Clarence Thomas not recuse himself.

Yet those doubts are completely reversed in the Rand Paul graphic that not only asserts the legitimacy of the court's ruling but take it for granted. In fact, the hilarity of Paul's quote rests on the assumption on the part of the reader that the court's word is lawful and compelling.

However, if the health care ruling had gone the other way, I'm sure we would have seen more graphics like the second two crop up around the internet, and the court's legitimacy in the eyes of the left would shrink. The court's legitimacy is affirmed and reinforced because of the side on which the ruling fell in the eyes of the left.

And only the left, it appears. Some state governments, including Scott Walker's Wisconsin, have already announced that they will not implement the health care law, going against the decision supported by all three branches of the federal government. Since the Supreme Court has no power of enforcement, Wisconsin could get away with it if the federal level executive branch were uninterested or in agreement with Wisconsin. My guess is that there will be a conflict between state and national government if Walker sticks to his words. But the main point is this: the court's power to decide the constitutionality of laws isn't enough for Walker, and while the court is going to enjoy enhanced standing among the left (and center), it will suffer in the eyes of conservatives. Another example would be the bizarre explanations some on the right have been concocting for why Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal majority.

And so goes the turbulent life of the Supreme Court.

New Song: To Your Soul I

I know I just put out a new song a week ago, but here I am being prolific and releasing another. I'm very proud of these last two pieces, but this one, "To Your Soul I," is particularly involved. It has 24 instrument tracks including 10 vocalists, and somehow the entire piece ended up being 8 minutes long. I think the recording and singing are some of my best. Take a listen below and I hope you enjoy the swirling genres. Also you can follow this link to find the other music I've recorded as my one man band First Regrets. Afiyet olsun!

 To Your Soul I