Good evening, and thank you for joining us tonight. In a moment, we will go to our study. You will see that we will not have a bulletin, but we'll go directly to our teaching, and then we'll conclude the teaching with a few words of encouragement to you who are viewing our services online. Please take the opportunity of letting us know that you're watching, and if you desire to give an offering, you can do so online. If you're watching us via computer, click on the give button in the upper right corner of your screen. If you're watching on your mobile device or iPad, click give under the menu button. If this is your first time giving digitally, follow the instruction under four ways to give to process your gift. You can also mail your checks to 12205 North Pipeline Avenue, Chino, California, 91710. And remember, you can still come in and use the kiosks we have in the foyer that are set up to process gifts, or you can place your gift in an envelope and hand it to one of our receptionists in the foyer. Thank you. And with that, let's get into the teaching. This is Solomon, or Song of Songs. It's called by both names. And we're looking at chapter four. Song of Solomon, Song of Songs, chapter four. So let's begin reading together here in chapter four at verse one. I'll read verses one through seven, and we'll get into our study. Behold you are fair, my love. Behold you are fair. You have Dove's eyes behind your veil.  I'll let that set for a moment. Going down from Mount Gilead, your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep. And this guy knows how to talk, doesn't he? Which have come up from the washing, every one of which bears twins, and none is barren among them. Your lips are like a strand of scarlet.   Your neck is like the Tower of David built for an armory, none which hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. And your toothed breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, which feed among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh. And to the hill of frankincense, you are all fair, my love. And there is no spot in you. From chapter one here in Song of Solomon to chapter three, verse five. Solomon has been writing as one who has yet to be married. So we saw that as things that were pertaining to conditions prior to their marriage. But when we got into chapter three verses six through ten, we saw Solomon who was arriving to take his bride. And then in chapter three, verse 11, that specifically speaks concerning Solomon's wedding day. And so what we've seen up to chapter four has been preparations for and then the coming for and then the actual wedding of Solomon and this young woman who is simply referred to as the Shulamite. When we get to chapter four, chapter four actually contains things that relate to a married couple. The word spouse is used six times from chapter four, verse eight to chapter five, verse one. And so what we have is we have him as he was some things pertaining to things prior to marriage, the wedding. And now what we end up with is we're going to be looking at the honeymoon. And so this chapter deals with the honeymoon. As we begin, this portion of scripture actually speaks very openly about sexual intimacy. And some people obviously in our day in churches such as this have a real problem with that topic. They may even think it's inappropriate to address. But the question has to be asked, where do many people get their ideas concerning physical intimacy? Where do many people get their ideas concerning intimacy? And secondly, we can personalize that by asking, where did you get your ideas concerning physical intimacy? You see, in our society, most get messages on sex in casual ways. You might walk into a bathroom and see something written on the bathroom wall, or you're driving down the freeway and you see something advertised on a billboard. Kids will speak about sex amongst themselves, sometimes fantasizing, sometimes giving vent to weird thoughts about it. Some people were introduced to images of sex by pictures and magazines that they found, or magazines that they were introduced to. Others will read these novels, these paperbacks that are sexual in nature. They may read them secretly or may even share them with their friends. And there are others who are discovering things concerning sex by looking at pictures on the internet, or they see R rated movies, or they're watching a program on television. Most kids, when they have sex education, movies in school, most of the kids I knew when we had those movies simply while we simply laughed at them, because they were so corny. Sometimes parents will do their best to give an introduction to the topic, but they're embarrassed when they do so and they end up saying, well you need to just wait and talk to your mom later on if you'd like. One thing for sure, the messages that people get today are pretty much the same. The general message you get in our culture is sex is for recreation. There are no repercussions to it and there are never any penalties attached to casual sex. So just enjoy it because it's like a sport. During the time of the Apostle Paul, Paul had to write a letter to a church in Corinth, Greece, a church that was very well known for its immorality because there were sexual things that were occurring that had to be addressed. And Paul wrote a letter to them. It's found in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 13 where he says and actually is using a common saying of the day amongst the Corinthians where they would say food for the stomach and the stomach for food. So Paul actually has quoted something that was well known in their culture and that was this. If you have an appetite, quench it. If you're thirsty, you drink. If you're hungry, you eat. And so they use this term food for the stomach and the stomach for food. And so they would say with that as a biological drive, if you're thirsty, you drink. If you're hungry, you eat. If you have a desire for intimacy, just engage in it. Well, Paul had to deal with that because that was something that was even within the thoughts of the church. And that's why he said food for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. And he went on to clarify. He says the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. And so what you're saying is you may have a natural appetite, but there is a proper way to express the extinguishing of that appetite. There is a proper way to do that, in other words. And he's saying your body belongs to God.  We see it in our comedies. There was a show all of us are familiar with it was well known and it's now syndicated and so you can see reruns. And it was a show friends and it was one of those shows that promoted casual sex with the most effectiveness. Anybody who's ever watched this show knows the names of the characters. You have Joey and Monica, you have Chandler and Ross and you have Rachel and they were all one thing. They were all promiscuous, but they were likable. Who didn't like friends? But then again, who actually listened to the message and the message very often was in there was casual sex. So this message is everywhere, but the repercussions of sexual license is ignored. There are communities that have an 80% out of wedlock birth rate. That always increases poverty rates among children. Syphilis and gonorrhea genital herpes and various STDs are rampant today. And let's not forget that AIDS is a growing problem, but the message of abstinence is laughed at. And the question has to be why? Why wait? There are people who would say there's no reason to as I was sharing with you. We have it backwards in our society.   It's all backwards in the way that our society promotes that the message of sex. What we have here is an answer to that. What we have here in chapter four is a picture of a honeymoon and the joy of a honeymoon and what a honeymoon is supposed to be. And those of us who were married, we had our honeymoon experiences and the honeymoon is supposed to be an exhilarating time where a married couple enjoy one another and get to know one another in a very intimate way. It's supposed to be excitingly anticipated by the couple. It's supposed to be something that you look forward to. It's not just something that's routine. It's something that's new and fresh. It's something that's vital and that's what you see here in this chapter. When the couple is not engaged in premarital sex, it's something that the guy very often is real excited about. Our honeymoon. I have a friend of mine who's a pastor and his wife, I'm sorry, not his wife, his daughter. His daughter was getting married and she wanted daddy to just be part of the wedding and didn't want him to perform her wedding ceremony. So she asked if I would perform the ceremony so her dad could just be a guest at her wedding. And so I asked him, do you have any problem with that? And he was all in favor of it. And so they did all the premarital counseling and got the bride and groom to be prepared.  And I can still remember as I was standing with this young girl and she was virgin and he was virgin. They'd never been together in any way or if anybody else, it was a brand new experience for both of them. They're getting married and all. And as I was there on their wedding day, just before I performed the ceremony, I was in the back speaking to them.   And I looked at him and I said, you don't like that idea?  That guy, that guy wanted to get married in the worst way, but she's thinking, you know, what's another week? Men don't think that way, not at all. The honeymoon is something that's supposed to be exciting. It's anticipated. It's something that you really want to get involved in.  Now in Solomon's day, the marriage ceremony was held in the open before witnesses. And at the conclusion of the ceremony, the bride and the groom would go into a private room. And then when the marriage had been consummated, they would return to the wedding celebration. And so that was the normal way that it was done. So this chapter here is with Solomon and his bride finally getting together and enjoying one another in an intimate fashion. Solomon is now able to enjoy his bride. And I want you to see how he approaches her. He begins by speaking to her. This is their honeymoon. And he's speaking to her and he begins to speak what are called words of love. He says in verse one, behold, you are fair, my love, behold, you're fair. He begins to speak to her. Now Solomon knew something that is very important to be aware of. And that is for women, intimacy normally begins with words and not with physical pressure. Now for a man, the desire for sexual intimacy doesn't need words. Just sight. If he looks at her, he's ready. He doesn't even need to know anything about the woman. He doesn't even need to know her name. Just looking at her and he could be ready. But Solomon knew something. Solomon knew that love making begins with him letting her know how much he loves her. And that's what he's saying, behold, you are fair, my love, behold, he says, you are fair. That's not a line. They're married. Solomon isn't trying to seduce her.  Some women sometimes seem to need to be flattered. It gives them permission to give in. And Solomon didn't use these words to break down her resistance because these words were sincere. These words were real. Words well chosen and sincerely spoken are the voice of the heart. And these were the words from his heart. This is a man who loved this woman enough to wait for her. And now he's letting her know that she was worth waiting for. You are fair, my love. You are fair. Well, earlier in the book in chapter one, verse five, she spoke of herself and she said, I am dark. In verse six of chapter one, she said, do not look upon me because I'm dark because the sun has tanned me. Well, Solomon would differ with that. Solomon is saying, no, you are very, very beautiful to me. And he begins to describe her as he's speaking.  