The Tables Turned {William Wordsworth}

Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;
Or surely you'll grow double:
Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
Why all this toil and trouble?

The sun above the mountain's head,
A freshening lustre mellow
Through all the long green fields has spread,
His first sweet evening yellow.

Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife:
Come, hear the woodland linnet,
How sweet his music! on my life,
There's more of wisdom in it.

And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
He, too, is no mean preacher:
Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher.

She has a world of ready wealth,
Our minds and hearts to bless—
Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
Truth breathed by cheerfulness.

One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.

Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:—
We murder to dissect.

Enough of Science and of Art;
Close up those barren leaves;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.

another spontaneous list of blessings:

fire. Nisqually glacial waters. black bear. Pyramid. Bethany. Katie. Paul Cassidy Eric. green. smooth stone. borrowing. locks and keys. open doors. balance. banjos. harmonicas. The Blues. pens that write well. travelling. Rangers. Strangers. wild strawberries. fawns in the front yard. porches. wicker. mascara. boxer shorts. welcoming arms. salmoning. dinner bells. being shown. showing. distance. chacos and socks. Steller's Jays. stamps. suspension bridges under the stars. sweet summer rain. soft summer air. Mark. 

God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise

I have been in Mt. Rainier National Park for just shy of two months. So much has happened that I can hardly put the whirlwind into words. I am living in a two bedroom cabin with Bethany and Katie who are also on the ministry team. We have opened our house to guests often, bought a tea kettle, and begun collecting our friend Eric's outdoors toys for safe keeping (slackline, crash pad, chalk bag, volleyball, etc.) Working in hospitality seems to be suiting me. It is a good mix of public relations, organization and computer skills, and service. The National Park Inn is a quaint hotel on the West side of the park that has a great porch view of the mountain when she decides to come out. I have been journaling nearly everyday to keep all the adventures straight and begun collecting descriptions of trail conditions, flora and fauna, and people. The people are the most fascinating. Our ministry efforts have been met with both gratitude and disdain. We have a well attended Bible study on Wednesdays and have been going through Mark's gospel. We host worship services at Ohanapecosh campground every Sunday. In my time here I have hiked most days, finished 3 books (Travels With Charley, The Explicit Gospel, and Hannah Coulter), and spent much time listening to the sounds of voices, the rush of the river, and the rain on tin roofs. In addition to working the front desk I have been trained in the dining room as a waitress and sometimes serve as porter, busser, and housekeeper. The experience is invaluable. I am grateful.

This is a pleasant way of life. Everyone should take a summer to wander through the woods and mountains if afforded the opportunity. I have become a collector of stories, this is my new occupation and hobby.

ACMNP 2013: Mount Rainier National Park

Spring semester has been a paper-packed launch into my 20s. It has been a time of growth, process, and deeply rooted joy. So, you'll forgive me, I hope, when I tell you I've been keeping a secret from you for months. I promise it was not in the least bit on purpose. 

In January I applied to A Christian Ministry in the National Parks to be a ministry team member this summer. Squinting at my laptop in the dim lighting of a Yellow Deli table, I pressed submit and prayed that God would open the doors I was meant to walk through this summer and slam the ones I wasn't. A month later I received a placement offer in Mount Rainier National Park. After a few days of prayer and calling my mom who asked me a lot of hard and good questions, I accepted the call to go. From May 10 to August 25 I will be living and working in Mount Rainier National Park as a hotel receptionist and volunteering with ACMNP on a team of 6 students from all across the USA. Needless to say, I am stoked.

I was hired as a front desk receptionist at The National Park Inn in Longmire for the summer and will be working for a private concessionaire. My team consists of 3 other ladies and 2 men. About 2 weeks ago, I attended a training session in Marietta, GA and got to meet some of the other summer volunteers. We practiced leading worship services and took in a lot of information very quickly. 

Allison and Noah during their 2010 ACMNP adventure.

