The Obligatory

Is there any better way to spend a Sunday?

Probably not. Except maybe if I'd remembered to bring my camera with me today. And of course I didn't remember it until I'd already driven the hour or so to Mt. Baldy Village. Damn. Could have taken some pretty nice pictures.

So without the visual aids, I'll make this quick. I did the Icehouse Canyon Trail again - still beautiful, still colorful, still lots of running water. It was a bit cooler than last time, though.

This time I hiked a few miles past where we stopped before, passing the mountainside source of the stream and climbing up to Icehouse Saddle. Another quick mile up the side of the mountain, and I'd checked off Timber Mountain on my Peaks List. Nine down, ninety-one to go.

9 miles round trip in three and a half-hours with 3404' of elevation gain, for those who are interested. I probably could have done it faster, were my fellow hikers not so talkative. But hey, hearing tales of up-close bighorn sheep sightings and cross-country moves are part of the hiking experience.

Still wish I hadn't forgot my camera, though.

I got back in time to catch a PBS documentary I'd Tivo'ed a few weeks ago. It was a part of a Bill Moyers series, and this particular episode was called "Is God Green?" I've never seen any Moyers docs before, but this one was interesting and very well produced.

It's about the beginning of a movement among evangelical Christians to embrace environmentalism. For a group that was politicized by the right wing in the early 80s and has traditionally has not been ... um ... very environmentally friendly, it is both refreshing and encouraging to see them start to hold a traditionally liberal value. It's even more incredible when they can completely justify it using Scripture.

The doc follows a few leaders of the new movement, but focuses mostly on a spokesperson for the nation's largest evangelical lobbyist group and an evangelical church in Idaho. Apparently, their actions are making some waves within the traditional political structure, as the groups have all been actively denounced by the Party Established.

I found it especially interesting when they were interviewing some of the younger members of the Idahoan church. The members recalled their pastor's first environmental sermon (which he'd been nervously preparing for quite some time), and feeling like the door had finally been flung open for them to do the volunteer work they'd been wanting to do.

On the one hand, I'm thrilled that evangelicals are realizing there's no contradiction between environmentalism and Christian values. On the other hand - you needed to wait until your preacher said it was OK before you did it?

But oh well, it's all good.

You can view the entire documentary on PBS's site, which is pretty awesome ... even if they won't let you use QuickTime.

I heard an amazing piece on NPR the other week about how the Christian Coalition has been embracing more traditionally liberal positions lately, like environmentalism and helping the poor. And as a result splinter groups are breaking off. They talked to one in Ohio who said they thought the group wasn't concentrating enough on their main issue - the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.

That's just great. "Screw the poor and the Earth...how can we keep them fairies from marryin's each others?"

-Hem

so you're the one who tivo'd it? i watched it about 2 weeks ago and thought it was pretty well done.

-rachel