Dove's eyes. Dove's eyes. Once again, he's using these incredible images that no man would use today. I wouldn't say to Marie, you've got Dove's eyes. It just wouldn't go anywhere. But what is that really saying? When he says you have Dove's eyes, this is something that you can really gain from, especially we men, can gain from this. He's looking into her eyes as he's speaking. A lot of guys don't look into their wives' eyes. Some of you wives know exactly what I'm saying. We just don't.    Just look at her for a moment.  You ought to see the men swarm. It's true. Men aren't used to doing that. Are you kidding me? Hold and look at her. I'm not used to doing that. A lot of us are not. Come on, let's face it, we just don't do that. But that is one of the keys to a great relationship. It's an open relationship. He's able to hold her by the hands, look in her eyes and say, and as he's looking at her, say, I love you. That's something that men need to learn to do. And so that's how he's able to show her the depth of his concern for her and his love. He's looking right into her eyes and he's telling her openly how beautiful she is, how innocent she is. And this is a sincere form of intimacy, which actually is going to lead to physical intimacy. And he begins to comment on her beauty because her veil is now being removed. He had more than likely never seen her face completely uncovered. That's because a woman's beauty was reserved for her husband's eyes alone. So now he's beginning to see her and he's actually speaking what he's seen. And so he says, notice in verse one, your hair. So he spoke of her eyes, your hair is like a flock of goats going down from Mount Gilead.  She didn't like it. That's why I do it. She'll go, stop it. I did it in between services.  But that's terrible. I know that's why I do it.  But what is he saying? He's saying you have an innocent purity about you and your hair as her veil is removed cascades. And so it's kind of wild and kind of beautiful. You know, in early days, there was, when I was a young man, a long time ago, there was a woman that was named Farrah Fawcett and her hair was all wild. And all the guys liked that. And there were all these posters of Farrah Fawcett with her wild hair. And that's kind of what he's using as an image. He's saying, I love your hair. It has that wild and free look to it. And he's complimenting her as he's speaking. Now it's interesting how he goes on in verse two to say, your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep, which have come up from the washing. Every one of them bears twins and none is bearing among them. Now briefly, and then I'll develop this a little further, a woman would wear a veil until she was married. She removes it. Now her husband is seeing her beauty and he's saying, I am enchanted by your smile. You have a beautiful smile is what he's saying. Now when Marie and I met, the day that I met the girl who had become my wife, she was seated on a couch and I was there talking to her. And she was smiling at me.  She had beautiful teeth. And that's basically what he's saying. And what's an interesting kind of humorous thing as he's saying this, at least by our standards, when he says, everyone, everyone of which bears twins and none is bearing among them. He's simply saying, you have all your teeth. What a great surprise. She removes her veil and she got two teeth. I mean, oh my, my, my, my, my. No, but she's got them all. And he said, all right. And he loves her smile. And that smile that she has is captivated his heart. He sees her as a beautiful woman.  And that's why he says in verse three, your lips are like a strand of scarlet.   Why would you say that? Like you got apricot head. I mean, why are you saying that? A pomegranate is red in color. She's actually beginning to blush. She's actually when he's sharing with her and she's actually disrobing. And as this is happening and he's looking at her and he's complimenting her beauty, she's blushing at him and her blushing is causing him to even have a greater desire because of her purity. And as he's speaking to her and sharing these things, he's actually complimenting her because he wants to kiss her. There's something about her and she's beginning to blush with embarrassment. So he says in verse four, your neck is like the tower of David built for an armory on which hang a thousand bucklers. He's saying, you're open to me. You're not hiding. A tower is in the open. You're not hiding from me. You're not embarrassed by me, but you are obviously openly desirous of me. This is the proper time for them to be together. And she's not hesitating to be his, but he's not rushing forward. He's taking his time as he romances her and he continues. And he says in verse five, your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, which feed among the lilies. This is another way of saying you must work out. You've got a nice shape. She's youthful and she's beautiful, but he's not rushing into anything. You see, when he, when he uses a description of fawns or fawns are startled easily. So he's showing her consideration. He's aware of her limits and he's aware of her sensitivities. So as they're about to engage in intimacy, he's showing the utmost concern and not rushing brutishly into a relationship that's going to scar her and not going to be something that she finds pleasurable. You see, one of the things about intimacy is not just a man thing. It's not just all about the guy enjoying himself. It's actually created by God to be enjoyed by both husband and wife. You know, I come from a generation where people will say, well, you know, it's just the man, just the man. They're always after just one thing and this and that. And this generation, as I've seen this generation growing up, the younger women are beginning to think like men and acting like men and thinking that that's a good thing. It's not a good thing. But it's never been just about men. In the Bible, the Bible teaches that sexual intimacy is really about the couple. It's something that both enjoy, both male and female. It's not just a men who enjoy it. It's men and women. It was created by God for both's enjoyment. And Paul had to write about that in 1 Corinthians chapter seven, verses four and five. He said, the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. He went on to say, do not deprive one another except with the consent for a time that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer and come together again. So that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self control. He's saying that a married man and a married woman sees having just their own life. They now have one that is together. If the wife doesn't feel like being intimate or the husband doesn't feel like being intimate and yet one of the partners desires intimacy, then you satisfy their desire because that's the right thing to do, even if you don't feel like doing that. There are a lot of things that you do that you may not feel like doing, but it's the right thing to do at that moment. And so what happens is there is a time to deprive one another and that's the time when you're giving yourselves over to prayer and that's with consent, that's an agreement. But the fact is sometimes intimacy is experienced simply out of love for that person and not because of personal desire. Paul was saying, put the other person's needs before your own. And in this particular case, he's speaking concerning that. Now I want you to notice something in verse six where it says, until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense, until the day breaks and the shadows flee away. This isn't a one night stand. I'm going to stay with you not only through this time of intimacy, but when you wake up in the morning, I'll be with you then too. See, sometimes people get involved and it's kind of like this, come to my apartment and then I'll drive you home and then I've got other things to do. What Solomon is saying is simply this, this is something that's going to last. This is something that you'll wake up with and I'll be with you today and I'll be with you forever basically. We're going to have one another. I'm here forever with you, not just for a few minutes and I love you and I want to be with you. And so when he's speaking in that way until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, I will go to my way to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense. He's simply saying this is something that's going to last. I'm not going to leave you once we have had intimacy. I will remain with you. And in verse seven, you are all fair my love and there is no spot in you. She has disrobed and he's telling her, you are beautiful in every way. He's not criticizing her. He's not saying things about her body. He's simply saying there's nothing wrong with you at all. There's no negative comments about that. She's saying you're perfect for me and I want you to know that. Intimacy begins with words. It begins with sincerity, with no pressure. It continues on with an awareness of the other person's needs and the willingness and desire to meet those needs on both parts. And it continues on past that initial intimacy into a lifetime of relationship. Why wait? Because it's worth it. Why wait? Because you're building on the right foundation. Now in verse eight, the response, come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon, look from the top of Ammano, from the top of Sinir and Hermann, from the lion's dance, from the mountains of the leopards. From my sister, my spouse, you have ravished my heart with one look of your eyes, with one link of your necklace. How fair is your love, my sister, my spouse. How much better than wine is your love and the scent of your perfumes and all spices. Your lips, oh my spouse, drip as a honeycomb. Honey and milk are under your tongue and the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. He's saying I want to take you from the low all the way to the high and I want you to be with me. I want you to go to the mountain top with me and to share my passion that I have. When it says in verse nine, you have ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse. There's a passion involved here. He's passionately kissing her and her kisses intoxicate him and her perfumes are making his head spin. But I want to develop something with you. It's going to take a moment to do that.  That's an important thing and I sister my spouse. I got saved at the age of 20. About a month after getting saved, I went to San Luis Obispo with a friend of mine named Jim and Jim and I were there at a pier. That's right outside of the city limits and we were walking on the pier together just kind of just talking and all. There was one person on that pier that day. They were all way at the end of the pier and they were dropping some traps because that person was trapping some of the crab that was down there and he was going to take them and use them for food later on. They were going to eat the crab that he was catching. So we walked up Jim and I walked up and the guy looks up at us and he says, hey guys, how you doing? I looked back at this guy and he was around my age and I said, oh, we're doing good. I said, we're just here looking at the beauty of creation. Full creation God has produced for us.  