I first heard about ACMNP the summer I was a counselor at Camp Donegal. As a young girl I accepted Jesus into my heart at Donegal and was poured into by loving and faithful counselors. Two of those people were Noah and Allison (who are now married!). Allison and I kept in touch during the rest of the year through letters and I can truly say she has been one of the most inspirational and formative people in my life. The summer I worked at Donegal, Allison and Noah were on an ACMNP team in Olympic National Park which is also located in Washington. Allison wrote me some camp mail on the leftover receipt paper from her register at the park gift shop. I was intrigued then and there. ACMNP remained in the back of my mind for nearly 4 years. 

When I applied I listed Olympic as my top choice, also including Acadia and Glacier Bay as two I would love to work at. Upon receiving the call I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't be at the beach, but I truly believe this is God's perfect plan for my life. When my parents were still married we lived in Lacey, WA and my dad worked at Ft. Lewis. On a clear day, you could see Mt. Rainier from our front porch. I have such fond memories of Washington as a small girl and I have always longed to return. What a beautiful testimony to God's faithfulness that I will be able to return. 

After my parents got divorced my mom, brother, and I took a train from Washington to Maryland, where my parents had grown up. I was only 6 years old, so I don't remember much about it except for what train cases we carried on, that my brother and I were seat-belted into our bunk bed at the top of a tiny sleeper car, and the cartoon artist woman who attempted to teach us how to draw. This summer I will be making the journey in reverse. Departing from DC, I will travel via Chicago and Seattle to Tacoma where a dear friend will pick me up and host me for a night before dropping me off at the park. The two routes I will be taking are the Capitol Limited which follows the historic B&O route, and the Empire Builder which goes through the Dakotas and Montana. 

Some of my goals for the summer include hiking to Camp Muir, keeping a journal and including watercolor paintings, learning my job really well, loving my team members and co-workers to the best of my ability and beyond that. I want to hike a lot, read a lot, and write in abundance. I think my team members are planning on attempting a summit hike which is super exciting, and I will be cheering them on.

Mount Rainier rises above the Seattle skyline at 14,410 ft. above sea level. It is the 17th tallest peak in the contiguous USA. It is categorized as a Decade Volcano because of its proximity to a large population. The last eruption occurred in the 1890s. The mountain is home to the largest glacier in the contiguous US, the Emmons Glacier. Probably the trail I am most excited about is also a short one, the Grove of the Patriarchs which is in an old growth forest. 

My prayer requests for the summer are that I would put the gospel of Jesus Christ above all else, that I would be protected as I travel and live in a wilderness environment, and that our team would be changed and grown in ways particular to the needs of our heart. 

Please write me letters this summer! I will reply :) My address is: 

Samantha Moreland

C/O National Park Inn

47009 Paradise Rd. E.

Ashford, WA 98304

And Yet the Books by Czeslaw Milosz

And yet the books will be there on the shelves, separate beings,
That appeared once, still wet
As shining chestnuts under a tree in autumn,
And, touched, coddled, began to live
In spite of fires on the horizon, castles blown up,
Tribes on the march, planets in motion.
“We are, ” they said, even as their pages
Were being torn out, or a buzzing flame
Licked away their letters. So much more durable
Than we are, whose frail warmth
Cools down with memory, disperses, perishes.
I imagine the earth when I am no more:
Nothing happens, no loss, it’s still a strange pageant,
Women’s dresses, dewy lilacs, a song in the valley.
Yet the books will be there on the shelves, well born,
Derived from people, but also from radiance, heights.

Every Thursday night a group of students (varying weekly) meets in apartment 13 to read poetry aloud together. The residents of 13 (Chris S, Joe, Chris D, and Joe) provide rice with soy sauce and an assortment of tea. It's ok to just sit and listen, but everyone is invited to read and browse the books. I brought Wordsworth, Garfunkel, Gibran, and Frost while there was also Wendell Berry, Tupac, etc. Lovely tradition if I do say so myself.

Internship

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