Mount Adams in Review, well maybe not

As I sit in my living room looking out over the Puget Sound, I wonder why I get all theses chances to do amazing things. In the last 7 months I have driven 15,000 miles, seen 34 states, met 150 new and beautiful people, been run off a beach by alligators, spun out twice in snow almost falling off cliffs to my death, toured America's two most beautiful houses, trespassed on Stephen King's property, driven 21 hours straight from South Dakota to Seattle, tasted Scotch from every part of Scotland, volunteered 180 hours with faithful and dedicated folks, eaten Alligator, Caribou, and Camel, Shared my favorite place on earth with 7 people, crashed a tiny birthday party with 50 other people (in a good way, Happy B day Kristeen), ridden 350 miles on my cheap mountain bike, built a deck, painted a house, moved, read 12 new books (sad I know, I need to read more), led 5 hiking adventures, led 125 volunteers without one fatality, summited a stratovolcano twice in five days, canceled my car insurance to go bike-only, gained 10 pounds (the good kind), seen the worlds most beautiful sunset, eaten 4 MREs, held my first M4 rifle, fired my first 45cal, set off my first fireworks, and of course started blogging.
Ok sentence two, so what have I learned while doing all this cool stuff? The world's first philosopher (no not Anaximander or Thales of Miletus)was Solomon son of David born about 1000 BC. He concluded in his three books, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon that all the fun stuff we do here on earth is nothing more than warm breath on a cold morning, gone without a trace as soon as it is seen. I really don't want to agree with him, I drove, saw, tasted, touched, rode, and hiked. These things really happened. But did I change the world? Did my chasing after experiences really bring me deep and abiding joy? Am I a man who has beaten the odds and defeated the unquenchable forces of entropy? Is my kingdom really going to last from this millennium to the next?
You see why I don't want to agree with Solomon. If all my work counts for nothing in the grand scheme, if I am just one of my generation who has hopped on the stationary bicycle of history and ridden really really hard only to be replaced by the next generation, if you and I are stuck riding around the small cul-de-sac of existence waiting to live out our days, than I really am not all that I'm cracked up to be.
For those of you who have met me, have spent any amount of time with me, and are actually honest, then you know I am not all that awesome. I am vaguely interesting, but I am just like you, pursuing interesting experience, but all the while trying to deny that Solomon was right, "A vapor, a vapor, everything is a vapor."
I know that if I am really lucky, I'll have about 50 more years on this planet so while I still will run around chasing all the shiny things in life I rest in the fact that it's all a vapor and I don't need to worry about things too much, God's got it all under control and when the bad times in life hit I know He is good.
So today is a good day and the last 7 months have been really really good, but I know as Solomon said (not those stupid hippies who totally tried to ruin it):

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

To be clear I have had times of mourning, times of hatred, times of breaking down, times of losing, times of all sorts and kinds, but right now is a time of seeking, a time to learn, a time to grow, and a time to reflect on all that has happened.
So thank you all who have been part of my life and involved in these various seasons. I believe the next season is starting for me, I hope your next season will be challenging in a good way, because I know mine will be.
Peace