I said, really? And we began to visit and he says, when did you get saved? And I said, in December on the 27th I said, I was at the Hollywood Palladium and an invitation was given and I gave my heart to Christ. He goes, the Hollywood Palladium on the 27th of December, I said, yes. He goes, I actually am a musician and I was playing at that concert. So the concert I was playing at, you got saved at. I said, how cool is that? And so we were visiting and now we're starting to get along real well and he says, look it, I'm going to be doing some music tonight at one of the churches here in the town.  I said, that'd be great. He said, I'm going to be doing his music and it's a small church, a small church group and as he's sharing his music I turned to his wife. His wife was sitting right next to me.  Then I said, oh, I'm sorry. I mean your husband and she said something to me that I have never forgotten. 41 years, I've never forgotten what she said. She said this, she said, no, you were right the first time. And he's my husband. He was my brother before we got married and he's been my brother since we got married. She says, the Lord has made us brother and sister as well as husband and wife. That spiritual aspect of relationship.  There's that attitude that you can have. I need you to do this. Would you do that without showing courtesy? I can be one who just, I need you to do that. I can speak that. I remember when we were fairly newly married Marie said or did something that I didn't like and it bothered me and I spoke sharply to her and when I spoke sharply to her the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart in a way that I've never forgotten and said, you be careful how you speak to her. That's my little girl. I've never forgotten that. That's my little girl and the Lord reminded me that Marie belonged to him long before she became my wife. She belongs to him. In your marriage. This is so practical that many people ignore what I'm saying. In your marriage.  I guarantee you. I guarantee you. You show him courtesies. You speak to him differently. You act differently towards him in some of the practical social ways. You just treat him in a different fashion. I've brought that into my marriage. Marie is my sister as well as my wife and so I want to treat her and give her some insight into a relationship you treat them with respect and love. That spouse is more than just a husband just a wife they're my family in Christ and when you treat them like that it deepens the relationship in ways that you can't imagine. Marie and I had been going for a few months going around and she had Bible questions and she would ask me she still to this day will ask me Bible questions and she asked me in heaven because she'd already asked me to marry her and I had said yes. She said in heaven are we going to be married and I laughed I started laughing I said no why why would we be married in heaven and I said in heaven we're like the angels there's no reproduction in heaven there's a set amount so we get into heaven and as I'm looking at her I'm kind of why would you ask them like that she starts to cry and I look at her and I go why are you crying I wanted to be married with you in heaven what I said the thought of that just blows my mind I said most people can't handle me for 45 minutes that's the length of a church service I said you want to you want me to be with you forever are you kidding me and she wasn't I had never experienced a love that would tolerate me more than a date let alone let alone having a desire for a lifetime into an eternity when you grab hold of that it changes you it changes the way you think it changes the way that you address one another it changes the way you treat one another it's a higher relationship than just looking at a person saying this is my wife this is my sister this is my spouse this is a relationship that God brought together we will be together for eternity married did no no we won't be married in heaven no we'll have a deep relationship though we'll hang around Maria now you'll see us hanging around I'm not going to let very many people hang around or more than I do I'll be with her and I look forward to that but Solomon is giving us some inside husbands and wives you're deeper than simply saying it's deeper than that this is my family this is everything we're together united in Christ now as he's sharing we see in verse 12 a garden enclosed is my sister my spouse a spring a fountain sealed your plants are an orchard of pomegranate with pleasant fruits fragrant henna with spikynard spikynard and saffron with all the chief spices a fountain of gardens a well of living waters and streams from Lebanon and then the Shulamai says awake oh north wind and come oh south blow upon my garden that its spices may flow out let my beloved come to his garden and eat its pleasant fruits when he says in verse 12 a garden encloses my sister my spouse and it speaks of her about being a garden enclosed or a spring that is shut up and the garden was enclosed the spring was shut up and the fountain was sealed he's speaking of her purity her purity had been safeguarded and her virtue captivated him we have young virgins today think oh I'm not sophisticated your purity is captivating to people they see it as a beautiful thing Solomon saw it that way but her purity had been safeguarded so it was her virtue that captivated him in verses 13 through 15 when he speaks of the plants she's speaking with Solomon the time together has been enjoyable and fulfilling to both of them before marriage she was close to sexual intimacy but now she is appropriately open to it and that's why in verse 16 we read the words awake oh north wind and come oh south she wants to be awakened completely to the joy of physical love with Solomon and she wants her husband to experience her fully she's not holding her love back from him completely and that's why she says let my beloved come to his garden and eat its pleasant fruits she's saying I'm holding nothing back from you and he is completely satisfied in her and how did this begin it began with words of love you are fair my love behold you are fair it began with love with words of love he didn't pressure her he didn't force her he didn't get her to do things he treated her as the precious precious gift that she is and she responded to that by saying she's here she says I'm here for you in every way that you want me because when you love somebody like that they're totally open to you like she is father we ask that we would learn what love making really is it really begins with words and sincerity it begins with love that's pure it doesn't begin with pressure it doesn't precede a marriage covenant intimacy is the reward of waiting and so I ask Lord that you would work within us and those who are single within this fellowship awaken a sense of the need for purity and need for intimacy and a need to be a brother and a sister in everything else treating each other with respect because even as Paul reminded us we treat the younger women as sisters with all purity we don't take advantage of our own sisters we treat them with purity because they are our sisters and so I'm asking Lord that we might get that message and live it and may our marriages those of us who are married may they be a constant honeymoon and another in every aspect that you've created us to enjoy we lift this to you now Lord and pray that you continue to move amongst us even as our eyes are closed our heads are bowed there may be some who right now need some prayer you need to get right with the Lord there are issues perhaps you're dealing with whatever the case you need some prayer and if you want prayer would you raise your hand and let me pray for you right now right where you're at just raise your hands so that I might see you Lord you see these hands and you know the reason they're being raised to you and I'm asking that as you reach down that you would meet these these hands as they're inhaled up meet these needs that are being represented by these hands Lord and you know the heart of these individuals and the greatest desires and their longings you know the regrets and pains that they carry you know the wounds that only you can heal so I'm asking that you would reach down right now and you would touch these lives and Father there have been errors and sin if there have been mistakes made poor judgments I'm praying that right now you would establish them once again on the rock of Jesus Christ and may they just come back to you Lord right now and be washed and be clean and from this day on may their lives be clean in you so may your spirit work and may you do your work and we receive from you and thank you bless you Lord you can put your hands down and Jesus would you keep moving in all of us now and work with us we pray in your name Amen Amen and I know that the study was encouraging and I want to thank you for your continued support and prayers and invite you to join us next Sunday night as we move into the next part of our study as I mentioned earlier if you would like to give your offering you can do so online if you're using a computer click on the give button in the upper right corner of your screen if you're watching on your mobile device or iPad click give under the menu button if this is your first time giving digitally follow the instruction there are ways to give to process your gift and finally you can either mail your checks to 12205 North Pipeline Avenue Chino, California 91710 or if you're able you can come to the sanctuary and use the kiosk we have in the foyer that are set up to process gifts you can also place your gift in an envelope handed to one of the receptionists in the foyer so thank you God be with you and we look forward to having you with us once again


Chapter 18 of Travels in Alaska. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Adam Marsatich, Alexandria, Virginia, 2010. Travels in Alaska by John Muir. Chapter 18. My Sled Trip on the Muir Glacier. I started off the morning of July 11 on my memorable sled trip to obtain general views of the main upper part of the Muir Glacier, and its seven principal tributaries, feeling sure that I would learn something, and at the same time get rid of a severe bronchial cough that followed an attack of the grip, and had troubled me for three months. I intended to camp on the glacier every night, and did so, and my throat grew better every day, until it was well, for no lowland microbe could stand such a trip. My sled was about three feet long, and made as light as possible.  