Kayak Camping: Whidbey West

2025 Feb 10

Last December I phoned a kayaking friend. Michael is very knowledgeable about camping equipment, and I was looking for some advice. This turned into a conversation that we should do a winter kayak camping trip.

His preference was to go to the Washington coast. It is rare, however, for ocean swells to be mild during the winter. It looked like there might be a calm window that would be perfect for both swells and weather, however, the situation changed so we went to a plan B.

Michael had never kayaked along the west side of Whidbey Island, so we planned a trip from Anacortes to Fort Casey. He invited a couple other guys, noting that anyone who would go camping in the winter is probably somebody you would like to spend the time with. This was during our recent cold snap, so it was not a surprise that in the end they declined.

So the two of us met for the ferry to Whidbey Island in the morning and drove straight on with no wait. The sun rose while we were on the ferry, painting the mountains in a lovely warm glow. The weather, however, remained very brisk.

Mountain view over Everett with a cloud layer between

Not an Ordinary Grampa

2025 Jan 29

Janae was very good at collecting the funny sayings of Camden and Elias when they were young. They were often quite funny and I have posted the best of them.

The new stories tapered off as they got older, but still happened occasionally. This one is regarding me.

Jan 25, 2025
Camden told about meeting her friend’s grandfather:
Camden: And he was an ordinary grampa.
Janae: What is an ordinary grandpa? Is Grampie ordinary?
Camden: No, Grampie is not! He is a thirty year old stuck in a sixty year old body with the knowledge of a one hundred year old.

Open this episode

Everybody Believes in the Supernatural

2023 Sep 7

Our universe happens to exist. Most people subscribe to the Big Bang's description of its cosmological origin. In this, our universe began in the finite past, bursting into existence from a single point and expanding out to size.

All things naturally physical (including energy and matter), all physical laws of our universe, all space and even time itself did not exist without this singularity. Absent this singular event, nature itself did not exist. Therefore, since the event was not of nature, it was by definition super-natural. In the Big Bang model, the origin of the universe was supernatural.

Others believe the universe had an infinite past, always existing with its characteristic features. This view would seem to make the issue of origin disappear, but it does not.

In our physical world, real infinities are never actual because they are unable to exist. There cannot be an infinite quantity of things because there are a finite number of particles available in the universe. There cannot be an infinite number of events because then there would never be an event to start the event sequence. Infinity is only a concept we play with in our minds because infinity itself is supernatural.

However, we exist. Since an infinite past in our natural world is impossible, an infinitely old universe would be supernatural.

Therefore, the existence of the universe through either the Big Bang or an infinite past is supernatural. Of these two ideas, most scientific lines of evidence point to the first, making it the preferred view. So then, because our universe exists, everyone believes in at least one great miracle.

Mechanistic Causes

Since everything that begins to exist has a cause, the next great question is what was the cause of the Big Bang? We already know it was not natural (of our universe); however, it might still be a mechanistic cause. A huge issue that this cause must also explain is why our universe is constructed with hyper precision to support life.

Quotes: Short and Interesting

The World God Made - 2025 February

God has chosen to create a world where both good and evil can flourish, rather than one where neither can exist. - Granville Sewell

Evolution of Cars

If you asked me, “Do you believe in evolution?” rather than an easily misunderstood yes or no answer I would reply “I believe in the evolution of life, and the evolution of automobiles, but I don’t believe either could have happened without intelligent design.” - Granville Sewell

Precondition for Science - 2024 November

Scientific investigation proceeds because scientists assume for the sake of their research that what they are studying is orderly and reflects some rational purpose. ... In other words, they treat them as if they were engineered, as if they were designed. ... This is the essence of much of scientific investigation today. We treat things as designed so we can understand them. And that's why Intelligent Design is ... a science starter. It's actually the precondition for being able to do science. - John West

(Quote context and citations are in the note links).

Why I am Still a Christian

2022 Sep 14

I was born into a Christian family. However, today my view on Christianity is not the same as it was when I was a child.

Often a person remains in the religious belief system they grew up in. If they do leave their belief system it may be for reasons that involve experience, rationales or evidence. I however am still a Christian, and it is because of evidence, reason and experience.