a busy month

finally, after biking past it for the umpteenth time on the way to angie's apt, i finally went to white castle for the first time... i have to say, i wan't all that impressed, but it was fun anyway... :)

ryan cooked for us - yuuuuuuummmmy! hee hee... i couldn't believe how domestic he is - he's such a great host! :)

i took another trip out to nj. they definitely have the correct attitude when it comes to biking! :) this time, i made it a little further out towards the palisaides park. it closes at the end of october to bikers, though, so i won't get to make it out there this year. :(


oh yeah, and on the way there i ran into some funky spanish independence day parade - the costumes were super-cool! :)


check out that GW bridge - beeeeeeeeeauuuuutiful! :)


... and from the NJ side...


this is the name of the overlook that i made it to...

the water sparkles and shimmers... :)


my bike and me...


(yes, that's me trying to get my bike in the picture...)


last weekend's trip to upstate NY was the most fun i've had apple picking since i was a kid. even my mom and dad were climbing trees!!!!!!!!! ;) (see separate entry)















pictures can never quite capture the beauty of the scene... at least, not our cameras! ;)















that's manhattan (behind the trees)!

the GPS took us on a leetle detour...















the farm was really pretty...















hooray! God blessed us with a ladder - dad lugged it around the orchard with us. :) he wouldn't let me touch it because he said i had no sense of physics... oh well! ;)














yes, that's my dad, climbing a tree!















i know, even MORE amazing - it's my MOM climbing a tree!



















and yes, i climbed a gazillion trees, hee hee! it was soooooo fun! ;)
these are so-called "goose-neck gourds..." kissy-kissy! ;)

* * * * *

I faced more ethical issues & frustrations this month. without going into details, i can only say that my eyes are opened to the consequence of not having a victory over death. for the patient, this results in an unrealistic expectation of doctors. as a taiwanese doctor-writer eloquently wrote, "doctors are not gods" - at the end of the day, no human being can escape death. for the physician, death marks failure - or at least, that is the explanation i've been given for the reason that doctors - especially oncologists - avoid discussing the topic of Death with their patients. this patient i'm thinking of is lying in the hospital right now. he's been there for at least 2 weeks now - and he has no idea that everyone believes he is going to die really soon. beside him sits an aged father, who hears everything and says little - except the occasional, "well, we can only trust in God!" his mother's eyes are always filled with desparation - and she paces back and forth in front of the door, unsure what to do with herself. when i left the hospital on friday evening, i heard his sister screaming on the phone, "i can't do this over the phone. i need to see you in person!!! come here, or i'll make an appointment with you! ... ... WHY NOT!?"

* * * * *

Your grace is sufficient for me
Your strength is made perfect
When I am weak
All that I cling to I lay at Your feet
Your grace is sufficient for me.

I'm no longer striving to merity Your love
I rest in Your promise to me
That all of my sins have been
Washed in Your blood
Your mercy is all that I need...

You see me as righteous
Because of the blood
That made the atonement for me
Your mercy has triumphed
Where I should be judged
So now, by Your grace, I am free!!!!!!!