Two Indians carried the baggage over the rocky moraine to the clear glacier at the side of one of the eastern Nunatak Islands. Mr. Loomis accompanied me to this first camp, and assisted in dragging the empty sled over the moraine. We arrived at the middle Nunatak Island about nine o'clock. Here I sent back my Indian carriers, and Mr. Loomis assisted me the first day in hauling the loaded sled to my second camp at the foot of Hemlock Mountain, returning the next morning, July 13. I skirted the mountain to eastward, a few miles, and was delighted to discover a group of trees, high up on its ragged rocky side, the first trees I had seen on the shores of Glacier Bay, or on those of any of its glaciers. I left my sled on the ice, and climbed the mountain to see what I might learn. I found that all the trees were mountain hemlock, suga mirtensiana, and were evidently the remnant of an old well-established forest, standing on the only ground that was stable, all the rest of the forest below it having been sloughed off with the soil from the disintegrating slate-bed rock. The lowest of the trees stood at an elevation of about 2,000 feet above the sea, the highest at about 3,000 feet, or a little higher. Nothing could be more striking than the contrast between the raw, crumbling deforested portions of the mountain looking like a quarry that was being worked, and the forested part with its rich, shaggy beds of Cassiope and bryanthus in full bloom, and its sumptuous cushions of flower-enameled mosses. These garden patches are full of gay colors of genshin, erageron, anemone, larchsper, and columbine, and are enlivened with happy birds and bees and marmots, climbing to an elevation of 2,500 feet, which is about 1,500 feet above the level of the glacier at this point. I saw and heard a few marmots, and three ptarmigans that were as tame as barnyard fowls. The sod is sloughing off on the edges, keeping it ragged. The trees are storm-bent from the southeast. A few are standing at an elevation of nearly 3,000 feet, at 2,500 feet, pyrola, veratrum, vaccinium, fine grasses, sedges, willows, mountain ash, buttercups, and acres of the most luxuriant Cassiope are in bloom. A lake encumbered with icebergs lies at the end of Divide Glacier, a spacious, level-floored valley beyond it, 8 or 10 miles long, with forested mountains on its west side, perhaps discharges to the southeastward into Lynn Canal. The divide of the glacier is about opposite the third of the eastern tributaries. Another burg dotted lake, into which the drainage of the braided glacier flows, lies a few miles to the westward, and is one-and-a-half miles long. Burg Lake is next the remarkable girdled glacier to the southeastward. When the ice period was in its prime, much of the Muir Glacier that now flows northward into Howling Valley, flowed southward into Glacier Bay as a tributary of the Muir. All the rock contours show this, and so do the medial moraines. Burg Lake is crowded with birds, because they have no outlet and melt slowly. I heard none discharged. I had a hard time crossing the Divide Glacier, on which I camped. Half a mile back from the lake, I gleaned a little fossil wood, and made a fire on Maureen Boulder's Forte. I slept fairly well on the sled. I heard the roar of four cascades, on a shaggy green mountain on the west side of Howling Valley, and saw three wild goats, 1500 feet up, in the steep grassy pastures. July 14. I rose at four o'clock this cloudy and dismal morning, and looked for my goats, but saw only one. I thought there must be wolves where there were goats, and in a few minutes heard their low, dismal, far-reaching howling. One of them sounded very near, and came nearer, until it seemed to be less than a quarter mile away, on the edge of the glacier. They had evidently seen me, and one or more had come down to observe me, but I was unable to catch sight of any of them. About half an hour later, while I was eating breakfast, they began howling again, so near I began to fear that they had a mind to attack me, and I made haste to the shelter of a big square boulder, where, though I had no gun, I might be able to defend myself from a front attack with my Alpenstock. After waiting half an hour or so to see what these wild dogs meant to do, I ventured to proceed on my journey, to the foot of Snow Dome, where I camped for the night. There are six tributaries on the northwest side of Divide Arm, counting to the Grey Glacier, next after Granite Canyon Glacier going northwest. Next is Dirt Glacier, which is dead. I saw burgs on the edge of the main glacier, a mile back from here, which seemed to have been left by the draining of a pool, in a sunken hollow. A circling rim of driftwood, back twenty rods on the glacier, marks the edge of the Lake Lit Shore, where the burgs lie scattered and stranded. It is now half past ten o'clock, and getting dusk as I sit by my little fossil wood fire, writing these notes. A strange bird is calling and complaining. A stream is rushing into a glacier well, on the edge of which I am camped, back a few yards from the base of the mountain for fear of falling stones. A few small ones are rattling down the steep slope. I must go to bed. July 15. I climb the dome to plan away, scan the glacier, and take bearings, etc., in case of storms. The main divide is about fifteen hundred feet. The second divide, about fifteen hundred also, is about one and a half mile southeastward. The flow of water on the glacier noticeably diminished last night, though there was no frost. It is now already increasing. Stones begin to roll into the crevasses, and into new positions, sliding against each other, half turning over or falling on moraine ridges. Mud pellets with small pebbles slip and roll slowly from ice hummocks again and again. So often, and by how many ways, our boulders finished and finally brought to anything like permanent form and place in beds for farms and fields, forests and gardens. Into crevasses and out again, into moraines, shifted and reinforced and reformed by avalanches, melting from pedestals, etc. Rain, frost, and dew help in the work. They are swept in rills, caught in ground in pothole mills. Moraines of washed pebbles, like those on glacier margins, are formed by snow avalanches deposited in crevasses, then weathered out and projected on the ice as shallow raised moraines. There is one such at this camp. A ptarmigan is on a rock, twenty yards distant, as if on show.  But the coverts, the same as the rest of the body. Only about three inches of the folded primaries show white. The breast seems to have golden iridescent colors, white under the wings. It allowed me to approach within twenty feet. It walked down a sixty degree slope of the rock, took flight with a few whirring wingbeats, then sailed with wings perfectly motionless, four hundred yards down a gentle grade, and vanished over the brow of a cliff. Ten days ago, Loomis told me that he found a nest with nine eggs. On the way down to my sled, I saw four more ptarmigans. They utter harsh notes when alarmed. Crack, chunk, crack, with the R rolled and prolonged. I also saw fresh and old goat tracks and some bones that suggest wolves. There is a pass through the mountains at the head of the third glacier. Fine mountains stand at the head on each side. The one on the northeast side is the higher and finer every way. It has three glaciers, tributary to the third. The third glacier has altogether ten tributaries, five on each side. The mountain on the left side of white glacier is about six thousand feet high. The moraines of girdled glacier seems scarce to run anywhere. Only a little material is carried to Berg Lake. Most of it seems to be at rest as a terminal on the main glacier field, which here has little motion. The curves of these last, as seen from this mountaintop, are very beautiful. It has been a glorious day, all pure sunshine. An hour or more before sunset, the distant mountains, a vast host, seemed more softly ethereal than ever. Pale blue, ineffably fine, all angles and harshness melted off in the soft evening light. Even the snow and the grinding, cascading glaciers became divinely tender and fine in this celestial, emmestine light. I got back to camp at 7.15, not tired. After my hard-tack supper, I could have climbed the mountain again and got back before sunrise, but dragging my sled tires me. I have been out on the glacier, examining a moraine-like mass about a third of a mile from camp. It is perhaps a mile long, a hundred yards wide, and is thickly strewn with wood. I think that it has been brought down the mountain by a heavy snow avalanche, loaded on the ice, then carried away from the shore in the direction of the flow of the glacier. This explains detached moraine masses. This one seems to have been derived from a big roomy circ, or amphitheater, on the northwest side of this snow-dome mountain. To shorten the return journey, I was tempted to glissade down what appeared to be a snow-filled ravine, which was very steep. All went well, until I rushed a bluish spot, which proved to be ice, on which I lost control of myself, and rolled into a gravel talus at the foot, without a scratch. Just as I got up, and was getting myself oriented, I heard a loud, fierce scream, uttered into an exulting, diabolical tone of voice which startled me, as if an enemy, having seen me fall, was glorying in my death. Then suddenly, two ravens came swooping from the sky, and alighted on the jag of a rock, within a few feet of me, evidently hoping that I had been maimed, and that they were going to have a feast. But as they stared at me, studying my condition, impatiently waiting for bone-picking time, I saw what they were up to, and shouted, not yet, not yet. July 16. At 7 a.m. I left camp to cross the main glacier. Six ravens came to the camp as soon as I left. What wonderful eyes they must have! Nothing that moves in all this icy wilderness escapes the eyes of these brave birds. This is one of the loveliest mornings I ever saw in Alaska, not a cloud or faintest hint of one, in all the wide sky. There is a yellowish haze in the east, white in the west, mild and mellow as a Wisconsin Indian summer, but finer, more ethereal, God's holy light making all divine. In an hour or so, I came to the confluence of the first of the seven Grand Tributaries of the main Muir Glacier, and had a glorious view of it as it comes sweeping down, in wild cascades, from its magnificent, pure white, mountain-girt basin, to join the main crystal sea. Its main fountain peaks, clustered and crowded, all pouring forth their tribute to swell its grand current, I crossed its front a little below its confluence, where its shattered current, about two or three miles wide, is reunited, and many rills and good-sized brooks glide gurgling and ringing in pure blue channels, giving delightful animation to the icy solitude. Most of the ice surface crossed today has been very uneven, and hauling the sled and finding a way over humocks has been fatiguing. At times I had to lift the sled bodily, and to cross many narrow, nerve-trying, ice-silver bridges, balancing a stride of them, and cautiously shoving the sled ahead of me with tremendous chasms on either side. I had made, perhaps, not more than six or eight miles in a straight line, by six o'clock this evening. When I reached ice-soe-hummacky, and tedious, I concluded to camp, and not to try to take the sled any farther. I intend to leave it here in the middle of the basin, and carry my sleeping bag and provisions, the rest of the way across to the west side. I am cozy and comfortable here, in resting in the midst of glorious icy scenery, though very tired. I made out to get a cup of tea, by means of a few shavings and splintered, whittled from the bottom board of my sled, and made a fire in a little can, a small campfire, the smallest I ever made or saw, yet it answered well enough as far as tea was concerned. I crept into my sack before eight o'clock, as the wind was cold and my feet wet. One of my shoes is about worn out. I may have to put on a wooden sole. This day has been cloudless throughout, with lovely sunshine, a purple evening and morning. The circumference of mountains, beheld from the midst of this world of ice, is marvelous, the vast plain reposing in such soft, tender light. The fountain mountains so clearly cut, holding themselves aloft, with their loads of ice in supreme strength and beauty of architecture. I found a skull and most of the other bones of a goat, on the glacier, about two miles from the nearest land. It had probably been chased out of its mountain home by wolves, and devoured here. I carried its horns with me. I saw many considerable depressions in the glacial surface, also a pit-like hole, irregular, not like the ordinary wells across the slope of the many small dirt-clad hillocks faced to the south. Now the sun is down, and the sky is saffron-yellow, blending and fading into purple around the south and north. It is a curious experience to be lying in bed, writing these notes, hammock waves rising in every direction, their edges marking a multitude