Redux

Last weekend I returned to Mt. Pinos, this time to camp out under the stars. And as you can see, I came prepared for Mt. Pinos Redux.

 

 

A subscriber asked, “Can you smoke s’mores?”

The answer is easy:  “In California, you can smoke anything!”

 

 

The other easy answer is why the South Ridge trail is “easiest.”  To understand the answer – “because there are no bullet holes” – you’ll have to read my earlier Mt. Pinos post.

 

********

 

Back when I was in college, I took one semester of Biblical Hebrew on a lark.  Though I already had a full load, Organic Chemistry was behind me, so I felt like I needed a challenge. Our task for this class was to translate the entire book of II Samuel – mostly tales of King David – so it was not a class for the faint of heart. I don’t remember much from what I learned that semester, other than that guttural clearing-your-throat sound that comes when you try to pronounce many of the best Hebrew words.

But there is one word that returned to my mind this weekend when I awoke to go outside my tent and pee at 3AM under a clear new-moon-sky with a billion stars splashed above me so bright you could clearly see the outlines of every tree.   The word is this:  רָקִיעַ

 

Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: raqia
Phonetic Spelling: (raw-kee’-ah)
Definition: an extended surface, expanse

 

For those of you new to this game, Hebrew is written right to left.  And the world view of the ancients takes a bit of explaining, so bear with me here. In the KJV, the word רָקִיעַ is translated as “firmament.” You’ll find it in the opening pages of Genesis, on the second day of creation, when God says “Let there be a firmament to divide the waters above from the waters below.”

 

 

The idea is of something like a scrim above a stage where the stars and other celestial objects are painted on.  And so help me – say what you will about the limits of scientific understanding among folks 4,000 years ago – that’s exactly what it looks like when you’re above the reach of modern light pollution and look up.  Night time photography without serious telescopic assistance is a poor substitute for the real thing.  So you’ll just have to take my word for it without pictures. If this doesn’t inspire awe in you, then you’ve got a huge hole in your heart. Regardless of how you pronounce it.