An Arkies Musings

An Arkie's Faith column from the February 27, 2019, issue of The Mena Star. The grey January day turned into a wet rainy day. Even though our condo was just a few hundred feet from the Pacific Ocean, the beach was barely visible. The rain came in waves, a blustery rain, driven by the wind. We were spending a long weekend at a family reunion in Long Beach, Washington. What would we do on such a stormy day? My brothers-in-law and I decided to visit the Lewis and Clark interpretive center at Cape Disappointment State Park a few miles south of Long Beach. The interpretive center features a series of mural-sized timeline panels that take visitors through the westward journey of the Lewis and Clark Expedition using sketches, paintings, photographs, and the words of the expedition members. As I was taking in the exhibits, I came across one mural panel that caught my attention. On Saturday, September 14, 1805, Sergeant Patrick Gass wrote in his journal: “none of the hunters kil...

An Arkie's Faith column from the February 20, 2019, issue of The Mena Star. By the time he met the English merchant Michael Locke, Juan was a was a well-traveled seaman, who had perfected his skill as a pilot in the Spanish navy. His early voyages were to China, the Philippines, and New Spain; modern-day Mexico. In 1592, Juan led an expedition north up the coast of North America. When Juan returned to New Spain, he claimed to have found a passageway from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic. The Viceroy of New Spain repeatedly promised Juan great rewards for his discovery, but he never received them. After two years, Juan traveled to Spain to make his case in person, but he was disappointed. He received no reward. It was during this time that Juan met English merchant Michael Locke. Juan told him the fantastic story of a marine passageway that connected the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Michael Locke convinced Juan to offer his services to Spain's archenemy, England. Juan...

I love history and learning.  Many things we learn about history are a bit uncertain, but it is always a little frustrating when you can't find out with any certainty the history of someone or something. The origin of St. Valentine and Valentine's Day is one of those topics. Who was Saint Valentine?  According to the website Catholic Online , The origin of St. Valentine, and how many St. Valentines there were, remains a mystery. One opinion is that he was a Roman martyred for refusing to give up his Christian faith. Other historians hold that St. Valentine was a temple priest jailed for defiance during the reign of Claudius. Whoever he was, Valentine really existed because archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. In 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom. It is unclear how the modern idea of celebrating Valentine's Day by giving gifts to your romantic partner s...

An Arkie's Faith column from the February 6, 2019, issue of The Mena Star. Sea lions completely covered the docks at the bayfront in Newport, Oregon. Many of the sea lions were trying to sleep while others were barking to show their dominance. Sea Lions can be loud and raucous, or adorably lazy. A small juvenile was swimming in the water near the docks. He kept trying to find a place to haul out of the water onto the docks, but every time larger males kept him from getting on the docks. He kept trying and trying to find a place to rest on the docks, only to be rebuffed at every turn.  Finally, he was able to haul himself up onto a cable attached between two floating docks. Once he was on the cable, he kept slowly and carefully inching his way onto the attached dock. After a while, he was able to get his front flippers onto the dock. By carefully maneuvering he was able to get most of his body onto a corner of the dock. As he was trying to get enough room to be able to lie ...