of crevasses and pits, while, all around the horizon, rise peaks innumerable of most intricate style of architecture, solemnly growling and grinding molens, contrast with the sweet, low-voiced whispering and warbling of a network of rills, singing like water-osals, glinting, gliding with indescribable softness and sweetness of voice, they are all around, one within a few feet of my hard-sled bed. July 17, another glorious, cloudless day, is dawning in yellow and purple, and soon the sun, over the eastern peak, will blot out the blue-peak shadows, and make all the vast white ice prairie sparkle. I slept well last night in the middle of the icy sea. The wind was cold, but my sleeping bag enabled me to lie neither warm nor intolerably cold. My three months cough is gone. Strange that, with such work and exposure, one should know nothing of sore throats and of what are called colds. My heavy, thick-soled shoes, resold just before starting on the trip six days ago, are about worn out, and my feet have been wet every night. But no harm comes of it. Nothing but good. I succeeded in getting a warm breakfast in bed. I reached over the edge of my sled, got a hold of a small cedar stick that I had been carrying, whittled a lot of thin shavings from it, stored them on my breast, then set fire to a piece of paper in a shallow tin can, added a pinch of shavings, held the cup of water that always stood at my bedside, over the tiny blaze of the sun. Then I sat down with one hand, and fed the fire by adding little pinches of shavings until the water boiled. Then, pulling my bread sack within reach, made a good warm breakfast, cooked and eaten in bed. Thus refreshed, I surveyed the wilderness of crevast, homucky ice, and concluded to try to drag my little sled a mile or two farther. Then, finding encouragement, persevered, getting it across innumerable crevasses and streams, and around several lakes and over and through the midst of Humox, and at length reached the western shore, between five and six o'clock this evening, extremely fatigued. Thus I consider a hard job well done, crossing so wildly broke in a glacier, fifteen miles of it from Snowdome Mountain, in two days with a sled, weighing altogether not less than a hundred pounds. I found innumerable crevasses, some of them brimful of water. Just in most places, just where the ice was close pressed and welded, after descending cascades, and was being shoved over an upward slope, thus closing the crevasses at the bottom, leaving only the upper sun-melted beveled portion open for water to collect in. Vast must be the drainage from this great basin. The waste in sunshine must be enormous, while in dark weather, rains and winds also melt the ice, and add to the volume produced by the rain itself. The winds also, though in temperature they may be only a degree or two above freezing point, dissolve the ice as fast, or perhaps faster than clear sunshine. Much of the water caught in tight crevasses, doubtless freezes during the winter, and gives rise to many of the irregular veins seen in the structure of the glacier. Saturated snow also freezes at times and is incorporated with the ice, as only from the lower point of the glacier is the snow melted during the summer. I have noticed many traces of this action. One of the most beautiful things to be seen on the glacier is the myriads of minute and intensely brilliant radiant lights, burning in rows on the banks of streams and pools, and lakelets from the tips of crystals melting in the sun, making them look as if bordered with diamonds. These gems are red like stars and twinkle, no diamond radiates keener or more brilliant light. It was perfectly glorious to think of this divine light burning over all this vast crystal sea, in such ineffably fine effulgence, and over how many other of icy Alaska's glaciers where nobody sees it. To produce these effects, I fancy the ice must be melting rapidly, as it was being melted today. The ice in these pools does not melt with anything like an even surface, but in long branches and leaves, making fairy forests of points, while minute bubbles of air are constantly being set free. I am camped tonight on what I call Quarry Mountain from its raw, loose, plantless condition, seven or eight miles above the front of the glacier. I found enough fossil wood for tea. Glorious is the view to the eastward from this camp. The sun has set, a few clouds appear, and a torrent rushing down a gully, and under the edge of the glacier, is making a solemn roaring. No tinkling, whistling rills this night, ever and anon, I hear a falling boulder. I have had a glorious and instructive day, but am excessively weary, and to bed I go. July 18. I felt tired this morning and meant to rest today, but after breakfast at 8am, I felt I must be up and doing, climbing, sketching near views of the great tributaries from the top of Quarry Mountain. Weariness vanished, and I could have climbed, I think, 5,000 feet. Anything seems easy after sled dragging over hummocks and crevasses, and the constant nerve strain in jumping crevasses, so as not to slip in making the spring. Quarry Mountain is the barest I have seen, a raw quarry with infinite abundance of loose decaying granite all on the go. Its slopes are excessively steep. A few patches of epilobium make gay purple spots of color. Its seeds fly everywhere seeking homes. Quarry Mountain is cut across into a series of parallel ridges by oversweeping ice. It is still overswept in three places by glacial flows, a half to three-quarters of a mile wide, finely arched at the top of the divides. I have been sketching, though my eyes are much inflamed, and I can scarcely see. All the lines I make appear double. I fear I shall now be able to make the few more sketches I want tomorrow, but must try. I fear I shall not be able to make the few more sketches I want tomorrow, but must try. The day has been gloriously sunful. The glacier pale yellow toward five o'clock. The hazy air, white with a yellow tinge, gives an Indian summerish effect. Now the blue evening shadows are creeping out over the icy plain, some ten miles long, with sunny yellow belts between them. Folders fall now and again, with dull blunt booming, and the gravel pebbles rattle. July 19, nearly blind. The light is intolerable, and I fear I may be long unfitted for work.  Every object I try to look at seems double. Even the distant mountain ranges are doubled. The upper and exact copy of the lower, though somewhat faint. This is the first time in Alaska that I have had too much sunshine. About four o'clock this afternoon, when I was waiting for the evening shadows to enable me to get nearer to the main camp, where I could be more easily found, in case my eyes should become still more inflamed, and I should be unable to travel. Thin clouds cast a grateful shade over all the glowing landscape. I gladly took advantage of these kindly clouds to make an effort to cross the few miles of the glacier that lay between me and the shore of the inlet. I made a pair of goggles, but am afraid to wear them. Fortunately, the ice here is but little broken. Therefore, I pulled my cap well down, and set off about five o'clock. I got on pretty well, and camped on the glacier in sight of the main camp, which, from here, in a straight line, is only five or six miles away. I went on shore on Granite Island, and gleaned a little fossil wood, with which I made tea on the ice. July 20. I kept wet bandages on my eyes, last night as long as I could, and feel better this morning, but all the mountains still seemed to have double summits, giving a curiously unreal aspect to the landscape. I packed everything on the sled, and moved three miles farther down the glacier, where I want to make measurements. Twice today, I was visited on the ice by a hummingbird, attracted by the red lining of the bear skin sleeping bag. I have gained some light on the formation of gravel beds along the inlet. The material is mostly sifted and sorted by successive railings and washings along the margins of the glacier tributaries, where the supply is abundant beyond anything I ever saw elsewhere. The lowering of the surface of a glacier, when its walls are not too steep, leaves a part of the margin dead and buried, and protected from the wasting sunshine beneath the lateral moraines. Thus, a marginal valley is formed, clear ice on one side, or, nearly so, buried ice on the other. As melting goes on, the marginal trough, or valley, grows deeper and wider, since both sides are being melted, the land side slower. The dead, protected ice, in melting first sheds off the large boulders, as they are not able to lie on slopes, where smaller ones can. Then the next larger ones are rolled off, and pebbles and sand in succession. Meanwhile, this material is subjected to torrent action, as if it were cast into a trough. When floods come, it is carried forward and stratified, according to the force of the current, sand, mud, or larger material. This exposes fresh surfaces of ice, and melting goes on again, until enough material has been undermined to form a veil in front. Then follows another washing and carrying away, and depositing, where the current is allowed to spread. In melting, protected margin terraces are oftentimes formed. Perhaps these terraces mark successive heights on the glacial surface. From terrace to terrace, the grist of stone is rolled and sifted. Some, meeting only feeble streams, have only the fine particles carried away, and deposited in smooth beds. Others, coarser, from swifter streams, overspread the fine beds, while many of the large boulders, no doubt, roll back upon the glacier to go on their travels again. It has been cloudy mostly today, though sunny in the afternoon, and my eyes are getting better. The steamer queen is expected in a day or two, so I must try to get down to the inlet tomorrow, and make signal to have some of the reed party ferry me over. I must hear from home, write letters, get rest, and more to eat. Near the front of the glacier, the ice was perfectly free, apparently of anything like a crevasse, and in walking almost carelessly down it, I stopped opposite the large granite Nunatuck Island, thinking that I would there be partly sheltered from the wind. I had not gone a dozen steps toward the island, when I suddenly dropped into a concealed water-filled crevasse, which on the surface showed not the slightest sign of its existence. This crevasse, like many others, was being used as a channel of a stream, and at some narrow point, the small cubical masses of ice into which the glacier surface disintegrates were jammed and extended, back farther and farther, till they completely covered and concealed the water. Into this I suddenly plunged, and after crossing thousands of really dangerous crevasse, but never before had I encountered a danger so completely concealed. Down I plunged over head and ears, but of course bobbed up again, and after a hard struggle, succeeded in dragging myself out over the farther side. Then I pulled my sled over, to close to Nunatuck Cliff, made haste to strip off my clothing, threw it in a sloppy heap, and crept into my sleeping bag to shiver away the night as best I could. July 21. Dressing this rainy morning was a miserable job, but might have been worse. After ringing my sloppy underclothing, getting it on was far from pleasant. My eyes are better, and I feel no bad effect from my icy bath. The last trace of my three-months cough is gone. No lowland-grip microbe could survive such experiences. I have had a fine-telling day examining the ruins of the old forest of Sitka Spruce that, no great time ago, grew in a shallow mud-filled basin near the southwest corner of the glacier. The trees were protected by a spur of the mountain that puts out here, and when the glacier advanced, they were simply flooded with fine sand and overborn. Stumps by the hundred, three to fifteen feet high, rooted in a stream of fine blue mud on cobbles, still have their bark on. A stratum of decomposed bark, leaves, cones, and old trunks is still in place. Some of the stumps are on rocky ridges of gravelly soil, about 125 feet above the sea. The valley has been washed out by the stream, now occupying it, one of the glacier's draining streams, a mile long or more, and an eighth of a mile wide. I got supper early, and was just going to bed, when I was startled by seeing a man coming across the moraine, Professor Reed, who had seen me from the main camp, and who came with Mr. Loomis, and the cook in their boat, to ferry me over. I had not intended making signals for them until tomorrow, but was glad to go. I had been seen also by Mr. Case, and one of his companions, who were on the western mountainside above the fossil forest, shooting ptermigans. I had a good rest and sleep, and leisure to find out how rich I was in new facts and pictures, and how tired and hungry I was. End of Chapter 18 Chapter 19 of Travels in Alaska. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Adam Marsatich, Alexandria, Virginia, 2010. Travels in Alaska by John Muir. Chapter 19 Aurora's A few days later, I set out with Professor Reed's party to visit some of the other large glaciers that flow into the bay, to observe what changes have taken place in them since October 1879, when I first visited and sketched them. We found the upper half of the bay, closely choked with birds, through which it was exceedingly difficult to force away. After slowly struggling a few miles up the east side, we dragged the whaleboat and canoe over rough rocks into a fine garden and comfortably camped for the night. The next day was spent in cautiously picking away across to the west side of the bay. And as the strangely scanty stock of provisions was already about done, and the ice jam to the northward seemed impenetrable, the party decided to return to the main camp by a comparatively open, roundabout way to the southward. While with the canoe and a handful of food scraps, I pushed on northward. After a hard, anxious struggle, I reached the mouth of the Hugh Miller Fjord, about sundown, and tried to find a camp spot on its steep, boulder-bound shore. But no landing place where it seemed possible to drag the canoe above the high tide mark was discovered after examining a mile or more of this dreary, forbidding barrier. And as night was closing down, I decided to try to grope my way across the mouth of the Fjord in the starlight to an open sandy spot, on which I had camped in October, 1879, a distance of about three or four miles. With the utmost caution, I picked my way through the sparkling bergs, and after an hour or two of this nerve-trying work, when I was perhaps less than halfway across and dreading the loss of the frail canoe, which would include the loss of myself, I came to a pack of very large bergs, which loomed threateningly, offering no visible thoroughfare, paddling and pushing to right and left. I at last discovered a sheer walled opening, about four feet wide and perhaps two hundred feet long, formed apparently by the splitting of a huge iceberg. I hesitated to enter this passage, fearing that the slightest change in the tide current might close it, but ventured nevertheless, judging that the dangers ahead might not be greater than those I had already passed. When I had got about a third of the way in, I suddenly discovered that the smooth walled ice lane was growing narrower, and with desperate haste backed out. Just as the bow of the canoe cleared the sheer walls, they came together with a growling crunch. Terror stricken, I turned back, and in an anxious hour or two, gladly reached the rock-bound shore that had at first repelled me, determined to stay on guard, all night in the canoe, or find some place where with the strength that comes in a fight for life, I could drag it up the boulder wall, beyond ice danger. This at last was happily done, about midnight, and with no thought of sleep, I went to bed rejoicing. My bed was two boulders, and as I lay wedged and bent on their up-bouldering sides, beguiling the hard, cold time, engaging into the starry sky and across the sparkling bay. Magnificent upright bars of light, in bright, prismatic colors, suddenly appeared, marching swiftly, in close succession, along the northern horizon, from west to east, as if in diligent haste, an auroral display very different from any I had ever before beheld. Once long ago in Wisconsin, I saw the heavens draped in rich purple auroral clouds, fringed and folded, in most magnificent forms, but in this glory of light so pure, so bright, so enthusiastic in motion, there was nothing in the least cloud-like. The short-color bars, apparently about two degrees in height, though blending, seemed to be as well-defined as those of the solar spectrum. How long these glad, eager soldiers of light held on their way, I cannot tell, for sense of time was charmed out of mind, and the blessed nights circled away in measureless, rejoicing enthusiasm. In the early morning, after so inspiring a night, I launched my canoe, feeling able for anything, crossed the mouth of the Hugh Miller Fjord, and forced away three or four miles along the shore of the bay, hoping to reach the Grand Pacific Glacier, in front of Mount Fairweather. But the farther I went, the ice pack, instead of showing inviting little open streaks here and there, became so much harder jam, that on some parts of the shore, the bergs, drifting south with the tide, were shoving one another out of the water beyond high tide line. Farther progress to northward was thus rigidly stopped, and now I had to fight for a way back to my cabin, hoping that by good tide luck I might reach it before dark. But at sundown, I was less than half way home, and, though very hungry, was glad to land on a little rock island, with a smooth beach for the canoe, and a thicket of elder bushes for fire in bed, and a little sleep. But shortly after sundown, while these arrangements were being made, lo and behold another aurora enriching the heavens, and, though it proved to be one of the ordinary, almost colorless kind, thrusting long, quivering lances toward the zenith from a dark cloud-like base, after a night's wonderful display, one's expectations might well be extravagant, and I lay wide awake watching. On the third night, I reached my cabin and food. Professor Reed and his party came in to talk over the results of our excursions, and, just as the last one of the visitors opened the door after bidding good night, he shouted, Sure, come look here, here's something fine. I ran out in auroral excitement, and sure enough, here was another aurora, as novel and wonderful as the marching rainbow-colored columns, a glowing silver bow spanning the mure inlet in a magnificent arch right under the zenith, or a little to the south of it, the ends resting on the top of the mountain walls. And, though colorless and steadfast, its intense, solid white splendor, noble proportions, and fineness of finish excited boundless admiration, in form and proportion, it was like a rainbow, a bridge of one span five miles wide, and so brilliant, so fine and solid and homogenous in every part. I fancy that, if all the stars were raked together into one window, fused and welded and run through some celestial rolling-mill, all would be required to make this one glowing white colossal bridge. After my last visitor went to bed, I lay down on the moraine, in front of the cabin, and gazed and watched. Hour after hour, the wonderful arch stood perfectly motionless, sharply defined and substantial-looking, as if it were a permanent addition to the furniture of the sky. At length, while it yet spanned the inlet in serene, unchanging splendor, a band of fluffy, pale gray, quivering ringlets came suddenly, all in a row, over the eastern mountain top, glided in nervous haste, up and down the underside of the bow, and over the western mountain wall. They were about one-and-a-half times the apparent diameter of the bow in length, maintained vertical posture all the way across, and slipped swiftly along, as if they were suspended like a curtain on rings. Had these lively auroral fairies marched across the fjord on the top of the bow, instead of shuffling along underside of it, one might have fancied they were a happy band of spirit people, on a journey making use of the splendid bow for a bridge. There must have been hundreds of miles of them, for the time required for each to cross from one end of the bridge to the other seemed only a minute or less, while nearly an hour elapsed from their first appearance until the last of the rushing throng vanished behind the western mountain, leaving the bridge as bright and solid, and steadfast as before they arrived. But later, half an hour or so, it began to fade. Fishers, or cracks, crossed it diagonally, through which a few stars were seen, and gradually it became thin and nebulous, until it looked like the Milky Way, and at last vanished, leaving no visible monument of any sort to mark its place. I now returned to my cabin, replenished the fire, warmed myself, and prepared to go to bed, though too aurorally rich and happy to go to sleep. But just as I was about to retire, I thought I had better take another look at the sky to make sure that the glorious show was over, and, contrary to all reasonable expectations, I found that the pale foundation for another bow was being laid right overhead like the first. Then, losing all thought of sleep, I ran back to my cabin, carried out blankets, and lay down on the moraine to keep watch until daybreak, that none of the sky wonders of the glorious night within reach of my eyes might be lost. I had seen the first bow, when it stood complete in full splendor, and its gradual fading decay. Now I was to see the building of a new one from the beginning. Perhaps in less than half an hour the silvery material was gathered, condensed, and welded into a glowing, evenly proportioned arc like the first, and in the same part of the sky. Then in due time, over the eastern mountain wall came another throng of restless electric auroral fairies, the infinitely fine pale grey garments of each lightly touching those of their neighbors, as they swept swiftly along the underside of the bridge, and down over the western mountain, like the merry band that had gone the same way before them, all keeping quivery step and time to music too fine for mortal ears. While the gay throng was gliding swiftly along, I watched the bridge for any change they might make upon it, but not the slightest could I detect. They left no visible track, and after all had passed, the glowing arc stood firm and apparently immutable, but at last faded slowly away like its glorious predecessor, excepting only the vast purple aurora mentioned above, said to have been visible over nearly all the continent, these two silver bows in supreme, serene, supernatural beauty surpassed everything auroral I ever beheld. This is a Libervox recording. All Libervox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libervox.org. Today, shoreward, hayu, a great quantity of, plenty of, huchanu, a native liquor, see page 202. Yes, big, very, clutch, good. Comptox, no, understand. Mika, you, your, singular. Maka, mak, food. Puh, shoot, shooting. Saka, aya, how do you do? Skukum, strong. Skukum, house, jail. Tilikum, friend. Tola, lead, verb. Takte, seward. Tum, tum, mind, heart. Wah-wah, talk, noun or verb. End of Chapter 20. End of Travels in Alaska by John Muir.


We were talking about this in the video before this. I was telling you all that the successful television show goes from that first initial episode to the second one, if they can pull it off, is an expansion of the world in that second episode, a new character to be introduced and further deep diving into what was established in episode one. I'm kind of surprised and happily surprised, a little shocked that episode two, One Wrong Call, is so well done because it does that and more. So I'm going to break down what I see that this episode two called One Wrong Call. Why makes it really, really excellent compared to the first one, right? You're still in that Michael Bay world. But here's the big surprise for me. There is absolutely no action in this film. Sure, there was shakedowns and some kind of like, you know, funny, you know, characters that the cops are running into to shake people down and then made some arrests, but there was no explosions.  It was like detective police work happening right before us, hunting down clues, making arrests and, you know, doing a little kind of, you know, shakedown as far as the questioning in their safe houses. So that really, I was really impressed with that. It showed me why this Rahi is pretty talented, the creator and the director. One Wrong Call refers to the young Muslim member of the terrorist group, the villains, that makes a call to his parents. And this is right at the end of episode two, but he's established throughout as the youngest member of this group that pulled off all the bombings in episode one and how he just misses his family. And he's very vulnerable.  What was his name? I believe is Kabir. Let me get his name for you guys. Yeah. No, no, excuse me, Zahraar, Zahraar who's the head baddie.  So he's saying that to this young man and, you know, he thinks he's, he's got him, he's got him a squared, squared away, but he even tells his troops, his people, it's like keeping an eye on him. He's going to make a mistake. And sure enough, right at the end of this episode, he makes that mistake. But by then the cops had already tracked down his family and they pretty much know where these guys are at. Really good episode, man. I was really surprised how much I liked it compared to the first one. The first one is so generic compared to this one. So let's go back though, another thing, another, another really kudos to this second episode. Really well done was in the beginning are one of our heroes, Kabir, played by Siddharth. They, they show you a flashback, but you're not quite sure it's a flashback right away with him and his wife, Rashmi. And it's a simple, wonderful little scene where they're talking about the change in weather. Okay. It's something as mundane as that.  So I'm already seeing way more in our lead character than I saw in his entire episode of that first episode. I got nothing from him. I remember I was telling you, I got this guy's kind of, these heroes are kind of just a little one dimensional. We got the three dimensional here, fantastic, fantastic. And then the cut, the jump cut to, he's in different clothes in the same room and his mother comes in and he said, you're wearing, you're wearing your different pairs of socks. And then it's established he's lost his wife from to Lupus. That was a really great, well done montage. And I absolutely loved Ramesh, excuse me, Rashmi, the actress Isha was fantastic in that little scene. Then they go into a song, there's no singing and dancing, but there's definitely a song montage, kind of them hanging out this, I believe it's some sort of, kind of, I want to say, I don't even know what kind of castle it is, it's a beautiful setting. It was really well done. I was completely unexpected. And you know, again, kudos to Rohit because I did not see that coming at all from episode one.  Here it's like, you get that nice kernel of three dimension, you know, with this character. And I was like, okay, I like this character now. And they went with that with, you know, throughout, he mentions the wife and then the connection with the two, with the two, with the two lead guys. So well done there. And so they, like I said, they hunt down leads. Then we're introduced also to Tara Shady, played by Shilpa. And as of right now, she wasn't in it a lot. Wasn't too excited about her first couple of scenes towards the end. The last scene where she's at the birthday party was, I was starting to see a little, a little special spark there. Also to, so Kabir's kind of a boss is Vikram. We're getting a little bit more from him as well. So more character development played out throughout this episode as they're, like I said, doing police work. And there's a couple of funny, funny characters in there. And then there's this one huge Indian police guy that you see throughout the, throughout the, the episode, he does a great job. He's just, he's a beast. He's huge. All right. So that being says, they do move this story along with hunting down and tracking down the Muslim gang in that it might be connected to a religious leader who's political. So that could be problematic with, with the, with the chief. And he's even saying it's like, you know, don't, don't arrest them. And then he turns around, but you know, when I was young, I didn't ask my superior to make an arrest and I said, sorry, later.  So yeah, yeah, definitely a huge step forward in, in this series for me. I almost wish that they had inter, intercut a little bit of episode one into here. And that's where I could see the problem that the critics may be having if they saw all seven episodes is that this thing maybe just be too spread out. But I got to tell you, self-contained, this episode two was really well done. And then we also got our, our head guy, the Zahar Zahar in a potential love situation. And he's the guy's been trying to control his own emotions and the emotions of his men. Then he's, he's basically falling for his landlady. So that could be interesting. I see a lot of tragedy that's going to happen there. I don't see that playing out well. I don't see that it to be a happy ending. All right, guys. Yeah. So those are, those are, you know, my thoughts, my reactions and many spoilers to episode two of Indian police force season one episode two called one wrong call. And if you didn't catch that episode one review, man, you got to, you got to get on over there right now and check that review out because then you could compare. I want you to compare episode one review to episode two review, and then we, we keep moving along and we'll be doing these episodics for you as well. All right, guys, wherever you're at keep that slam fuerte, gracias.


My little brother what sell my man's not much at all. What do you um I have a question? Yeah, you you played roblox back in the day Right. Oh for sure.   Yeah, but how do you how do I do that? What even is roblox is on Xbox? Yeah, yeah, it's on Xbox. I actually played it with Ronnie on Xbox when I came out on Xbox all the games in it are made by other people So like mods fusion kind of like people literally like told the games and like the game is made to make other games pretty much Cool. The fusion football is probably like a specific football game After bed, holy shit. Okay. Yeah, there's uh, I guess I'll explain the rest of this to her later But thank you so much. I need you guys to see literally the craziest conversation like of my whole life And this crazy conversation leads me to today's video where we're gonna be attempting to play football fusion on roblox Trust me. It's gonna be a banger. I know this is weird, but it's gonna be a banger I would like to introduce all of you to Carlos Hernandez Now at first glance you might just think this is someone spamming my instagram dms with make a roblox video And normally if I see one dm tell me to make one video. Whatever. I don't care that much.  However, I need you to note something. Okay, so the last one he sent was yesterday 6 p.m Make a roblox video. Let's just start scrolling, huh? November 20th of 2020 said make a roblox video after I said dude, honestly, I owe you one at this point He said bro, please. I've been doing this forever. That's just 2020. Let's keep going make a roblox video also joined my zoom class I mean we are talking dedication here gentlemen This is may 23rd and the 24th 25th 26 27 28 29 30 the man does not miss all of this started march 1st 2019 tell me to make a roblox video 2019. It's been nearly exactly two years on march 2nd 2019 He said I'm dm you this every day till you make one Carlos. I'm sorry.  I got I got banned within like four minutes because my username was johnny xin 69 So i'm here now on my little brother's account conman He was such a roblox kid, bro. I'm telling you. Hey, I don't hate on it. I was a pokemon kid I played pokemon or runescape. Those are my things. All right boys. Are you ready? You ready for a little football fusion?  All right, so it's got it's got 120,000 likes 24,000 dislikes Says do not hack glitch troll lag heavily attack staff or have an inappropriate username That's how I got banned. Let's get in there boys. Oh, they're picking teams They're picking teams like dodgeball and no one's gonna pick me. I'm gonna get picked last This is so embarrassing Dude, okay. All three of us haven't played. You should definitely pick me. Yes.  Let's go Yeah The Tampa Bay yo tom brady versus tool. Let's get it boys. Let's get it boys Visiting team makes the call is that us dude? It actually kind of looks like madden. Tell me why these graphics are better than men Heads is the call. Hey big doll. You better choose to kick, bro.  Choose to kick Do you know nothing? Okay, so how do I play block catch die? Oh god. No, get up.   We have to block No, get the pulse. Oh, touch back. All right, that's fine.  No, I want it. No, I want it. Give me it. Give me the ball Give me the ball. I'm right. I'm open. Yes, sir You bomb you stop being quarterback, bro. I'm going deep. I'm going deep, bro I'm wide. I'm wide open Putting. Oh my god. You're so homeless. Don't punt dude. Wait, why is this one of the best games I've played?  You're so you're so done for Give me those cheeks. Let's go dude.  Come here. Come here No The garden is asking. Let's go. It's get replayed.    How do I do it? Oh god. Oh god. Okay. I don't know how to kick it No, no they're letting this dude kick it.  I'm not the kicker.  Oh Oh, I got him. I got it.  We need a different quarterback right now, bro. This guy's elite Yes, i'm returning the kick. We finally have a shot boys This is the only way we're gonna win is when I get to touch the rock. Yes, sir No, don't you dare. How do I pick it up? Do I have the ball? Oh, I have the ball No throw the football you bomb.  Maybe play some defense buddy Right here, buddy right here buddy free first down Fence. Yep. I'm sitting.  Nope. I'm here.  I'm not playing for this godforsaken team. Yeah, no, I'm staying right here Just ban this account too. I'm not playing for this team. Let me tell the honest I don't know how to get off the bench. Oh, I'm in practice. Yep.  Okay.     Yeah, it's a dress on the ground pussy. I gotta get a new game. I need reps, bro I can't go out like this. I need at least the tutty. Oh, I'm sorry for the kick return All right, everyone wait here wait here. We're gonna deke them out. Nobody knows who has the ball Nobody knows who has the ball starburst Yup Getting around the edge How why am I so damn slow and why do I keep getting popped in the air like that? Is there like a speed button? He's getting swamped, bro. Just throw it. God, you're so why am I joining sweaty football fusion lobbies? Am I playing mlg football fusion teams? It's a close game. Oh, yes, sir. That's mine. That's mine. Yes Hey, what right here right here, buddy. I got you Okay, we're who the jack jack you make the open pass make the easy pass Look at me.  We can get this goal like stop hold it to a six point game get it touched out when the ball game Oh three man rush. I'm the goal.    I am a god among men right here, bro.  You're my sworn enemy. Oh, thank god I'm here though to pick up literally every single tackle for you God, I'm carrying this whole team at the half. We're in the locker room.   Huh boys I'm gonna lurk it. They're over here. Yes, sir. Yes, sir Yes, sir They're literally 1v6 right now. I don't want to be here. I have the ball. How do I move faster, dude? I'm so slow. Oh Yes. Oh my gosh.  I'm just gonna do the check down Okay, okay. You gotta swerve this man. I just gotta swerve this man. Yeah Something bro. Yeah, where could you possibly throw digiology? I have your whole team clamped. Yep Yup Yup.  You gotta swerve jack. You gotta make a swerve. Damn it jack. You're so bad Dude, it's me and jack versus the world right now. You know how this is jack. You throw the ball at me and we win. Okay Okay jack.   I can't pick it up jack. You know what to do man.  I can't do anything controllers. It's literally not working I now I can't even move my arms are coming out through my back, but I can't move Oh, no, this was such a good game. Oh, they just scored a touchdown too. I can jump, but I can't move dammit All right, you know what I've had enough I need a competent full football fusion roblox squad.  This is a lot more fun than I expected I'm sorry. I couldn't get through a full game. I don't think roblox honda xbox is exactly made for fluid intense gameplay That was way more fun than I thought it would be shout out to carlos for working his butt off to get me to make this video Two things might happen. I might do a series where I play every football game known to man Or might just play some more roblox. Let me know if you guys are doing this video. I'll talk to you later Thanks for watching as always peace


If you're like me and have been working really hard to maintain your diet you are dreading how the upcoming holidays can affect your mental health as well as your weight. So in this video I'm going to give you a very simple practice to make sure that you don't break your diet over the holidays so make sure you stay tuned. What's up everybody this is Chris from the Rewired Soul where we talk about the problem but focus on the solution. I have been working on my weight for the last year or so and with this method that I'm about to teach you it's how I have managed to lose 50 pounds this year. Don't believe me? Check out some of my older videos from earlier this year and you'll see the difference. How this pertains to mental health is you might be able to relate to what happens to me. I'm working on my weight I'm either going to the gym I'm eating healthy I'm doing all these different things to help me out with my weight loss then boom we hit the holiday season thanksgiving Christmas all the holiday parties there's sweets there's cakes there's pies there's all this stuff everywhere or even just regular foods and we overindulge because we live in a society where we get together and we eat we stuff our face. Now the problem with that being is when I fall off of my diet that's when the negative self-talk comes in. Chris why couldn't you have more self-control? Chris how come you couldn't just stick to this plan of dieting? Chris was it really worth it shoving all that food in your face for a few days and now you've got to figure out a way to work these pounds off and one of the nasty habits that I fall into is the holiday season makes me fall off of my diet and then I keep that going for a long time. Next thing you know I put back on a significant amount of the weight that I've lost and it's very hard to pull myself back up out of that so if this is something that you are struggling with this is a practice that I'm going to teach you to help. So I am going to put a link up in the info card for my playlist about losing weight mindfully. I use mindful eating. What I've loved about mindful eating is that it doesn't tell me what to eat when to eat it and all those rules but it just helps me be more conscious and aware of what I'm eating when I'm eating and how I'm eating. For example the opposite of mindfulness is mindlessness. So imagine being at Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas Eve dinner or a holiday party and just kind of walking around and stuffing your face with all these unhealthy things without really thinking about it. Mindfulness keeps us in the moment unless it's recognized am I hungry or am I just looking to satisfy that sweet tooth and helps me be conscious of what my brain is actually doing because if not I'm on autopilot and I start to pack the pounds back on. So the practice I'm about to teach you right now is mindful eating.  I don't care what it is I don't care if it's a cake I don't care if it's an apple it could be literally anything you want to learn this practice. So go ahead and pause this video real quick and go just grab something that you can snack on. Alright I'm guessing you're back I'm hoping you're back with something I hope you didn't just watch this and not grab something but anyways let's get started. Me I've just grabbed a little piece of candy corn it was right by me so that's what I grabbed. Alright so as we go through this practice here's what I want you to do be like a detective be very curious just watch your thoughts watch your body sensations and just be very very curious as we do this meditation together and you follow my instructions. Let's start out by taking three mindful breaths as you inhale just notice your lungs filling up with air and as you exhale notice the air flowing out of your body as your breathing just get a sense of what your body feels like right now in this moment go ahead and pick up your piece of food and just examine it look at this piece of food like you've never seen it before bring a childlike curiosity make the texture the ridges how does it feel in your hand and if any thoughts arise just simply notice and let these thoughts pass use all of your different senses raise it up to your nose see what it smells like and you're touching it and smelling it and examining it with your eyes maybe even bring it up to your ear does this food have a sound just be curious and examine it now take the food and bring it up to your lips don't take a bite just notice what this food feels like against your lips and notice any thoughts arising are you having any thoughts of wanting to eat it not wanting to any judgments on this food that you're holding now go ahead and place the food inside your mouth but don't chew it just notice what it feels like in your mouth is your mouth salivating do you feel like you want to chew it or eat it just noticing and now begin to chew it and notice how the texture changes in your mouth notice what side of your mouth you're chewing on and what your mouth is doing as you chew it from your tongue to your teeth your cheeks and notice any sensations arising do you feel that you want more are you satisfied do you not want anymore just noticing these thoughts and now try to notice the impulse to swallow now go ahead if you haven't yet and swallow the food and just notice what it feels like as it travels down your throat and into your stomach to nourish your body now just be curious what does it feel like with this food in your stomach now do you have any more thoughts about wanting more not wanting anymore just sit and be curious now go ahead and just take one last deep inhale in and exhale and bring yourself back into the moment all right what was that like was it different was it not the way that you usually eat if you're like most people it was because a lot of us were not even paying attention while we eat so I want you to reflect on that and ask yourself like huh what kind of things came up did I notice that I wanted more did I notice that I didn't want any did I notice any thoughts coming to mind did this remind me of something just being curious about it because remember mindfulness is paying attention on purpose in the present moment but without judgment so what this has done for me is that it's changed my relationship with food but it's also helped me recognize what's going on in my body I have had much smaller portions because I can recognize when my body's full rather than when my brain is just saying go go go get more get more get more so what I want you to do leading up to the holidays is take at least one two or three meals a day where you do mindful eating for at least one or two bites okay slowing down the process paying attention to what you're eating noticing when you're full and if you can practice this before you get into the holidays you're going to see that on the holidays you're not over indulging and falling off track with your diet so again be sure to check out the whole playlist of losing weight mindfully that's linked up in the info card like I said using this method and a variety of other techniques I'm down 50 pounds and still going so make sure that you check it out but if you like this video give it a thumbs up and if you are new here make sure you hit that little round subscribe button down below I'm always making videos to help you with your mental health addiction recovery and all sorts of other stuff and be sure to click or tap on one of those thumbnails check out the other videos on this channel thanks again for watching I'll see you next time